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Forgotten Lands - Chapter 35 (Book 1)
🕑 Added 2024-02-15 11:05:01 +0000 UTC[Millenia: I don’t know how you managed to create your own potion, but Booster is perfect. If you manage to concoct enough Booster we will be able to push our competitors aside and create a temporary monopoly on the potion market. But you know that already. That’s why you sent a Booster and those screenshots, in the first place]
[Zayn: Since you know that I know that you know what’s going on. How about we skip the pleasantries and focus on the business aspect?]
[Millenia: You know, I like you a lot. Dealing with you is so much more pleasant than most other merchants and farming teams. But yeah, let’s get straight to business. I can offer you 80 Credits for every Booster you sell to me. If you manage to produce more than 1,000 Boosters in the next 12 hours, I will give you 5% of the profits made from the Booster as well. If the Boosters sell like hotcakes, and Players are asking for more in large numbers, which I suspect, I will come back to you to talk about a copyright transfer.]
Copyright transfer. That was actually what Zayn had been hoping for. Since he had the copyright of the Booster, Zayn could reproduce the Booster potion recipe as often as he wanted. If he wanted to, he could create the Booster potion recipe hundreds of times and sell it to other companies for a small fortune. The initial investment would be quite heavy but after producing hundreds, or thousands of Booster their initial investment would start making profits.
Millenia wished to keep the monopoly of Zayn’s Booster as long as they produced the expected results.
[Zayn:1,000 Booster is nothing. I can sell you more Booster, don’t worry. I won’t sell any Booster potion recipes either, and I will consider a copyright transfer as well. But keep in mind that I won’t sell my copyright for cheap. After you receive the results of the first batch of sales you will have to increase the offer you have in mind as well. I’m not a charity.]
Once Zayn sent his last reply, he focused on the mass production of Booster. Since Booster was much easier to produce than the Minor Fire Resistance, he didn’t have to spend much energy, stamina, and time to get moving.
He was already familiar with the potion recipe and the subtle alterations he could include to accelerate the potionmaking process even further.
Zayn turned into a hoodlum for the rest of the night and the following morning. He didn’t pay any attention to the things around him. All thoughts that flashed through his mind were related to potionmaking.
Zayn didn’t even notice that the proficiency of Alchemist’s Instinct and Coalesce increased drastically. The only thing he could sense was that concocting Booster grew easier with every minute that passed.
It was 10 am when Zayn regained his senses. He didn’t have any more ingredients and glass vials left to concoct more potions.
Trance was forcefully intercepted. Player will be logged out of Forgotten Lands in 5 minutes to ensure his safety!
Zayn snickered at the message.
‘The Primordial Pantheon doesn’t care about our lives, either way. Just leave me alone and let me play.’
He shook his head but got up from the ground, only to narrowly evade the humongous pile of vials next to him. It would have been really bad if he accidentally destroyed the products of his tremendous effort at this point. Zayn shuddered at the thought and released his energy to shroud the piles of Booster vials. They were added to the mailbox and forwarded straight to Millenia.
[3697 Boosters have been transferred to Player Millenia’s mailbox. The transfer fee has been paid by the recipient.]
[295,760 Credits have been added to your bank account.]
“This puts me a little bit short of 500,000 Credits earned from potions. That’s not enough for a Gaming Pod, but I shouldn’t complain too much. The numbers are quite good for the first five days of Forgotten Lands’ launch,” Zayn mumbled to himself. He was quite satisfied with his progress.
Not only was his equipment the cream of the crop, but his Heart Deck and Card Level were extraordinary. He even managed to earn 500,000 Credits, which put him halfway to the money he required to purchase a Gaming Pod. All he had to do was to focus entirely on potions for another day. That would have been the case if Zayn didn’t have another source of income, a source that should have made even more money than his potions according to the statistics his brothers showed him the day before.
Zayn sighed in relief.
‘It was a good idea to focus on multiple streams of income early on. Too many variables could have played into my cards.’
He was glad that his plans had worked out as well as he had been hoping for. At last, Zayn could check his notification log. He could tell that a lot had changed.
[Proficiency of Coalesce reached 100%. Level Up!]
[Proficiency of Alchemist’s Instinct reached 100%. Level Up!]
[Proficiency of Alchemist’s Instinct reached 100%. Level Up!]
[Proficiency of Coalesce reached 100%. Level Up!]
[Proficiency of Coalesce reached 100%. Level Up!]
Coalesce advanced to Level 10. +2 Soul Essence
[Proficiency of Coalesce reached 100%. Level Up!]
Alchemist’s Instinct
Uncommon - Level 12(0%)
Coalesce
Uncommon - Level 11(0%)
The notification flickered in front of his eyes and distorted shortly after he finished reading through them. A moment later, the world of Forgotten Lands darkened. The Advanced VR Helmet had thrown him out of the game.
Zayn felt still. He removed the VR Helmet and placed it next to him on the bed. His eyes shot open, and the ceiling in his room appeared before him.
