“It always feels so refreshing to wake up after a dungeon instance, my body feels lighter and less sluggish compared to everyday life.” Woken up by the alarm in the recovery instance, Luo Bo yawned and stretched a little as she praised the dungeon instance they just went through.
“Yes but I just want to sleep a little while longer, do we have to get out of this resting area now?” Jia Le said to Bin Yong as she placed her head into the pillow.
“I must say, they always feel much more comfortable than my bed. I wondered if the bed is some kind of premium quality brand.” Bin Yong asked. “But yea, I do feel more refresh than normal.”
“In my opinion, it has to be the rumoured spiritual powers of the monsters we received upon killing them in the instance. How else would our cultivation advance as fast as …this.” Shi Zuo, who was on the bed beside her, smirked as he went into his cultivation stance and portrayed his cultivation out front. The five highly defined monkey silhouettes were all clapping excitedly as if to welcome a brand new playmate.
The rest of the group watched the show from their own bedside as the monkey silhouettes circled round above Shi Zuo’s head. As they danced, a glow appeared within their circle and out came a brand new monkey. He had finally surpassed the pinnacle of Grade Five Peak and entered the new stage, joining up with Bin Yong in the realm of Grade 6.
Everyone clapped and congratulated him for reaching the special milestone in the cultivation race. Upon entering this Grade, his body would be able to withstand the backlash of using Advanced Techniques.
Thankfully, they were in a private room in the recovery instance instead of the main hall where the bulk of the cultivators were. Else it was unlikely that they would have enjoyed such a decent rest. While being widely known had its perks, it was truly exhausting at times. It was mainly because of all the unwanted attention, especially when someone’s grade increased. Not to mention the noise level would have been incessantly loud.
They guessed it was the perk of being a Pandawan and the group appreciated it a lot to be able to stay in a private room. Still, Jin took the feedback about that recovery instance very seriously. The reason why he had placed the beds in the main hall of the recovery instance like a gigantic makeshift military tent was that it was easier for the System to oversee the monitoring of the patient’s vitals with a glance. (Though it was also primarily due to lack of budget when he first started out.)
But things would be changing. The goblin raid event had provided him with a steep increase in sales and a growing customer base, which allowed Jin to start planning to renovate the recovery instance. He no longer needed to worry about making every cent, since he knew that having a decently priced instance was able to bring in a constant amount of cash flow. Still, he found it hard to believe and was surprised that the sales already broke even merely a day before the Escape City Dungeon Instance was released.
Jin hence contemplated whether he should extend the duration of the Goblin Raid Event for just two or three more months, especially when the school’s winter holidays coincided into the months of January and February for China. In that case, the students might become another lucrative source of income to his shop since the Raid’s entrance were cheap enough. Jin just needed to ensure that the popularity of the Goblin Raid events was still popular and the way to do so was mainly by spreading it through word of mouth or via social platforms.
Word of mouth? Absolutely no problem at all. The cultivators here did an excellent job for him, but there were times that the customers questioned Jin why does he not have a social media account to spread the word.
Boss Jin did contemplate on making a social platform account for some time now since it would no doubt aid in boosting his shop’s popularity a little more. (Though it would no doubt also be liable to part of the internet that received criticism too) But once more, he figured it was too much effort considering that he had a lot on his plate until Kraft stepped in.
“You shouldn’t forget that there is no need for you to do everything by yourself. Why not ask Kiyu? She used to be a popular erm… Celebrity. Yes celebrity seems to be the most fitting term. You can ask her to aid you in that aspect” Kraft proposed.
Upon hearing her name, Kiyu suddenly came out from her bullet in a dash of purple streak and eventually ended up sitting on Kraft’s head like a pedestal in her fox form. (Strangely enough, it made Kraft appear more regal this way.)
“You can put it that way, I was a rather famous entertainer in the past, going from one theatre to another before the System found me worthy to become part of it. I was not per se from the Panda Clan, but my ancestors did have connections to them before, so I had heard a rumour or two of their hidden capabilities.” Kiyu said as she licked her paws.
“And from what I saw, the personalities of your moderators, Mr Patsu and Bear Cub One, they were probably created by the System who had used past data of my behaviour as a template.” Kiyu stretched out a paw, which quickly turned into a peace sign as she started to transform into human form right in front of Jin in the Dungeon Maker.
Jin was baffled as this was the first time he saw her do so. He had assumed Pei was the only one in the System to be able to perform such a feat, but it seems he was mistaken. Were they meant to be Fox People or they appeared as Fox like humans under Kraft’s command?
Her royal purple fur had turned into hair that was slightly black and purplish as it continued to flow out of her changing fox body. She ended up with exceptionally long flowing hair with straight bangs covering her forehead that reached down to her waist, coincidentally covering up her exposed chest while she still hung on to Kraft’s head.
Her dimples were clearly visible when she grinned from one corner to another and her eyes were wide for a Chinese descent. Kiyu’s skin was pearly white, but it exuded a sense of tenderness and a yearning to touch it. Her body was perfectly slender and yet at the same time broad, where it needed to be, which made one wonder how one could maintain such faultless proportions.
Jin was plain speechless as he felt more bewitched by her than Milk or any other girl he had ever known. His expression had been so brilliant, that Kraft could not help himself but secretly record it. Something which he would often tease Jin in the future about while avoiding any possibility of it leaking. (Even Kraft was worried about what Qiu Yue or Lynn would do to him if they learned that he was responsible for this encounter.)
“So do you have any doubts about her being the perfect person to lead your social platforms?” Kraft smirked a little before snapping his finger to cast a clarity spell to clear Jin’s mind.
