Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 491: The New Tower Masters

[You have finished the construction of the building in honor of King Valex.]

[The building is grander and nobler than any other architecture in existence.]

[The building’s level has exceeded Level 9.]

[As the building’s foreman, you have acquired the rewards for the successful build.]

[You have gained 100 DEX.]

[You have gained 100 REP.]

[You have gained a 1% increase in all five basic stats.]

[Please determine the status of the people that can enter the newly completed building.]

[Slaves. Commoners. Lower Nobility. Higher Nobility. Royal Family. Imperial Family.]

These were the notifications that rang in Minhyuk’s ears the moment the construction for the building was finished. After enjoying his meals, Minhyuk finally came back to the Five Stars for a discussion.

“King Valex treasured his people, and that includes the slaves.”

“He was the first ever king to abolish slavery. Of course, the complaints of the other nobles about this all amounted to nothing.”

The decision was made easily.

[Anyone that wishes to enter the building commemorating King Valex can enter the building.]

[Please set an entrance fee.]

When it came to entrance fees, Minhyuk suddenly became very indecisive. Of course, he wanted to get less from the slaves and more from the nobles. But if he did that, then many would protest.

At that moment, Star Strategist Jarrod said, “Then, let’s just make it so that everyone can enter with the same entrance fee.”

“But, doing that would make our efforts insignificant, right? The weight that this building will carry might become too small if we did that.”

“The public is willing to believe in a lot of rumors and fake stories,” Jarrod said, which made Minhyuk confused, as he looked at the building with a soft smile on his face, “We can spread rumors. A commoner paid a higher amount than the entrance fee and he became lucky that day. A lower noble paid an amount that was several times over the entrance fee to honor His Majesty Valex and was promoted to a count later in the same year. Some wouldn’t bite it, but there would be a lot of people who will pay more, just because of these stories. In fact, it would be more profitable to do this instead of setting different prices.”

“Ah…” Minhyuk gasped in admiration. It was not the slaves nor the commoners, but the rich and the nobility that had always lived a life of luxury and contentment. They might also pay a hundred, perhaps even a thousand, times more than the entrance fee just because of a few simple words.

And once they took a look inside?

‘There’s no way that they would think that it’s a waste of their money,’?Minhyuk finally decided.

[You have determined the entrance fee for the building commemorating King Valex.]

[The building’s entrance fee is 5,000 gold.]

[Anyone, regardless of their status, nationality or continent, can enter the building commemorating King Valex.]

[The building commemorating King Valex is built in Eto Kingdom’s territory, it will receive a 60% tax.]

[The expected return of profit for the building materials, labor, maintenance and building foreman is 2%.]

Minhyuk smiled in satisfaction. Although Minhyuk headed the construction and everything was shouldered by him, they built it in Eto Kingdom. Also, the Five Stars still belonged to the kingdom during the construction process, so it was only natural that they pay a 60% tax. Besides, he would still be able to get a 2% return profit for all of his efforts. That amount was already huge enough for any ordinary player to sit back and relax for life.

Just when everyone was wondering how marvelous the building was after seeing the kings and emperors burst into tears, Minhyuk announced that they could finally enter. Hearing that, everyone hurriedly dashed forward and lined up! The line even exceeded seven kilometers!

However, some nobles began to protest, “Do we have to stand in line with these slaves?”

The ones that they hired for the management and maintenance of the buildings began to flap their tongues, following what Minhyuk and Jarrod told them, “Count Ken, this is a building in honor of King Valex. Because you’re waiting in line, His Majesty Valex will definitely reward you and turn your future around.”

“Ho?” The nobles looked at the building in contemplation as the assistant continued to speak, “Count. I heard that one of the counts that visited yesterday was able to give birth to a bouncing baby boy after he came back to his territory. There was also a knight named Perle. I heard that he has been granted a title and became a baronet.”

“Is, is that true?! Alright, I will wait. Haha!”

The rumors began like that but over time, these rumors started to become a ‘fact’. The people then began to say this every time they got lucky, ‘You know, it’s because I waited five hours in line to visit the building in honor of His Majesty Valex. But that’s not all! I also offered a platinum to honor His Majesty. And His Majesty in heaven helped me!’

‘Are you telling the truth?’

People would always get envious when someone was doing well! Just like that, word passed through one noble’s mouth to another!

[Count Erthe offers 3 platinum to honor King Valex.]

.

[Marquis Kennon offers 20 platinum to honor King Valex.]

[Allod of the Royal Family offers 100 platinum to honor King Valex.]

There were also the players and ordinary guardians that visited the building. Among them, there were those that looked sullen after being dragged by their girlfriends.

“Oppa~ I heard that this building is a hot topic these days!”

“Do we really have to wait this long?”

But not long after, the man exited the building with tears in his eyes while saying, “Cough— I have never seen such beautiful architecture in my life. Want to line up again?”

“I like that! I will recommend this to my parents as a must-see travel destination!”

Everyone was constantly walking to and fro. After all, just looking around the building along with its paintings and sculptures could give them a buff effect. The building garnered an outstanding 2,100 platinum as its highest profit. Calculating Minhyuk’s share, he would be able to get around 40 platinum.

Ah, such is the life of a building owner!

***

The tower that attracted the most number of people in the Barras Kingdom of the past was the ‘Fisherman’s Tower’. Even if all of the fishermen living in all of the other kingdoms were taken into account, their numbers were still significantly lower than the number of fishermen residing in the Barras Kingdom.

