NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26: Dimensional Store (3)
༺ Dimensional Store (3) ༻
ㄴK-fried chicken is the GOAT
ㄴgreet the god of fried chicken!
ㄴBAWWWWWWWWWK!
ㄴpraise the Oradge!
ㄴOradge for congress!
ㄴahhhh if it’s chicken he’s soooo fucking valid LMAOOOO what a king
ㄴdidn’t Oradge say he was an emperor? LOL
ㄴfried chicken…! ahhhh this is the shit
ㄴCHICKEEEEEEEEEEEN!ㄴholy fuck
ㄴis this fr? LOLLL
The community was abuzz due to fried chicken.
Users who knew the taste of fried chicken were posting so fervently in the community that it almost felt like it would tear into pieces.
It was especially the case for those who had suddenly dropped into an Otherworld; they were unable to hide their admiration for the quality that replicated the taste of modern fried chicken.
ㄴtaste of home
ㄴOnly fried chicken can comfort me.
ㄴIt brought back forgotten memories.
ㄴoradge is so fuckin delishus hehe
ㄴcrazy mfer LMAO
ㄴthe only drug allowed in the community, K-fried chicken….
ㄴwtf how fast is it selling out;;; are u kidding me?
ㄴfuck me i only ate three but it looks like it’s going to be sold out already
Naturally, this led to praises for Oradge.
ㄴWhen I turned my head to look at the sky, in that place was the Oradge
ㄴWhere did the Oradge go? All I see is light….
ㄴlight fr
ㄴkinggodgeneralemperoradmiralmajestyoradge
ㄴGOAT
ㄴWho would throw a stone at him?
ㄴBAWWWWWWWWWWWK!!!!!!
This was no different for those in the Otherworld trying K-fried chicken for the first time.
At first, they couldn’t understand why everyone was making such a fuss.
ㄴFrom what I’m understanding, it’s just a fried chicken dish, though?
ㄴI know, right? Why are they making such a fuss?
ㄴJust let them be. This isn’t their first time acting like this, right? This is common.
ㄴWhat has the world come to? All this fuss over a single dish….
ㄴThe Store is fascinating, but it does not seem all that necessary.
ㄴHmmm….
Yet, the community was so heated that they were compelled to buy and try the chicken out of curiosity.
They wanted to try it first and see why everyone was making such a fuss before giving their opinions.
How much had they been ridiculed for not knowing the taste of fried chicken? They remembered the days when they weren’t part of the implicit understanding among the users from ‘Earth’. As such, there were some antagonistic feelings towards them.
Let’s see how great this food that you all brag so much about really is…
However…
They sensed something extraordinary from the smell of the delivered fried chicken.
It was greasy and yet there was something about the smell that violently stimulated the taste buds.
The visuals were also extraordinary. The fried coating, a golden brown as if it was actual gold, sparkled.
They cautiously took a bite of a piece of fried chicken.
Crunch-
“!!”
The overwhelmingly greasy flavor delighted their mouths.
“Ah…!”
The crispy coating and tender meat stimulated the texture, and the hot, salty juice subtly seeped through the meat.
It was crispy on the outside, moist on the inside.
How could such a common chicken be fried to create this flavor! This must be alchemy!
They had eaten fried chicken dishes before. However, they had never been as moved as they were now.
It was not for nothing that it was marked as K-fried chicken. After marinating and aging, it was double-fried in a thick batter at the perfect frying temperature and time.
This was no different from the difference between fried chicken and old-school rotisserie chicken.
-Title : I am reporting the Oradge.
Oradge, explain yourself! Why does such a great dish have the adjective ‘ordinary’ attached to it?
ㄴIndeed! Indeed!
ㄴikr? It’s fucking delicious….
ㄴThis is no different from disregard for a majestic dish!
ㄴheunggg… maybe because it’s not seasoned or soy-sauced?
ㄴthat can’t be it right? then he just needs to called it fried
ㄴWHY! HOW! WHAT! Why in the world is there only a limited quantity of chicken!
ㄴOradge, explain yourself right this instant!
ㄴAre you telling me you all used to eat such a dish regularly….
ㄴTch.
ㄴSELL MORE!! HURRYYYYYY!!!
ㄴAh, why did the heavens birth me after creating chicken? I will now live in sorrow, longing for this taste forever….
ㄴINCREDIBLEEEEEE!!!
ㄴheuuuuung
The community was noisy. As the community buzzed about the Dimensional Store, Karlstein’s Karma points began to accumulate quickly.
“This is… so, so sweet. Stonks.”
Karlstein was browsing the community’s reactions while checking the Karma points. Even though he didn’t lift a single finger, the points were rapidly accumulating with each sale.
“Of course, this won’t be enough.”
It was incomparable to the Karma accumulated as the Emperor of the Galactic Empire. However, the nature of inherent Karma, which had to be spent as much as it was earned, was different. The Karma earned from the community was tax-free and essentially an emergency fund.
It was literally a slush fund!
“Keuhhhh. It is a bit lacking, though.”
