Chapter 1242 Negotiations and Gamble (Part 1)
...…
After the training, Shin met with Arthur and the rest of the club at the studio that Alice's agency had prepared.
They quickly went through all the songs that they had already rehearsed previously, working up with their synergy and other things. Shin polished everything while scolding anyone who would make a mistake mercilessly.
Even though everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, Shin told them that they did not have to overdo it since they could still practice tomorrow. He also told them that they had to wrap up everything early since Shin and the others needed to deal with some matters inside the game.
Among the group, there were only three people who were not a part of the Empyrean Talons: Lorraine, Molton, and Jillian.
Shin gathered the others after they had finished cleaning up the studio. "There are some problems with Owen and Ithilien."
Hearing that Shin quickly went straight to the point, and the rest of the group immediately realized the gravity of the situation. This might be much more serious than they had expected.
As someone who always kept an eye on the online forums to be updated with the most recent and hottest news, Arthur was able to instantly figure out what Shin was talking about. "Are you talking about the Sacred Light Kingdom?"
Shin nodded his head. "Yeah. Owen and Ithilien seemed to be involved in the recent events in that kingdom. I am guessing that the chain quest that Ithilien is doing is connected to the main quest scenario of the kingdom."
"And just like how it has always been, the Corrupted Cult seems to be all over the place once again and messing things up."
He then paused for a moment before adding. "Given the information that is mentioned in the forums, the center of everything is most likely that special map 'Maze Forest'. Everything started there, so the key to ending everything should also be in that place."
Leonard was silent for a moment before saying. "So, do you want us to head there and lend the kingdom a hand?"
Shin shook his head and said. "I think it is already too late for that. Everything is already out of control. Even the king of the kingdom is already dead."
"Moreover, there are only a few of us. I am not sure if there is much impact that we can do," he added with a bitter smile.
"We can at least stop the spreading of that phenomenon called 'Withering'. It is similar to what happened in the Dragon's Sanctuary before, so I am guessing that the solution is most likely the same," refuted Arthur.
Shin was still wearing a bitter smile as he continued. "If it is as simple as that, then there shouldn't be any problem. But it is not the case."
Cloe nodded her head. "With the king being dead while the kingdom is in chaos, that kingdom is already finished."
"The kingdom is in a state of emergency and there is no leader to deal with it, it is not hard to guess their outcome," she repeated, emphasizing the main point of the issue.
Shin slightly nodded before asking. "What I want to ask is who among you can lend to Owen and Ithilien. I am sure that they are still unwilling to come back despite the current state of the Sacred Light Kingdom."
"They are most likely at the most crucial part of Ithlien's quest and don't want to come back because of it."
"I can't head there for the time being because I still have matters to deal with on my side, so I am leaving those two to the rest of you," he added while looking at the others.
He specifically turned to Leonard and Arthur since these two were the freest at the moment. They were both trying to clear their respective Tier 3 Promotion Quest but were currently stuck in a bottle just like Shin, which was why they were in the middle of relaxing.
Especially Arthur, who was in the mood to roam around different places to find his online friends and mess with them.
He knew that Cloe was still in the middle of her quest that was connected to her promotion quest, so he could understand that she was unable to help.
Leonard did not even think twice as he nodded his head. "Alright. This shouldn't be a problem."
Alice even volunteered to help. "I will head over there too. This is a major event for the Elven Race since the Sacred Light Kingdom is under the rule of the elves, so the Elven Council will surely send some reinforcements and try to save the kingdom."
She then paused before adding. "Though, I am also not optimistic about it since everything is already in a mess after the king of the Sacred Light Kingdom died."
Shin and the others made a couple more arrangements before deciding to head back home.
…
After returning to his room, Shin took a quick shower before heading to his gaming cabin. He adjusted his mind as he sat inside the cabin before quickly logging back into the game.
But before he could even initiate the link, a call suddenly interrupted him. He paused and looked at the caller's ID, trying to see who was calling him at this time.
His eyes suddenly turned wide when he saw the ID of the caller. He could not help but swallow hard as he looked at the caller as he felt a little threatened.
But he was able to quickly recover himself when he remembered that he had already come prepared for this.
He took a deep breath before answering the call.
Swoosh!
Upon answering, his consciousness was set to his virtual room. He did not spend any time designing this room, so it had nothing in there. It was a white room, which was the default setup for virtual rooms.
He then summoned a pair of chairs and a tea table in between before taking a seat. It did not take long for the caller to appear in the virtual room.
"Tsk! You still haven't changed this room despite having that much free time? Do you want me to design it for you?" commented Shiella as she looked around with great disappointment.
She then sat on one of the chairs before taking a sip of the tea that popped out from who knew where.
She sat very relaxed and kept her silence for quite some time, clearly indicating that she was not in a hurry. It was clear that she was playing psychological warfare with Shin.
Shin smiled bitterly and shook his head repeatedly as he clearly understood what she was trying to do. "Let's stop this play, Big Sis. I'm already busy with the things that are on my side, can't we just get this over with?"
Shiella giggled when she saw the reaction from Shin before saying. "I guess it is an important matter since you can't keep your usual calmness."
"Alright, let's get down to business already," she nodded before turning to Shin and asking with a serious tone. "Have you prepared everything?"
Seeing the sudden change of atmosphere surrounding Shiella, Shin also turned serious and responded. "I hope that it can satisfy you."
He then extended his hand forward and tapped in the air. Then a stack of papers suddenly appeared on top of the tea table. "You can see my proposal here. All the plans and other things are already written here."
