Chapter 116
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: Shop Control Briefing
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As I brought up shop control, one of Ha Dongseok's subordinates raised his hand.
"Um... could I ask one question?"
"Sure, go ahead. As many as you want. I'm not some narrow-minded old fogey."
"Then... if we take control of all the shops around here, won't we just end up making enemies for no reason? Is it really necessary?"
Ah, he seemed worried that what I was planning would create enemies.
Sure, doing something like this would definitely make fewer people see us in a good light.
It's only natural—no one would be happy if we controlled the shops that the system made for everyone to use.
"Yeah, it would make enemies. So what?"
"Pardon?"
"You know full well what happens to my enemies, right? I'm not merciful to them."
Ha Dongseok's subordinate nodded quietly in agreement. Aside from Sohee and Kang Jin, everyone here had clashed with me as enemies before and nearly died.
They knew exactly what I'd done to them back then.
If someone complains about why we're controlling the shops, I can just kill them on the spot right there. Then no one would dare voice complaints. I had no idea what he was so worried about.
In cases like this, showing one guy getting properly strung up and killed would shut everyone up for sure.
"Anyone else have questions? Ask away. We need to clear up any curiosities."
Several hands shot up immediately, as if they'd been waiting.
"Alright, you in the front—speak up."
"Yes! The boss already asked, but if a really strong enemy shows up, we don't know how to deal with it."
"Ah, you mean you're scared to fight for your lives? Fine, I'll give you weapons. Ones that can kill even the strongest foes in one shot."
What I had in mind was a button that, when pressed, fired a stored spell of mine.
I've made similar things in other worlds before, so it wouldn't be hard.
Maybe something that shoots a single Darknis Arrow.
Since others can't see my magic anyway, even if it fires a spell, they won't react properly. With Darknis Arrow's piercing power, it'd blow right through most Awakeners' heads.
"Ah, since I mentioned it, want a demo? Hey, you—hand over that pistol."
I pointed at the pistol one of the guys right in front of me had, and he handed it over.
I removed the magazine, then set it so pulling the trigger would fire a Darknis Arrow.
I also made it so the wielder could aim accurately with magic guidance toward the target.
"Here, take this and shoot that tree over there."
I handed the configured pistol back, and he aimed at a tree a short distance away and pulled the trigger as instructed.
A Darknis Arrow shot out in a flash, instantly punching a huge hole through the tree.
Everyone watching gasped in shock and stared at me. From their perspective, an empty pistol had pierced clean through a tree—no wonder they were stunned.
"I'll make a bunch of these weapons for you, so don't worry too much. No one survives a hit from these."
Seeing that, they finally started to relax a bit.
"Next question?"
"Yes, me! You said to control the shops, but how exactly?"
"Simple. Sohee's seen me do it, but you guys block the shop entrances so no one can get in. Last time I checked, you can't enter unless you're close. So block access entirely and only let people in who pay an entry fee."
"Entry fee? How much?"
"Hmm... last time I let people in for 100 coins each, but let's make it 200 this time. We've had a Zombie Wave since then, so everyone should have more coins now. Makes sense to raise the price, right?"
Plus, unlike last time, way more people would flock to the shops this round.
With more coins on hand, plenty would rush to buy skills and traits they missed out on before.
I was tempted to jack up the entry fee sky-high thinking of those guys, but then regular folks wouldn't even bother trying to enter. So I'd have to compromise on a fair price.
"Any more questions?"
Everyone must've been thinking the same things, since most of the raised hands were gone.
Just one hand remained.
"Alright, you're the last one. What's up?"
"If we're charging entry fees, do we charge people who want to re-enter the shop?"
"Is that even a question? Of course. If they don't like it, they should've bought what they needed the first time. Right?"
That seemed to wrap up the last of their questions.
"Okay, then for tomorrow's shop control, divide into teams and handle it yourselves. Leave pistols like the one earlier, and I'll mod them the same way. Come find me tomorrow morning."
"Got it. We'll divide into groups of three and send them to the shops."
"Good. You and Sohee don't need teams—you can control shops solo. No need to drag subordinates around at your level, right?"
Most foes wouldn't stand a chance against Sohee or Ha Dongseok anyway.
The only ones who might give them trouble were probably the raider leaders we met last time.
"So while we're controlling the shops, what will you be doing tomorrow?"
Sohee, who'd been listening quietly, asked me with a dissatisfied look.
"Me? I'll be hunting zombies that people ignore while they're obsessed with the shops. And I'll swing by the shops you're controlling, of course."
Once word got out about the shops, folks would forget zombie-slaying and swarm them.
If I cleaned up zombies during that time, it'd be a total win.
And while I ordered shop control, I wasn't planning to just goof off hunting zombies.
I'd circulate between shops to check on my crews. I hadn't mentioned it earlier, but I'd cast time-limited barriers on everyone.
They were my subordinates now—no way I'd let any die over something like this.
That said, I couldn't tell them the barriers made them invincible, or they'd lose all tension. Better to keep it quiet.
Couldn't have them slacking off too casually.
"Fine? Then no issue."
Sohee nodded, seemingly convinced.
"Figure out your teams and prep thoroughly for tomorrow. If I hear some punk broke through your shop lines... you're on your own~"
And with that, we wrapped up the shop control briefing the day before they opened.
Time passed, and we all gathered outside at 4 a.m. on Saturday when the shops were set to open.
It was pitch-black dawn before sunrise, but we'd woken early and were ready to bolt the moment shop locations popped up.
We waited for the shops to activate, and as the morning sun rose, a system window suddenly appeared before our eyes.
[The shop is now active.]
[Shops allow purchases of various items using coins and points.]
[Shops will remain active until 23:59:59 today, then vanish automatically.]
[Only one person may enter a shop at a time; multiple entry is impossible.]
[A 500m radius around each shop is designated a zombie-free safe zone.]
[Shop locations are marked for easy discovery by Awakeners.]
[Shop item lists and stock will reset next month.]
[Considering the power and water supply cutoff starting next Monday, shops are specially stocking generators and small water purifiers.]
[We hope for heavy traffic.]
This matched what we'd seen last time.
But there was new info added.
Extra items for sale?
Oh yeah, power and water were cutting out the day after tomorrow.
Others might not know, but I had steady solar power and my base manager trait for purifying drinking water, so I wasn't worried and had forgotten.
But selling them in shops?
This... people were definitely going to swarm the shops.
So yeah, control was a must.
Plus, depending on prices, if we couldn't control some shops, I could just buy out all the generators and purifiers myself.
Today was gonna be insanely busy.