[The Abyssal Academy - The Grand Auditorium]
The Grand Dining Hall had been expanded and renovated into a state-of-the-art corporate amphitheater. The two thousand students of the Abyssal Academy—now highly motivated SIP shareholders—sat in plush velvet seats. The air buzzed with the electric, ravenous energy of pure capitalist greed.
Victor Thorne walked onto the elevated obsidian stage. The magical spotlights tracked him perfectly, illuminating his immaculate midnight-blue suit.
"Shareholders," Victor's voice resonated through the crystal acoustics of the room, instantly silencing the crowd of Orcs, Vampires, and Dark Elves. "Welcome to the Pantheon Group's Q1 Earnings Call."
Victor tapped his gold-nibbed pen against the Tycoon's Ledger. A massive, glowing holographic graph erupted behind him, the green line skyrocketing into the stratosphere.
"This quarter, our gross revenue hit one hundred and seventeen Million Gold," Victor announced.
The auditorium erupted. Barbarians wept tears of joy. Necromancers hugged each other. The villains were looking at the massive dividend payouts hitting their magical ledgers in real-time.
"However," Victor's Tycoon Aura flared, instantly snapping the room back to absolute silence. "I am not satisfied."
Victor paced the stage, his leather shoes clicking sharply.
"The dungeon industry is a Red Ocean. It is highly saturated, competitive, and bloody," Victor pointed at the holographic map of the continent. Red dots marked hundreds of rival dungeons: The Dwarven Deep Mines, the Goblin Warrens, the Serpent's Peak.
"Right now, adventurers have choices. If they don't want to pay our five-hundred Gold admission fee, they go raid a goblin cave for free. Choice is the enemy of profit."
Victor turned to the wings of the stage. "Inspector Vance. Join me."
Stepping into the spotlight was the former Holy Inquisitor. He was no longer wearing a drab beige trench coat. Thanks to Victor's lobbying money, Vance wore a sharply tailored, pinstripe suit woven from enchanted silk. He looked terrifyingly bureaucratic.
"Our new Director of Compliance," Victor introduced him smoothly. "Inspector Vance now wields the absolute, fully-funded legal authority of the Continental Dungeon Safety Administration. He is going to help us turn this Red Ocean into a Blue Ocean. A market where we have zero competition."
Victor turned back to his shareholders, his eyes cold and calculating.
"Starting tonight, we execute the Monopoly Protocol," Victor declared. "Director Vance will conduct surprise safety inspections on every major rival dungeon on this continent. He will cite them for impossible safety violations. He will bury them in fines. And when they inevitably default, our Repo Teams will legally liquidate their assets."
Lord Sterling stood up in the front row, his vampire fangs bared in a massive, greedy grin. "We're shutting them all down? The whole continent?!"
"We are enforcing the law, Lord Sterling," Victor smiled a ruthless, predatory smile. "By the end of Q2, if an adventurer wants to swing a sword in this realm, they will have to buy a ticket from the Pantheon Group. Meeting adjourned. Repo Teams, gear up."