章節 19: Omnirice is delicious
In the following weeks, the classes went smoothly. There were still many magical mishaps, but it wasn't as bad as before. Snow had complained to Mr. Jay in better safety measures for her and any other teachers that taught. Already, she heard a few horror stories, and luckily she ended up on the lighter side.
A new receptionist came to fill up her position temporarily as more teachers were hired to fill up the growing classes that they needed to teach. What was shocking was the high number of players that had appeared all over the world. Already there were over a surge of 100,000 thousand Players in one week in the entirety of Atlantis, and this wasn't the only country to have such a significant increase in Player populations.
Where all these Players were coming from, nobody knew. What was happening was the better question. Why was the sudden slew of Players increasing? This was the question that every country was curious about and didn't understand. Who was summoning them? Their Gods?
Many speculations went on between the subject and the majority all stated it was God's plan.
So far, seven large size beginner cities were established for the Players as they were all herded to one of the seven major cities around the world. Atlantis was one of them.
Snow was too busy running her usual Receptionist job and taking in new requests that were now becoming more like jobs for the Player themselves. A Larger boom of manual labor than monster hunting was applied to the job board. She felt like one of those special job finders as that was all she was doing.
The endless streams of people brought in new streams of revenue for the Dragon Express, especially the new markets that were being opened right next to each other. Already, massive blocks of buildings and streets were specially sanctioned for Hunters and Players to buy magical items and also any other Nonsleepers type activities.
Already, Snow saw the whole block of Dragon Express buildings on both sides were bought out by other magical shops and even converted into hotels. At the rate that it was going, she knew that there would be a large section of the city fully dedicated to the Player City. Though these days, she has been hearing from the Players calling it "Noobie Village."
Snow morning was a quick few lessons on magic, eventually giving her a few hours of free time. She headed out of the building after working out as she looked around. Already large groups of Players were out and about, shopping and doing their own little nerdy things that reminded her of a twenty-four-seven comic convention.
Everyone was fearless in wearing the over the top armor out in public as if it was a daily necessity. Snow was sure she saw a few Sleepers even thinking it was some kind of large scale nerd convention by the way these Players just waltz around with medieval-like armor. The more flamboyant and useless, the more expensive the piece, but the Players didn't mind and instead seem to flourish in this department.
Still, she saw a good handful who didn't go such extravagant route and chose a much more useful modern armor that made more sense.
Snow shook her head at the strangeness of the Players at hand. They were all wearing swords, bows, and only a handful in handguns. Handguns weren't always the best choice for monster hunting because the amount of magic stored in a bullet wasn't enough to create significant damage.
Monster hunting has brought the most income compared to the daily small scale jobs that the locals post out.
She even saw Mr. Jay, setting up a booth with a few other receptionists out in the front because of the tremendous workload that they had. They set up to do the quick ins and outs for new jobs that the players could take for themselves without having to go through the line and wait for hours. Mr. Jay had even changed the outfits criteria for the receptionist out front.
Snow shuddered. The thought of the new dress code made her want to hurl. It wasn't the simple, beautiful upscale look but the same corny look of the past. Which made her wonder what the hell Mr. Jay was thinking.
"Snow?" Mr. Jay looked up, locking eyes. "Snow!" He waved her down.
She groaned, cursing at herself for coming here to look for a couple of things. Quickly, she turned around. Pretending that she didn't see Mr. Jay.
"Snow! Wait!" Mr. Jay cursed. "I'll give you a large bonus!"
Snow froze. Unsure if she should let temptation lull her to her grave.
"1 gold for every hour!"
She didn't move, still deciding if she would turn around.
"3 gold every hour!"
Slowly, she raised up her fingers, showing five.
Mr. Jay groaned and gritted his teeth. "Fine, four!"
Snow turned around, placing her hips on her hand. "Five or no deal."
"Four gold and 20 silvers."
"No. Five."
"Four gold and 25 silvers."
Snow turned around and started to leave. She didn't want to waste her precious free time at work if Mr. Jay was going to keep being stingy.
