The universe was quiet. Too quiet.
For David, time had lost its linear meaning. Aboard the Prometheus, now cruising through the intergalactic void at speeds that rendered distance irrelevant, he had spent the last month (measured in Earth standard time) reshaping nebulae and igniting dead stars simply to test the limits of the Tier 9 Matter Manipulation Core.
He was a god in a sandbox he had already conquered. He had achieved the ultimate capitalist dream: infinite resources, zero scarcity, and absolute control. But without a purchase to make, without a milestone to reach, the infinite wealth felt… static.
He sat in the neural suspension of the cockpit, looking at a small, swirling galaxy in the distance—Messier 87. He could crush it into a black hole with a thought. He could turn it into gold. He could dismantle it atom by atom.
"Prometheus," David projected his thought. "What is the next objective? The System has been silent since the Xylos extinction."
"Analysis: There are no current objectives, Host," the AI replied, its voice echoing with the resonance of the ship's hull. "We have achieved the apex of local universal physics. You are the Architect of this reality. There is nothing left to buy."
"There is always something to buy," David murmured. "The System is transactional. It doesn't give power for free; it exchanges it. If the transaction loop has closed, then the System should have deactivated. But it's still here. It's waiting."
He closed his eyes, reaching out with his consciousness to the very edge of the perception provided by the Source Code. He looked past the matter, past the energy, looking for the boundaries of the simulation he now controlled.
He found a wall.
It wasn't a physical wall. It was a Data Horizon—a hard, impenetrable barrier at the edge of the perceptible universe where the laws of physics simply… stopped.
"Prometheus, set a course for sector Zero-Zero-Null. The edge of the expansion."
"Host, that is the cosmic microwave background horizon. There is nothing beyond it but entropy."
"Let's see what entropy costs."
The Reboot
The Prometheus folded space, appearing instantly at the edge of the universe. The viewscreen showed nothingness—not the black of space, which is filled with potential, but a flat, grey static. It was the edge of the rendered map.
David reached out with the Matter Manipulation Core to touch the static.
[ERROR. INVALID TARGET.][Tier 9 Authority Insufficient.]
David smiled. "Insufficient. Finally. A limit."
He pushed harder. He didn't use matter; he used the Total Value of his existence—the accumulated weight of every trillion dollars, every energy credit, every soul he had saved or destroyed. He poured the concept of his "Wealth" into the barrier.
"I am buying passage," David commanded. "Name the price."
The grey static shuddered. The vibration rattled the Neutronium hull of the Prometheus.
Suddenly, the familiar chime of the System rang out—not the harmonious chord of the Tier 9 unlock, but a sharp, digital klaxon that sounded like a server rebooting.
[SYSTEM ALERT: USER ATTEMPTING TO BREACH LOCAL REALITY CONTAINER.][ASSESSING ASSET VALUE...][VALUE CONFIRMED: 500 TRILLION ENERGY-CREDITS (LOCAL).][TUTORIAL COMPLETE.]
David's eyes snapped open. "Tutorial?"
The grey static tore open. It wasn't a tear in space; it was a tear in the dimension. A blinding, golden light flooded the cockpit, dissolving the Prometheus's sensors.
[WELCOME TO THE GRAND EXCHANGE.][UPLOADING USER TO THE MULTIVERSE LOBBY...]
The Marketplace of Gods
The transition was violent. David felt his connection to the Prometheus severed, then instantly re-established, but the context had changed.
The grey void was gone.
The Prometheus was now floating in a space that defied description. It wasn't a vacuum. It was a fluid, shifting nebula of golden data streams, stretching infinitely in all directions. Floating in this ocean were not stars, but Spheres—perfect, contained bubbles of reality.
David looked closer at the nearest Sphere. Inside, he saw galaxies spinning. He saw time moving. It was a universe. A complete, bottled universe.
And there were millions of them.
Floating between the Universes were colossal structures—cities the size of galaxies, built from impossible geometries, inhabited by entities that radiated energy signatures far surpassing Tier 9.
"Prometheus, analysis," David ordered, his heart racing with the thrill he hadn't felt since Chapter 1. The thrill of being small again.
"Host... I cannot analyze. The physics here operate on Tier 10 and Tier 11 logic. My sensors are registering 'Narrative Causality' and 'Probability Fluid' as physical states of matter. We are no longer in our universe."
A massive structure loomed ahead—a golden ring station that orbited a cluster of trapped universes. A signal locked onto The Prometheus.
"Docking Request: Entity designation 'David'. Origin: Universe-4599 (Local Architect). Status: Novice."
"Novice," David repeated, a grin spreading across his face. "Accept docking."
The Broker
The Prometheus was guided into a hangar bay that was larger than Earth's solar system. David exited the ship, his Nanobot armor flowing around him to form a formal suit—a habit from his boardroom days.
He stood on a platform made of solidified light. Approaching him was a figure.
It was humanoid, but its skin was shifting chrome, reflecting the timelines of a dozen realities. It wore a suit cut from the fabric of a nebula.
