Shen Mo struggled to open his eyes, his thoughts slowly resurfacing from the depths of his mind. A trace of wariness drove him to scrutinize his surroundings.
An unfamiliar wooden room.
A thin quilt draped over his body. No bed—just lying directly on the floor.
Tatami, perhaps?
He reached out to rub his head, attempting to rise, but the weakness coursing through his body made him abandon the effort.
System.
He silently called out in his mind.
A faint light screen flickered open in his consciousness; crystal clear.
As expected, it wasn't an illusion.
Shen Mo didn't know whether to laugh or weep.
He had been an ordinary game planner on some blue planet until a System descended out of nowhere, initiating a transmigration countdown. Powerless to resist, he only had time to use this so-called "Omni-Trade System" to secure a hefty life insurance policy for his family.
This feeling…
"Utterly awful," Shen Mo muttered under his breath.
Crossing over with a jīnshǒuzhǐ—a cheat ability—was the dream of many, but the catch was that a System like this was undoubtedly man-made. Whoever the dàlǎo—the big shot—behind it was, they definitely existed.
He sat in a daze for a while longer.
Shen Mo seemed to come to terms with his reality. There was a saying, wasn't there? If you can't resist, embrace it. As long as you don't think too highly of yourself, life is full of pleasures.
"Omni-Trade System, huh?"
Shen Mo inspected the System's functions.
Remarkably straightforward.
Trading with others, no matter the item, could be converted within the System into something called Trade Points. These could be spent in the System's store to buy anything—truly anything.
Shen Mo even spotted Doraemon's time machine, can you believe it?
Though it came with a string of zeros so long he couldn't be bothered to count them.
But a time machine!
The kind that could genuinely alter the past.
"There's got to be restrictions, right?"
Shen Mo felt his mind gradually sharpen as he reviewed the terms of trade.
Indeed, there were limits.
Transactions required mutual consent, and the value of traded items had to fall within a range of one-fifth to five times their worth.
Shen Mo currently held eleven thousand Trade Points.
Roughly the sum of his three years' savings—minus what he'd spent on the insurance policy.
Judging by a box of Kangshifu instant noodles costing five points, the pricing was reasonable.
Good.
This wasn't one of those Systems that swindled its host with rigged exchange rates.
"Ah, damn it, I was this close to winning!"
A woman's voice suddenly rang out from outside the room. Shen Mo snapped to attention, swiftly adding several powerful defensive items to his System's shopping cart.
Snap—
The sliding wooden door was yanked open with force.
A woman stood in the doorway, clad in a sleeveless light-gray outfit, with pale blonde hair, golden eyes, and refined features.
This was…
A Tsunade cosplay?
Though Shen Mo wasn't a full-fledged otaku, he enjoyed anime as a pastime.
So he recognized her instantly.
This… character!
"Yo, you're awake, huh?" The woman, dressed exactly like Tsunade from the anime, spotted Shen Mo's open eyes and seemed pleased. She sauntered over, plopping down beside him with zero ladylike grace, and extended a hand. "As you can see, I saved your sorry self. Now, hand over the medical fees."
Shen Mo blinked.
The moment she started speaking, he'd spent thirty thousand Trade Points to acquire basic Japanese proficiency.
His gaze shifted to another woman—yep, dressed just like Tsunade's disciple, Shizune.
A hunch was forming.
"Here's the deal," Shizune said, kneeling beside him. "We found you collapsed outside the door, so… we brought you in and treated you."
She conveniently omitted Tsunade's original comment: "This guy's got soft skin—definitely a rich noble," followed by her plan to extort a hefty treatment fee.
"I see," Shen Mo replied in his freshly acquired Japanese, "I'll cover the medical fees, and I'm deeply grateful. But could you first prepare some food for me? Preferably something liquid."
"Tch, already giving orders, huh?" Tsunade stood up nonchalantly. "Shizune, he's your problem now. Don't let him bolt without paying."
She'd already checked him out.
Flabby muscles, no trace of chakra.
Just some ordinary noble or rich guy.
Tsunade often treated wealthy folks for extra gambling cash, so dragging Shen Mo in was no big deal.
By contrast, Shizune was far kinder. After agreeing, she cautioned Shen Mo not to move around and went to prepare some liquid food.
Shen Mo watched them leave, his taut nerves finally easing a bit.
Judging by their demeanor…
Cosplay seemed unlikely.
So… the real deal? Had he actually transmigrated into the Naruto world?
"If that's the case, it's actually to my advantage."
Shen Mo mused silently. At that moment, he wasn't thinking about meeting beloved characters or anything sentimental. His focus was on maximizing his benefits, with survival as the baseline and enjoyment as a bonus.
A world with a familiar plot was far more advantageous than an unknown one!
For example…
Selling a revival coin to Tsunade could easily fetch the maximum fivefold price.
Heck, if he didn't need to convert it into Trade Points through the System, even more than five times wouldn't be hard—Tsunade had that kind of need.
But—
"Fulfilling someone's needs is the lowest tier of trading," Shen Mo's lips curled into a sly smile. "Making deals for things they don't need—that's the path to true profit."
In his old world, there was a classic business story about selling combs to monks.
That story was once denounced as deceit by some tycoon, since monks have no use for combs.
But that kind of "deceit"…
It was everywhere in gaming.
Exactly.
Shen Mo was talking about opening cans!
Or rather, gacha pulls, loot boxes, card packs—same difference. Players dumped piles of cash chasing what they wanted, only to end up with a heap of useless junk… and they did it willingly.
As a game planner, Shen Mo knew these tricks inside and out.
So, his mind was made up.
Tsunade, the so-called "legendary fat sheep," was too good an opportunity to pass up.
After eating some simple liquid food and regaining a bit of strength, Shen Mo, as a precaution, kept several life-saving trade items in his shopping cart for instant purchase if needed. Then, he prepared to launch his first transaction.
He requested to discuss the medical fees and was brought by Shizune to face Tsunade.
He'd already confirmed the timeline: this was after the Third Shinobi War, over a decade since the Fourth Hokage's death, and Tsunade had left Konoha.
This legendary member of Konoha's Sannin was sipping sake alone, a faint flush on her porcelain skin from the alcohol. With her explosive figure, she didn't look remotely like a woman in her fifties.
Even with Shen Mo's eyes, seasoned by countless movies and shows, he couldn't help but marvel.
A true beauty.
"Kid, that look in your eyes is interesting," Tsunade said, casting him a sidelong glance.
With her keen perception, she easily caught the admiration in Shen Mo's gaze.
He didn't even try to hide it.
It was rare, but only worth a passing "interesting."
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