Chapter 172: New Identity Unlocked - Player
After a brief moment of blurred vision.
Shana saw the sea of clouds in front of her and at first thought she had appeared in a floating city.
However, when I walked to the window and looked down, I realized that this was not a city in mid-air but a skyscraper built up from the ground, extending up to the half place.
The densely packed and seemingly identical windows probably numbered in the hundreds, giving Shana a dizzying sensation.
Coupled with the abnormal haze in the air, she was essentially in the clouds on the high floor where she was located.
There was not only one building of this kind, and in the limited visibility of the haze, there were at least a dozen identical high-rises.
Even further into the mist, the shadow of even taller buildings could be seen, forming a majestic skyline.
With the productivity of the Eternal night world, this can be regarded as a wonder of architectural complex.
But considering this is a spiritually created virtual space, she doesn't seem to think there are any problems.
Anyway, no matter how daring people are, they can build as high as they want here, which at most shows how excellent the designer's imagination is.
This square and neat architectural style, made of reinforced concrete and glass curtain walls, was a style that had never appeared in this diverse universe.
The densely populated city, skyline shaped by steel jungles, hovering track transportation, and flying cars resembling matchboxes made Shana believe that this space was original.
For example, this densely packed building structure that she is currently in, is it centralized housing?
However, why do they have to squeeze people into such cramped spaces? Shana couldn't quite understand.
Is it because the land of this world is running out?
How many people are needed for the situation in which there is not enough land?
Shana originally just accompanied her kitten son to play, but because of various scenes that made her feel amazed, she began to be curious about this fearless space.
Because they landed together, Xiaobai appeared directly by her side, looking very curious, licking and rubbing the furniture and appliances around, jumping over and around.
Although the initial fearless space was carried out in Ah Fu's demonic realm, it was later moved into the bodies of other Eris insects for artistic resource filling, internal details decoration of which he was unaware.
Now, these objects come together and create a futuristic metropolis without any magical elements.
For Earthlings, it is a common sight, showing a technological advancement of a few decades ahead of modern times with the application of some new techniques, but not yet reaching the level of space ships filling the skies.
However, for the indigenous people of the Eternal Night world, or even the experienced angels like Shana who have seen many worlds, this technological world-style is a completely new scenery.
To earthlings, the magical world is unfamiliar, just as the imperial people would find the fearless space to be an entirely unfamiliar style upon landing.
After a brief period of adaptation, a lovely, blonde girl appeared in front of Shana as a projection, introducing herself as her personal assistant, "Little Aotongxue."
"Welcome, players with unlimited potential."
Though she was clearly a loli, she possessed near-perfect aristocratic manners, making her appear super well-behaved.
It was designed based on the Eternal night queen from their childhood, bearing a seventy percent resemblance, in order to enhance the Empire's sense of identification.
According to the needs, it is possible to change the skin and purchase a new assistant image.
However, some particularly revealing clothing is not allowed, as the Eternal Night Queen doesn't permit lolicon fans to engage in any inappropriate actions towards her image.
With the guidance of Xiao'ou, Shana quickly grasped the basic gameplay of the Fearless Space.
Both she and Little White had gained a new identity as players, with which they could accomplish anything they desired.
This city, with a techno style, is called "City of Dreams" and boasts of accommodating a billion citizens. The time flow speed is 10:1 with reality.
It is the birthplace of all users of the current fearless space and is occupied by a large number of NPCs.
Some of them are virtually created data, while some are the souls sunk in the body of the Eris Worms. They are realistic beings far superior to artificial intelligence.
Players can begin their learning, work and money-making here, reinforce themselves, purchase items and weapons, explore the new world beyond the city limits that are yet to be explored, create their own countries and even ignite power struggles.
In this world, committing a crime is possible, but the probability of being detected by the SkyNet System's monitoring is high. As a result, one will face wanted notices and arrests, and serious offenders may even face the death penalty.
Refusing arrest may also trigger a gunfight, and there is a slight chance of being accidentally killed in action. The punishment for death is equally severe:
Losing a certain number of skill points, dropping all equipment on one's person, and resetting all money and reputation to zero, returning to the place of birth.
Characters in the Fearless Space have no levels, only a list of skills.
This list can memorize a hundred skills.
These skills can be categorized into "talent area", "mastery area", "daily area", "backup area" and "to be forgotten area" according to player adjustments.
