Chapter 171: Paradise Mart Grand Opening Event (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 171: Paradise Mart Grand Opening Event (2)
I prepared a lot of events and systems for the grand opening of Paradise Mart.
If I were a customer, what would I want?
Honestly, unlike normal marts, Paradise Mart was practically pure profit.
There were no competitors, no cost of goods sold—it was a structure where my profits simply grew the more I cleared out the stock that came in every day.
So, the best strategy was to sell as many of these free supply goods as possible at the highest price.
Of course, this only worked if Coins actually had value to me in the end.
But since running the Safe Base and various other systems required a ton of Coins, selling in high volume was definitely the way to go.
In that sense, the timely appearance of the Large Mart was a stroke of genius.
It was fully automated, making it convenient for survivors to use, and it could even be linked with the delivery system.
Convenience.
It was a word that didn't fit a zombie apocalypse at all, but even in a world where inconvenience was the norm, people still sought convenience.
Why?
Because convenience directly correlated with safety.
To stay safe, things had to be convenient, and in this world, it was only natural to spend more money (Coins) for that.
Above all, by expanding into a Large Mart this time, I wasn't just selling food anymore; I introduced a wide variety of items.
I stocked meat, added Special Meals, and began selling various items, including survival supplies.
The things piled up in the Weapon Storage.
Even though I had predated most of them, there was still a massive stockpile left. Combined with the sheer volume coming in through the Super-large Supplies, the survival supplies in particular sold like hotcakes, just as I had expected.
They didn't even need any special options.
Sleeping bags made of high-quality material.
Windproof plastic sheeting.
Door locks.
For people living in makeshift bases built without any professional knowledge, just trying to survive day by day, every single one of these items was incredibly precious and necessary.
In a world like this, if you didn't have a single hammer at home, you usually had to risk going to a large warehouse just to farm one.
It's no wonder that in a zombie apocalypse, one of the top ten most frequently asked questions is where to find a sledgehammer.
Roads blocked by the apocalypse.
Locked doors.
Barricaded houses.
You need tools to break through them, and those are always the hardest to find when you actually need them.
I knew the items would sell well, but now I needed to win over the customers who came to buy them and give them a reason to keep coming back.
That's why I created the mileage system.
It was easiest to think of it as a store points concept.
Since the concept of Paradise Membership already existed, coming up with it wasn't hard.
Even without me designing a system from scratch, this was a method that countless companies had used in the real world before the apocalypse.
You give a percentage of the purchase back as points once they spend over a certain amount, encouraging customers to return.
I even linked it with the Cafeteria, Hospital, and Bathhouse inside the Large Mart so they could use their points there too.
The entire Large Mart ecosystem was integrated, giving Coin back whenever they spent Coins.
A base rate of 1%.
Normally, that would be stingy.
But that was for Level 1. For Level 2, the base rate was 5%.
This created a clear distinction between Level 1 and Level 2 users under the same shopping conditions. Since the benefits were five times greater, it gave Level 1 users a compelling reason to upgrade to Level 2.
Even if they didn't use the Cafeteria, Hospital, or Bathhouse.
Just for using the mart, paying an extra 50 Coins a week would quintuple their accumulation rate.
Granted, it was practically impossible to break even on those 50 Coins just by shopping at the mart...
...but having a justification was quite important.
Plus, during the 7-day grand opening event, I made it so everyone could get 10% back.
Since it was a 10x accumulation event for Level 1 and a 2x event for Level 2, there was absolutely no reason for them not to buy the items they needed right now.
Especially items with long shelf lives.
Or the weapons and armor they had been eyeing.
The Coins they had hoarded during the Zombie Rush came rolling right back to me.
On top of that, I added a free gift event.
Spend 200 Coins or more and receive a random free gift.
Since the gift was awarded for every 200 Coins spent, the threshold was quite high.
Most of the winning gifts were food items—mainly canned goods, which had a long shelf life and high calorie content, making them perfect for emergency rations.
There was also a low probability of getting survival supplies...
...and an extremely low probability of getting Level 2 weapons or items.
Best of all, just like a real supermarket giveaway, the grand prizes from 1st to 5th place were advertised in massive letters outside, and they included a Level 3 Backpack.
Business was a roaring success.
“Free delivery starting from 300 Coins! Please come take a look!”
The hunting squads had all come out today to hawk goods to people at the entrance.
Well, anyone who walked all the way here probably came to use the mart anyway.
But even those who just came to look around couldn't help but check their Coin balances once they heard about the prizes and events displayed outside.
