Chapter 67: Membership Open
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 67: Membership Open
It would probably sound foreign to most people.
Ever since the zombie apocalypse broke out, a service like a "membership" was bound to feel like a strange concept.
In the past, people accumulated membership points whenever they bought something. Whether watching a movie or using a credit card, memberships were always a part of daily life. But not anymore.
Naturally, the word "membership" now carried a somewhat negative connotation.
"A weekly fee of 10 coins? You're saying we have to pay 40 coins a month just for a membership fee?"
Originally, I had planned to set the weekly fee at 50 coins when launching the membership.
But as I built the membership system and divided it into levels, I realized—either yesterday or the day before—that if I priced the Level 1 Membership at 50 coins a week, the sign-up rate would be much lower than I wanted.
The primary purpose of Level 1 is to give them a taste of the membership system.
To get a taste, they shouldn't feel burdened by the cost.
You might ask, Why not just give it to them for free then? But of course, that's out of the question.
Free things cheapen the product.
Regardless of the actual quality, when people see something offered for free, they assume there's a catch or that it's worthless.
Plus, it's a magnet for beggar bastards.
10 coins is just right.
Honestly, even 10 coins a week isn't a small amount for non-combatants. And even for combatants, it's not as negligible as one might think.
The benefits of a Level 1 Membership are also quite sparse.
Food purchases. The price is fixed, as I mentioned earlier. I plan to set up a separate food store in front of my studio apartment building.
That's it.
I'll add more if I think of anything, but for now, that's the extent of the Level 1 Membership benefits.
It might not seem like much of an incentive, but for those who regularly buy food, it's actually a decent deal.
Right now, buying just two instant rice bowls costs 30 coins. But if they sign up for the Level 1 Membership, they can spend 10 coins on the fee and buy two instant rice bowls for 20 coins.
It costs the exact same.
If they buy just one more item, they're already saving money.
Well, that's only a true saving if the actual cost of the instant rice is 10 coins, but whatever. As long as no one else undercuts me, I set the market price.
Furthermore, while the membership expires if they don't pay the coins after a week, their subscription history is saved. Former members can pull up the message at any time, pay 10 coins, and renew it.
In other words, I designed it so they can freely subscribe only when they need to buy food.
"Actually, that sounds pretty good..."
"Does this mean we can buy food whenever we want from now on?"
"Only when there's a staff member at the food store. And there might be times we run out of stock, though that's highly unlikely."
Once they bite the Level 1 bait, the fish will naturally look toward Level 2.
"Level 2 Membership is 40 coins a week... What could possibly be in it..."
And then, they see it.
"A bathhouse pass? There's a bathhouse? A 3-hour pass for 10 coins?"
Words they thought they would never see again in their lifetimes.
"Is it even possible to run a bathhouse right now?"
Of course, they wouldn't believe it. But they have nothing to lose by trying.
Once they experience the bathhouse, they won't be able to cancel their membership.
And that's not all.
No matter how great a bathhouse is, looking strictly at the coins, it's not an absolute necessity. You won't die from washing with cold water. In a zombie apocalypse, a bathhouse is a luxury.
The core benefit of Level 2 is access to the electricity, water, and heating services provided by my Safe Base effects.
"We can use running water? At home?"
"Wait... wasn't the power cut off?"
In most places, the power has been out for ages. I'd heard there were still some areas with electricity, but with utility poles collapsing and buildings being destroyed left and right, it was weirder for power to actually be running.
Most people lived in pitch darkness, and even if tap water ran, they had to boil it before drinking. Heating was... well, out of the question.
And I was selling those very things for coins.
Electricity and water for 10 coins a week. Heating for 15 coins a week.
Once they pay for the membership, anyone within Seongsu-dong can designate their own base and have those systems routed directly to it.
Of course, there is room for exploitation. For instance, one person could buy the membership and electricity, and then share it with multiple people or an entire group.
I decided to let that slide.
Whether they use a lot or share it, it doesn't hurt me at all. The coins rolling in will far outweigh the usage or coverage anyway.
Besides, looking at the bigger picture rather than obsessing over minor details and being overly strict is more my style.
"...Hospital access? We can get treated by a Level 4 healer? 100 coins per visit?"
Well, I threw this in like a highway robber, but surprisingly, it seems like something that will do quite well.
Healing skills are rare. Especially at Level 4, the effects are better than one might think. Haven't I already seen a severed arm get reattached on the spot?
In this world, Modes are superpowers.
Doctors treat patients with knowledge, but Users treat them with skills. Most wounds would be easily resolved by Kim Ji-hee's [Noona's Hands Are Healing Hands].
