The Arcade Series

When I had pressed the button, I was brought to a different menu. This menu was similar to the analysis screen, but on this screen it showed me several different views of an arcade, which I presumed would be my arcade. It looked a bit small, crowded between two larger, but not as nice looking buildings that seemed old and worn down, but while the little building looked brand new, it also looked like it was in the same style of the other buildings around it, with a few differences. Below this picture, there was another section that said “Please type the name of your Arcade Chain here:” with a text box beside it.

I thought about it for a moment, before I just decided to use the same name as my cafe, but a little different. I tapped at the screen and began to type out the name of my new store, Hope Arcade.

Yes I know it is a little basic and not that creative using my last name as the name of the business, but I believe it had and still has a nice ring to it. I clicked confirm and then the screen changed to a smaller version of the store menu, but without a “Open a new location” button and it was replaced by a “Design and placement mode” button, I also noticed that the building in the photo suddenly gained a sign above the front windows, saying Hope Arcade. I looked at the new menu curiously, wondering what I was supposed to do, when the system spoke up from beside me.

“Because this is your first time setting up an arcade, there are several free basic options and products that have been automatically added. To remove these options just deselect them in the store menu. When selecting things to add to a new Hope Arcade location, only the level one products are available for purchase. To get access to higher level products, improve your store's reputation level through sales and popularity among an area. Please note that any sales made will be automatically added to your system balance and can be withdrawn at any time for spending on system products or other physical products.” The system tells me, answering my unasked questions clearly and concisely as expected of such an advanced AI.

I hummed to myself and suddenly I realized that my legs were feeling quite tired and I looked around me for a place to sit, eventually sitting at the large wooden desk and noticing curiously that the two screens moved as I turned my head and sat down until they both sat on the desk and I started looking through the things I could get.

Firstly, I expanded the Store defensive measures button and I was met with a long list of various products, most of which I realized with astonishment were insane and clearly magical. One thing at the end of the menu that stood out to me, it was incredible and if I could get it, it would prevent shoplifting forever. The description says, “After unpurchased items leave the shop without owner’s knowledge and permission items will teleport back to where they came from in the shop.” which as incredible as it was, it also was way out of my budget right now at a thousand dollars. Definitely something to look into for the future though.

As for the free products, well they all seemed very simple things that most if not all stores had even a hundred years ago. There were steel shutters for the windows and door, a bell that would sound if the door was opened and a basic mechanical lock on the door with a key. The basic stuff.

But I did have a few other options for things I could get, that were hopefully within my budget. Just to be safe though, I didn't buy anything yet, just in case there is something that I needed more. I suddenly realized that I should probably make a list of things that I could use, so I can calculate what I can get. I opened a few drawers in the desk, looking for a paper and pencil, finding most of the drawers were empty, but in the top drawer there was a small stack of paper and a pencil case.

I brought out a paper and the pencil and I started writing my list: Anti theft alarm 200$, slightly reinforced walls and roof 150$, slightly reinforced windows and door 150$, slightly reinforced appliances and furniture 150$. Then I navigated to the next menu, labeled Shop Appliances.

This list was not much longer than the other list, but there was a difference that the system explained as soon as I had selected the menu. “In some sub-menus instead of set free products, in these menus you can select a set number of products specified to be available for free.” The other system screen explains the line above the products saying “20 free alliances available for purchase.”

With that explanation, I looked over the long list of appliances available and slowly selected the best free appliances available. Eventually, I ended up with these twenty free products: three toilets, three sinks with running water, a shower, a cash register, a fridge, a microwave, an oven, a washing machine, a dryer, an air conditioner, a heater, three large trash bins, a trash disposal system and a store sound system.

While this list may seem unnecessary for the store, most of this list is for any potential employees and myself for the foreseeable future. I suspect I am going to be living in The Back after work hours, but there is no bathroom, source of food, or anything to clean myself up in the small room that makes up The Back.

With the free stuff all selected, I looked over all the other things I could get and frowned when I realized that most of the other items left were either most likely too expensive, or quite costly. I still made a small list of things that would be useful that I thought would fit in my budget. That list was: Auto restocking vending machine 200$, sound proofing 600$ and something called a MCL or magic lighting system that would go on the roof to light things up for 300$. I suspect that the magic lighting system might be a necessity though.

