Veronica was frustrated as she found herself unable to make any progress with upgrading the dungeon side of her abode. She wanted to blame the adventurer who had gotten themselves stuck in her new challenge room, but even she knew that would be unreasonable. After all, she had been the one who chose to lock the room until the challenge was complete. Had it been an option she certainly would have made it possible for them to leave the way they had come, but that wasn't how things worked. They would neither be able to backtrack, nor progress forward until they completed the challenge. Well, she could unlock the doors for them, but she'd rather wait it out and hope they died instead.
Whatever, she would happily work on the inn side of the dungeon instead. That had come with its own delays as well, of course. Alongside the tributes from seven different adventurer parties, she had also received fees for three room rentals yesterday. That meant she had to wait for them to wake up and leave the inn side of the dungeon before she could start furnishing the new, larger rooms. While Veronica did appreciate having more dungeon points, it was still unfortunate that she had so much downtime. Seraphina was more than happy to take advantage of her boredom, though, as they got in some extra training time.
Now that she could finally get started, she decided to review her [Dungeon Status] menu.
Dungeon Status:
Current Mana 50/50
Current DP: 1,632
Current Floors: 1
Current Rooms: 14 | 23
Monsters
Critters
Construction
Research
Missions
Somehow, she hadn't realized just how many rooms she had already accumulated. Most of them were for the inn, of course, with an entire twenty two rooms and one reception space while the dungeon side only had twelve [Monster] fields and two challenge rooms. Still, it was quite satisfying just how much progress she had made in the less than a week she had been in this world.
Reviewing her tributes from the day before, as well as the ones she had already received today, she saw that she now had bok choy, opal stone, Chinese mustard greens, agate stone, hibiscus hyriacus flowers, mung bean sprouts, charcoal, snow pea shoots, forsythia koreana flowers, lychee, engraved hair sticks, jackfruit, wooden practice sword, squirrel fur, and squirrel meat unlocked in her [Base Resources] and [Items]. Most of this was unlikely to prove useful for her current project, but she was sure the ingredients would prove useful once she constructed a tavern and needed to provide food to her patrons.
As most of the furniture in the 18-Units by 18-Units rooms was the same as what was in the 9-Units by 9-Units rooms, Veronica decided to tackle those elements first. A bed complete with a wooden frame, padded mattress, duck feather pillows, blue silk sheets and pillowcases, and even a lovely blue quilt was first. Then she put a green rug underneath, two wooden end tables to either side of the bed, a wardrobe with wooden hangers off to one side, and a wooden desk with a leather chair to the other side. As the desks she was using this time around weren't for the corner of the room, she did have to spend 10 DP to unlock a more basic version. However, that was just a drop in the bucket compared to her total dungeon points.
Next up, in the other corner of the house, she built a living room space. The same fireplaces, coffee tables, and even the potted peace lily plants kept things simple, but luxurious. The only thing she had to research was a new teal sofa design that matched her teal armchairs, which cost her 80 DP. While she could have made a different design for the living room furniture, it just didn't feel necessary. Besides, there would be other floors that would provide new opportunities to try new themes and color schemes.
Next up was a kitchenette, which was a bit rare to see in inn rooms, but seemed fitting nonetheless.
Would you like to spend 20 DP to research jade bottom kitchen cabinets using the [Base Resource] wood, jade, and nails?
Yes
No
Would you like to spend 20 DP to research jade island kitchen cabinets using the [Base Resources] wood, jade, and nails?
Yes
No
Would you like to spend 10 DP to research upper kitchen cabinets using the [Base Resources] wood, and nails?
Yes
No
Would you like to spend 10 DP to research upper corner kitchen cabinets using the [Base Resources] wood, and nails?
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Yes
No
Would you like to spend 10 DP to research brown leather bar stools using the [Base Resources] leather, brown dye, cotton, and nails?
Yes
No
The green of the jade with the dark brown wood made for a very aesthetic pairing as well as matching the other colors used on the floor. Veronica had taken inspiration from the modern marble countertops she often saw and simply used one of the many minerals she had received over the past week to make a variation of that. It was quite possible that jade countertops existed in the modern world, but it was hardly something she had personally seen for herself.
