novelraw Chapter 63 : New Friend(s) (4)
Chapter 63 : New Friend(s) (4)
New Friend(s) (4)
Naturally, Harper accepted my job offer.
No, I should say, he had no choice but to accept it.
The first reason I recruited Harper was to increase store manpower, but honestly, I also wanted to learn more about another outsider.
'From the process that brought him to this world, to his special abilities, and so on.'
There's a mountain of things I want to ask him right now, but Harper's mind is still frozen from being a newcomer.
I'll start asking questions once he gets a bit more adjusted.
Anyway, after leaving Harper, now Employee Number 3, to Plerine and Naba, I retreated to the kitchen.
I could hear the two trying to keep him in line, but I deliberately ignored it.
'With a bit of free time, I should check the system windows first.'
In just two days, I'd completed all three quests.
I opened the [Quest] window, which I was most curious about.
[Quest]
-------(Quest List)-------
〈 [1] Spreading Korean Cuisine (Step 2) 〉
└ Objective: Sell Korean dishes and earn 100 Recognition Points or more. (Progress: 31/100)
└ Reward: Adds one employee slot
The requirement had increased from 10 Satisfaction Points in Stage 1 to 100 Recognition Points, but honestly, it's just a matter of time before I clear it.
There are plenty of guests, and the points keep flowing in.
The reward, an extra employee slot, was perfectly timed with Harper's arrival.
Next.
〈 [2] Growing the Inn (Step 4) 〉
└ Objective: Raise a Regular Customer's intimacy to 100%. (Progress: 94/100)
└ Reward: Unlock 'VIP' status for [Regular Customer]
Back in Stage 3 of Growing the Inn, I'd been stumped by having to "give a mysterious emotional experience"; Stage 4 looks equally tough.
Given the 94/100 progress, it seems my intimacy with Ralph has reached 94%.
But haven't I already received plenty of favors from him?
I have no idea how much closer our relationship needs to get to reach 100%.
And what's this VIP status supposed to be?
Curiosity bubbled up, but I'll naturally find out once I complete the quest.
〈 [3] Survival (Step 2) 〉
└ Objective: Reach the 4th-rank in preparation for the coming conspiracy.
└ Reward: (Special privilege) 1 Artifact Random Box
As expected, the goal for Survival Stage 2 was advancement again.
What caught my eye, though, was the shift in the objective's wording and the reward.
In Stage 1, it said, "Prepare for the coming war," but now it read,
'It's changed from war to conspiracy.'
I don't know why it changed, or how I should interpret the difference between war and conspiracy, but my instincts told me not to take it lightly.
'Maybe there's something even bigger than a war coming.'
On the other hand, seeing the reward brought a smirk to my face.
'An Artifact Random Box. And it's a special privilege one at that.'
Though I never played mobile games personally,
at this moment, I could understand at least a little how mobile gamers felt.
'So this is how exciting loot boxes are.'
And unlike with mobile games, this doesn't even cost money.
What kind of artifact will I get?
A bunch of artifacts I'd want came to mind, but the "special privilege only" note bothered me a bit.
'Yet another reason to focus on advancement.'
Even without a quest, I'd have wanted to advance as quickly as possible.
The biggest reason was to increase my survival odds,
but didn't I meet the gods when I advanced last night?
I'm guessing I'll see them again when I reach the 4th-rank.
Next time, I'll ask about everything and dig out answers.
The problem is—
'If I run the store like I did yesterday, I won't even have time to train.'
So, in the end, I either need to hire more employees
or change the direction of store operations.
Damn it. My head already hurts.
At least Harper showed up when he did.
"Haa."
A sigh escaped me before I knew it.
I'd struggled just to survive, but the situation was still as tight as ever.
Still, even so—
'I should review the rewards I got for clearing the previous quests.'
The system proves that I am making progress, no matter what.
I need to check them and give myself a motivational boost.
With that, I opened up the [Regular Customer] window and,
"Huh?"
A tingly dopamine rush swept through me.
[Regular Customer]
〈General Customer Buff Rate: 15% + 20% = 35%〉
--------(Regulars List)--------
〈 [1] Jeros Silver 〉
└ Intimacy: 82%
└ Buff Rate: Intimacy / 2 + 20% = 61%
〈 [2] Nagel Ralph 〉
└ Intimacy: 94%
└ Buff Rate: Intimacy / 2 + 20% = 67%
〈 [3] 〉
└ Intimacy:
└ Buff Rate:
The reward for the 3rd-rank quest was 'additional buff rate'.
