Duduk di kantornya, Lex tahu Sistem sadar akan segala hal yang terjadi di dalam tavern. Faktanya memang begitu. Kan tavern itu sendiri bagian dari Sistem.
Saat yang sama, Lex tidak hanya membuktikan dirinya pengelola tavern yang cukup kompeten, tapi juga pembawa cerita yang jago. Cuma dengan memengaruhi hal-hal di dalam dan di sekitar tavern secara halus dan tidak langsung, dia jadi cuma karakter pendamping — walau penting.
Artinya potensi tavern buat menghasilkan cerita menarik sangat besar. Bisa generate hiburan lebih dari cukup sendiri. Faktanya, bahkan bisa nge-setup Inn jadi tempat yang lebih seru lagi.
Dia bisa bayangin sekarang. Seorang kultivator dari planet 1 bintang terpencil, mengatasi rintangan seumur hidup, lari dan hindar dari kematian, berhasil beruntung-untung. Sepanjang perjalanannya, sebuah tavern sederhana punya peran krusial.
Kadang kasih dia keamanan. Kadang jadi tempat dapet inspirasi. Beberapa kali, bahkan jadi tempat lari nyembun dari musuh.
Tapi akhirnya, dia berhasil capai tujuan hidupnya, jadi yang terkuat di planetnya, dan gak ada lagi yang dikejar.
Skenario kayak gitu kelihatannya mustahil, tapi kenyataannya jumlah planet 1 bintang terisolasi di Alam Asal lebih banyak daripada yang terhubung ke jaringan Henali, dan alam secara keseluruhan. Artinya cerita kultivator tunggal jadi terkuat di planetnya, terus mentok karena gak punya akses ke resource atau teknik kultivasi level lebih tinggi, itu jauh lebih umum dari yang orang duga.
Apa jadinya kalo orang kayak gitu tiba-tiba mampir ke tavern lagi, dan lewat itu dapet akses ke Inn misteris mistis, penuh energi paling murni yang ada, entitas jauh lebih kuat dari yang pernah dibayangin, dan cakrawala baru penuh penemuan.
Setup sempurna buat novel-novel tanpa akhir, dan meski Lex gak benar-benar ngarepin tamu kayak gitu jadi jenius penakluk alam semesta, kemungkinannya tetap bikin penasaran.
Jadi dengan itu di pikiran, Lex nunggu. Udah lumayan lama sejak Lex bilang piece-nya, dan Sistem gak merespon, Mary juga diam. Tapi dia yakin sama keputusannya.
Dia gak yakin kenapa ada jeda dulunya, tapi akhirnya dia dapet respon yang dia duga berupa quest baru.
Quest Baru: Seiring Inn berkembang, dan reputasinya menyebar, kemampuanmu sebagai Innkeeper juga harus naik. Bangun tavern baru dengan tangan sendiri, tanpa bantuan, yang layak jadi subsidiari Midnight Inn.
Hadiah Quest: Penambahan jumlah tavern sebanyak 1.
Catatan: Kalo gak nemu palu saat bangun, masih bisa pake dahi!
Lex cengeng. Kelihatannya Sistem kehilangan tajamannya. Catatan macam apa itu? Mana Sistem yang suka nyindir dia di setiap kesempatan? Faktanya, catatan ini gak perlu jadi ejekan.
Bisa aja diartiin sebagai Sistem nyeh dia pake otak dan cari solusi. Faktanya, bahas kalo diartiin literal, dahi dia terlalu keras buat dilukai paku. Dia literal bisa pake dahi sebagai palu asli.
Lex menggelengkan kepala sambil tersenyum. Mungkin dia harus berhenti menakut-nakuti Sistem begitu. Tapi apapun, ini quest yang dia pengen selesaikan secepatnya. Meski gak langsung nyambung ke pake tavern buat perluas jangkauan Inn, ini awalnya.
Pertanyaannya sekarang, tavern macam apa yang harus dibangun?
Buat bantu rencanain apa yang mau dibangun, Lex balik ke apartemennya dan keluarkan software desain arsitektur paling kompleks, sangat akurat dan dinamis yang ada di Bumi sebelum perang dunia yang sekarang melahapnya. Dia keluarkan Mindcraft, dan mulai dunia baru.
Meski Lex sekarang bisa bagi perhatian ke ratusan tugas berbeda, dia fokuskan sebagian besar pikirannya ke software desain rumit ini, dan mulai pertimbangkan medan rumit yang jadi penempatan tavernnya, jenis material yang dibutuhkan, tata letaknya, dan berapa lapis basis bawah tanah rahasia dan ruang tersembunyi di balik rak buku bergerak yang harus dibikin.
Ide pertamanya adalah bangun tavern di treehouse raksasa. Tavern ini cocok banget di dunia dengan budaya dan masyarakat berbasis pohon, dan cocok banget dengan ras tertentu kayak elf dan druid.
Tapi kastil tua, kuno, dengan sejarah tak diketahui dan lore dalam juga menarik Lex di level yang mendasar.
Sulit buat milih, jadi dia bangun keduanya, treehouse masif dan kastilnya, dan hubungin keduanya. Tapi, entah kenapa, Lex merasa cuma kekurangan sesuatu. Jadi dia bangun parit di sekeliling kastil dan isi dengan lava.
Gak ada yang nyamain kayak tavern hangat yang dikelilingi parit lava.