"Fine! Fine! Fine! Five gold!"
"Okay, but I only work for half the day or less. I got dinner plans." Snow turned back around, smiling.
Mr. Jay was caught up in her scheme as he mumbled, but he couldn't do anything. There just weren't enough hands to help around these past weeks, making him grumble and complain even more as the days went by. Yet the new batch of receptionists weren't enough to keep with the busy hours.
"What do you need help with?" Snow walked over, watching him set up a new stall.
"Can you make some food?"
"Food?" Snow frowned. "You want me to cook?"
"Yes."
"Well, then I get free lunch and 30 percent of the income I have cooked."
"That's highway robbery!"
Snow raised up her fingers, stopping him from saying anything further. "Overtime pay plus food. If you starve me, I'll go and complain." She knew Mr. Jay didn't like to get complaints, especially from his coworkers.
"You got all the ingredients?" Snow grabbed the apron, picking up the frying pan and the wooden spoon. She slid the pan on top of the burning fire as she got ready to cook.
"Yes, I have it stocked up in the icebox behind you."
"Cool." She turned around and opened the box. A soft but heavy cold brushed against her skin, causing her to shiver. When she gazed in the box, she was amazed at the extensive amount of items inside. She knew that the icebox was a magical storage, and one of those cost a fortune, probably her whole savings.
"Do you have a plan for what you want to make?"
"Yes." She reached in, grabbing a bag of rice, vegetables, and then eggs. "I'll be making some
Omnirice."
"A what?"
"Something like rice topped with egg and veggies topped with ketchup that you put on last if you want too. It's quite delicious and simple."
"You're going to make breakfast food now?"
"Yes. Why not?"
"Maybe something for lunch?"
"Nope, it's what I feel like cooking up, or do you want to cook?"
"Pass." Mr. jay threw up his hands. "Cooking and I don't go hand in hand. I'll lose more money than gain." He grunted, heading back to what he was doing.
Snow was left to her own device. She started to cook her usual meals in large batches. An intense aromatic smell of boiled eggs and rice drifted in the air, bringing in hungry customers. The Players started to form a small line, waiting for her to finish.
Her own mouth watered, and her stomach grumbled. She barely ate any breakfast but an apple and a yogurt as she was a late eater.
The first batch of food, she took out a few scoops and placed it in her bowl that she had fished out. Taking a test bite, she chewed. A delicious taste of green onion, onion, and even a hint of spices erupted inside her mouth. She let out a satisfied sigh and smiled. Blinding the customers as they wanted to know how it tasted as well. They gulped in hunger.
"I would like two bowls, please." A young girl with a ponytail walked over in her priestess-like outfit.
She gazed at Snow's food in hunger as she smacked her lips a few times.
"It's 1 silver."
Rummaging a silver coin, the young girl handed it to her.
Snow took the silver coin and started to fill up two small boxes and placed the flatten egg on top. She then grabbed the ketchup bottle and handed it to her.
"I suggest you draw on your omnirice." Snow explained. "It makes food fun and delicious." She explained.
Enlightened, the young girl did exactly what she had said and drew a bunny with the ketchup as she handed it back to Snow.
"Thank you!" The girl hurried off with the hot food as she ran towards the nearest table.
Others who were watching were interested in the little exchange. They, too, wanted to draw on their food.
For the next couple of hours, Snow was busy. She felt tired serving and cooking, but she knew that the food that she served was delicious, and that made her happy. If Snow wasn't a receptionist, she would have worked as a chief, but it was only a hobby. She didn't have the will to cook for many hours for thousands of customers. Even now made her uncomfortable at the thought of continually cooking up more food.
Eventually, she went through over a few hundred dishes. She took off her apron to take a rest. She sat down, eating the half-eaten food.
She watched the busy streets of the Players, coming and going. Not too far away from her were others selling their own armors and even strange concoctions. She got up to take a look at the other Player's shop. It was a simple shop as they sat on a chair with their wares on top of a blanket. Crude pieces of armor, broken or old swords were present.
