Empire Building With Infinite Warehouse-Chapter 119: System Update

Julien stood there in the middle of the creepy cobblestone courtyard and stared at his empty hands while hoping his system shop would load fast enough to buy some decent gear for his team.

But the system never really did exactly what you wanted it to do when you were in a rush to survive.

Instead of pulling up the familiar and comforting list of cheap merchant items and rotting cabbages, the air right in front of Julien’s face exploded into a giant, glowing blue screen that practically blinded him in the dim twilight.

He stumbled backwards and waved his hands around trying to clear his vision, but the holographic text just followed his movements perfectly to stay right in the centre of his view.

He looked over at the rest of his rescue team and quickly realised he was not the only one dealing with an obnoxious digital interruption.

Maya was squinting hard at her own screen while trying to keep her hand near her daggers, and Kyle just looked completely annoyed that something was blocking his view of the dark alleyways where enemies might be hiding.

Aiden was still leaning heavily against the carved stone pillar and staring at his bright blue interface with a look of pure confusion on his tired face.

’What kind of glitch is happening right now, because I really just need to buy a cheap sword for our giant mercenary before something jumps out of the shadows and eats us,’ Julien thought to himself, blinking away the bright spots in his eyes so he could finally read the scrolling white text.

But the system was not glitching at all, and it actually seemed happy to see them.

The text scrolled across the blue holographic display with an upbeat energy that felt totally out of place in a creepy gothic town covered by a dark red sky.

[Congratulations to the Pioneer Party!] The system announced in bright flashing letters that demanded their full attention.

[You have successfully bypassed the dimensional barriers and entered Competitor World 0001 long before the scheduled integration phase was supposed to begin.]

[The administrators are highly impressed by your reckless survival instincts and completely unexpected arrival!]

Julien read the cheerful notification twice just to make sure he was not hallucinating from the terrible spatial crush they just endured.

The system was basically treating their desperate, near-death escape from a paranoid warlord like they just won a grand prize in a game show.

He let out a long breath and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a strange mix of relief and deep suspicion because the system never gave out compliments without a very steep catch attached to them.

[Because your party has officially achieved early entry into a hostile competitor dimension, a generous Pioneer Bonus has been awarded to all surviving members,] the glowing screen continued, printing the new lines of text with a cheerful little chime that echoed perfectly in the quiet cobblestone square.

Julien watched a secondary notification pop up directly under the main message, specifically tailored to his unique travelling merchant class.

He was used to scraping by on tiny profit margins, selling bad potions and cheap bandages to desperate scavengers just to afford a warm bowl of stew at the end of the day.

But when his personal account balance updated on the screen, his jaw literally dropped open, and he completely forgot how to breathe for a few very long seconds.

The system had just dumped a completely ridiculous, astronomical number of points directly into his shop account as a reward for surviving the Green Gate.

The long string of zeroes stretching across the glowing blue interface was larger than all the money he had ever seen in his entire life combined, completely blowing his humble business model right out of the water.

’I am officially incredibly rich,’ Julien thought to himself, staring blankly at the impossible number while a very genuine and slightly greedy smile started to form on his face.

’I can finally stop throwing expired chilli powder at elite soldiers and actually buy the premium gear hidden at the very bottom of the catalogue.’

He looked over at his friends to see if they got the same crazy payout for surviving the terrible portal trip.

Maya was staring at her own screen with wide eyes, probably looking at a huge stack of rare skill points or high-tier agility upgrades for her scavenger class.

Kyle actually cracked a very rare grin, which meant the giant guy probably just received enough combat points to buy an indestructible weapon to replace the one he broke during the gunfight.

"The system is apparently rewarding us for breaking the rules and showing up here early, which is honestly the best news we have had all day," Julien said.

"Do not celebrate just yet," Aiden warned him quietly, pointing a bloody finger right at his own glowing blue screen.

"The system never gives away gifts without making you work for them immediately afterwards."

And Aiden was completely right about that sad reality.

Just as Julien was mentally picking out a brand new, highly expensive protective coat to replace his ruined one, the cheerful blue colour of the system interface suddenly glitched and turned a very threatening shade of dark crimson red.

The upbeat chime was replaced by a low, ominous sound that made the cold air in the courtyard feel even more suffocating.

The system wiped the congratulations message completely off the screen and brought up a brand new, mandatory quest log that they could not decline or ignore.

[Updating Regional Parameters,] the text warned them coldly, stripping away all the previous game show enthusiasm to reveal a very harsh truth.

[You are now trespassing in the ancestral territory of the Vampire Lords of World 0001. The local inhabitants have been alerted to the presence of fresh outsiders.]

Julien felt his newfound excitement vanish completely as he read the final line of the mandatory quest.

[New Primary Objective: Survive the Night.]

He stared at the red words floating in the dark air and slowly looked up at the towering Gothic castle looming over the quiet town.

They were standing out in the open in a dimension ruled by literal vampires, and the system had just painted a giant target on their backs for the locals to find.

’Well, at least I have enough money to buy a really nice coffin,’ Julien thought to himself, closing the terrible quest screen and frantically opening his premium shop tab to find something sharp and holy before the locals showed up to introduce themselves.