This gives the idle Kim Ji-hee a chance to earn coins and work at the same time.
And that wasn't all.
Oh Yoon-seop's wife, Lee Mi-sook.
I had been so distracted by Oh Yoon-seop that I hadn't paid much attention to her, but she was an incredibly talented individual.
`[Lee Mi-sook]`
`- Age: 45`
`- Mode: Cooking Expert (★★★★★★★), Dexterity (★★★★★)`
I mean, the husband is decked out in combat-related Modes with a Level 6 combat skill, but the wife has Level 7 Cooking?
When they said she was in charge of cooking at the Seongsu Multiplex, I just assumed she did it because she was a housewife who knew how to cook. Who would have guessed she was actually managing meals for 200 people?
It would be a waste to let Lee Mi-sook's talent go to waste, so I decided to open a restaurant as well.
In any case, the large supplies bring in massive amounts of ingredients, including rice.
Korean, Chinese, Western.
I decided to put Lee Mi-sook, a former food service industry worker who knew how to cook almost anything, in charge of the restaurant. I told her to just look at the ingredients and make whatever she wanted.
Two meals a day, styled like a home-style diner serving set meals.
It will run on a "shut up and eat whatever the hell is served" basis for 10 coins.
It's far more efficient and filling than buying a single instant rice bowl for 10 coins. So, once they get a taste of the Level 1 Membership, they'll find the 40-coin investment for Level 2 more than worth it.
"Are you going to do it?"
"I have to... I need to buy food..."
"The Level 2 Membership actually looks pretty good too."
"Can we even make 40 coins a week, though?"
"If we hunt zombies like crazy..."
"To get 40 coins, we'd have to go out four days a week and kill ten zombies a day..."
The final flash sale was a massive success. Not only did a ton of people buy food, but they also learned about the membership.
And I had also prepared a hook for those who felt burdened by the cost.
"Alright. Those who bought over 50 coins worth of goods should have received one business card for every 50 coins spent. If you use this to get someone else to sign up for a membership, the referrer gets a free one-week extension. Keep that in mind."
This Paradise Membership was the culmination of every bit of marketing knowledge I possessed.
Will it work?
I wondered, but as soon as I announced this, the number of people buying over 50 coins worth of food surged. Many who were going to buy 80 coins worth of food ended up buying a bit more to reach 100 coins just to get two business cards.
Couldn't this be considered a resounding success?
"Just so you know, the deal where you get one referral business card for every 50 coins spent still applies when you buy food with a Level 1 Membership."
In essence, I was creating value out of thin air.
Food drops every single day, and I turn it into coins. Giving a 10% or 20% discount is effortless for me. If I can act generous while reeling in even more suckers, it's an incredibly profitable business.
Word must have spread fast, because people kept flocking in even after the sun went down.
I had brought quite a lot of food, but it had sold out long ago. Yet, the stream of people coming to get business cards never stopped, so I had to send some of my people back to raid the food warehouse for more stock.
Even if we ran completely dry, I couldn't let this momentum slip away.
You have to row when the tide is in.
Selling food was basically duplicating coins. There was absolutely no reason to stop.
By the time it passed 10 PM, I packed up the remaining food and headed back, leaving behind the beggar bastards who were smacking their lips in disappointment.
The number of Level 1 Membership subscribers alone exceeded 100.
And that was just from today.
If this was the response before I had even proven anything, the future was looking incredibly bright.
Now that I had secured a steady stream of coins, it was time to make a plan to raise my Safe Base level to 10, which wasn't far off.
"Are there really three small factions in Seongsu-dong?"
Although it was a small neighborhood with a radius of about 1 kilometer, the population density was high, so I figured there must be plenty of small factions I didn't know about.
If I took my time looking around, I was bound to run into them.
Oh Yoon-seop provided some help on that front.
"How about heading toward Seongsu Station? I heard there's a faction that has set up camp and is active near the station."
"Really?"
That was good information.
`[Event Quest 3]`
`- Clear Seongsu Station (★★★) and seal off the threatening station entrances.`
`- Reward: 3 Points, 5,000 Coins, Normal Mode Level (★) Selection Ticket x4, ZA Cure (★★★) x1`
`[Faction Quest 3]`
`- Information indicates there is a group expanding its influence around the subway and threatening the base. Disband or subjugate the "Seongsu Station Faction."`
`- Clear Condition: Reduce the members of the "Seongsu Station Faction" by 50% or more (0 / 200), OR maintain 200 or more Paradise Level 1 Memberships for 30 days.`
`- Reward: 2 Points, Normal Mode Level (★) Selection Ticket x2, Unlock Random 19+ Mode`
Highly mouth-watering information for a "Resident."