Chapter 1087: Rohen Continent (7)
Chapter 1087: Rohen Continent (7)
“You did…well, Master.”
“I did nothing… and stop calling me master, tsk,” I[1] said.
“...”
“Anyway, withdraw the filming crew and make camp, Mr. Bedum,” I instructed.
“Yes, Director,” he said.
“You did really well today. Since this is our second time filming, it’s better than the first time. Ah! Would you like honey for your reward?” I asked.
“Ye… I mean… I’m… okay,” Bedum answered.
“Do you want honey? Just imagine the honey drizzling down! The sweet and sticky honey dripping down! I bought some really delicious honey,” I told him.
“I-I’m okay. More… importantly, what would you like to eat, Director?” Bedum asked.
“I don’t remember what I bought. Ah, and about that shield, I mean, reflector, get rid of it. It’s blinding me,” I said.“Ah! I’m sorry,” Bedum said.
Bedum quickly got rid of the shield that we had been using as a reflector. I was sure he thought that he was moving fast, but in my point of view, he was moving slowly, which bothered me.
“...”
‘He’s nice, but he’s… kind of dumb.’
I couldn’t describe it, but his stupidity was different from Deok-Gu’s.
Our pig was pretty quick-witted, but Bedum's stupidity was a different kind of stupidity.
This werebear, who liked honey, was dull. Whenever he was told to do something, he would do it well, but he was kind of slow at it. The way he talked was most annoying to me. I had spent 60,000 coins to recruit him, but…
‘No, he’ll improve if I keep giving him work.’
He wasn't that bad. After all, he was still Level 2. His potential was higher than Deok-Gu’s. In addition, it was great that he could turn into a bear. He was soft, and at least he wasn't a weresloth or something.
“I’ll ask… the manager of the support team. I can… take you to your camp,” Bedum offered.
“Before you do that, shouldn’t you take care of this mess on me? What is the art team doing?” I questioned.
“I-I’ll find out. I believe they’re cleaning up the stage,” Bedum answered.
“They’re cleaning up? Tell them to stop doing things that they weren’t told to do. We might have to use it again,” I told him.
“I-I’m sorry,” Bedum stuttered.
“Anyway, I’m tired…” I mumbled.
“I’ll take you to your camp,” Bedum said.
One shop…
‘This is why people need to make money.’
Four werebears lifted my sofa, and I felt like I was on a carriage.
The workers I had bought for cheap were finally being useful.
The first thing I saw was the werebears. Some of them were hired to be part of the lighting team, so they held up large light orbs and shields. Except for Bedum, most of them were Level 1, but I wasn’t going to give them any important tasks, so I thought this was good enough. They were also enough to deal with the dungeon monsters in the tutorial dungeon. ṚäNÓ𝖇ÈŚ
“By the way, Mr. Bedum,” I said.
“Yes?”
“About what I mentioned the other day. Was it taken care of?” I asked.
“Yes. You won’t see any wererabbits near the set. The werewolves of the security team are patrolling the vicinity, but they said they haven’t found anything suspicious,” Bedum reported.
“What about humans?” I asked.
“They have confirmed that there’s a survivor about ten kilometers away from us. The security team is keeping an eye on them, just like you asked,” Bedum answered.
Just as I expected, they cleaned up the areas near the set without any issues. I looked around again and nodded at Bedum. The team members were moving busily once again. The team members would quickly lower their heads as I moved past them on my sofa.
The art team was gathering the resources that they needed using an axe or a pickaxe, and the production team discussed the story with the assistant directors. They would then deliver the necessary documents to the manager of the art team.
The huge camp was a plus. Since they were wanderers, the camps weren’t fancy, but they were pretty sturdy. I kept hearing noises from one side of the camp, and I assumed that the noises were coming from the support team.
‘This is why people need to make money.’
After the filming, they became even more focused. I was sure they were busy because they needed to prepare the food for the day. As expected, I smelled something delicious, and the aroma alone made me drool.
‘This is what I call a tutorial dungeon. Now it feels like I’ve returned to my rightful place.’
“Please make me a cup of coffee, Mr. Bedum,” I requested.
“Yes, sir.”
