Chapter 63: Paradise Membership
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 63: Paradise Membership
Before going to bed, I quickly spent my points.
2\. Safe Base (★★★★★★★)
\- Designates an area with a 1km radius as a Safe Base. Within the Safe Base, you can invest Coins to receive various benefits. You can invest Points to level it up.
\- Every day at 06:00, 12:00, and 18:00, a large food supply arrives at the Safe Base. Survival supplies are also delivered from time to time. High-grade equipment is occasionally supplied. Safe Base-exclusive items are occasionally supplied.
\- Water, electricity, and heating services are provided within the Safe Base. These can be activated using Coins. Costs are reduced by 90%.
\- Powerful refrigeration and freezing services are provided within the Safe Base. These can be activated using Coins. Costs are reduced by 90%.
(Powerful refrigeration and freezing reduce food spoilage by 100%.)
\- Sewage disposal, food waste processing, and trash crushing services are provided within the Safe Base. These can be activated using Coins. Costs are reduced by 80%.
\- A "Visiting Black Market Merchant (★★★)" will visit the Safe Base every Sunday from 06:00 to 23:59.
\- You can install "Safe Living Facilities" in the Safe Base using Coins and Points. Costs are reduced by 20%.
\- You can create a 'System' to manage the Safe Base.
The Visiting Black Market Merchant was coming tomorrow, and if I forgot and just went to sleep, a Level 2 merchant might show up.
I wasn't sure if the merchant's level mattered all that much, but there was bound to be some difference between Level 2 and Level 3, so it was better to upgrade beforehand.
They might offer better goods.
Or sell higher-level items.
Whatever the case.
Now that the Safe Base had reached Level 7, its range had expanded to a radius.
Just how big was a 1km radius?
When I searched using the all-powerful KakaoMap, it was large enough to cover almost all of Seongsu-dong.
"Now Seongsu-dong is truly becoming my territory."
I was so fucking moved.
Seongsu-dong.
Even though I lived near the heart of Seoul, my life back then had felt less like living and more like merely existing, just renting a body and breathing. But now, as the Zombie Apocalypse deployed its multi-server, I was swallowing up that land piece by piece.
At this rate, who knows if the entirety of Seoul might eventually become a Safe Base and turn into my land?
It was entirely possible.
After all, Levels 8, 9, and 10 were still left.
Judging by the range alone, it was more than feasible.
"Wow... fuck... 4 points..."
I let out a stream of curses once again upon seeing that Level 8 required a whopping 4 points.
Those bastards.
I know Cheat Mode is broken, but still.
They shouldn't hog so many points.
The worst-case scenario would be Level 9 requiring even more points, and Level 10 requiring even more than that.
Sure, points could be steadily gathered through quests, and considering the ones I'd cleared were only a fraction of what was out there, leveling up wasn't impossibly hard. But still...
It was just a bit disappointing.
I desperately wanted to level up faster and easier.
"Well, even this much is pretty good."
Honestly, compared to the actual Zombie Apocalypse, leveling up skills here was so easy that comparing the two felt like an insult.
Click, click, and points would appear. Another click, and the level would go up.
Compared to spending months living in zombie-infested Demonic Lairs just to raise my Combat Mode level, this was nothing but a cute little tantrum.
And the cost of services within the Safe Base had finally dropped by 90%.
Water, electricity, heating, powerful refrigeration, and freezing.
Now that I was applying it to the building across the street in addition to my own studio apartment building, the required costs had increased, yet the amount consumed was still only 1 Coin a day.
In fact, it had actually decreased compared to the beginning, so it felt like I could expand the range a bit more.
Of course, there was no reason to do that.
These essential resources had to be used strictly for control.
While it cost me barely a single Coin, to others, it was a resource so vital that I could easily charge them 10 Coins for it.
And then, the new option that appeared at Level 7.
"A system?"
I still hadn't grasped what a system for managing the Safe Base actually was.
Even looking at the description didn't help much.
\[The "System" is a device designed to efficiently manage the Safe Base.\]
\[The Host can configure the system as they wish.\]
\[Adjustments will be made to align with the Host's thoughts.\]
\[Modifications and additions can be made at any time.\]
It sounded like they were offering to DIY whatever I wanted, and a few ideas immediately came to mind.
