章 75: Closing The Deal

....

"I'm providing the resources and the manpower, yet you just want me to only have 30%? At least make it fifty and we can call it a deal." Shiella objected, but she still lower her original price since Shin had some point.

Shin shook his head and rebutted to what Shiella had said. "I'm buying the materials from you. You are going to get some profit on it, right? And since I'm also providing the place and land, I can only offer you 40% at maximum, nothing more."

Shiella is still hesitating to accept the offer, but she can't take herself to bring it up yet.

Saint Heaven Kingdom is a neutral Kingdom, so there are a lot of players here. After all, different kind of Races can live in this place without being hindered by opposing functions. And there is also no Powerhouse Guild that can completely monopolize the resources of a neutral Kingdom yet, since those Powerhouses are always fighting with each other for those resources.

There are a lot of major forces fighting for hegemony in Saint Heaven Kingdom. After all, the location of this Kingdom in the Atlas World is quite special. The Kingdom have three neighboring Kingdoms on its North, and another two Empires on its West and South respectively. Its Eastern borders have costal Cities that are connected to the to Sea of Beginning, Forsaken Islands and lot more high level neutral maps. The potential of this Kingdom is endless in her prospective.

These are the main reasons why Shiella is eager to take a deep root in this Kingdom. And this Calderock Village is a very good strategic place for the start of her plans.

The Village have three leveling maps, the 'Dark Swamp', 'Shadow Forest', and 'Black Iron Mountain'. The first map was quite famous leveling spot during early stages of the game, now it become famous once again because of the Village. The other two maps are new grinding spots. And they can level in this place until they reach level 70. What's more, the 5-piece {Ruler's Equipment Set} dropped by the Monster Bosses here had become famous too.

There is also a new Open Dungeon few kilometers away from the Village, the 'Corrupted Ruins'. Players only need 30-40 minutes travel from the Village to that place using their mounts.

Shiella is in deep thought when she sudden think of something. She raise her head and look at Shin while saying. "Do have completed the blueprint plan for the promotion of the Village?"

Shin look at his sister suspiciously before throwing a bluff. "Actually, I'm currently in the middle of finishing it when you came."

"Can I see it?" said Shiella calmly.

The more Shin saw Shiella becoming calmer, the more tense he become. He want to refuse at first but he suddenly remembered something, so he show her his blueprint plan after.

Shiella study the whole blueprint plan for few minutes before asking Shin. "What are your plans for the vacant parts on the Northern side of the Town?"

Shin is still suspicious at her but he still tell her some of his plans. "I'm planning to build an Auction House beside the Office of Currency Exchange System. The Northwest Part of the Town is for the Battle Arena. The remaining parts are for the other Facilities that might become available after the promotion."

Shiella suddenly get a glimpse of hope after hearing that. "If you want to build a Battle Arena then that might become a problem. Battle Arenas on the other Towns are quite famous because of the high Mana density on their Towns. And that was mainly due to their Mana Towers, so do you also have Mana Towers of your own?"

'Sh*t! I don't know about that. I haven't did my research about that one yet.' Shin is cursing to himself inside after hearing that, but he still manage to hold onto his facade outside. He raise his head and replied at Shiella in a nonchalant manner. "So are you also going to offer me a couple of Mana Towers too?"

The corner of Shiella's mouth suddenly twitch after hearing that. "Do you think that Mana Tower Blueprints are like cabbages that can grow everywhere? What I want to say is I can help you to look for it."

"And in exchange, you are going to increase the shares that you want?" said Shin in a playful tone before adding after. "How about if I give you a piece of land inside the Town for your Trading Firm, instead?"

Shiella frown her brows while saying in a discontent manner. "Hey! You are offering the shares but I can't manage and have the land? What was that about?"

Shin cross his arms in front of his chest and said. "What I'm offering you is the profit shares of the Village/Town, you can get 40% on all the income that the Town is going to produce. But the land is still mine."

'What's a cunning b*st*rd!' Shiella look at the swordsman in front of her with a fierce glare.

Shin ignore her look and said calmly. "If you don't like the setup then we can still call this deal off."

If only this Village is not a strategic place for Shiella, then she was really tempted not to close the deal. But she can give up yet. "Forty Five! Give me the 45% of the Village profit shares! And I want you to not get involved in my Trading Firm once it is build. You can't also take any other Firm aside from mine. Or unless they are approved by me."

"As for the Guilds and Adventurer Teams that want to garrison in the Town, they also need to go through my assessment and approval before you can take them. Do my demands and I'll take your offer."

'*Sigh~*, Big Sis is really hard to deal with. But I guess I have no other choice but to accept her offer, or else I might lose a really good and reliable business partner.' thought Shin for a moment before agreeing to her. "Then let us form a contract."

