As if my offer had been a trigger, there were plenty of others now.
[GigaChadddd. Male index finger. 10 minutes. 5 points.]
[Kikiof. Female index finger. 5 minutes. 20 points.]
[Asfdklmfgqwen. Male hand. 10 minutes. 10 points.]
…
On top of those relatively static ones, new offers appeared from time to time. The good ones, which were free, usually disappeared very quickly, leaving only the paid ones. More types of body parts were also rented, with one user even trying to lend his feet. Still, it was clear people were cautious, and nothing crazy was being offered yet.
In these sorts of games, there were two ways of progressing. Quantity vs quality. If each successful transaction meant a small amount of experience points, then going for a lot of minor transactions could be a path forward. However, that would be forgetting about the social aspect of the game.
I instinctively understood that such a method would quickly lead to a dead end. In my opinion, the most critical factor was trust. Right now, no one knew anyone else, and trust was nonexistent. Would you leave a critical body part to untrustworthy strangers? Of course not. This meant that the way forward was to build trust with a limited number of users instead of going for anyone randomly. From then on, bigger transactions would slowly become possible, and greater experience points could be gained.
At least, this was the long-term strategy. For now, that didn’t matter too much. Understanding the program was the most critical part. I waited for a good offer to come, my fingers ready to act.
[Back Left Bouncer Pro. Female middle finger. 1 minute. Free.]
I clicked as soon as I saw that one appear. Fortunately, my reflexes from playing too many FPS and MOBA games helped me, and I was first in line.
[Your rental offer is being reviewed by the lender.]
[The lender accepted your offer. Starting the transaction.]
It didn’t take long. A mere five seconds later, it was accepted, and the finger appeared in front of me.
I came closer in order to inspect it. It was my first time staring at a woman’s finger from so close. Even though it was just a finger, I couldn’t deny it was a bit interesting. It was thinner than mine, with a longer nail. The nail was cleanly trimmed, forming an oval shape. It wasn’t polished, left in its natural state, unlike many of the popular girls at school, who seemed to treat it as an obligation more than a fashion choice.
Now, having been in the opposite seat, I understood what my previous renter had done wrong. They had waited too long to interact with my finger, making the sudden contact too sudden and unexpected. I wouldn’t make the same mistake.
Less than ten seconds after the finger appeared, I extended one of mine and touched it from above, just to see how the woman would react.
The finger instantly disappeared.
[The lender has temporarily halted the transaction. Please wait.]
Okay, maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was just surprising, no matter how short the waiting time is. It was understandable since one couldn’t see anything of what was happening on the other side.
Just like what happened with me, the finger came back quickly, moving up and down a little as if to say sorry to me. Now was the critical part. Frankly, I could technically do a lot of perverted stuff with that finger. Except for the most extreme ideas, most would only be on the level of silly pranks. However, I understood why my previous renter hadn’t done anything to mine, even though they had ten times more time than me.
Because a real person was on the other side, and this was reality. It meant that the principle of “don’t do anything to others that you don’t want them to do to you” still applied. Or at least, for now, when everyone was still timid. I was no different, especially since I wanted to establish trust.
As such, I limited my interaction to a few gentle pokes and let the countdown reach zero.
[Transaction complete. Lender satisfaction: 8%. Your satisfaction: 25%. You earn a very small amount of experience toward the next rank.]
Now that was precious information. I could earn experience points both in renting and lending, even if the transaction was free. It probably wasn’t much, but that was good to know either way.
Now that this was done, I checked the [Rent] section again, but saw there were fewer offers available. The number of people online dropped dramatically, too. It seemed like most people had experienced their first attempts with the program and were going to bed, satisfied with that.
I was also feeling more tired, and thought I should follow their lead. I waited a bit longer, did a few more exchanges when possible to earn a bit more experience, and finally stopped when most people went offline.
The next morning, my door opened with a bang.
“Wake up, Kolson.”
“Mhrrrr.”
I let out an indistinguishable groan, light suddenly pouring into my room. My lack of reaction annoyed my mother, who immediately removed the blankets covering me. The cool air from mid-autumn invaded my otherwise warm body, making me shiver uncomfortably.
“Ah… Don’t do that, Mom!”
“Hurry up and come eat breakfast. You have thirty seconds.”
“Ugh…”
I still felt tired from the previous night’s fun. I wished nothing more than to sleep a few more hours, or even a lot more hours, but knew better than to disobey my tyrannical mother. Taking off my blanket was only a mild warning. Anything else would be worse.
I reluctantly left my bed, making my way to the bathroom for a quick face wash before moving to the living room. There, my mother and father were already seated, eating breakfast, and looking a lot crisper than I ever could, especially in the morning.
“Morning…”
My vague greeting got me a smile from my father and a frown from my mother.