by Yoo Seong
“You should’ve known before you came.”
Justiceman visited the centre of R-14 without any hesitation.
“These days, the space bugs are multiplying and making it difficult…..”
“Leave it to me! Taking care of the space bugs won’t be a problem!”
-
And they rushed off after receiving the space bug hunting quest!
“Wuhahaha! Come out monsters! This body will sweep you all up!”
They enthusiastically dived into the area containing the space bugs. And…..
“W-what is this?”
Two mouths gaped open. The space farm was swarming with people! And electric boards were floating above their heads!
-Looking for a party spot. Level 1.
-Unemployed person looking for a place. Level 2.
-Save me. My wife and children are starving. Level 1….
“W-what is this?”
“There are so many people! I thought there was a problem because there are too many space bugs!”
But they couldn’t even see any space bugs? The only thing visible were parties waiting for space bugs to resurrect.
“Hey, you there. Can you move back?”
“You can’t cut in. I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes.”
“It is the order of first arrival so move to the back.”
Justiceman and Isyuram had no choice but to join those looking for a party.
“Damn, what is this? Service has started for a few months so why are there still so many people?”
In fact, this was natural.
When Ark started, he had waiting 1 hour before joining a party. But this was quite frustrating to the inexperienced Justiceman and Isyuram. Furthermore, they didn’t log into the game as a hobby like other users. They need to keep an eye on the Lucifer Hunting team for the safety of the country.
In order to do this, they had to quickly catch up to the team’s level. But they never expected to hit a deadlock at level 1. Just as they were sighing heavily.
–It is difficult.
An alien navigated through the players and approached them.
–It is often like this. There are many people like you. Although you are full of will, there are no space bugs to catch. Yes, it is painful. But I might be able to help you….are you willing to listen?
The octopus speaking was from the Charenjok. It was Burum who was the manager of the paid hunting ground on R-14.
————————————————————————–
“Phew….”
There was a smile on Ark’s face.
Right now he was in his office that had a balcony overlooking S-20. He noticed it when landing the Silver Star but S-20 had really changed when looking down at it from the balcony.
Ark had been away for 24 days. In the meantime, S-20 had really experienced an amazing change. The basic form was significantly different.
A high-rise management office was situated at the entrance to the sector, the food production factory was located at the artificial lake while Hamad’s trailer truck was converted to a department store. When taking the central road that the department store was connected to, the Fairy, shopping district and the Mt. Fargo dungeon could be found.
This was the entire view of S-20. The place that had undergone the most changes while Ark was away was the shopping area. In the past, there were 15 large and small stores but now that had doubled. The type of items were diversified and there were specialty stores with medicines, special equipment or repairs.
There was no need to explain why the stores increased so much. It was due to supply and demand. The stores increased due to the growing population. The number of people had risen in the past 24 days.
*Sector Management Information Window*
Sector Code: S-20 Sector Rating: Lv. 2
Sector Range: 2 kilometres around the entrance of Mt. Fargo.
Sector Manager: Ark (The Agent: Dark Eden)
Number of Stores: 27 (7: Duty-free shops, 20: 5% tax of the income)
Population: 5,790
Now the population of S-20 had increased to 6,000. And the rise in population led to a rise in income! This then corresponded to a rise in taxes for the various stores. In addition, there was the income from the food produced by the Charenjok!
-
The total funding for the current Agent: 7, 640 gold.
Regular income: Regular Income: Food production factory- daily average is 28 gold and 80 silver (net income of 8 gold 64 silver)
Regular income: Sector, taxes, and charges, Department store-1 average income approximately 620 gold (net income of about 150 gold)
* Regular expenditure: Energy Shield Fence – 5 gold per day. Employee Salary- Formulated
Occasional Expenditure: Silver Star maintenance, various supplies given to employees.
Businesses currently being promoted: Current Projects: Mt. Fargo restoration work- expenses haven’t been settled yet.
Average monthly profit and loss……
When he checked, the regular income had also doubled. The repairs and mounting the anchor on the Silver Star while on E-2036 cost 1,000 gold and extra supples cost another 1,000 gold for a total of 2,000 gold spent. Since Ark had 50% of the shares, he only earnt 1,000 gold!
It grew faster than Ark expected. But that meant a lot of work. Ark admired S-20 for another moment before turning around and asking.
“Is there anything else?”
“It isn’t an urgent problem. There are plenty of people but sometimes they do strange things.”
Bain who was entrusted with managing the sector shrugged and replied.
“Strange?”
“It’s not a big deal. A bunch of guys gathered together at the top of Mt. Fargo with fires lit while chanting something….however, they never harmed anyone. They are just doing something strange.”
Odd people like that gathered when there was a lot of people. And if they didn’t cause problems then it didn’t have anything to do with him. No, meeting various users and NPCs was one of the charms of a sector.
“There are more urgent people.”
“People?”
