17: To gain Authority and Economy
PCliver is preparing for the future.
In order to gain influence in this game he needs to set the foundations early before someone else can.
Thankfully both the other disciples seem more interested in other things.
Now the first thing he needs to do is establish himself as a person of authority.
"Jade, I have a business proposition for you." He says to her as they prepare the farm.
"What is it?" Jade asks.
"Remember how Master Stone said he wants us to establish a system to keep other players from going wild. Well I've worked out a plan to get started on that. I'll be providing new players with a starter pack in exchange for them agreeing to certain rules." PCliver explains.
"And how does this involve me?" JadeBea asks. "I'm don't think I'll be strong enough to help you enforce these rules."
"I want you to provide a 50% discount on spare vessels to anyone who accepts these rules." PCliver says. "Plus I'll be buying spare vessels from you for 55 SP each, which I will then provide to new players as part of the starter pack."
"I can see where you're going, but what are these rules anyway?" JadeBea asks.
"First is that you shouldn't do anything that seriously hurts the game experience for other players. I'm currently working on some specifics but know that I'll be trying to make it a unrestrictive as possible." PCliver explains. "Second is that disputes between players is to be resolved by me and my team, the results will be public so you can everyone can decide if we're acting fairly. And lastly you aren't allowed do business with players who have broken the rules and not paid the appropriate price."
"I suppose that does line up with what Master Stone wants. So I guess I can agree to this for now. Though if I notice anything I can't agree with then I'll make you regret tricking me." JadeBea threatens. "But as a show of faith, I'll let you have the spare vessels for free, since I doubt you'd be able to afford so many all by yourself."
"Guess what!?" CoDestiny arrives from his latest hunting trip with five beetle corpses in tow. "I just broke through to level six, and I have plenty of SP for the new technique!"
"That's great." PCliver congratulates him. "20 SP for each of these bugs as usual?"
"Of course." CoDestiny agrees. "Not sure what you need so many for, but who am I to complain."
"Are you ready to buy the technique then." Master Stone appears, as usual.
"Yes Sect Master." CoDestiny bows.
"Good. Now to explain how the Polyglot Technique works." He holds the technique in his hand. "This is a mental exercise similar to Parallel Consciousness Technique, except it instead puts you in a state where it is much easier to learn new languages. As a bonus, it also includes all the knowledge necessary to understand the language the people of this world speak."
"Does this technique also work IRL?" JadeBea asks.
Master Stone smiles. "I advise you to see for yourselves." He gives the technique to CoDestiny.
After looking in it, CoDestiny opens his mouth and says: "############"1It actually works
Something in a language neither PCliver or JadeBea can recognise.
"############"2I know Master Stone replies. "But we should speak so everyone else also understands. I've implemented subtitles for your stream though, so they shouldn't be complaining too much."
"Sect Master, before you go I have some questions." PCliver speaks up before Master Stone has a chance to disappear. "What are the cultivation realms? Is there anything about this worlds customs we should know? And who's sponsoring Sect Tech?"
"I unfortunately can't say anything about the sponsor." Master Stone says. "As for the cultivation realms and customs, you will have to learn for yourself. I believe there may be an opportunity to do so some time soon. Just remember, when speaking the local language you should never mention that you consider all of this a game." And so he disappears.
A while later PCliver had advanced to the sixth stage, allowing him to learn the Polyglot Technique.
It was certainly an interesting experience, though that's to be expected of the game at this point. The interesting part is that after testing it with his real body, he's found that it really does help learning languages. Now he can finally make up for those Spanish tests he failed.
But that's not so important for his current goals.
As he's checking out the local Sky Pearl Tulips for one that can easily be moved, he thinks about all the things he'll need to do in the future.
Gaining influence over the economy will be very important, so he'll need to create a trade centre. Hopefully there will be someone joining soon who has a good enough understanding of carpentry that he can just hire them.
The trade should be mostly for the purpose of distribution and storage, so the tax needs to be low, barely enough to cover the costs of the people working it. He's not doing any of this for profit after all.
Of course the trade centre won't be useful if they don't know how valuable the various loot is. While they could just let the economy figure itself out, having appropriate prices to start with will be how they avoid being outdone by competition. Thankfully his friend George is working on getting estimations for them to use.
Then there's the possibility of trade with the NPCs. Master Stone has spoken about them as if they were actually alive, so they should at least have an economy they can make deals with.
Ideally he'd also be able to get a monopoly on trade with the NPCs. A complete monopoly would be impossible considering how players are, but if he can get in contact with the upper authorities of the NPCs then he could perhaps convince them that they should only trade with people who follow his rules. Surely they wouldn't want to interact with criminals.
"Who are you?" An unfamiliar female voice asks from behind him. Speaking in the language he just learnt.
Turning around. PCliver sees a beautiful woman with white hair and golden eyes, staring intently at him.