Bab 9: The King's Gold Mine
"Man, that sure sucked for Yuka-chan." Tohru groaned aloud as she walked with Arata going outside of the school, rotating her neck as if relieving stress. "Being targeted by baddies on her first day."
"Gotta do something with being accepted in the team right after try-outs." The king grumbled, getting pissed off in Yukari's stead.
"Well, that's a little given for them to accept newbies to the team." Tohru made a disgusted face while thinking about those baddies as she called them. "Most team members had graduated last year, and only a few joined last semester. The team won't be able to play if they don't place newbies with good potential in the line-up right off the bat."
They both sighed.
"I hope they get punished when they do it again." Arata glared at the ground, making sure to watch the club on days he had no other appointments... which was only Thursday because of the Student Council. He only sighed at the misfortune, and the idea of skipping Ruby's day.
The first day of practice went downhill because of that cut on Yukari's lips. She went to see the nurse at the infirmary and was asked to go home instead of going back to the gym. Even her captain told her to let it heal first. The admirer sure was pissed, but she knew better than look like a rebel in front of the team. She just went home without Arata, because she asked him to continue watching the practice so he could tell her what happened after.
Moreover, Arata promised to watch Tohru during the shooting practice, having his jaw drop at her flawlessness in shooting. He began to wonder if she was some kind of basketball prodigy; even Yukari was inspired to join the team because of her after all. Then again, she was a newbie like most of the members, making her identity quite a secret even from the members.
Since he promised to go see her today and she skipped the celebration yesterday, they agreed to have dinner somewhere. It was already the 6 PM action time, and her request somewhat complemented Arata's plan for that late afternoon. Their destination was none other than the best restaurant in town.
Tohru stared at the luxurious-looking restaurant, squinting at its weird name: Imperial Kitchen with Seats. It was situated somewhere in the working district which gave it a good spot as a go-to place for hungry workers and salarymen. Despite its luxurious appearance of royal red and gold, there were items that are affordable for everyone like usual egg ramen worth 300 JPY as sold using game currency. She turned to Arata who seemed to be proud of showing it off.
"What am I looking at?"
"My restaurant."
Imperial Kitchen with Seats was a custom name for the restaurant that Arata owned in-game, serving as a player's gold mine by generating JPY from its sales that can be collected every reset of the server time. Arata's gold mine had reached level 10 at the end of his first playthrough so he was able to rake more than three hundred JPY almost every day after that. JPY was used in a lot of things in the game so investing in the restaurant was a must for starters.
[Your restaurant had a revenue of 305, 467 JPY! Collect now? Yes / No]
Arata ticked 'yes' in his mind.
[305, 467 JPY had been deposited in your bank account.]
[Imperial Kitchen with Seats can now be upgraded to level 11 for 5, 000, 000 JPY! Would you like to upgrade? Yes / No]
"What?" Arata mouthed, but his gasp attracted Tohru. He squinted at the name of the restaurant, from where a barrage of notifications came after his first upgrade.
It seemed that the restaurant's max level was raised due to the appearance of the six-star hotel in the town. Since the upgrades only needed JPY, he was able to upgrade it to level 15 fast, but at the expense of 75 M JPY, which was hard-earned cash through an entire playthrough or two. Arata sobbed inwardly as he instantly depleted almost half of his wealth.
[Imperial Kitchen with Seats is now MAX at level 15! Congratulations! Your restaurant can now be upgraded to have a Sky Dome for 25, 000, 000 JPY! Would you like to raise the building? Yes / No / What is a Sky Dome?]
[Sky Dome is the third floor extension of a restaurant which gives the customers the view of the sky above them. It would have a glass ceiling made of the sturdiest glass, and another metal dome protection for days the dome is not ideal. It will give a boost of 200, 000 JPY to sales. Would you like to raise the building? Yes / No]
[Congratulations! You have purchased Sky Dome! All upgrades will be applied upon reset!]
The king sniffed for a reason Tohru did not know, hurt by the fact that he just blew a lot of JPY in a few seconds. Then again, it would give him more or less 700, 000 JPY tomorrow and every day after that.
[You have unlocked the achievement: Business Tycoon 5! You will now receive 50% of your restaurant's revenue upon check-in! Congratulations!]
The notification poured oil at the dying flame in Arata's heart all of a sudden. The sweet pay-off of upgrading the business was now at hand. He suddenly sobbed in victory, making the girl shriek. He took a deep breath and stared at the banner for a few seconds.
The king then smiled with all of his glee at the girl who was weirded out by his unseen trial earlier. "Shall we?"
They went inside and saw the busy first floor of the restaurant. The servers seemed to be frozen as he walked in, only to collectively throw their heads down, greeting the restaurant's owner with a dangerous, sudden bow. Tohru gasped in shock, and Arata only laughed out and tried to ease the servers as they passed. He was horrified by their reactions as well.
The two went to the reception near the stairs going to the second level and next to the parking entrance. Arata surprised the receptionist like what happened to the servers, but she was more composed and went with the natural 'you didn't tell us you were coming, sir.' She looked for an available private room upstairs and booked them a room for two. The second floor was for the more luxurious type of customers; some businessmen even dine there for meetings, the tooltips told the king.
They were escorted to the room which was like a small, pretty room with a table and seats. There were racks at the side for water and ice. Tohru went straight to the window and drew the curtains lightly, seeing the nice view of the residential area. She looked further into the horizon and beckoned Arata to come.
"Over there. You see that blue house? That's ours!" Tohru chuckled. "We went so close to home; I thought you knew where I live."
"Eh? Weren't you living at the other side of the town? Near my area?" Arata remembered running into her that morning where she kicked her ex-boyfriend.
"I was staying with Keita by then. I just moved back with my mother yesterday." She turned to him with a rather mellow smile. "How about you, Acchan? Do you live with your parents?"