I drank a cup of coffee while sitting on a comfortable chair. The first day was difficult, but after the tasks were divided, the team members worked harder than anyone, which made me happy.
‘Of course.’
“Mr. Bedum, do you want to go back?” I asked.
“Not… really… sir,” Bedum mumbled.
No one here wanted to go back.
‘I provide them with food and warmth. They have many colleagues as well.’
They didn't have to worry about being abused or victimized.
They were probably surprised, as they never thought that this was a job that they could do, but they knew better than anyone that they were comfortable with their current tasks. As expected, there was a sense of loyalty in their eyes, and I guaranteed that if I told them to jump into a fiery pit, they would do that.
What was most encouraging was that some of them found joy in their work.
“I think we should eat with the leaders of each team,” I suggested.
“W-We… wouldn’t dare…”
"I don’t want to eat alone or waste time. Think of it as having a meeting while dining. Please notify them,” I ordered.
“Yes, Master,” Bedum answered.
To be honest, there wasn’t anyone who stood out among them. They were gathered here to make content, so I recruited the most cost-efficient ones, and it was better to think of it as a future investment rather than investing in the present.
‘Mind’s Eye does come in handy.’
The ranks of the team managers were at least Epic, and they each had one Legendary ability. From experience, one’s growth limit wasn't necessarily equivalent to one’s strength, but it was, for all intents and purposes, a safety net.
I hadn't hired them with the intention of putting them into battle, but I had bought them equipment with my coins just in case…
‘Isn’t this too easy?’
I really wanted to give a round of applause to the Rohen Continent for making this kind of system.
“Master. Can I come in, Master?” Bedum asked.
“Master?” he asked again.
“Ah, yes, come in, and I told you to stop calling me Master. You’re always doing that,” I reminded him.
“...”
“...”
“Okay, let’s start the meeting. Let’s start with the production team,” I said.
“Yes, Master. We spent exactly 13,400 coins on filming today and earned 983,500 coins. There were 985 new subscribers, and the highest number of viewers was 2,421,” they reported.
“Hmm…”
“We spent about 50,000 coins on supplies…” they added.
“Ah… what did we spend so much of our coins on?” I asked.
“I-I’m sorry, but the security team and a few team members needed basic equipment. And we also spent more than we thought on the beasts' food. I’m sorry, Master. We’ll reduce—”
“No, it’s fine. I’m not scolding you. We just need to earn more than we spend. I just wanted to know exactly what we’re spending the coins on. Anyway, good job, everyone. It’s thanks to all of you that today's filming was a success,” I told them.
“We did nothing. You planned all of this, Master…” one of them said.
“Creating amazing content cannot be done alone. The art team did well with the makeup, the lighting team held up the heavy shields nonstop, the production and audio team worked hard together to create great scenes, and the security and support team gave us their full support. I couldn’t have done this by myself,” I said.
“But…”
“I know you’re all still lacking. It must’ve been shocking to be called here out of nowhere, and I'm sure you're stressed about doing work that you’ve never done before. I’m also sure that some of you still don’t know what your role is or what you’re supposed to do,” I continued.
“W-We don't know what to say…” they replied.
“It’s fine. You just need to learn little by little,” I reassured them.
“...”
“I think all of you can move on to the next part with me as long as you show satisfactory results,” I told them.
“...”
“...”
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy.
“Today is a good day, so let’s talk about this another time. Now, let’s discuss what we’re going to film next,” I suggested.
“...”
“Feel free to talk while eating. You don’t need to be afraid of making mistakes, and you won’t get penalized for anything, so feel free to have a discussion. I’m giving you this opportunity because I want all of you to get used to this as soon as possible,” I said.
“...”
“If I have to keep doing this, then there’s no point in having this team. You have to express your opinions without me initiating the conversation. I need to know your opinions so you can just say whatever is on your mind,” I added.
‘I won't know what I’m going to be doing if they don’t know anything.’
They remained silent and simply looked around the room. Actually, I knew this was going to happen. The werewolves in the security team seemed like they had no idea what they were doing. They probably were confused as to why we were creating content, but it wasn't like I was expecting them to know.
‘It’s not like all of them aren’t aware.’
