The Truth Behind the Investment Proposal
The Truth Behind the Investment Proposal
"Nice to meet you, Survivor-nim. My name is Derno. I'm working as a hunter right now."
I looked at the male hunter who introduced himself as Derno.
He was a man who left an impression with his polite posture, despite the rough aura typical of a hunter.
"What brings you here?"
When I asked, Derno's gaze shifted behind and to the side of me for a brief moment.
Normally, I wouldn't have noticed, but now, it was clear as day to my eyes.
'It must be because of the Heart of Laistal.'
I had already consumed three of them, so I now possessed the physical abilities of a D-rank hunter.
While I was thinking that this might be a side effect, Derno said with genuine admiration.
"You are loved by many. I'm almost envious."
"Many people?"
"Aren't the Hero-nim's party members glaring at me right now?"
At those words, I turned my head and saw Veronica first.
Since Veronica had taken it upon herself to be my bodyguard, it was only natural for her to act like that.
'Aside from Veronica.......'
It was basically the entire Hero Party.
Well, everyone except Elicia and Aila.
'Elicia is talking to people right now.'
And Aila was busy healing the injured, so naturally, the two of them were excluded.
Still, it was unexpected that even Riness, the elf, was wary of Derno, who had just approached.
'We hadn't really talked much until now, so I just thought he was Party Member 1.'
Regardless, I gave Derno an answer.
"They are people who are too good for me. But what is it you need?"
"Ah. Actually, I came to ask a favor of you, Survivor-nim."
"A favor?"
"Yes."
Derno nodded and stated his request.
"I want to change this 11th-floor base into a new place. If you don't mind, could you help me?"
In short, he wanted me to invest in him because he wanted to change the 11th-floor base.
Since I had also been thinking about leaving a trading partner on the 11th floor, I nodded at Derno's proposal.
"So you're asking for an investment. How do you want to change the 11th floor?"
"I once ran a well-known tavern and inn in the capital of the Ibel Kingdom. I want to use that experience to run one here."
"A tavern and inn...... I can understand the tavern part, but wouldn't an inn be a bit difficult?"
I wondered what an inn would mean to hunters who were still sleeping on the bare floor with nothing but a worn-out sleeping bag.
"Actually, a tavern and a place to wash would be enough. But if there's a cozy space and a soft bed, it's a different story."
At the mention of a soft bed, I was reminded that I and the Hero Party were sleeping in beds.
'It's not an entirely impossible idea.'
If the price was cheap, there might be many people who would use the inn.
"Then what you want are the materials needed for a tavern and an inn."
"That's right. If you just provide the support, I'll give you 90% of the sales revenue."
"90%......."
I couldn't tell if it would be profitable if I provided all the alcohol and snacks needed for the tavern.
No, if he sold them at a high price, it would be profitable, but on the other hand, the people who would use the tavern and inn were limited.
'Only the people staying on the 11th floor would use it.'
If I included the people who had gone out to hunt, it was about 50 people. I thought it would be 100 at most.
'Still, there are so few people.'
So, I decided to support him differently.
"Let's start small at first. Just leave the cooking facilities and tables in the tavern."
"Start small?"
Derno's reaction suggested he didn't see the need for that.
Since he claimed to have run a well-known tavern and inn in the Ibel Kingdom capital, his eyes were full of confidence.
'Actually, if you think about it coldly, there's no reason for it to fail.'
The alcohol and snacks I was currently putting on the exchange were beer and chicken skewers.
Since the variety was limited, if I provided various types of alcohol and snacks to this tavern, it couldn't fail.
'But still, there are so few people.'
If it were the 1st floor...... No, the 1st floor basically had people with very few points.
Anyway, thinking again that it was right to start small, I said to Derno.
"Yes. I think it's right to start small. Then we can gradually expand the scale."
If he didn't like it, the conversation would have to end.
Still, Derno didn't seem able to give up, so he accepted my proposal.
"You can't satisfy your hunger with the first spoonful, right? I will do as you wish, Survivor-nim."
"You thought well. More importantly, where are you going to open the tavern?"
"I have a place in mind. If you walk 3 to 4 minutes from here, there's a spacious hollow. I was thinking of starting there."
"Let's go there after repairing the equipment of the people here first."
While Derno and I were talking, the hunters were lined up behind us, holding their equipment.
I couldn't just leave nonchalantly after seeing that, so I decided to start after taking care of things here.
'There aren't that many people, so it won't take long.'
Thinking that, I called the first hunter in line.
The reaction to repairing the hunters' equipment was explosive.
My [Product Repair] literally made the equipment like new, so it was only natural.
"Whoa. It's completely new?"
"Look at my shield. Even the dents are fixed."
"It's definitely expensive, but it's worth the price."
To a hunter, equipment was their lifeline and their means of making money.
Since that equipment was becoming as good as new, the reaction was bound to be good.
"Hey, hey, look over there."
In addition to this, when the first female hunter who used the shower room came out looking very clean, everyone's eyes focused on her at once.
"......Was Laura that pretty?"
"......Now that I see her, she's incredibly pretty, isn't she?"
At that reaction, the few female hunters also used the shower room.
The male hunters, realizing they were disheveled, also started using the shower room one by one.
'This should be about enough.'
I thought I could handle the rest of the people who weren't here through Derno.
By receiving the hunters' equipment through a 1:1 trade with Derno, repairing the products, and then returning them.
"Now that it seems to be mostly finished, let's go to the place you picked for the tavern."
"Understood."
Afterward, guided by Derno, I went to the spacious hollow, and it was indeed wide.
'It's wide enough to accommodate 300 to 400 people.'
Moreover, the entrance was wide, so I was worried about monster attacks.
For reference, the place where the hunters were gathered at first had a narrow entrance and even a short passageway section.
