Chris glared warily at the silver-haired man. As a native of Norelia, his lifelong education had taught him to keep a respectful distance from mages. The best way to handle a magic user was to have absolutely no contact with them; otherwise, heaven only knew what might happen.
He tugged on Miss Yvette's sleeve again, whispering, "There are plenty of other fun places on this street. Let me show you around. Norelia isn't just this one commercial strip; there's Murston Center, Nofiel Square... In short, whatever you do, don't get involved with a mage!"
"A mage?" The word seemed to flip a switch in Yvette's brain, sparking instant interest. "Is he from the Wizard's Tower?"
Chris covered his face. The girl was treating his warnings like wind passing through her ears!
Lorne stood with his hands tucked into his sleeves, shaking his head slightly. "I do know a bit of magic, but I have no connection to the Wizard's Tower."
"Oh..." Yvette sounded disappointed, but magic was magic. Since Chris refused to take her to the tower, visiting this magic shop was better than nothing. When she went home for the holidays, she could at least brag to her social circle about her discoveries in Norelia.
"Can I come in and see?" Yvette stood on her tiptoes, trying to peer over Lorne's shoulder into the shop.
The interior was decorated like a high-end café with warm, elegant tones, but Yvette didn't see the usual round tables. Instead, there were three long tables with rows of black rectangular stone tablets neatly arranged on top.
Lorne stepped aside gracefully and made an inviting gesture. "Please, come in. To celebrate our opening day, every customer gets three hours of free play."
"Play what? Those black tablets?" Yvette asked. "What's so fun about those?"
"You'll see for yourself once you try. Silas! Serina! Open up a station for the guest!"
A young man and woman emerged from the back, ushering Yvette inside.
Yvette stared at them blankly. She had never seen such beautiful people! The lead actor in Wild Romance was considered exceptionally handsome, but compared to the man named Silas, his features looked practically unfinished.
Why are two people with such extraordinary looks working as servers in a small shop? Wouldn't they be better off acting in movies?
"Please, have a seat, Miss," Silas said, guiding Yvette to a chair. "This is our store's product—the Magic Game Tablet. You're welcome to try it out. The game itself is free, but we charge based on playtime: half a copper per hour. Of course, you have three hours for free today."
As he spoke, Silas placed a small silver hourglass next to Yvette's hand.
Yvette struggled to pull her gaze away from Silas and focus on the tablet. She doubted this plain-looking slab could keep her entertained for three hours. She'd probably lose interest long before the free time ran out. Honestly, she was more interested in Silas than the tablet.
The chair next to her pulled out, and Chris sat down with a silly grin. His eyes were practically glued to Serina. It wasn't until his group of friends crowded behind him, blocking his view, that he snapped back to reality and sheepishly retracted his gaze.
Yvette let out a soft huff and lightly poked the tablet. With a "ding," the stone lit up, and a vast, magnificent landscape painting appeared on the mirror-like surface.
"Oh, how marvelous!" Yvette exclaimed. "It's like watching a movie!"
"Go ahead and press it again," Silas encouraged gently.
During the shop's renovation, Lorne hadn't been idle. He had worked overtime to polish Five-Color Stone Match-3. The opening CG was mostly the same as his initial design, but he had replaced the voice-over. The narration he had lazily recorded himself was now replaced by the ethereal reading of Siren the sea witch.
Yvette watched the CG with a look of shock. Then, the screen transitioned into an ink-style map.
A nine-tailed fox, Bai, leaped nimbly into the center of the screen, wagging its tail.
"Welcome, adventurer from another world! I am Bai, your guiding spirit beast! Let me show you how to collect the five-color stones!"
Yvette covered her mouth. "Ah! It... it's talking!"
Bai now had a voice too, courtesy of Siren. By Earth's standards, Siren's acting was a bit "stiff," but her beautiful voice was enough to cover the lack of emotion. Besides, talking movies were a recent novelty in this world; the voice-acting industry wasn't nearly as competitive as back home. As long as the character spoke, the audience was satisfied.
"Adventurer, before the journey begins, tell Bai your name. Of course, you don't have to use your real name; you can choose a grand title for yourself!"
Looking at the input box on the tablet, Yvette thought for a few seconds. She considered using the name of the heroine from Wild Romance, but that felt a bit cheeky. She decided to just use her real name.
After entering it, she stole a glance at Chris. He had started later than her, but he had already cleared the tutorial and was collecting stones.
Chris was staring intensely at the screen full of gems, clumsily sliding his finger to move the stones. Initially, he had been distracted, half-listening to Bai while glancing sideways hoping to catch a glimpse of Serina.