Some of them worked as playwrights or theater directors, while others knew exactly how this system worked. Besides the bear who liked honey, I couldn’t remember each and every member, but in meetings like this, some of them were bound to stand out.
Just then, a child stopped looking around the room and suggested, “How about… we do it a few more times?”
“...”
“I’m talking about the tentacle slimes. I don’t really know what a coin is… but spending about ten thousand coins to earn one million coins is rare, even for gold coins.
"No merchant would turn down such a profitable business. In just three hours… In just three hours, you earned nine hundred thousand coins.
"That doesn't sound believable at all. I can’t believe you made so much… with just three… tentacle slimes. The tentacles… made you nine hundred thousand coins… I-I can’t believe… tentacle slimes… could be so… profitable,” he continued.
‘Ah, he’s a halfling merchant. I put him in the production team because he seemed pretty smart.’
“I agree… with that as well, but the Master’s body…” another chimed in.
“Th-That’s true… I’m worried about his well-being as well, but he told us to think of a way where we could gain the most profit…” the child said.
“I’m against it.”
The one who opposed the halfling merchant’s suggestion was a human mage who was in charge of the production and special effects. I remembered their resume mentioning that they once worked as a playwright.
“The tentacle slimes were satisfactory,” the mage said.
'Satisfactory? What do you mean?’
“It was a notable achievement, and the tentacle slimes were great for earning a lot of coins, but we can’t keep using the tentacle slimes. I don’t want our master’s stream to only be about them.
"Basically, we need something less stimulating; we need something that will build his story. Right now, this is like a typical story of an adventurer meeting comrades and growing together with them, but we need something filled with both sadness and happiness.
"We need content that can elevate him from B-rank to A-rank,” they explained.
“...”
“If we use the tentacle slimes again, the master will forever be in their shadows,” the mage added.
“You have a point, but he needs to build his body a little more! We have to keep pushing for it to keep the subscribers and make them stay! Do you really think that the tentacle slimes were stimulating?
"You may think they’ll become boring someday, but you’re making a huge mistake. They’re the weakest! The next strongest are the Tentacle-morphing Goblins! And the next strongest are the Tentacle-Morphing Orcs! There’s no end to this content!” the halfling argued.
“And after that? Are you going to keep making content with tentacles? I can guarantee that our sales will decline by then. And what about the cost of the Tentacle Orcs? How are you going to handle the power creep?
"You’re making a mistake if you think we can make a profit equal to the amount of money we invest. If that doesn’t work, are you going to make the Great Tentacle King spawn? How much coin are you going to spend on that?” the mage questioned.
“We have many monsters that we can use. It doesn’t have to be the slimes! Is there a reason why we shouldn’t use these good materials when they're already well-received in the market?
"I’m sure rumors are already spreading. The fierce battle our master had with the tentacles must be making the higher-ups feel excited. I’m sure the next batch of potential subscribers are waiting for the same thing! They’re all waiting for the Tentacle Orcs! Are you going to betray the subscribers?” the halfling questioned.
“That's exactly why we need to stop using them! We can use them again later, but now is not the time! Turning potential subscribers into true subscribers by using tentacles is just—”
Bam!
“Are you saying that they’re not true subscribers?! How absurd!” the halfling roared, interrupting the mage.
‘Why is it getting so intense?’
I was dumbfounded when they started arguing over tentacles. There was madness in the halfling’s eyes as he glared at the human mage. In the end, those two took the discussion seriously, and I couldn't help but start thinking about the tentacles.
I was shocked by how much they were crying about the tentacles.
‘What the hell…’
“Tentacles!”
“No! Tentacles aren’t the answer!”
“Tentacle Orcs!”
“No!”
“Next will be Tentacle Ogres!”
‘Tentacle Ogres? What the hell are those? How am I supposed to fight that?’
Just then, I heard a familiar voice.
[I-I apologize for the interruption, God of Sacrifice and Revival. I think he'll visit you today.]
“...”
Who?
[I’m talking about Woo Hyo-Yeol! He said he wants to meet you!]
“...”
Really?
[It was hard, but I managed to convince him, God of Sacrifice and Revival! Haha!]
“...”
“...”
‘It’s been a while since you pulled something off.’
1. Lee Ki-Young’s POV ☜