The translucent blue runes etched along the store’s doorframe glowed with a cold, steady light, humming at a frequency that vibrated through the soles of Elias’s shoes.
Outside, the Void Hound thrashed in a frenzy of claws and teeth. Its massive, obsidian-scaled head slammed again and again against the invisible barrier separating the sidewalk from the threshold of Convenience Store #402. Each impact produced a shower of golden sparks that cascaded harmlessly down the glass, reflecting in the wide, terrified eyes of Mr. Henderson.
"It... it can't get in," Mr. Henderson whispered, his knees trembling so violently he had to drag himself back until his spine pressed against the bottom shelf of the snack aisle. "Elias, what is that wall? What did you do?"
"I bought the property, Mr. Henderson," Elias replied smoothly, though his own pulse was still hammering a steady rhythm in his ears. He extended a hand and helped the elderly man up, guiding him toward one of the plastic stools behind the checkout counter. "Stay behind the counter. For now, as long as we are inside this perimeter, that thing outside cannot reach us."
Elias turned his focus away from the monster and summoned his personal System window with a flick of his wrist.
The floating interface hovered in front of him, illuminated in soft sapphire hues. He needed information—immediate, actionable data. The world had turned into a nightmare in less than ten minutes. Monsters were tearing through downtown Ashford, vehicles were burning in the middle of Oak Street, and humanity had been thrown into a desperate fight for survival.
He opened his class detail sub-menu, searching for the tools he had been granted.
[CLASS: LAST MERCHANT (TIER 1)] [LEVEL: 1 (0/100 EXP)] [PRIMARY ATTRIBUTES:] - STRENGTH: 8 - AGILITY: 9 - ENDURANCE: 8 - PERCEPTION: 14 - INTELLIGENCE: 15 [ACTIVE SKILLS: NONE] [PASSIVE SKILLS:] - UNIVERSAL ACQUISITION (LV. 1) - SYSTEM LEDGER (LV. 1) [SYSTEM CURRENCY: 15.00 SC]
Elias tapped on the empty ACTIVE SKILLS tab. A prompt immediately flashed before his vision:
[NOTICE: NO ACTIVE SKILLS UNLOCKED.]
He frowned slightly, swiping to open the global SYSTEM MARKET ACCESS tab. If his class didn't give him starting combat abilities, surely he could purchase them using System Credits or unlock a beginner skill tree. He searched the market directory using mental commands: Combat Skills, Weapon Mastery, Offensive Spells.
A series of red error notifications cascaded down the screen in rapid succession:
[CLASS RESTRICTION WARNING] [SKILL: BASIC SWORDSMANSHIP (TIER 1) - REQUIRES CLASS: WARRIOR / BLADEMASTER. PURCHASE DENIED.] [SKILL: MINOR FIREBALL (TIER 1) - REQUIRES CLASS: ELEMENTALIST / MAGE. PURCHASE DENIED.] [SKILL: IRON BARK SHIELD (TIER 1) - REQUIRES CLASS: VANGUARD / GUARDIAN. PURCHASE DENIED.]
Elias tapped on a generic physical enhancement skill:
[SKILL: HEAVY STRIKE (TIER 1)] [REQUIREMENT: STRENGTH 15+] [COST: 250.00 SC] [COMPATIBILITY: LOW (LAST MERCHANT CLASS PENALTY: +100% SC COST)]
Elias closed the market tab, his brows furrowing in deep thought.
His attributes were below average for an athletic adult male. Strength 8 meant he was weaker than an ordinary construction worker or beat cop. Agility 9 meant he couldn't outrun a Tier 1 monster in the open street. And even if he somehow saved enough credits to buy a generic skill, the System slapped a massive hundred percent penalty on him because he didn't possess a combat-oriented class path.
"A merchant," Elias muttered under his breath, analyzing the cold arithmetic of his situation. "No weapon masteries. No offensive spells. No defensive shields. No stat boosts upon leveling that improve physical combat."
In a world where survival was dictated by the strength of one's blade or the potency of one's magic, he had unlocked a class that couldn't perform a single offensive action. To anyone else, it was the definition of useless—a death sentence packaged in floating blue light.
"Elias?" Mr. Henderson’s voice was quavering as he looked out the reinforced glass window. "Look out there... the police officer..."
Elias looked past the shimmering barrier toward the street.