Funnily enough, even Mi-sook had already emptied her pockets and walked out with a mountain of shopping bags.
“What a shame, I couldn't get the Level 3 Backpack... Hoho...”
Her reason was that she wanted to gift a Level 3 Backpack to Oh Yoon-seop, who was out patrolling, but unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side.
I had put up a total of three Level 3 Backpacks as the 1st-place prize, and five Level 2 Multi-Purpose Survival Belts for 2nd place.
The 3rd to 5th-place prizes consisted of various rare survival tools, and there was plenty of stock.
Between the one-week event period, the massive pile of goods, and the doubled Super-large Supplies, it looked like I could easily clear out the inventory.
“Hehe. This is seriously so convenient.”
Kim Ji-hee, who had gone to sleep right at the grand opening after spending about three days organizing the Large Warehouse and setting up the system, wore a haggard but blissful expression.
She was one of the people happiest about this change.
“I don't have to walk all the way to the warehouse anymore. Hehe... I can just teleport straight to the mart...”
One might think, how far could it possibly be? But anyone who has actually used a Teleportation Portal would never say that.
The feeling of personally experiencing teleportation—something everyone has imagined and wanted at least once—was indescribable.
The convenience of being able to travel even the shortest distance in the blink of an eye was beyond words.
Of course, this was the ultimate luxury, so the next Teleportation Portals I bought would have to be installed at the edges of Paradise or at truly critical transit points.
Well, for now, being able to move around comfortably inside my own home base was what mattered.
“Yippee! I'm off to work then.”
“Sure.”
Kim Ji-hee headed to the Hospital for the first time in a while.
Lately, her treatment cost had increased to 300 Coins, which had caused a slight dip in customers, but bookings were starting to fill up again. It seemed the mileage event was proving quite effective.
Though I doubted anyone would pay 300 Coins for treatment just for the points.
Looking at the bustling crowd in front of the mart, I was suddenly reminded of when I first started selling things in front of the studio apartment building.
We had grown incomparably larger since then, but why did it still carry that same nostalgic vibe?
The people who had swarmed the park to buy food.
The memories of coaxing them into signing up for Paradise Membership and selling to them at the Cafeteria and food stalls.
Honestly, it hadn't been that long, but it felt like we had come a very long way.
Along the way, I had somehow teamed up with the Delivery Faction to offer a delivery service.
The Left-hand Man was busy directing the delivery riders at their exclusive parking lot, moving around with great energy.
“How's it going?”
“Ah! You're here, boss! Yes, sir. I'm personally directing everything to make sure the deliveries go smoothly without any accidents.”
“And what exactly are you doing?”
“Pardon?”
“Does you standing here make any difference?”
“Ah, well, I remind them to drive safely every now and then...”
“Go make some deliveries yourself. The orders are piling up.”
“...Yes, sir.”
I had also built a large parking lot behind the spacious mart.
Since it wasn't an era where cars were driving around, the space was used by the Delivery Faction to park their motorcycles, ready to dispatch the moment a delivery order came in.
The delivery riders also looked cheerful.
“Thank you so much for taking care of us like this.”
For once, the Left-hand Man bowed to me with a serious expression.
Even though they didn't have Level 3 Membership, I was having the delivery riders take turns coming to work at the Large Mart through a special rider program.
They would wait here, head out when a delivery came in, get free meals at the Cafeteria when it was time to eat, and keep the delivery fees to buy whatever they needed. It was a sweet deal.
Fuel was the only issue. For now, they were refueling from two gas stations they had found, but they mentioned they would need to secure another gas station soon.
That seemed like a problem I would have to help them solve.
Now that the issues with the mart were mostly wrapped up, it was time to focus on expanding Paradise's membership.
“No fucking time to rest.”
From expanding the faction, to returning and executing those beggar bastards, to reorganizing everything because of the mart and warehouse that came with reaching Safe Base Level 11...
The whole appeal of this base-building playstyle was supposed to be that once you stabilized your base, you could relax, take leisurely strolls along the Han River, take naps, and waste time in a way that completely clashed with a zombie apocalypse. Yet, for some reason, my sleeping hours were shrinking by the day, and it felt like the time I slept the most was back when I first started.
Well, I guess it just meant things weren't fully stabilized yet.
Since the number of people wanting to enter Paradise had grown significantly, I rolled out a new system for them.
[The "Paradise Residency K" program has been added to the Paradise Membership system. You may submit your resume to apply for Level 3 Membership or Resident status.]