Stepping foot into Lavida's Hotel, the three were greeted by a luxurious sight. Within the lobby of the hotel, they saw that there was a small fountain in the middle of the room, the water flowed gently as the fishes swam through the waters.
Behind the fountain was the front desk of the lobby where they saw many players in a queue, it seemed that they were going to book a room for the night.
"Woah!! Is this the hotel?!" Frey shouted in amazement.
"...It appears to be so," Shinto replied as he scrutinized towards his surrounding area. Although the interior was luxurious, he had seen far more luxurious sights than this hotel, such as Vain Blood's home base, thus it wasn't that surprising for him. Though, he didn't expect the hotel to be far more sumptuous than he thought.
'For a hotel built in a small town to be this luxurious, just what are these nobles thinking?' Did the nobles expect to earn large amounts of money from the players? It seemed far-fetch to think so as this was a town where newbies who have little to no gold would start out in.
The only exception to the newbies who had little to no gold was those with a well-off background. These players could just convert their real-life money into gold, thus gaining a large advantage over other players with top tier equipment and the like. These players were typically called pay to win players.
Continuing to scrutinize the surrounding area, Shinto was taken aback by the number of players in the lobby of the building. 'Though... For there to be so many players here, just what is this?' he raised a brow at the sight.
All the players in the hotel couldn't possibly be pay to win players. Shinto saw that there was many among the players that only had ragged or basic gear and armour, thus it was impossible to think that they were all players that could afford to stay at the hotel. Yet, even then, these very same players that he saw seemed to be unfazed by this fact.
'...Just what's going on here?' He couldn't understand the situation. Could they really be pay to win players? But there was so many of them who only had the basic gear and armour, it was highly unlikely. 'Could there be an event held here today, which is why they're here?' That was the only reasonable assumption that he could make.
'...Well, for now, I should check out the prices for accommodations here first.' Shinto turned towards Frey and Greld as he said, "Let's head to the front desk first before we do anything else."
"Huh?" Frey who seemed to be awestruck as she looked at the interior of the building flinched slightly as she heard Shinto's voice. "Oh, right right!" Quickly, she recomposed herself as she nodded her head,
"...Alright," Greld meekly said. Unlike Frey who awestruck, Greld, on the other hand, felt a bitter feeling as he looked at the interior. It seemed that he was unhappy by the sight.
The three quickly began to make their way over towards the front desk. While they did so, they heard many chatters from the players in the background.
"Hey, hey! Did you know that you can also earn this from that quest?" A player said.
"What really?! Dang! This is one of the best quests ever!" Another player replied.
"Right?!"
Overhearing their chatter, Shinto thought to himself. 'Quest? What kind of quest is it? Could it have to do with why everyone is in this place?' Maybe his assumption was correct that there was an event ongoing here, but he needed to confirm his doubts.
Finally, making it to the front desk, they saw that the person behind the counter was a young woman with the name [ Amy ] lit in light green above her head. She seemed to be one of the attendants that they saw attending to the front desk.
"Ah, welcome to Lavida's Hotel! How may I help you?" Amy welcomed the three.
"How much is a night's stay here?" Shinto asked.
"For one person, it's 25,000 gold per night! For a room for two, it's 45,000 gold!" Amy answered.
"...Huh? Can you repeat that?" Frey dumbfoundedly said.
"Hmm? One room is 25,000 gold per night, if you want a room for two, it's 45,000 gold."
"...So it's this expensive huh?" Shinto calmly said. "If it's like that then... It's really improbable for many to afford this."
"Hmm, you can't afford it huh? Then how about you try our monthly plan!" Amy said.
"Monthly plan?" Shinto raised his brow.
"Yep, the monthly plan!" Amy took out a sheet of paper as she placed it on the table. "Here, have a look at this."
Upon a glance at the sheet of paper, Shinto received a quest notification.
[ Lavida's Monthly Plan ]
Difficulty: D+
The monthly plan of Lavida provides many benefits for our customers! New adventurers get to enjoy free accommodations, facilities and food as they go out adventuring! However, there is a condition that must be accepted upon accepting this plan.
When The Quest Is Active: Free access to Lavida's Hotel facilities (With regulation) / Your gold earnings will be split 50 / 50. You will earn 50% of the gold while Lavida's Hotel will keep the other 50%.
*If you were to obtain a lot of gold, additional benefits may be given out by Lavida's Hotel, such as Lavida High-End Equipment and exclusive membership. On the other hand, if you were to be lazy and earn less than 5,000 gold within a week, you will be stripped of the benefits that you have.
*This quest lasts for a month. Once the quest expires, you may renew it.
Quest Penalty Upon Failure: You will be banned from stepping into Lavida's Hotel.
Upon reading through the quest description that Shinto received, he felt like coughing up blood. "This... Isn't this a total scam?"
"Oh, why would it be? We are giving you free luxurious accommodations and food, in exchange for that, we will only just take away 50% of your gold that you earn throughout this monthly plan," Amy reasoned. "If we just give away free luxurious accommodations and food without asking for anything in return, we would lose out, yes?"
"..." Shinto looked at Amy with a loss for words.
"If you're worried about this being a scam, why not try talking to your fellow adventurers? They seem to be living the life after going with the monthly plan," Amy smiled. "But, I can guarantee you, you will have the best experience in Lavida's Hotel. The food is great, the accommodations are comfortable, the training facilities for adventurers would be opened too. It would be a shame not to accept it!"
'So that's how they get money out of the newbies here... Through this,' he thought to himself as he gave a glance over to Frey and Greld. Quickly, he noticed that Greld had his teeth greeted.
"Anyways! What will it be? Will you join our monthly plan? You will not regret it!" Amy said, waiting for the response of Shinto.