Twenty yards away, the Vanguard police officer who had been fighting earlier was in dire straits. His heavy steel-colored riot shield had shattered into fading blue light, leaving his left arm bleeding profusely from a jagged tear along his forearm. He was staggering backward against the crushed hood of an overturned patrol sedan, breathing heavily.
Standing between the officer and the store was a second monster—a smaller, dog-sized hound with bone-like plates protruding from its spine. It circled the wounded officer, its tail whipping through the air like a spiked flail.
Above the officer's head, his status tag flickered:
[HUMAN SURVIVOR (OFFICER MARCUS REED) - CLASS: VANGUARD (TIER 1)] [HEALTH: 24/100 - STATUS: SEVERE BLEEDING, STAMINA EXHAUSTED] [SKILL: IRON BARK SHIELD (COOLDOWN: 34 SECONDS)]
"He's not going to make it thirty seconds," Elias observed quietly. His voice carried no panic, only the flat, objective tone of an analyst reading a failing spreadsheet.
This is an unapproved reproduction of a chapter the author publishes on NovelPhoenix, where support reaches their work.
"Can't you shoot fire at it or something?" Mr. Henderson pleaded, grabbing Elias’s arm. "You made that golden wall! You must have magic!"
"I don't have magic, Mr. Henderson," Elias said plainly, shaking his head. "I have fifteen credits and an inventory ledger. I can't throw a fireball any more than you can fly."
"Then we just watch him die?" Mr. Henderson choked back a sob.
Elias didn't answer immediately. His mind was working at maximum speed, dismantling the rules of the System he had observed over the past fifteen minutes.
The System operates on strict logic, Elias thought. Everything has a price, a value, and a set of conditions. Combat classes rely on physical output and mana expenditure. But what does my class rely on? Ownership. Domain. Evaluation.
He activated his passive skill, UNIVERSAL ACQUISITION, focusing his perception on the area outside the store's threshold.
A floating grid overlays his vision, highlighting various objects strewn across the blood-stained pavement:
[ABANDONED POLICE BATON (HARDENED POLYMER) - VALUE: 0.40 SC - STATUS: UNCLAIMED] [CRUSHED PATROL CAR (METAL SCRAP) - VALUE: 12.00 SC - STATUS: UNCLAIMED] [SEVERED VOID HOUND CLAW (TIER 1 MATERIAL) - VALUE: 1.10 SC - STATUS: UNCLAIMED] [STEEL TIRE IRON (HEAVY) - VALUE: 0.35 SC - STATUS: UNCLAIMED]
Elias stared at the tire iron lying five feet from the wounded officer's boots.
Universal Acquisition allows me to purchase unclaimed assets within my line of sight and domain range, Elias reasoned. If I buy an item, where does it go?
He targeted the tire iron.
[ITEM: STEEL TIRE IRON] [PURCHASE COST: 0.35 SC] [CONFIRM ACQUISITION?]
"Confirm," Elias whispered.
[0.35 SC DEDUCTED. REMAINING BALANCE: 14.65 SC.] [ITEM ACQUIRED: STEEL TIRE IRON HAS BEEN ADDED TO YOUR SYSTEM INVENTORY.]
Instantly, the steel tire iron lying on the asphalt outside vanished in a microscopic flicker of golden light. Simultaneously, a new icon appeared inside Elias’s mental inventory grid: [STEEL TIRE IRON x1].
Elias’s eyes brightened slightly. Instant spatial retrieval. Distance doesn't matter, as long as the item is unclaimed and within my perception range.
Outside, the small hound lunged at Officer Reed. The officer threw a desperate, staggering punch, but the beast dodged effortlessly, its sharp claws tearing into the officer's thigh. Reed collapsed onto one knee with a painful cry, his crimson blood pooling on the asphalt.
The main Void Hound, still barred by the store’s barrier, let out a throaty roar, turning its head toward the fallen officer as if realizing easier prey lay right behind it.
"Officer Reed!" Elias called out sharply through the narrow transom ventilation window above the double glass doors. His voice was firm, commanding, and stripped of all hesitation. "If you want to live, get to your feet and run toward this door! Right now!"
Officer Reed lifted his head, his vision blurred with pain and blood loss. He saw Elias standing inside the convenience store behind a shimmering curtain of blue runes. He didn't know who Elias was or how the store was intact, but survival instinct drowned out all confusion.