Then the deal is finally close. Shin give Shiella the 45% of all the profit shares. He also give her one million gold coins for the promise materials, and together with it is a piece of land at the Northern part of the Town once it is promoted from being an Advance Village. He added that he will give her another two million if the construction cost exceeds their expected limits. But he is only going to give it after a month of the Town's opening.

Shiella on the other hand, will handle all the blueprints and manpower needed for the entire construction. She also promise that she will do her best to find a Mana Tower Blueprint as soon as possible, so that they can build a Battle Arena before the construction end.

...

The next day(In Game Time), the Calderock Village suddenly become close for all the players, causing to a huge ruckus for the players that want to enter the Village. But when they discovered that the Village is undergoing an massive reconstruction because of its promotion, the players outside become delighted.

If the Calderock Village is going to become promoted into a Basic Town, then that means it is going to have a more huge population capacity. They don't need to worry about the players' traffic for the time being.

What's more, it is also going have another advance facilities that are going to become available, especially the Teleportation Hall. They don't need to travel back and forth when they are farming outside. All they need to do now is to mount on their pets when they are going to grind, and just use a return scroll to get back at the Town.

And another one is the Adventurer's Alliance Office Building. It is a place where they can get a bunch of quest everyday, which also give them a good amount of EXP and some generous additional rewards.

....

Shin spent an entire week(In Game Time) on overseeing the construction. He also become surprise at the additional facilities that Shiella added for the Town. She added another 20 basic Inns and scattered them inside the Town, as for what she have upgraded? All the Blacksmith Shops, Alchemy Shops and Restaurants that the Calderock Village originally have were promoted into Intermediate Rank.

'As expected to Big Sis, she really is going to do her best just not to lose a single profit from her property. After all, this place is a massive gold mine for her. But it also looks like that I need to find some time to look for the two million gold coins for the promised additional payment in this coming month.' as Shin is overseeing the reconstruction, he suddenly received a report from one of Shiella's subordinates that they managed to find a Mana Tower Blueprint. And they are planning to build it immediately.

'She really is fast at dealing with these kind of things.' Shin approved it after some slight hesitation. Then the Architects under Shiella resume back to their works. At the same time, some of them started building the Mana Towers and Battle arena.

When the Mana Towers were constructed a vast amount of Mana were attracted towards the Town, making its Mana density to improve drastically. Shin is gotten a huge surprise after discovering that. He felt that his entire body suddenly become light, while all of his senses become even more sharper.

'So this the real reason why Battle Arenas become popular at the other Towns. While in this state, anyone can improve significantly after some battles against someone.' Thought Shin as he observe his body state more.

After some thought, Shin followed Shiella's suggestion to take only Mana Stones for the payment on training in Battle Arena.

Mana Stones are strategic resources that can be only drop from special types of monsters. It had many kinds of uses. It can be use as a power source for Mana Towers and other similar strategic things. It can also be use in Blacksmithing, Alchemy and other lifestyle classes. It varies from 20-70 gold coins depending on its type or size.

After confirming that everything that they needed are complete. Shin finally open the Calderock Town to the public.

And when the players saw the Town they were gotten a massive shock on their body.

"Is this still a Basic Town that just advance from being an Advance Village? Why do it looks like an Intermediate Town to me?"

"Yeah, it size is the only one that it is lacking. The rest is looks similar to some of the facilities from Intermediate Towns."

"Hey, look! There are four huge pillars standing in four parts of the City!"

"Yeah! Are they Mana Towers? So that is why the Mana density here is quite thick and pure."

"Just who is the Village Chief of the Calderock Village, to get his hands on those? Eh!? No. He should be a Town Mayor now."

"Whoa! Look! There is also a Battle Arena here! A Basic Town having a Battle Arena? The Town's Mayor should really be influential!"

Because of the massive sensation cause by the Calderock Town had reached the ears of the Higher-ups of the powerful Guilds, they release an order to investigate about this matter. Some even planning to raid the Town, so that they can capture it and take it as their own.

But when they discovered that the 'Hand of Midas' have a branch of their Trading Firm in the Town, then they started to get rid of the plan on raiding the Town. As for the idea of investigating who the Town's Mayor? They also started to consider to forget about it. Once the 'Hand of Midas' is involved, anything complex will become simple. Whoever this Town Mayor is, he is either one of the subordinates of 'Hand of Midas' or someone that is going to become a subordinate of the mysterious Guild Leader of this powerful Lifestyle Guild.

Well that is what they are thinking, and what they believe at the very least.

