“You noticed?” Jin asked with a weak smile.
“Who do you think I am?” Kraft responded, but the rest had no idea what was going on. “So, do you wish the share with the others?”
“Maybe later? I’ve kinda been through a lot and would prefer to relax.” Jin answered as he continued to munch on some bite-sized snack.
“What is he keeping? What is he keeping?” Peppers asked excitedly with her mouth full of food. “I DEMAND ANSWERS, after everything I’ve endured for your sake!”
“I also cannot deny that I’m curious.” Lynn chuckled. “Peppers at least swallow before speaking, otherwise don’t blame me for denying you seconds!” Lynn remarked as she gave the little magician girl a glass of water so she could swallow her food faster.
“Yeah, Jin. You’re basically indebted to all of us.” Qiu Yue nodded her head towards Pei, who kept quiet and simply chewed her food.
“Talk is cheap, how about a bit of performance instead?” Kraft asked with an even wider smile. He even placed his fingers near No Mercy and Just Business, which indicated to the group that he was serious.
“What? Against you? Forget it. There is no way I am able to defeat you, much less spar with you for more than five seconds.” Jin vehemently shook his head.
“Aww, not even if I limit my powers to your level?” Kraft coaxed as he let go off his hand from Just Business and put it up in the air and yet Jin still sternly refused. He knew how crazy strong his bellators were, and it was basically suicide to think of fighting against any of them. At least with Zeru, he had confidence that his master would hold back…
“Jin, no fun! Boo!” Peppers showed a thumbs down and yet that did not incite any feelings inside her master.
“The System is also interested to learn what changes have happened with its User. However, that will have to wait. In User’s absence, an outstanding number of issues have piled up and are awaiting input.” The System remarked, and Jin was giddily happy inside. Finally, an excuse to keep his newly trained powers a secret a while longer, so he could show them off some other appropriate time.
The rest stopped pestering Jin any further and they continued their mini supper until Jin dismissed himself from the table and returned into the Dungeon Maker.
“Thank you for your help, System. Since we are alone, I wish to have a heart to heart conversation with you.” Jin announced as he sipped some Blue Mountain Coffee and laid lazily on his reclining chair.
“While the System does not have a heart per se, System understands the meaning. What does User wish to talk about?” The System queried.
“I wish to close down the store in our world.” Jin started his conversation with a shocking revelation, yet instead of arguing the System was quietly computing all sorts of solutions with regards to Jin’s decision.
“System predicts such a course of action will result in a profit loss of approximately 27% for this month assuming it will be a gradual decline of business closure instead of an abrupt one.”
“I was intending to close it down after a good night’s rest as soon as everything was done. Preferably by the end of today instead of tomorrow. Only the dungeon supplier store that is. The rest of the shop instances would remain open.” Jin emphasised.
“Does that mean User would like to move the establishment over to the Dungeon World or Goblin World? Perhaps doing a risky move and moving to the Farming World instead?” The System asked, intending to reduce the number of permutations for its solutions.
“Nope. Just a full-on closure.” Jin stated, and the System stopped calculating.
“Has User given up on his dream of becoming the Number One Dungeon Supplier?” System asked.
“Not really, but judging from the current situation, it appears that the shop and I have been tangled into loads of unwanted political stuff. To resolve that, I suggest we cut off as many ties to this world as possible.”
“While it is User’s dungeon supplier shop, what does User intend to do with regards to the upcoming Cultivation Zoo and JODE advanced training centre?” The System questioned. “You promised Ex Sub System User Yuan and such a promise should not be broken.”
“I will have to talk to Grandma Yuan about it. Judging from our performance at Huizhou, I believe we can bargain for a better deal under our conditions. As for the Zoo… I still plan to create it, but I have some other ideas in mind.”
“Speak freely.” The System asked of Jin, since it was unable to comprehend Jin’s sudden decisions and its predictive analysis were hitting a wall.
“I am concerned about the future if we continue as we did. While it is nice to increase the cultivation of our customers, this might ultimately lead to our downfall. Whatever the customer do with their strength might inadvertently relate to us.”
“But that is what Dungeon Suppliers are meant to do.” The System rebutted.
“What other dungeon supplier store can boast about the efficiency we do? Let’s just take a look at the Pandawans. Xiong Da had been at Grade 1 when he came to me and yet he is now at Grade 5 in a matter of months. While that is still acceptable given his age, the high schoolers are not that far off with their cultivation. If this trend continues, they might actually get as strong as our Generals and could rival the Heads, perhaps even by the end of the year.” Jin reasoned.
“A reasonable concern-” The System agreed, but Jin interrupted it.
“You might be thinking that it might not be our responsibility. After all, we are merely providing the means, but seeing how this world continuously tangles us into its politics, its factions and people… I don’t doubt that there will come a time when we will have to acknowledge that we had played a role in whatever happens.” Jin continued.
While the System understood Jin’s point of view, it was still unsure what Jin intended to do. There was no easy way to prevent cultivators from increasing their grades because that was how the System’s dungeon instances had been designed.
They could make the minions and monsters more difficult for the cultivators to kill, thereby limiting the amount of spirit power taken in, yet that would definitely turn off a lot of customers.
“How does User intend to fix that?” The System asked.
“Remember how Ke Loong- wait, speaking about Ke Loong, I plan to stop that whole portal thing too. It was necessary to deal with the Monster Horde, but I fear it’s too convenient and it might tip the scales of the economy as well as unbalance society way too much. Sea Mesh is not ready for such fortune and possible backlash despite them being a fairly successful company.”
“Then what does User suggest?” The System repeated its question.
“We got Ke Loong’s promise to help us start Panda Inc. Instead of relying on them, I am suggesting we build a virtual reality network.”
“System does not comprehend.”
“A Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Role Playing Game.” Jin said, and if the System had a mouth, its jaw would have dropped.
