CHAPTER 102: INFLATION 102

「A run-down temple.」

The Beggar Gang’s over one hundred Players were all gathered here. Excitement was on each person’s face. Main Players like Crispy Rice, Sticky Rice, Lonely Old Man, Crazy Man, and Lumberjack No.1 were seated in the front row. Lin Bai was seated at the head.

In front of him were dozens of white papers densely packed with handwriting. He casually flipped through them:

"Shunrou, confidence as swift as flight."

"Mu Ming Milk, pure natural milk, healthy life every day."

"Leap Communication, even if spanning time and space, we can still connect."

"Rice-a-lot cookies..."

...

In total, there were ten advertisements. The content covered shampoo, communication, food, milk, beverages, laundry powder, condiments, liquor, e-commerce, and more. Each proposal had its own advertising slogan and logo, and even specified usage scenarios.

Well, alright! Food and beverages are one thing, but what’s with the communication and e-commerce industries trying to get in on the action? Can they really build signal towers in the game world? Do they seriously intend to sell goods here too?

"Lin, the Storekeeper, these are the ten sponsors we’ve carefully selected. The final choice still requires your approval," Lonely Old Man offered cautiously.

Each of the Beggar Gang’s over one hundred Players had received advertising sponsorships. Among them were some absurd ones, like for sanitary pads and diapers. These ten were the most suitable ones they had chosen after comprehensive deliberation.

"What is Leap Communication?" Lin Bai asked, though he already knew.

"A courier service, just under a different name," Lonely Old Man explained, bracing himself. "Their requirements are the lowest. They just need a text advertisement painted on the walls of Jiamucheng. They will sponsor our Beggar Gang with one million taels of silver annually. If we go to Qian City and can persuade its City Lord to also display their advertisement, their sponsorship fee can be increased to ten million taels..."

A 1:100 conversion ratio. That means spending one hundred thousand for a text advertisement in a Novice Village, and it’s not even guaranteed to be caught on the livestream camera! The communications industry sure is loaded...

Lin Bai ignored the suggestion about advertising in Qian City and said, "To paint words on the city wall, you need the City Lord’s approval. One million taels is a bit low."

Lonely Old Man immediately said, "The highest they can go is one and a half million taels."

"Two million taels, painted for half a year, fixed price." Lin Bai glanced at him. "Don’t play these little tricks with me in the future. Just tell me their bottom line directly. You’re part of the Beggar Gang; your loyalty should be to us. If you try to play both sides, watch out, or I’ll kick you out."

"Yes, Lin, the Storekeeper, I was wrong." Lonely Old Man breathed a sigh of relief and said with an apologetic smile, "Leap Communication is a minor deal. The main focus is on Shunrou and Mu Ming. They’ve each invested thirty million taels of silver, requiring us to embroider their logos on our clothes and shout their promotional slogans after every begging session. During our trip to Qian City, we must also fly their flags and even shout their slogans before any battle. And we absolutely must comply. Otherwise, it’ll be considered a breach of contract on our part..."

As expected of fast-moving consumer goods companies! They really know how to throw money around! Thirty million taels of silver—that’s three million in real-world currency! And this is just for in-game promotion. Who knows how much these Beggar Gang Disciples will actually get to split in reality?

However, how much the Beggar Gang Disciples could split in reality wasn’t Lin Bai’s concern; he wouldn’t get a cut of their money anyway. Only when they earned money themselves would they be willing to risk their lives and strive alongside him. It was a win-win situation. So why not go for it?

What Lin Bai truly marveled at was the feeling of sudden wealth. To think that when he first arrived in this world, he was still worrying about his next meal; he’d even swindled Luo Congwen out of two hundred taels of silver and felt pleased with himself for a long time. Now, he could mobilize tens of millions of taels of silver. His personal fortune had probably already surpassed that of the four major families of Jiamucheng. Indeed, life was unpredictable! At this rate, he was even starting to feel reluctant to return to Earth.

Lin Bai lightly tapped the table and asked, "And for how long? We can’t be shouting slogans for them for a lifetime!"

"Half a year," replied Lonely Old Man.

"One month at most." Lin Bai refused without a second thought. "I built the Beggar Gang from scratch in little more than ten days. Half a year from now, the Beggar Gang Disciples might be spread all over the country. A mere thirty million taels to buy six months of our time? Impossible."

He scanned the crowd and declared, "In the future, if anyone makes such exorbitant demands, reject them all."

"Yes!" everyone chorused in agreement.

...

"Lin, the Storekeeper, is so dominant! Planning for Beggar Gang Disciples to be all over the country in just half a year!"

"Thirty million taels! My heart skipped a beat just hearing that number! And Lin, the Storekeeper, rejected it without even blinking. His composure is incredible!"

"What Lin, the Storekeeper, said is actually very possible. With the fourth batch of closed beta testers announced, do you know how many people want to come to Jiamucheng and join the Beggar Gang? The forums are exploding with people wanting to get into Jiamucheng. I heard they’re even restricting entry quotas now."

