Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 42 - 41 - Trade Channel.

The Trade Function.

It was unlocked when Raven collected 10,000 plot points.

At first, he was very excited, wondering what kind of interdimensional trading system it was.

He thought it would introduce him to other worlds with different magic and techniques, only to find a shocking result: it was nothing like that.

It turned out that the gods used this trade system.

They used it to trade goods among themselves.

Then it clicked to him: this system was supposed to be a device used by the gods.

What else could he expect from it?

It was a god’s smartphone turned into a system for him.

When he realized what the trade function actually did, Raven decided never to touch it.

He didn’t want to end up offending a god when he could still remember how he had died.

He could recall how their curses turned him into dust and how he would’ve been erased if not for that goddess.

’Fuck her, though.’

Yeah, he never missed a chance to curse her.

After all, everything he was going through was her fault. If she hadn’t been careless enough to drop her phone on Earth, he would never have gone through any of the things he had.

However, since this life was better than his past life, Raven had decided to let bygones be bygones.

As for the trade function, he would not use it.

Nothing would happen as long as he didn’t—that was what he had thought until one day, things changed.

That day, after training with Crisaius, he was looking through the daily store when he suddenly had a strange thought.

He decided to look through the trade channel.

’One look won’t do any harm,’ he had thought.

Oh, how wrong he was.

The moment he opened the channel, the screen flickered with activity.

Multiple chat rooms, dozens of weird usernames, items listed with absurd tags like [Blessed by the Sixth Sin] or [Cursed by My Ex].

"What the fuck?" He had muttered, his gaze fixed on the last one. "What kind of gods are these fuckers?"

They were... weird.

Raven, however, already had enough of such people in his life, and fearing that he might become like them, he decided to close the channel quickly, only to freeze at the sound of a notification.

Ding!

[1 NEW MESSAGE – Direct Chat]

"...Huh?" Raven tilted his head. "Direct chat?"

Without thinking, he had tapped it—the dumbest thing he could’ve done.

The screen had blinked once and expanded into a clean, minimalist chat window.

One message was waiting for him.

<<<<<<<<<<<

[Alias: Grandpa_Hot_Pot]

"Hello, newbie. I see you’re a new god."

"Don’t worry, it’s always confusing and strange at first."

"I’ve been using this trade channel since it was carved into celestial stone tablets."

"As an elder, I’ll advise you if you need it. Just message me."

>>>>>>>>>>>

Raven had stared at it for a while before he shook his head.

"...Nope," he had said flatly and immediately closed the chat.

He was NOT getting into casual small talk with some celestial codger named Grandpa_Hot_Pot.

He already had one such person in his life; he didn’t need another.

But then—

Ding.

Ding ding.

Ding ding DING DING DING—

His screen exploded with notifications.

[New messages: 6]

[New messages: 12]

[New messages: 23]

One after another, they kept coming.

His eyes had widened as he felt they were all from the same chat—the weird guy he had ignored.

"Oh no," he had whispered.

With shaky fingers, he reopened the chat.

<<<<<<<<<<<

[Alias: Grandpa_Hot_Pot]

"Oh?"

"You read my message and left?"

"That’s rude, you know."

"Kids these days. No manners."

"In my day, new gods used to bow before responding."

"You think just because I sent you a message, you’re special?"

"I should curse you with an eternal athlete’s foot."

"We’ll see how smug you are then."

>>>>>>>>>>>

Raven had broken into a cold sweat. "Wait, he knows I saw it?!"

More messages came.

<<<<<<<<<<<

[Alias: Grandpa_Hot_Pot]

"I know you’re reading these."

"Don’t ignore me again, boy."

"I’m an easygoing god, but I will turn your skin inside-out just to make a point."

"Not even out of anger. Just boredom."

"Talk before I do it."

>>>>>>>>>>>

Raven’s eyes had darted around his room like a squirrel on caffeine.

He had opened his mouth, closed it, and finally tapped the reply bar.

Slowly.

Carefully.

<<<<<<<<<<<

Raven:

"Hello, Great Sir Hot Pot."

"I didn’t know how to reply, so I was reading the instruction manual."

"Please forgive this junior, oh great god."

>>>>>>>>>>>

The screen had remained silent for a moment as Raven kept repeating in his head. ’Please work. Please work. Please work.’

Then—

Ding!

<<<<<<<<<<<

Grandpa_Hot_Pot:

"Aha! He speaks with manners!"

"There’s hope for this generation yet."

>>>>>>>>>>>

Raven had flopped back on his pillow, exhaling like he’d defused a bomb with a toothpick.

’Damn, these gods really like having their egos tickled, don’t they?’

He was hoping it would work if he called the guy ’great god’, and it actually did, but then, another series of messages came.

<<<<<<<<<<<

Grandpa_Hot_Pot:

"Now, since you’re listening, let me give you some real tips."

"First, don’t think of this channel as a trade channel. Think of it as a place where you have to appease senior gods to give something they don’t want or make gods weaker than you give their divinity to you."

"Now, you can consider yourself lucky as I, one of the greatest gods on this trade channel, don’t want divinities—I won’t rob you."

"All you have to do is make me happy, and maybe, I will give you something."

"Oh, and the most important thing... don’t date tall girls, they are hard to fuck. Personal experience speaking."

>>>>>>>>>>>

Raven had stared at the last message for a long moment, regretting why he had opened the trade channel.

He wanted to go back in the past and change it, but he couldn’t.

"...What the hell did I just get myself into?"

All he could do was sigh in defeat.

.........................................

Present.

[TRADE CHANNEL: New message in three chats.]

Now, as Raven stared at the notification before him, he knew one of them was Grandpa.

He didn’t want to talk to that quirky celestial codger, but he didn’t have a choice. What if that guy got angry and sent him a cursed message?

Wouldn’t he turn to ash?

’Fuck...’

Resisting the urge to pull his hair, he opened the chat, and the first one, as expected, was Grandpa Hot Pot.

’Hah... what does he want now?’

Raven could only sigh.

At first, when he had heard the Old Man’s words, he had thought he might get something good out of him.

After all, anything gods have must be divine, and even divine shit was something humans would worship.

So, he had hoped if he licked the Old Man’s ass well enough, he might throw some leftovers at him but—

—Nothing.

He got nothing.

In the past two years of ass licking, all he got was the Old Man’s endless ranting and venting.

This Old Man was now like a bone stuck in his neck.

He couldn’t do anything about it.

Expecting a lot of bulishit again, Raven opened the chat, only to be stunned by the first message.

<<<<<<<<<<<

Grandpa_Hot_Pot:

"I’ve been thinking..."

"You have served me for a long time, yet you never asked for anything. This senior is touched by your sincerity."

"I have decided to give you something you need."

"Do you want it?"

>>>>>>>>>>>

Raven’s expression broke as he saw those messages.

"... is this real?"

He couldn’t believe it, but soon, he saw an arrow pointing downward in the chat, meaning there were still some messages left for him to view.

With a pounding heart, he scrolled down, and the moment he did, color left his face.

’No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’