CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: WAGERS AND WARNINGS

The world flipped sideways.

Frank landed on stone—not hard, but firm enough to remind him that magic portals and stomachs would never be friends.

He pushed himself up and blinked.

The space around him was... surreal.

He stood at the center of a massive circular platform hovering in void-light, surrounded by shifting ledgers and floating price tags. Above, no ceiling. Below, no floor. Only rows and rows of glowing runes spiraling into darkness, like some endless auction stage carved into starlight.

A single phrase hovered in the air before him:

Welcome, Trader Frank Hagan. Duel-Trade Arena Instanced.

On the far end, another platform shimmered into focus—and footsteps echoed.

Frank squinted.

A figure emerged from the light—tall, robed in antique silk layered with dozens of stitched trade receipts, and wearing a wide-brimmed hat covered in glowing runes.

The figure stepped fully into view.

Not Moggrel. Not a goblin.

A man.

Or at least, he looked like one.

His skin shimmered with an almost reflective polish. His eyes were covered by half-moon spectacles, and he held a glowing ledger staff shaped like a merchant’s scepter.

A scroll unfurled beside him:

Duel Opponent: Archivist Tullivar, Keeper of Forgotten Bargains.

Realm of Origin: Index Vault-Delta

Trade Style: Memory-for-Value Conversion.

Threat Level: Moderate-High (Negotiator Class)

Frank muttered, "You’ve gotta be kidding me. A memory merchant?"

Tullivar’s voice echoed across the arena. Smooth. Sharp. Polished like old glass.

"Frank Hagan. First of your thread to survive a Goblin Clause Collapse. Interesting."

Frank raised an eyebrow. "What, you read the trader news feed?"

Tullivar tilted his head. "I read all contracts before they form."

Frank stepped forward onto the glowing platform’s center ring.

A new scroll appeared.

Duel-Trade Rules:

• One item per round, escalating in rarity or narrative value.

• Emotional, magical, or symbolic weight applies.

• First to fail to meet or surpass previous bid forfeits.

• Winner gains claim to Wagered Archive: "Dimensional Trade System Core Overview."

• Loser receives minor system infraction penalty.*

Tullivar raised his staff. "The first offer is yours, Earthborn."

Frank grinned, flipping his wristband open.

"Alright, Tullivar. Let’s dance."

He reached into his inventory and pulled out a cracked, one-time-use Emergency Barter Token—half-useless, but forged during his first dungeon escape. It was tied to a memory of panic and creativity. Of survival.

He tossed it into the air. It glowed and hovered between them.

"Beat that."

The token Frank threw hung in midair, rotating slowly as the arena acknowledged its worth.

[Round One: Frank Hagan’s Offer – Emergency Barter Token]

Value: Survival-grade. Formed under dungeon threat. Emotional weight: 7.3. Authenticity: Verified.]

Tullivar’s eyes flickered behind his silver lenses.

He raised a hand and produced a black coin, etched with shifting numbers that flickered like dying memories.

"Vault-Coin," Tullivar intoned, "minted during the Collapse of Whisperpoint. Embedded with the final bid of a dying trader who chose silence over betrayal."

He let it drift into the air beside Frank’s token.

[Round One: Response – Vault-Coin of Whisperpoint]

Value: Regret-tier. Historical significance. Emotional weight: 6.8. Obscurity bonus applied.

Winner: Frank Hagan.

A ripple passed through the air as Frank’s token flared brighter.

Tullivar nodded. "Point to you."

Frank smirked. "You all like drama, huh? Alright—let’s turn up the volume."

He reached deeper into his inventory and pulled out a small orb sealed in crystal.

Item: Fractured Mana Lure

Origin: Failed dungeon run – repurposed trap component

Personal note: ’This almost killed me. Then I sold it. Twice.’

He tossed it forward. "Nearly exploded my eyebrows off. Still made a profit."

The orb hovered.

[Round Two: Fractured Mana Lure]

Value: Risk-forged. Combat-adapted. Emotional weight: 5.1. Profit aura: +2 multiplier.]

Tullivar stepped forward, calm as snowfall.

He lifted a ring—simple, tarnished—its surface flickering with faded names.

"An oath ring," he said. "Taken from a trade between two lovers who swore to never sell each other out. One broke it. The other kept the receipt."

He let it rise.

[Round Two: Broken Oath Ring]

Value: Betrayal-forged. Emotional core. Narrative value: 8.0.]

Winner: Tullivar.

Frank’s jaw tensed slightly. "Okay. That was rude and poetic."

"Your move," Tullivar replied.

Frank breathed in. Time to get serious.

He reached for something he hadn’t meant to use—an old, cracked charm pouch with a scrawled "Lilly’s First Trade" on the tag.