'I guess monsters would only come in one by one even if they attacked there.'
Just as I was thinking about what to do about the entrance, Derno pointed to one side and said.
"I plan to put the kitchen facilities right there. And I plan to build the inn on the other side."
"Let's install the kitchen facilities first. Do you have anything in mind?"
"I would like to have multiple burners. And I need various tools for it."
Along with the kitchen facilities, I thought about what was needed for them.
'Pots, plates, forks, things like that would be needed.'
Considering this was the 11th floor, I thought it would be best to go in a direction where there was as little dishwashing as possible.
So, deciding to replace plates and forks with disposable items, I first used [Custom Order].
'Should I make it with five burners and use 50kg large gas tanks? And since water will be needed, I should be able to install a water tank too.'
As I thought and spoke, the custom order showed me the finished product on its own.
However, since I wasn't the one who would be operating it, I shared the screen and showed it to Derno.
"Will this work?"
"Isn't there a place to put firewood?"
"Ah. Firewood isn't needed. Please just look at the shape and decide."
"If it's that, it's fine. It's wide and long, so it looks like several people can cook."
Several people?
"Are there people you're doing this with?"
"I can do it alone, but wouldn't it be better to have several hands?"
It was true, so I nodded.
But I remembered that when I first said I wanted to build a tavern, not a single person stepped forward.
'Or is he planning to find people after building the tavern?'
Thinking that, I brushed it off and bought various tools, disposable items, and even tables to decorate it nicely.
"Wow. This is pretty good, isn't it?"
Rubyel nodded as if she liked it while looking at the roughly completed tavern.
In the first place, Rubyel wanted the hunters to hunt actively, so she seemed to like the current tavern.
'Now, do I just need to prepare decent alcohol and snacks and sell them at a high price?'
Meanwhile, Derno also nodded as if satisfied and asked about the inn next.
"This is good enough. Next is the inn."
"Do you have anything in mind for how to decorate the inn?"
"I want it to be blocked off by walls so it's safe and privacy can be protected. And a decent bed, too."
I nodded.
In short, he wanted a proper room.
'Because if I just put a bed, it wouldn't be much different from sleeping now.'
So, this time too, I used [Custom Order] to purchase and install square container houses.
It would be weird if I only installed one, so I installed a total of four, and on the other side, I also installed several shower rooms.
"Oh! This is truly amazing."
However, the points I spent in this process were significant, so it seemed like it would take time to get a profit from the 11th-floor revenue.
'Of course, it's to encourage the hunters' motivation rather than for profit.'
Anyway, I thought it was finished, but Derno didn't seem to think so.
"Survivor-nim. If it's not too much trouble, could you install a few more houses like this?"
"A few more?"
"Well, with only four, wouldn't there be too few people using it?"
"That is true."
However, it was questionable whether the hunters would use it if they had to pay points for the inn as well.
At first, there might be people who use it for the cozy space and bed, but wouldn't they sleep on the bare floor again later?
'And.'
I don't know if this is my misunderstanding, but Derno seemed to be more concerned about the inn than the tavern.
Anyway, I installed four more container houses as requested and decorated the inside with beds and lanterns, etc.
"Is this enough?"
"It's enough. Thanks to you, Survivor-nim, I'm looking forward to the future."
Derno showed a satisfied smile as if this was enough.
This was also natural; even if the current tavern and inn failed, Derno had nothing to lose.
'Because even if it fails, it's like only my points are flying away.'
Of course, there was no way it would fail.
If it seemed like it would fail, I could just take out the beer and chicken skewers I put on the exchange.
'......That might be too mean.'
Anyway, I added Derno as a friend for the last time and set off with the Hero Party again.
"Survivor, good work. Now the 11th-floor hunters will hunt harder than before."
Since it wasn't just a tavern and inn, but also combined with showers and equipment repairs, business would be decent.
'Even if I were a hunter, I would at least go to the tavern.'
I felt like I would go to the tavern just to eat alcohol and snacks that couldn't be bought on the exchange.
On top of that, they would wash, and if their equipment was damaged, they would leave it for repairs, so business would definitely work out.
'But I'm still not sure about the inn.'
If I were a hunter, I wondered if I would sleep on the bare floor to save money for the tavern.
'Derno seemed more interested in the inn.'
Is there a separate reason?
"......."
After thinking, I decided to use the forbidden ability.
It was to grasp all the information of the other party with the authority of the Integrated Channel Manager.
'Since I even added him as a friend, should I check it right away?'
As a result of checking, there was a story I didn't know.
-Former Innkeeper: Are you saying I should ask him to invest in the tavern and inn if I meet the Survivor?
-Moonlight Innkeeper: Yes. The 1st floor is full of losers who have no money. So we have to go to the 11th floor.
-Former Innkeeper: But will the Survivor actually invest?
-Moonlight Innkeeper: You have to persuade him that he can earn points. Points are basically currency, aren't they?
-Moonlight Innkeeper: Just persuade him first. Then I'll bring the kids I've gathered down to the 11th floor.
-Former Innkeeper: You don't mean you're bringing everyone down, do you?
-Moonlight Innkeeper: I told you. The 1st floor is full of losers with no money. Now we have to earn points from the 11th-floor hunters.
Having read a bit more, I could understand what this Moonlight Innkeeper and Derno were thinking.
'So that's why he was more interested in the inn.'
It was to bring the women who were surviving by selling their bodies on the 1st floor down to the 11th floor.
I thought about turning back even now and demolishing all the taverns and inns, but I thought about it again.
'The purpose of making the tavern and inn was to make the hunters spend points.'
I thought that the actions of the person called Moonlight Innkeeper would also result in the hunters spending more points.
As a result, I was conflicted because it seemed like the hunters would hunt harder than before to earn points.