[Quest]
[Sell at least 5 Beast Food... 3/5]
"2 more..." Max said to himself, trying to encourage himself. Although his patience was pushed for many times by those who only knew to comment but not buying, it felt satisfying to be able to sell his wares, especially three products at once. "System."
"Yes, host."
He felt System was kinda giving him a different vibe but set it aside. "Can I use the products?"
"Can but while it is free for host System won't refund the money and every item host takes won't be added to the quest completion."
"I see." That was made sense. The wares he got was basically bought by him but the cost to get it wouldn't be refunded. "By the way, what is the real effect of the product? I get the part where everything you produce must be boutique but customers won't accept it just like that. Some explanations to make it acceptable are very important."
"For Beastmaster, the Beasts are their best friends, tools and weapons. But most Beastmaster only put emphasis on appearance and ranking list they made up. To System, every Beast has potential to become stronger than their predetermined path. Even a worm can become stronger than Divine Beasts from host's world religious beliefs. Naturally it is depends on the Beastmaster and the resources the Beast has."
"It still doesn't explain what I want to know." Why the System took a very lengthy way to explain?
"Of course it doesn't. System won't explain or tell how a Beastmaster should train their Beast and like what System has previously stated, resources are important for Beast. Beast Food(Ordinary) can strengthen the elemental power the Beast has. It can speed up the maturity of Infant and Juvenile Stage Beast without side effect such as mental breakdown. It is processed delicately to conform to the Beast taste because such thing usually taste repulsive for the Beast. The best of all, isn't it nice to have a correction growth for the Beast? With a product like Beast Food(Ordinary), even a scum for a Beast can become stronger than it ever will be in the wild or non-consumer's care before fully mature. On a perfect note, it is the best product for a newly started Beastmaster who embarks on the life filled with danger and death."
Max's face was full of black lines. The System was insulting him more than once. "Fuck... Is it really necessary to use a very long speech just to insult me?" As an orphan, he lacked the necessary resources and he barely had time to train his Beast because of work resulting his poor aptitude as a Beastmaster and his Beast was at best staying at the bottom of power sphere.
"It is only host's imagination. This is a known fact. Compared to most ordinary people, Beastmaster's life is full of danger. The death rate alone has surpassed the number of death in host's original world during both world wars. However, this System doesn't require the host to be powerful and only needs a competent Store Owner. Host can become powerful with money and Point System host will gain in the future but as a proper Store Owner, money is the first interest and fighting the second."
"Damn it! I won't have the chance to reach the peak of my life and become the strongest." Max grieved for his future life. The novels he read were all about become the strongest and reached the peak of life but the System basically denied him for such chance.
"For System, becoming the strongest is boring. In the face of common interest, even the strongest will fall. Moreover, the strongest doesn't always translate as a good businessman."
Max's couldn't accept it. Systems normally cultivated its users to be the strongest but this System of his wanted him to stay indoor, counting money, doing business all day. "How about my protection?"
"This Store is under System's jurisdiction. Even the strongest in the universe must bow down their head as long as they are inside System's jurisdiction."
"But what about when I'm outside? I'm not strong you know." As much as it was relieving to hear that he had absolute protection inside the store, you couldn't expect him to stay inside forever.
"Host can hire Beastmasters to be his bodyguards."
"Easy for you to say. I'm literally broke and full of loans waiting to be paid every month I don't know whether I can pay it or not." Although the products produced by System were awesome but the price was enough to deter them. Then there were future products which Max had no doubt that it would be priced sky-high. It would limit the number of his customers and possibly killed because of that.
Beastmaster was a lucrative paying profession. However, it was not without disadvantages.
The Beastmasters themselves were the weakest link. Compared to their Beasts, Beastmasters had weaker bodies in exchange the capability to contract Beasts. Beasts, however, were able to grow stronger because their evolution geared towards that direction but they required enormous amount of money. Usually money to feed them, money to purchase evolution materials or strengthening materials, money to buy services to maintain the Beasts peak condition, money to buy supplies for explorations.
At least that was what Max knew so far. He was only a low ranked Beastmaster. He barely made money to feed both him and his Beast. The several times he had gone on explorations ended up in failures because of his low power.
"Then host must step up his game and strive to excel in business as soon as possible."
"Cih... There's no end talking with you." In the end, Max had to give up and accept the reality that his dream life after getting the System was no more than just a dream.
"You are welcome, host."
"Fuck you!"
----------Break----------
Three days after his first transaction, Max's store had yet to sell another Beast Food. It seemed the woman who bought his wares was simply an unlucky person who found System's product as all trash and had thrown it to garbage.
I mean, by going normal routine, that amount of Beast Food should be enough for a day or two depending on the size of the Beast or the number of Beasts. Considering how System put the words about its product, the woman should have come back and bought new ones to resupply.
"My money is getting thinner by the day." He sighed seeing the numbers.
[Money: 3383G]
"System... Take some responsibilities will you? I thought you said your product is good but why my first customer has yet to appear."
Max had thought several possibilities. Lack of money, on exploration, didn't think System's product as a big deal or dead.
[Ding!]
[Conducting survey...]
