10 Chapter 10 (2/2)
Except the people of Brino.
***
Though the awakeners of Brino were a bit shocked at the Werecrocodile's defeat, another group was perhaps even more disturbed at the monster's unplanned death: the back office of the Awakening Store's Nohas branch.
The Awakening Store carries out business in numerous dimensions, with different names corresponding to its appropriate role in whatever dimension it operates in.
Therefore, the branch in Nohas branch uses the name 'Awakening Store'.
Right now, the Nohas branch of the Awakening Store was in deep trouble.
”Check the logs, the access wasn't unauthorized.”
”NOT UNAUTHORIZED? This guy has had beta access ever since he showed up here! How is THAT not unauthorized?!”
And all of this was due to someone getting to sample the store's catalog even before its formal opening.
The character's name: Jake Smithson – character class, Shopping Addict.
”Okay,” Keldarian said, taking deep breaths as he began to do his job: unraveling the mystery of how this guy got so good, so quickly. ”Do we have a list of open beta access codes that have been given away?”
Keldarian's assistant answered.
”No, none of our open beta access codes to the Awakening Store have been distributed.”
”Then we need to look deeper. This guy is an anomaly: someone like him who has been around Nohas for so short a time buying that many products in a store he shouldn't have had access too yet?”
The concept of awakeners exists in many dimensions. Monsters, too. And yes, these monsters have a bad habit of attacking settlements regardless of dimension.
And across these dimensions, if you kill a monster, you get points – and this is why the Awakening Store was accessible to many different dimensions, it was the universality of the concept.
”How can someone collect that many points that quickly?” one of the analysts asked, while looking over the logs. ”It doesn't make sense at all.”
”Anybody with the open beta access code would need to do specific missions to gain points as reward. For hunting monsters, they get experience, NOT points. No wonder the first team reading the logs thought this guy was a hacker of some kind.”
”These missions aren't easy,” the third analyst said. ”You need to gain levels to be strong enough to complete them. This guy's breaking the rules and the game balance itself. If this keeps up, we're going to be hauled before this dimension's Bureau for Better Business!”
”We could avoid a lot of the backlash,” Keldarian's assistant said. ”Since we've just finished implementing the early and mid-game content and researching the market, we haven't launched a formal opening of the Awakening Store on Nohas yet.”
”Sounds good. So are we going to tell them it's a test server or a soft opening?”
”We'll choose the option that makes the most sense.”
”If you see how much this guy has been purchasing, a soft opening is a better explanation… even if we're running a test server.”
”Even if the balance of power on this place in Nohas has already gone to shit?”
”Language!” Keldarian shouted from within his office. ”I heard that! And yes, that's the best we can tell the Bureau out of a bad lot of alternatives.”
He wanted to continue his explanation, but in a corner of the back office, someone screamed.
”BLACK LABEL SECTION OPENED!”
In the Nohas back office of the Awakening Store… pandemonium ensued.
***
”Give me those logs!” Keldarian shouted as he shoved his way past coworkers towards where the hapless employee who made the announcement sat. ”Move aside, let me through!”
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He made it in a few steps.
”Show me.”
The employee pointed to the screen.
”Okay, how is this possible?!” he yelled out in consternation. ”First, we have what the server recognizes as authorized access by someone without an open beta store access code, and now this? How the hell is the Black Label section open already within two days of our Nohas test server going online?”
Keldarian's assistant caught up to him with her own copy of the logs.
”This might answer your questions, sir.”
She pointed towards a few lines.
”Nohas, Beginner Area 11, Brino… Werecrocodile… DEFEATED?”
Keldarian managed to save his consciousness.
However, he still looked silly for a moment, with his jaw hanging loose.
It took him a good minute to process everything that happened.
They opened the test server for the Awakening Store on Nohas.
Someone got in and was buying stuff like mad within 36 hours of opening.
Access to the Black Label was gained by a player within 48 hours of opening.
But for that to happen, the Werecrocodile needed to be defeated on the server.
Nobody in Nohas should be able to be defeat the Werecrocodile at that point, based on their extensive closed alpha and open beta tests before launching the Awakening Store here.
”How… what… can someone actually kill a Werecrocodile at this point?” Keldarian asked, looking like heaven and earth had collapsed on him.
”Check the purchase logs,” the assistant said, taking charge while her boss was still in the throes of an anxiety attack.
”Got it. Purchase logs online. I see several purchases of Hidden Stat books,” the analyst replied.
”Also, one of ours down in production forgot the bubble wrap,” another analyst added. ”We gave the buyer our standard compensation package. Thirst for Power is what we reward customers who spot packaging mistakes.”
By now Keldarian had gotten over his anxiety attack.
”We goofed,” he admitted. ”With those hidden stats and the Thirst for Power, he'd double his defense and be able to get the Werecrocodile and its escorts to focus on him while his fellow awakeners picked them off.”
”The questions now become, how did we get into this situation, and how do we get out of it? We can't go around spoiling our awakeners and make them think they can turn this game into a damned power fantasy!”
”Well, sir, based on the purchase logs, this player was focusing on package deals and those 72-hour events we were doing a dry run on our test server,” the analyst added.
”Think about it,” Keldarian said. ”If this is him at the black label, imagine him if he gets to the gold label, or heaven help us, the diamond label! If the membership level goes up too, what next?”
”Then what can we do? Block his access?”
”If we do that, the Bureau's going to be on our ass like white on rice. That's not OUR job.”
”What about his purchasing pattern? Anything that stands out?”
”The sample size is too small to make any useful analysis, sir,” the analyst replied, ”but when I looked at what he bought so far, he tends to favor event items that have a limited run.”
”Okay. Okay. I got it,” another analyst added. ”I think we can fix this problem, cut it off at the pass before it becomes a catastrophe. Let's keep going with the limited run events, and keep the prices high.”
”Are we talking about items that need a lot of points to buy or things that require other conditions aside from points?”
”Exactly!” the analyst said. ”What do you think? Is it a good idea?”
”Okay. If he does make the time limit, price, and other conditions, what then?” Keldarian asked.
”If he does? We continue and escalate if we can. Right now, we have to pretend that nothing amiss is going on right now. We'll need to write a petition to the administrators that someone gained access to our Awakening Store test server when we haven't even given out the access code yet.”
While Keldarian was enumerating the things he needed to do and his assistants were writing them down, the analysts were having their own conversation while looking at the anomaly they just discovered. ”You don't think this will cause us to go out of business, right? I do not have any money saved,” an analyst began.
”And that's why we have to come up with a good event,” the other analyst said. ”An appealing and functional event, one that will be hard for this guy to achieve.”
”Exactly,” Keldarian said, having finished his plan. ”But remember this -- it's important to make it look like he can achieve it. That is one of the secrets of making a good event. If the event's circumstances are too ridiculous, he's not going to bother. If it's too easy, we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot. Do you know what to be planning for now?”
”Yes, sir!”
”All right. Hand in your proposals to my assistants before this day is over. Chop chop, people!”
Although the event that will hinder Jake Smithson from his passion has begun, the back office of the Awakening Store in Nohas has yet to plumb the depths of his desire for, and addiction to, shopping.
In other words, they ain't seen nothin' yet!