The First Store System

Chapter 1354: Disadvantages(22)

Even though Laney became more and more excited about the trial, she wasnʼt an idiot for making her decision immediately. There must have been adversity for there to be a trial. And because there were so many benefits, the difficulty must be even higher.

Rimiru couldnʼt help but nod in appreciation, seeing Laney remain calm despite the situation. Laney wasnʼt the first to be summoned inside the city. There had been two participants before her.

Both the earlier participants immediately agreed to the trial without finding the negatives. One of the two participants died a gruesome death, while one became a citizen of the city, losing his freedom to leave the city or ever become the leader.

”Once you accept the trial, you can not forfeit the competition…” Rimiru opened his mouth and shared with Laney about the two participants.

Once the trial was active, it wasnʼt easy to become a resident of the city. Even that took a lot of hardship since the other result was death.

After hearing about the negatives of participating in the trial, Rimiru asked for Laneyʼs answer.

Laney didnʼt immediately answer but stood there silently. What made her fret was the fact that once she accepted the trial, she couldnʼt leave the city at all.

When Rimiru told Laney that his voice seemed to have become mechanical and time seemed to have frozen, meaning that once she accepted the trial, she wouldnʼt be able to leave Panagea.

Laney had no issue with staying in Panagea continuously, but she was worried about whether the store would allow it. If the store didnʼt, and she got forcefully pulled out, wouldnʼt that cost her the trial since her lifeʼs presence should never disappear from the city for even a second?

When Laney was thinking that, a piece of information suddenly appeared in her head, astonishing her.

The information was regarding the dilemma she was facing at that moment. According to it, it was possible to stay in Panagea without leaving if the quest required her, but it wasnʼt cheap.

Since Laney stayed in Panagea, it would cost many customers over time not to be able to enter Panagea. There was also the fact that the store closed its doors at sunset, and she would still be inside Panagea, employing its services.

Laney was unaware that Aakesh had been informed about the information before it appeared in her head. Only after Aakesh chose to agree with it did the system send information to Laney.

Aakeshʼs choice had nothing to do with Laney, who was the chosen applicant for the second store upgrade quest. He would still concur even if there was a different customer in her place.

The quest was an opportunity for the customers, and Aakesh didnʼt want to take that away from them. Except for Lily, Laney was the second adventurer to come across a quest like that, where she was bound to stay in Panagea until she completed the mission. Those kinds of missions were extremely rare and required immense fortune.

As for the pricy cost associated with the quest, Aakesh could do nothing about it. Even though the store didnʼt take away the opportunities gained by the customers, it didnʼt give them for free.

If Laney wanted to accept the trial and stay in Panagea, she would have to pay the usual 3x sum of 75 lesser Sacred stones for every Panagea hour, but that was only for the daytime. After the store closed, the cost to stay in Panagea would grow to five times the original cost, meaning Laney would have to pay 375 lesser stones every hour during the closing time.

As for the entry cost of 75 lesser stones, it would stay the same, and Laney would have to pay it every day until the day she exited Panagea when her entry and exit became as normal as those of other store customers.

If Laney agreed, she would have to pay 32,475 lesser Sacred stones every day. The sum wasnʼt worth considering the wealth she had accumulated in Panagea, but she had no idea how much time it would take her to pass the trial.

”Without risks, there are no great successes,” Laney suddenly mumbled under her breath as her decision was made.

”I will accept the trial,” Laney smilingly responded. Rimiru had expected a response like that since the reward was such that no one could stop themselves from taking risks.

The next moment, Rimiru and other citizens on the street began clapping for her, welcoming her decision. Even though Laney was weaker than many of them, none dared underestimate her.

When the creator of the city formed Fring and the other 35 cities, she had designed the trial in a way that it would be fair for every participant, irrespective of their power level.

Laney simply smiled in response to the clapping from the people, unaware of the storm she had caused inside the store.

The first group that entered the store, was shrouded in golden light. Following that every batch of 31,148 customers would be covered in silver light, showing that they were next in the line.

The moment Laney accepted the quest, the number of customers covered in silver light decreased to 31,147, making the 31,148th customer restless. He panicked and looked around him, not knowing what he did that forced him out of the group.

The man immediately stood up from his meditation and walked toward the store owner. He was frustrated inside, but outside he smiled and joined the queue.

After some time, it was his turn. He didnʼt even have to ask the question when Aakesh opened his mouth and said, ”To apologize for you and the others losing their turn to enter Panagea, the store would give you a free stay in Panagea for 18 Panagea hours.”

At the same time, the other customers who lost their spot heard the same message in their heads, shocking them.

There was one customer, who wouldnʼt be able to enter Panagea for the day, so he got a weekʼs free stay inside Panagea for six Sacred hours a day. It depended on his ability to get a spot and the store wouldnʼt reserve a spot for him. Every free thing would be compensated by Aakeshʼs pocket.