Tapi saat dia menatap parit itu, Lex dapet ide lain. Kenapa tavern harus bangunan tradisional? Kenapa dia gak bikin kapal, atau kapal pesiar dan jadiin tavern? Atau mungkin kereta, atau blimp!
Semakin lama Lex mainin software desain super canggih ini, yang sama sekali bukan cuma game, semakin banyak ide baru dan menarik yang muncul.
Dia cuma butuh milih mana di antaranya—
Oh tunggu, tavern bawah air sepenuhnya dari kaca! Lex mulai desain itu juga, biarin kreativitasnya mengalir bebas.
Proyeksi Mary muncul di udara di samping Lex, dan cuma menggelengkan kepala saat dia lihat senyum lebar di wajahnya. Justru saat dia pikir dia sudah dewasa…
Sitting in his office, Lex knew that the system was aware of everything happening within the tavern. In fact, it had to. After all, the tavern was also a part of the system.
At the same time, Lex not only proved himself a sufficiently competent tavern owner, but a skilled storyteller as well. By only subtly and indirectly influencing events happening in and around the tavern, he became merely a side character - albeit an important one.
That meant the potential for the taverns to produce interesting stories was great. It could generate more than enough entertainment on its own. In fact, it could even set up the Inn to become an even more entertaining place.
He could imagine it now. A cultivator from some remote, 1 star planet overcomes a lifetime of obstacles, escaping and evading death to succeed by a hair's breadth. Throughout his journey, a single, unassuming tavern had been of critical importance.
Sometimes it provided him with safety and security. Other times, it was a place where he gained inspiration. On a few occasions, it even served as a refuge to hide from his enemies.
But at last, he succeeded in his life's goals, became the strongest on the planet, and had nothing more to pursue.
Such a scenario might seem far-fetched, but the truth was that the number of unconnected, secluded 1 star planets in the Origin realm was greater than those connected to the Henali network, and the realm as a whole. This meant that the story of a single cultivator becoming the strongest on his planet, and then reaching the end of his journey since he had no access to greater resources or cultivation techniques, was far more common than anyone would believe.
How entertaining would it be if such a person suddenly visited the tavern once more, and through it gained access to a mysterious, mystical Inn, filled with the purest form of energy available, entities far stronger than anything that they ever imagined, and a whole new horizon to discover.
It was the perfect setup for countless novels, and though Lex did not actually expect any of such guests to become universe dominating geniuses, the possibility of it was still exciting.
So with that in mind, Lex waited. It had been a while since Lex said his piece, and the system had not responded, nor had Mary said anything. Yet he was confident in his decision.
He was unsure about why there was a wait to begin with, but eventually he got the response he expected in the form of a new quest.
New Quest: As the Inn grows, and its reputation spreads, so too must your capabilities as the Innkeeper. Build a new tavern with your own hands, without any help, fitting to be used as a subsidiary of the Midnight Inn.
Quest Reward: Increase in the number of taverns by 1.
Remarks: If you can't find a hammer while building, you can still use your forehead!
Lex smirked. It seemed like the system was losing its edge. What kind of a remark was that? Where was the scathing system that liked to make fun of him at every turn? In fact, this remark did not even have to be an insult.
It could just be taken as the system telling him to use his brain and come up with a solution. In fact, even if he took it literally, his forehead was much too tough to be harmed by a nail. He could literally use it as a real hammer.
Lex shook his head with a smile. Maybe he should stop scaring the system so much. Regardless, this was a quest he wanted to complete as soon as possible. Although it was not directly leading towards using the tavern to expand the reach of the Inn, it was a start.
The question now was, what kind of tavern should he build?
To help him plan out what he wanted to build, Lex went back to his apartment and pulled out the most complex, highly accurate and dynamic architectural design software that existed on earth prior to the world war that now consumed it. He pulled out Mindcraft, and started a new world.
Even though Lex could split his attention into hundreds of different tasks by now, he focused a majority of his mind into this elaborate designing software, and began to consider the complicated terrains his tavern would be placed in, the kind of materials he would need to build it, the layout it would have, and how many layers of secret underground bases and hidden rooms behind moving bookshelves he should make.
The first idea he had was to build a tavern in a giant treehouse. This tavern would fit in well on worlds with cultures and societies based around trees, and would work well with certain races such as elves and druids.
But an old, ancient castle with an unknown history and deep lore also appealed to Lex on an underlying level.
It was difficult to decide, so he built both the massive tree house as well as the castle, and connected them. But, somehow, Lex felt like it just lacked a certain something. So he built a moat around the castle and filled it with lava.
There was nothing like a good, welcoming tavern surrounded by a lava moat.
But as he stared at the moat, Lex got another idea. Why did the tavern have to be a traditional building? Why couldn't he make a ship, or a cruise and turn that into a tavern? Or maybe it could be a train, or a blimp!
The longer Lex spent interacting with the highly sophisticated designing software, which was in no way just a game, the more new and interesting ideas started to come to Lex.
He just needed to decide which one of these-
Oh wait, an underwater tavern made entirely of glass! Lex started designing that one as well, allowing his creativity to flow through him freely.
Mary's projection appeared in the air beside Lex, and just shook her head as she saw the massive grin on his face. Just when she thought he was growing up…
Komentar Chapter (0)
Login buat ikut berkomentar.
Belum ada komentar di chapter ini. Jadi yang pertama!