Chapter 60: The Plan to Overcome the Financial Crisis
Although Sila wasn't the type of person that bothered himself with finance, being 1,500,000 gold in debt was putting him at his wit's end. This amount was too high. Even defeating a dragon granted him only 8,000 gold. After doing calculations, for him to obtain 500,000 gold within 30 days, he would need to hunt 63 Water Dragons. This meant Sila had to hunt two of them per day.
After the task was completed, Chris took his leave. He didn't forget to inform Sila that the due period would start counting from the next midnight. Looking at the time, this meant Sila had gained seven more hours to work with.
After Chris had gone, the three of them gathered to figure out how they would solve this problem. Sila tried to ignore Bluebird and inquired the seemingly dependable Burapha.
"I can't come up with any plan at all. Burapha, do you have a good idea?"
"The amount is too high. I think I could barely make it with our current funds if it was 200,000, but 500,000 is too much for me."
Sila sighed. "What if I can't pay? Will there be a problem? Seizing this property?" If it ended with his property being seized, Sila wouldn't feel much pressure. He just ended up as he was before.
"I think it won't end with just that. They would confiscate all your assets. Then, if the amount is not enough, Big Brother Sila would end up being in debt for real."
"What do you mean by being in debt for real?"
"I mean in debt in Thai Baht. This game is connected with your bank account, remember?"
Sila was pushed into more pressure. The bank account wasn't his own. It seemed he had caused another problem for his uncle again.
"I don't know the exchange rate between in-game currency and Thai Baht. How much is 1,500,000 gold?"
Burapha sighed. "In Monster Soul, silver can only be spent in-game and cannot be converted into gold or real-life money by the system. There are some merchants that are willing to buy and sell it, though. The average exchange rate is 10,000 silver for 1 gold. As for gold, it can be converted into real-life money but not the other way around. But then again, there are merchants that are willing to trade. The exchange rate defined by the system is 1 gold for 10 Baht."
"1 gold for 10 Baht!!!" shouted Sila.
"Yes. Monster Soul Online is the game with the highest exchange rate. This means Big Brother Sila is currently 15,000,000 Baht in debt. Can you manage that much?"
T/N: 15,000,000 THB is around 450,000 USD or 400,000 EUR.
Sila was dumbstruck. Not to mention the debt, he was currently missing his dojo. He also didn't have a place to stay.
"I think there are two possible solutions available, but I'm not sure they are a good idea."
Sila was able to smile somehow. "Explain quickly. We will decide later."
"The first one is to sell the Orichalcum. Its price should be at least a million, but I'm not recommending this method because urgent selling would result in selling it for less than what you could get. Also, despite all players wanting it, not a single player possesses that much wealth. The only ones that would be able to purchase it are large guilds like Heavenly Dragon or Royal Armament. However, it is still questionable whether they're willing to invest a million in a single item."
Sila nodded. He understood. A guild's money didn't belong to a single player. Even Montra or Cross should not be able to recklessly spend it. Moreover, Sila didn't feel like trading with those two.
"What is the other solution?" Sila asked.
"The other one is from a tournament that is always held at Battle City Colossia every month."
"Isn't this good? It suits my style. I'm not proficient in making money but I have no problem fighting. Never thought that there's such a way."
"Hmph. Are you crazy? The winning prize is only 1,000 gold," Bluebird argued.
Sila was confused. Why did Burapha mention this method, then? 1,000 gold might be a lot for many players, but it was very insignificant for Sila now.
"I'm not referring to the winning prize. What I'm aiming for is the money betting in the black market," Burapha revealed his thought.
"Betting?" Sila wasn't proficient in this kind of thing.
"That's correct. I need to come up with a more detailed plan later, but at the very least, I think we can have Big Brother Bluebird help out."
"Huh? Do I need to help too?" Bluebird said in a lazy tone.
"Yes. To be honest, this problem arises mainly because of you." Burapha handed Bluebird a sheet of paper. It was the sheet that summarized the expenses of the upgrades.
- Training equipment and space increase (Big Brother Sila) 280,000 gold.
- Item management facilities, including support AI (Burapha) 350,000 gold.
- Entertainment equipment + a bunch of useless things (Big Brother Bluebird) 870,000 gold.
Bluebird took a side glance at it and had to shut his mouth in helplessness.
"Fine. What do you want me to do?" He asked.
"I need the information of all previous tournament participants. The previous tournament just ended five days ago so we have twenty-five days left, which should be enough for us. As for the betting in the black market, I will handle it myself."
"Only that? I can just retrieve such information from the guild's database now."
"There's more." Burapha turned his head to Sila. "Big Brother Sila, are you planning to participate yourself?"
Sila was preoccupied thinking about Battle City. He wished to go there soon.
"Hmm? Me? Um… I think I will participate myself. This is my own problem anyway."
"I see. Then, I have to request Big Brother Blue to spread the news about Big Brother Sila being a weakling. Please make it realistic, though. This will help the betting rate be in our favor."
"I don't think we have to go such lengths though. Just gaining the money for the first due date is more than enough. Later, we can reuse this plan," Sila wondered.
"That shouldn't do. If we plan to obtain this much through gambling, we will have to do it in one go. Once you have shown your true power, the next time you participate, we will only get a small amount. I plan to clear the debt in one try. In addition, if this works, there might be a surprise for you, Big Brother," Burapha smiled.