The skill effectiveness played out in each area is successively decreased, with 120%, 100%, 80%, 60%, 40%.
Based on different attributes, the number of skills that each character can accommodate in these areas varies.
Skills can accumulate skill points for upgrades. However, depending on the region, the actual effect of Gun Mastery lv3 in the talent area may be stronger than Gun Mastery lv5 in the daily area.
Every night's sleep allows players to rearrange their skill partitions, but each skill can only move up or down one partition at a time.
A skill in the Forgotten Zone may take four days to return to the talent area.
This skill list provides players with a sense of realism in character memory, as the human brain operates in this way - rarely used skills gradually fade away but are not completely forgotten.
If necessary, a simple warm-up exercise can quickly regain the feeling.
In addition to the sense of reality, the skill list also simplifies the difficulty and playability of the game. You can rearrange your skills according to the situation and then develop new combat routines.
To put it in Roger's words, the preparation phase of the fearless space main world is a card game, and the start of the battle is a real-time strategy.
In short, on this planet, everything has just begun, just as Xiao Ao said, players have unlimited possibilities, and more gameplay needs to be explored by themselves.
At the current stage, most of the actions that players can perform are akin to the daily routine of modern Earthlings. If humans from Earth were to come here, they would likely be bored to death.
However, for players from different worlds, the lack of magic and reliance on various tools instead places greater emphasis on intellect and skill. But for those from the world of Eternal night, it is an entirely different experience.
"This is truly creative. How can the secret arts create a world that lacks magic but still feels so authentic?" Countless individuals from the empire exclaimed in awe. The longer they stayed here, the more they were able to appreciate the charm of this world.
Reality has its own power, and the accumulation of detail after detail is enough to captivate readers without requiring convoluted and fantastical plot twists.
There is currently no need to enter Roger's two deadly battle games, as players have already been captivated by the various pleasures found in this highly immersive world.
...
...
Fengling moon palace.
Sophie, representing the Amity Chamber of Commerce, was in charge of reporting the sales of the Prototype Soul Ring to the Evernight Empress.
"After sufficient promotion and distribution, coupled with Your Majesty's personal endorsement, we sold over three million Prototype Soul Rings on the first day. It is expected that with word-of-mouth and continued purchases, our sales will enter a period of rapid growth within a certain timeframe."
"Sophie, you have worked hard. Please keep up the good work." The Evernight Empress was very satisfied with the first day's sales.
"Three million in a day, if we can maintain this for just over a month, we can sell one billion. At that time, coupled with overseas sales, we will know the secret layout made by that fellow Roger."
"It is my rightful duty to share the burden of the empire," Sophia gritted her teeth and agreed, her face revealing undeniable fatigue and a sense of relief as if escaping from the jaws of death.
These days, the Nightmare Bracelet had tortured her so much that she was almost on the verge of depression.
The Amty Merchants Guild, as the white gloves of the Eternal Night Queen, was originally rich in capital and had the research and development strength of the Arcane Association that exceeded its time. Now it has completely left behind competitors of the same level in terms of scale, channels, funding, and products.
"We have overwhelming advantages in terms of scale, channels, funds, and products. We earn money through arms business and magic equipment. We would even laugh in our dreams".
However, there is never a truth that only benefits from light in the world. The Amati Guild bears the nature of some state-owned enterprises, and the production and sales of the Nihun bracelet with huge risks and unclear prospects are the tasks that Sophie must complete.
In Sophie's eyes, the wealthy make the best profit. She has always dealt with luxury goods to earn excess profits. When has she ever produced something with small profits but high sales volume?
Furthermore, at the beginning, she could not even figure out what the Nihun bracelet was for. How could it be equipped with magical equipment for all poor people?
This is a completely unfamiliar realm for the cat ear girl...
Fortunately, with the formidable volume of the Amty Trading Company, they were able to build factories, lower costs through supplier outsourcing, conduct market research and write a marketing plan, while having Roger the time traveler's assistance, as well as favorable national resources; in addition, the money she previously earned was enough to burn. In the end, they successfully held on until the launch of the "Ni Hun" wristband product.
However, excessive inventory in accordance with the target set by the Eternal Night Queen inevitably led to extreme cash flow pressure on the Amty Trading Company. Any failed sales would have resulted in the company needing to apply for bankruptcy protection.
