Dalam beberapa jam pertama Midnight Games, pengaruhnya sudah masif, membalikkan tak terhitung jumlah pertempuran di alam ini. Tapi seiring waktu berjalan, pengaruhnya justru makin besar. Serangan terkoordinasi dan presisi seperti ini bahkan gagal dilakukan Henali terhadap teroris.
Lagi pula, meski mereka punya sumber daya tak terbatas, mampu mengangkut seluruh pasukan lintas galaksi dalam sekejap, tanpa formasi... itu benar-benar di luar jangkauan mereka.
Tidak berlebihan kalau dikatakan butuh satu atau lebih Dao Lord bertindak sendiri, memakai kekuatan pribadi, untuk melakukan perubahan sebesar itu. Tapi bukan berarti Dao Lord Henali cuma duduk diam, santai dan tidak berbuat apa-apa.
Jika ada perang di level rendah, ada juga di level tinggi. Cuma pertarungan kalibre tinggi terjadi di balik layar, jauh dari deteksi orang biasa.
Lagi pula, kalau Fuegan, atau bahkan Sanguis Pluvia, tidak punya keyakinan untuk menguras Dao Lord mereka, kenapa mereka harus buang waktu dengan ikan kecil?
Bukan berarti Henali tidak pernah merespons ancaman seperti itu. Cuma respons mereka butuh jam atau kadang hari, sedangkan Midnight Games teleportasi seluruh pasukan dalam saat-saat.
Saat jam berubah jadi hari, Midnight Inn kembali jadi sorotan, dan jumlah tamu di Inn meledak. Jumlah tamu melonjak dari 600 juta jadi lebih dari 10 miliar dalam beberapa hari.
Tapi ledakan ini tidak mengejutkan Lex. Faktanya, dia sudah siap menampung lebih banyak lagi. MT masuk, dan Lex habiskan hampir seketika. Beberapa Midnight Tokens (MT) cukup untuk menampung miliar tamu, termasuk infrastruktur, staf sementara, perlindungan dan keamanan, serta biaya lain-lain. Yang benar-benar jadi fokus Lex adalah menjaga tingkat kepuasan tamu, yang mengambang di angka 81%. Kalau rating turun bahkan 1 persen saja, pengeluaran akan naik eksponensial, jadi Lex harus memastikan Inn beroperasi sebaik mungkin. Di saat yang sama, dia tidak bisa memuaskan setiap keinginan, karena Inn harus menjaga prestigenya. Jadi saat pangeran manja dari planet kaya menuntut semua orang biasa dibuang dari pandangannya, alih-alih merepotkan tamu lain, pangeran itu diteleport ke puncak Gunung Midnight. Saat dia keluh lagi, dia diberi peringatan, karena Inn tidak akan mentoleransi ancaman terhadap tamu lain. Saat dia bertindak lagi—
Tapi sementara Lex menduga kenaikan tamu ini, dia juga memperkirakan angka akan turun. Lagi pula, Inn tidak murah, dan tidak semua orang kaya sampai bisa menginap di Inn selamanya. Bahkan kebanyakan yang mampu hanya bisa datang sesekali. Jadi setelah kegilaan awal Inn reda, yang untuk saat ini baru saja dimulai, Lex memperkirakan angka akan turun. Tentu saja, turun hanya dibandingkan puncak, dan 'turun' itu mungkin justru lebih dari 10 miliar saat ini.
Tapi tidak mengubah fakta bahwa Lex urus orang, binatang, monster, dan ras yang tidak pernah dibayangkan. Tapi anehnya, urus 10 miliar orang tidak lebih sulit dari 600 juta. Ya, butuh lebih banyak resource. Tapi masalahnya kurang lebih sama, cuma jumlahnya lebih banyak.
Tapi Lex tidak bisa jadi sok. Kali ini dia punya misi penting, jadi dia ambil setiap momen mengelola Inn dengan serius. Dia mengawasi setiap masalah, dari yang terkecil hingga terbesar, terus menyempurnakan sistem penanganannya.
Luar biasa, hasilnya terlihat jelas. Bahkan tamu merasa seiring hari berganti, staf Inn makin berpengalaman melayani dan menangani situasi.
Yang paling mereka suka, lebih dari apapun, adalah saat orang acak berani menyerang seseorang di Inn. Itu favorit mereka, anehnya.
Dengan miliaran tamu, menemukan orang yang tidak bisa kontrol diri gampang banget. Itu saat mereka tau akan ada pertunjukan.
Baik itu akar keluar dari tanah mengikat penyerang, atau staf teleport masuk dan hajar penyerang, atau ikan paus terbang muncul dan tampar orang dengan sayapnya, atau batalion penunggang merak terlatih dan sangat mematikan, semuanya sangat menghibur.
Lalu, beberapa kali saat seseorang kelewatan, benar-benar menyinggung Inn, sampai titik di mana pengusiran saja tidak cukup, ada Hearth. Pelanggar tingkat itu dibunuh, gitu aja, dan jiwa mereka masuk ke Hearth, di mana arang merah menyala membakar jiwa mereka sampai jiwa itu lenyap.