The morning sun shone into his room, showering his face in warmth and comfort. Today was going to be a good day.
Zayn got up from the bed and checked his phone right away. He opened his online bank account and began to smile from one ear to another. There was no need to keep worrying about his finances. His first goal had been completed successfully. Finally, Zayn could relax, even if it was just a little bit.
The lease of the Advanced VR Helmet would end in two hours and he had to return it before that, but Zayn regarded that with little interest.
He went into the bathroom, washed up, and changed into a neat set of clothes, a tracking suit before he walked into the kitchen. It was only 10 am but nobody was at home right now. That was a shame. But it was fine. He wasn’t in a rush to brag to his family about his achievements. Percy and Nicolas had probably done more than enough already.
Since he was not in a rush, Zayn ate a sumptuous meal. There were no distractions around him. Nobody was there to talk to him and he kept his phone in his pockets to stay offline for a while. The world around him was quiet. Peaceful. Zayn hummed quietly once he finished lunch. He washed the dishes with great precision and returned to his room where he packaged the Advanced VR Helmet securely. At last, he left the house.
His destination was the shop where he’d loaned the Advanced VR Helmet, but he didn’t go there straightaway. He made a detour around the neighborhood and enjoyed the tranquil and peaceful landscape. In a few years, the greenery and the beautiful structures of his neighborhood would be one of countless battlefields. Blood, destruction, and death would be the only things one could find in this place.
Memories of the past flashed through his mind, most of the death and destruction caused by the invading forces, but also humans. It was expected to find mankind rallying together to create a large alliance against the invading forces, but that never happened. Many organizations planned to form alliances and some did manage to do that. However, too many Players drowned in their desires and addiction.
Gaining supernatural strength, a Heart Deck, and powers mortals weren’t supposed to possess, many Players got drunk on the power and authority they gained from one day to another. Zayn couldn’t hold them accountable for that. He had been similar in the past. He’d felt like the protagonist from one of the many novels he read in the past when his Heart Deck manifested.
He could weave spells and do things no mortal was capable of. The addiction to power and authority grew even heavier once his Player Foundation was fully integrated into his mortal body. He changed…and things happened.
Thinking about the past and the mistakes in the early days of the invasion, Zayn felt regretful. His actions caused the death of many. His foolishness was the reason his family had suffered.
The reminiscence of the past was far from great. It reminded him of his failures and losses. However, being able to recall the major events that happened in the other timeline meant that he could make right what he did wrong. He should learn from his past self. It was his second attempt and he was certainly not going to mess it up again. Too much depended on this!
The peaceful scenery calmed Zayn, and it was only a matter of time before he arrived at the shop. He handed the shop owner the Advanced VR Helmet and he left right after the shop owner handed him a white metal card that contained all his data. Interestingly enough, the card looked like one of Forgotten Lands’ Cards, a Common Card.
On his way back home, Zayn stumbled upon the Dragon Lair Gym. His steps slowed down naturally and he headed inside.
A few familiar faces greeted him, and it didn’t take long before he was intertwined into a discussion. The discussion was about Forgotten Lands, but also about special exercises and mundane topics such as the love life of some gym members. Meanwhile, others complained about their lack of dates and that their god-like physique didn’t attract women in the masses. Other men talked to them, praised their physique, and asked for tips and tricks to gain more muscles, yet women rarely approached them.
It was calming to listen to their complaints, and how some of them bragged about their achievements. Being in the Dragon Lair Gym made him recall that the world was not yet destroyed and that peace ruled supreme in most places all over the world. Of course, it was near-impossible for everything to be perfect, but compared to what awaited them it was nothing. Earth’s problems were a piece of cake compared to the terrors that would descend in the next six months.
Zayn was still in the middle of his workout, and had an extremely intriguing story about his cheating girlfriend when he received a message on his phone. He’d silenced his phone for all applications unrelated to Forgotten Lands’ messenger. Zayn retrieved his phone and checked the message.
Unexpectedly, the message came from Millenia.
[100,000 Credits have been added to your bank account]
[Millenia: Sell me Booster’s copyright, please!]
The corner of Zayn’s lip curled upward. He smelled Millenia’s desperation and greed through the phone and chuckled as he imagined what kind of face the old man was making.
[Zayn: I told you that it’s going to be more expensive.]
He responded swiftly and was about to put his phone away to finish his last set when his phone vibrated once again.
[Millenia: That’s obvious. I made a grave mistake by underestimating your potions’ popularity. I will give you a satisfactory price as long as you’re willing to hand over Booster’s Copyright!]
Zayn was more than willing to sell Booster’s Copyright, but he was not going to make it easy for Millenia.
[Zayn: How much are we talking about? Don’t disappoint me.]
Once his response was sent out, Zayn silenced all notifications. He put his phone away and finished his workout session. Half an hour later, he left the Dragon Lair Gym, his eyes locked onto the dozens of messages Millenia had sent.
