Chapter 2: Well Prepared

To buy pickaxes, Sherlock had to go to a neutral Bazaar of a Freedom Town. The nearest one was at Winterfell. It took ten days to walk from Eternal Kingdom to Winterfell, and time was short. He could hardly wait for the Goblins to start his Dungeon construction, so he decided to use the most expensive traveling method—Teleport Scroll!

Only powerful Magicians were able to activate the Teleport Portals of other towns at will, and Sherlock was a Devil, not a Magician. However, he believed that money could solve all problems.

He endured the pain in his heart as he tore the Teleport Scroll. In the brilliance of magical light, he was teleported to a new location.

"Don't stand there like a fool! Leave once you have registered. There are other teleport customers behind you!"

The brutish Orc who was working at the Teleport Portal reception shoved a form violently into Sherlock's hands. Sherlock consoled himself that the Orc's work attitude was not boorish. Rather, it was the heavy workload and the Orc's nature that resulted in his poor treatment.

He came down from the Teleport Portal while holding the form as rows of Teleport Portals behind him emitted rays of brilliance. As he walked towards the reception, he filled out his form. Behind the reception, there was a short Gnome who was saying, "... I merely drank a bit more wine, but my wife gave me a violent beating. Do you see my ear? It was torn off by her! Ai, I was a legendary gladiator when I was young."

The Gnome showed the left side of his bloody and bandaged green skull while stamping on Sherlock's form.

Even the dark Underworld had its own rules. The neutral Freedom Towns were better as they were built by merchants. As long as one filled out the form and obtained a stamp, one could move freely.

Upon arrival, the traveler only had to submit the form to complete the process, but other dungeons were more restrictive. For example, if other dark races were to invade Sherlock's Eternal Kingdom, he would not hesitate to kill them if he could win the fight.

Holding the stamped form in his hand, Sherlock ran towards the Bazaar of Winterfell, which was located in a huge dug-out cavern. There were many makeshift stalls, trading Gnomes and Goblins who were mostly other Dungeon Lords. To set up a shop in Freedom Town for selling common items, they had to pay very high rental fees. However, in the eyes of the discriminating Devil Sherlock, their goods were all trash!

Tsk! Why is that silver-scaled breastplate so shiny? It must be a lure for me to spend money!

There were also other Devils like Sherlock there. They led five to six-meters-tall giants, who were carrying corpses of magical beasts. They were here to engage in large-scale trading.

Sherlock inhaled a gust of turbid air and puffed his chest out as he took his first step in his glorious Dungeon Lord career!

"How many Magic Stones did you bring?" the Dungeon Core, Bru, asked as Sherlock was feeling uplifted.

"A thousand! I mortgaged all my properties! They're substantial!" he said as he looked for a metal goods merchant.

Bru thought for a while before saying, "You are really... a thrifty person. I admire you!"

Sherlock pretended not to hear Bru's words. Those thousand Magic Stones had been obtained after a haggling session with the real estate salesgirl. Inflation was rampant these days, and life was hard!

It wasn't hard to find a metal goods merchant since there were so many of them in the Bazaar. Sherlock found a shop that looked slightly run-down and walked in. On the shop sign was written: "Don't have the most expensive stuff".

The shopkeeper was a short but muscular Stone Golem who was noisily banging his hammer. When he saw a customer enter, he put down the hammer and poured Sherlock a cup of bloody chrysanthemum tea. Then, he asked eagerly, "Are you buying Depression Cream or Ash Emissary? I'm selling high quality imitations that are as good as real!"

Sherlock shook his head and said, "I want to buy a hundred metal pickaxes."

"No problem! A thousand Magic Stones! Free delivery!" the Stone Golem said heartily.

Sherlock inhaled a gust of cold air. Since when had pickaxes become so expensive? He was able to afford the pickaxes, but if he spent all the Magic Stones on tools, what were the Goblins going to eat? How could he possibly let them starve to death?

The Stone Golem noticed Sherlock's dismayed expression and was not surprised. He asked warmly, "You look like a respectable Devil Lord buying pickaxes for your new Dungeon, right? Aiya, recently there are many new dungeon start-ups, which have caused the demand for pickaxes to surge. The price increase is normal. No problem! You don't have to buy that many pickaxes. We have special discounts for a noble Devil Lord like you. Please take a look!"

He placed a discount flyer in front of Sherlock.

"A hundred year anniversary sale: only eight hundred Magic Stones for a brand new Blacksmith Shop! Good for smelting, forging and even preparing meals and boiling water. Its usage is only limited by your imagination! What are you waiting for? Bring home a brand new Blacksmith Shop for just eight hundred Magic Stones! (If paid in full, twenty complementary pickaxes will be included!)"

