As the saying goes, having connections in high places makes things easier.
Opening a shop is a small matter among these Elders. Even without these three speaking up for Ge Liang, they wouldn't refuse a merchant's request to open a store; it would just mean the review process would take a little longer.
With the guarantee from Temari and her two siblings, Ge Liang can now open a shop anywhere in the Hidden Sand Village except for those few Forbidden Lands.
After settling the matter of Ge Liang opening his shop, Temari and her two siblings excitedly went off to complete their mission.
They couldn't wait to finish the mission quickly, return to the village to play games... or rather, return to the village to Cultivate the abilities gained from the game.
"So, where should I open the branch store?"
With the shop application approved, Ge Liang now had to choose the location for his store.
The location was actually easy to choose. The main demographic served by the internet cafe were Ninja, or rather, rich people.
In Ninja villages, ninety-nine percent of the wealthy population consists of Ninja, so it wouldn't be wrong to say that internet cafes opened in Ninja villages are specifically for serving Ninja.
Since the customers are Ninja, there isn't much to fuss about regarding the store's location.
As long as the reputation is established in the Early Stage, given the mobility of Ninja, even if the store is opened in the suburbs, it won't prevent them from visiting.
Since there weren't many requirements, finding a spot was easy.
Ge Liang spent a small amount of money, hired a local vendor as a guide, toured the Hidden Sand Village, and finally selected a large, inexpensive commercial property located in the suburbs.
"Congratulations, host, on opening your first branch store. Special rewards include ten matching computers and one standard bar counter."
"The Branch Store System is online. Please check it yourself, host."
As expected, after opening the branch store, Ge Liang still needed to add computers and handle the renovation.
Fortunately, his current budget was sufficient, and ten computers were enough for the initial phase. He could always add more later once business picked up.
As for the size, this shop was much larger than the one in Konoha. The original space was a full two hundred square meters, easily accommodating forty to fifty computers.
"So, all I need to do now is renovate and decorate the internet cafe properly?"
After thinking it over, Ge Liang chose a simple renovation, the same standard as the Konoha store, and then bought some potted plants and a liquor cabinet from the System Mall to decorate the internet cafe.
In addition to that, he also built five Training Rooms directly.
As for the enlightenment chamber, there was no need.
If he wanted to Cultivate, he could simply use the Sword Control Technique to fly back to Konoha. There was absolutely no need to waste money and space building another enlightenment chamber at the Sunagakure branch.
"Renovations done. Now let me take a look at this newly launched Branch Store System."
Considering the System's usual tendency, Ge Liang figured this Branch Store System was probably another System that demanded money.
"Damn it, I guessed right!"
Opening the Branch Store System, what appeared before Ge Liang was similar to the Mall System—everything required money.
Setting up a manager and hiring attendants meant Ge Liang had to pay these people a certain monthly salary.
That was reasonable, and Ge Liang accepted it.
The monthly utility bills needed to be paid to Sunagakure.
Fine, that was also reasonable, accepted!
But having to pay a sum of money to the System every month for computer repair and maintenance—that was a bit unreasonable.
The main store didn't require Ge Liang to pay all those fees, so why did opening a branch store require so much money?
This was completely illogical.
'The main store is protected by the Main System, so naturally, it doesn't require as many fees.'
'This is a branch store, protected by the Sub-System, so fees must be paid.'
"In other words, your Branch Store System is just weak."
Ge Liang was speechless. An internet cafe System could actually be divided into a Main System and a Sub-System. The money-grubbing routine was exactly the same, making it impossible to guard against.
What could he do? He could only happily agree through tears.
Aside from these bizarre charges, the Branch Store System actually had some good features.
For example, the Physical Body Teleportation Array and the Soul Teleportation Array.
As long as Ge Liang paid to set up the Teleportation Arrays, customers from either the main store or the branch store could instantly reach the other internet cafe via the array.
If someone lost a game and felt aggrieved, they could use the Physical Body Teleportation Array to transport themselves over for a real-person PK.
Whether they would PK others or be PK'd by others, that remained to be seen.
In contrast, the Soul Teleportation Array did not have this drawback.
If they lost a game and were unsatisfied, they could teleport over in Soul form. Others could see them but couldn't touch them. At this time, they could unleash the Divine Rank skill of an Zuan native: silver-tongued eloquence.
The opponent could only respond with the same flowery language. At this point, it was a battle of whose 'verbal jutsu' was stronger.
I can't beat you, but I'll piss you off, nah nah nah nah nah!
Therefore, those confident in their strength could use the Physical Body Teleportation Array.
Those confident in their verbal jutsu could use the Soul Teleportation Array.
Naturally, since the two Teleportation Arrays have different functions, their prices are also different.
Physical Body teleportation costs one hundred thousand Ryo per trip. (Fighting)
Soul teleportation is cheaper, requiring only ten thousand Ryo. (Verbal Jutsu)
Verbal jutsu isn't as satisfying as fighting, so being cheaper is understandable.
However, the construction cost for both Teleportation Arrays is the same: ten million Ryo.
As the boss, using the Teleportation Array is naturally free.
This prevents Ge Liang from having to rely on the Sword Control Technique to travel back and forth.
Besides these two Teleportation Arrays, the Branch Store System also has a Fusion function.
As long as Ge Liang activates this function, the physical store will merge with a Simulated Store.
For example, if Ge Liang activates this function in the Hidden Sand Village branch and Fuses it with the Konoha main store, a virtual space will be opened up at the branch where he can observe everything happening at the main store.
If he opens more branch stores in the future, Ge Liang will consider activating this function. That way, he won't have to wander around and can observe all the internet cafe shops from just one location.
But since he only has two shops right now, there's no need to activate this function. Moreover, Fusing one internet cafe costs one hundred million Ryo, and he doesn't have that much money at the moment.
However, the Teleportation Arrays can be built first.
Two Teleportation Arrays for the branch store, two for the main store; four arrays total would cost forty million Ryo.
"This money really isn't enough to spend."
When he arrived, the internet cafe still had over seventy million Ryo in its balance.
Now, after buying the shop, unlocking the branch, renovating, decorating, building Training Rooms, and constructing the Teleportation Arrays, the entire process left the internet cafe with only a little over ten million Ryo.
"I still need to work hard to earn money."
Once the market opens up, the daily usage fees alone will not be a small amount. He'll earn back a few tens of millions in no time.
"Everything is ready. We just wait for the grand opening tomorrow!"