CHAPTER 153: THE BOOMING BUSINESS

"When it comes to the uniqueness of something, it becomes a very subjective experience.

Think about it like this: a mermaid that has spent her entire life in the ocean among the aquatic creatures will have no problem adapting to a life in some other part of the ocean.

The ocean and everything related to these waters will be a normal thing for her.

She wouldn’t want to leave her house just to go to some other part of the ocean. However, what will fascinate her would undoubtedly be the land."

The mermaids are a species that actually exists within the tower. But just like the Elves and Giants, you won’t see them on the lower floors.

They are restricted to the waters and even with their ability to breathe outside of water, they cannot live out of the sea for long.

(Home sickness) is a term associated with all the species that function best when they are in their natural habitat.

Prolonged detachment from these ’homes’ causes their natural energies to corrode, leading to sickness and later, an unsightly death.

"Even the most royal mermaid will find the idea of visiting the lands more appealing than visiting a nearby waterbody.

Similarly, what is unique to some may be common to others. The humans who live on land don’t find the idea of going anywhere on the land as exciting as some other species might.

While the word ’unique’ means something that is rare, we can literally understand it as the differentness of something."

The elves have a very good word for the word Unique in their language.

They call something that is unlike anything else ’Advĩty’ that directly means ’something that One sees as one of its kind’ or as the ancient elven script translates it, an element that holds its properties firmly even against its perceived reality.

"The reason a dungeon that was cleared by a single person stood out to the higher beings was all thanks to how it was cleared rather than how many people died clearing it."

KiRA was explaining to the senior dungeon manager how the dungeon with the Creeper became so much more interesting.

"The trick with the dungeon theming is simple. You just have to make sure there is something one doesn’t find everywhere sharing the same parameters as the cliches out there.

When you present a dungeon story with a massacre theme where every player dies to a consumer that usually prefers a story where the players win, they will not like it.

That much is obvious.

But what if the players did their best, defeated all the monsters, won every battle, and then died because they pushed themselves too far?

What if they died in each other’s embrace rather than in a mess of monster blood?"

The way a dungeon cultivator presents a theme, the different elements, within the different parameters, and brings out the certain kinds of results makes all the difference.

Presenting it to the right buyer comes at the very end.

{ "Hmmm... I see what you’re saying." }

The blue snake nodded her head in understanding. KiRA’s take on the differences in various dungeon elements was indeed unique.

It wasn’t that different from the product models that the dungeon cultivators like them followed.

The creativity of a dungeon cultivator played a big role in the outcome of the final product. And the white crow was already talented with what they did.

What one needed to study more was simply the changing trend and present something that stands out, is unique and yet followed the pattern of the new generation, and much more.

Thinking it is something one needs to worry about, there will always be times when the creatures that the dungeon cultivators prepare for the people turn out to be not so easy to control.

In the first palace, a dungeon is not just a battleground. The monsters that you face aren’t everything there is. You also face other challenges, and KiRA’s example simply highlighted how those challenges played an important role in everything that is going on around here right now.

"Anyways, I think I’ve satiated your curiosity a little for now, right?" KiRA finally sat down beside his family members who were almost done with their tea and accepted a cup of coffee from Izzy.

Then, he looked at the white crow that had been silent all this time.

"You should be talking as well. I was not the one who made the dungeons that went viral. It was you. You were the cultivator. Why are you so silent? Has some mystical cat stolen your tongue?"

The white crow was his original partner and even though the snake was a senior, she did not have any right to be here.

KiRA deliberately didn’t say anything important and only led her with some broken logic. What the Naga inferred from his words was entirely her own imagination, so KiRA was now more focused on the one who brought this stranger here.

"Why is your senior here? What is the matter?" He was held back and could not come to him all this time.

KiRA entered the tower, cleared the first, second, and the third floor and only after all of these things ended did the crow contact him again.

KiRA did not like this one bit. This should not be the case if you are bound by a unique contract.

The profits were being shared among them, but at the very least, KiRA should have some idea where his profits were coming from.

But that was not the case... so he wanted answers. Now.

{ "So... the situation isn’t that complicated. I tried doing what you advised and, it worked out pretty well." }

KiRA practically gave the crow the pointers that any of the dungeon cultivators would have wanted.

KiRA chose this one because they had potential as well as something more. Something that few cultivators have: Talent and the ability to go off the lines and take risks.

"I see..." From the first dungeon alone, KiRA had already figured out the creature was smart and possessed an unorthodox mind.

{ "The dungeons that I cultivated were fought over by various deities so I decided to take some risks.

I applied for a loan and miraculously, I got the approval as well.

Afterwards, I started my own brand and started auctioning the storylines instead of fixing the prices and then the demand just kept increasing.

I tried increasing the volume but I just couldn’t bring myself to decrease the quality of the products just for the sake of earning more.

This senior of mine had been trying to convince me for a while now. The kind of profits that I can get from producing more products is just too attractive even for the divinity we work under." }

He was practically a celebrity now and he wanted his artistic and creative freedom but the bosses were not liking it.

’This is the reason I never really liked working with a particular force within the tower.’

The celestials were too arrogant, the demons were too mischievous, the gods were too boring, the transcendents were never easy to work with, the fairies, the giants, the elves, even the [Managers] difficult to deal with in various situations.

Being under a certain force is always restrictive, especially for the ’artists’ like this white crow who was able to capitalise on the mere pointers I provided.

"I see. I guessed that would have been the case but, it’s not really a good thing to do, Miss." KiRA glared at the blue Naga with the coffee cup still on his mouth. "You must surely be aware of the tower’s Cultivator Protection Policies as someone who has worked in this field, correct?

Why are you trying to extort this young one? He doesn’t want to do mass production stuff as that is his choice. You are not supposed to force him to do anything, much less change how they are producing their products."

As KiRA said, it was against the policies of the tower for any of the Dungeon cultivators to produce things that do not align with their core values.

Tower took ethics pretty seriously. And not even the gods were above them.

{ "Huh? What are you...?" }

The young white crow was obviously oblivious to the basic things that someone like this blue snake should know like the back of their heads.

Perhaps she was trying to show him how cruel the world actually is by doing this, or perhaps she just wanted his downfall.

Either way, this was wrong.

"You should educate your juniors properly, you know? This is not something that should happen in the first place. Actually, I should just report you all-."

{ "That will not be necessary." }

The blue Naga bowed her head, accepting her defeat with a straight face.

{ "We will leave this one alone. From the beginning, we only wanted to test whether the contractor he is working with could guide him properly." }

KiRA already knew that, but putting up this act was always necessary.

{ "I have confirmed everything I needed so I will take my leave now. And he will be left alone from our side so he will have his freedom." }

The blue snake did not wait any longer and just ran away from there, vanishing into particles of light that scattered and left no trace of the ethereal mythical creature that was present right before them just a moment ago.

"The skill is pretty but I can still report you for-." }

{ "We wish you a good day." }

But soon, the scattered particles opened up a spatial portal and vanished behind them, confirming that she was trying to spy on them the last time.

And this scene, as dangerous as it was, did not phase his family members in the slightest.