Karlstein and Aria were not satisfied with just this much.
-It is still in open beta, so it can’t be helped. This is just the beginning.
“That’s true.”
A lot was being prepared. To efficiently exploit their Karma!
-But is that human alright?
“Hmm….”
On the screen they were watching, Kim Youngsik was under a threat of assassination from the shelter executives. Several Awakened were approaching his residence armed with weapons.
Wasn’t it probably out of greed to kill Kim Youngsik and seize the space battleship?
“Do they really think they will be able to steal away Hyperion with just that? Well, I guess they probably wouldn’t know.”
-They will not even be able to lay a scratch. However… It is essential to protect Kim Youngsik. If he dies, there will be problems with the relay upgrades.
On the screen, Awakened were being incinerated under the formidable fire of Hyperion.
“Hyperion will handle it. Speaking of which, the Karma supply from that guy is surprisingly good.”
One thing that surprised Karlstein was that the amount of Karma being generated by Virdel and Kim Youngsik was more than expected. To be more precise, it was more like the Karma that ‘Hydra’ and ‘Hyperion’ were generating.
Was it because it was a different dimension?
As much as Virdel and Kim Youngsik were using Hydra and Hyperion to build achievements, Karlstein was sucking up Karma like it was a royalty.
“Hmm. But the initial investment is too big to scatter such a thing recklessly.”
As more cutting-edge SF technology was used, the amount of Karma consumed just for transmission could not be ignored.
It was the case even if it was not the latest model that he used and instead a prototype.
Wouldn’t he only be able to break even by the time that guy ends the apocalypse and saves the world?
That was why it wasn’t so easy to invest.
“Fufu.”
Of course, after that, he would be able to suck up Karma like it was his pension without further investment. As such, Karlstein couldn’t help but smile.
“What’s Virdel up to?”
-….
Karlstein sneakily checked what she was doing through Hydra.
“Hmm. Looks like she’s having fun.”
She was exchanging swords with someone called the Grandmaster.
“It seems like she’s enjoying it, huh?”
She was using Hydra’s Power as efficiently as possible, practicing to save as much as possible while achieving maximum results… Wait, practice?
-…She seems to be using the opponent as a sparring partner on purpose.
“Well… it did look like she really enjoys swordsmanship.”
Well, whatever she did was up to her anyway.
He had no intention of interfering any further. And as the Empire fragmented, he had received a considerable amount of Karma through Virdel as well.
“But has Kim Youngsik only been lurking?”
-Yes. He barely looks at the community.
Hmm… After all, there were more people than one would think who chose to focus only on their present lives.
This could be seen from the user statistics of the Integrated Dimensional Community. One of the surprises for Karlstein, while managing the community, was that the number of dimensions connected to the [Integrated Dimensional Community] exceeded tens of millions. And those were just the dimensions he was aware of; when considering the entire pie, couldn’t it be near infinite?
Regardless of whether the connection to the community had not yet blossomed or users had naturally disconnected, the fact that currently active users constituted less than one percent of all users truly surprised Karlstein.
Even though the user engagement had doubled since he began administrating, it was still the case.
“That means there’s still a lot of Karma for us to consume.”
That’s right. As such, there needed to be a community so perfectly established that life without it would be impossible.
“Besides, there aren’t many users who have reached VIP high-tier.”
-The Transcendents possessing a large amount of Karma must be aware of its importance, after all.
“Right…”
While they might not use it as efficiently as Karlstein, those with a keen sense would be able to feel the effects of causality.
-Still, it is like pearls to swine. There is no doubt about it. They cannot use it properly. They just hold it. And even if they used it all, it would not make much of an impact.
“We still need to draw them out carefully, though. Sucking them dry as if to scam them would be the worst in terms of efficiency.”
The trade of Karma wasn’t as easy as trading goods. While it was not too difficult to rob them using the technology of the Galactic Empire, doing so would be akin to killing a goose that laid golden eggs.
What he was aiming for wasn’t the trivial amounts of Karma. He wanted a vast amount of Karma, enough to dream of retirement.
A self-sustaining source of Karma was needed, one that would snowball on its own and earn more Karma.
“Economic independence! Financial freedom!”
He often heard of ‘FIRE’ in his past life.
It was a term that stood for Financial Independence Retire Early. It was used to describe people who saved up to 25 times their annual living expenses to achieve economic independence and aim for early retirement. They were characterized by their frugality and genuine commitment to saving and investing.
And that was Karlstein’s true goal.
To achieve this, Karlstein had to give up something big.
Specifically, his ‘Enjoyer/Consumer Mode’ in regards to the community.
“Agh! Sob!”
He didn’t want to become a hard-working Oradge, though!
Nevertheless, to do so, he had to target the big boys who held large amounts of Karma.
“Heungg… As expected, at times like these…”
-As expected?
“A promotional event would be good.”
-?
Karlstein grinned like a mischievous child.
Of course, the second batch of fried chicken and the opening of the next menu were being prepared as planned.
***
https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken