Chapter 168: The God of Divide and Rule (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 168: The God of Divide and Rule (2)
Everyone is a victim.
For Level 1, if it used to cost 115 to 120 Coins a week—calculated as 15 Coins for membership, one meal of rice or Ramen a day, and three 1.5-liter bottles of water a week—it now costs 220 Coins. That's nearly double.
Considering it had already increased to 15 Coins after the Zombie Rush, this is about a 50% hike, but compared to the very beginning, it's double.
It's the same story for Level 2. The fact that meals went from 10 Coins to 20 Coins is a massive blow.
Even with just one meal a day, they have to spend about 100 more Coins a week when including the membership fee. On top of that, if they want utility services, they have to fork over an additional 150 Coins.
And what if they get hurt and have to visit the hospital? It means they need to rake in at least 300 to 400 Coins a week.
But no one takes a bigger hit than the factions.
Originally, having just a single Level 2 Membership holder allowed an entire base to receive services. In other words, large, multi-person factions were the ones reaping the most benefits from the Level 2 Membership.
Since they bought food in bulk as a group rather than individually, they only needed one person to make the purchase, saving everyone else the cost of a membership.
Sure, the groups I've already subjugated and forced to buy memberships won't feel much of a difference, but the factions that had been freeloading off this system until now have just taken a direct hit from a bomb.
Of course, from my perspective, it's more accurate to say they've been getting away with highway robbery rather than "taking a loss."
But people always judge things by their own selfish standards.
They're probably furious and desperate for a scapegoat to vent their anger on.
Their target will be one of two things:
Me, the one who raised the prices.
Or the catalyst that forced me to raise them.
If they were being logical, the factions should be confronting me.
Why should we suffer because of other people's mistakes?
Why should the benefits we enjoyed be stripped away?
Logically speaking, I wouldn't really have a leg to stand on.
But by now, most of them have realized that I am not someone you can reason with.
Not since the moment I started doing whatever the fuck I wanted.
Having accepted this reality, the factions redirected their arrows elsewhere.
As the "beggars" slated for execution were rounded up over the course of a single day, the community gallery erupted into absolute chaos.
I get it.
Among the "beggars" I rounded up, there were certainly those who had caused major or minor disturbances in Paradise. But there were also those who had merely stood by and quietly agreed, or who had fled in a panic during the kidnapping incident. Some of them probably felt genuinely wronged.
But I didn't care. I dragged them all in regardless.
In any case, when it comes to retaliation or making an example out of people, drawing a fair line is never easy.
The ringleaders were already dead, so who was left to take the blame? Who was left to bear the brunt of the anger?
I was simply drawing a line for the bystanders.
As those people were executed and Paradise began its pseudo-strike, the gallery lost any semblance of a unified majority. Instead, it was filled with tense, mutual mudslinging.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say the majority had shifted.
The decision was already set in stone, but people realized they had to accept the new reality and protect what they still had.
– If those beggar bastards cause any more trouble, we might lose even this in the future.
There were counterarguments from those who had now become the minority, but...
– If he doesn't sell, he's the one losing out, right? Where else is he going to get Coins? Don't let them sway you. He's only selling because he profits from it anyway. Do you actually believe he's doing it for our sake?
Humans are creatures of habit and learning.
They had already seen that once the prices went up, they weren't coming back down.
What if they could no longer get utilities and food at all?
Sure, winning a game of chicken would be great, but if they lost, they would never again enjoy a semblance of civilized life in this apocalypse.
People hate change.
Adapting to unavoidable changes is hard enough, but losing privileges they once enjoyed?
For many, that was a fate worse than death.
In fact, several factions actually came to Paradise offering to stand guard.
I accepted them.
"Sure, go ahead. But if you enter any operating restaurants or shops and cause trouble, you'll face double the punishment. Don't create a hostile atmosphere outside either; any behavior that threatens visiting customers will result in execution. I won't stop you if you're doing this voluntarily, but don't expect any rewards for it."
"Of course. We are merely residents of Paradise who wish to continue using your services. We only want you to know that there are people who admire, trust, and follow Paradise. Oh, Owner of Paradise."
