This Text Adventure Game is definitely poisonous
Chapter 342 - 240: Reclamation of the Imperial Capital_3

Chapter 342: Chapter 240: Reclamation of the Imperial Capital_3

[You asked the Old Cat Store Owner about sales over the past two days.]

[The Old Cat Store Owner informed you that orders at their Owl Headquarters skyrocketed since yesterday’s pre-dawn. Spell scrolls and magic knowledge pages were particularly in demand. They received dozens of large orders yesterday, completely depleting the scroll stocks in the headquarters.]

No wonder the spell scrolls are sold out. Even the Owl Headquarters is out of stock!

Are all wealthy people that crazy?

But after some thought, Mu You understood.

These capitalists aren’t wasting money. On the contrary, buying spell scrolls is one of the most profitable ventures at present. Because equipment can’t be mass-produced, you get what you buy. However, magic can be duplicated on a large scale.

With enough scrolls and magic knowledge pages, a magic spell can be raised to LV5. And if additional magic teaching equipment is secured, schools can be opened on Earth to teach magic to others massively and without costs. The benefits that could be garnered during this process are unimaginable!

[You asked the Old Cat Store Owner when new spell scroll stocks would be available.]

[The Old Cat Store Owner told you that spell scroll production was not an easy process. A seasoned mage with LV5 magic, a lot of knowledge pages and time were needed. Even the most skilled engraving mage would need a week to create one piece of spell scroll.]

["At this time next week, there should be a batch of spell scrolls delivered. You may come early to wait, but be prepared for a price surge. Considering the current market trend, spell scrolls and magic knowledge pages may increase by at least 50%." The Old Cat Store Owner shared some insider information with you considering your status as a Mysterious Man.]

"Next week, huh..."

Mu You helplessly shook his head. He had no option. When the scrolls were sold out, the daily visits turned into weekly visits. But he still had a chance for freebies. And it was kind of the shop owner to share such insider information with him.

As for the price hike, Mu You couldn’t care less since he was making zero-purchase.

[Seeing the unusual interest you took in spell scrolls, the Old Cat Store Owner suggested: "The most economical way to learn magic isn’t buying scrolls. It’s going to the Magic Academy in the Imperial City or other major cities, and learning magic through classes. The cost would only be one-third of the price of the scrolls, or even lower."]

Despite being a good suggestion from the Old Cat Store Owner, it was a moot point for Mu You. No matter how inexpensive magic learning could be, it couldn’t be cheaper than his ways of grabbing freebies.

Mu You, controlling his character, politely bid farewell and left the village entrance. He returned to the watchman’s cabin and teleported to the Imperial City using the cabin’s teleportation array.

[Amid the dizziness of teleporting, you found yourself appearing in the underground river in the Imperial City]

[You switched into the Fortuneteller skin and boarded the Goblin Submarine...]

[You piloted the submarine into the jet passage. Under the massive jet current, you plunged into the reservoir on the east side of the Imperial City.]

Having traveled this route twice on his own, Mu You now managed the controls without any confusion and easily piloted the submarine through the city’s waterway leading to the commercial street he’d been through last time.

[You parked on ’Four Leaf Street’located in the center of Imperial City and made your way onto the shore.]

[Four Leaf Street is one of the oldest commercial streets in the Empire. As it resembles a four-leaf clover junction connecting four major magic academies in the Imperial City, it gained its name.]

[Many large brand shops famous across the Star Spirit World have branches on Four Leaf Street. It remains the busiest area in the Imperial City. The resulting high land prices have indirectly led to about 20%-30% increase in merchandise prices compared to ordinary shops.]

Mu You was relieved to see that the curfew in the Imperial City seemed to have been lifted. Even in the dead of night, the street remained open as usual.

[You transformed back into the Mysterious Man skin.]

[You’ve stepped onto Four Leaf Street, spotting the four closest shops in front, behind, to the left, and right of you. Where do you choose to go...?]

There are five options: [Madame Lisa’s Robe Store],[Silent Bookstore],[McDonald’s Magic Wand Store],[Props Recycling Shop],[Continue going forward].

Mu You chose ’Continue going forward,’ intending to scout out all the nearby shops before making a decision.

However, he soon realized that he had underestimated the size of the street and the number of shops on it. There are over two hundred stores, and he was already worn out after scouting just ’one leaf’ of the Four Leaf Street.

Even so, among the over thirty shops he has discovered, there were several that piqued his interest.

Mu You controlled his game character to backtrack a couple of steps and entered the ’Gu Gu Owl Shop’ on the left.

[You’ve entered the Gu Gu Owl Shop, one of only two owl resell shops on Four Leaf Street. Here, you can buy all common varieties of owls on the market.]

[Due to the prestige that your Mysterious Man skin represents, the store clerk served you warmly.]

[Accompanied by the clerk, you walked into the extension of the shop, seeing rows of bird cages on the shelves, each imprisoning an owl.]

[You saw a Great Grey Owl, Long-Eared Owl, Barn Owl, Silver Owl, Brown Owl, Grass Owl...]

Overwhelmed by the sheer variety of owls, Mu You checked the prices and descriptions of each one.

Prices for most ordinary owls ranged from 15-20 years, with better breeds or appearances selling for 20-40 years.

As expected, the most expensive were the Silver Owls.

The price of Silver Owls in this shop ranged from 34-50 years, more than double the cost of regular owls!

After seeing this, Mu You started to piece everything together.

In the Star Spirit World, all creatures can revive by consuming a year off their lifespan after they are killed. But, not all the consumed lifespan can be obtained by the killer.

To seize the lifespan of other living entities, two conditions need to be met:

Firstly, the creature that is killed must have a sufficiently strong spirit. Small organisms like various kinds of insects and ordinary plants, even if killed, you can’t seize their lifespan.

Secondly, the creature that is killed must have enough predatory ability and aggression. Gentle creatures without attack abilities, or with inadequate attack power, even when killed, won’t yield any lifespan. The owls that Mu You saw, the donkey he had brought back before, and even the Chocobo, all belonged to neutral creatures. As domestic familiars, they won’t partake in fights, and killing them won’t yield any lifespan.

Magic owls, in particular, have rather short lifespans - only about five to ten years. Furthermore, since the food of owls are mainly insects, they can’t obtain a lifespan through daily hunting.

Thus, when wizards buy owls, they must provide both food as well as yearly lifespan points. This could be rather expensive.

Even with this cost, every wizard still owns an owl. In the Star Spirit World, owls aren’t just pets, but messengers and delivery folks as well.

For this reason, Silver Owls are in high demand amongst wizards, but not particularly appealing to humans. Their appearance is too similar to Earth’s owls and their message delivery abilities are useless on Earth.

As for the Silver Owl eggs Mu You obtained, he has no intention of selling them on Earth, but rather, he planned to establish a market in this parallel world.

Subsequently, ignoring the pleas of the shop assistant, Mu You decisively left the owl shop and entered the neighboring ’Black Cat Magic Pet Store’, his true destination for the day.