Chapter 64: Membership Soft Launch
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 64: Membership Soft Launch
Not to toot my own horn, but I really did a great job making this.
You can tell just by how much Kim Ji-hee is raving about it.
"This is seriously amazing, Oppa. With this, we won't even need to hire people to manage things. You can do it all yourself, right?"
"Exactly."
"Even if we did hire people, we'd have to monitor them to make sure they aren't skimming off the top. But since this goes directly to you, there's no need for suspicion."
"Perfect."
"Seriously, what is your skill..."
Of course, one could raise doubts.
Someone might nitpick and say Kim Ji-hee is already mine to the bone, and that her dependency means she'd praise me no matter what I did.
So, I showed it to someone else too.
"...Is something like this really possible, Captain?"
It felt a bit strange hearing a man in his fifties call me "Captain," but since I spoke to him informally anyway, I decided to let the title slide.
"I told you. As long as you're inside this base, you'll be safe."
"...."
"Residents" were automatically registered for the membership, and their membership level was fixed at Level 4.
Membership levels went up to Level 5, and from Level 4 onward, it was impossible to level up using coins.
This made sense, as being a "Resident" was like a seal proving they were one of my people.
Granted, there weren't any extraordinary benefits to being Level 4 right now.
Just the basics: provided food, the option to choose weapons or armor, and discounts on any food purchased beyond the basic rations.
On top of that, I planned to build a Healing Bathhouse exclusively for "Residents" later on.
Either way, even if it was a bit bare-bones now, I intended to expand it gradually.
"It's absolutely perfect. This is truly the optimal system for managing a faction."
Oh Yoon-seop was also full of praise.
Even if I chalked it up to him being on my side, it really was a masterpiece no matter how many times I looked at it.
Since the system automatically calibrated and allowed for easy edits, it was bound to turn out well.
First, I called Oh Yoon-seop's family over.
"Give it a try."
"Oh my. Honey, an invitation arrived."
Level 4 Membership.
In other words, I had just added a benefit for "Residents" that granted them ten Level 1 Membership invitation tickets each.
I had debated between five and ten, but since I was handing them out anyway, I decided to go with ten.
"Residents" needed to have that kind of leverage for others to desperately want to be chosen by me and become "Residents" themselves.
But if I handed out too many, the "Residents" would become too powerful.
Moderation in all things.
This was actually an incredible benefit.
It wasn't just a one-time gift of ten tickets; as long as their Level 4 Membership benefits remained active—
meaning, unless they were stripped of their "Resident" status—they would permanently hold ten invitation tickets.
The people who received these invitations would have their Level 1 Memberships automatically renewed every week.
Unless the "Resident" revoked the invitation, it would auto-renew, and the fee would be waived.
Essentially, it was like having a weekly 50-coin voucher.
Take Oh Yoon-seop, for example. Even if he gave one to his daughter Oh Se-i and another to his wife, he'd still have eight left. He could hand them out to the people he brought along to save them 50 coins a week, or he could sell them to pocket a portion of those coins. He was free to use them however he pleased.
"Thank you... truly."
Oh Yoon-seop bowed deeply to express his gratitude.
His wife and daughter.
He had been deeply worried when I told him only he would be accepted as a "Resident," so he was incredibly grateful that I was looking out for them like this.
I hadn't added this feature specifically for him—it was just a carrot to dangle—but whether he misunderstood my intentions or not, it worked out in my favor.
[Membership Management]
\- (★★★★★) : 0 people
\- (★★★★) : 2 people
\- (★★★)
\- (★★)
\- (★)
Once they joined the membership, the list populated just like that.
The fascinating part was that once their names appeared under Membership Management, clicking on a name would bring up that user's status window.
In other words, joining the membership was like this:
"I will join."
Agreeing to the prompt to join was essentially consenting to hand over their personal information.
Of course, the person agreeing might not realize that.
But the information naturally flowed to me anyway.
Well, it didn't matter.
I was already looking at other people's information without them knowing.
This just meant I could do it remotely now.
"Next Sunday. Exactly one week from now, we're opening membership registration, so get ready."
New member events.
Promotions, and so on.
I already had a few ideas mapped out in my head.
I couldn't wait for next week.
Part of me wanted to start handing them out right this second, but...
An opening event had to be as grand as possible.
And it was always cooler to do it when a crowd had gathered.
---
The Visiting Black Market Merchant arrived.
He had a wider selection of goods today compared to last week.
"Congratulations on reaching Level 3. I have brought even more items and higher-quality goods today."