The cabinetry was placed in the middle corner of the rooms, diagonal from the bathroom space. She left gaps for a fridge, stove, and sink space, which were next on her list of things to research.
Would you like to spend 100 DP to research magic iceboxes using the [Base Resources] ice magic, ice magic crystal, steel, cork, and glass?
Yes
No
Would you like to spend 100 DP to research magic wood stoves using the [Base Resources] fire magic, fire magic crystal, iron, and coal?
Yes
No
Would you like to spend 100 DP to research magic sinks using the [Base Resources] water magic, water magic crystal, clay, white dye, and iron?
Yes
No
Well, the design wasn't quite what Veronica was hoping for, but it was the only option she could get the system to accept. She didn't personally know how modern stoves, refrigerators, etc. really worked, so she had to combine what little knowledge she had with the system's knowledge based on this world's technology to get something usable.
The ice box looked exactly like a fridge from the 50s with the freezer on bottom and fridge on top. There were even sliding drawers and shelves in the door. Probably the most astounding part was the built-in icemaker section where the fridge would automatically produce ice cubes that would fall into a large tray. Honestly, Veronica couldn't even complain about it not being what she had originally wanted when it was close enough to a modern-day fridge that it may as well be one.
As for the stove, it certainly looked like a cast-iron wood stove. There was even a section for wood to be put into the bottom layer of the thing, which gave Veronica the impression that magic crystals were meant to be temporary and replaced on occasion. Well, Seraphina had also said something along those lines a few days ago, so it was probably a correct assumption. Still, with a large oven area with two shelves and four circular areas on top, it was also a lot like a modern stove. There were even dials so that you could choose the cooking temperature, assuming you had a fire crystal actively installed.
As for the sink, it was, perhaps, the most confusing bit. There were iron pipes that seemed to lead to nowhere. Otherwise, it looked exactly like a modern-day sink, though, perhaps more of a bathroom sink than a kitchen sink. That, probably, wouldn't matter that much to the residents of this world, though. The fact was that, when she tested it, water ran out of the faucet and then disappeared through the pipes below. There wasn't an option for hot water, but it came out at more of a room temperature rather than freezing. Veronica supposed she would have had to spend a good bit more dungeon points and mana if she wanted something more than a basic design. Really, she was fortunate that even this much could be created for 50 MP.
While it was tempting to fill the cabinets with pots, pans, and dishware, she decided to hold off on that for now. She didn't want to go too crazy with her spending and she still had a bathroom to furnish anyhow.
Would you like to spend 100 DP to research magic bathtubs using the [Base Resources] water magic, water magic crystal, clay, white dye, and iron?
Yes
No
Would you like to spend 100 DP to research magic toilets using the [Base Resources] water magic, water magic crystal, clay, white dye, and iron?
Yes
No
Would you like to spend 10 DP to research wooden towel racks using the [Base Resource] wood?
Yes
No
It was always interesting seeing wooden objects that didn't require nails or wood glue to create. Even once the new towel rack was placed, there was no sign of anything like it being used. Instead, it was like the towel rack had been carved from one large chunk of wood until it took the shape she desired.
In order to offer some extra privacy, Veronica used some more wooden walls and another door for a separate toilet area in the bathroom. Most houses she had lived in hadn't had a separate area for the toilet, but she knew that was a popular tactic used in the Sims games she had played. It always made the bathroom seem fancier and she could certainly see the appeal of not having to deal with as many toilet smells while taking a bath.
Besides the bath, toilet, a sink, and the towel rack, the only other things she put into the bathroom was a green rug in front of the bathtub and a set of luxury towels on the towel rack. She already had them researched as a prize for her tropical parkour challenge, so it was hardly a problem to include them. Although, it certainly felt silly since it would make her prize more obsolete in the dungeon. She just hoped no one tried to steal anything from the inn rooms. Since the rooms wouldn't reset, she would have to manually replace anything that was taken.
Before calling it a day, Veronica set the price to 50 DP per night for the new 18-Units by 18-Units inn rooms. It was five times the price of the smaller rooms, but the size was also four times as big while also having plenty of luxuries to enjoy. Surely, the kitchenette and private bathroom made it worth the extra points, right? Well, it wasn't like her potential patrons had a choice in the matter anyways. If the local inn was closed, then she was the only option around and she could set her own prices however she wanted.