“I… I…” It was as if Jin just woke up from some hypnotisation spell and he quickly threw a shirt and shorts out of his storage ring for Kiyu to wear while he turned around.
“Oooo, Master’s shirt. I bet not many enjoyed such an opportunity. I shall cherish it.” Kiyu said and gladly wore the shirt and shorts behind Kraft before showing herself once more. Her fox ears and tail gave her the looks of a beautiful cosplayer though she hid it promptly unlike Pei who showed it out blatantly to Jin.
“So where were we? Oh yes, you just need to say the word and I can create the social platform accounts for you. Kiyu could help manage them for you and since she is one of my foxes, a bit of knowledge and ability transfer is not an issue. Any objections?” Kraft proposed.
“Social platform ACCOUNTS?” Jin exclaimed and Kraft was wondering if he said anything wrong.
“Why yes? Not just a Mechat account but Doban, MeiBo and even western media accounts too. I assume we are going to go for a western audience in the future, right? Might as well make those Farcebook, Pinstagram and Tweeter accounts to make the Westerners a bit jealous that we are having all these awesome dungeon instances. Who knows, some of them might even travel all the way here to try it out. And putting Kiyu in charge will make that far more likely than you’d imagine.” Kraft chuckled as Kiyu blew a kiss over at Jin.
If not for Kraft’s previous spell, Jin would have fallen yet again for Kiyu’s charms. He assumed it was her strong powers, which made her into ‘troublemaker’ and wondered if the entertainer bit was just a cover, but he decided not to probe any further. Jin sighed when realising that there was still one final fox under the care of the System. If those two were already a handful, he worried about the last.
“Alright, let’s do it. I would love to see what she’s capable of. Kiyu, are you up for it? I believe it will be a different set of challenges, influencing the new modern generation?” Jin asked and Kiyu snickered at his comment.
“No matter the era, two things will always stay important for any…entertainment platform. Looks and Charisma. Humans are driven by instinct, no matter how logical or …how cultivated they believe themselves to be. Trust me…erm us. We can nail this down, and this way Kraft won’t be so bored looking over your shoulders all the time. It could give you some breathing space too.” Kiyu winked as if she was doing a favour for Jin.
“You remember how deadly her charming magic could be in her fox form for negotiations right? Wait till you see what she’s capable in this form.” Kraft smiled as he placed his face closer to the bracelet Jin was wearing.
“Pei, increase your master’s psychological defence against Kiyu’s magic to the limit later. That should prove a decent challenge for you since Young Master is still young and…impressionable. ” Kraft sniggered before he left together with Kiyu (in Jin’s clothes).
“User, Pandawan Shi Zuo has reached Grade 6 as expected from the Escape City Dungeon Instance. Pandawan Luo Bo and Jia Le are estimated to be reaching the limits of Grade 5 Peak soon. A few more Dungeon runs should allow them to cross the threshold.” The System stated as Jin returned to his work in the Dungeon Maker after Bin Yong and the others finished their dungeon instance.
“I see. How did they fare? Did anything happen outside your predictions?” Jin asked as he began to analyse some of the new techniques the group had used in their adventure.
“Everything was within the upper limits of the System’s analytical prediction model. Does User wish to give them a clear status? The cultivators managed to perfectly clear the first part of the dungeon.” The System asked and Jin shook his head.
“Nah, it’s not a true clear. They would have failed if they were not rescued in the end. But I believe you’ve increased their rewards accordingly, right? If not, I might give them some additional concessions.” Jin replied as he brought up the reward page to see what the System gave out since he was curious about the amount of rewards given the System’s own metrics.
“670 Panda Medals in total. Eh, guess it’s more than decent. Be a little stricter for the rest of the cultivators. We want to avoid them starting to feel that we are giving the medals a bit too freely.” Jin commented, and the System acknowledged it in an instant. After which, he brought up his to do checklist, which the System had visualised for him. It was a nice little feature since he wouldn’t forget anything this way and even asked the System to remind him periodically.
“Hahah, so many things to do. With only ten days left, it’s best I prepare the December instance as soon as possible and later revamp of the recovery instance. Please put it on the list, System. Are there any particular mission for December?” Jin asked while he fiddled with the dungeon consoles.
“Does User really wish to start fulfilling the monthly mission criteria for the December now? Activating a monthly mission before the start of that month will lead to better rewards, but at the same time prove to be more challenging than usual since User will have more time to complete it before the deadline.” The System warned him, yet Jin confirmed choice once more.
“Erm… Guess I’ll have to try it at some point anyway. Worst case, I will handle consequences after that!” Jin somehow felt more ballsy than ever willing to face the challenge and he wondered if it was due to Kiyu’s magical charms.
“Very well. System has confirmed that User initiated December’s mission. Primary mission objective: Create an instance (Dungeon/Service) with 10,000 sales has increased to 15,000 sales. Additional primary mission objectives: Complete the foundations of the Dungeon City Fortress.” The System stated and it was not the end.
“Please be reminded that the Dungeon Core assisted shield defence will end by the 7th of January. Secondary Mission Objective: Revamp the Recovery Instance and have an End User Approval of at least 4.7 stars out of five.” The System stated and Jin’s jaw dropped.
Before he started anything, he slapped himself once and began to rush out for the next particular instance until the System spoke up once more. “Secondary Mission Objective Number 2: Complete the Restaurant Train of Delicacy’s service instance upgrade.”
“YOU ARE KILLING ME!” Jin shouted in retaliation.
“It was the User’s own choice to ignore the warning. Therefore, User just shot himself in the foot. Do not forget your promise with CEO Ke Loong and please also remember to meet up with Grandma Yuan.” System stated with a manner of glee in its tone.
“Yes, DAD!” Jin replied in a sarcastic tone.
