10 Economy

[Arcadia's economy is fairly complex, with materials used as currency in certain locations while rejected in others. This is because of Arcadia's high diversity and the fact that every race values things differently. However, there is a central currency system that operates in almost all empires.

Here's its breakdown.

There are 5 divisions, as coins, that exist :

- Copper

- Silver (1 Silver coin = 10 Copper coins)

- Gold (1 Gold coin = 10 Silver coins)

- Palladium (1 Palladium coin = 100 Gold coins)

- Platinum (1 Platinum = 100 Palladium coins)

As you can see, platinum coins are the supreme currency in Arcadia, meaning that large transactions are often conducted with them. Platinum mines are thus major hotspots of conflict across the continent]

Park's eyes quickly went to the leather pouch on the ground and was surprised by the system's generosity. A hundred gold coins was nothing to scoff at when looking at the exchange rate.

He also realized the economic system wasn't anything extraordinary. Back on Earth, people still fought over precious materials, so it made him feel quite nostalgic.

[Since user Ji-ho Park is a Ruler, there are also extra features]

The engineer was startled. There was more?

[The first feature is 'Quick Transfer'. It allows rulers to transfer vast amounts of resources from one place directly to their location. However, the space can only be defined when an empire is established, with its volume being directly tied to the empire's size. The bigger it becomes, the larger the space gets]

The feature nearly floored Ji-ho. Wasn't this like direct banking?!

[The second feature is 'Tax Collection'. It's a system that collects a certain percentage, set by the ruler, of every sale concluded on an empire's territory. The collected funds are then transferred to the ruler's designated space. The currencies accepted, used and collected may also be set by the ruler at any moment]

Park was less enthusiastic about this one, since the feature's downfalls were obvious.

Under-the-table sales and trades were examples that completely skirted around it, but he was still confident it'd be very useful later on. He had ample time to figure it out, anyway.

[The basic course on Arcadia is now over]

The abrupt ending stunned Ji-ho. Was this it?!

The system hadn't lied about it being very basic.

He then looked at Mundeok, who still seemed deep in thought.

With the brunt of information now gathered, it was time to plan his next steps.

However…

He didn't know where to begin.

"Shit..."

Park had rarely organized anything in his past life, instead counting on aides to do so.

Over the years, this had resulted in a lack of vision and initiative, which was now quite the shortcoming.

"One step at a time… System, show me our location on the map"

[Command confirmed]

The blue prompt appeared once again and showed Arcadia in all its glory.

A sudden and loud ping occurred, followed by the appearance of a pulsating red dot on the map.

Ji-ho's eyes went to it, and what he saw instantly soured his mood.

"This is bad"

They were essentially… nowhere.

They were in a "dead zone", far from any civilization. In fact, they were in a territory that hadn't even been claimed yet.

The engineer's change of mood also got Mundeok out of his pensive state.

"What's happening?"

"We're in the middle of nowhere. Literally"

"Really? Show me"

"System, can you show him the map?"

[Since he is your subordinate, it is possible. However, the restrictions are identical to those stated earlier. Would you like to proceed?]

"Yes"

Mundeok received the map, and Park quickly saw his mood sour as well.

After a minute of silence, the general spoke.

"What should we do?"

"I figured I could save it, but I have an item that can instantly transport us wherever we want in Arcadia"

"What?! Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

"I wanted to hear your opinion, but it seems like we came to the same conclusion"

The general grunted in response. His strength was unquestionable, but without extensive knowledge of the area, they were still as good as dead.

Hunger, dehydration, predation… There were too many variables.

Ji-ho started pondering.

Using the teleportation item would be a humongous investment, so he needed a coherent plan that'd ensure its value.

The first thing he had to do was establishing the end goal. What did he want to achieve with it? Was there anything that needed to progress urgently?

The answer was obvious : his Ruler status.

With that conclusion, he began to think about his immediate needs.

What did a Ruler need to establish a solid foundation?

The answer was once again obvious : people.

Without them, the title was worthless.

And with that came the second, but very essential, need : territory.

Park knew these were the two primordial pillars of any dynasty or empire. If he acquired them by using the item, it'd be a win.

Just as he was thinking things through, an idea struck him.

"System, is it possible to highlight the human empires that practice slavery on the map?"

[It is possible]

"Please do so"

[Command confirmed]

Greenish sections began appearing all over the map, much to Park's surprise. Slavery was much more prominent than he expected.

Still, he fully intended on using it to his advantage.

The morality was questionable at best, but after a brief reflection, his mind became at ease. After all, he had no intentions of harming any of his future subjects.

The next thing he looked at were the empires' locations.

The gist of his idea was to find one that was right next to unclaimed land and use its resources to lessen the logistical quagmire that'd plague his early settlement.

The travel distance also had to be short for all of this to work.

However, there was one critical condition that had to be met with this plan : the selected empire had to be weak.

Anything else would threaten to destroy Ji-ho's dynasty from the very beginning.

With that in mind, he eliminated those with a big territory, those next to them and the ones with non-human species.

He wasn't very thrilled about the idea of dealing with creatures he had never seen before, as one misunderstanding could lead to war and his downfall.

The risks were simply too great.

Once the triage was over, only 3 possibilities remained.