A new Shop Instance?
Initially, Jin did not know what to do to increase the viewing capacity of the customers. What kind of view which was acceptable that could provide both privacy and at the same time, the overall mood of the people watching it.
Jin could have just killed the view screening idea and proceed to expand his shop instance to accommodate customers, but that would destroy the community that he had painstakingly grown in his shop.
The chat forums had always been bustling with snippets of cutscenes from various random dungeon viewings, and people discussed how silly some were (and of course they would be taken down should the cultivator in cutscenes asked the ‘moderator’ aka the System to do so.) Or how epic some cultivators had performed as well as the discussion of the dungeon walkthroughs.
The casual viewing was the very essence of Jin’s shop instance.
So Jin cracked his brains to think of it and perused the internet for ideas. Stadium? Nahhh, he already had a stadium instance. Besides, there is no privacy in it.
Concert Hall? Nah. Even though it could potentially accommodate people, that would be too cold and precise at the same time, wouldn’t it?
A more substantial extension of the current cinema circle which the shop instance embodied? Not really very ideal and could get rather messy.
These were the few times he had to crack his head hard since Jin could not possibly update his shop instances every time his customer base got larger.
He needed something as modular as the Gearbox system.
A particular instance where he could merely plug and play whenever he liked and at the same time, insert new stuff whenever he wants without having to revamp the entire shop instance.
Thus, he needed a solid core foundation for his new shop instance and subsequently allow this modular concept. Also, the gathering hall which he had utilised as a stop gap in the luxury recovery instance was becoming full.
As he allowed the System to take over the operations after setting up the necessary amenities, the System had instantly showcased the various flaws that Jin had created in the gathering hall. Things like lack of visual cues to show the way, shortage of storage lockers, insufficient seating space for people to wait etc.
Jin could only remedy certain things with a band aid like adding more furniture and increase the number of Panda NPCs to aid the customers, but it did not solve the inherent problem.
While it was clearly a more convenient and better way to gather people, there should be better ways for people to wait for their turns and have better dungeon play experience.
That was also why Jin created the squads’ feature. Initially, it was to facilitate faster gameplay, although it might inadvertently promote solidarity or erode the community he grew. Thus, the dungeon supplier had to ensure that there had to be a balance involved.
Too superior and the squad NPCs might potentially replace group play altogether. Too weak and they would be discarded as a cosmetic feature, not to be utilised unless deemed necessary.
Only when Jin felt like he was giving up with remaking the place, the Magpie Queen came in just in time to interrupt him. He then looked at the timing and realised that she was slightly early.
“Did the Feast went well?” Jin asked, even though he already knew the answer to it. The question was more of a conversation starter for him since he rarely spoke to her.
“It was brilliant, thank you for the surprise feast. I suppose you might be doing this in the future as well?” Que Er asked as she was in modern clothes, a fashion trend more towards office fashion. Orange short blouse with long waist pants complimented her long silky black hair and the touch of makeup nearly made her almost indistinguishable against other humans living in Jin’s world.
“Probably more of a joint effort from a number of monsters in the future. This was way more tiring than I expected it to be.” Jin blurted the truth, and Que Er nodded with a smile.
“What do you need of me, Sir? You seem rather serious when you send a passing comment to me during the feast.” Que Er did not wish to waste much more of her master’s time as she saw him fixated with the consoles in front of him.
“Remember how I said that you should not side evolve at Yu Xiang’s Chinese medicinal store? Your face seems more than just disappointed, and it made me think about what I had said to you.” Jin asked Que Er which the latter vehemently shook her head.
“No, it’s fine. It is fine, really!” Que Er anxiously replied, rejecting all the possible goodwill by her master until Jin took a card out from his storage watch. It was similar to when he used the evolution upgrade card for his goblins.
“Hold this. Whenever you feel you are ready to use it. Use it.” Jin said as he placed it right in front of her. “I do not know your legend, your history, but I know you are an immortal, a Queen to all your birds, be it magical or real.” Jin placed the card onto her hands even though she was trembling with the intention to return the card.
“I might be your master but I shouldn’t bound your potential just because of the pact you made with the System. You became part of the System for a reason that is unknown to me, and I realised some… discretion should be given to you.”
Que Er leaned back on the chair and stared at the card for a moment. It was true that she had been working hard for reasons unknown to Jin and yet when she held on the side evolution card, she gazed at it as if it was insulting her in some way.
“Your remarks back then were to be ‘useful’. I thought about it long and hard. Were my services not sufficient? I had provided the communication network not just for the resistances in the Farming World but also the Goblin War. Were my birds not helpful enough? What do you exactly mean by useful?” Que Er said while her face was still directed towards the card.
“…I was-” Jin was interrupted when he realised that Que Er was not done talking.
“It was then that I began to understand that you did not mean just the practical uses of my abilities but possibly the initiatives I should take.” Que Er said as she looked at Jin with a determined face.
“So…I actually went on a journey myself with the permission of the System.” Que Er reply was resolute, and with a whistle, two large ravens flew out of her, and each landed on the side of her shoulders.
On closer inspection, those ravens seem to have a fake eye on the side they stood on. The crow on the left lost his left while vice versa for the bird on the right. Their feathers were not exactly entirely black as well, and there were shades of translucent blue and purple.
To Jin’s knowledge, there were only two ravens that were infamous enough that he believed even the Queen of Magpies would attempt to recruit. Even if he did not fully know the lore behind it, Jin was able to warrant a guess for the names of those two ravens Que Er had on her shoulders.
Huginn and Muninn.
