Don’t ask me, it’s magic.
“Ming, are ya serious?”
I had tried to keep the explanation as brief and to the point as possible, but the looks on everyone’s faces told me I must have missed something.
Saori, Mrs. Higa, the woman I used to call PTA Mom, stared at me with a perplexed look on her face.
“Honey! It makes perfect sense. I told you there had to be a solution to the resource problem. This should… but it would depend on… first, I need to figure out… Oh my god, this is so exciting! Ming, why didn’t you tell me about this before?”
Mr. Higa turned to her husband Kazunori with a disappointed look, shaking her head slightly back and forth.
Already, the conversation was going off the rails, and I had only shared the first of the bombshells I was carrying around.
In front of me, huddled around the register were the Higas and the three high school delinquents, Toshi, Ken, and Wataru. The two Higa daughters, Saki and Haruhi, were sitting on the floor in the back of the store, using a small stool I had brought out from the back as an improvised table.
I had wanted both of the Higas here for this discussion, so they had to bring the girls. They had a set rule that the children would never be away from both parents at the same time, no matter what. It was a sensible precaution considering the current state of the world.
The boys were here because I had gotten fairly close to them in the past couple of months, and because what I was about to say would impact them directly. Well, to be precise, it would hit Ken and Toshi. Wataru had his own thing going on, but the three friends were still close enough that I felt it best not to have them keep secrets from each other. Besides, of the three of them, Wataru seemed to have the most common sense.
I didn’t want to explain the whole thing again, so I summarized the main point.
“As I said, monster cores can be used to charge up digital wallets, just like money. I don’t know when this started, but I think maybe since the ATM went back online.”
“How, Why?—“
Mr. Higa interrupted his wife, asking the question with an excited look in his eyes.
“Before that, have you been able to figure out the exchange value?”
“Actually, yes, I think. I recorded the details of the first hundred cores that I converted. I did them one at a time in the beginning, then wrote down the details of the cores, and the amount that the store credited to my wallet. Here, take a look.”
I pulled out the notebook I had been keeping for this purpose and opened it up on the counter for everyone to take a look at. It listed the size (small, medium, large), color (dark, medium, bright), and the corresponding value.
“It’s not very precise, I just did a quick description of each stone, then recorded the value. There is definitely a pattern, though. The larger the stone, and the brighter the color, the more they are worth. A small, dark stone might go for around 3,000 yen, while a large, bright one can bring in as much as 9,000 yen.”
The boys had been halfheartedly listening up to this point, but at the mention of the amount of money each stone was worth, they became very interested.
“That much? For one single stone? Are you kidding me? I’ve been holding onto those, and they were worth a fortune?” Why didn’t you tell me?” Ken complained.
“Listen, calm down. I wasn’t keeping this secret to rip you off. This is extremely dangerous information. Just think about it, those stones that most people think are worthless, that can be found all over the place right now, are actually worth money. Potentially a lot of money. If… When this gets out, things are going to get crazy.”
The boys did not look convinced. If anything, they seemed angry that they had handed me a fortune in stones over the last month. I understood their feelings, and probably would have felt the same way in their shoes.
“Look, I know how you must feel. I wasn’t trying to take advantage of you. I just needed some time to figure this all out. I’m not going to cut you out. Part of why I was collecting the stones so far was to make sure we are all taken care of. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
Already, Ken and Toshi were whispering to each other, eyeing me suspiciously.
Mr. Higa looked up from the notebook.
“Wait, what do you mean by that?”
“I mean, things are about to change again. I have the feeling that once they do, the cores are going to become a very big deal.”
“You mean… is it happening? Again?”
Everyone else was looking confused, but I had hoped that Mr. Higa would figure out things quickly. I would need his help to work out the details of what I predicted would be coming next. Thankfully, he seemed to get what I was hinting at.
“Yeah. I’m only about thirty thousand yen short.”
Mrs. Higa frowned.
“What are you boys talking about? This sounds very shady. Ming, are you corrupting my dear, sweet, stupid husband?”
“He’s talking about the next store update. It’s earlier than we predicted.”
I gave a sheepish smile.
“That would be my fault.”
The store update process was the worst-kept secret in Saitama these days. This was only partially my fault. The only person outside of this room that I had shared all the details that I knew about the milestone with, was the Governor. Of course, he had only shared that information is a few trusted people in the Co-op, so of course, by now, half the city knew all about it, or some version of it anyway.
As we had gotten closer to the target goal, deposits into the wallets had all but stopped, as the different groups started to hoard what currency they had in their possession. It only made sense to wait and see what new things would become available after the store reached Tier 3. They were happy to let others bear the cost of upgrading the store, while keeping their savings intact. The last time I had updated the Governor on the store upgrade progress, I had estimated a date several weeks from now.
Of course, that had not taken into account my experiments with monster cores. In the last month, I had exchanged more than half a million yen worth of cores, and I still had about the same amount that I was holding in reserve.
“When the store updates, I don’t know if I will be able to keep the information about the cores secret, so I have been preparing for it to go public. That’s why I have been collecting as many cores as possible. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I couldn’t risk this getting out.”
