Chapter 13: Chapter 13 : Renovation Completed

"What took you so long?"

A deep, cold voice sounded just as soon as the young man exited the elevator.

At that moment, he felt his entire body freeze and was scared out of his mind. The boss was angry, and whenever he was angry, someone had to pay. While still frightful, the young man managed to keep his calm as he responded while keeping his head low,

"I was being monitored by some bugs. It took me a while to get rid of them."

"Where's my money?" The owner of the deep voice changed the topic.

The young man looked even more nervous at this point but he knew that remaining quiet would cost him his life.

"It's as we suspected. Ramon escaped. What's more, he sold the building to someone else."

Crack.

At that moment, a sound interrupted the young man, and he went silent.

"Find him and get me my money."

"...what about the building?" The young man fearfully asked.

"What building? You mean my building?"

"I understand." The young man hurriedly replied.

How could he not understand what the boss meant by those words? Ramon might have thought he could play a trick and escape, but the man before him was someone not even the patrol corps could easily mess with.

"I'll take my leave now." Seeing as there was no command left for him, he bowed and raised his head as he prepared to leave. It was then that he noticed a corpse on the floor with the head bent in an impossible manner.

Recalling the sound he heard earlier, the young man realised what had happened and made his exit right way.

. . .

Unbeknownst to Lucas, undercurrents that could cost him his life were stirring, but the latter was engrossed in his reading. With a strong soul that bolstered his physical capabilities, not only were Lucas' senses sharp, but his reading speed and memory were better than they were in the past.

"Congratulations host. The store has officially been upgraded and is open to launch."

While Lucas was reading about the metals and materials in this new world and some other information that piqued his interest, the system's voice interrupted his focus. However, Lucas wasn't angry but was pleasantly surprised instead.

'Finally.'

Lucas smiled as he felt that his efforts were finally paying off.

It was then that he noticed that the interior of the room was quite different from how it was before. Probably because he was too engrossed in reading, Lucas had failed to notice when the room began to subtly change. It still retained the same background colour but the cracks and damages on the walls were gone. There were also some new patterns and posters that brightened up the place, as well as some new furnitures that didn't look out of place. Everything had changed so drastically yet quietly, that if Lucas didn't know what the room looked like before, he wouldn't even have noticed anything different.

This in turn raised his hopes, as he couldn't wait to see the complete renovations.

Departing the room, Lucas began to take note of the area and easily spotted the differences. The staircases were a different colour, the same with the floor tiling. The lighting was upgraded, and on one side of the wall was a rectangular tablet fixed on the wall. Lucas walked towards it and clicked on it, finding out it was a special kind of control device with monitoring capabilities. It seemed like the system had installed cameras around the building, and he could monitor the situation from this device.

Lucas walked downstairs and was amazed by what he saw. Compared to before, the ground floor looked more organised and impressive.

The old tables and chairs were replaced with new and exquisite ones. The layout wasn't that of a diner like before, but a waiting lobby with sofas and coffee tables arranged in a random yet mysteriously organized fashion. There were a few paintings on the wall and some plants at the corners of the lobby, adding a natural touch to the room. The waiting lobby was divided into two sides, but this wasn't obvious as the demarcation was nothing more than a few pillars with plant vases. As such, one could still easily peep into the other area.

There was a checkout counter by the wall, close to the stairs, for attending to customers. Behind the checkout was a door that led to a room at the back. Lucas walked through the door and entered the room, only to be greeted with an astonishing work area for a blacksmith. There was a furnace, a work bench, a rack filled with tools, a line of counters, and more. In summary, the room was quite spacious and very well equipped and ventilated. Even as he stood here, Lucas felt as if an air conditioner was turned on, but he saw none in here. Lucas had no doubt that even if he was working here, the room temperature wouldn't be as high as the furnace.

Lucas happened to glance behind and noticed that beside the door was a see-through window, however, he never noticed the window from the other side. He went back to the checkout and glanced at the wall before returning to the work-station with his eyebrows raised in surprise.

It turns out that wasn't a window but an LCD screen that displayed the lobby area of the store. It was just so thin, and the current angle displayed made it such that Lucas mistook it for a window.

Apart from the work-station, there was another room on the ground floor as well as a restroom.

"This is quite impressive, system. Good job."

So far, so good, Lucas was pleased with the renovations.

"Host hasn't explored the store entirely. The renovations cover the entire premises and not just this building." said the system.

"The entire premises?" Lucas was shocked, following which he left the building and checked out the entire premises. One should recall that along with the building he bought, there was also a smaller one by the side.

It wasn't until thirty minutes later that Lucas was done, and he had a grin on his face. The system's renovations were definitely of the highest standard, and what's more, it added an extra floor to the main building; a basement. The basement could only be accessed from the workshop, and what lay underneath was part of the reason for Lucas' grin.

Lucas walked outside and realised that the changes were indeed encompassing. Even the pavement and grass were fixed up. Behind the building, there was now a small flowerbed that was in the opposite direction of the patio structure.

As for the structure on the other side that looked like a patio, it was similarly renovated and became a building at this point, but wasn't on Lucas' mind at the moment. The system's renovations, apart from the main building, would not drastically change the contents of the other structures. While it looked like a storage room, there was a possibility that it might not be simple, but Lucas left that for another day. He was already satisfied with the renovations, and he couldn't wait to get to work right away.

"Before host begins, the system would like to give a word of advice." The plain voice of the system sounded in Lucas' ears after he re-entered the workstation.

"Oh, what's up?"

"The operating mechanism of the workstation has been modified to suit the host's familiarity, however, changes were still made to improve the integrity of the equipment and functionality. For instance, in the forge [1], you have to select your choice of flames, and this can be done through the push of a button or mental communication. For the moment, there are only two options; Crimson Dragon Flames and Blue Magma Flames. As for their functionality and differences, host will discover that on your own. Do keep in mind that certain flames would need to be fed when in operation.

"The counters are spatial storages with a maximum storage of five cubic metres and you can find some spare materials for starting up in them. Some of the equipment in the work-station are automatic, while others operate manually. Host can decide to utilise them through either actions or thoughts. There are a few other things to take notes on, but host will find out as you go on. As the training system, it is inappropriate if the system is to give you all related information from the start."

With each statement the system made, Lucas' eyes shone brighter as a smile appeared on his face. He wasn't bothered by the fact that he had to figure out the rest of the features but was pleased that the system gave him a starting investment. Lucas wasn't exactly financially buoyant unless he sold his Purple Iridium stock, which was both dumb and out of the equation, so this was helpful.

. . .

Lucas eventually got to work and lost track of time. Before he knew it, the day was coming to an end. It was at this moment that the spy, who had been monitoring the premises, decided to make his move.