NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 3: Chapter 2 - Settling In (2)
After a series of obtuse directions from Administrator Ko De Oako, we arrived at a music hall. It was a small, cozy thing, sandwiched between a cafe called "The Cigar Lounge" and a Jewelry store named simply: "Gem". Across the way was a movie theatre with a worn out billboard, showcasing the schedules for a few titles.
Impressively enough, despite being located in a city, the music hall had its own garden sidewalk. With a neat, low hedgerow and accompanying flower bushes of tasteful design, a well-fit paver path lead the way to a pair of glass doors.
Next to said entrance was a standard folding sign with: "Practice in Session" printed in standard bold text.
"This place is?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"This is the future base the Humans will use for the Faction called 'Fracture'. Lead by your favorite view tankers." Administrator Ko De Oako answered smugly.
I sighed. "I guess this Faction has appeared in all the previous time lines for you to be able to find and name it."
"Indeed, it's an anchor point. Before the Returnee and Constellation's Doll took over, it belonged to a pathetic Human called 'Doug'. He used this concert hall to create Fracture in the false belief that he could gather others to help maintain order after our Grand Introduction. Worked for a hot minute. Until it didn't..."
I suppose it did work out, in a twisted sense... to become one of the anchor points for Earth's regression timeline is a... graceful thing...
"If this Faction was made to maintain Order, was there ever a Faction made to maintain Peace?"
"Of course!" Administrator Ko De Oako started laughing, hard. "They all died in less than three seconds!"
How... distressing...
I can never quite describe what I'm feeling in moments like these... to be reminded time and time again that all hope is for naught, that no matter what you do, no matter what you believe in, not a speck of morality will remain... that you are forever trapped. Trapped in a place you once called home, surrounded by the bittersweet memories of what once was with the desperate desire to go back. It's... a suffocating feeling that will leave you choking for air...
I suppose I can somewhat understand why the Faction Fracture became an anchor point. If not Peace, perhaps Order could be enough to cling onto life...
"Now, onto another semi-anchor point." Administrator Ko De Oako instructed, breaking me out of my somber thoughts.
"I guess you're going to take me to a place that the Returnee and Constellation's Doll made themselves... Lead the way."
...
Stillness. Nothing but [Mother's Sorrow] could be heard.
I raised my wrist in confusion, gazing at the miniature Administrator Ko De Oako. The plush retriever was fiddling with what looked like a tiny device reminiscent of a speck of dirt.
"There," he announced with a toothy grin, "I invited you to the Market Place. Luckily they were kind enough to open it right now."
As he was explaining, the foreign device in my pocket vibrated. I snatched it from my pocket and gazed at the screen of the device, puzzled.
{Administrator Ko De Oako has sent you a Message.}
"How do I--what?" I stared at the bubble of text. What do I do, where's the buttons for this thing?
"Seriously?" Administrator Ko De Oako clicked his tongue. "You tap on it with your finger. That thing you're holding onto is called a 'phone'. It's the form the System takes while our perks for the outside is deactivated."
"Ah, so this is the System?" I did as instructed and tapped on the bubble of text. What I saw next confused me even more. "What is an http... why is it all gibberish?"
"Ah, I forgot that part wasn't a part of the System. Just tap on it, it'll connect you to the hub the Humans call the 'Internet'. From there, it'll connect you to a certain space called a 'Website', in simple terms."
"Okay..." I tapped on the weird text and watched as the content displayed on the screen switched from the message bubble to a strange colorful page.
It seemed organized, what with miniature tabs for various subpages and clear advertising blocks for local businesses. The main content on the Home page itself was advertising for various items and weapons for a game called "Arcadia". It looked to be mainly a gaming website, though, which left me rather confused.
"Now create an account, I wanna add you."
I clicked on the "Sign Up" option. "An Email? How do I get an Email?"
"Oh right, Emails. Since the System wants us to remain anonymous, you can just enter whatever you want and do @Bmail at the end. It'll do the rest."
"Why is this so complicated..." I muttered to myself.
After that, I randomly entered more random stuff into the following prompts and finally finished making an account. After that, I added Administrator Ko De Oako as a friend.
"Finally." I sighed in relief.
"As you can see, this is the future Market Place for all things Tower-related. The Humans set this place up to exchange information, bodies, materials, and of course weapons."
I gazed at the website. "But this is just a gaming forum for a game called 'Arcadia'."