And that was it for the appliances, so I moved on to the Shop Stock button, but for the first time, it wouldn't open. “What is going on?” I wondered and continued to mash the button, to no avail.

“To select your stock and furniture, you must select your theme and any addons along with extra options in the Shop Addons and Options submenu.” The system suddenly said to me, causing me to stop and open the Shop Addons and Options menu instead, looking at the page once it opened, noticing that it had three distinct sections inside, one with sub shop selections, a theme section that included things like ‘rustic’ or ‘sci-fi’ and finally the other section that was labeled as Extra Services.

I looked over the first list, which was relatively short and noticed that there was a panel beside all the options that said “One free sub store available” which was good for me, because the cafe option was a free option and I didn't hesitate to select it. If I could run a cafe, I would. Even if it is a combination of an arcade as well.

I looked through the other things in that section, but I quickly noticed that they all cost way over my budget so I abandoned the search and moved onto the theme selection, which had the same deal as the sub store section with one free option, but unlike the sub store, there is an option to look at how the store would look from inside and outside.

Curious, I selected the sci-fi theme and looked as the screen showed me the small building shift into a neon sci-fi looking metal and glass construct and the inside turning into a metal room with patterns on the walls and floor that resembles circuitry. “Huh…” I said to myself looking at the building, thinking that while it looked cool and close to what had been common on Earth when I had died, it would just look out of place in a fantasy world like Oridon.

What followed after that, was a long scroll of all the themes, looking critically at the options, looking at options like cyberpunk all the way to ancient roman, but i eventually settled on the rustic option that looked like it would fit into the world well, while standing out in its quality and design choices.

With the substore and building theme chosen, I looked at the longest and most interesting list so far, the Extra Services section. While looking at it, my eyebrows slowly rose on my forehead as I read the options and the accompanying prices. Most if not all the products displayed on the screen seemed… impossible at best.

Here are two examples that I saw, “A hyper immersive consciousness transmitting VR gaming headset and chair. Not usable without the Admin Chair. There are no pre-made games.” and the accompanying product “Admin Hyper immersive consciousness transmitting VR gaming headset and chair’s that has a thought based game design mode and administrator control over ongoing games and game saves in the arcade.” with both of these options being five hundred dollars each. And those were some of the cheaper options!

The more expensive options were just plain inconceivable. An example of this is “The inside of the store will become a pocket dimension that’s size is customizable on purchase with a minimum of the same size as exterior and maximum of five times the exterior.” for a thousand dollars!

The more I saw of this store, the more I realized that this is an extremely cheap system, but I still couldn't afford any of the good stuff.

Sighing in disbelief, I just decided to move on. There was no way I could afford anything in that section anytime soon. Onto the Shop Stock menu then.

When I had navigated into the menu, I looked and noticed that like the appliance menu, there are twenty free options for the stock, but unlike the appliance section, there were a hundred options, easy. This was mostly because of the fact that apparently games and prizes were also under stock.

I started going through the options and selecting the free products that I needed and I ended up with these twenty items for stock: Preset 10 frozen goods bin, preset 10 snack’s bin, automatic coffee maker, small cup dispenser, medium cup dispenser, large cup dispenser, preset 10 wine types dispenser, preset 10 alcoholic beverages dispenser, preset 10 baked goods bin, randomized rank one magical artifact prize generator, randomized rank two magical artifact prize generator, randomized rank three magical artifact prize generator and then seven different games including classic video games and other carnival games like darts.

While I was sure that people would be confused as to what they are supposed to do, I am sure that I can help them and then they can help each other and new players, after all that is pretty much what happened with video games when they came out.

There were a few other items that would be good to have to expand the arcade, but I think that those items would work well enough until I get more developed, so now it is time to go furniture shopping!

I switched the screen to the Shop Furniture page and I started looking at it, I had fifteen free furniture I could get and what I could purchase was pretty basic and normal, tables and chairs, display cabinets, a counter, the normal. It was actually a really quick process all things considered, I selected a cool counter with a built in display, like you would see in a bakery, four tables with three accompanying chairs for each table, a display for what is available to be bought, a display case for arcade prizes and a nice comfortable chair for me to sit on while at the counter.

