That wrapped up the Construction Shop.
Now there were two more shops left to explore: the Item Shop and the Castle Core Shop.
I decided to start with the Item Shop.
The moment I opened it, three more sub-shops appeared before me: Furniture, Food Shop, and Daily Equipment Shop.
I selected the Furniture Shop first, and a clean, neatly organized menu unfolded smoothly within my mind’s eye.
"Ooh, what’s this?"
I was genuinely impressed.
Damn!
I have to give the System some credit.
Look at that! The interface is actually slick and user-friendly! Every single item comes with a crisp little preview thumbnail and a clear price tag!
Unfortunately, the actual selection was rather stripped-down and basic.
[Wooden Bench – 10 Wood]
[Oak Table – 15 Wood]
[Torch Sconce – 2 Stone]
[Straw Bed – 20 Wood]
[Rug – 5 Wood]
[...]
There were only basic furniture options, which made me think that this shop was actually designed to furnish a commoner’s home rather than a grand castle.
Even the most expensive item was...
[Simple Throne – 50 Stone]
Basically, it was just a massive slab of plain stone that someone could sit on.
And right next to it was:
[Statue – 50 Stone]
(Additional stone required for custom options)
Yeah.
The shop was a little bit ass.
I could make a really nice catgirl statue if I had enough stones though...
That aside, there was one pretty cool feature that immediately caught my attention: the 3D furniture preview.
Whenever I selected an item, a perfect, hologram-like projection shimmered into existence right in the middle of my empty hall. It was semi-transparent and floated exactly where the actual piece would appear if I bought it.
I decided to experiment with the feature a little.
With a thought, I could rotate the furniture a full 360 degrees, zoom in to examine tiny details, and even toggle a faint placement grid over the floor and walls. It made it surprisingly easy to visualize exactly how each piece would fit into the space.
"Whoa! Very nice!"
"This is exactly like a simulation game, isn’t it?"
It reminded me of those games where people spent hours building and furnishing their dream homes.
For some reason, those games always had a surprisingly large number of players.
As someone who preferred action games and battles, I had never paid much attention to them. Still, I had to admit that the System had done a pretty good job with this feature.
That said, the shop wasn’t offering much that interested me right now, as I had no real need for furniture currently anyway.
With that, I moved on and opened the Food Shop.
The moment I did, one of my earlier questions was immediately answered.
"Aha!"
"So this is where I actually spend those mysterious Food points!"
[Castle Food Shop – Level 1]
[1 kg Fruit – 1 Food]
(Select from banana, apple, berries, or orange)
[2 kg Bread – 1 Food]
(Select from bagel, burger bun, or sandwich bread)
[1 kg Flour – 1 Food]
[1 kg Vegetables – 1 Food]
(Select from cabbage, carrot, tomato, spinach, etc.)
[1 kg Raw Meat – 3 Food]
(Select from chicken, pork, or beef)
[2 kg Potatoes – 1 Food]
(Choose between sweet or regular potatoes)
[10 Eggs – 1 Food]
(Regular size for chicken egg)
[10 Liters of Clean Water – 1 Food]
[2 Liters of Milk – 1 Food]
(Choose between goat milk or cow milk)
[...]
(Note: Fruits and vegetables purchased from the shop cannot be used for cultivation.)
Yeah, nothing fancy at all.
Even though the selection was fairly large, it consisted mostly of the bare-minimum ingredients needed to keep an ordinary human alive for another day. There was nothing resembling modern processed food, either.
No potato chips.
No candy.
No ice cream.
And for some reason, there wasn’t even an option for spices.
Still, it wasn’t as though I could eat any of it myself.
I couldn’t get hungry anymore, nor did I need food to survive or maintain my stone body.
But as I stared at the list of food, a sudden craving still hit me.
Damn... I really miss burgers, fries, chicken nuggets, and pizza.
Not being able to taste any of them anymore... yeah, that sucks.
Well... let’s not think about this for now.
I quickly closed the shop, fearing that my existential dread might return if I stared at those apples and chunks of meat for too long.
*****
Eventually, I moved on to the final category: the Daily Equipment Shop.
The moment I opened it, I was once again surprised.
But this time, it was for a completely different reason.
It wasn’t because the shop contained particularly powerful items or anything exciting.
It was because of the prices!
[Daily Equipment Shop]
- Wooden Club – 10 Points
- Wooden Hammer – 10 Points
- Wooden Shield – 15 Points
- Bone Sword – 25 Points
- Bone Dagger – 12 Points
I stared at the numbers in disbelief.
"What the hell?!"
"Ten Points for this club?! You’ve got to be kidding me!"