I bowed my head to the boys. I had been feeling guilty for weeks. Every time they carelessly handed those stones to me, with no clue of the real value of those stones, I had felt like a thief. This revelation had been something I had been dreading for weeks.
“No, you were right to keep it secret. This is going to upset the whole balance of the game… I mean, the local economy. I mean… It’s actually a good thing. We were going to eventually run out of money, and of course, there needed to be an alternative in order to keep using the store. It’s not like it looks like we will be running out of monsters any time soon, so that problem is solved…”
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Mr. Higa’s voice faded as he appeared to get lost in thought. His wife grabbed his arm to bring him back.
“What is it?”
“Huh, oh… nothing. Nothing. What was I saying? Oh yeah. It’s a good thing, but of course, many people are going to be upset. People are always upset when you mess with the exchange value of loot items.”
“Yeah, especially the people I have been taking stones in exchange for phone charging. When they find out how much they gave me… They are going to kill me!”
Ken’s face paled at the thought.
“Look, first, you didn’t keep any of those stones. You gave them to me, so no one should blame you.”
I didn’t even have to look to know that no one here thought it would be that easy.
“Second, starting tomorrow, don’t take any more cores. From now on, charging is free. Don’t accept anything else either. Don’t worry, I’ll still give you whatever food you need. Part of taking the time to save up a supply was to make sure to take care of you and all your families.”
I made sure to nod at Toshi and Wataru to let them know I included them in this deal.
“As for the messages, we keep doing what we have been doing. Changing things now will only make it more suspicious. I am meeting with the Governor tomorrow anyway, so I’ll have to figure out what to do about the Co-op.”
“Are you going to tell him everything?”
I answered Mrs. Higa quickly.
“No, not yet. First, I’ll update him and the Co-op after the upgrade to the store. I need to be flexible, and I don’t know for sure what is going to happen. But after that, I think I’ll need the help of the Co-op if we want to control the chaos.”
“What about the other groups?”
Everyone turned to look at Wataru. As usual, he had been silent through the whole discussion so far, but when he did say something, it was usually very astute.
“They will find out sooner or later. Probably as soon as the Co-op knows,” I answered.
It was understood by most people that the various groups spied on each other. On the surface they cooperated with each other for the common good, but underneath, there was a constant rivalry for resources.
“Whatever happens, I want you all to put the blame for keeping this secret on me. Many people are going to be upset. The store will protect itself, and me, but it can only protect you as long as you are inside. Out there, there isn’t anything I can do. If you need to cut yourself off, I understand. Tell everyone it was all me. I don’t want any of you to be blamed for the things I did.”
“What are ya talking about, Ming? We know ya were just being careful.”
As usual, Mrs. Higa was on my side.
“He’s right, though. People are going to be mad. I mean, I’ve been collecting cores for weeks, and people were happily shoving them into my hands because they are just curiosities. When they find out that they were worth so much… I mean, even I’m a little…”
Ken would certainly understand how people would react. He had been exchanging cores for recharging phones while people eagerly traded them for any reason at all, without any inkling of how much they were truly worth. A large amount of my current wealth had passed through his hands, and I could see regret stitched into his brow.
“I can give you some extra food and other supplies. Maybe you can distribute them to people who need—“
“No, don’t do that.”
We all turned to look at Mr. Higa.
“You were right to hold off on sharing this with everyone. You were also very smart to save up your resources, at least until the upgrade. Everyone knows you should save up your loot before an update. You don’t know how to use what you have properly until you know what you can spend it on.”
“Are you talking about the time you blew fifty thousand yen on game items? You cried about that for months.” Mrs. Higa grabbed he husband’s arm and twisted.
“Ow! Hey, I’m a human. I just needed to max out Princess before the next season update.”
“Aren’t you a senior programmer on that game? And who is this Princess?”
“Ow! Ow! Ow!, that really hurts! Uhhh you… No! You… you are my Queen, of course! The Princess… She’s just a game character. Princess Tyule of the Desert Empire, Salat El Dun! You know it would be unethical of me to use my access to gain free things in the game… Ow!”
“Forgive my idiot husband, I know it sounds like babbling nonsense, but he really does know what he is talking about when it comes ta games, and surprisingly, that seems ta be useful in this new world with rules and magic right outta Dungeon Ques—“
“It’s Dragon Qu—Ow!”
“Why tell anyone at all, then. You could just keep things the way they are, keep collecting all the stones until you are mega rich. I’m happy to keep it a secret, as long as you cut me in.”
As expected, Toshi was surprisingly cool-headed when it came to money. Of the three, it seemed like Toshi had the hardest life, even before the disaster.
“I have a feeling that the time to keep this secret is just about over. If I had a choice… Well, it’s not like I am in a hurry to cause problems. It’s the store. You all know that. It does what it wants, and it wants to sell more products. The money is going to run out, and it has picked these stones to replace it. I don’t think anything I do will change things, and if I try, it might make things even worse.”
I pointed to the status bar on the register showing the points needed to upgrade the tier of the store.