Since the interrogation phase started, Arata was sure this was an acquaintance scene despite the lack of notification. He returned her smile as he hummed. "Not really. My parents are working outside of Honshu right now so I have the whole house to myself. We were supposed to move in altogether, but I had to do it on my own before high school started."
Tohru twitched and chuckled. "That must be rough. Then again, you look so looked after since you got a pretty girlfriend and super nice best friend! Not to mention owning this whopping place!" The girl twirled past Arata and went to her seat. "Guess I'm not supposed to be worried at all."
"Worried? About me?" The king went to his seat as he asked. However, his question was met with silence as the girl only turned away and waited for a waiter to come.
A waiter did, and presented the menu to the two. Since it was Arata's restaurant, the dinner was on the house. Tohru whistled at the thought and ordered the most expensive she wanted; the king shook his head and just asked for the chef's recommendation. By the time the waiter left, he noticed Tohru was eying at him differently.
"What's wrong, Tohru? I mean, Hamada-sempai!" The king's tongue slipped, suddenly calling her with her name since that was how he addressed her anywhere else but to her face.
"Oh, sheesh, go on ahead. I don't mind being called Tohru. My parents called me Tohru. My friends call me Tohru." She grinned at him. "Come on. Call me Tohru, A-ra-ta."
Arata snuffed and chuckled as he shook his head. "Okay then." He regained his friendly smile. "So, Tohru, why were you staring at me? Is there something on my face?"
"Nothing really. That Attori girl just told me something interesting yesterday. Then again, I thought I shouldn't take it to heart." The girl hummed as she shrugged. She then brought her gaze back at his eyes. "Teasing aside, I'm glad to see you right now."
"Did something happen, Tohru?" He twitched a little, noticing the slight tameness in her gaze.
"I kind of see you around before... when I was staying with Keita. Such a very pitiful creature I must say." She cracked into a mocking chuckle, but used her hands to dismiss both her reaction and Arata's impending question. "Then, April came and you were suddenly different. I'm just curious what happened to you. For some reasons, I ended up enrolling in your school."
Arata squinted at the girl as she mentioned April, the first month of the game. He also leaned against his seat, thinking about what she meant. Then it hit him; she was talking about the opening of the game.
Player-kun Complex started with a guy who had nothing at all, until he ran into a group of drunkards trying to ruin the pretty bush in Lumen Park. Even though he got his ass beat, he managed to stop them from destroying it. The player later found out that the flower bush was the home of a fairy who got lost in the city; the fairy whose name was Usagi. As a payment for protecting her home, she bestowed the man the ability to attract women and gain talents to woo and pursue them.
The man hung his head and pressed a hand against his forehead. So that was why Tohru felt strange; he had seen her as a game sprite before, but the face was blackened so he failed to recall her. She was the girl who kicked him in the abdomen in the beginning sequence, where the game showed the protagonist was a freaking beansprout. She was that girl who called him a walking vegetable.
Arata started sobbing as he remembered. He lifted his face and raised his hands as if asking for an applause. "So, what do you think now? No more walking vegetable, am I?"
"Oho, you think so?" Tohru grinned. "You think you can take me now?" She flipped her hair back with a hand. "You might have a handsome face now, but that doesn't make you any stronger." She then chuckled and leaned closer, with her arms against the table. "If you're ready, meet me in the Lumen Park on days we don't have club practice. Sounds fun?"
[You have unlocked Affectionate Jerk Hamada Tohru as your Friend! You can now trigger Affection Scenes and Encounters with her. You can also give her gifts. Congratulations!]
"The hidden mode," Arata whispered under his chuckle. He then nodded at the girl. "Sure, sure. I'll fight you." Then again, he was sobbing because his Strength was stupid at the moment. He should try looking for accessories that give Strength gain if he wants to beat Tohru.
"I'm happy hitting a girl isn't an issue to you." She laughed a little.
The king looked at her with a bitter grin, hiding his sobs at his impending defeat if left alone. "I don't really want to hit you; but you want to see how strong I am so I don't want to disappoint you. Besides, I'm pretty sure you won't hold back. Let's just pretend your training self-defense with me."
"Self-defense training sounds fun." Tohru laughed louder, glancing at the water pitcher at the side of the room. "Sure, let's do it that way."
Arata then stood and fetched a glass of water for the two of them. Tohru twitched as he caught such a small gesture and thanked him for the water. They both drank from their glasses minutes before the appetizers came to their table.
The 6 PM action time was nearing the end as Tohru and Arata walked out of the restaurant, the good food filling their belly. The sky was already dark, and the date-able reached out her hand to the king as if asking for money.
"Well, you took me here. You're supposed to get me home. Cab fare please." The she-jerk grinned a foxy one towards the king. She moved her fingers towards her. "Come on, Mr. CEO. It's just a thousand."
"I can't believe you're extorting me." Arata squinted at the girl, but he did give her a thousand for her taxicab ride. He then smiled at her as she waited for a cab. "Take care, Tohru. See you tomorrow." He watched a cab come pick her up, and received a blown kiss from her before riding the back seat. The king chuckled and kept on waving as the cab rode away.
[You have unlocked the custom location, Imperial Kitchen with Seats! Cash shops are available at the ground floor: custom family restaurant (DS), and closed dining area (DS). Card shops are available at the second and third floors: Deluxe solo dining room (DS), first-class dining (G), and Sky Dome (DS).]
"Oh, the gold mine can be visited now?" Arata whispered to himself as the notification came.
[You have reached level 100! Congratulations! New magazines and room frames are now available! Please check the shop for more exciting items!]
"You gotta be kidding me!" The king blurted in the middle of the street and hurried to catch a cab home. He just knew the ceiling level just got higher.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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