Chapter 87: Merger Proposal
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 87: Merger Proposal
I built a house in Seoul Forest.
A massive mansion.
It took a few days because I built it while packing in everything I needed, but the construction itself was done in a flash.
The building literally just descended from the sky.
I couldn't help but think, What kind of fucking system logic is this? but... well, it was better than spending months hammering away according to blueprints, only to have people skim on materials and end up at each other's throats.
That kind of thing is only fun once or twice; otherwise, it's just a boring, tedious chore.
From my perspective, this was much better.
The mansion was now standing.
And if I ever needed more rooms inside, I could add them whenever and however I wanted.
Without a system like this, I would've had to vacate the house for days on end for renovations and find another place to stay. Just thinking about going through that bullshit made me sick.
Anyway.
Looking at the massive mansion with its floor-to-ceiling glass windows on the first floor put my mind at ease.
The unobstructed view stretched out toward the Han River, and though the interior was empty of furniture, it had all the essentials.
I only used Coins for things that absolutely required them; for the rest, I wanted to have the fun of farming and filling the space myself.
Outside the mansion was a spacious yard, and I had built a high wall right next to it.
It served as a fence.
Even though there was already a high, fortress-like wall surrounding the outer perimeter, I couldn't risk anyone who managed to get inside peeping at my house or trespassing.
It was a double wall, essentially.
In the yard, there was an outdoor swimming pool for aesthetics, and next to the mansion, I had built another structure to house a Japanese-style hot spring.
You could really do just about anything as long as you had Coins. I had originally planned to build a simple bathhouse, but then I thought, If I'm going to build a bathhouse anyway, why not make it a separate building with a hot spring to set the mood? So, I added it.
It was an open-air hot spring, but with high walls to capture the atmosphere while keeping it completely hidden from the outside.
It wasn't like this was a real natural hot spring anyway, but as long as the ceiling was open, it would feel like the outdoors.
"Damn."
Just setting it up like this already gave it a great vibe.
A home of my own.
Was it really this easy to get?
Well, looking at the price alone, it cost enough to make me curse out loud.
Between the mansion and the hot spring bathhouse, I had spent a whopping 15,000 Coins.
Although a significant portion of that went toward upgrading the "Safe Living Facilities" rather than the actual construction, the building costs alone had still drained a massive chunk of my funds.
The shocking part was that this was only the beginning.
All I had built in Seoul Forest so far was my house and my yard's fence.
I hadn't even put up the outer fortress walls yet.
Fuck... those outer walls are insanely expensive, too.
The prices varied wildly depending on the height, and since the perimeter was so long, my Coins were going to get sucked dry.
On top of that, I'd have to upgrade the durability of every single one of those walls.
"Getting your own place is no joke."
Thinking about it that way, I take back what I said about it being easy.
This was my very own palace, built with my blood-earned Coins.
That made it feel all the more valuable, and I was already growing attached to it.
I needed to make a list of what to put inside, but I decided to come back later with Kim Ji-hee first.
Next on the agenda.
Building "Transportation Facilities."
There were various options for transportation facilities.
While I could buy standard vehicles like cars, there were also options like trams to connect the Safe Bases more conveniently, as well as subways and even airplanes.
Airplanes required Points and could only be used within the Safe Base, so that was out of the question for now.
But for someone who had been traveling on foot, being able to install something like this was a massive advantage.
Seoul even had pre-existing subway tunnels, meaning I could put them to use immediately.
At the very least, I might be able to utilize parts of Line 2 and the Suin-Bundang Line that connected within the Safe Base.
However, I decided to put that on hold for now.
I hadn't cleared out all the zombies inside the subway tunnels yet, and for short-distance travel, moving above ground was much better anyway.
After weighing a few options, I settled on a tram.
Laying down tracks right in the middle of the long, paved roads above ground seemed like a pretty solid plan.
If I set up a loop around the outskirts of Seongsu-dong within the Safe Base, people could hop on, ride to their desired stop, and walk the rest of the way.
Most importantly, I would make sure the final stop was at Seoul Forest, allowing Paradise Membership members to buy food and head back much more conveniently.
What I was curious about was this:
"Do I have to clear the roads myself?"
When it came to warehouses or construction, the system automatically demolished and built everything as long as there were no living creatures in the area.
Fortunately, the "Transportation Facilities" seemed to follow the same rule.
When I clicked to install the transportation facility, a map spread out wide like a satellite photo, allowing me to select the route for the tram.
The cost of laying down the tracks wasn't as expensive as I'd feared.
100 Coins per 100 meters. Since the route I drew was about 5.1 kilometers, it would cost 5,100 Coins.
"Not too bad... Whew."
I didn't have to clear the cars off the streets one by one, nor did I need to hire labor for the construction.
