With the success of “Dune,” our Irene School has made a lot of money again.
It wasn’t just from the game alone.
We also earned a significant amount from the firearm-type magical tools, which started with “Eternal Fantasy” and was perfected in “Dune.”
The firearm-type magical tool business made money in a slightly different way than the game.
With the help of Sylvia and the Minister’s Office, I consolidated guns and shotguns into a separate patent license called “firearm-type magical tool.”
In our Irene School, we owned the patents, the Edward Consortium handled manufacturing, and the Minister’s Office procured certification, forming a system for basic supply to the Imperial Army and the Cathedral.
The reason for creating such a complex, non-monopolistic arrangement was to ensure stable profits.
Unlike the game, numerous trading companies excelled at magical tool production and business, and if I greedily monopolized everything alone, such a patent in this other world could easily be nullified.
But what if I created connections that tied these loops to power?
If I mixed it up too carelessly, the Minister’s Office could swoop in, or some high-ranking official from the Imperial Army could get furious, or the Cathedral might rush in shouting “Amen”—any of these three scenarios could happen.
Frankly, paying fairly and properly making firearm-type magical tools became the easier path.
Of course, I had to share a lot of money, but it was okay.
If I had monopolized, I might have missed out on considerable patent fees, and I’d already made way too much money from “games” and “magical tools.”
I had experienced enough to know that.
“Hello, Branch Manager Robert, it’s been a while.”
“Yes, hello, Yuren, it’s truly been a long time. You seem to have gotten even handsomer during our time apart.”
“Hahaha, thank you for the (obviously visible) compliment.”
The brown-haired bank clerk with a monocle was none other than Branch Manager Robert of the Southern Bank.
He had helped our Irene School immensely during tough times by providing loans.
Especially, he was very grateful for lending the last 100 million gold needed to produce Tetric, and we repaid his kindness by giving back double the interest and depositing a significant amount of assets.
“But what brings you here, Branch Manager?”
A few days ago, he expressed a desire to meet me urgently.
He mentioned it was an important discussion about loans, and since I had nothing else to do while healing, I met with him.
“Actually, I came to talk to you about a loan, Yuren.”
“A loan?… Karen, do we still have any remaining loans?”
“No, Yuren, all debts of the Irene School were settled four years ago.”
We did have some debts.
Not only the Irene School’s debts, but there was also quite a bit that Master and I borrowed under our personal names for managing Irene School, alongside various small assists we received from many around us.
After hitting the jackpot with the game, I was the first to pay off all those debts.
But a loan? I desperately tried to recall if there were any debts I hadn’t repaid.
Strange?
I had repaid even the 10fold of what I owed to Mr. Brown, so what could be left?
“Um… it’s not that kind of loan. We, the Southern Bank, would like to formally borrow from the Irene School.”
“The bank wants to borrow from us!?”
This was something I never imagined!
As I listened to the Branch Manager continue, the situation roughly unfolded.
There were some bonds related to Grey from the Southern Bank that had become worthless, causing losses this time.
They wanted to borrow money from us to patch that up.
“But why specifically come to us?”
“Well, Yuren, you and I have a connection, and currently, the Irene School is the richest in cash in the Southern region, or even the Empire.”
Rich in cash? What does that even mean?
Not understanding the situation, Karen poked my waist.
“Yuren… just a second…”
“Ah, got it, Karen. Please wait a moment, Branch Manager; I’ll be back shortly.”
In the back room, Karen informed me about the current financial situation of the Irene School.
Since we completed land acquisitions, we hadn’t decided how to invest the money, so it was all just piling up in the storage.
While I was briefly obsessed with Dune, it turned out that the Irene School had become the goblins of bank treasures without me noticing.
Life is strange; who would have thought there’d be a day when the bank wanted to borrow our money?
Now that I understood the situation, I returned to Branch Manager Robert.
Although we had a good relationship, if he was here for business reasons, it would be a different story.
Drawing on the brutal marketing tactics I learned in my previous life from [Dragon Mountain], I said to the Branch Manager.
“So… how much are you considering?”
Not knowing how I appeared to him, I displayed the business acumen honed through simulation games, indirectly enjoying a loan simulation game through him.
