9 The Kings Gold Mine (1/2)
”Man, that sure sucked for Yuka-chan.” Tohru groaned aloud as she walked with Arata going outside of the school, rotating her neck as if relieving stress. ”Being targeted by baddies on her first day.”
”Gotta do something with being accepted in the team right after try-outs.” The king grumbled, getting pissed off in Yukari's stead.
”Well, that's a little given for them to accept newbies to the team.” Tohru made a disgusted face while thinking about those baddies as she called them. ”Most team members had graduated last year, and only a few joined last semester. The team won't be able to play if they don't place newbies with good potential in the line-up right off the bat.”
They both sighed.
”I hope they get punished when they do it again.” Arata glared at the ground, making sure to watch the club on days he had no other appointments... which was only Thursday because of the Student Council. He only sighed at the misfortune, and the idea of skipping Ruby's day.
The first day of practice went downhill because of that cut on Yukari's lips. She went to see the nurse at the infirmary and was asked to go home instead of going back to the gym. Even her captain told her to let it heal first. The admirer sure was pissed, but she knew better than look like a rebel in front of the team. She just went home without Arata, because she asked him to continue watching the practice so he could tell her what happened after.
Moreover, Arata promised to watch Tohru during the shooting practice, having his jaw drop at her flawlessness in shooting. He began to wonder if she was some kind of basketball prodigy; even Yukari was inspired to join the team because of her after all. Then again, she was a newbie like most of the members, making her identity quite a secret even from the members.
Since he promised to go see her today and she skipped the celebration yesterday, they agreed to have dinner somewhere. It was already the 6 PM action time, and her request somewhat complemented Arata's plan for that late afternoon. Their destination was none other than the best restaurant in town.
Tohru stared at the luxurious-looking restaurant, squinting at its weird name: Imperial Kitchen with Seats. It was situated somewhere in the working district which gave it a good spot as a go-to place for hungry workers and salarymen. Despite its luxurious appearance of royal red and gold, there were items that are affordable for everyone like usual egg ramen worth 300 JPY as sold using game currency. She turned to Arata who seemed to be proud of showing it off.
”What am I looking at?”
”My restaurant.”
Imperial Kitchen with Seats was a custom name for the restaurant that Arata owned in-game, serving as a player's gold mine by generating JPY from its sales that can be collected every reset of the server time. Arata's gold mine had reached level 10 at the end of his first playthrough so he was able to rake more than three hundred JPY almost every day after that. JPY was used in a lot of things in the game so investing in the restaurant was a must for starters.
[Your restaurant had a revenue of 305, 467 JPY! Collect now? Yes / No]
Arata ticked 'yes' in his mind.
[305, 467 JPY had been deposited in your bank account.]
[Imperial Kitchen with Seats can now be upgraded to level 11 for 5, 000, 000 JPY! Would you like to upgrade? Yes / No]
”What?” Arata mouthed, but his gasp attracted Tohru. He squinted at the name of the restaurant, from where a barrage of notifications came after his first upgrade.
It seemed that the restaurant's max level was raised due to the appearance of the six-star hotel in the town. Since the upgrades only needed JPY, he was able to upgrade it to level 15 fast, but at the expense of 75 M JPY, which was hard-earned cash through an entire playthrough or two. Arata sobbed inwardly as he instantly depleted almost half of his wealth.
[Imperial Kitchen with Seats is now MAX at level 15! Congratulations! Your restaurant can now be upgraded to have a Sky Dome for 25, 000, 000 JPY! Would you like to raise the building? Yes / No / What is a Sky Dome?]
[Sky Dome is the third floor extension of a restaurant which gives the customers the view of the sky above them. It would have a glass ceiling made of the sturdiest glass, and another metal dome protection for days the dome is not ideal. It will give a boost of 200, 000 JPY to sales. Would you like to raise the building? Yes / No]
[Congratulations! You have purchased Sky Dome! All upgrades will be applied upon reset!]
The king sniffed for a reason Tohru did not know, hurt by the fact that he just blew a lot of JPY in a few seconds. Then again, it would give him more or less 700, 000 JPY tomorrow and every day after that.
[You have unlocked the achievement: Business Tycoon 5! You will now receive 50% of your restaurant's revenue upon check-in! Congratulations!]
The notification poured oil at the dying flame in Arata's heart all of a sudden. The sweet pay-off of upgrading the business was now at hand. He suddenly sobbed in victory, making the girl shriek. He took a deep breath and stared at the banner for a few seconds.
The king then smiled with all of his glee at the girl who was weirded out by his unseen trial earlier. ”Shall we?”
They went inside and saw the busy first floor of the restaurant. The servers seemed to be frozen as he walked in, only to collectively throw their heads down, greeting the restaurant's owner with a dangerous, sudden bow. Tohru gasped in shock, and Arata only laughed out and tried to ease the servers as they passed. He was horrified by their reactions as well.
The two went to the reception near the stairs going to the second level and next to the parking entrance. Arata surprised the receptionist like what happened to the servers, but she was more composed and went with the natural 'you didn't tell us you were coming, sir.' She looked for an available private room upstairs and booked them a room for two. The second floor was for the more luxurious type of customers; some businessmen even dine there for meetings, the tooltips told the king.
They were escorted to the room which was like a small, pretty room with a table and seats. There were racks at the side for water and ice. Tohru went straight to the window and drew the curtains lightly, seeing the nice view of the residential area. She looked further into the horizon and beckoned Arata to come.
”Over there. You see that blue house? That's ours!” Tohru chuckled. ”We went so close to home; I thought you knew where I live.”
”Eh? Weren't you living at the other side of the town? Near my area?” Arata remembered running into her that morning where she kicked her ex-boyfriend.