Was it referring to the exact system I had been thinking I needed?
I decided to try creating a "System."
"Paradise Membership."
The system I wanted to create was actually something I had been planning to run manually.
If I charged people Coins per week and issued them membership cards, those users could enjoy the benefits of our Paradise Membership for a week.
But someone would have to manually check and calculate who paid their Coins and who was eligible for their weekly benefits until when.
That part was a hassle, and since I hadn't found the right person to handle it yet, I had only been keeping it in my head. To think something like this would pop up as if reading my mind.
Of course, it probably wasn't an option created by literally reading my mind.
Both the Safe Base and Base Invincibility were like that.
Seeing that there were separate Faction Quests, it was clear that the ultimate direction of base-building play was geared toward establishing a faction.
Whether I actually built a faction or not was entirely my choice, but these features were already pre-programmed, and they had simply unlocked now that I had reached Level 7.
"Pouring everything into the Safe Base was the right call."
I had spent a few points on the hunting-type Cheat Mode, but ever since leveling up started costing 2 points, I had dumped everything into the Safe Base. Perhaps that perfect timing was what allowed me to create this system now.
If I had been even slightly slower in gathering points, or if I had spent them elsewhere, I might have only unlocked this after going through hell to set up a manual, human-run system.
I might have consoled myself by saying "all's well that ends well as long as I got it eventually," but the time and cost poured into that manual setup would have been far from free.
I began to input the details of the "System" I had envisioned.
I didn't make it too complex right from the start.
It said I could freely modify and supplement it at any time.
Since this was a system solely for the "Host," I casually drafted a rough outline.
Once created, I could test it, run it, and if I didn't like it, I could adjust it based on feedback, adding or removing features as needed.
Once I understood the basics and started fleshing it out, I completely grasped how to operate the system.
Actually, there wasn't even anything to "grasp."
The vague description about automatically "adjusting" to my thoughts was incredibly broken.
"Wow..."
I had only muttered a few key terms vaguely, yet a highly plausible membership system was being constructed.
On top of that, for any ambiguous parts, a few options popped up, allowing me to configure them exactly how I wanted.
Seeing the final output, I couldn't help but marvel.
"Fuck... I love you, Cheat Mode... you crazy bastard..."
Ever since I received the Safe Base, I couldn't help but constantly praise it.
Because it lacked absolutely nothing.
True to its name as a Cheat Mode, it threw me exactly the options I needed at every level, as if showing me the absolute pinnacle of base-building play.
But up until now, it had only given me mods that already existed in the original Zombie Apocalypse.
Since they were just slightly upgraded versions, I had marveled when receiving them, but it wasn't mind-blowing.
It was more like, Ah, so this existed, or Yeah, this really fits well here.
That was only possible because of my extensive playtime in the Zombie Apocalypse and my experience installing and playing various mods.
But this... this was a fucking revolution.
Being able to create a system exactly as I wanted within the game.
If I were to turn my thoughts directly into a "mod," this is exactly what it would feel like.
To put it in my own terms, this Level 7 Safe Base option felt like a "Mod Maker."
Even though it was restricted to being a system for maintaining the Safe Base within its boundaries.
\[Paradise Membership\]
\- Grade: ★★★★★★★★★★
\- Maintenance Cost: 0 Coins / 1 Week
\- Membership Benefits: ALL
The message floated clearly in midair.
The amazing thing was, this wasn't the end of it.
"What do you think?"
"Whoa! Amazing!! Is this why you were muttering to yourself like that?"
"..."
When I showed it to Kim Ji-hee, who was rolling around next to me, she gasped in surprise too.
I could keep it visible only to myself, or display it to others.
It was a feature that absolutely had to exist.
After all, they had to show their membership to prove they belonged to Paradise.
The biggest advantage of this was that it was impossible to forge.
Maybe someone with a similar skill could forge it.
But it was highly unlikely.
"Let's throw out the last bait next week and start selling memberships right away."
It was the exact moment the direction of my faction was firmly decided.