But now, no one was coming and going inside the Fisherman’s Tower of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. This was because these fishermen classes all left when Barras Kingdom fell. The biggest reason was because of the departure of the Legendary Fisherman Eck.

Legendary Fisherman Eck had a very lively and free personality. He often went out to sea to teach his tricks and secrets to both players and guardians alike. Oftentimes, he would make sashimi with the rare catches that they caught on that day. Because of that, plenty of the players liked him and followed him.

However, the stories about Fisherman Eck were wrong. Lively and free? Kind and good-natured? Teaching others how to fish? Not at all. Those were things that Eck had planned. He deliberately went out to sea to revive the Fisherman’s Tower and attract people. Eck was also one of the people that immediately left the kingdom the moment the king changed.

Eck grinned deeply, ‘The kingdoms are finally making their move.’

Eck had just attended a major meeting between the kingdoms. The main topic of their meeting was the ‘Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’. The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom was a kingdom founded by the foreigners. That fact in and of itself ticked them off and all of them hoped to drag the kingdom down.

To do so, they all made a plan. They wanted to bring away the remaining personnel of the towers that were still in the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. That was not the end of their plans. They also planned to take away all of the production class players and guardians in the kingdom. Their method was a bit barbaric, but they were certain that it would bring about the results that they wanted.

‘The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s towers should realize how helpless they are without us, the tower masters, there, right?’

That was right. All of the tower masters left the kingdom. Not only the most famous Fisherman’s Tower’s tower master, but even the tower masters of the Painter’s Tower, the Sculpture’s Tower, the Blacksmith’s Tower, the Commander’s Tower and all the other towers. These posts were only currently being supported by the deputy tower masters.

So, what would happen if they took down those deputies and showed the foreigners what true helplessness was?

‘Then, the remaining people in the towers can only choose to leave. After all, they only stayed because of their lingering attachments to Barras Kingdom.’

It would only be a matter of time. Once the previous tower masters proved their greatness, these people would realize how weak they were as they served this king that could not show them a higher level. And once they took them away, they would create new towers and gather more people together. This would definitely force the collapse of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s towers, while the towers that had moved to other kingdoms would revive and return to the way they were before.

“Long time no see, Eck.”

“How have you been, Gebry?”

Not long after, a carriage and a parade of troops stopped and lined up in front of Eck. Inside the huge carriage rode the past tower masters. Eck greeted the central figures of each kingdom with his eyes as he entered the carriage naturally.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Barras Kingdom… no, Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s Valencia,” Eck said with a smile as the others nodded in agreement.

Then, one of the kingdom nobles said, “I’m sure you’ll all do a great job. We will definitely show those foreigners that dared to create a kingdom on their own a very scary and painful sight.”

“You don’t have to worry about a thing, you know?”

“The current tower masters of Beyond the Heavens Kingdoms are nothing but mere fools.”

“I heard that there are temporary tower masters that stepped up? From what I heard, they were people that the king used to take care of?”

“Ah. So, you haven’t heard of it.”

“Heard of what?”

The past tower masters, who were giggling to themselves and ignoring the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, turned towards the kingdom diplomats when they heard their words.

“The Beyond the Heavens Kingdoms have already appointed new tower masters. The Blacksmith’s Tower and Commander’s Tower had been abolished and replaced with the Tailor’s Tower and Tower of Knowledge. Not only that, they have also appointed new tower masters for the Chef’s Tower, Painter’s Tower, Sculptor’s Tower and Fisherman’s Tower.”

“What?”

“Puhahahahahahahaha!”

“That’s completely ridiculous. They’re just filling up those seats by bringing in people with some power. They’re probably in a hurry?”

All of the previous tower masters just laughed. The reason why they were the tower masters that all of the kingdoms and empires coveted was simple. It was because they were publicly recognized as the best in the Asgan Continent. There was no one greater than them, at least in Asgan Continent.

Before they could burst out in another fit of laughter, Fisherman Eck, as if he had a brilliant idea, said, “You might know this already but even though I’m already out of the tower, I’m gathering a lot of people for my new fishing ground and these people are now working their hardest to learn under me. Can I call them? I’ll make it so that they know who I am and what I can do. That way, they will trust me more and follow me wholeheartedly.”

The nobles reacted positively after hearing Eck’s words. They all thought that it was a good idea.

“I believe that’s a great idea.”

“We can secure their hearts and even bring the ones remaining in the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s tower with us.”

“That’s the best!”

“A very splendid idea indeed.”

They stopped their procession for a moment in lieu of calling their men. Not long after, each of their kingdoms brought a variety of production classes, ranging from fishermen, sculptors, painters, tailors, blacksmiths and many more. Their number totaled 2,000. They were the elites of the production classes. Then, the carriage procession set off again. However, among them, there was one particularly anxious man.

“Marquis Arna, the thing that happened in the founding ceremony won’t happen again. Don’t worry too much.”

“Ah. Yes. Worry. Haha.”

During the founding ceremony, Marquis Arna, terrified after seeing Sword God Valen and Saintess Loyna, peed in his pants and was hence dubbed as Mister Bed Wetter. He was also one of the diplomats sent to Beyond the Heavens Kingdom this time.

In a blink, the carriage procession that was ‘packaged’ as a group that was sent to ‘celebrate and congratulate’ Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, entered Valencia.

‘Nothing will happen this time.’

But Marquis Arna was left unaware that today was the day that he would experience that humiliation a second time.