However, once the game actually started, he forgot all about Serina. This game was way more interesting than women! Moving the stones, matching colors, trying to get a high score within the time limit, collecting artifact fragments... he couldn't stop! Chris grew up in one of the wealthiest families in the city and had seen every form of entertainment imaginable, but in his nineteen years of life, he had never seen anything this fun!
"Chris, move that blue stone!"
"No, wait, move the green one first! That way the red ones will align!"
"Use the artifact! The timer is almost out!"
His friends behind him were shouting advice, leaving Chris scrambling. He failed over and over, making his friends sweat with anxiety.
Soon, someone couldn't take it anymore.
"I can't watch this! You're terrible!" a boy in Chris's year shouted.
Chris turned and glared at him. "If you're so good, you do it!"
"Fine, I will!" The boy shoved through the crowd and ran to Lorne. "Mister, can I get a tablet too?"
"Hey, us too! We want one too!" Several more students ran over.
Lorne kept a straight face, trying desperately not to laugh out loud. "Of course, this way please. Silas!"
Hearing they could play too, the other students were eager to show off their skills on the tablets. Soon, the space behind Chris was empty.
Chris felt a bit indignant. It was his first time! So what if he wasn't great yet? Everyone had to start somewhere. He didn't believe these guys could play better than him!
"Congratulations, Lord 'Rich Enough to Rival Nations'! You've cleared the third level!" Bai chirped.
Rich Enough to Rival Nations was the nickname Chris had chosen for himself.
"You can now unlock the 'Leaderboard' and 'Friends' functions! Every level has its own leaderboard where you can see other players' rankings. You can also see the 'Global Ranking,' which ranks players by total levels cleared!"
A leaderboard icon popped up in the top right. Chris clicked it curiously. Currently, the player base was just Chris and his friends, and since he was one of the first to start, he was confident he'd be number one. But when the list opened, he was stunned. The current number one was "Yvette"! She was already on Level 10!
Chris looked at the black-haired girl beside him in shock.
This... this is impossible! How is she so good? He clearly remembered that when he started collecting stones, Yvette was still messing around in the tutorial!
"Lord 'Rich Enough to Rival Nations,' you have received a friend request!" Bai said. "Lady 'Yvette' wishes to add you as a friend!"
The violet-eyed girl tilted her head and smiled at Chris. "Go ahead and accept. Once we're friends, we can see each other's rankings. I heard there will be many more new functions in the future!"
She's totally rubbing her high rank in my face!
Chris puffed out his cheeks and gloomily accepted Yvette's request. Soon, he received requests from his other classmates. He hadn't realized they had already cleared three levels and unlocked the social features.
"I absolutely cannot fall behind!" Chris took a deep breath. "Bai, start Level 4!"
Lorne sat comfortably behind the counter, sipping coffee brought by Serina.
"Lord Lorne, why let them add each other as friends?" Serina whispered. "Won't that make them unite? I don't know much about business, but my experience in the dungeon tells me it's better to isolate enemies and pick them off one by one."
"They aren't our enemies, Serina," Lorne said contentedly. "They are our 'Whale.' Everything we do is to make them invest more time and money into the game. Social features are one of the best tools for extending playtime. People who aren't even that interested in the game will dive in just to compete and compare themselves with others. Sometimes, the social aspect is the game."
Serina lowered her eyes in thought. "It sounds like you're exploiting a weakness in human nature."
"Exactly, Serina. Games exploit human nature. Those who make games understand human psychology perfectly; otherwise, how would we make money?" Lorne said. "And besides vanity, humans have many, many other weaknesses!"
Over at the table, Chris finally cleared Level 10 after a grueling battle. By now, his global ranking had dropped to the bottom half of the list.
The blonde youth's face turned red. The others must be laughing at him! He started before everyone else, yet his rank kept falling—how embarrassing!
"Lord 'Rich Enough to Rival Nations,' are you troubled?" Bai asked, as if sensing his thoughts. "If you find a level too difficult, why not use an Artifact? Using the right Artifact at the right time makes everything easier! For example, if you fail, you can use a 'Life-Extending Lantern' to continue the game without starting over!"
"No kidding! I've used all my Artifacts! The fragments I've collected aren't enough to synthesize a new one!" Chris grumbled.
Bai grinned happily, revealing sharp little teeth. For some reason, Chris thought the fox's smile looked exactly like his father's—the smile of a total profiteer.
"No problem," Bai said. "There is a way for you to get Artifacts instantly!"