DKIE CH62: New Arrivals

Cullen’s community profile picture and bio had a cross-era feel.

Bio: For collaborations, please contact Rhine Commerce.

His profile picture was a photo of himself in a formal suit. Every day, he would post scheduled updates about how great the products under his industrial chain were.

Luka often felt he was born in the wrong place. With more than a dozen posts a day, he was more dedicated than a social media marketer.

[Dragon Feather Luka Elf: Okay.]

[Rhine Commerce, Cullen: I’ll have a beast carriage come pick you up in a bit.]

Luka habitually wanted to send an “OK” hand gesture emoji but found there was no option.

“This won’t do.”

Chatting like this was too inconvenient. He had to add an image-sending function later.

Humanity cannot lose its memes!

The beast carriage arrived quickly. The Quill Pen was still absorbing the essence blood, and the Sage’s Sword was frantically devouring the sword embryo. Luka, having finished his steamed bun, left the two ‘foodies’ behind and went out alone.

Cullen was already waiting for him in the beast carriage, habitually turning the large ruby ring on his finger.

“Good morning, gorgeous…”

Luka cut off the rest of the sentence and jumped into the carriage. “Good morning.”

To accumulate good karma for the grand opening, he had recently turned over a new leaf.

The beast carriage sped all the way to the most prosperous commercial core.

Thirty net cafes were planned to open in the Holy City. The largest experience store was adjacent to the opera house, and to the north was the residential area for high-ranking military officers’ families. Both its popularity and security were top-notch.

Now, the most important part of the store’s decoration was complete.

The manager was responsible for the site selection, and he personally received the two of them.

As soon as Luka entered, he immediately slammed on the brakes. “Assassin!”

The manager’s face changed drastically. An Yi, who was always following in Cullen’s shadow, almost jumped out.

However, after a round of perception, they confirmed that there was no one in the store at all.

Cullen looked at Luka in confusion. After stopping, the latter’s face did not look good.

Looking around, Luka’s head ached.

He pointed to the precious vases placed on every table, with no protective measures around them, and asked faintly:

“This, who are you planning to scam?”

After speaking, he knocked on the fine jade table. “And this, who are you planning to assassinate?”

Would some netizen get excited online, accidentally slam the table, and then go bankrupt paying for it?

Looking up, he found that near the self-service food area, antique calligraphy and paintings were hanging on the low wall.

“And it!! Who is it waiting for, some destined person?”

Cullen: “…”

Luka: “Right now, most of the people willing to come to a net cafe are customers who are not too well-off. It’s okay to decorate like this in the Holy City, but the experience stores in other regions must adopt a more approachable style.”

The manager was sweating profusely. Rhine Commerce valued standardization.

At that time, other places would definitely follow the standards of the Holy City experience store. Now that he said this, it seemed indeed very inappropriate.

To not appear too incompetent, he could only barely make an excuse. “The quality of most customers is very high. They won’t slam the table for no reason.”

Luka: “Naive.”

Anyone who has never gotten angry while surfing the internet could become a saint.

“…”

Cullen glanced at the manager. “Tear it down and redecorate.”

Luka walked around and suddenly his eyes lit up. “Are these the large-scale terminals that were delivered?”

Finally, something not so frustrating!

The outer casing was exquisitely made. To prevent image distortion and fragmentation, the screen was a cube.

What really surprised Luka was the mouse-like peripheral next to it.

Cullen explained, “Considering the height of the tables and the size of the terminal, it would be a bit troublesome for customers to reach the top of the screen. So I discussed it with the elves and came up with a medium for indirect contact.”

Luka gave him a thumbs-up. “You’re the man.”

He then sat down nearby.

Seeing his expression turn serious, Cullen’s attitude also became more focused.

Luka tried it out for a bit. The operation was smooth and very good. “We still need some more interesting things to increase customer stickiness.”

Otherwise, after browsing some posts and registering an account, one could finish their internet session in less than ten minutes.

Cullen nodded slightly.

In fact, even the manager had realized this, but he had gone down the wrong path, trying to attract customers with luxurious decorations and free self-service food.