Pelts from Black Hyena's not far from the city walls as they were still the most plentiful. Even if they wanted to eradicate the Black Hyena population, they would spawn like rabbits in a couple of days. Such pests weren't easy to get rid of, but these creatures had many good uses.
For the newbie players, it was a "fun" prey to hunt to help tide them over for a quick cash.
Snow picked up a clear, but crude potion. It was bright red that reminded her of blood as the sludge-like substance slosh against the bottle as she gently shook it. The green hair Player looked up at her expectantly, hoping that she would buy it. What interested her the most was that some of the Players started creating low-quality potions.
Something of this nature wasn't easy to create, but the Players were adapting quickly as if they were all some kind of geniuses.
"What did you make this out of?" Snow asked she waited for the girl's answer.
With an excited voice, the girl answered. "The blood of the Red Rhino mixed with Green herbs and Red-blooded Chrysanthemums."
Nodding her head, she knew that the items that the Player used were spot-on on creating a very water down version of a healing potion. A bit crude, but passable though she wasn't sure if she wanted to try to drink the sludge-like a drink.
"Would you want to buy it? It's only 1 silver coin." The player asked, eyes twinkling at the thought of her buying it.
"No." Snow shook her head, placing it back down.
Then she saw a wooden angel statue the size of her palm. It was handcrafted as she could see the edges of the wood still a bit rough.
"How much would the figurine be?"
"Three copers." The player said, embarrassed. "It's my first test trial. I wasn't sure if I wanted to sell it honestly because of how lousy it looks."
"Here." Snow fished out some coppers and handed it to her. "I like it."
Pleased at her purchase, she took ahold of the figurine. It wasn't as bad as she had stated, but instead, it had its own little charm. The rough edges that made the flowing hair as the angel was blowing a trumpet to announce some kind of song. Even the beautifully crafted clothes that were intricately detailed impressed her.
Closing her eyes, she willed magic into the very palm of her hands.
The Players eyes became wide as she watched.
Snow enchanted the item, smiling at her skills. It was a pure good luck enchantment that took quite a chunk of magical energy. Compared to the other charms, luck magic wasn't as simple to create than the different magical enchantments.
The small figurine had a slight glow as it seemed to be amplified by the magic installed in it.
Snow thanked her and continued shopping.
Stalls upon stalls were opened up for business, mostly from many large companies, but the other half were privately owned by the Players themselves. Players shouted in the streets for buyers to buy their items.
"2 Silvers for an enchanted sword!"
"Selling two ear muffs made from the Horned Deer!"
"Come to my new shop, I am selling the best quality potions in this city!"
The loud rumbustious Players didn't mind that they were creating a noisy atmosphere. Instead, it brought different life into the city streets, which Snow strangely was glad for. No more was the streets boring and dull. The Players brought in a new unique culture that she had never felt and seen before.
It was as if she was living in a real-life game world.
Snow skimmed through the other wares from both the Players and the stores, buying up a few things here and there before she started to head back to her own stall.
Upon arrival, she saw a more extensive line waiting for her, wondering what was going on, she asked one of the Girl Players. "Is something up?"
"Yes, I heard that this stall has a special food that gives a bonus to our status."
"Bonus status?"
She nodded her head furiously. "Yea, one of the early buyers, said that they had a boost in their strength and magic status. I'm here to buy one for myself."
Snow was confused. She never heard of a special bonus status from selling her food. Honestly, she never noticed it until now.
"Are you sure you get bonuses? And not any other food around here?"
The Player, once again, excitedly nodded.
"Yep. Are you waiting in line too?"
Snow thought over what the girl had said. She realized the smell of an opportunity to make more money. She walked back to her stall, took out a chalkboard as she scribbled out the new price for her food.
All foods bought here have added status bonuses.
Fried Silver Fish
5 silver coins
OmnuRice
4 Silver Coins
Beef Fried Rice
4 Silver Coins
With a satisfied look, she placed the chalkboard in front of her stall. She smiled.
"Shops open!" She shouted. The Players all rushed in line, waiting for their turn.
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