On the other hand, the other Powerhouse Guilds are going to observe a little more, before making their move.

...

コメント 15のコメント

投票

ギフトを贈る

章 76: Going To The Enemy's Turf

.....

Shin leave the managing of the City to Ribbit after confirming that everything are going well.

Now that he is free from the System curse, Shin is free to do anything that he wants. After restocking his inventory bag with HP and MP potions, Shin think on what to do next. "Alright! What should I do now? Hmm... Let's collect all my earnings in the Auction House first."

Shin rip a return scroll of Holy City and appear at the Teleportation Hall of that City. He immediately go to the Auction House to see how much money did he earn this time. And when he finally saw how much is it, he almost got a heart attack.

The the four set of six-piece level 75 silver rank {Avenger Warring Set} were sold at 30,000 gold coins each set. The six-piece level 90 gold rank {Avenger Warring Set} was sold for and total of 60,000 gold coins. And all the materials that got in Corrupted Ruins were sold at the price of 50,000 gold coins in total.

All in all, Shin earned 230,000 gold coins in total. He now felt that he become rich once again. But when he remembered that he need to buy a bunch of materials for the upgrade of his equipments, he suddenly become dejected. "*Sigh~*, Earning money in this game is quite easy, but it is also burning too much of money too."

Then Shin take out the Sub-Class quest scroll that he got from Faker. After some hesitation, Shin finally rip the scroll off, what followed it is a system notification and an additional quest that appeared at Shin's Quest Window.

*DING!*

System: You have initiated a Sub-Class Quest. Your Sub-Class will be determined base on you Primary Class.

------------------

Quest Name: Phantom Swordsman Inheritance

Quest Type: Special Sub-Class Quest

Quest Difficulty: Default

Quest Details: The Phantom Swordsman 'Kentas' was looking for a suitable successor for his skills and techniques.

Quest Condition: Go to Forbidden City and look for 'Kentas' to pass his trial and become a Phantom Swordsman.

Quest Progress(0%):

????

Quest Reward:

Phantom Swordsman Sub-Class

Quest Penalty:

-5 Levels

-----------------

"Oh... Why do I feel that this Quest is something special, and not as easy as it looks?" muttered Shin to himself as he walk along the streets of the Holy City.

Then Shin suddenly become troubled when he take another look at his new quest and saw that the place that he needs to visit is Forbidden City. "The Heck!? That place is the home turf of the HeadHunder Guild, right? Tsk, looks like this quest is going to become a really tricky one now."

After some hesitation, Shin decided to visit the Forbidden City regardless. He is wearing the [Nightwalker's Cloak] after all, and ordinary ocular skills can't see through this cloak, what's more if he added the [Nephilim's Gemini Mask] underneath the shadow of the hood, no one can see his details anymore.

And speaking of the mask, Shin upgraded this mask using the item that he got from the Royal Wearhouse. And its new stats are as follows.

------------------

Item Name: [ Nephilim's Gemini Mask ]

Item Type: Head Gear

Rank: Special (Race and Class Specific)

Stats:

+200 to all Stats

Details: This item is especially created for Nephilim, if a Nephilim equip this they can completely hide their identity and information to other beings.

Requirements:

Can only wear by a 'Slayer Nephilim'

Additional Ability:

1. Split Release: You can release 2 copies of yourself where each is wielding the power of the Sun and the Moon and have 100% of your Stats.

Note: Clones will last until they depleted their healths or until the user unsummoned them.

Cooldown: 6 hours

2. Spirit Fusion: Fuse the Sun Clone and Moon Clone with each other, creating an entirely new 'Eclipse Clone'. The fused clone will have 150% of your current stats and will have all of your skills, including your item skills.

Note: The Eclipse Clone will only last until its HP were depleted or until the duration is up.

Duration: 30 Minutes

Cooldown: Default

3. Spirit Possession: Fuse the Eclipse Clone with your body increasing all your Stats by 100% and Movement Speed by 150%.

Duration: 20 Minutes

Cooldown: Default

This item is bound to player 'Sickarius'

------------------

After making sure that he didn't forget about anything, Shin finally go to the Teleportation Hall and pay some gold coins to teleport himself to the Forbidden City.

Swoosh!

Shin appeared at the Teleportation Hall at the center of the City plaza of the Forbidden City. Shin observe the plaza for few more moments, and discovered that there are not many players in plaza unlike the one on the Holy City.

Aside from the players that are coming in and out of the Teleportation Hall, and the ones that are walking on the streets, there are no other players in the vicinity. There are even no vendors around.

