29: Chapter Twenty-Nine: 24-Hour Adult Grocery Store
Lin Feng ignored everyone's gazes and simply looked at the City Affairs Official calmly.
The NPC said, "Adventurer, you wish to purchase a shop that has not yet begun operations. This requires 2,000 Prestige Points. Do you wish to proceed with the purchase?"
"Confirm."
[Ding! Detected that player God Slayer's current Prestige Points: 2,400. Deduction conditions met!]
[Do you wish to consume 2,000 Prestige Points to purchase qualification for a shop in Luofeng City?]
"Confirm."
[Ding! Purchase successful! You have obtained the qualification to purchase a shop in Luofeng City!]
[Remaining Prestige Points: 250!]
The NPC official was slightly surprised, and his tone became a bit more polite, "Adventurer, twelve shops in Luofeng City are now open for you to choose from. Please select the shop space you desire."
"Shop No. 6," Lin Feng said indifferently.
"Ding~!" System prompt: Purchasing Shop No. 6 requires 1,000,000 Gold Coins. Do you wish to proceed?
... "How much?"
"1,000,000 Gold Coins?"
"Are you even listening to what you're saying?"
Lin Feng was stunned upon hearing this, freezing in place.
He mentally calculated the current exchange rate for Universal Creditsβ1 Gold Coin β 80 Universal Credits, 1,000,000 Gold Coins = 80,000,000 Universal Credits!
Over eighty million!
To buy a virtual shop?
The game has only been open for a few days; the total circulation of Gold Coins in the entire Blue Star Region might not even reach 1,000,000. Even if he had that much, he wouldn't waste money like this.
Even the surrounding players were frantically complaining about this outrageous price.
"Hahahaha! 1,000,000 Gold Coins? The developers really dare to ask for that!"
"I'm worth tens of millions, yet I can't afford a toilet in this game. This is just ridiculous..."
Lin Feng took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and his eyes regained their calm. He asked, "Excuse me, sir, besides buying it outright, are there any other ways to acquire a shop?"
The NPC official was silent for a moment before speaking slowly, "Adventurer, shops in prime locations are indeed difficult for ordinary people to buy directly. In addition to full-payment purchases, this city also offers a method of shop leasing."
Lin Feng's eyes flickered, "Leasing conditions?"
"The monthly rent is 2,000 Gold Coins; you only need to have the purchase qualification."
This was another option, and he happened to have just over 2,000 Gold Coins left in his inventory. He even suspected this damn system was doing it on purpose.
Lin Feng did a quick mental calculation: 2,000 Gold Coins, at the current exchange rate, is 160,000 Universal Credits to rent for a month.
Although it still wasn't cheap, compared to the astronomical price of 80,000,000 from before, it was already reasonable enough to be acceptable.
With his efficiency in farming monsters, he could earn the rent back in at most one day.
Without further hesitation, he immediately confirmed the shop lease!
The next second, a system prompt arrived: [Ding! Lease successful!] [You have obtained operating rights for Shop No. 6 in Luofeng City for 30 days!] [Unlocked: Shop Naming, Listing Items, Automatic Sales]
... Looking at the remaining hundred-plus Gold Coins in his inventory, Lin Feng felt a slight pang in his heart, and he immediately left this heartbreaking place.
He returned alone to Shop No. 6 on the central street of Luofeng City.
Lin Feng walked to the door, reached out to touch it, and the shop information immediately popped up.
[Shop No. 6] (Unnamed) Usage Rights: Player "God Slayer" Status: Leased (30 days) Area: 50γ‘
He clicked directly on shop naming, thought for a moment, and quickly entered a few characters: 24-Hour Grocery Store.
Simple and easy to understand, imposing yet elegant.
The next second, the sign for the prime Shop No. 6 lit up immediately, looking exceptionally eye-catching.
Just as he finished changing the shop name, he received a new prompt: [Ding! The shop is open for business; you need to hire an NPC to handle daily management, watch the shop, and manage the register, otherwise, it cannot operate automatically.]
So after renting the shop, he still has to hire a "working NPC."
However, that seemed fine; the boss couldn't possibly watch the shop himself.
He casually clicked on the NPC clerk recruitment interface, where the available options were clear at a glance.