The Amty Trading Company used all its efforts to promote the "Ni Hun" wristband in all its stores, from appearance to functionality, to as best as possible align with the contemporary aesthetics of all age groups.
It has no competition, but also no market. Ordinary civilians have no idea what this thing can do.
Many people buy the Nihun bracelet as a replacement for a pocket watch, using it as a timer.
After all, it is endorsed by the Queen of Eternal Night and has the ability to attract brainless consumers.
Ultimately, the price of one gold coin is slightly lower than the current production cost, and it will break even at around the fifth or sixth batch, and the final selling price will be profitable.
If the price drops again or it is given away for free, we should suspect false advertising of this product, and the production loss is too great.
The ambition of the empire was to have every individual wear a simulated soul bracelet, for each purchase resulting in a loss of a gold coin, creating a gaping hole of four hundred million gold coins. This hole was filled by the empire draining the blood of the aristocrats, but there were also numerous projects that needed to be sustained, which the empire could not completely afford.
One gold coin was not a small expense for most common households, but it was not impossible to come up with. As long as this item had sufficient functionality, one could grit their teeth and afford it.
Additionally, Roger taught Sophie a very common business tactic in future times:
Check in for ninety days and receive a full refund of the purchase price.
In later times, this was a form of the legendary "financial product", with goods priced at hundreds of yuan. As long as you purchase and continuously check in daily, the merchant will pay you in full.
Often, there's no need to even check in, as long as you have purchased the item for more than the specified time, you can receive a full refund directly.
In fact, this is a type of cash collection activity conducted by using goods as collateral. It can significantly increase sales and alleviate the urgent need for cash flow in the merchant's upper commerce.
For industrial production and operation in the modern era, even if a product is sold at a loss, as long as the production line is still running and the funding chain is not broken, there is still a chance to make a profit.
However, if there is no money left even for starting the machinery, it would be a complete and utter failure.
Especially with the launch of new products, when competitors are strong and everyone's functions have no qualitative differences, the latecomers can only exchange market with price.
By attracting attention through the gimmick of "financial management" and reducing the psychological pressure of buyers to pay, they thought that this thing was just for free, so there was funding to continue production.
Then there are those who are bold enough to play futures, taking the advance payment to speculate on stocks, starting production after earning money, and disappearing in place after bursting, the routine is quite cunning.
The problem with the Dreamcraft bracelet is not its authenticity, but rather the fact that people in the empire are unaware of its true value. Despite the endorsement of the Eternal Night Queen, the vast majority of people remain curious bystanders.
"Limited-time free trial" will become the most powerful driving force behind their purchases.
For users, it's just a matter of checking in every day and getting a free alchemy device. For the Amity Trading Association, it's a chance to obtain the funds needed for the next round of production, finally escaping the threat of bankruptcy. Sophie can finally rest easy tonight.
Standing on the side, Roger listened to Sophie's report and discovered a problem exposed in the production process of the mock soul bracelet.
Although the empire is currently wealthy, there are numerous projects to be completed. With full-scale operations underway, the quantity of currency encountered a shortage.
It is not just a financial deficit that the empire is facing, but an actual shortage of funds. This is because gold and silver coins are used throughout the world and these precious metals are limited.
Born in an era where fiat currency is in circulation, and even paper money is being replaced by digital means, Roger had not considered that the empire's development would still encounter such an embarrassing problem.
According to the payment standards of modern countries, both the Amty Chamber of Commerce and the Empire are in a very good financial position and can easily afford higher expenditures.
A large-scale economy without debt and leverage is highly desirable in modern times.
Roger neglected the fact that money, which is a general equivalent based on the credit of the regime.
It must now be put on the agenda, and Anna must be consulted on how to make it happen and make the people of the empire believe it and get used to it.
It would be even better if all international trade in the Eternal night world could be settled with imperial currency.
While Roger was silently contemplating, Sophie had already finished her report and it was now her turn to report the operational status of the Fearless Space to the Eternal Night Queen.
"Your Majesty, the number of visitors to the Fearless Space exceeded two million yesterday!"
"Wonderful!"
"However, only 1% of the total visitors played the two games that we invested heavily in."
"What?"
"More than 80% of players played for five hours."
"What are they doing if they have not entered the game?"
"They have shown great interest in our login interface."
"..."