Reed forced himself up, driving his heels into the ground and sprinting toward the convenience store with every remaining ounce of strength.
The smaller hound hissed, leaping after him with frightening speed. It closed the gap in a fraction of a second, its jaws snapping inches from Reed’s back.
"Elias! It's right behind him!" Mr. Henderson yelled, hiding his eyes.
Elias stood motionless behind the glass door, his gaze fixed on the exact line where the sidewalk met the store's threshold.
[SYSTEM PROMPT: UNREGISTERED HUMAN ATTEMPTING ENTRY TO SAFE ZONE (TIER 1).] [PERMIT ACCESS?]
"Grant access to Officer Reed," Elias commanded in his mind. "Deny access to all hostile entities."
[AUTHORIZATION REGISTERED.]
Officer Reed crossed the threshold, stumbling blindly into the store. As his body passed through the blue runes, the golden energy parted like liquid silk, allowing him to crash heavily onto the clean linoleum floor inside.
A split second later, the pursuing hound leaped through the air directly behind him, jaws wide open.
BANG!
The beast didn't pass through. The moment its snout hit the threshold, the golden barrier hardened into solid kinetic force. The hound collided with the absolute domain at top speed. The impact sounded like a cannon shot—bones cracked instantly, and the monster’s skull buckled under the force of its own momentum against the immovable boundary.
[HOSTILE TIER 1 ENTITY DENIED ENTRY.] [DEFENSIVE KINETIC REJECTION APPLIED.] [TARGET HAS SUSTAINED FATAL CRANIAL TRAUMA.]
The hound crumpled to the ground outside the doorway, twitched violently once, and lay still in a widening puddle of dark, viscous blood.
Silent stillness settled over the convenience store.
Inside, Officer Reed lay gasping on his back, clutching his bleeding leg as he stared at the ceiling, unable to process what had just happened. Outside, the larger Void Hound backed away from the doorway, growling uncertainly at the corpse of its packmate before slinking back into the smoky haze of 4th Street.
Elias walked slowly toward the doorway. He looked down at the dead monster lying just inches beyond his property line.
A new System prompt hovered over the carcass:
[UNCLAIMED MONSTER CARCASS: VOID PUP (TIER 1)] [SALVAGE VALUE: 4.50 SC] [CLAIM & LIQUIDATE?]
Elias focused his mind on the prompt. "Liquidate."
A wave of golden light washed over the dead beast. In seconds, the fur, bones, and blood dissolved into glittering particles of light that flowed back into Elias's interface.
[CARCASS LIQUIDATED SUCCESSFUL.] [GAINED: +4.50 SYSTEM CREDITS.] [CURRENT BALANCE: 19.15 SC.]
Elias looked at his balance. He had started with 100 credits, spent 85 on the store, spent 0.35 on a tire iron, and now gained 4.50 from a monster that had killed itself against his wall. His balance was climbing again.
Officer Reed struggled to sit up, staring at Elias in utter shock. "What... what kind of class do you have, man? Are you an Abjurer? A High Paladin?"
Elias looked down at the wounded officer, then at Mr. Henderson, who was looking at him with a newfound sense of awe.
Slowly, Elias turned his gaze back out toward the ruined city of Ashford. Buildings were burning, sky rifts were glowing overhead, and thousands of people were desperately fighting for their lives with swords, shields, and fireballs.
"No," Elias said, his voice calm and resolute. "I don't have a combat class. I'm just a merchant."
Reed blinked, bewildered. "A merchant? But... you just killed a Tier 1 monster without touching it!"
"I didn't kill it. It violated my property boundary," Elias corrected smoothly, stepping back toward his register. "In this new world, combat classes will fight the monsters. They will bleed, break their weapons, run out of mana, and starve."
He gestured around the clean, lit interior of the store, where rows of bottled water, canned food, and first-aid kits sat quietly on the shelves under the protection of an impenetrable domain.
"And when they need a place to sleep without being eaten, when they need food to replenish their stamina, and when they need bandages for their wounds," Elias continued, a quiet, formidable light flashing in his eyes, "they will come to me. And they will pay whatever price I set."
The Last Merchant class had no swords. It had no spells. On paper, it was the most useless class in an apocalypse.
But as Elias Mercer looked out at the collapsing world, he knew the truth.
The warriors would rule the battlefield today. But tomorrow, the merchant would own the world.