He held it in his palm for a second longer than usual.

"First time I taught someone else how to barter," Frank said quietly. "Kid was a mess. Traded a mana rock for a paperclip, and walked away proud."

He tossed it into the air.

The system paused.

[Round Three: Personal Archive – "Lilly’s First Trade" Charm]

Value: Teaching legacy. Growth weight: 9.1. Humanity score triggered.]

Tullivar’s lips twitched. A reaction.

He reached for his side pouch and pulled out a sheet of paper—burned at the corners, stamped with seven languages, and covered in blood.

"A trade treaty from a realm that no longer exists," he said softly. "The only surviving proof it mattered."

He lifted it reverently.

[Round Three: Trade Treaty of Eransal]

Value: Forgotten civilization. Memory value: 8.9. Cultural relic bonus applied.]

Winner: Frank Hagan.

The light over the arena pulsed once.

[Duel-Trade Status: Frank Hagan – 2 | Archivist Tullivar – 1]

Tullivar stepped back, studying Frank for a long, unreadable moment.

"You trade like someone who remembers why he started."

Frank shrugged. "You trade like someone who never stopped bleeding from it."

A flicker of something passed in Tullivar’s expression—then vanished.

He raised his staff.

"Final round," he said.

The arena quieted.

Even the floating ledgers stilled. No flashing glyphs, no bouncing valuations—just silence hanging like a held breath.

Frank’s fingers hovered over his inventory panel.

He had good stuff.

Rare stuff.

But nothing valuable enough to beat a historian with half the dead realm trade market in his bag.

And the system wasn’t asking for clever anymore.

It was asking for truth.

He exhaled.

Then—slowly—reached past his usual interface.

[Manual Entry: Memory-Linked Trade Artifact – "The Photo."]

A small holo-projection materialized in his hand.

A photo, curled and cracked at the corners, projected from a physical data shard. Grainy. Two people in a cluttered, barely stocked kiosk. Frank, younger. And a man behind him—older, broader, wearing the same smirk Frank wore now. A paper sign above them read: "Hagan & Son – Not Just Junk (Mostly Junk)."

Frank held it for a long second.

"Before the system. Before any of this," he said, voice low, "there was a shop. My dad’s. We sold broken radios and fake antiques and repainted junk we found on the street. It was nothing."

He held the photo up.

"But it was ours."

He let it go.

The image floated into the air.

[Final Trade: "Hagan & Son" Data Fragment]

Value: Legacy origin. Emotional saturation: 9.9. Unquantifiable narrative root. System Memory Triggered.]

Status: Rare – Unreplicable.]

Tullivar didn’t speak right away.

For the first time, his gaze softened behind the glass of his half-moon lenses.

"You traded your beginning," he said.

Frank gave a tired smile. "That’s how you move forward, right?"

Tullivar nodded slowly.

He stepped forward, raising one final item.

A sealed scroll. Simple. Bound in silver string.

"The original marketplace laws from my realm," he said quietly. "The only code I ever followed."

He let it float into the light.

The arena froze.

Evaluated.

Calculated.

Then blinked gold.

[Final Round: Winner – Frank Hagan]

[Duel-Trade Completed]

[Reward Unlocked: "Dimensional Trade System Core Overview"]

[Access Granted: Hidden Architecture File | Trader Tier Mark Recognized]

Frank exhaled, slowly.

The file hovered in front of him—sealed in system flame, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Tullivar stepped back. "Use it well, Trader."

Frank nodded once.

Then muttered under his breath, "Better be worth the damn photo."

The portal shimmered once behind him—and vanished.

Frank stepped back into his apartment, the city’s dull evening light spilling through the curtains. He dropped his coat by the door, boots thudding quietly against the floor.

He looked around.

"...Juliet?"

No answer.

His gaze scanned the room. Couch? Empty. No boots. No coffee mug. No sarcastic remark about "dimensional loot smugglers" waiting to pounce.

He stepped further in.

The note was taped to the fridge.

His heart sank a little before he even read it.

"You were gone. Again. No message this time. I needed to reset. Went back to my place. Don’t worry—I didn’t try to crack your weird tech again. I’m not that stupid twice.

P.S. You owe me an explanation. And possibly a drink.

—J."

Frank stood still, the hum of the city barely audible through the window.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I should’ve said something..."

But he hadn’t.

He’d handled Moggrel. He’d out-traded Tullivar. He now held access to a file most traders would kill to see.

And yet?

The room felt... wrong.

Not broken. Just missing something.

He turned toward the table, where the sealed Dimensional Core Overview file pulsed softly in the dim light still unopened.

"Let’s see what all the trouble was for," he muttered.

But even as he sat down to access it, the thrill of victory was already fading.