"245 Yuan?! Most dungeon suppliers have their lowest level instance at 50 Yuan or so. Who will want to play here?!" Jin tried to be calm but he was super agitated. He knew the market forces in China did not work this way.
This was not a food store but a service store, and if placed at such high prices, who will even want to come here to play? The Tiangong Shopping District is meant for the lower and middle-income classes in the neighbourhood and most of the place was only mildly developed.
Granted, the major businesses and commercial company buildings were about a station away and even one of the biggest Multinational Companies in China, Huawee was around the corner from Tiangong Station. The telecommunications giant located their 'smart city' headquarters a few bus stops from Tiangong District, making it ideal for people who wish to have a break from the busy life to come to Tiangong Shopping District.
"Trust me, they will come again after trying it once." Yun gave a sly emoji and comforted Jin to relax.
"Alright, I will trust you. Anything else I should know?" Jin placed the lazy panda standee near the Panda Port.
"You have completed the optional objective, we will issue your reward now." The Panda Port started to glow and a few metal objects grew out of the Port. Jin was no longer stunned by such actions, just viewing it with amazement. Jin recognised the objects and placed them in suitable places.
"The Panda Port has the full functionality of a high spec PC, monitors your shop cameras and the dimension spaces if necessary. It also has the function of cashier port and provides high speed secured VPN wifi for your customers. Of course, the System will notify you if their logs show that they are doing something illegal."
"With the advanced cashier port, they can use MeChat or BaliPay, credit card or cash to pay. All modes of cash are allowed and all foreign currency is allowed too. The issuance of Panda Credits will be done by the cashier port too. It will automatically be added as personalised credits in their respective e-wallets."
"Yun, I am surprised. For a system, it can be quite accommodating towards modern technology."
"Jin, as long as you achieved the goal of being number one dungeon supplier, the System will do anything for you... for a price :P" Yun became a little playful.
It was nearing 11 am and Jin had scouted all the rooms, learned the basics of the functions in Panda Port, created a dungeon instance, joined one and subsequently exited so that it was easier to explain to his customers. He would be a laughing stock if he did not know anything and still called himself the boss of this area. Although technically, the System was the boss and he was just the front.
"I shall take quickly grab a meal at Wacdonalds before I officially start the business. Can't start with an empty stomach." He ordered his usual set meal and gobbled everything down before he returned to the store.
Some of the store owners managed to catch a glimpse of the mysterious owner that suddenly created a storefront over a night. Either he is super rich or well connected to pull such strings to get everything done so quickly. They wondered what shop it was since there was no store sign at the moment.
Jin did not realise any of this and entered his store to prepare the opening of it. He hoped to open it during lunch time so at least someone might come in. He was not expecting much but nevertheless had some hope.
"Jin, place your phone near the Panda Port to transfer the monster cards for synchronisation."
"I am surprised, they cannot synchronise wirelessly?" Jin asked.
"There is one or two bugs that the System had not been able to sort out so I do not wish to bring it out. Bad for the end user."
"I get what you mean, no worries. Maybe I can help." Jin laughed a little while placing his phone near the Panda Port for it to synchronise with the phone.
"You are all set, Jin. Go ahead and open the shutters."
Jin took in a huge breath and with his heart beating fast, he opened the shutters of his shop.
The store is officially open~!
With the shutters lifted, there were already a few high school students looking around the shopping area to chill and relax.
"Hey Bu Dong, check it out, the new shop we saw in the morning before heading to school is now open." Yue Han pointed to Bu Dong towards the direction of the shop.
"Looks like an eatery or bar? Man but I want to play something, the test just now stressed me out." Bu Dong sighed a little.
"Let us check it out first before we head to the usual dungeon supplier hangout."
"That supplier again? His monsters are boring, what Blazing Phoenix? I managed to beat that fried chicken in less than five minutes."
Jin just started to turn on the televisions on the side of the wall to prepare for guest with his phone via the 'Store Layout' app when he suddenly saw two high school kids coming towards the store. He recognised the uniform as being one of the high schools around the neighbourhood but he had forgotten the name momentarily.
Bu Dong greeted the young man turning on the TV. He saw a menu appearing on the TV with the words "Goblin Dungeon Instance." Yue Han got a little curious too and asked, "Dungeon Supplier?"
Jin nodded and replied. "I only have one instance at the moment as my products are still being prepared. The basic facilities are working so I am opening the store early."
Bu Dong got a bit excited that a new dungeon supplier is in the hood but shocked when he saw the price. "245 Yuan?! Are you ripping me off? Are they not just goblins?"
Jin needed to pull himself up as a little snobbish towards the customers. If he bowed down, his customers will take advantage of him. "Try them yourselves and you will understand."
"We are not stupid, Mister. Besides we are in Grade 2, no matter how superior a Grade 1 can be, they will not be able to win a Grade 2. Bu Dong, let's leave from this scammer." Yue Han smelled something amiss and tried to bring Bu Dong away from this place.
However, Bu Dong did not move away. "Mister, if we win, any rewards?"
"The rewards are still pending shipping. You can collect our in-house credits first before the rewards shipped over." Jin lied coolly as he pretended to type on the phone to reply to a message.
However, in actual fact, he was panicking and typing to ask Yun for help. "Will there be rewards?"
"Rewards need to be unlocked too! :P " Yun added a playful emoji.
"Hey Bu Dong Bro, you sure about this? No matter how I see this, it feels like he is a bartender with a dungeon supplier permit. His monsters probably are not worth fighting. He is charging high because this place looks like a place for hippies." Yue Han sweat a little seeing how his best buddy is having a moment of stubbornness. The pending shipping issue felt like a red flag too.
"Its okay, Yue Han, I happened to win a decent bet in the previous dungeon supplier, I got some money to spare. Mister, let's do this. Where do I pay?" Bu Dong took out his phone and was ready to try something new. He was confident he was going to win and started to think of ways to brag how easy it was against the new dungeon supplier.
"You can pay here with your preferred mode of payment." Jin gave the laziest poker face he can make.
Bu Dong placed his phone on the cashier port and a beep was heard. He checked his e-wallet and saw his e-cash was deducted by 245 Yuan. He also saw that he received an equivalent amount of customised credits called Panda Credits.
"The Panda Credits can use to purchase food or refreshments in the future when you patronise this place again or you can use it to purchase items from the vending machine on the second floor when you regain your consciousness." Jin scouted the area and saw drinks and snacks vending machine on the second floor along with lounge chairs equipped with state of the art health monitoring equipment.
The Panda Port machine imprinted Bu Dong's name on a metal dog tag upon receiving payment and Jin gave Bu Dong the tag once completed.
"Use this tag to activate the dimensional space at Station 1. Return it when you are done." Bu Dong observed the dog tag and saw his name on the front of the tag. At the back of the tag, he saw a few details like zero dungeons won, zero dungeons lost, Cultivation Grade yet to be determined.
"You can see him fight using the TV here." Jin offered the empty bar stool directly facing Station 1 to Yue Han. Yue Han thanked him and placed his school bag at the top of the bar counter and see Bu Dong activate the dimensional space in front of the TV.
The TV instructed Bu Dong to wear the tag and started to show the countdown. Bu Dong stretched a little when the dimension space teleported him into it.
"First customer. Let's see how effective those goblins are." Jin smiled
.
.