There were more things that I would have to get in time, but I have all I need to start with selected. I exited the furniture page and looked at what is left in the list, Personal Defensive Measures, Abilities then whatever Design and placement mode was.

From the top then! I selected Personal Defensive Measures and stopped to stare at the screen, this list was almost as insane as the extra services list! It was slightly less expensive though and it already had something called “Slomo Attacks” for free. The Slomo Attacks description sounded insanely powerful, reading “This will speed up the users processing speed by three and speed up physical movement by three, making the world seem in slow motion.” I reread the free option several times to make sure I wasn't misreading it, but it said what I thought it did.

I would be untouchable and this was only the free option! The other options were quite costly but seemed equally as powerful, with the cheapest option being “a system that alerts the user of incoming attacks through psychic means” for four hundred dollars and the most expensive being “Any damage or infection gained will be quickly healed while in the location” for a thousand dollars.

Buying something like those ‘Defensive measures’ would be very costly now, but they seemed very overpowered at the same time, so I would probably get some of them later. They are too expensive now though, so I clicked back to the menu and selected the Abilities tab and looked over the list.

“I could become the most powerful man in the universe with everything on this!” I exclaimed as I read and reread the things available for purchase. What was on the list was a large variety of superpowers. Things from slight telepathy, to slight telekinesis were displayed, though at a high price and the cheapest thing there was “Slightly enhanced brain power” at eight hundred dollars and the most expensive being “Slight telekinesis” at fifteen hundred dollars.

But when I had gotten over my shock at what was available for purchase, I noticed something odd at the top of the menu. There was a section at the top of the panel labeled as “Current Abilities” with two things listed, Managers brain and Managers body.

I read the description’s one after another and I was surprised, Managers brain ability said “You have the brain of the manager, this gives a boost to your ability to accurately judge others and removes your need for sleep or mental rest. This also automatically translates the words you speak into the native language and what you hear will also be translated, including translating different payments to money from your native dimension.” and beside that there was the Managers body which said “You have the managers body, you have an increased physical abilities when in a store location, your lifespan increases drastically and you no longer have a physical need for sleep, sustenance or lengthy rest.”

I looked at the abilities in wonder, was my body and brain so different now that I had been reborn? Did I look different? I haven't seen a mirror since I woke up so I don't really know…

I shook myself out of my reverie and decided to just accept it and move on. I would probably need every advantage I could get if I wanted to survive against angry gods one day.

I looked over the list once again, but realized pretty quickly that there was no way I could get anything from the Abilities store. I exited the abilities store and took a look at the main menu, there was only one tab left and that was the Design and placement mode tab.

“Hey system, what is Design and placement mode?” I asked the AI that was sitting silently by my desk, to which it started to make its reply appear on the screen and outloud, “Design and placement mode is when you will arrange and set up what you have purchased or chosen for your store, both internally and externally to some extent.” The system tells me robotically.

“Almost done then…” I muttered, looking down at the list of possible things I could get for the store with the thousand dollars I had. “I guess I should sort out what I should get with the money.” I decided and then I started organizing my notes of what I should get and discarding everything that either was not as important, or doesn't fit the budget.

I spent a while doing this until finally I had my list. That list was: MCL or magic lighting system 300$, Anti theft alarm 200$, Auto restocking vending machine 200$, slightly reinforced walls and roof 150$ and slightly reinforced windows and door 150$. Totaling a thousand dollars in total.

I quickly made the purchases and then came the Design and placement mode. It reminded me somewhat of 3D modeling, but not quite. It took me a long time, slowly placing and arranging everything and changing the shape of the building to have a staff room which included a bathroom and all the other home appliances, two public bathrooms, one for boys and one for girls, the cafe area by the front door, with the chairs and tables, the counter with all the things to buy and I separated the right side of the building into the arcade with a small set of stairs, with the games arranged into little rows at the bottom and the vending machine off on one wall.

And looking it over I think it honestly turned out really good in the end, so I clicked the only button left on the design menu. Open for business.