*
Experiencing this bank loan incident made me realize it was finally time to proceed.
The colossal plan of our Irene School and also my dream, the “Irene Land” Project.
The Irene Land Project was a simple plan to create a specialized city using the game created by the Irene School.
However, there was so much to do.
We needed to create amusement rides and facilities based on the game and manage them with staff.
Obviously, we also needed houses and various residential facilities for these people to live in.
Thinking about all this, quite frankly, I had no clue where to start, so I purchased the land, the most basic part of our plan.
But now we had excess money, and the fame of Irene School’s game had spread around the world.
I thought this was a scenario worth pursuing, so I called a meeting.
I first explained my thoughts about making an amusement park, believing that was the right way to go.
“I think it would be great to create attractions like ‘Water Sliding’ inspired by Super Thomas’s ocean stage or a motorcycle racing ride from Eternal Fantasy. What do you all think?”
Jiren, who was listening seriously to me, spoke up.
“Hmm… Hyung, wouldn’t it be better to build houses first?”
“Houses?”
Jiren began to argue that houses should come before amusement rides.
“Yes, the priests have grown quite a bit, and we can’t keep living in rooms forever.”
“I completely agree with Jiren oppa! Yuren oppa, I want a personal house too!!”
Lauren, who had been quietly listening, jumped in, supporting Jiren’s opinion.
I never would have thought Lauren wanted her own house!
“What kind of house do you want, Lauren?”
“I want a house with a red roof, five rooms, and it should be by the river so I can have a swimming pool! I even drew up design plans; would you like to see?”
Lauren confidently showed me her house design.
The design looked very pretty and seemed quite livable, fitting for a graphic designer.
Except it looked too spacious for one person, and since the windows faced north, it probably wouldn’t get much sunlight.
Plus, placing a swimming pool next to the river seemed risky due to flooding.
Barren then opened his mouth.
“I don’t need the house to be that big, but I’d love to have a shooting range.”
“I’d like to have a circuit or road to practice my bike. Yuren-hyung.”
Noirin, who had recently been obsessed with bikes, seemed keen on riding in more varied courses.
Hearing that, Jiren and Karen chimed in.
“I’d like to have more bars around. Hyung.”
“We need clothing stores. Yuren-nim.”
Suddenly, the city construction discussion shifted into a wish-list mood.
Even Master joined the conversation.
“Isn’t there an ice cream shop? Yuren, my disciple?”
“Of course, we need an ice cream shop, Master.”
And so everyone began to express their wishes.
Houses, clothing stores, amusement parks, circuits, shooting ranges, ice cream shops.
While the categories were different, it became clear that everyone had something they desired.
“What should we do, Yuren-nim!? It seems like everyone has a lot of wishes.”
Sora looked stuck in the middle, unsure what to do.
Come to think of it…
“Sora, don’t you have anything you want?”
“I! I already have so much!!!… But if I could pick one thing… I’d want a house next to Yuren’s.”
With her face flushed, Sora declared, and Julia shouted.
“Ahh!!! Sora, that’s cheating!!! Then the house to the left of Yuren’s is mine!”
Julia yelled that while eyeing Sylvia.
That triumphant gaze resembled one looking down at a loser.
But Sylvia calmly replied.
“I’ll just rent one room in Yuren’s house. It’s enough for me since I’ll only come occasionally.”
This method!?
Startled, Julia and Sora couldn’t close their mouths.
“Si…Sylvia!!! That’s so unfair.”
“How could you even think of that… Sylvia-nim, you’re a true genius!”
While I was left with one room in my house ‘forced to rent out,’ everyone continued discussing the houses and city they desired.
I began to organize the situation.
“Okay! Quiet! Quiet! I’ve heard everyone’s wishes well.”
“So, Hyung, what will you do now? Are we just going to proceed with all of them?”
Jiren asked, looking worried.
Similar to the last time when something similar was discussed and it became a big mess.
“We have to, but if we start without a plan, it’ll surely turn into chaos.”
“Then what do we do?”
To the similarly concerned Noirin, I recalled that game.
“Let’s create a prototype and proceed, just like in the game.”
“In the game!?”
There happened to be a game that perfectly matched this situation.
“Build and manage your own city empire.”
