Chapter 5: An Unusual Beauty
Donape looked around, his eyes scanning the space over and over as a heavy, eerie silence filled the room.
Five VR Capsules.
Still just five.
He stood up, paced around the room, and surveyed every single corner.
Still, there were only five VR Capsules.
No matter how wide he stretched his eyes, the sixth VR Capsule—the god-tier reward he was supposed to find—was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is it, System?" he asked, his voice incredibly soft, gentle, and forced.
[Huh? Didn’t the Great Me already implant the manual into your head?!]
"That... Just a moment. Let me try to remember it," Donape trailed off.
His words were nothing but an excuse. In reality, every single piece of information from the manual was perfectly clear in his mind—and the System reward was absolutely not mentioned.
[Ah. The Great Me forgot. There’s no need to dig through your head. The Great Me’s reward isn’t listed in the manual because it’s not important.]
Donape cast his gaze downward, keeping his expression perfectly serene.
Was he annoyed? Incredibly so.
Who wouldn’t be?
Dealing with selfish humans who did whatever they pleased was frustrating enough. Now that he had to serve an unknown, omnipotent entity, all he could do was swallow his anger and repeatedly pat his chest to calm his beating heart.
[The Great Me will impart information about the quest and rewards to you if you wish.]
Donape didn’t respond.
Everything was truly exhausting his mind and heart.
[What? Don’t you want to?! How dare you.]
"No. No. Of course I want to. I’m just speechless and in awe of your magnanimity, O System," Donape said while prostrating himself.
He quickly came back to his senses after sensing the danger that was about to befall him.
[Good. Obey, and you will be the strongest in the world.]
Donape knew what the System meant, because the manual also explained what kind of thing a God-Tier VR Capsule was for humans.
But even understanding this, he didn’t have time to be struck with astonishment or to gloat over the technology, since he hadn’t yet experienced the virtual game himself.
Now, with the information about the quest and rewards in his head, he had no choice but to wait, as the sixth VR Capsule wouldn’t be installed until the next day.
And the reason for it wasn’t because of the information he’d been given, but because he’d observed the System’s tyranny—knowing that closing the Origins VR Cafe for a while to install it would be a waste of money, as the cafe was still open.
’The strongest, my ass! How petty can this shitty System get? I don’t even know when I’ll truly be able to wield superpowers. Also, does it really think opening a shop in a small alley like this will attract any customers? This thing is crazy beyond help.’
Donape grumbled inwardly.
The supernatural abilities he usually only observed through a screen were actually possible to attain through those VR Capsules and Quest rewards.
But at the same time, he didn’t know how long it would take to achieve what he envisioned.
It was all because of the System’s unmatched stinginess.
In fact, he didn’t even know if it would have ever been possible for him to buy this former warehouse that had been renovated into a cafe with the agonizingly slow pace of his current salary accumulation.
"Status Window," Donape said softly.
Ding!
[SYSTEM INTERFACE]
---------------------------------
Host: Alexander Donape
Cafe Level: 1
Current Business: Origins VR Cafe (Branch 01)
Available Equipment: 5 x [God-Tier VR Capsules]
Available Products: [The Path of the Heavenly Martial Arts - 80 BC]
Current Funds: 0,99 Gold Coins
-------------------------------—
[Host Status]: Invulnerability State (Within Cafe Boundaries Only)
Veins bulged on his forehead as he stared at the System balance.
’0.99 Gold Coins! And I only get 0.01 Gold Coins?!’
Sure enough, Donape reached into his pocket, pulled out his smartphone, and checked his e-money credit.
4,723 BC!
An increase of 1 BC from his initial balance of 4,722 BC.
He only earned a measly 1% of the transaction!
The system’s profits looked massive, but according to the manual in his head, that 1% commission only applied to transactions up to a maximum of 1,900 BC.
If there were transactions above that amount, the System would switch to a flat rate of 19 BC per transaction.
No more. No less.
It didn’t matter how massive the cash flow became later on; his cut was capped.
However, Donape frowned and glanced at the digital screen above the counter.
’With these kinds of prices, if this place actually catches on, making 1,000 BC a day won’t just be possible. No. It’ll be a piece of cake to earn in a single hour.’
He used to see retail shops belonging to the mega-brand Rotten Apple packed to the brim with customers, despite their outrageous price tags.
Other people always said that brands with solid prestige and high prices remained in high demand even when the economy hit rock bottom.
