Game’s Dogma

Idyllic Poet hmphed and didn’t reply. Drako Yau could only laugh bitterly and cheer her up.

Ah… Why is this tougher than winning a hundred times in the Arena?

After a while, Idyllic Poet finally broke into a smile and asked, ‘What’s the matter?’

‘Pass on the message for me please. Find Goemon, King-Hit, Zephyrwolf, and Hexen. Tell them we have an important matter to discuss.’

Idyllic Poet perked her ears at his words. ‘Boss, planning something big?’

‘Sort of. You’ll know soon enough.’

‘Are you confident it’ll work?’

‘No.’

Silence ensued between father and son. In the same old office, drowned in the same old scent of wood, two generations of the Ki family entered a silent stalemate.

‘Are you not pursuing what you long for because company matters do not interest you?’

‘Yes, but the company has a connection to what I seek. I think it’s worth a try.’

‘I do not engage in business that are uncertain and risky.’ Ki Sai Wing clasped his hands as his energetic eyes contrasted with his aged face. ‘You know, I’m old. Old men prefer things to be stable.’

Sasaki… no, Ki Shing Chi said calmly, ‘You know what’s happening to the company more than anyone. While we’re still making profit, the number has been sliding down for the past decade. I’m sure you’ve noticed it already.’

Ki Sai Wing squinted his eyes, sheathing his piercing gaze as he leaned lazily against the back of his chair. ‘Go on.’

‘Our company is well-established in a sector where no one can compete against us, but it’s the change in lifestyle that we really should be wary about. The older generations still appreciate wooden products, but what about the newer generations? Will they forget the uniqueness, the vitality that wooden products signify?

‘To take a step ahead, we must change. And now is the time for such a change. I did say I’m not confident about it, but… Father, do you really not see the golden opportunity?’

Ki Shing Chi looked across the table. Ki Sai Wing sat idly on his chair, as if he had fallen asleep. The father and son said no more.

After a good long while, Ki Sai Wing slowly opened his eyes and said, ‘Uncle Chan will aid you. My condition is three months. In three months, you must recover the initial investment.’

Ki Shing Chi smiled. While he wasn’t interested in the business world, Real World was an entirely different story. He knew the game well, not to mention he had his omnipotent boss.

‘Three months? That’s more than enough.’

The next day, all ten Eastern Cities were completely shocked. The finance headlines read: ‘Ki Industries officially establishes business in Real World, investing millions of dollars.’

At the same time, the entire city of Yoda seemed to have received the same orders. The four major guilds divided the city into four equal parts like cutting a cake.

Howl of the Tempest Wolves was directly linked with Ki Industries and occupied a fourth of the city’s stores, selling all sorts of furniture. Hot-Blooded took charge of another fourth, selling nothing but weapons. The same went for Corrupted Officials who sold armour instead, and Assassination Coalition who sold a myriad of groceries such as potions, scrolls, and food. Selling miscellaneous items wasn’t particularly profitable, but they made up for it through quantity.

While the other two cities were still in turbulent waters, Yoda was already operating as one like a massive machine and settled down. Many praised Yoda for turning into a gigantic commercial city because shopping there was extremely convenient. North, east, south, west, each part of the city sold all but one type of product, which saved players the effort and time to search for what they needed.

Yoda’s profits broke through ten million gold coins on its first day as a commercial city. With Ki Industries pumping in funds, they also nurtured their batch of subclass-oriented players. Most were old craftsmen from Ki Industries, and each of their products (or rather, artwork) sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in the actual world. Getting great ratings from the system was highly probable.

As Ki Industries made such a huge move, other corporations only watched on from the sidelines and mocked them. Investing such huge sums of money into a system that had only been implemented for a day was simply absurd. To them, it was no different from tossing money into the sea, especially when the future was highly uncertain; what if it was just a flash in the pan?

However, these corporations forgot an important issue. They knew the business sector like the back of their hand, but they knew nothing of the game.

To elite high-end players, money was just a number; what they sought was entertainment and pleasure. Apart from enjoying the game, they also enjoyed the feeling of being superior to others, enjoyed the satisfaction of receiving envious gazes when they acquired rare items. For that, they were willing to spend good money, be it on equipment or furniture. The market was there to stay.

Extraordinary items attracted big spenders, while ordinary items attracted ordinary players; there was no such thing as ‘losing the market’. The only possible situation would be Real World seeing a drop in player count. Considering the uniqueness of its brainwave technology, this likely wouldn’t happen until other companies could create games that utilised the same technology.

No matter how great the corporations were in the business sector, they simply didn’t know the game enough to take such a risk. The golden opportunity was gone by the time they realised such.

Drako Yau hadn’t been idling about either. As the unspoken leader of Yoda, everyone tacitly gave him the best house in the city, which was the one right next to the resurrection altar.

He wasn’t too bothered about furniture though. With his current strength, furniture which gave minor buffs were useless. In for a penny, in for a pound was what he had in mind when it came to decorating his home with furniture. It was why he was currently on his way to visiting Old Florist.

But his short trip was cut even shorter by a message.

‘Find me at the Castellan's Residence tomorrow. It’s time to repay the favour you owe me.’

Drako Yau stayed silent. He had already reached Level 30 in the past month. A favour is a favour, he thought.

That night, Drako Yau didn’t overthink things and simply went through his newly obtained skills again. As he learned more and more skills, he had to study them thoroughly to bring the most out of his arsenal. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he knew his skills back to front.

‘Level 30 skill, Grilled Erudite.

Passive: Burning is now stackable. Upon stacking three layers of burning, the target is inflicted with the explosive effect.

Active: Consume 10 per cent of Health in exchange for fire-elemental damage and 10 per cent Attack buff.

Explosive: The next flame-based skill that lands on a target inflicted with explosive deals 100 per cent more damage.’

‘Level 30 skill, Blizzard. Spin forwards and strike five times. All strikes are imbued with ice-elemental damage and the final strike suspends the enemy.’

The only chances left to learn new skills were Level 35 and Level 40. Still, Drako Yau finally had an idea why Godly Spearmaster was considered one of the strongest classes—the ability to stack various debuffs.

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