The Innkeeper

Lex's first instinct would be to go to the Infinity Emporium. Although it hurt to admit it, as of now, he would be more likely to find higher quality gear there than anywhere at the Inn. The gift shop had long since stopped being able to keep up with Lex's needs. True to its name, its merchandise was more suited as gifts and trinkets rather than being actually useful.

Though, to be fair, it had been instrumental in Lex surviving the initial days of the Inn, so his fondness for it never dropped. But for his current needs it was not the right fit. The next best option was to shop from the Guild room, which is where Lex was heading.

"Hey Mary, isn't there any reasonable way I can convert MP into some other kind of currency? I'm rich as long as I'm inside the Inn, but as soon as I exit it, I'm dirt poor."

The suited Mary appeared in front of him looking slightly guilty as she scratched her head.

"This is a good question, and your authority is high enough to get most of the answer. The truth is, usually, each system has a progression path. Which means it will not give quests that are too difficult early on while most of the system functions are locked. As you complete the relatively easy quests, not only do you as the user grow stronger, but the system's functions expand in a systematic and cohesive way. But… as you already know, the system you got was badly damaged when you got it.

"As a result of interference from the damage, as well as the mismatch between the level of the original system, the proper level of the system in its damaged state as well as your own power as the user, you followed a very unusual path. What the system should have done was give you quests and rewards promoting you to spread the Inn only on your own planet first. Only when your growth potential was tapped out depending only on the resources of your own planet should it have spread to another one, and so on and so forth.

"So, originally, you should have been much better prepared by the time you actually had to deal with so many different planets, races, and all their associated intrigue."

"You didn't actually answer my question," said Lex, not bothering to focus on how he was ripped off. To begin with, the system was something he lucked out upon, not something he arduously worked for. Anything it gave him was a bonus he was never meant to originally have.

Besides, he always felt that the kind of quests he got were suicidal. To this day, he did not even dare to look at the quest that told him to make a connection to a 5 star planet called Dunya. The highest star rating he ever connected to was 2 stars, and it was the crystal realm! It had earth immortals in it. He did not even dare imagine what a 5 star world entailed. Would he see Dao lords around every corner?

Most importantly, the system itself was damaged. If it had been screwing with him on purpose, which he for so long suspected it was, then he would have been pissed. But if the system was so severely damaged, he couldn't really blame it.

Not to mention, he had long decided that his focus should be on getting stronger himself. No matter how useful or useless the system was, if he himself was strong then he would be able to face any and all challenges it threw his way. This was important, because based on all the remarks it gave him, a part of him still believed the system was just screwing with him.

"The answer is, most likely, but I cannot say for certain. All I can say is you're doing a good job. Keep getting stronger, and keep completing quests. That's the best way to unlock new features."

"So basically, there's a chance I won't always be poor. Got it."

Mary had assumed that Lex would have a bigger reaction to the news that the system had increased the difficulty he was facing due to its damaged state. After all, instead of giving him golden tickets that took him to other worlds in his starter pack, it could have given him other rewards that helped him develop the Inn only on earth first. That way he never would have had to fight zombies, or be chased by wolves, and encounter all the problems he had to face. So much could have gone differently.

But what she did not consider was that the way Lex saw it, he was having a much harder time now, sure. But because the system was on such a high level, it was much harder to get discovered by others. That was worth the trouble. After all, even a Dao lord was not able to discover the system in his soul even at close range. Sure, he had not scanned Lex, but that was good enough.

Or maybe Lex had just learned to stop complaining and make use of whatever his situation dictated.

He walked into the Guild room and spared no expense. He bought the best armor available, and then bought 10 more sets of it. After all, he could just store them in his storage bangle.

He bought emergency first aid kids, a few dozen guns, swords, spears, some goggles, gloves and honestly anything else that caught his fancy.

He had MP to spare, and his bangle had plenty of space. There was no harm in filling it up with anything useful that he might need. Basically, he just never wanted to end up nude in front of other people again.

Due to how strong his body was, it was inevitable that if he encountered strong attacks, his armor would be destroyed but he would be fine. Basically, he needed armor with the best defense - to keep him from ending up naked!