Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 635 - 633: Cost

Li Ang moved all the Magic Potions out of the Breeding Box and placed them into the Alchemist's Magic Box, preparing to put them on the shelves for sale later.

The System provided many privileges to the store owner. Without the owner's permission, customers couldn't touch the merchandise at will, nor could they steal or damage goods.

The store owner had the right to expel customers from the store and could also set up private spaces within it, prohibiting customers from peeking or entering, which could be used to store merchandise.

A moment later, Mule sent over the business plan. It detailed the operational strategies, revenue and net profit growth, daily customer flow, and other data for similar types of stores. Based on this data, it made predictions and tailored phase goals, long-term objectives, and business strategies for the Immaculate Furnace.

According to Mule's prediction, as long as there were one or two signature products, opening the store at this stage was almost certainly profitable.

The constant influx of rookie players meant not only the spontaneous expansion of the market but also indicated that the old-world organizations' ability to interfere in the Killing Field games was gradually increasing.

Let me calculate... spending 8,000 Game Coin in the Game Square for the land, 700 for constructing the store's skeleton, 3,000 for applying for the business license, and paying Mule 500 for the consultation fee and subsequent commission...

Li Ang muttered to himself, "Just the start-up cost for the store is 12,200 Game Coin.

Originally, I had 18,016. Minus 12,200, plus the 200 transferred by Little Brother Dao, and the 100 from winning the first match in the Sky Fighting Arena, I now have a total of 6,116 Game Coin left.

I hope to earn it back soon..."

He scratched his head, stepped out of the Alchemy Workshop, and expressed his thanks to Mule.

After a moment of silence, a message came through.

[Ahem, no need to thank me; it's what I should do. Also, I would like to know, when are you planning to officially open for business?] 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Li Rising: [Later today. I don't plan to discuss cooperation with other organizations after I log on. I estimate I'll take on just one forging job a day, perform a few surgeries, and then log off.]

The stores on the Game Square were very intelligent. The store owner could tag goods with prices, and customers could directly transfer payment to purchase selected goods and leave the store, without needing to go to a cashier to transfer payment to the owner.

This meant that Li Ang didn't need to constantly monitor the Magic Potion business; what he needed to focus on were the forging and surgeries.

[Is that so...]

Mule paused for a moment, then sent, [Can I apply for a body enhancement surgery program?]

[You?]

Li Ang was slightly surprised. Mule was an Information Broker who was filthy rich; her gear shouldn't be bad. And she was among the earliest to know about the limits of body enhancement surgery in the Immaculate Furnace. She should understand that the enhancement surgery could lift a rookie to Lv10 at most. After that, more unconventional methods had to be used—subjects would gradually depart from the human category, both physiologically and psychologically. Such high-intensity transformation generally wasn't something most people could handle, and it required a significant amount of time, effort, and Divine Power.

Li Ang hadn't planned to include this type of surgery on the product list yet.

He thought for a moment and asked, [You shouldn't need enhancement surgery, should you?]

Mule: [It's for a client of mine.]

A client?

Li Ang rubbed his chin. Mule had mentioned attracting customers for him when he was about to open his store. This wasn't a problem. After all, no matter who he operated on, the product list was posted for everyone to see.

[Okay.]

Li Ang said, [I'll log on later. Let your client prepare in the meantime.]

[Okay.]

Mule let out a long sigh of relief, scratched her messy hair, and leaned back heavily in her chair.

At this moment, the Information Broker was not in her original dark, cramped basement but in a spacious, brightly lit, and lavishly decorated hotel room.

Since the last Underworld mission, Mule, worried about her identity being traced, had taken all her intelligence documents, equipment, and items, and fled. Before leaving, she destroyed everything in the basement and concealed the traces with supernatural powers so that other players couldn't conduct a final investigation. Since then, Mule had been using a false identity, moving from place to place, looking for the next safe haven.

WHOOSH—

The bathroom door opened, and a small figure wrapped in a bathrobe walked out. "Sister, I'm done washing..."

The speaker was a small girl of about ten, with long black hair and a slim frame. Her features didn't resemble Mule's.

Her name was Laura, whom Mule had picked up in Mexico a few months ago.

At that time, Mule was in Mexico investigating the source of the increasingly rampant Datura Potion on behalf of an anonymous client. She had altered her appearance and was renting a room in a slum hotel. It just so happened that Laura's mother had died from a Datura Potion overdose, and Laura's father, in the throes of addiction, had even considered selling Laura to a criminal gang in the slums for money to buy the potion.

Mule had been a professional Information Broker even before becoming a player. She had seen many human tragedies over the years, but for some reason, she felt compassion that time. She saved Laura from being sold into a life of horror, slaughtered the gang, and fled Mexico with her. The whole story had a "Léon: The Professional" vibe to it.

Afterward, Mule thought of putting Laura in the foster care of a decent family, but the girl adamantly refused, so Mule ended up keeping her.

Perhaps because they both shared similarly unfortunate and tragic childhoods, Mule gradually accepted Laura's presence. She took Laura with her as she moved from place to place, teaching her about the underworld and treating her like a younger sister.

Mule looked at Laura with a tender gaze. "He has agreed to do the surgery for you."

"Huh?"

Laura hesitated, then said timidly, "Is it Sister's friend...?"

"Yes."

Mule nodded. "He might be a bit weird, but he honors the Spirit of Contract; he won't deceive people. After the surgery, your safety will be guaranteed."

A week ago, Laura had awakened as a player.

This wasn't good news. Becoming a player meant living day to day, always at risk of dying a violent death.

True, Mule had a lot of equipment and items. But Laura was only ten, after all. Her base attributes were too poor, and much of the equipment was unusable by her.

Furthermore, due to Mule's sensitive and precarious identity, it wasn't feasible to take Laura to a large organization for body enhancement surgery. This left them with no choice but to rely on common Body Enhancing Medicines available on the market.

Originally, Mule had planned to take Laura to try her luck on the black market in Southeast Asia, to see if any enhancement surgeries were available. But now that the Game Square had opened and Li Ang had set up shop, it was the perfect opportunity for Laura to get enhanced at Li Ang's store—

Of all the similar types of surgery available on the market—whether Werewolf, Blood Clan, or Demon Transformation—they all limited the player's future development. Only the surgeries provided by the Immaculate Furnace enhanced the body's basic qualities without limiting the player's future possibilities.

"Let's get ready, then we'll log on."

Mule scratched her messy hair and spoke softly. "By this time, it should already be quite lively outside his store..."