Online Shop

Arix lay down in the Connective Pod. As soon as she used her psychic power to touch the sensor, a gentle female voice welcomed her.

"Welcome to the Alliance's interstellarnet."

After the voice, Arix found herself standing on a bustling street. If she didn't know she was just on the interstellarnet, she might have thought she had been transported to another world, again.

After marveling for a moment, Arix opened her virtual opticomputer, clicked on the shop in her personal information, chose to enter, and in the blink of an eye, she was in a small room.

She reluctantly purchased a shop sign for 1,000 astrocredits, naming it Arix's Potions, and hung it outside the virtual store. Then she bought the cheapest potion shop decoration package.

She displayed the nine virtual Planet-Class Boosters on the potion shelves and labeled the potion levels and effects, just like in the potion shop she had visited earlier.

For the "Chemist" section, Arix hesitantly filled in "Master V."

Chemists are ranked from Particle Class, Stardust Class, Meteor Class, Comet Class, Moon-Class, Planet Class, Star-Class, Subgiant Class, to Supergiant-Class.

Arix couldn't be sure of her own level. Since she had only produced a Planet-Class potion, she played it safe and claimed to be a Planet-Class chemist.

After all, on the interstellarnet, anyone could claim any chemist level they liked, and customers took their chances when shopping.

On the interstellarnet, only officially certified stores sell guaranteed genuine products. 

Wealthy people in the Alliance never buy these items online, as physical stores are obviously more secure choices.

Official certification requires passing a potion exam held by the chemist association, and certification is only granted with proof from the association.

Arix was now only skilled in one potion and unaware of even the potions of the most basic class. Thus, it was highly unlikely that she could pass any official exams like those.

With this in mind, Arix set the price of each potion at 500,000 astrocredits and then logged off.

Just as Arix logged off, a person dressed in worn-out clothes entered her store. The store was unmanned but equipped for automatic sales.

The person seemed somewhat anxious. When he walked into the store and immediately spotted the Planet-Class Boosters at the counter, his eyes widened with surprise.

This was Lexi. He was also an applicant for the Hecaris Military Academy this year.

He came from Planet Frontier, and a family fallen on hard times. To enable him to pass the entrance examination of the Hecaris Military Academy, his family had emptied all their savings, scraping together 600,000 astrocredits for Lexi to purchase a Planet-Class Booster.

Because the potions in physical stores were too expensive, Lexi thought to check the interstellarnet, where many had found quality goods at reasonable prices.

He was aware of the risk of counterfeit goods online, but with physical stores pricing Planet-Class Boosters at several million astrocredits, he felt he had no choice.

He swore he would leave a negative review if the potion turned out to be fake, and he'd even consider reporting the store to the Interstellarnet Administration Bureau to get it shut down, so as to prevent others from being scammed.

After deliberating, Lexi mustered the courage to place an order. He filled in his address, paid, and immediately began to doubt his decision.

"I must be out of my mind. Who sells a Planet-Class potion for 500,000? It's definitely a fake, but it's too late for regrets now! God, please let it be real. And to the store owner, if you can hear me, I'll promote your shop if it's genuine."

Arix didn't hear Lexi's prayers, though. After hastily leaving the virtual world of the interstellarnet, she took a hot shower.

Just as she was getting ready to sleep, a notification on her opticomputer woke her up: "Dear Arix, your store has just completed a transaction. Please attend to it promptly."

Arix couldn't sleep anymore. She opened the store management app and was greeted by the 500,000 astrocredits that had just been deposited into her account.

"Yay!" Arix was so happy that she rolled around on her bed. She smiled as she rolled off, carefully packed a Planet-Class Booster in a cardboard box, and called a delivery robot to pick it up and send it off.

After dispatching the product, Arix turned off her opticomputer and went back to bed to rest. She needed to start preparing for tomorrow's entrance examination at the Hecaris Military Academy.

Since Lexi was also on Hecaris, he received the package very quickly.

Holding the light cardboard box, Lexi felt certain he had been scammed.

Although he had never purchased any booster before, he was aware that if the potion was genuine, the seller would have used a specialized box for packaging. Instead, he was holding an ordinary cardboard box with some dirt stains on it.

Lexi's smile turned increasingly bitter. He blamed himself for being foolish enough to believe that genuine goods could be found on the interstellarnet.

After sighing countless times, Lexi decided to go livestreaming. He had lost 500,000 astrocredits and didn't want others to be scammed like he was.

He opened his live streaming channel and even spent 10,000 astrocredits to secure a featured spot on the homepage. He wanted people entering the live streaming app to instantly find him.

After titling the stream "500,000 for a Planet-Class Booster?" Lexi started the live broadcast.

This was peak viewing time, and many people joined the stream to see who else had been duped on the interstellarnet.

The viewer count soon reached 100,000, and the chat was filled with comments mocking the host.

"I just bought one from my uncle for 800,000 just for the cost. And here's someone hoping against hope to get a Planet-Class Booster for 500,000."

"Thinking you can get a Planet-Class Booster for 500,000, haha, that's hilarious."

"Is the host doing this to entertain us?"

"Another fool who thinks he's lucky."

As Lexi read the endless mocking comments, he felt utterly hopeless. He then took out the delivery package containing the potion and said, "This box contains the Planet-Class Booster I purchased. Let's open it and take a look."