“Games, movies,” Luka held up two fingers.

Movies took time, and games even more so.

The existing rhythm game had a limited audience. They had to develop a popular game with a larger base.

Seeing Luka talk with such confidence, Cullen knew he most likely already had an idea.

Luka had never disappointed him. “A weird tales type of game.”

The production of a large-scale online game would take too long. He couldn’t spend all his time on the magical architecture. This kind of game, which played on narrative tricks, had low creation costs, and the text was very distinctive.

The rules of weird tales, which subverted traditional imagination, were its greatest charm.

Taking advantage of the buzz generated by My Demon King Father across the entire network, further amplifying the eerie style of “the more you think about it, the scarier it gets” would surely have an excellent effect.

He could also take the opportunity to do some beneficial promotion.

While Cullen was puzzled by the unfamiliar vocabulary, he also felt a novel excitement. “Tell me in detail.”

“First, call some reliable people over,” Luka took out a pen and paper. “We need to brainstorm.”

Cullen was always reliable in his work. He first contacted Lilian. In terms of wild imagination, Lilian had never lost. At the same time, he glanced at the shadow in the corner. “Call a few guest elders from the family. Remember, they have to be of different races. And bring ten great mages who have a death contract with us.”

This way, they could discuss building the magical architecture on the spot, which would save a lot of time.

Hearing “death contract,” Luka raised an eyebrow.

As expected of the continent’s number one commerce guild. Which of those who could become great mages wasn’t proud and arrogant? Yet they were willing to sign a contract with their souls.

Cullen said with a smile, “There are people better than me at business, but when it comes to investment vision, I flatter myself to be second to none.”

In a sense, he was like an angel investor for some celebrities during their downfalls.

“The game’s idea is yours. You take seventy percent of the profits.”

“Fifty-fifty is fine. Give the twenty percent I’m giving up to the participating developers.” Only by giving enough benefits would the members work desperately for you.

Luka lowered his head and took a sip of tea. The more successful the project, the more netizens it attracted, and he would ultimately become the biggest beneficiary.

…

After the guest elders and great mages arrived, they each expressed their own views. The intense discussion continued until dark before it came to an end.

And this was only the first day.

For the next several days, Luka would leave with the stars every morning and return facing the moon at night. In this magical world, he had managed to work himself thin.

Strangely, he found an excuse to refuse the Quill Pen’s help with the magical architecture, sending it off to help Lilian check and improve the web novel platform.

On the last day of the year, the 18,800 net cafes under the Rhine Commerce banner opened simultaneously.

In terms of the human population and the number of cities, this coverage was not high and could only be considered a trial run.

The day before the opening, the manager asked, “How do we let people know we’re opening? Put it in the newspaper?”

Luka: “Set off some firecrackers at the entrance.”

“…”

Each experience store had a limited capacity for customers. The experience store in the Holy City was considered a super-large net cafe. With three floors, it could accommodate nearly a thousand people. There was no point in driving too much traffic from the newspapers.

At the auspicious time, a string of crackling sounds echoed through the streets.

Many people on the streets and alleys stopped to listen. Large flower baskets and various colorful balloons were placed at the entrance of the net cafe. The festive and lively atmosphere made them subconsciously want to check out the store.

However, no one went in immediately.

“Terminal Experience Store?”

Seeing the business introduction next to the net cafe, the crowd looked at each other.

The portable terminal had now become a symbol of status.

It was the same principle as being able to afford a car but not being able to afford its upkeep in the modern world. The subsequent usage fees for the terminal far exceeded its purchase price.

The vanity of the Holy City’s residents was as high as its prices. Many people wanted to go in, but they also felt that going in would be too degrading. Wouldn’t that prove that they belonged to the group that could only afford to pay by the hour for the experience?

Just as they were hesitating, a man in a military uniform with an upright posture walked in.

“It’s General Carol!”

On his day off, Carol had just returned to the city from the military headquarters to prepare for his report tomorrow.

No emotion could be seen on his exceptionally serious face. He just glanced at the prices and then casually sat down in front of a large terminal.