"Welcome to the Grand Exchange," the figure said. Its voice didn't travel through air; it overwrote David's auditory perception directly. "I am Broker Kaelthas. Congratulations on finishing the Tutorial. Most candidates destroy their containment unit before they figure out how to monetize it."
David stepped forward, his demeanor calm, projecting the aura of the Industrial Overlord he was. "The Xylos Collective. The Architects. The System. It was all a simulation?"
"Not a simulation," Kaelthas corrected, looking at a datapad that materialized in his hand. "An incubation. The 'System' you used is a standard-issue Resource Management Interface (Class 1). We seed them into developing realities to cultivate managers. You managed to unify your reality, defeat the entropy-parasites (the Xylos), and achieve Tier 9 integration. That makes you... employable."
Kaelthas tapped the pad. "Your total asset value upon exit was assessed at roughly 500 Trillion Local Credits. In the Grand Exchange, that converts to... let's see... 50 Cosmic Sovereign Tokens."
David frowned. "Fifty? I bought a supernova with that money."
"In your local puddle, yes," Kaelthas scoffed gently. "Here, a supernova is a disposable lighter. You are in the Multiverse economy now, David. We don't trade matter. We trade Entropy, Time, and Narrative Stability."
Kaelthas gestured to the vast ocean of universes outside the hangar bay.
"You see those spheres? Those are distressed assets. Universes where the hero failed, or the entropy won, or the physics engine collapsed. We buy them, fix them, strip-mine them for exotic laws of physics, and resell them to higher-tier deities who want a nice vacation reality."
The New Currency
David walked to the edge of the platform, looking at the dizzying scale of the commerce. He saw a massive entity—a dragon made of pure starlight—handing over a glowing orb to a machine-intelligence in exchange for a stream of purple data.
"So, I'm poor again," David realized.
"You are entry-level," Kaelthas corrected. "But you have potential. Your 'Matter Manipulation Core' is a cute toy, but here, it's just a Tier 1 tool. You want real power? You need to upgrade your System to Class 2."
"How much?" David asked instinctively.
"Class 2 upgrade grants you Multiversal Travel, Timeline Editing, and Concept Materialization. The price is 1,000 Cosmic Sovereign Tokens."
David did the math. He had 50. He was broke.
"How do I earn Tokens?" David asked, the hunger returning. The hunger of the deal.
"You become a Fixer," Kaelthas explained, turning to face him with a predatory smile. "The Exchange has thousands of broken realities. Universes where the 'System Host' went rogue and became a tyrant. Universes being eaten by Tier 10 predators. We need someone to go in, liquidate the rogue elements, stabilize the asset, and prepare it for resale."
Kaelthas waved his hand, and a hologram appeared. It showed a universe consumed by fire, ruled by a version of David who had gone mad with power.
"Contract 77-Alpha," Kaelthas offered. "A rogue Necromancer System User has enslaved his galaxy. Go in. Terminate his contract. Seize his System core. Bring it back. Payout: 100 Tokens."
The Next Purchase
David looked at the hologram. A new challenge. A new ladder to climb. A new currency to master.
He felt the familiar chime of his System, but the interface had changed. The blue text was now gold.
[SYSTEM UPDATE COMPLETE: MULTIVERSE MODULE INSTALLED.][CURRENT BALANCE: 50 CST (COSMIC SOVEREIGN TOKENS).][NEXT MILESTONE: 1,000 CST - CLASS 2 UPGRADE.][NEW SHOP UNLOCKED: THE OMNI-STORE.]
David checked the Omni-Store. The items listed were terrifying.
Pocket Dimension Generator (200 CST)
Concept Killer: Death (5,000 CST)
Reality Rewrite Pen (10,000 CST)
Universe Seed (1,000,000 CST)
He grinned. It was the same game, just a bigger board.
"I'll take the contract," David said, straightening his suit. "But I have one condition."
"Oh?" Kaelthas raised a chrome eyebrow. "Novices don't usually make demands."
"I don't just want the tokens," David said, his eyes glowing with the violet light of the Matter Core. "I want the salvage rights. Whatever technology, whatever magic, whatever resources I find in that broken universe... I keep. I spend them here."
Kaelthas paused, calculating. Then, the chrome face smiled. "Aggressive. I like it. Deal. Salvage rights are yours. Just don't break the merchandise."
Into the Breach
David returned to the Prometheus. The ship felt small now, humble compared to the megastructures outside, but it was still the sharpest knife he had.
"Prometheus," David commanded. "New parameters uploaded. We are no longer Architects. We are Liquidators."
"Destination confirmed, Host," Prometheus replied, the AI seemingly energized by the new data context. "Universe-77A. Threat Level: High. Magic-based physics detected. Adapting shields."
"Magic," David scoffed. "Just physics we haven't bought yet."
He sat in the command chair. The hunger was back. The boredom was gone.
"Initiate Multiverse Jump."
The Prometheus didn't warp. It didn't fold space. It punched a hole in the golden wall of the Grand Exchange and dove into the chaotic sea of the multiverse, hunting for the next paycheck.
The Tutorial was over. The real game had just begun.