First, I checked the vaccines.
"Ah. You don't have many vaccines?"
"Vaccines are hard to come by... I will do my best to bring them as soon as I can get my hands on them."
There were only two Level 2 Vaccines.
But even that was enough.
Honestly, Level 1 Vaccines didn't mean much anyway.
Even if you got scratched, the infection rate was only 5%, and not many people would make a fuss and take a vaccine over a mere scratch.
Of course, if anyone actually got scratched, they wouldn't want to risk even that 5% chance, so they'd want to take a Level 1 Vaccine if they had one. The problem was simply that they didn't have any.
In any case, while a Level 1 Vaccine was useful to sell or use if you had it, its value wasn't nearly as high as a Level 2 one.
So, two Level 2 Vaccines were plenty for today.
I swept up various potions today as well and browsed the items.
Since I had more coins than last week, I could browse with a bit more leisure.
"Huh?"
Seeing a backpack in stock again this week, I assumed it was another Level 3 Backpack, but I was wrong.
[Large Capacity Lightweight Backpack (★★★★)]
\- 5m x 5m x 5m
\- A backpack with an internal expansion mode applied.
\- Allows you to view stored items in an inventory format.
\- A backpack with an automatic thermal mode applied.
\- Weight Reduction (★★★★) = 85%
"Wow."
I hadn't bought the Level 3 Backpack I saw last week because its weight reduction was only Level 1.
It cost 500 coins, and I felt it was overpriced for its performance.
The biggest reason was that I didn't have spare coins, but today was different.
Even with Level 1 weight reduction, I could have ripped off a user for more than its worth, so I picked it up intending to buy it anyway—only to find out it was a Level 4 Backpack.
A backpack with a whopping Level 4 Weight Reduction.
With internal dimensions of 5m x 5m x 5m, it could fit almost anything.
With an 85% weight reduction rate, even if I stuffed a 100kg load inside, it would only feel like 15kg.
It even had an automatic thermal mode, keeping any food placed inside warm.
This was an absolute must-have backpack for long-distance farming trips.
Naturally, it was expensive.
A Level 4 item.
It seemed to have appeared because the Visiting Black Market Merchant's level had risen to Level 3.
"2,500 coins..."
That was equivalent to a whopping 2,500 Level 1 Zombies.
Fortunately, the financial burden of making the purchase was significantly lighter than last week.
Part of it was that I had around 17,000 coins on hand, but knowing that my means of earning coins would soon multiply also helped put my mind at ease.
This wasn't a typical zombie apocalypse.
There were plenty of survivors, and the national system hadn't completely collapsed yet.
Since I didn't have to bust my ass grinding for coins all by myself, it was in my best interest to buy good items without hesitation.
Besides, just like last week, the Visiting Black Market Merchant's goods were cheap compared to their actual value.
"A Level 4 find!"
Scoring a Level 4 Backpack from a merchant instead of finding it in some dungeon.
Honestly, while it didn't give the same sense of accomplishment as farming it myself, it wasn't as if getting it so easily diminished the excitement.
When I put it on, it hugged my back perfectly.
I was already highly satisfied with the Level 7 Safe Base's "system" alone, but having Level 4 items appear from the Visiting Black Market Merchant was also amazing.
It was a bit of a shame that there weren't any other Level 4 items, but I wrapped up my shopping after picking up a few useful Level 1, 2, and 3 items.
I spent about 5,000 coins.
It was around the same as last week, maybe slightly less.
Even though I had plenty of coins left, there was no need to waste them on things I didn't need.
The Level 3 Backpack I used to carry was now displayed in the equipment storage.
"Oppa, can I use this?"
Kim Ji-hee asked, her eyes sparkling.
"What would you even use this for?"
As far as I could remember, Kim Ji-hee hadn't gone anywhere else since she arrived here.
She spent almost all her time indoors, and on the rare occasions she did go out, it was just pacing back and forth right in front of the house.
"I think I'll have plenty of uses for it in the future."
She looked a bit sheepish, probably realizing herself that backpacks were better suited for those going out on long-distance farming trips, which made her look quite cute.
But cute was cute.
"No. I'm going to sell this through the membership auction."
"Hmph. Okay."
Instead, I handed her the folding cart I had bought for her.
Having already set her sights high on the backpack, Kim Ji-hee took it with a look that said, How good could this really be?—only to instantly cover her mouth in shock.
"Whoaaaa!! Oppa!!!"
Kim Ji-hee leaped into my arms, hugging me tight.