“Yes, until now the sector had few facilities and a low population. With the facilities and population increasing, there is more to take care of. Asuran and his subordinates have been taking care of urgent problems but they are formal employees so their actions are limited. Furthermore, all employees were mobilized to clear the dungeon so the list of complaints hasn’t been touched.”
Bain sighed as he pointed to a pile of paperwork. Once again, managing a sector wasn’t that easy.
Operating and inspecting facilities needed to go through him. And one of the forms was for NPC complaints. If there was an urgent problem then the users needed to take care of it themselves. But they couldn’t handle NPCs personally. These issues were commissioned as quests for users to settle. And the administrator of the sector needed to approve such commissions.
But complaints were different from quests. A user could reject a quest but the manager couldn’t reject complaints from a sector resident. And any delay in the solution would cause the residents’ loyalty to fall and they would leave the sector. Resolving complaints was one of the major tasks of a sector manager.
Until now it hadn’t been a problem. Most of the population were users so they couldn’t make complaints. However, the increasing population meant more NPCs. Currently S-20 had a 40% ratio of NPCs.
Then the complaints started to pile up.
-
A complaint from a merchant managing a medicine store.
The number of rats has gone out of control and he suffered large damage over a few days. Rat poison was scattered but the rats just became larger! The merchant has requested extermination from the sector administrator. If the rats aren’t killed then they will spread diseases. It is recommended to quickly take
care of it for the hygiene of the sector.
Difficulty Level: ★ Reward: 3 gold
-
The plea of a merchant who carried baggage to the sector.
While travelling through a swamp, the truck was attacked by monsters. He came back later but the only thing remaining were traces of a monster pulling a truck. But the merchant doesn’t have the money to hire mercenaries. The merchant has commissioned the administrator to collect the truck and baggage. Securing a safe trade route is necessary for a sector. Take care of it quickly before bad rumours spread.
Difficulty Level: ★ ★ ★ Reward: 5% of the baggage found…..
The complaints were general things like this. The quests were low paying and could be rejected. However, it wasn’t good for the sector if the administrator ignored it.
Ark had taken most of the employees while the remaining ones were dealing with the dungeon so there wasn’t anyone to handle complaints. Asuran had a lot of employees but they weren’t employees so they couldn’t handle the complaints.
Bain asked nervously as he noticed Ark’s expression.
“So should we formally recruit Asuran’s subordinates?”
“I’m considering that.”
Ark couldn’t leave them alone forever. There were a few reasons why Asuran’s subordinates hadn’t formally become employees.
The first was level as Asuran was level 75. He hadn’t confirmed it yet but his subordinates probably had a lower level than Asuran. The Royal Guards were NPCs who had already reached level 80~90 so he was reluctant to employ people less than level 70.
‘Comparing them to the Royal Guards is somewhat….’
The second crucial reason was money.
It was okay with users like Kurakan and Rapid. However, NPC employees needed to be given a regular pay. Ark was already paying a salary to the Royal Guards, Hamad, Asuran, Tori, Jay, Bain, Ellain and Milan. He hadn’t seen a reason to recruit more employees and increase his expenses.
‘But I need people now. It hadn’t been urgent when Asuran’s subordinates arrived the first time but now things have changed. As the sector grows, there will be plenty of complaints. And complaints also give rewards. It isn’t a large amount of money but it can contribute to the staff salaries.’
Now was the suitable time to hire people. This was one of the reasons why most Agents steadily increased their employees. The president of an Agent had dozens of employees. When managing an Agent like that, it wasn’t possible to endure the monthly salary. It was normal to accept requests and have the employees move separately to gain income.
Quest commission → consider the degree of difficulty and allocate the suitable employee → success → income → repeat and thrive!
Quest commission → consider the degree of difficulty and allocate the suitable employee → failure → deficit → repeat and close!
These were the two common operating mode of an Agent. Complaints was common quests for Agents managing a sector.
The president needed to be capable of distributing these tasks. He needed to have the ability to leave work for the employees who would complete the quests. The president of an Agent could gain money like this. Of course, if the employee failed, died and was restored by the Fairy then the president would suffer a deficit.
‘Anyway, if I employ Asuran’s men then the complaints will be completed and there won’t be a deficit. I gathered enough Adventure Points so raising the level of the Agent shouldn’t be a problem.’
Ark thought for a moment before nodding.
“I understand. I will soon take measures to solve these problems.”
“Thank you. Asuran is a kind man. He was inwardly worried that his subordinates wouldn’t be formally employed. It would be good if they could solve the complaints.”
Bain said with a happy expression.
“Then the problem of a manpower shortage has been resolved for the moment. The next problem is sector expansion. As you can see, S-20 has a population close to 6,000 people. If we build a few more facilities then it is possible to raise the sector rating and be promoted to a Town. And Galactic Federation offices can be attracted to a Town. Shouldn’t we gather a large amount of money in order to promote the sector to a Town?”
“No, that….”
