Basic workers earned anywhere from 1 to 5 coppers per day for their work. Specialized laborers could make anywhere from 15 to 500 coppers a day. People who roamed dungeons collecting monster parts and beast cores could make anywhere from 1 silver to 20 gold, depending on how strong the dungeon is and if they could collect all the parts efficiently.
Eventually, Jack learned that one gold coin is worth 10 USD. So Jack made 1,500 USD for one day of work with 2 people.
Jack's family owns a dozen different mines and other businesses. They have an abundance of materials, with the only costs being travel and labor. A month's cost would be 3 silver for travel and labor.
Per month, that would net Jack 4,500 Gold per month! That would be 45,000 USD a month! That would make Jack a top 5% earner in US standards.
It was unbelievable to think that, after such a short time, Jack could be rich and not have to worry about money.
Jack took a deep breath. He would be wealthy enough that he could live anywhere in the world if he were on Earth.
'System, how do I store all this money?'
[You can store all your money in the system storage. Along with any other valuables or monster parts you collect.]
'Wait... really? There's a system storage! That's ridiculous. Wait, what about everyone else? How do they store things?'
[In this world, they use storage cubes to store things, and an average cube can store up to 10 items and 1 gold. They get pricey as they get bigger.]
The largest cube can hold 100 items and 1000 gold coins, but only the top 1% of the wealthiest people had access to those cubes.
'Is there a limit to how much I can store?'
[Yes, there is.]
'Of course there is. If there wasn't, I might as well have cheat codes.'
[You can store up to 1000 items and 100,000 Gold Coins.]
Jack was silent for a minute.
'Yeah, I must have put a cheat code in when I wasn't looking. Wait....'
'MOTHERLOAD. BIGDADDY. Iddqd.'
Jack tried yelling the cheat codes to see what would happen.
Would he get millions of gold coins just raining down on him? Would he become a god? Would he get a black cat with a rocket launcher?
No such effect happened. Jack was still Jack.
'Eh, worth a shot.'
--
A few days later, Seraphina came into Jack's room and woke him up.
Jack rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"What time is it?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand the question, master," Seraphina said with a confused look.
"Is it nighttime or morning time?"
"It's the morning master. I have good news: the factory is finally built."
Jack shot up out of bed. "This is great news! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!"
Jack got half dressed and ran out of the room to see the new factory. He was slowly putting on clothes as he ran down the halls.
"But... wait, Young Master. There's more news." Seraphina said, shaking her head. But Jack was gone, and the news would have to wait.
--
Jack made his way to the new factory. When he arrived, he saw the bum he had hired before and all his friends that he had told.
Only this bum was no longer a bum. He had shaved, gotten new clothes, and hope had returned to his eyes.
"You look much better."
The bum took his hat off. "Young Master, thank you again for this opportunity. I can't thank you enough for what you did."
"You don't need to thank me. I'm paying you for your service. As a thank you, I want to give everyone here a gift."
Jack had small boxes with matches and a small bottle of embersalt.
"This is something I want to give you all as a thank you. You may take them with you on your way home. I have more things planned, so if you know anyone who needs work, bring them here. You will all be paid the same wage."
"Yay!"
"Yipee!"
"Hooray!"
"Alright, alright. Settle down. I have more things planned; anyone with fire or magic affinity will be helpful for future plans. They don't have to be strong, just enough to use basic magic."
"Of course, sir, I do know some people. I can have them here by next week." The bum said.
"Thank you. I hate to be rude, but I never asked what your name is."
"I'm not important, Young Master. But, if you must know, my name is Cedric." He said with a smile.
"I also have one more piece of good news. For anyone who has been struggling before, I will create new housing for you all to live in. It will be better than the slums. It will give me more time to fix the district up."
"Young Master, you do too much for us."
"Don't be silly. Without you, I have no products to sell. I will transform this city, and anyone who ventures on this journey with me will prosper."
Jack said with a big smile before making his way outside.
When Jack got outside, his father, Alaric, was waiting for him.
"Jack, you did well on your first dungeon expedition. You completed it much faster and efficiently than I thought you would. It just goes to show that your talent rank was not wrong." Alaric said with a smile.
"But, you're going to need to get stronger quicker. It seems there's a young noble who has issues with you being engaged to Aurora Sunblade."
Jak didn't have an answer or an expression; he was just neutral.
[Jack, your father doesn't know that you don't know you're engaged.]
Oh crap. Jack thought as he realized his blunder.
"What! When did this happen?"
Alaric was taken aback by Jack's delayed response. "Yes, I made the decision when you were quite young. I was going to tell you after your ceremony."
"Thanks. So, what you want me to challenge the second floor of that dungeon now?"
"No, Jack. Under no circumstances are you to challenge that dungeon at all. You will not survive the second floor. You will have a significant advantage on the third floor. But you are not ready for the second.
Go see Adrian, and he can help you pick a new dungeon. Once you get a bit stronger on your own, I'll find you a master to teach you the spear."
"Of course, Father. I will do my best to make you happy."