The system would install everything automatically and even clear out the space for the tram to run, so the price was more than fair.
Plus, maintenance and repairs were included.
Of course, the cost of the tram itself was separate.
A single tram capable of holding about fifty passengers cost 500 Coins.
Since they needed to run in a loop, I bought four to start.
How long would I have to run them to get my 2,000 Coins' worth?
I also had to set up the stops, among many other things.
"Ah, fuck... city management tycoons are hard as hell."
Was this a zombie apocalypse or a city-building tycoon game?
Since I'd never played this kind of game before, every time I tried to do one thing, it kept prompting me: Do this. For the next step, decide on that.
`[Would you like to apply the optimal automatic settings?]`
"Yes. Please."
At least the zombie apocalypse hadn't completely lost its identity yet.
If it had forced me to manually set every single stop and location, I might have genuinely washed my hands of construction altogether.
I didn't mind putting in some love and effort, but couldn't it just handle the tedious parts on its own?
I just confirmed the starting point and stops at Seoul Forest and let the system handle the rest.
Watching the tram immediately start running, I couldn't help but marvel.
"This system is seriously convenient."
I hopped on right away.
The tram glided smoothly through the gridlocked streets.
It wasn't moving very fast, but riding in a seat was incredibly comfortable.
I could upgrade the tram's speed by spending more Coins, but I decided to hold off for now.
I'd think about it after I made my investment back.
Since the tram line didn't run directly in front of my studio apartment building tucked away in the corner, I got off at a nearby stop and walked back.
I'd spotted a few people on my way, so they'd probably find it fascinating.
Maybe I should post an announcement about the tram service and milk some more Coins out of them.
"Kim Ji-hee!"
Let's go check out the house!
I had returned in high spirits, excited to see her happy face and looking forward to fucking her brains out in our new home, but there were guests waiting in front of the studio apartment building again.
"What is it this time?"
While the food store and cafeteria grew more crowded by the day, it was rare for people to stand off like this in front of the studio apartment building.
On the outside, it just looked like an ordinary studio apartment building, and most people left as soon as they finished their business.
At first, there were bastards who would squat in front of my building and warehouse, puffing away on cigarettes. But after I beat a few of them to a pulp as an example, they all became good, polite citizens who took their post-meal smokes elsewhere.
"Is it another Cat Mom?"
Fortunately, it wasn't.
"Oppa."
"What's going on?"
"These people want to merge our factions."
"Huh?"
This was completely unexpected.
A merger?
With me?
"How about merging with our faction? We were highly impressed by the Paradise Membership. All of us have signed up for it, too."
"Oh?"
This was the first time I'd heard members of another faction speak positively about my Paradise Membership.
The most shocking part before this was those delivery rider bastards only signing up for a single week whenever they needed to buy food.
Motherfuckers.
"How many people are in your faction?"
"We have about twenty people. Most of us are non-combatants, but none of us are useless. I handpicked every single one of them."
"And what do you all do?"
Where was this confidence coming from?
I couldn't wrap my head around it.
If they knew about the Paradise Membership and had even signed up, they should know what the benefits were.
Proposing a merger instead of just holding a membership was essentially asking to be accepted as "Residents."
"I'm a doctor. The rest of our faction consists entirely of doctors, pharmacists, and nurses."
"Oh."
I wondered what kind of crazy bitch I was dealing with this time.
She was quite good-looking.
Hearing that she was a doctor made her seem to possess a certain intellectual charm.
She didn't look like she had been dressing or eating well, but the confidence radiating from her posture probably stemmed from her past authority.
With credentials like that, it made sense she'd have the gall to propose a merger.
No matter how much Modes ruled the world in this zombie apocalypse, professionals were still highly valuable assets.
Activating a skill with a simple click was one thing, but actual medical knowledge was a completely different story.
There could be problems that skills couldn't solve.
Unless, of course, they had a Level 10 healing skill like Kim Ji-hee, which automatically cured everything as long as she had Mana.
For minor issues like mild colds or light wounds, they could easily be treated with a simple prescription without having to bother Kim Ji-hee.
Right now, Kim Ji-hee's consultation fee was 150 Coins per session.
It was true that other Paradise Membership members found it quite burdensome to afford.
"It is tempting."
"We need protection. In exchange, we will provide our professional expertise."
It was a reasonably fair proposal.
In fact, if I were just an ordinary faction leader, I might have jumped at the offer.
To grow into a larger faction, the first step was always to solidify your internal foundation.
You needed a way to treat the sick and injured.
But I wasn't an ordinary faction leader.
"Sounds nice, but cut the bullshit about a merger. I'll let you in as a Level 3 Membership member on one condition: you let me fuck you once in a while. I've never fucked a doctor before, so that actually sounds pretty enticing."