The birth of the terminal had earned him the attention of the Saint. Carol didn’t mind reciprocating by personally supporting the industry’s development.

With even those who owned terminals freely entering and exiting the net cafe, the still-hesitant populace completely cast aside their worries and flooded in.

Outside the Holy City, other places had no such concerns. The lines outside were already packed early in the morning, and there were even people charging a fee to wait in line. Even in the far north, the Lord of Giant Rock City and Cullen’s mother, Lady Beryl, went to join in the fun.

Holy City, net cafe.

The final effect of the net cafe was very good. There was no particularly magnificent construction, but the basic services were in place.

Next to each seat, a noise-canceling magic was individually cast to prevent disturbing the person next to them. A note on how to use the mouse was specially prepared next to it. It was said that by gently moving it, it could replace a finger tapping all over the screen.

As usual, Carol prepared to admire the Saint’s posts, then leave to handle official business.

[Gululu Video]

[Weird Tales Journey]

Two new icons appeared on the screen.

New virtual platforms?

Everyone had a desire to explore new things. Carol thought for a moment. He had plenty of time today, so he clicked on the one whose name was more appealing to him: [Weird Tales Journey].

After a short loading time, a stitched-up, very strange-looking puppet appeared in the center of the screen. With the appearance of the puppet, the surrounding scenery directly presented a long shot.

This was a misty town built on a mountain.

As the fog deepened, a dilapidated courtyard appeared before him.

The sense of immersion was very strong, but for Carol, who had performed many dangerous missions, this environment was not scary at all.

Out of professional habit, he began to observe the surrounding environment. There was a well in the courtyard, surrounded by small mounds of earth. Directly opposite was a small house with wind blowing in from all four sides. A faint light flickered inside the house.

And the puppet in the center of the screen, which could be controlled, should be the character he was currently playing.

Rustle, rustle.

A one-eyed old woman walked out of the house with a shuffling gait.

She stopped at the door.

Next, the entire scene seemed to be frozen.

Carol thought for a moment and controlled the puppet to proactively approach the old woman.

The puppet limped, walking with some difficulty.

When they were face to face, the one-eyed old woman finally spoke. A line of subtitles popped up on the screen: [My dear grandson, are you going on a trip again?]

The puppet nodded. The old woman suddenly pounced on him with bared teeth and claws, strangling the puppet’s neck.

[Running around again, who told you to run around!]

The contrast between before and after was huge. Before Carol could react, the old woman suddenly returned to her kind and benevolent appearance.

[You can go out, but you must remember grandma’s words.]

[You can trust the women, children, and disabled people you meet on the road.]

[Old people will not appear with disabled people. Women and children will not appear at the same time. When they appear together, they are not to be trusted!]

[When a woman needs help, you can go to her. But when she helps you, you must kill her.]

The plainest words, yet they caused Carol’s first emotional change since he saw this strange town.

When being helped, you have to kill the person who provided the help?

This kind of anti-human logic made Carol’s brow furrow unconsciously.

The strange prompts continued.

[We have no adult men in our town. The next town has no old people.]

[If you encounter an adult man who is not from the next town, do not look into his eyes!]

[Remember to come home before dawn.]

The one-eyed old woman handed the lamp in her hand to the puppet: [Here, this is a lamp from grandma.]

[Accept the old woman’s lamp? Yes/No]

Carol subconsciously wanted to choose yes.

A cold wind suddenly blew through the courtyard. There seemed to be a gurgling sound from the well water.

Carol suddenly thought of something: Old people will not appear with disabled people!

And the character he was playing happened to limp when he walked.

The screen zoomed in and froze on the one-eyed old woman’s eerie smile.

The countdown for the options began to turn red: 3s, 2s…

Carol directly chose no.

The next second, when he walked out of the courtyard and pushed open the gate, a pale white neck longer than a snake stretched in from the gap. A monster with a face obscured by the fog opened its mouth and swallowed his entire head!

Horror movies are never complete without background music. The sound effects were enhanced with magic.