"At the moment, sure, but the Returnee will change the entire layout soon. Right now he's opened the website to help out a buddy that gave him the funding."
"These websites cost money?"
"Everything on Earth costs money. Except for air. That is, unless they ever reach higher floors."
"What do you mean? Explain."
"Heh, Philas's 46th Floor - Apocalypse is so polluted that fresh air is a valuable product. Smart choice, if I say so myself."
I suppose that is a creative restriction to slow down Player progress. It's something manageable that the System wouldn't restrict since it's an easy obstacle to overcome. However, it is indeed skirting the line of breaking the Rules... I should advise Administrator Philas to be cautious about this restriction when I see him again.
"Well," Administrator Ko De Oako stretched his body lazily, "that's it for our grand tour of Earth. As you can see, since this world has regressed so many times, we don't have that many spots to pay attention to. As the timeline follows it's unforeseeable path, we'll expand our range of observation. Don't forget, once the trials start you can begin to explore Earth on your own time. However, no one will be able to see and hear you, nor will you be able to interact with the planet in any capacity. You can only watch and learn."
I nodded my head. "I expected as much." I placed the System in my pocket and huffed out a big puff of air. "One more thing before we return to the Tower."
"Fire away."
"Why were the rest of the Floor Administrators missing from the meeting when I arrived to this Tower?"
Administrator Ko De Oako scratched his head. "There's really no need for them to attend? Those who attended were just curious what you looked like, to be honest. The rest are probably either sleeping or preparing their Floors for the next planet."
"You guys don't see a future for this planet, do you?"
"Nope. None, whatsoever."
A twinge of guilt reared its ugly head. Strange, I just arrived and I already feel bad for this planet. Maybe because their situation hits so close to home...
"Alright, I'm ready to go back to the Tower. I'll make sure to inform you about any changes I make to my Floor considering I'm smack dab in the middle of your campaign."
Administrator Ko De Oako waved a paw lazily. "Don't stress it. I sure as hell won't."
{Administrator Ko De Oako has ended the group session.
Now Transferring to: Administrator Room.
Administrator Ko De Oako and Administrator Rose will be Transferred in: 5 Seconds}
{Administrator Ko De Oako has disbanded the party.}
...
{Administrator Ko De Oako and Administrator Rose will be Transferred in: 0 Seconds
Now Transferring...}
***
{Administrator Room}
I let out a melancholy sigh, shaking my head.
The situation for Earth isn't exactly looking bright. With burnt-out Administrators and a purposefully bleak tower, little entertainment can be derived for the Constellations. Even if this tower is centered on being one of the best sports-wise, it's just as imperative that some form of entertainment is maintained as well to capture viewer retention.
After all, one of the main purposes for Towers and, in fact, the existence of Administrators themselves in the first place, is to provide entertaining advertisement for potential future allies to the Interplanetary Federation. We can fit the Towers within certain niches, but we should keep in mind that there is also a end goal that needs to be accomplished.
It seems as if the rest of the Administrators are so focused on competition that they forgot to select certain Floors as "Safe Harbors"...
In the end... I suppose that leaves me to be a "Referee" in a sense. The fact that the higher Floor Administrators are so bored that they would rather stay on their Floors than explore makes me feel sorry for them.
I should focus on increasing the Viewer Rate while keeping our regulars and find a way to lower our Sponsorship Percentage. A good Sponsorship percentage is 3-5%; to be at 60% at this point in time is a very dire sign. In fact... what is the age of this tower?
{System}
Summoning the System, I called for the Tower Profile.
{Tower: Frozen Dreams
Date of Birth: 34/10/50694
Active Administrators: 23/23
Floors Cleared: 0/100
Active Sponsorship Percentage: 60%
Highest View Count: 1,345
Summary: A new Tower, waiting to showcase its potential.}
So it's 2 years old... I guess the Sponsorship deal was a good thing after all... We do have quite the number of Administrators, so I must make an effort to gain the favor of a few to help balance higher Floors...
As for setting up "Safe Harbors"... Waving a hand, I summoned a hologram of the strange form the System took earlier. I studied the device carefully.
I'm going to need to gather enough Stardust to open a [Satellite Link]... With this, the Humans on Earth, when in the Tower, will be able to access their Internet at any time anywhere. Hopefully this will allow better coordination and smoother pacing. And, with enough Stardust, Constellations will be able to send gifts to their favorite Players, no doubt helping to create a sense of parasocial bonds between them...
