FB: Chapter 34 – Pay To Level

Murk Town actually had people hanging around and out in the swamp. They were crazy in my opinion, but apparently, I was that popular. Popular enough to convince people just by some casual comments that the secret to my success was in the Murk Swamp. While these people were partially right, they had a few screws loose in their head.

I left Murk Town and made my way towards Murk Tower. I had a camping set with me since I didn’t plan on going back and lots of cleansing salt in bags. That way I could stack each pouch of cleansing salt up to a 1,000 per inventory space instead of 100. They would take a lot longer to get out, but that was fine, since I had one inventory slot with 100 pouches of cleansing salt ready to go.

I was paying a silver for 250 experience. To get to level 50, I needed 3,989,400 more experience, which I just called 4 million in my mind to make the math simple. That meant I needed to kill 16,000 Murk Oozes at the cost of 1.6 platinum. It literally was pay to win, but I didn’t mind. Time was my most valuable resource. I gave myself 8 days, to account for travel time.

That meant I needed to kill at least 2,000 Murk Oozes per day or between 3 and 4 per minute. My personal hope was to double that speed and get to level 55. That would put me around 10 to 15 levels ahead of the other Champions. I would take 15% less damage from them and they would take 15% more damage from me due to the absolute level difference.

That would be absolutely brutal for anyone going up against me. Since the absolute level difference modifier was applied after all other calculations, including critical hit calculations. And if Glexx thought he would use my altar idea to level up Hammer Crusher, he would be sorely mistaken. The location was already swarming with people, since someone had sold all their extra blue cow’s blood very cheaply to a local trader and then paid them to give the false rumor that using the blood on the shore brought riches before the guild deal took place.

When questioned the trader would give clues leading back to Helen Smith and her corporate guild, dragging them all down into the muck. That was why counterintelligence was an actual thing in the future and getting truthful information was incredibly difficult as all the guilds sabotaged each other. While I would be a suspect of course, people didn’t realize how deep the NPC hole went. Everyone was treating what they said as truthful or mostly truthful at the moment, but they could be paid to lie. I made a profit while dragging some of my rivals down, a win-win.

It was easy enough to reach Murk Tower and enter through the drainage pipe once again with its vile smell and liquid draining into the swamp. I then began rapidly killing Murk Oozes as quickly as possible, racing up and down the side passages. This was incredibly annoying and much slower than dragging monsters to an altar to die.

That was where the term altar came from, the monsters were basically sacrifices to gain experience quickly. Once I was done killing as many Murk Oozes as possible, I then sent up a tent. To set up a tent one had to be outside of combat in a non-critical area. That meant I couldn’t set up a tent in the room with the vile pool or the tunnel with the drainage into the swamp, since these were considered critical areas.

I had to set up in one of the side tunnels. Once a tent was set up, no monsters would come near it. If it was attacked by another player, then the person inside would be considered instantly killed. There were cabins that couldn’t be broken, which could also be used but those cost 10 platinum while a tent cost 10 silver. Each of these items were single use.

Only on really critical explorations that had a lot invested into them, would cabins be used. Entering through the tent door, it was larger on the inside than the outside. It was just like one of the inn rooms. I lay down on the bed and logged out just as my capsule time was about to run out.

The next day, I got back to work killing Murk Oozes under the Murk Tower. I felt my brain was melting from the smell, but I endured, killing monster after monster with pouches of sanctified salt. The real bottleneck was the spawn rate of the Murk Oozes. I could easily kill 12 per minute, but was limited to around 6. And that included running everywhere and using stamina potions to keep my SP up.

I reached level 55 in the middle of the eighth day and was completely done killing Murk Oozes. My brain was cooked from the vile smell. Everything was tasting and smelling like the Murk now. The horrible smell was seared into my brain deeper than ever before.

This was the price of power and standing at the top of Exponential. I made my way back to Murk Town and then arranged for an airship to the capital for four gold. Trips to the capital cost twice as much as regular trips.

I logged out while traveling. After cleaning the capsule, getting a shower, and having something to eat I checked my messages. I would need to hire a secretary to go through all of them. It was mentally exhausting having to look through them. I checked online and quickly located a top tier hiring agency and called them up. There was a hiring company that was affiliated with my security company. Better to resolve this as quickly as possible so I didn’t waste my time.

