"The strongest trade isn't goods. It's memory.""The rarest resource isn't power. It's pain."—Emotive Guild Doctrine, Red Core Fragment
To unlock the Cradle of Forgotten Sound, I needed two more emotional imprints—real ones, powerful enough to resonate with the artifact's echo.
But neither I nor Yena had anything strong left to give.
So we went where emotion could be made: the Sentient Realms, to the underground bazaar known only as Pulsemarket.
Pulsemarket wasn't a place you could simply access.
You had to feel your way in.
A memory merchant named Drail, half-machine and half-soulbound, gave us the key:
"Walk through the Sea of Silent Bells on Nova-4. Cry into the air once. If the wind cries back, follow it."
It took three days to find the exact moment of silence.
And when the wind echoed Yena's soft sob, a door bloomed in midair, stitched with soundwaves and regret.
We stepped through.
Pulsemarket was built like a synaptic map—floating pathways connecting spheres of traded emotion. Memories hung like fog, drifting past your face. If you weren't tethered, you'd get lost forever in someone else's dream.
Traders here didn't speak in words.
They spoke in moments.
At the gate, a vendor approached.
No mouth. Just a shifting mask made of flame and glass.
"You wish to craft?" it whispered into our thoughts."Then bleed your truth."
I offered one of my remaining system-linked moments: the exact second I opened my first cosmic trade interface, heart pounding with hope.
REJECTED: "Too shallow.""We seek roots. Not sparks."
Yena stepped forward and submitted hers:
"The final time I heard my father's voice before he went into the tunnel."
ACCEPTED.
Her memory shimmered in the air—raw, unfiltered grief—and was molded by psychic artisans into a Grief Crystal, wrapped in resonance.
It pulsed like a heartbeat.
I needed one of my own.
But I had nothing left strong enough to qualify.
So I did something I wasn't proud of.
I bought someone else's emotion.
A faceless seller offered an old Terran imprint:
"Love, from a girl who gave her first poem to a boy who never read it."Cost: 9 C.U.Use: One-time Emotional Crafting
It was authentic. I could feel its ache. Small, quiet sorrow.
But I still hesitated.
"Isn't this cheating?" I asked.
Yena glanced at me. "You're buying a piece of someone's soul. Not cheating. Just expensive."
I bought it.
Crafted the imprint.
And Pulsemarket accepted.
With three Emotional Imprints:
"Hope, Carried in the Dark"
"The Final Voice in the Tunnel"
"Unread Poem of First Love"
We returned to the Fractured Relay.
The Cradle of Forgotten Sound—glowing like a beating sun—accepted our offering.
Artifact Acquired: Echoed Sphere – "Cradle of Forgotten Sound"Trait: Unlocks Passive Trade Bonus (Emotion Resonance +12%)Passive Effect: Traders who experience trade with you retain stronger emotional ties.Chain Link: 2 / ???C.U. Gained: +22.5 (Resonance Match Multiplier Bonus Applied)
We now held two artifacts. One physical. One emotional.
And the next chain node blinked awake.
Next Region Unlocked: "The Velvet Exchange"Location Type: Interstellar Trade CourtEntry Fee: 40 C.U.Warning: Ranked Traders Only (Minimum Rank: 3)
As we prepared to depart, a strange pulse passed through my system.
A message. Not from the trading platform.
From something... beneath it.
"You're not the first to use someone else's pain.""But be warned, Kai of Earth. The Chain remembers what you borrow.""And it always takes it back."
Current Status (Narrative Format):
Kai now holds 2 Artifacts in the Cosmic Chain. His balance stands at 70.3 C.U. and 91.7 Earth Credits, after successfully navigating the Pulsemarket and crafting emotional imprints. One imprint was forged from purchased sorrow—causing a ripple across the system and triggering the first sentient response from the Chain.
He now qualifies to enter the next region, the Velvet Exchange, but the fee is steep and entry is limited to Rank 3 traders. Meanwhile, whispers suggest that the Chain may be more alive than it appears… and that it remembers every emotional trade.
Kai stands at the threshold of power—but with it comes cost, risk, and a warning:
Not everything borrowed can be returned.
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— S.A.