With enough parasocials bonds, this Tower might have a chance of creating its own Legacy...
I carelessly waved away the hologram and crossed my arms. I looked into my Stardust wallet.
{Stardust: 10,734}
... I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that I'm flat out broke. This means I will have to deconstruct certain buildings and NPC's within my Floors to gather the Stardust I need.
Of course, I can gain more Stardust over time thanks to the Sponsors, but that will take quite a bit of time. No doubt my fellow Administrators will want to open the Tower as soon as possible. I could stall for maybe a day or two, but that won't be enough to set up the link in time...
*Sigh*
I'll see what I can find on the 6th Floor and go from there... I'll rebalance the Floor as the climb progresses...
{Now Transferring to: 6th Floor - Aigis Town}
***
{Aigis Town}
Just from a first glance, it seems like the Floor Aigis Town was designed with a dreamy little village in mind. First I should see how this Floor is set up before I explore and make any changes.
{Introduction: Welcome to the 6th Floor - Aigis Town! Set in the 18th Century and inspired by it, this little village is enshrouded in a strange mystery. View more...
Note: The Introduction is set to Public
Checkpoint: A Gate has been set between Floor 2 - Kindling Spirit and Floor 6 - Aigis Town
Stardust usage: 100 per day
Number of NPCs: 39
View more...
Merchant Inventory
Floor Inventory
+ Edit Floor
- Delete Floor}
So, this Floor has a Checkpoint and an active Gate. Personally I would've set the Checkpoint between Floors 1 and 10, but a Checkpoint set is a Checkpoint set. There is no way to change it. The Gate, however, has no reason being active; especially since no one will be using it for quite a while. I should save up as much Stardust as I can and deactivate the Gate. I'll reactivate it at a later time...
In just a few taps I located and deleted the Gate that locked the Checkpoint. I also made sure to delete the traps surrounding the Gate, seeing as it won't be used.
As for the NPCs, these take quite the amount of Stardust. I should save a Rough Draft of any filler NPCs before deleting them. A Rough Draft will take a fraction of the Stardust I'll receive upon their deletion, but it's a small price to pay seeing as I'll have to study how Administrator Snow set up the Floor and the design he had in mind.
Viewing the Number of NPCs, I quickly removed any NPCs that were not linked to a Quest or were a Character of Interest. Perhaps at a later time I'll add them back to fill up the gaps...
That leaves me with 19 NPCs... The Floor will start to feel a bit empty for a moment...
I studied the Inventory for both the Floor and the Merchant NPCs. Seems like basic necessities that will be needed by the Players so I'll have to leave this untouched...
Now onto the buildings...
***
Quite a bit of time passed as I debated which monuments to keep, and which buildings to destroy. After making a couple of drastic changes I was left with a small little shopping center and a handful of houses. Considering the setting of this Floor, the difficulty of the Floor spiked a bit. It should be fine, though, as any Players that arrive on this Floor will be accompanied by NPCs. The presence of the NPCs will be enough to stall the Boss for a while...
And with this, I had enough Stardust collected to purchase a [Satellite Link] from the System Shop.
{Would you like to purchase a: Satellite Link?
Price: 70,000 Stardust
Stardust: 70,199
Yes
No}
There goes all my money...
I clicked "Yes" on the System prompt. After that, I placed the Satellite Tower in the farthest corner of the floor and moved a couple of trees and bushes to hide it. Not only did the Satellite Tower not fit the design of the Floor, but the Players would also be able to grief it if they so desired. Leaving it hidden is the best course of action. In the future I'll place a Rune of Invisibility and Invincibility on it.
And with that, my preparations for Day 1 were complete. Any more changes I would like to make would have to wait. In the mean time, interacting with fellow Administrators and keeping an eye on the Players will have to be my top priority.
Speaking of Players...
I opened up the System Shop...
{Would you like to purchase a: IPhone (Earth Exclusive Item)?
Price: 10 Stardust
Stardust: 199
Yes
No}
I tapped on "Yes" and quickly synced my System Data with the device. I searched up the website Administrator Ko De Oako showed me earlier and sighed in relief when the familiar website popped up. Good, the IPhone worked right away. With this, I'll be able to stalk the Humans from the safety of my own Floors.
Now, time to try to meet the other Administrators...