Sherlock was tempted. If he had a blacksmith shop, would he not be able to make his own pickaxes? He would not have to come here to buy pickaxes. Eight hundred Magic Stones for a Blacksmith Shop and twenty pickaxes seemed quite worth it!

"What do you think? Bru?"

"Good. The only note is that with a Blacksmith Shop, we will need a Blacksmith. But, not only can we make pickaxes, we can also make weapons and armor to sell to those gamers! Those Goblins!"

"What? Aren't those items given to them? I can sell the items to them?"

"Of course! If they have money, they'll buy directly. If not, they'll complete missions. The items can be based on rewards for how many missions they complete. They even have to work for food. That is how the otherworld works."

Was that not going to save Sherlock a large sum of money? Or even earn a handsome profit? Sherlock had only heard of Dungeon Lords spending money to feed the hordes. Now, the otherworld's Goblins were going to feed him! He could not help but feel excited.

Sherlock slapped the counter and paid eight hundred Magic Stones for the deal. The shopkeeper said, "It will only require half a day to construct. The construction team will be ready to set off in half an hour! You may bring them back to your Dungeon!"

A professional Blacksmith was required to work the Blacksmith shop. Although he could send the gamers to learn Blacksmith knowledge and skills, that could only happen in the future. Sherlock hired a highly skilled Blacksmith from the shopkeeper for a hundred Magic Stones a month.

The Blacksmith could work as a chef and prepare meals. It was perfect. The Blacksmith would be reporting for work tomorrow.

The remaining Magic Stones could be used to buy the Goblins food, such as large intestines and various insects. In a single shopping spree, he spent all of his remaining Magic Stones.

Sherlock did not stay long and hurried immediately to the "Don't have the most expensive stuff" shop to lead the construction team back to his Dungeon.

Sherlock brought the stone golem workers to the Dungeon Core. Under his instruction, the stone golem workers started constructing the Blacksmith Shop at the designated location.

Sherlock used his Mana to move the Goblins' food to a corner since there were currently no Goblins to excavate rooms. The food would not spoil in one day.

All the preparations were completed, and Sherlock returned to the Dungeon Core. Bru suggested that Sherlock access the official website. Sherlock went through lots of doubtful, fawning, begging and angry comments left by the gamers. Sherlock created a new notice: ["Dungeon: Eternal Kingdom" Beta Testing starts tomorrow! A hundred lucky gamers obtained Beta Tester status!]

The main content was to announce the identities of the hundred gamers, remind them to sign their courier packages that would arrive tonight and teach them to use the virtual reality gaming capsule.

Sherlock was curious about this couriered "virtual reality gaming capsule", but Bru assured him that he had settled everything at the otherworld. Hence, Sherlock did not think too much more about the small matter.

Not long after the notice was published, a lot of comments were left on the official website.

[Casual look, mundane things: I only just applied this morning, and selection is already completed in the afternoon? This is the fastest game to start on Beta Testing in the history of games!]

[Weeding: Happy! (~^ᄌ^)~ successfully obtained Beta Tester status!]

[Kilbon Hard: It's only been half a day, and the game has already gone viral. My QQ group was discussing this game, and someone offered 50,000 yuan for Beta Tester status!]

[OneTwoMountain: Only 50,000 yuan? I know someone who offered 100,000 yuan!]

[Dragon Raja.Breaking Customs: Dragon Raja MMO is investing heavily in this game. 150,000 yuan for each Beta Tester status. The more the merrier! Contact via phone at 139XXXXX, QQ contact 4506XXXX. Dragon Raja MMO is willing to pay selected Beta Testers!]

...

Sherlock looked at other people's replies and continuously pressed F5 to refresh his screen. He was amused by their replies, though he was unable to understand many of the comments. Time passed quickly.

Aside from the comments under his own post, there were also other gamer-created threads. The threads ranged from strategy guides, buying Beta Tester statuses at high prices, selling Beta Tester statuses, various clans' recruitment to other irrelevant topics. Bru described them as insignificant posts!

As Sherlock was browsing through the different postings, the Stone Golems had completed the Blacksmith Shop. It wasn't large, but it would suffice. Furthermore, they had left behind twenty pickaxes. Once Sherlock certified that the furnace was complete and signed the acknowledgment form, the Stone Golems left using a Teleport Scroll.

Sherlock surveyed the surroundings and heaved a sigh of relief. He only had to wait for the otherworld's Goblins to start work!

"Right, we should discuss the newbie missions!" the Dungeon Core, Bru, suggested.