"What surprise? Is it a good or bad one?" asked Sila. What he needed the least now was unexpected news. He had experienced too many big surprises today.
"It's a pleasant one, but I won't tell you now. Please let me confirm it first."
As Burapha said that it was a pleasant one, Sila said nothing more about it.
"Now, what should we do next?" Sila asked.
"We should separate and do our set tasks. Once I'm online again, I will try my best to increase our capital so we have more to spend on the bet. I will meet you guys again in three weeks."
Sila nodded.
"As for Big Brother Blue, please spread the news as soon as possible. Be caution of not being too noticeable, though. Don't let anyone know that the news comes from us."
"Regarding news and information, you don't need to lecture me. Rest assured. In the next three weeks, Sila, you will become the weakest player in the game," Bluebird proudly declared. Hearing that, Sila felt like he was indirectly being condemned.
"The most important thing for Big Brother Sila is that you have to stay quiet during these weeks. You are free to practice or hunt monsters, but you are banned to participate in a fight against any other players, because that would completely ruin our plan. If you really can't avoid the fight, please do your best to escape. Try to look like you barely escaped alive, if possible. Nevertheless, you need to get stronger and can't lose in the tournament. This plan of us ultimately depends on you."
Sila finally understood the heaviness of his duty. This caused him to hurry to meet his nameless teacher and start practicing himself.
"Then, I'm leaving now. I will contact you guys if anything changes." Burapha turned into light and disappeared as soon as he finished speaking.
Bluebird sighed. "I planned to enjoy swimming, resting, or being the first to jump into the jacuzzi tub in the beginning. Nonetheless, three weeks for spreading the news is too short of a time. The longer the rumor, the more credible it is. In this case, I will get to work immediately."
Bluebird was gone after Burapha, leaving Sila alone in front of a mansion.
Sila intended to contact his nameless teacher but he later found that he couldn't. The Mansion of Secret (Bluebird had renamed it) blocked all communications.
Although he didn't feel tired anymore, Sila's qi points still hadn't fully regenerated. Thus, Sila decided to regenerate his qi points first before he left, since the recovery rate here was two times faster than outside.
Firstly, Sila released Bow and Lookhin outside.
Bow was excited to look at the mansion and hopped around happily. As for Lookhin, it was flying above Bow. It seemed Sila's previous order that told it to look after Bow was still in effect.
Seeing Lookhin, it reminded Sila about the two new grade cards that he had just gotten. They were the Great Millennium Turtle Card and Water Dragon Card.
Sila opened his system window and found that there were many items in there. He took all of them out.
The female voice was directed to Sila.
"Do you need me to arrange them, Master?"
Sila was startled. He turned around and witnessed a woman dressed in a maid uniform. He couldn't clearly see her face no matter how he looked at her. If he wasn't paying attention, he would see her as a floating maid dress.
"Oh, hello?" Sila was still confused that there was someone other than him in here.
"Hello, Master. Do you need me to arrange your items?" She repeated.
"Arrange items?"
"Yes, arranging items. I'm the AI stationed in this mansion. It's my duty to support Master and your guests here."
"I see. You're the AI that Burapha mentioned. Yes, please arrange items for me. I don't know what to do with them myself."
"It's my pleasure." She waved her semi-transparent hand once, then the items were gone from the sight.
"Do you want anything else, Master?"
"Oh, nothing more. Thanks."
"Please call me if you need something."
Sila nodded, then she disappeared. Sila wondered why the support AIs have to possess a body. Isn't it fine just let his items automatically arrange themselves?
"Ah, I forgot to ask her name," Sila exclaimed as he recalled.
"My name is Julia, Master." The sound reverberated next to Sila's ear.
"Wahhh!" Sila shouted and jumped forward.
"What happens, Master?" asked Julia.
"Don't suddenly appear or disappear like that. You startled me," Sila said. It was true that he wasn't afraid of dragons. However, ghosts were a different case. They were untouchable, weren't they?
"Roger, Master. I'll be careful next time." Julia grinned. She must think to herself that her smile was cute. Then, she slowly dispersed into thin air.
Sila shuddered. 'Ouch, she's even scarier than before. Having a ghost maid like this, isn't my mansion considered haunted?'
Turning left and right. He couldn't spot Julia anymore. Sila took two cards out and handed them to Lookhin.
"Lookhin, Star Swallow." The two cards dissolved into specks of dust before being swallowed by Lookhin.
Lookhin's body emitted magic power. Its eyes were shining with qi energy. Sila nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that the skill worked successfully for both cards. He was lucky again.
"Lookhin, please look after Bow. I don't know where she went," Sila said, to which Lookhin nodded before it flew away.
Upon swallowing more cards, it seemed Lookhin had become more obedient and was also able to understand him more. Although it couldn't talk, Sila preferred it this way. If it could talk like Bow, he would have no time to do anything else.
Sila walked into the training area. It was built separately from the mansion and looked like a Japanese dojo. This must be Bluebird's choice.
Sila slid the door made of wood and paper. He left it open for the air to flow in and out. He entered the dojo, sat down and started cultivating. It was finally time for him to inspect his own qi and body after a long battle.
Primary Qi was flowing throughout his body and Sila soon entered the meditation state. The cultivation that Sila planned to finish in an hour unexpectedly lasted until the morning of the next day.