Chapter 23: Boney Ambitions

Back in the dungeon, a dry, rattling laugh, sharp and triumphant, echoed from Karl's makeshift office. He sat at his simple wooden table, his skeletal fingers drumming a silent rhythm against the rough wood. "HAHAHAHAHA! It's starting!" he cackled, a profound satisfaction settling in his empty eye sockets. A subtle hum resonated through his bones, a feeling of power blossoming within him. A System notification, glowing faintly, hovered before him, confirming his triumph:

[ You have earned +150 NP from your first successful sale ]

The 150 NP was a pittance, a mere drop in the bucket of his grand ambitions, but it wasn't the number itself that fueled his manic glee. He saw the bigger picture. If Orkesh's assessment was accurate, if their products truly were of such high quality, then each sale was a seed. One customer, one exceptional blade, and the word would spread like wildfire across the Hillwilds.

Every successful businessman knew: confidence in your product wasn't just about making a sale; it was about reputation, about creating an undeniable buzz that would draw customers in droves. He didn't yet know the exact total profit from that first market run, but the implications were clear. If word had already gotten out, he needed to be prepared. A lot of people might be coming, and soon.

His first order of business: expand the dungeon's hospitality. He ordered his builders to construct another guest room on the dungeon's main floor, utilizing one of the remaining empty chambers.

The existing doors, already in place, would serve to separate the industrial zones and the living employees' quarters—where three remaining adult kobolds handled cleaning, five female adult kobolds, eager to contribute and learn new skills, had joined the skeleton hunters, their small forms moving with surprising agility as they tracked wildlife for the canteen's ever-growing demand, and seven kobold children played and ran around the dungeon with their new wooden toys—from the main customer-facing zone.

This main zone, currently housing the trade stalls, was where customers would walk around and browse. He admitted the current layout was a bit cluttered, a chaotic mix of function and commerce, with tools sometimes left near display racks and the faint scent of metallurgy occasionally drifting into the common areas, but it was their first attempt at such a hybrid space.

His immediate goal was to refill the Dungeon Core's mana to 500. He still needed 163 more mana to unlock the "Dungeon Edit" feature. He had a strong feeling about what this entailed, and if it became available, he would immediately relocate the industrial zone and living employees' quarters to the floor below the main level. This relocation would free up the entire first floor for commercial expansion, allowing him to churn out many products at once and accommodate a larger influx of customers.

Meanwhile, the newly established research labs were already buzzing with silent activity. Their current task: to figure out how to produce paper from trees. Karl knew that paper, in this world reliant on cumbersome parchment, would be a revolutionary product.

One couldn't dominate a region by selling only pleasing, high-quality items; while successful, trends didn't last forever, and competition would inevitably rise to imitate or produce their own versions.

Demand, however, was an infinite thing. To make a pleasing product a demand, you had to integrate it into the culture, make it indispensable. While paper was a different type of demand. This applied not just to practical goods, but to future products like designer-style clothes, luxurious leather bags, and even new forms of food. He needed to make these items so ingrained in the region's daily life that their absence would feel abnormal, a void in their culture. That was how one truly created a new standard, a new way of life.

He had also instructed the Chef to look into testing a new product: a burger. Yep, a Necro Burger, he mused, a dry chuckle. He admitted it might need a bit of seasoning, but the Chef's Level 10 skill and inherent 'culinary intuition' meant it was nothing the Chef couldn't handle. Karl had also tasked the research lab to develop a fruit presser or a wine presser, aiming to produce wines. He further tasked the Chef with finding sugar alternatives, as he had yet to find sugarcanes. The purpose was clear: to introduce varied juices to the canteen menu, as the only drink currently offered was plain water.