’Don’t tell me this place is going to end up becoming like them?’
Donape smiled awkwardly, his shoulders slumping slightly.
[Mortal, why do you look so lifeless? You should be bathed in joy because of the Great Me’s blessing.]
"Yes. Yes. I feel so wonderful right now that I don’t have any words left," Donape said dryly.
[Let the Great Me give you something to revitalize your vitality.]
Donape raised an eyebrow.
’It’s unusual for this damn System not to get angry, let alone offer me something useful. Suspicious.’
But his premonitions were instantly confirmed when a new text box popped up right in front of his face.
[Initiating: Divine Lightning!]
"This motherfu—"
ZAP! ZAP!
Before he could even finish his curse, Donape was blasted by lightning. It was a level of pain his body was, unfortunately, beginning to get used to.
Twitched out and smoking, Donape collapsed onto the pristine floor. His head throbbed, and a rage bubbled inside him so volatile it could explode at the mere prick of a needle.
’Ha! This bitch! No matter how immune I am to the actual damage, the pain is still the exact same! It hurts like hell!’
While he lay there wallowing in his misery, the chiming of the shop door signaled someone had arrived.
Instantly, Donape forced himself into professional shopkeeper mode. He scrambled to his feet and rushed toward the entrance to greet the visitor.
"Ahem. Welcome! How may I help you, Miss?"
Donape greeted her with a polite bow and rubbed his hands together, offering a broad, completely sincere smile.
The customer this time was Adele Irene. Though she wore simple, unassuming clothes, her natural beauty was striking enough to turn heads anywhere.
She was quite tall—almost matching Donape’s height—with a slender frame and a charming dimple that appeared on her left cheek.
The elegant sway of her vibrant red hair made her look like a noblewoman masquerading in commoner’s garb.
Irene looked around the room, her brow furrowing slightly. "Um... is this really a cafe?"
"Ah, yes. More or less," Donape replied, offering a wry smile. "But today is our grand opening, so food and beverages aren’t available just yet."
Even though he was no longer caught off guard by questions about the shop, he still felt a bit awkward having so little to offer.
"Oh. Then what do you have in here?" Irene asked, tapping her soft, rosy lips thoughtfully.
"For now, our shop exclusively offers VR capsule rentals for gaming. You can see the options and pricing on the digital screen right above the counter."
Irene followed Donape’s gesture, looking up at the single item displayed on the monitor.
She gasped, sucking in a sharp breath. "Hiss...! Why is it so expensive?! Just because it’s virtual reality? No way... Is this place a total scam?"
Donape almost facepalmed right then and there. Hearing that exact same accusation again made his head throb.
’Whether they’re filthy rich or completely ordinary, why does everyone always think my place is a scam?!’
He cleared his throat, straightened his posture, and smoothed down his t-shirt to regain his composure.
"Miss, you shouldn’t make such harsh claims without trying it first. That’s practically defamation," Donape argued smoothly. "Besides, our VR capsules are worlds apart from those commercial products using cheap, basic tech. The difference between them is like heaven and earth!"
"And if it is fake?" Irene challenged, crossing her arms to question the store’s credibility. "If the quality is exactly the same as those standard virtual reality helmets on the market, do you offer a money-back guarantee?"
"Yes! Absolutely!" Donape declared stubbornly. "I will refund your money in full. One hundred percent! And if that’s still not enough to satisfy you, you can even smash my shop to pieces however you wish!"
After taking a brief moment to review the product manual embedded in his head, his confidence in the Origins VR Cafe had soared straight through the roof.
He was certain that the moment anyone actually stepped into that capsule, the staggering difference in quality would blow their mind.
Irene stepped slowly toward the sleek VR capsule, her movements hesitant as she placed her palm against the glass cover.
With the 80 BC game access fee and the 20 BC hourly capsule rental combined, a total of 100 BC instantly vanished from her balance.
Before stepping inside the capsule, she shot Donape a sharp, venomous glare, as if warning him of the consequences if he was lying.
Refusing to listen to any of his explanations out of fear of being tricked, she decided she would watch the tutorial and test everything herself.
The capsule slid shut. The moment the VR system locked onto her neural network, her consciousness was instantly pulled into an entirely different realm.
She opened her eyes in a void of pure, blinding white. Her breath hitched in absolute shock as every single one of her senses was violently stimulated at once—and she suddenly realized she was completely naked.