Not everyone expressed their desire to volunteer with such pure intentions, of course.
Those who offered to help only if they were given rewards or discounts on service fees were immediately turned away, and I canceled their memberships on the spot.
No one was gutsy enough to complain about it being too harsh while standing right in front of the Defense Turrets.
At any rate, the price hike for Paradise's membership was successfully wrapped up—at least from my perspective.
The beggars had learned firsthand what happened when they threw tantrums in Paradise.
There were now plenty of people patrolling the area, eager to catch and beat up any beggars causing trouble.
Most importantly, the cost of using services within the Safe Base had skyrocketed, bringing in a handsome profit of Coins.
In truth, food and meals were ultimately things I had to exchange my own resources for to get Coins.
No matter how much supply I received—enough to pile up even after the Paradise members and I ate our fill—food was a resource more precious than life itself in a zombie apocalypse. I'd rather throw it away than hand it out for free.
Besides, if I just expanded my warehouse, I could store it almost indefinitely, so there was no reason to throw it away either.
But utilities were different.
Utilities were a way to create something out of nothing and rake in Coins.
It was the pure power of my Cheat Mode.
Of course, I had to pay Coins based on usage, but it was similar to the concept of airplane seats.
The Coins consumed based on usage were practically fixed, but whatever came in was pure profit, determined entirely by the price I set.
Previously, I had practically given it away for free, yet it had still brought in a decent profit. Now, not only did medium and small factions have to pay, but even small parties had to purchase memberships for at least two to three people instead of just one to use the services. As a result, my average revenue shot up more than tenfold.
"I should have done this sooner."
A stepped approach is always the easiest for people to accept.
A little noise during the transition is nothing. If I had set the barrier to entry too high from the start, people wouldn't have even tried, and with too few users, the system would never have taken off.
Though, to be fair, it's hard for people to ignore electricity, water, and heating anyway.
It was a happy ending.
Above all, the greatest harvest was that I had established a solid foundation.
The perception was slowly taking root that Paradise's services were not mere welfare for the people, but a grace bestowed by a superior being upon his subordinates.
As time goes on, the number of people who blindly worship and follow Paradise will only grow.
Like Oh Yoon-seop.
Like the people coming to guard Paradise right now.
Only then will Paradise truly live up to its name.
Upgrading the Cheat Mode Safe Base past Level 10 to Level 11 required 10 points.
Normally, I would have cursed at how expensive it was, but perhaps because I had already spent 10 points on "Server System Administrator," I just shrugged and upgraded it.
The boost in effects goes without saying.
The basic effects all increased.
The Super-large Supply doubled, and the probability of various items arriving changed to "frequently."
Now, water, electricity, heating, powerful refrigeration, powerful freezing, sewage disposal, food waste processing, and trash crushing services were completely free. I guess this is what it takes to be Level 11.
With the fixed consumption costs completely gone, it had become a perfect, money-printing scam—creating something out of absolutely nothing.
And I no longer had to wait for specific dates for the Visiting Black Market Merchant.
I could build one "Visiting Black Market Merchant Lodging" for free.
I planned to find a suitable spot within the residential district to set it up.
The cost discount for "Safe Living Facilities" had increased significantly, and I had already experienced the system sophistication. But more than the construction discount, I really liked the 20% discount on "Transportation Facilities."
It felt like the time was coming to gradually add high-grade transportation facilities.
"From now on, for anything Level 10 or higher, I should probably just look at the asterisked parts."
The Cheat Mode was great and all, but because new options were added with every single level, by the time it reached Level 11, it felt like it took all day just to read through them.
The text alone looked to be over 700 characters. Who has the time to read this every single time it changes?
It would probably be easier to ignore minor tweaks to the basic effects and just focus on the brand-new options.
The Level 11 option was the Safe Base-Exclusive Large Warehouse (10★).
Since it was a whopping 10-star rating, my expectations were high.
Though, Kim Ji-hee would probably love it even more than I would.
Was the "supply" option, which had been a Level 1 Safe Base option, coming back in an upgraded form at Level 11?
With that thought in mind, I called for Kim Ji-hee, who would undoubtedly be the most thrilled.