When I first saw it, I thought, 'How much could it really increase anyway?'
'It's increased by a whopping 20%!'
Given that Ralph pulled off a 9% comeback win in the sparring tournament, a 20% increase is massive.
No wonder Ralph was able to break the medium, with his stats this buffed.
In addition, a 20% boost might mean that even general customers will respond even more... strongly.
"......"
Getting cocky, are you, Ian.
The thought, 'I might not need to take on more customers,' flashed through my mind for an instant.
And there was another odd point.
'Why the hell did my intimacy with Jeros go up so much?'
82%, no less.
Last time I checked, I'm sure it was in the 60s.
'It's not like we've had any exchanges lately.'
Damn it. It's suspicious.
"Hm."
Forget it. I'll worry about it later. Let's look at another tab for now.
Shaking my head, I clicked on the [Shop Window] tab.
[Shop Window]
〈Points Held〉
[Satisfaction: 78] x 1 pt
[Recognition: 31] x 10 pt
[Emotion: 1] x 300 pt
└ ▶ Outsider Harper
----------
〈Purchasable Items...
.
.
This was the result of working the entire previous day.
With so many customers, I earned a lot of points, but I also spent a lot, so it didn't look as abundant as I'd hoped.
Still, compared to the dire state I was in right before reopening the store, I had recovered.
Now all that's left is to keep accumulating.
More importantly though—
'The real key is the 'emotion' I unlocked by clearing the recent quest.'
I figured it was another point type like satisfaction and recognition, but that wasn't all.
Beneath the 300-point emotion, Harper's name was listed.
I immediately placed my index finger on the triangle next to his name.
〈 Replay key memories of Outsider Harper? (Consumes 1 Emotion) 〉
Replay key memories?
"... Are you kidding me?"
The use of "emotion" was something I hadn't even imagined.
But the problem is, you can only view it by spending that hard-earned emotion.
And 300 points is no small matter.
"Kkeung."
My miserly DNA was kicking in,
but, as expected, my curiosity was growing like a snowball rolling down a snowy mountain.
It's not that I'm a pervert who wants to pry into someone else's memories.
It's just that, since the system exists, I want to see how it works.
It's a gamer's instinct.
"Hm."
I kept debating whether or not to view Harper's memories,
"Boss. How long are you going to zone out? It's time to prep for the morning rush."
Plerine's voice snapped me back to reality.
Seems I spent longer than I thought, looking through all these things.
'Hm. Guess I have no choice.'
Personal development and reflection can wait until I'm done with work.
It's not an urgent matter anyway.
'Right. Work first. Work.'
I organized my thoughts, flipped the switch inside myself, and said,
"Let's do our best today."
"Yes!"
"Mm!"
"Yessir!!!"
Harper was standing at full attention.
In that short time, I wondered what Employees 1 and 2 had done to him, but my distractions were cut off as the shop door opened.
"Welcome in!"
With Naba's greeting, the morning business began.
*
After the morning rush, as I was about to take a break, a soldier came by.
It was the same guy who'd come by at dawn.
"The officers' lunch meeting is cancelled, too."
It looked like the minor Demon Realm issue was taking longer to resolve than expected.
"It's not cancelled through dinner too, right?"
"Who knows."
"All right then. Hang in there."
In a restaurant with tight finances, a no-show from a group reservation would be disastrous,
but that didn't apply to my shop.
I had things to do, so, if anything, it worked out nicely for me.
"Everyone, take a break."
"Where are you going, boss?"
I jerked my chin toward Harper as I answered.
"The general store. Can't keep making him work looking like that."
Harper was wearing sweatpants.
Anyone could see he was an outsider.
"Take your time coming back."
"Careful out there—take your time."
—So said Plerine and Naba. Harper flinched at their words,
but I pretended not to notice and stepped out.
'If he worked like this morning, he'd only get in the way.'
Hopefully those two will give him some proper training at a reasonable level,
as I made my way not to the general store, but the smithy.
Today, too, Gerald the dwarf was glaring angrily.
"What do you want now, you crazy outsider?"
Ever since I'd asked for 10 utility knives, Gerald had been calling me "crazy outsider".
And after today, I get the feeling that nickname will become a permanent fixture.
"Remember the fruit-only kitchen knives I asked for last time? The utility knives."
"Hasn't been that long, you think I'd forget already?"
"Could you make me 50 more of those?"
"??"
Gerald twitched his mouth in shock as he asked,
"You want fifty of those?"
They're meant to be consumables. I realized in the minor Demon Realm that ten simply wasn't enough.