Hearth diletakkan sebagai peringatan agar tidak melakukan kejahatan keji, tapi banyak orang cuma suka lihat penjahat terbakar. Agak pelit, tapi lumayan mencegah.
Bantu juga saat sejumlah Celestial datang ke Inn, semua kuat mendukung Inn dan mengumumkan siapa yang menyinggung Inn jadi musuh mereka.
Lex benar-benar tidak tau mereka dari mana atau kenapa. Kebanyakan dari ras yang tidak pernah dia temui. Biasanya dia mungkin mau temui beberapa untuk tahu kebenarannya, tapi sekarang dia tidak mau aduk-aduk.
Dia sangat curiga mereka diutus Henali, apalagi dia teknis membantu mereka dengan membunuh teroris.
Saat minggu berakhir, dengan Inn menampung lebih dari 50 miliar tamu, Lex sangat bersyukur alam ini cukup luas, kalau tidak dia tidak tau mau naruh tamu sebanyak itu di mana.
Tapi saat event stabil, Lex lihat panel sistem. Sistem, lebih dari sebelumnya, ingin dia sibuk kelola Inn. Tapi mustahil terus di Inn karena dia mungkin punya tugas lain, seperti turnamen yang akan dia ikuti.
Untuk itu, sistem memperkenalkan fitur baru. Dia bisa beli cuti dengan MP. Dia lihat saldo 73 MT, dan belanjakan 20 untuk beli cuti. Itu beliin dia setahun bebas dari misi miselan yang muncul tiap hari, memastikan dia tangani fungsi harian Inn. Lalu dia belanjakan 52 MT memastikan event terus berjalan.
Untungnya, seperti yang diduga, dia penghasilan secepat pengeluaran.
Urusi itu, Lex kirim pesan ke Hera, ibu Jimmy. Dia pekerja non-asli pertama di Inn yang dipercaya Lex untuk mengawasi.
Beberapa tahun lalu dia kerja sangat keras di tugas apa pun yang diberi Lex, dan membuktikan layak dipercaya. Jadi saat Lex pergi, dan sebagian besar pekerja paling dipercaya sedang di luar tugas, dia serahkan kendali ke dia.
Dia tentu bisa memastikan dia tidak kacau atau mencurigakan, jadi bukan risiko besar menyerahkan kendali. Tapi yang khawatir Lex adalah penurunan rating kepuasan tamu. Dia rasa Hera bisa tangani untuk sekarang. Kalau dia bagus, siapa tau, dia bisa dibesarkan jadi asisten baru. Punya satu asisten jelas tidak cukup kelola Inn.
Lex sadar dia terlalu lama, jadi tanpa prokrastinasi lagi, dia teleport keluar Inn. Meski dia bisa pakai rekomendasi Innkeeper untuk langsung masuk turnamen, itu akan ganggu rencananya, jadi dia panggil kupon yang diberikan hantu aneh Bacterius dulu.
Lalu dia salurkan energi spirit ke kupon dan merasakan aktivasi. Kupon larut jadi cairan dan masuk ke tangan Lex, berubah jadi tato perak berbentuk lingkaran. Atau mungkin nol. Dia tidak yakin.
Beberapa saat kemudian, dia rasa tato itu hangat, dan mendeteksi tanda-tanda teleportasi jarak jauh akan aktif.
Sebentar Lex mikir apakah dia harus sembunyikan identitas. Harus nunggu momen kritis dan mengungkap diri ke dunia, atau muncul sebagai Lex penculik dunia yang terkenal sejak awal?
Se_detik kemudian, dia diteleport pergi.
In the first few hours of the Midnight Games, its influence was already massive, overturning countless battles in the realm. But as more time passed its influence grew only larger. Such a precise, coordinated assault was one that even the Henali had failed to make against the terrorists.
After all, while they had countless resources, being able to effortlessly transport entire armies across entire galaxies, at a moment's notice, without the use of formations… it was utterly beyond them.
It was not an exaggeration to say that it would literally require one or more Dao Lords to personally act, using their own powers, to make such a change happen. But it was not as if the Henali Dao Lords were sitting around, lounging and doing nothing.
If there was a war going on between those at lower realms, then there was one at the higher levels as well. It was just that the battles of a higher caliber happened out of sight, and away from where the common people could detect them.
After all, if the Fuegan, or even Sanguis Pluvia didn't have the confidence to occupy their Dao Lords, why would they waste their time with the small fry?
That was not to say that the Henali never responded to such threats. But just that their responses took hours or sometimes days, whereas the Midnight Games teleported entire armies in mere moments.
As hours turned into days, the Midnight Inn once again came into the limelight, and the population at the Inn exploded. The number of guests went from 600 million to over 10 billion in just a few days.