Shin did not immediately show his card as he knew that Shiella would slowly negate everything he did not play right.
Shiella casually picked up the papers while asking in a nonchalant tone. "The shares?"
Shin turned to her, trying to read her expression before answering. "Twenty."
"Tsk!" Shiella clicked her tongue, showing that she was not satisfied before saying. "Can I at least take thirty? I will be managing it anyway."
Shin nodded his head and said. "Now that you mentioned it, I think I only need to give you fifteen. I have my manager that can take care of the management."
"Hey!" his words quickly got a reaction from Shiella as she turned to him with an unsatisfied look.
But before she could even refute it, Shin quickly added. "He is a special Named NPC. He has been doing pretty well managing the Calderock Town, don't you think?"
He then paused for a moment before continuing. "Big Sis, this is a little different from how we are negotiating the terms for the Calderock Town. At that time, I don't have the intention of managing it properly and want to leave everything to you, which is why I agree with the 50-50 division of profits."
Sheilla squinted her eyes as she stared at Shin before shaking her head after seeing him calmly negotiating with her. She then paused before asking. "How about the manpower? Our side will be dealing with everything, right?"
Shin smiled and said. "I will be hiring your people and buying the materials from your firm. I don't think I need to concede more shares when I am spending money."
Shiella pouted when she heard that before turning her eyes on the papers in front of her and reading through them.
She was silent the entire time when she was reading through everything. She could not help but become a little impressed at the entire plan that Shin had. She could ignore the city blueprint since she could consult her architects and engineers about it, but after skimming through it, she could tell that Shin had put a lot of thought into the design.
The positioning of the key buildings such as Battle Arena, Adventurer Guild, Trading Firm, Teleportation Hall, and such were not centered on a single spot and spread in different places of the city.
Teleportation Hall was placed at the center of the city as usual, making it easier for all the players arriving in the city to head to the place that they want to visit.
The main plaza was slightly away from it, not following the usual design of NPC cities. Instead, the Adventurer Guild and the Trading Firm were placed in the two opposite ends of the Teleportation Hall.
There was also a specific place that was dedicated to the players who wanted to set up their stalls. It was quite a distance away from the center of the city and the main Trading Firm, avoiding the direct competition. Instead, it was placed on a busy street, making it look like a marketplace.
Sheilla just skimmed through the blueprint, but she could already see that it was well prepared.
Continuing, she also saw Shin's plans for building his army. He also indicated that the city would have three major religions such as the Church of Light, the Church of the Sun and Moon, and the Temple of the War God.
He was taking advantage of the special status that he, Cloe, and Leonard had in their respective NPC organizations to their advantage. Adding the additional people that the Adventurer Guild would provide, the security within the city was dealt with.
They only needed to assign a few guards who would constantly patrol the city to fill the little gaps.
Shiella could also put some of her people in certain areas to cover everything.
Pursing her lips, she continued and saw that they only needed to cover the security in the surrounding regions of the city. But the private army and the recruited adventurer teams could solve that problem somehow.
And if she stationed the scouts of the Hand of Midas and some of their hunting teams in certain areas to grind, everything was covered.
Shiella nodded her head, seemingly satisfied. But when her thoughts reached this point, she suddenly paused as she thought of something. She then turned to Shin and gave him a fierce glare. "You, bastard! So, you are planning to use my guild to do the hardest work, yet you are so stingy about giving the shares!"
Shin shook his head before giving her a cheeky smile. He knew that his little scheme would be seen through easily given her insight. Now that he had been found out, there was no point in denying it. "Big Sis, it is not that I am taking advantage of you, 15% is everything that I can give you. The city is not entirely mine as Arthur, Leonard, and Cloe also invested quite a lot of gold too."
"I also have to give the members of Empyrean Talons some too," he added while maintaining that cheeky smile.
"Then you can just take the rest from your share!" Shiella snarled back.
Shin just clicked his tongue before refuting. "Big Sis don't be too greedy. We both know that 15% is already too much. I will be providing all the funds for the construction of the city and even provide all the Master Rank Blueprints for the advanced structures."
"I even have the Master Rank Restaurant coupled with a high-class Inn in the same rank. Those two are rare."
"I even have the blueprints for mount stable, military training ground, and archery grounds. Adding the default barracks that come for free with the city itself, I think our military forces will grow pretty fast."
"It will not take much time to build a solid army that can protect our land from the opposing forces. What's more, we have the whole month of protection period upon the creation of the city."
"I think it is more than enough for us to solidify our forces, so you will not have to wait that long before everything is properly operational," he added, trying to convince Shiella.
Shiella did not immediately refute as she continued to read through everything. Aside from Shin shamelessly trying to advantage of her, everything else seemed to be perfect. He had planned everything pretty well, with the only problem being the security of the dukedom.
If she ignored that fact, then everything was perfectly tailored by Shin.
She did not show her thoughts on the outside as she maintained an expressionless face.
She then proceeded to read the papers and saw that the latter part was discussing another matter. After skimming through it, she could not help but knit her brows deeply.
It was not because of it being a bad plan or anything, but it was the total opposite. It was so good that even made Shiella look at it positively.
She then turned to Shin and said. "So, this is where your real cards lay, huh? It is indeed pretty good, but it also puts us in a much more difficult position. We will be having more problems in terms of manpower than we already have, especially in the security area."
Shin then looked at her and said honestly. "Before answering that, I want to ask you something first."
"Are you willing to take the gamble, Big Sis?"
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