Ark opened his mouth. Then Hamad came in and shouted with an excited expression.
“Ooh! Amazing! Amazing! Ark, I finished the market price confirmation of the items and mechanical parts you brought. Do you know how much it is? 3, 000 gold, yes 3,000 gold! If you sell it at retail price in a department store then you can get 2,500 gold at once!”
“The president brought back items and machine parts? What does that mean?”
“Didn’t you hear?”
Hamad laughed and explained, causing Bain’s mouth to drop open.
“You brought back that much loot from your trip? Oh, doesn’t that mean we don’t have to do any more waiting? The funds can be used to promote the sector to a Town….”
“There is something more urgent than a sector promotion right now.”
Ark said as he interrupted Bain. Hamad and Bain sent him a doubting look.
“What do you mean? Something urgent? Is there a problem?”
“It isn’t a problem but….”
Ark scratched his head and smiled before talking.
“In fact, I received a planet from the Emperor of the Galactic Federation.”
“…..Eh?”
“A planet, planet. It was something I received for accomplishing a large service for the Galactic Federation. The Emperor rewarded me with the title of a Viscount and the small planet Ikyullos.”
“V-Viscount? Oh my god, you became a noble?”
“Planet? A planet!”
Hamad and Bain ran around madly.
NPCs were more sensitive to status changes than users. It was natural since NPCs considered it reality and those with a low status couldn’t be promoted even if they had 1 million gold. If they completed the same quest, they wold receive less compensation. This was the reason why status was important to users.
On the other hand, if their status rose then other people’s impression of them would change. It was the same for Hamad and Bain. Once they heard that Ark was a noble, the light of respect flashed in their eyes.
“It is wonderful!” It’s really amazing! I knew President-nim would succeed!”
“Yes, now I have to talk in honorifics.”
“Of course, nobles are different from general citizens like us.”
“Hey! Sir Ark, so amazing!”
And they praised him while using honorifics. It was a situation where he once again realized the power of the aristocracy. Ark laughed as he felt good and said.
“You can talk to me comfortably like before. Anyway, that work is more urgent than a sector promotion. I have received a planet as a territory. The reward is beyond what I expected but there is no meaning in just having a planet. It needs to be developed properly. If it is developed properly then the profit will be incomparable to that of a sector. The problem is the necessary funds for the development. Marquis Martin promised to install a Star Gate that connects S-20 to Ikyullos but the funds for development is still required.”
“Yes, it will require an astronomical amount of money to develop a planet.”
“It definitely isn’t the time to pay attention to a sector promotion.”
Ark couldn’t be happy due to this.
He received a planet. It was a Lv. 3 planet with rich underground resources. If he developed it then Ark could secure an enormous profit that would give him more power to step forward in the galaxy. But he didn’t have enough money to proceed with developing the planet.
‘The quest reward was 5,000 gold. If I dispose of the loot then it would be 3,000 gold. Adding in the 7,500 sector assets then the total would be 15,500 gold. That definitely isn’t a small amount of money but….’
It was a colossal amount. But this time
Ark needed to share the profit.
He promised Slayer, Kaya and the other mercenaries who participated 5% of the reward. 6 people was 30%. That was a loss of 1,500 gold. And 30~40% of the proceeds from the loot also needed to be shared with Slayer and the others. In the end, he would need to share 2,500 gold with Slayer and the others. And even if it was an investment, he couldn’t pour out all the funds for the sector.
Considering the present funds, he had 10,000 gold to pour into developing the planet. It was lacking since tens of thousands of gold was necessary for a planet development.
‘Well, if I collect it from the steadily growing sector….’
Ark’s mind thought furiously. Ark wasn’t the only one who received compensation in this quest.
It was only a small asteroid but Hawk could extract resources from it. Hawk already had several colonies where he extracted the resources and turned into Hives so he was ahead of Ark. It wasn’t easy to catch up with Hawk even if he developed the planet immediately. If he waited to gather the funds required then that difference would only grow.
‘I received a Galactic Federation planet but this was a special case. I need to plunge into the frontier if I want to continue to grow. It is the same with the Red Slaughterer. Another conflict with Hawk is inevitable. If I’m not prepared then I will be eaten by Hawk before I can take care of the Red Slaughterer.’
It was the reason why Ark’s heart was in a hurry.
“I understand. But the reality is that there is no way to obtain so much money.”
“What if you sell the investment shares?”
Ark looked up at Hamad’s question.
Ark had also thought about this on the way back to S-20. He had participated in the war in the Bellin Constellation and obtained 5% investment shares on Beltana. And he invested in Charem and received 3% shares. So far he hadn’t invested any extra money into those shares.
Therefore he could take this opportunity to sell them and convert them to cash.
“Is it okay? Isn’t that something you earned after experiencing a lot of difficulties?”
“Besides, right now Charem and Beltana had abundant resources. The war in the Bellin Constellation is over and real development will start so the investors start obtaining profit.”