"Apparently, the game officials opened fifty new Novice Villages just to distribute this wave of Players."

"I think Lin, the Storekeeper’s, ideas are a bit too ambitious. Those big financial groups are aggressively recruiting Players whose accounts were selected in the recent draw. They’re definitely planning something big. They won’t just sit back and watch the Beggar Gang dominate. They might even go all out to stop the Beggar Gang’s rise..."

"It was a perfectly good Cultivation game, and Lin, the Storekeeper, has managed to turn it into a business simulation."

"As long as it makes money, what more do you want? Besides, it’s not Lin, the Storekeeper’s, fault that the game is tied to commerce. A game this popular was bound to attract businesses sooner or later. The ones who should be worried are the casual Players. Life is already tiring enough in reality; they come to the game to relax, only to end up being exploited by these consortiums."

"There will always be people who don’t want to get involved with the consortiums. Isn’t the game company always limiting the distribution of pioneer accounts precisely to prevent a single group from becoming too dominant?"

"Actually, I find this more interesting. Don’t forget, there are still native inhabitants in this world. Some people have researched the game’s history; the Taiyi Country we’re in now has a history of over six thousand years. Who knows what its population is? Plus, with fifty new Novice Villages just opened, spread across different countries, and a hundred thousand Players distributed among more than seventy Novice Villages, suppressed by NPCs... it’s not going to be easy for anyone to just run wild."

"That’s right. The lore includes immortals and Buddhas. If things get too out of hand, a couple of high-Level NPCs might just show up and wipe out a huge chunk of Players with a single slap. Even if the consortiums want to dominate the game world, they’ll have to take it step by step. Everyone starts with the same aptitude; who ends up with the resources is still up in the air."

"Exactly! We’ve got a pretty good head start. Let’s hope Lin, the Storekeeper, and the Righteous Door backing him can really deliver!"

...

A group of Players huddled together, inevitably chattering in private messages as they exchanged their views on the game. Lin Bai gleaned a lot more information from their chatter. He couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on; the game company was releasing new Players far too quickly.

If this continues, the world’s order will collapse sooner or later.

...

"Lin, the Storekeeper, have you decided? Which company will we go with?" Lonely Old Man asked.

"A compromise. Split it between the two main ones, half a month each. We can’t show favoritism," Lin Bai mused for a moment, then continued, "As for these other proposals, don’t let them go to waste either. You can paint their advertisements on street corners, on the outer walls of houses. You go negotiate with the homeowners. Who’s going to complain about having too much money, right?"

"Understood." Lonely Old Man was thrilled by Lin Bai’s delegation of authority. His only fear was Lin Bai micromanaging everything, big and small, which would leave them with no initiative.

"You handle the minor negotiations. I’ll go talk to the City Lord’s Mansion," Lin Bai said as he stood up.

Lonely Old Man nodded, then asked, "Lin, the Storekeeper, in five days, a large batch of new Players will arrive. Will the Beggar Gang still be recruiting?"

"Recruit. Recruit as many as there are," Lin Bai glanced at him. "The new Players in Jiamucheng must be kept under our Beggar Gang’s control. A group of veterans will accompany me to Qian City to expand our territory. Leave some of the less skilled Disciples behind in Jiamucheng to maintain order. I’ll have the City Lord’s Mansion cooperate with you."

...

「City Lord’s Mansion.」

Xu Longyun looked at the silver notes piled before her, her expression grim. "Lin Bai, do you realize the consequences of such a large amount of money flooding in?"

"Money will lose its value." Lin Bai, surprised by Xu Longyun’s insight, shook his head and sighed. "But we can’t stop it. Once the new Players flood in, this day was bound to come sooner or later."

"But you’re accelerating this!" Xu Longyun slammed her hand on the table, saying in distress, "With so much money pouring into Jiamucheng, it will inevitably cause prices to skyrocket. People’s hard-earned savings will rapidly devalue, and that will stir up public discontent!"

"Control prices, build roads and cities, create more job opportunities, purchase bulk supplies from other countries, accelerate the circulation of money through various means, and if necessary, wage War to swiftly shift the risk elsewhere. City Lord, if we want to build the Broken City, we need rapid movement of people. Right now, even a trip to Qian City requires an escort. How can the economy possibly take off?"

Lin Bai looked at Xu Longyun and said calmly, "City Lord, if the new Players aren’t removed, the world will descend into chaos sooner or later. Everyone must adapt to this reality..."

"It looks to me like you’re getting along quite well with these new Players. You’re not actually planning to drive them out, are you!" Xu Longyun sneered repeatedly, the joy she had felt from receiving the Dan Fang completely vanishing.

"If I don’t do this, someone else will," Lin Bai said. "It’s better for the Players to be led by me than for them to run amok on their own; they’re more controllable that way. Trust me, risk also means opportunity. Perhaps we can use the Players to change this world, to make it develop rapidly. Their money is actual, tangible currency. If used wisely, it can accomplish a great deal..."