“Personnel Solutions, how can I direct your call,” a receptionist greeted me.

“I am looking to hire a qualified personal assistant or secretary as soon as possible,” I said.

“Your name, your company’s name, state you are located in, and your job title?” the receptionist asked.

“April White. A privately owned company, Fanged Fox Corporation. My position is equivalent to CEO and we are based out of upstate New York. The last valuation put us at over 30 billion dollars,” I explained. I could hear the receptionist rapidly typing.

“Please hold while I transfer you to one of our Senior Hiring Managers,” the receptionist said. One minute later I was transferred to another person.

“This is David Markle, am I speaking to CEO April White?” he asked.

“Yes. Personal assistant or secretary, how soon can one be arranged?” I asked.

“Depends on the salary offered,” he replied. I would put them at the same level as a guild officer, and I had the org charts Anthony had sent me for real world positions.

“Two hundred thousand a year, plus benefits,” I replied.

“Any preferences as to appearance, credentials, or other factors?” David asked.

“Professional. Hard working. No weird piercings, tattoos, unnatural hair colors, or excessive hair styles. I need someone who is by the book and no nonsense,” I said. Those types of people were fun to hang out with like Bethany, but they were not the kind of people I would want to hire. Especially for a position as sensitive as my personal secretary.

“That can be arranged. Your company is based out of upstate New York and you currently employ Secure Solutions?” David asked. They certainly pulled our business records quite quickly. But for a top hiring company that wasn’t surprising.

“Yes,” I replied and then I gave him my e-mail. I had to wire over a ten thousand dollar service fee, but that was nothing. He then sent back 3 resumes. They all looked quite good, and I picked the only man out of all three, since he had a military background.

David then asked me to wait for a few minutes while he got Henry on the phone so I could interview him. Three minutes after being put on hold, the line opened back up.

“Miss White, I have Mister Henry Copper here on the line,” David said.

“Hello Mister Copper. I looked at your resume and I have no complaints. I need you to start immediately as my personal assistant,” I said.

“That is possible, but I was wondering what kind of benefits I would be getting Miss White and you have no questions for me?” Henry asked with a bit of surprise.

“Fifteen days off per year. Health insurance, capsule access, and two hundred thousand per year. The resume and background sheet I was given by the hiring agency covered everything I would want to ask. If they recommended you, then I know you are qualified. My time is too valuable to waste on questions that aren’t necessary,” I quickly answered.

“Could I have time to think about the offer, since it would require moving both myself and my fiancé,” he replied.

“No. I require someone immediately due to my workload. You are my first choice, but I do not want to waste time on something like this. Ten thousand dollar moving bonus, and you will sign a one year non-compete,” I added.

“Stock options or retirement benefits?” he asked.

“No. The pay is quite excessive for this type of position,” I immediately countered. While it might seem like I was being harsh, this was business. And business was business, not about friendship.

“I would be happy to accept. How soon do you need me to start?” he asked. If he hadn’t accepted, then he wasn’t worth the hassle.

“Immediately, but you can have three days to make arrangements. This is my e-mail, send me your banking information, so I can send you your moving bonus and hiring documentation,” I answered. The call wrapped up quite quickly after that with David promising to send me his contact information if I wanted to hire anyone else through his company. Money truly did make things happen incredibly quickly.

I needed to make the best use of my time since it was my most precious resource. The more time went by, the less valuable and useful the information I had would be. I wanted situations dealt with quickly and professionally. The more e-mails I had to go through, the more this thought was confirmed in my mind. Henry would be showing up right after the Tournament of Champions, which would be a bit annoying, but there would be no good time in the future, so better to just get the hiring process started now.

Super guilds had a lot of staff for this very reason. So, their strongest combat personnel didn’t have to get dragged down into decision making or complicated scenarios. They were pointed at a target and told to go after it. I needed to be able to keep my full focus in Exponential. No matter how much I would wish to, there was no way to make a competitive guild while I had to deal with a lot of annoying e-mails and messages.

The only reason I would be able to hold on was my knowledge and being able to make incredibly quick pivots in Exponential. That would keep me treading water and not drown.