[Please wait]
[0..45..100%]
[Survey finished]
[Result: Laura Bell is happy with the product]
Max was horrified. He didn't know the woman's name but System in its omniscient power was able to find out about her, even conducting survey on her. This was completely a breach of privacy.
If that the case, System was peeping on his thoughts? 24/7?
"System..."
"Yes, host."
"You can read my mind?"
"Can and System is not interested in what host is thinking."
Max shuddered. "I feel violated."
"The term is wrong. System is bound to the host. Symbiotic relationship is the correct term."
"Going technical on me, System? Really?"
"..." Like usual, System went offline and unresponsive if the two of them starting to fight. Yet, Max found System would respond to work related stuff.
"Fine! If that's how you work, then tell me. Why that woman has yet to appear?"
"One pack of Beast Food(Ordinary) is equal to 50 full meals. For an Infant Stage Beast, a day consumes 3 pellets while for a Juvenile Stage, a day consumes 9 pellets."
Max was angry at System. It blatantly cheating on him by not telling that one pack alone could last longer than the generic product in the market. Going by the explanation, one pack could last almost 17 days for one Infant Stage and could last almost 6 days for one Juvenile Stage. But that assumption was only valid if that woman, Laura, only had one Beast. Since she bought two variations of Beast Food, then it was safe to assume she had two Beasts at minimum.
"Shit!" It seemed he couldn't really rely on that woman as a repeating customer any time soon. "Can I sell online?"
"Can but the customer must personally come to retrieve the purchased product."
"What a poor service you have, System!" Max sneered at System.
"Host has yet to reach Store Owner(Level 3) to unlock Courier Service from System."
This System... Trying to reach Store Owner(Level 2) was already an unsurpassed mountain for him right now. Asking him to reach level 3 with his current situation was impossible.
"I can still deliver it myself." Max was trying to bargain.
"Suggestion denied. The store needs the Store Owner as the keeper."
Max contemplating what he was going to do.
According to System, he was free to sell his wares via online shop as long as the customer came personally to the store. This alone had pros and contras.
This world's technology was considered more advanced than his original world. However, it lacked certain charm the original world had in regards of online shopping. The online shop websites were very backwards.
"System... Can you build servers and apps?" Max was not sure whether System was able to build servers and apps. Although it had System as a part of its name, it was Beast Store System.
"Naturally can. Host needs to reach Store Owner(Level 3), unlock Courier Service, spending 1000PS and 500 Loyal Customers."
Troublesome but doable in the future.
"System... Draw 40 Beast Food(Ordinary)." It seemed he had to gamble his fate on this.
[Ding!]
[Success: Purchase Beast Food(Ordinary) x40]
[Ding!]
[Beast Fire Food(Ordinary) x4]
[Beast Water Food(Ordinary) x6]
[Beast Wind Food(Ordinary) x1]
[Beast Earth Food(Ordinary) x4]
[Beast Thunder Food(Ordinary) x9]
[Beast Space Food(Ordinary) x3]
[Beast Light Food(Ordinary) x2]
[Beast Dark Food(Ordinary) x7]
[Beast Steel Food(Ordinary) x1]
[Beast Ice Food(Ordinary) x1]
[Beast Grass/Plant Food(Ordinary) x2]
[Money: 583G]
Looking at the list of Beast Food, it seemed the range of elements that could be drawn were very wide.
"System... Can you create an account to online shop websites?"
[Ding!]
[Whether to consume 1PS to continue?]
[Yes/No]
Max clicked yes at the prompt.
[Point System: 0.287]
Then series of notifications hit his phone like torrents. It took a while until the pinging stopped.
"System... Be honest. How many platforms you signing me up?"
"800+."
Max was annoyed. 800+ platforms were already beyond what a single Human like him could manage. "Filter it for most used platforms in this city."
A window popped up.
"Are you sure this list is platforms for online shops?" Max noticedthe weirdness of the list.
"Yes, host."
"Aren't they Auction Houses and Blackmarket?" He pointed.
"Natural resources are naturally scarce and need a long time to mature. Sometimes, it is marked as highly dangerous items and illegal by governments. Because of that, it won't appear on normal channels."
Max did understand. It just he couldn't use Auction Houses and Blackmarket for the meantime. He should put his energy working on his online shop project.
He was putting on all nighter to work on his project. After all it was set up, the waiting time had come.
Few days passed but Max was not in a good mood. His project was facing a hard time and got many negative reviews. His wares were definitely better than those that were sold on other stores but here lays the problem. Many didn't believe it and said he was looking for sensation.
Kring...
A man came in. Looking at the get up, the man was very suspicious in Max's eyes.
"Is this Max's Deluxe Beast Store?"
"Yes, how may I help you?"
"Do you still have Beast Dark Food?"
Max nodded. His inventories were full of Beast Food. "I do. Currently I only have 7 in stock. How many do you need?"
"6."
So many?, Max thought but soon dismissed it before retrieving the Beast Foods. "6 Beast Dark Foods. 2996G."
The man paid his purchase and left.
[Money: 3577G]
[Point System: 2.857]
"What a weird guy!"