But this boom did not take Lex by surprise. In fact, he was well prepared to accommodate even more guests. MT rolled in, and Lex spent it nearly as soon as it arrived. A few Midnight Tokens (MT) was more than enough to accommodate a billion guests, including infrastructure, temporary staff, protection and security as well as miscellaneous expenses. What Lex was really focused on was maintaining Guest satisfaction levels, which are hovering around 81%. If the ratings dropped by even a single percentage, his expenses would increase exponentially, which is why Lex had to do his best to ensure that the Inn was operating as best as it possibly could. At the same time, he could not cater to every whim, since the Inn had to maintain his prestige. So when a spoiled prince from a rich planet demanded that all commoner filth be removed from his sight, instead of inconveniencing other guests, the prince was teleported to the peak of the Midnight Mountain. When he complained further, he would be given a warning, as the Inn would not tolerate threatening his other guests. When he acted out
But while Lex expected this rise in guests, he was also anticipating that the numbers would eventually go down as well. After all, the Inn was not cheap, and not everyone was so rich that they could stay at the Inn forever. Even most people who could afford it could only afford to be there once in a while. So after the initial craze of the Inn went by, which for now had only just begun, Lex expected the numbers to go down. Of course, they would go down only compared to the peak, and that 'down' might actually end up being more than the current 10 billion.
But that didn't change the fact that Lex was dealing with a hell lot of people, beasts, monsters and races he had never even imagined. Yet oddly enough, dealing with 10 billion people was no harder than dealing with 600 million. Yes, it required more resources. But the problems were more or less the same, just greater in number.
But Lex could not afford to get cocky. For once he had a very important mission to focus on, so he took every moment of managing the Inn very seriously. He oversaw every issue, from the smallest to the greatest, repeatedly refining his system for handling issues.
Remarkably, the results were evident to all. Even the guests could feel that as the days went by, the staff at the Inn was getting more and more experienced at catering to guests and handling situations.
What they especially loved, most of everything else in fact, was when some random person dared to attack someone at the Inn. That was their favorite, oddly enough.
With billions of guests, finding someone who was incapable of controlling themselves was pretty easy. That's when they knew there would be a show.
Whether it was vines ripping out from the ground itself, restraining the attacker, or staff members teleporting in and beating the attacker, or a flying whale showing up and slapping people with its wings, or a battalion of highly trained, extremely lethal peacock mounted guards, all of it was very entertaining to watch.
Then, the few times when someone went too far, thoroughly offending the Inn, beyond the point where even banishment would do, there was the Hearth. Offenders of that scale were killed, plain and simple, and their souls would be added to the Hearth, where red hot coals would burn their souls until the souls eventually vanished.
The Hearth was put in place as a warning to everyone not to commit heinous crimes, but a lot of people just liked watching criminals burn. It was kind of twisted, but it worked to a degree to deter people.
It also helped that at a certain point, a number of Celestials came to the Inn, all strongly advocating for the Inn and publicly voicing that anyone who offended the Inn would be their enemies.
Lex literally had no idea where they came from or why they did that. Most of them were from races that he hadn't ever met before. Ordinarily, he might have considered meeting with some of them to get to the bottom of things, but for now he didn't want to stir the pot.
He strongly suspected they were sent by the Henali, especially since he was technically helping them by killing terrorists.
As the week finally came to a close, with the Inn hosting more than 50 billion guests, Lex was immensely grateful that the realm was big enough, otherwise he didn't know where he would put so many guests.
But as the event had stabilized, Lex looked at his system panel. The system, now more than ever, wanted to keep him busy managing the Inn. But it was impossible to constantly stay at the Inn all the time since he might have other tasks to do, such as with the tourney that he was about to enter.
So for that, the system had introduced a new feature. He could purchase time off with MP. He looked at his current balance of 73 MT, and spent 20 of it to buy time off. This bought him an entire year free from the miscellaneous quests that popped up everyday, ensuring he handled the day to day functions of the Inn. He then spent 52 MT ensuring that the event kept running.
Fortunately, as expected, he was earning just as fast as he needed to spend.
With that taken care of, Lex sent a message to Hera, Jimmy's mother. She was the first non-native worker of the Inn he trusted enough to oversee things.
Over the past few years she had worked extremely hard in any task he assigned her, and had proved herself worthy of his trust. So as he left the Inn, and most of his other most trusted workers were out doing other tasks, he handed her the reins.
He could naturally ensure that she did not mess up or do anything suspicious, so it was not a huge risk letting her take charge. But the thing that Lex worried about was lowering the Guest satisfaction rating. He felt like she could handle it for now. If she performed well, who knew, maybe he could groom her to be his new assistant. Having one assistant was clearly not enough to manage the Inn.
Lex realized he was lingering, so without any more procrastination, he teleported out of the Inn. Although he could use the Innkeepers recommendation to directly enter the tourney, it would interfere with his plans so instead he summoned the coupon the strange ghost Bacterius gave him so long ago.
He then channeled his spirit energy into the coupon and felt it activate. The coupon dissolved into a liquid and entered Lex's hand, turning into a silver tattoo in the shape of a circle. Or maybe it was a zero. He wasn't sure.
A few moments later, he felt his tattoo warm up, and detected the familiar signs of a long range teleportation about to activate.
For a brief moment Lex wondered if he wanted to hide his identity. Should he wait until a critical moment and reveal himself to the world, or appear as the notorious world kidnapping Lex right from the get go?
A second later, he was teleported away.
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