The crunching chewing sounds appeared in his mind in 3D surround sound.

A small masked figure in a white robe jumped out of the well, holding a magic wand, and seemed to poke at his nose through the screen:

[Hee hee hee, you’re dead.]

[No way, no way, was it because of the rule that old people and disabled people don’t appear together that you didn’t want the lamp?]

[Stupid melon, a puppet isn’t a person!]

Carol had never been scolded to his face before. He frowned and started over.

This time he chose to take the lamp and successfully walked out of the courtyard.

[Reward: Fire Seed*1]

[Fire Seed: Please plant the fire seed on the grave mound in the courtyard. When it matures, it can extend the duration of the lamp’s light and protect you in the fog.]

Carol had never seen such a pure fire seed.

It was truly just a seed.

He belatedly realized that all the uneven things in the courtyard were actually grave mounds.

After planting the fire seed, the atmosphere became more and more strange. The air seemed to have a strange smell.

[2 hours and 30 minutes until the fire seed matures.]

[Congratulations on unlocking ‘Well’.]

[Well: Find and jump into any well in the town to directly return to the courtyard.]

Carol pondered, “It’s equivalent to a teleportation array.”

The lamp in his hand could still be used for a while, so he decided to go out and take a look first.

In the next thirty minutes, Carol died no less than five times. The most ridiculous reason for death was actually:

[Hee hee, you trusted wrong again.]

[Didn’t you notice the woman’s bulging belly and the prenatal check-up report she was holding? She appeared with her child!]

The lamp’s illumination range was limited. Who could notice the small line of text on the report?

When a person is speechless to the extreme, they will really laugh.

Carol sneered by one pixel.

Amidst his speechlessness, his body was extremely honest.

The seemingly ordinary rules embedded in the horror story had a strong aftereffect. The visual impact brought by the pure art of words, that brain-burning feeling of contemplation, made it completely irresistible for someone with his meticulous personality.

His innate curiosity and desire for exploration were gradually activated.

With every death, his feeling of dissatisfaction gave him the illusion that he would definitely win next time.

Time and time again, he played until the lamp went out. There was still more than an hour until the next batch of fire seeds matured.

Carol let out a long sigh and could only regretfully exit.

The customers waiting outside saw someone seem to be getting up and were immediately about to come in.

However, Carol quickly sat down again.

He had originally planned to go back and download the game to play on his terminal, but how could a palm-sized screen be as comfortable to look at as the large terminal in front of him?

“What on earth are they doing in there? Not a single customer has come out yet?”

“Yeah, isn’t this an experience store? How long do we have to queue?”

There seemed to be a dispute outside. Carol didn’t care. The net cafe didn’t limit the duration anyway.

While waiting for the fire seeds to mature, he entered another platform: [Gululu Video].

The homepage was pushing trailers for several projects in collaboration with the opera house. The only one that could be watched was The True and False Young Master of a Wealthy Family, and it required payment.

The movie had already been released on the human continent before.

But Carol was at his busiest time at the military headquarters back then. There were many viewers on the human continent who, like him, had not seen it.

For one or two months before and after the celebration day, the opera house had to rehearse celebration dances. This movie had a very limited screening time on the human continent.

Carol didn’t care about the small amount of money and chose to watch it on demand.

As the plot progressed little by little, his gaze became colder and colder.

A soldier is decisive in killing and will not tolerate any sand in his eyes. This movie successfully managed to pour a desert into the audience’s eyes.

He did not show his joy or anger, but an ordinary person could not do so.

Because the screens lacked privacy, most people who came to the net cafe made similar choices. Very few browsed the community. They all chose Weird Tales Journey and Gululu Video.

The sentiment of free content made them almost unanimously experience the former first, and then watch the movie after playing.

The sound of tables being slammed could be heard intermittently from the surroundings. Even with the noise-canceling magic applied by the store, the sound could still be heard, which showed the extent of their anger.

“Beast!”

Not only the whole family, but it seemed like the whole world was trampling the true young master into the mud.

