Chapter 513 – Frightening Start

Crystal City of Secrets, Secret Crystal Trading Firm:

Following the sound of glass shattering, the pitch-black barrier that enveloped the trading firm cracked and faded out of existence, revealing a brand-new and towering building.

“Is this the new trading firm?”

“Ten floors? It’s surprisingly tall.”

“Quick, look, there seems to be a new rule posted next to the entrance!”

The reopening of the new Secret Crystal Trading Firm immediately caught the attention of independent players who previously lacked interest in it. Everyone was curious to see what the Crystal City’s Advanced Trading Firm had to offer.

However, when everyone saw the announcement posted next to the entrance, an uproar immediately ensued.

“Whoever’s running this place must be crazy!”

“Twenty Eternal Silver for a basic membership and one Eternal Gold for an advanced membership? This is daylight robbery!”

“This isn’t just daylight robbery! This is slavery in disguise! I am at the Crystal City’s standard for experts, but the best I can hope to make in a day is two or three Eternal Silver. I’d have to slave away for an entire week just to get a basic membership, yet each term lasts only one week!”

Everyone criticized the new rule set by the trading firm, and they cursed the owner of the Secret Crystal Trading Firm for being crazy. As for the various powers’ members who had come to investigate, some of them burst out laughing.

It was no secret in the Greater God’s Domain that Advanced Trading Firms came with a membership system. This membership system was also the main way for Advanced Trading Firms to generate revenue.

Meanwhile, depending on the level of membership players bought, they could enjoy varying benefits when accepting commissions.

One example of an Advanced Trading Firm’s membership was the improved efficiency of accepting commissions.

More specifically, members wouldn’t need to compete with non-members over the limited counters in the public hall. They could simply head to the members-only area to do so. This would not only save them a lot of time, but it would also increase their chances of securing commissions issued by nobles and great nobles. And as a trading firm could only have a limited number of membership slots, even if all membership slots ended up getting filled up, players wouldn’t have to worry about overcrowding and facing the same problem as non-members.

Of course, if players still weren’t satisfied with the waiting time, there was also the option of signing up for advanced membership, which was even more limited in quantity.

Meanwhile, players who valued their time more than money would usually be willing to sign up for a trading firm’s membership, but…

That would only be true under the condition that the price was reasonable, and the Secret Crystal Trading Firm’s membership pricing was anything but reasonable.

Currently, every player operating in the Crystal City of Secrets was trying to save money to enter the expensive Underground Crystal Palace. So, they would try to avoid spending money unnecessarily as much as possible.

If the Secret Crystal Trading Firm’s membership fee was just a few dozen Eternal Copper, most players might still consider it. But now, it cost twenty Eternal Silver just to get a basic membership.

Unless the trading firm’s owner was playing a joke on everyone with the announcement, they must have a few screws loose in their head.

“I’m afraid the average player won’t be able to afford such high fees, Guild Leader,” Gentle Snow said when she heard the mocking and taunting of the players entering the trading firm. “How about we lower the price a little to attract a group of players first?”

Gentle Snow was very surprised when she first learned that Shi Feng had bought the Secret Crystal Trading Firm. If not for Shi Feng going out of his way to call her here and task her with managing the establishment, she would have still been under the assumption that an apex power was behind the trading firm’s purchase. After all, trading firms in the current Eternal Realm were essentially losing businesses.

The good news was that the Secret Crystal Trading Firm was now an Advanced Trading Firm, so they had an opportunity to turn the establishment into a profitable business. The bad news was that the prices Shi Feng had set for the trading firm’s membership were absurdly high. If they continue to leave the membership pricing as such, they would simply be wasting a good opportunity to make money.

“I get what you’re trying to say, but we don’t have much choice, Shi Feng said, shaking his head. “The current prices are already a bargain.”

It was true that an Advanced Trading Firm offered more avenues to make money from than a Basic Trading Firm, but the Secret Crystal Trading Firm’s management fees had also increased accordingly.

Previously, he only needed to pay 300 Eternal Gold per week for the Secret Crystal Trading Firm. But now that the trading firm had reached the Advanced rank, the management fee was no longer just 300 Eternal Gold.

G!

Instead, it was 1,200 Eternal Gold!

Indeed! He had to pay 1,200 Eternal Gold in management fees every week to the Crystal City of Secrets! Rather than him, the Crystal City of Secrets was the biggest extortionist!

After paying the upgrade fee, Shi Feng only had a little over a thousand Eternal Gold left in his hand. He currently no longer had a way to earn money quickly like the Earthen Magic Flower. If he couldn’t make 200 Eternal Gold within a week, all the efforts he had put into purchasing and upgrading the Secret Crystal Trading Firm would go down the drain.

Currently, the Secret Crystal Trading Firm only had 5,000 basic membership slots and 1,000 advanced membership slots. Even assuming he managed to sell all membership slots at the designated price of twenty Eternal Silver for basic membership and two Eternal Gold for advanced membership, he would only end up with 2,000 Eternal Gold per week.

However, normally, it would be very difficult to fill all membership slots during the Eternal Realm’s early stages. Yet, the trading firm’s management fee would continue to rise along with the Crystal City’s population. At some point, not even 2,000 Eternal Gold would be enough to cover the weekly management fee…

“A bargain?” Gentle Snow was momentarily at a loss for words. She couldn’t help but feel that she and Shi Feng were from different worlds.

“Don’t worry,” Shi Feng said and chuckled. “It won’t be long before they become more than willing to accept this price. Anyway, now that we are finished with business here, let’s head to the Blue Rose Bar.”

After saying so, Shi Feng turned and left the Secret Crystal Trading Firm. Meanwhile, Gentle Snow looked at the trading firm’s first-floor hall for a moment before gritting her teeth and following Shi Feng out of the building.

…

A few hours after Shi Feng teleported back to the Miniature Ancient World with Gentle Snow and the others, the Secret Crystal Trading Firm, which was previously sparsely populated, became crowded with players looking to take on a commission. Many of these players were solo players, while only some were from adventurer teams, but every one of them frantically competed over the limited noble commissions.

“More than a hundred people are waiting before us, Commander. It won’t do for us to continue waiting in line,” a Level 152 young man from an ordinary adventurer team said as he looked at the players waiting in front of the first-floor hall’s dozen or so counters. Then, he turned to the Level 154 elderly knight standing next to him and continued, “By the time our turn arrives, all of those noble commissions would probably have long been taken…”

Hearing the young man’s words, the elderly knight surveyed the hall and stroked his white beard, a pondering look on his face. A moment later, he said, “Fine. I’ll go sign up for a basic membership. We’ll just consider this an opportunity to earn City Reputation.”

After saying so, the elderly knight reluctantly took out the few Eternal Silver from his bag and walked toward the counter that handled membership sign-ups.