Gotta Spend Money to Make Money

~

A little over 12 hours later, Enzo was finally finished with the 140 new bottles of Low Grade Health Potion. He went back to the adventurer's guild, sold them to Marissa, and received his gold.

'I have $14,000 right now…'

Enzo couldn't help but feel excited being in possession of so much money.

Naturally this is the most money he has ever had. Growing up as an orphan, he didn't receive much, if any, money from the guardians of his group home.

"Madison, would I be able to buy a shop with this kind of money?" Enzo asked.

"I'm not sure to be honest with you. Go talk with Sarah, she will help you out."

Enzo already knew the way, so there was no reason for Madison to lead him this time.

"Hello again Sarah."

"Hi, Atlas."

"This time I'm looking to purchase a shop, is there anything I can buy with 140 gold coins?"

"Yes, but there aren't many options. Here is the list."

A holographic screen then popped up in front of Enzo.

'This is much fancier than the alchemist guild.'

To buy things at the alchemist guild he first had to look at them on a physical piece of paper, but this time it was all through the system.

[Available Land For Less Than 140 Gold Coins:]

[Empty plot on 34th street: 50 Gold]

[Shop on 33rd street: 100 Gold]

[Shop on 30th street: 120 Gold]

"What is the difference between the shop on 33rd and the one on 30th?" Enzo asked.

"The shop on 30th is closer to the more wealthy housing areas. That is the only difference. Both shops have been kept well and should be decently clean."

"Okay, then I will buy the shop on 30th street."

Enzo had the money to buy the better shop so it didn't make much sense to not do so. He may not have had a lot of money before, but Enzo understands the principle of spending money to make money.

Spending more money on the shop would most likely bring in more money due to its location.

[Would you like to buy the Shop on 30th street for 120 gold coins? Yes/No]

Enzo pressed "Yes".

[Would you like to run the shop on your own or have an NPC do it for 10 to 100 gold coins a month? Player/NPC]

'Hmmm. I didn't know I could get someone else to run it for me.'

Enzo selected the NPC option after considering it for a little while. It would save him a lot of time he might need for concocting the potions and for doing other things. He didn't plan on becoming a store clerk full time in the game after all.

Enzo still needed to start his own level up process to prepare himself for the event dungeon coming up.

[F rank management: 10 gold a month]

[E rank management: 20 gold a month]

[D rank management: 30 gold a month]

[C rank management: 40 gold a month]

[B rank management: 60 gold a month]

[A rank management: 80 gold a month]

[S rank management: 100 gold a month]

Enzo decided to start with the F rank option in hopes that he could just increase the rank later on.

Ding!

[You have purchased shop 7 on 30th street (F rank). The property deed is in your inventory.]

[You have unlocked the "Shops" menu!]

"I will put it down in your file that you have property in the city, so you are now considered an official resident. Just show your ID to the city guards and they will no longer charge you or your party when you go in and out." Sarah explained.

"Okay, thank you. I will take my leave now."

Enzo decided to go visit the shop before he got back to work. He also needed to get more ingredients for potions.

He wanted to continue selling to the adventurer's guild as they have been so kind, but he would also need a supply for his own store now so Enzo would need to produce even more potions.

As Enzo was walking in the direction of his new shop, he decided to look at the leaderboards out of curiosity.

[1. Predator]

[2. Queen]

[3. Prometheus]

[4. Renesmee]

[5. Hephaestus]

[6. Parcival]

[7. Ivar]

[8. No Risk No Reward]

[9. Pepper]

[10. Moonwalker]

[69. Atlas]

"Holy shit!"

Enzo stopped dead in his tracks. NPCs and even a few players around him looked at him with weird eyes, but Enzo couldn't care less at the moment.

The leaderboard only showed the top 10 players and then his own ranking, but his own ranking is what surprised him the most.

In just what had been around 20 hours since the game went back up, Enzo dropped around 60 places.

He expected to drop down in the leaderboards with his current inactivity, but he never expected it to be so much.

'I'll have to work extra hard to get back up. Sigh.'

It wouldn't be easy to get those hours back, but Enzo's sole purpose in playing this game is to be the best at it.

'I won't be demotivated from my goal, no matter how far ahead you all get I will always be right on your heels.'

Enzo continued walking but this time with a much faster pace. Enzo was going to quickly check out the store, start stocking it, and then get back to hunting.

It only took a few minutes of speed walking to reach, but when he got to his store Enzo was actually surprised.

"This looks really nice." He mumbled.

Most of the shops on this block were sort of run down and looked old, but not his. Enzo's new shop looked like it was built a few weeks ago.

It was a two story building made of wood and cobblestone. It matched the medieval look of the city very well.

Enzo walked into the store and heard the ringing of a bell as the door opened.

///

I changed my mind about the author's note, so disregard what I said in the last one lol.

Thank you all so much for the support as usual. We just moved back to 5th place in the WPC contest! We are only about 20 power stones from reaching 4th, so hopefully we can hit that soon.

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