“What is this place?” Qiu Yue asked as she saw a white room with just a table at the centre of it all. Was this another dungeon instance or some sort of isolation room which Jin wanted to speak to her about?
“I do have something to tell you and it’s about this dungeon supplier store that I am working at.” Jin snapped his fingers, and two chairs appeared right in front of them.
“What? How did you do that?!” Qiu Yue was astonished by the sudden appearance of the two chairs, but Jin continued with his explanation as if nothing out of the ordinary happened and gestured her to have a seat first.
“You know me. You know the norms, the practices on how to be a Dungeon Supplier since you searched for information on it for me back then. So I am not going to lie to you.” Jin said with a serious look on his face. Qiu Yue was a little scared when Jin became earnest. Did he go through some underhanded means to get the ownership of this store? Or worse, did he kill someone to be this store’s owner? No, that cannot be, she has never even heard of a dungeon supplier store in Tiangong Shopping District until recently.
“Please do not ask how I got it, but I happened to attain a special…entity, that helped me with the creation of the store.” Jin tried to explain what has happened to him but Qiu Yue still looked clueless.
“You know how the main characters in those light fantasy novels have special powers?” Jin tried another angle of approach, and Qiu Yue nodded her head.
“My situation is somewhat similar to that. Somehow, I’ve attained a system to help me.” Jin backed his words with another snap of his fingers, causing the previous group of goblins, that they fought against, to appear right in front of them. Qiu Yue did not know what to say upon seeing the goblins kneeling right in front of him.
“Wait…Wait a minute. Are you saying, you attained some special powers, and you used it to create a shop?” Qiu Yue was dumbfounded for a moment before she asked Jin.
“Well, sort of. It is less me becoming all powerful, but more like if I had a genie of some sort, that could grant wishes. Although there are also limitations to that. Try to imagine it as something similar to your previous battle, with Moloch. Though I doubt I can ask for anything I want for free, unlike the powers of command you wield in battle. It is sort of a ‘give and take’ situation with the system for whatever I want to do. Remember those blueprints I asked you for? It was actually for one of the dungeon instances I would like to create.” Jin explained but he tried to keep it simple for now. Telling her there is a whole different world besides theirs would just freak her out even more.
“Well, that is how it would seem to my customers. But in actual fact, I am creating more than just a dungeon instance. I am creating an entire city from scratch. A living, breathing city. That is why I need your help, now more than ever.” Jin stood up and bowed as he asked Qiu Yue directly. He knew that beating around the bush would not help when dealing with her and she would definitely have more questions to ask. It would be best to strike now in a conversation.
“I… I…” Qiu Yue was extremely confused. Her ex-boyfriend, who just admitted to having one of those “systems” you only read about, now asked for her help in creating an entire city? How could she even do that? What about supplies? Is it not just an illusory instance? If it is an illusory instance, why would he need it to be this realistic?
“I need some time to think about it, and I have a lot of questions running through my mind.” Qiu Yue replied, but Jin nodded his head and told her not to worry.
“Firstly, why me?” Qiu Yue asked.
“Because you know me the best. You know my goals of being a dungeon supplier. In return, I will give you a decent wage and a Red Panda cultivation courtesy of the aforementioned System. This should also prove to you that the System exists, and I am not crazy. Unless you think I somehow managed to find a perfect Red Panda Cultivation Manual. Besides, weren’t you the one, who once said that if I ever become a dungeon supplier, you would become my second-in-charge?” Jin answered with a blush on his face.
“But, but, but! Erm, I meant purely business, if you reject or have any doubts about it, I do not mind you not taking up the job. However, it will cause me some problems if you refuse my offer.” Jin hastily added before continuing bluntly.
“What do you mean?” Qiu Yue tilted her head a bit and folded her arms as she questioned him.
“You are currently the only real person that knows about my situation.” Jin answered with his head down.
“So what? Are you going to eliminate me? Are you going to brainwash me if I refuse?” Qiu Yue asked with a strict tone.
“Technically, it would not be me but the System. But to answer your question, yes, it would most likely want to erase your memories of this whole conversation, unless I manage to recruit you. But I vow that I am not going to let it do that and will take full responsibility for any consequences in introducing this System to you. I have asked you out of my own volition, and you have the right to refuse and walk away from this without any consequences.” Jin now looked straight at her eyes as he spoke.
“I see,” Qiu Yue replied with a nod. She has known Jin long enough time to be able to differentiate if Jin was telling the truth or not. It came as a shock to her, but Qiu Yue started to make some sense of things. For example, the uniqueness of the dungeon as compared to those by the previous suppliers that she had participated before, and the fantastic store that Jin currently had.
“Then second question: How much are you willing to pay me if I choose to work here? I mean, you are headhunting me so I would like a higher salary than my current job.” Qiu Yue decided to tease Jin a bit.
“100,000 Yuan per month. (Close to 15,000 USD!) Allowance and lodging shall be given if needed. Overtime given too.” Jin gave a high offer immediately even though he was still earning peanuts from the System. Besides, the System wanted her to help him, might as well take this opportunity to take advantage of the System’s vague mission objectives.
Qiu Yue had her eyes wide open as she was shocked by the salary offered by Jin. She was earning roughly 24,000 Yuan (approximately 3,500USD) including overtime, and she thought that with a new shop like Jin’s, she would probably be offered lower. Qiu Yue intended to bargain a little before shrugging it off as a sort of big favour given to Jin but never in her life would she have thought she would be earning this much.
“Don’t believe me?” Jin snapped his fingers, and a suitcase appeared right in front of her. He later opened the suitcase and showed the wads of cash in his possession. At a closer inspection, Qiu Yue noticed the notes were in hundreds, and she even looked within the stack of cash to check whether or not the notes were all the same. Not a prank where the first note was in US dollars and the rest of the stack of notes were of a different denomination. “If you accept this job offer now, I will present to you this suitcase as a bonus.”
“I…” Qiu Yue had no idea on how to reply to Jin’s offer. It looked as if he was desperate but at the same time, she knew that he was genuine about the proposal.
“But you do not even know my talents other than some discussion through chat. Why are you so certain about hiring me?” Qiu Yue presented a logical question towards Jin, but he laughed it off.
“Are you kidding me? A quick search online and I could find multiple publications by you and your team in those reputable journals. There is no way I am making a mistake in getting you into my store. Besides, I still remember how you loved to analyse dungeons and the composition of dungeon monsters back when we were still dating. You are a damn good pick for my store.” Jin said with such passion about his confidence in her that it somewhat moved Qiu Yue.
“Alright, for you, Jin. I will do it. I will accept your job offer, and shall become your second-in-command.” Qiu Yue nodded her head, and she could see Jin getting excited.
“But, you have to give me some time to quit my job as well as doing my responsibility to handle the project I am working to other people.” Qiu Yue said.
“No problem, but it will be best if you-” Jin remembered that his Dungeon City Fortress had a deadline of three months before the Dungeon Core’s shields came down.
“No worries, I will come and help you for the coming weekend. Besides, I need to ‘get’ some information from my workplace to help to build your ‘city’. But you have to fill me in with the details! ” Qiu Yue winked at Jin as he offered to call a cab for her.