[No. 001] (Apprentice Rank 1) Monthly Salary 100 Gold Coins, Ability: β Betrayal Index: β β β β β β β
[No. 002] (Apprentice Rank 9) Monthly Salary 200 Gold Coins, Ability: β β Betrayal Index: β β β β β β
[No. 003] (Planetary Rank 1) Monthly Salary 500 Gold Coins, Ability: β β β Betrayal Index: β β β β β
[No. 004] (Planetary Rank 9) Monthly Salary 1,000 Gold Coins, Ability: β β β β Betrayal Index: β β β β
... [No. 007] (Cosmic Rank 9) Monthly Salary 15,000 Gold Coins, Ability: β β β β β β β β β Betrayal Index: β
There were 7 different grades of NPCs in total; the lowest NPC grade was Apprentice Rank 1, and the highest was Cosmic Rank 9.
Lin Feng scanned through them, and immediately had an idea.
No. 004, Planetary Rank 9, was exactly the balance point between cost-effectiveness and safety.
With his current strength, he couldn't afford the expensive ones. Choosing an average one to make do with should be fine; as long as he paid the salary on time, there shouldn't be any issues...
"I'll choose No. 004."
But just as he clicked confirm, the system gave a prompt: [Ding! Insufficient Gold Coins, unable to hire.]
Lin Feng's mouth twitched violently. What a mess; the money he just earned had to be invested right back.
There was no other way; he had to take a shortcut and use real-life Universal Credits to buy Gold Coins directly at the in-game Trading House.
He immediately opened the Trading House and switched to the [Currency Exchange] interface.
Current exchange rate: 1 Gold Coin β 85 Universal Credits. He placed an order directly. Purchasing 1,000 Gold Coins for a total of 85,000 Universal Credits. In just a few seconds, the transaction was successful.
[Ding! Universal Credits successfully deducted] [You have obtained Gold Coins: 1,000] [Current total Gold Coins: 1,153]
Wool comes from the sheep's back; this time he truly understood.
The Gold Coins arrived instantly, and Lin Feng clicked hire again: [Ding! Do you wish to consume 1,000 Gold Coins to hire No. 004, a Planetary Rank 9 clerk?]
"Confirm."
[Ding! Hiring successful!] [You have obtained a dedicated shop assistant: 004]
The next moment, a very delicate-looking young girl appeared before him.
Lin Feng immediately checked the NPC's attribute panel.
Clerk: [004] (Can be named) [Ability: β β β β ] [Betrayal Index: β β β β Current Loyalty: Good] [Status: On duty, can watch the shop 24 hours a day, probability of betrayal exists, please soothe the clerk's emotions]
... The girl in front of him was wearing a green skirt; she looked delicate, had a quiet expression, and seemed very well-behaved.
"Hello, Boss." She bowed slightly and said softly.
Lin Feng thought for a moment and directly changed her name to something very attractive: "From now on, your name is Jin Lian."
"Okay, Boss..."
[Ding! Clerk naming successful,]
After all the twists and turns, his shop staff was finally set up. However, once he earned some money, he would need to hire at least two more clerks for a three-shift rotation.
Otherwise, it would be strange if an NPC didn't betray him after working 24 hours.
"Boss, this shop doesn't have any items for sale yet. May I go and rest?" Jin Lian reminded him very dutifully.
"Uh... I almost forgot the main business."
He took out a few white-grade equipment pieces and a Priest's necklace from his inventory, all of which were dropped by the BOSS he fought recently and hadn't been processed yet.
He kept 50 resurrection pills for himself and threw the rest up for listing.
Right now, there were no other heavy-hitting items, so he could only throw these up to fill the space and recoup some costs first.
He clicked on the shop listing interface; same old rules, equipment set to bidding mode, white-grade equipment bidding for 1 hour, professional equipment bidding for 4 hours.
... Each resurrection pill was 5 Gold Coins; although a bit pricey,
he didn't worry about not having rich buyers. When fighting BOSSes and elite monsters, ordinary healing potions couldn't keep up with the health loss; now was the time when instant recovery potions were in short supply.
"Hehe! If I don't fleece them hard now, I won't have such a good opportunity later."
For a moment, he felt like a big-time unscrupulous merchant... over 400 credits for one pill, just thinking about it made him... happy...
π Text To Speech
Listen while reading