"Please."
I placed a hefty money pouch on his worktable.
"Just for use in the kitchen, of course."
"... Did you find a new client or something?"
"Nope. They're all for my use."
Gerald shot me a suspicious stare, but after checking inside the pouch, he grinned.
"You're giving me this much? Crazy outsider. You really are nuts. Tsk."
He's rough with words, but as long as you pay him right, he'll do anything without complaining.
The dwarf scooped up the pouch and waved me away.
But ordering utility knives in bulk wasn't my only reason for coming here today.
"You're a dwarf, right, Gerald?"
"... What's with the slime-brained question out of nowhere? Can't you tell by looking at me?"
"In that case—"
I pulled out a large goblet from my bag.
It had no special power on its own; it needed to be worked.
"Can you work with this?"
Gerald's eyes went wide when he saw the Goblet of Blood Iron.
He was so surprised he couldn't even move his lips at first.
"Is that... No way......"
Gerald stopped what he was doing and inspected the goblet,
tapping it with his hammer in several places.
Then he punctured his own hand with something like an awl and let a few drops of blood fall on it.
Tap. Tap tap.
The drops seeped into the metal, turning it pitch black at the spot.
Gerald tapped the now-discolored section again with his hammer.
Kkeong. Kkeo-eong.
The sound changed noticeably.
The suddenly excited dwarf muttered,
"This is blood iron (血鐵)."
A true dwarf, Gerald recognized it right away.
He kept marveling as he asked,
"Where did you get something so precious, huh?"
"Oh, who knows. Why do you think I paid you so much?"
I grinned and raised my index finger to my lips.
Only then did Gerald realize that the hush money was included in his payment, and his nostrils flared.
"Wasting money is a bad habit, you crazy outsider."
Despite his words, Gerald's mouth curled to his ears.
His eyes sparkled as he gazed at the blood iron.
His craftsman's instinct was probably burning up inside.
I spoke, almost tossing the words to him.
"Make me a kitchen knife with this—"
But I couldn't finish my sentence.
"You're insane?! Make a kitchen knife out of blood iron?!"
Gerald's previously boyish face twisted into that of a demon.
He immediately launched into a lengthy explanation of the blood iron.
He said blood iron was a metal born from blood and mana soaked into ancient battlefields, extremely rare,
and that the more blood it absorbed during combat, the stronger the metal would get.
"With something this precious, you want to make... a kitchen knife?!"
He went on with an elaborate explanation of why it had to be made into a weapon.
But I already knew all that, and to me, a kitchen knife is a weapon.
No need to listen meekly, so I cut him off.
"I'm going to use it as a butchering knife! The more blood it absorbs, the better it'll be for cutting meat, right?!"
From there, the argument began.
I stood my ground and made my case to Gerald,
and, of course, I won the argument.
I was the client with plenty of money,
and Gerald was a dwarf who couldn't resist the allure of blood iron.
I'd had the upper hand from the start.
"You're a crazy outsider. Absolutely insane."
Tears welled up in Gerald's eyes, as if grieving for the future of the blood iron, as he stroked the goblet.
But I paid him no mind and began giving detailed specifications.
"For this kitchen knife, since it's for butchering, I'd like it to look like this."
I used my hands to outline the shape I wanted.
'If I told a dwarf "Chinese chef's knife", he wouldn't know what that is.'
But since it's for both combat and cooking, I want it longer than a normal chef's knife.
Gerald seemed to get what I was going for, stroking his beard as he muttered,
"You mean to modify a rectangular backsword for kitchen use."
"That works. Just make it much thicker and shorter than normal. About this big."
"Got it. What's its name?"
I was momentarily speechless.
A name for a kitchen knife?
"You don't intend to name it? After making it from blood iron?"
I was at a loss for an answer to a question I never expected.
I'd never even named my own car.
'And my naming sense is horrible anyway.'
After a short struggle, I said,
"You can name it."
It's the performance that matters, not the name.
"You're heartless. Fine. Expect it to take a month or two at least."
"Takes longer than I thought."
The difference between reality and a game hit home.
"Crazy bastard. You think crafting rare metal is easy? Even for me, that'll take a while!"
Hmm.
At least it should be finished before I head out on a trip.
I just hope it comes out as soon as possible.
"I'll settle the cost later, but expect about 4 golden. You've been doing well at the shop lately; that shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Four gold coins.
That's about as much as in the game.
"... Yes. Of course."
Honestly, I'd almost rather the knife take as long as possible.