Is this a plot that a human can come up with? The movies now had no fast-forward function. Hooked by the possibility that the protagonist might fight back, the audience was forced to watch every minute.

The protagonist fell into the sea, about to fight back, and the movie came to an abrupt end!

The angry customer almost smashed the screen directly.

“Sir, please calm down.”

The temporarily hired net cafe attendant appeared immediately.

Rather than calming down, it was more about maintaining personal demeanor and face.

The customer angrily closed the video. Hearing the argument outside about the queuing time, he realized that the fire seeds should have matured.

Carol at the next table was still relatively calm and was the first to log into the game.

Only a few specks of light remained in the grave mound.
Half the flames were gone!

[X Month X Day 04:39, the greedy ghost hiding in the well quietly stole 1 of your fire value.]

[X Month X Day 05:10, the greedy ghost hiding in the well quietly stole 1 of your fire value.]
…

[I’m sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.]

[You won’t blame me, right?]

The greedy ghost apologized sorrowfully.

At this time, it was almost dawn in the small town. The image of the greedy ghost in the white robe gradually became clear.

It actually looked very similar to the fake young master in the movie The True and False Young Master!

No, not just similar.

That demeanor was exactly the same.

After just watching a heart-wrenching movie where the scum wasn’t punished, he returned to the game to find that his fire seeds had been stolen again, and the thief was something that looked like a green tea fake young master.

Even the calmest person almost couldn’t hold their breath.

The manager in charge of recording data stood silently at the front desk, realizing the importance of Luka’s request to definitely replace the jade tables.

The dispute over queuing at the entrance continued. A customer slammed his mouse and walked straight out, just in time to meet the eyes of the person waiting in line.

The customer’s mouth opened wide: “Ahhhhhh!”

The person in line: “???”

Similar scenes were also playing out in net cafes everywhere. On a day off, first a dog-blood虐 (nüè – abusive/tormenting) movie, then a frustrating game. This life was truly complete!
——————

The joys and sorrows of humanity are still different today.

In the guild hall, Luka was carefully packing gift boxes. He had handmade some candies this morning, preparing them as return gifts for his birthday.

On one side, the Quill Pen was reading a boring theoretical book. Suddenly, it sensed a continuous stream of negative emotions coming towards it.

Its first reaction was that Luka had done something. The other party had been very secretive lately.

As if sensing its gaze, Luka looked up.

The timing should be about right.

Luka smiled and said, “I’ve already arranged for the film The True and False Young Master to be released online. The cover of the new poster specially puts you in the main position to draw more hatred. In addition, I also participated in the design of a small game to make you an abominable image in it as well.”

In the future, as the net cafes ‘branch out’, the hatred value would also spring up like bamboo shoots after the rain.

The plum blossoms outside the guild hall happened to be in full bloom. Luka caught a glimpse of them out of the corner of his eye and felt a strange warmth in his heart:

“A return gift for my birthday. I hope you like it.”

Before him was an incredibly sincere face. After a long while, the corner of the Quill Pen’s mouth lifted slightly. “This is the best gift I have ever received.”

Outside the door, Cullen stood frozen.

He had originally come to find Luka to discuss something and, by the way, inform him of the first day’s operating status of the net cafe. Who would have thought he would see this scene?

One deliberately drew hatred, while the other was moved to speechlessness.

Has this world finally gone mad!

After taking the Gulu Rock Milk, Luka’s perception was abnormally strong. He quickly noticed Cullen and waved his hand. “You’ve come at the right time. I’ve prepared a birthday return gift for you!”

“…”

No, he doesn’t want to be hated!

Excerpt from Luka’s Diary:

Updating my personal signature: Giving abstract gifts, tasting a magical life.

Cullen: Can I not be hated?

Alex sneered: You’re not worthy.

Only he was qualified to be hated.

Cullen: ???

Excerpt from Luka’s Diary:

Also, my magic has improved a little today. I’ve added a new little magical function to my diary.

Alex: What function?

[Messaging a friend for more than 60 consecutive days grants the “Blazing Inferno” badge.]

Luka: …

How long have I even been writing in this diary! Eat my wing—

..

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