[Progress to Tier 3, 9,967,452/10,000,000]
“Even if I do nothing, the store will reach the goal in the next few days. But I don’t have to wait. With this, I have more than enough to do it anytime I want.”
I pulled out the bowl with monster cores that I kept behind the register and placed it in front of everyone.
Toshi and Ken eyed it greedily, while Mr. Higa grabbed one of the purple stones and examined it.
“Where did you get this one?”
“From the Governor. He gave me a couple of them. Why?”
“It’s just… Have you tried to deposit it? It was worth more, right?”
“How did you…”
“Just tell me, was it worth more? How much more?”
There was now a fire burning in the man’s eyes. There was both desperation and triumph in his voice.
“Yeah. I used to have three of them. Each one of those purple stones is worth over ten thousand yen each, even though they are on the small side. One was as high as fifteen thousand.”
“Fifteen thousand yen?” Toshi exclaimed, holding his own hands back from reaching for the bowl.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
Mrs. Higa looked over at the serious look on her husband’s face.
“Green… then purple… Yeah, I get it…”
“Darling?”
“Ow! Uh… Sorry, never mind. It’s nothing. So when are you going to upgrade the store, Ming?”
“I was thinking about doing it now, while you are all here.”
“Really?”
“Yeah!”
“Do it!”
“Are you sure? Is it safe?”
Mrs. Higa quickly looked over at her kids, playing on the floor in the back of the store.
“You can wait outside if you want. I think it’s fine… actually, maybe it’s better if you do. It’s a bit disorienting, at least it was last time.”
“I saw it from the outside last time. This time I want to see what it is like from inside. Honey, you take the girls outside, just in case.”
She looked like she was going about to argue with him, but stopped herself, and nodded.
In the end, Mrs. Higa and the girls stepped outside and onto the street. Wataru went with them to keep an eye out in case anything went wrong. Meanwhile, Mr. Higa, Ken, and Toshi opted to ride it out from inside.
“Are you ready?” I asked as I dropped a handful of green stones into the ATM deposit drawer.
[Amount to Deposit: 58,111* yen]
After I completed the deposit, I went back to check the register. Sure enough, the message was waiting for me.
[CONGRATULATIONS! Store #11,512 has cleared the second challenge and is ready to upgrade to Tier 3!]
[Ten million yen! That is a great achievement, and deserves praise. Your next challenge will require even more hard work and dedication. Are you ready to upgrade to Tier 2? Yes/No]
[Progress to Tier 2, 10,025,563/10,000,000][ COMPLETE]
“Here we go.”
I pressed “Yes” and watched as the world twisted and flashed in front of me.
This time, the effect was not as bad, but I was still disoriented and a bit stunned when the sensory roller coaster finally ended.
The others, however, were not faring as well. I must have built up some amount of tolerance, after having been through the transition several times now. They were not so lucky or prepared.
Mr. Higa was the only one left standing, though he was leaning hard on the counter. The two boys, however, were on their knees. Ken was on his side, holding his stomach, while Toshi was on all fours, dry heaving.
“Hey, if you throw up, I’m banning you from the store.”
BING! BONG!
Mrs. Higa rushed in and grabbed her husband around the shoulder, helping him stand upright.
“Oh my god! What happened? The whole building flashed and then…”
Wataru followed the woman in, standing between the girls, holding onto their hands.
“Woah!” He uttered.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I looked around the store, I was shocked by what I saw. I checked the register, and sure enough, it was covered with new notification boxes and prompts.
[UPGRADE SUCCESSFUL]
[Store #11,512 has been upgraded to Tier 3! Congratulations!]
[Products and store services for Store #11,512 have been updated. Select to see the list of changes.]
[Employee Huang, Ming has been awarded 2,000 merit points.]
[Employee Huang, Ming’s merit point balance exceeds 10,000 points. Additional points are discarded. Please visit the HR portal for updates to status.]
[Great Job! The Wanma Digital Wallet Campaign Continues!]
[Campaign details. Update: All One Mart branded products* (some exceptions apply) are discounted an additional 5% when purchased using digital wallet funds.]
[New Lucky Draw! The next 100 customers can participate in the lucky draw when making any purchase with a Wanma Digital Wallet. Additional prizes and awards will be announced.]
[Store #11,512. Current campaign point balance: 10,025,563]
[Progress to Tier 3, 10,025,563/100,000,000]
As usual, the messages were somewhat lacking in detail. This time, I made sure to open the description link to get more details about what had happened to the store.
[Tier 3 Store Update for Store #11,513.]
New! Hot food sales begin.
- 5-tier deluxe steamer installed. *Training required before in-store activation.
- Hot food display cabinet installed. *Training required before in-store activation.
-
Kitchen with food storage, prep station, and frying station added. *Training required before in-store activation.
New! Customer-use restroom now available.
New! Customer shopping encouragement perk: Shopping in Store #11,512 will improve customer health and vitality by a small amount over time. *Effects limited to once per day.
Enhancement: One Mart Online store’s additional categories added. Gardening, DIY, One Mart Select.
Enhancement: Employee rest area upgraded.
Enhancement: Product receiving dock upgraded.
“Wow! It got bigger!” Saki squealed.