Moments later, Shin finally know the reason why. Not far from the Teleportation Hall is a Guild Residence of the HeahHunter Guild. "Tsk, no wonder the independent players don't have the nerve to sell their stuffs in here. With this arrogant and unreasonable guys having their main turf here, I'm sure that those independent players are afraid that the items that they want to sell might get rob from them."

While thinking about this and that, Shin finally realize the main problem on his quest. "F*ck me! Now I know why I have a strange feeling when I saw the Quest! How and where should I start finding that 'Kentas' guy in this huge City?"

Shin was caught in a dilemma on what he is going to do next. Left with no choice, Shin is force to look blindly around the City. But after few hours finding, Shin gave that idea. "D*mn! The City is too big for me to look for whoever that guy is. And what's more, there are a lot of NPCs here."

As Shin is getting restless about his quest, he suddenly remembered about something. "Hmm... If what Arthur had said is right about this game being the new battlefield for the Superpowers of Real World, then there should be a lot of secret organizations here too. For example, some organizations that can sell different kinds of informations."

After some thought, Shin contacted one of his most reliable source of information inside the game.

Sickarius: Hey! Brother Lawless, do you know a place where I can buy different kind of informations.

The reply immediately came after.

Lawless: Oh! It is quite rare for you to contact me for some help. What? Is it urgent?

Sickarius: How about you just answer my question then?

Lawless: Tsk, you really are such a boring person. How about have some chat before asking some favors?

Sickarius: I just don't want to waste my time.

Lawless: Alright, Alright. What kind of information do you want to buy, so that I can recommend an organization that is more skilled at the area. (A smoking bear emoji)

Sickarius: I'm looking for an NPC, and maybe a special or a hidden one at that.

Lawless: Do you have any idea where you can find him or her? Any major direction might be helpful.

Sickarius: He is somewhere inside the Forbidden City.

Lawless: (A Surprised Dog Emoji) Are you in that place? Tsk, Going to your enemy's home turf alone? You really is someone that have some insane amount of guts!

Sickarius: You are going off the topic. (An Emoji of Irritated Dog)

Lawless: Boring~♪. You really is a party popper. Alright, since you are already in there, all you have to do is just find a restaurant called 'Secret Recipe'. Don't ask me where is it, I also don't know its exact location.

And when you arrive in that place, just say that you are going to order what's their specialty. If a staff approach you, just tap your right hand index finger on the table three times, then your transaction is going to take place.

Sickarius: Thanks.

After sending that last message, Shin make himself to appear offline on his friends' friend list, so that no one can chat or call him unless he contact them first.

Then Shin open the online Forums to look for the place where the so called 'Secret Recipe' Restaurant is located. But moments later, he suddenly slap his forehead because of his idiocy. "D*mn! What am I thinking? It is a secret organization, so it is impossible for me to see its information in online forums."

He then proceed to find all the Restaurants inside the Forbidden City instead. And sure enough he didn't find any restaurant that had a name of 'Secret Recipe' on the forums. But even though that was the case, Shin still mark all the locations of those restaurants on his personal map.

Shin spend a whole natural day(an In Game Time) to explore the whole City while visiting all the restaurants that are marked on his personal map one by one.

Shin walk out the last restaurant with a dejected expression. "*Sigh~*, It is the same. Maybe it is better if I just look for 'Kentas' on myself."

While Shin is walking along the street of the City, he suddenly walk pass an intersection with a secluded alley. He stop his tracks and turned his head to take a look on the alley way. He knitted his brows for a moment, before walking towards that alley.

After walking through the alley way, and when Shin arrived at the other end of the alley, he is greeted by a 2-storey building that is made of wood, which is not common sight on a prosperous place like Forbidden City.

What's more, Shin discovered that there are no players walking on this street at all. He look at his personal map to check if he is still in the City. 'Odd. This place is still part of the City, but why are no other players walking here?'

The wooden building is as simple as it is, there is no signboard hang on its front or any design around it. Shin walk towards the building as he observe it a little more.

Then he noticed that the main door is slightly open. Shin push the door slightly to take a peek inside, but looks like the person inside is aware of Shin's presence. "A costumer? It has been a while since we have gotten one."

After hearing that slightly aged voice, Shin walk through the door completely and entered the building. The interior of the building doesn't differ much from the design outside. What Shin only saw are rows of chairs and tables that are made of woods. And from the looks of it, this place is a restaurant too. But want attract Shin's attention is the signboard that is hang at the counter where an old man is sitting.

Shin take a random seat at the middle part of the room, before saying with a voice that is not too loud but not too soft either. "Can I order what is your specialty?"

Then the old man sitting in the counter suddenly become interested and said. "Oh.... So you really are a costumer."

.....

コメント 7のコメント

投票

ギフトを贈る