Ch.283[Chapter 283] Tycoon City

“First of all, what were you thinking when you built a farm in the middle of this city?”

The first question felt extremely… aggressive to Sir Dominic.

However, Sir Dominic only twitched the bridge of his nose slightly before answering confidently.

“I’ve always dreamed of having a farm. My dream was to become a landowner wealthy enough to live in a manor and own a farm bearing my name.”

Sir Dominic spoke of the dream he had during his days as a serf.

Of course, that dream disappeared when he was drafted as a conscript.

Survival took priority over such dreams.

Naturally, after becoming a knight, this dream resurfaced, and he had considered requesting a manor after the war to live peacefully.

For Sir Dominic, this farm was the very symbol of wealth.

Both unconsciously and consciously.

“I was originally a knight who came from serf origins. Since all I knew how to do was move haystacks or enemy heads, a farm was all I could think of.”

“Well done.”

“?”

Pedro clapped his hands while smirking with his large square jaw.

Sir Dominic looked puzzled at Pedro who suddenly started praising him.

“Actually, even before I was hired, I was amazed when I read the article about Sir Dominic building a farm here. Healing. I thought it would be like an oasis that could heal people’s hearts in this bleak city.”

“Wait, wait. I only registered the farm yesterday, how did you know about it?”

“The newspapers in Tycoon City are incredibly fast, Sir. The moment Sir Dominic is contemplating what to have for dinner, they’ll be discussing what you ate with almost prophetic speed.”

Sir Dominic thought that sounded more like prophecy or prediction rather than news reporting, but judging by the mention of his choice to build a farm, they seemed quite accurate.

“It would be good for Sir Dominic to read the newspapers occasionally. They contain information about fluctuations in agricultural prices as well as stock market surges and crashes. Personally, I read the Tycoon Times and Daily Tycoon, but since you’re farming, this might be good for you.”

Pedro handed Sir Dominic a newspaper called ‘Agri.Culture’.

“It’s a newly launched newspaper from Daily Culture, which originally covered cultural industries, but as soon as I saw it, I thought of you.”

Sir Dominic took the newspaper from Pedro and read its contents.

There were trivial articles like ‘Ghost Helicopter for Sale’, ‘Tractor Rental’, and ‘Mandeuk Series’, but also useful information such as ‘3-Star Wheat Harvesting Methods’ and ‘Is Our Country Wheat-Deficient?’

“Sir Dominic?”

“Ah, I apologize. I got absorbed in these interesting stories.”

Sir Dominic had been so focused on reading the newspaper that it took several calls from Pedro to bring him back to attention.

Sir Dominic folded the newspaper with the back side visible and placed it somewhere easily noticeable, thinking he should subscribe to it.

The back had the address for subscription.

“Anyway, let’s return to our previous conversation. Sir Dominic said you simply wanted to farm, but this isn’t just about you.”

Pedro loosened his tie a bit, seemingly feeling constrained.

And his subsequent words revealed why he had loosened his tie.

It was to unleash more words.

Pedro pulled out a graph from his chest and showed it to Sir Dominic.

“Look at this. This graph shows how much stress people in Tycoon City are experiencing. It’s a statistic comparing stress levels with other cities.”

Pedro pointed to a red line with his finger.

“People in Gachaland have the least stress. Most of their stress comes only when their gacha pulls don’t go well. Even that small stress disappears if the next gacha pull goes well.”

Pedro, who had been passionate from the start, briefly checked Sir Dominic’s reaction before adding a disclaimer.

“Of course, not everyone is like that. This is a statistic, meaning many people are like that, not necessarily everyone.”

Sir Dominic wasn’t concerned about such things, but Pedro, being in a position where he needed to be mindful of his employer, was better safe than sorry.

“Next is Retrograde. People there complain about game difficulty. Some complain it’s too easy, others that it’s too difficult. Generally, they say game difficulty is easy, but many complain that controls are difficult. They ask why they need to roll and dodge when they could just walk and run. This city has average stress levels.”

The yellow line representing Retrograde’s stress index was slightly below the middle of the graph.

“But look at this! This is the current state of Tycoon City!”

Pedro slammed down the paper with the graph and pointed to the blue graph.

The blue graph was positioned at the very top of the chart, with an explosion-shaped figure next to it and notes saying “Enough to drive you crazy right now!” and “Enough to make psychiatrists die from overwork!”

“Tycoon City appears prosperous on the outside, but it’s rotten inside. Corruption? That requires having spare time. Here, you can’t even think about corruption. This is a city where people must live so busily that they can’t even consider corruption. Finding a farm on the outskirts for a moment of healing in such a city? Ha, impossible. While you’re resting, your competitors will have climbed two steps higher.”

Pedro’s words were also a criticism of Tycoon City’s diligence.

It was a scathing critique of people who are so diligent that they only work, not knowing what personal time, hobbies, or rest are.

Of course, Pedro was also one of those Tycoon City people.

Judging by how ‘hard-working’ and ‘passionate’ he was.

“Anyway, in such a city, no, just a few steps away, there’s a farm? This is remarkable. Since it’s close, people will think they’ll only fall behind one step instead of two if they rest, and they’ll believe they can catch up because a brief rest improves efficiency. I glimpsed Sir Dominic’s brilliance here. That subtle psychology leads directly to consumption.”

Sir Dominic worried that Pedro might be going too far, but soon found himself drawn back into Pedro’s words.

Pedro’s words sounded plausible even to Sir Dominic.

Of course, regardless of Sir Dominic’s intentions.

“Organic! Healing! That’s what the tired people of Tycoon City want. I think this is an excellent business that fulfills the needs and desires of such people. It’s rather strange that no one has thought of this business until now.”

Of course, there were reasons why farming wasn’t done in cities.

Generally, when farming at the same scale, the cost of farming in the city was enormously expensive.

But Tycoon City was different.

In Tycoon City, the startup costs for any industry were the same.

Whether building a farm in the city or a fishing spot, the cost wasn’t much different from trading companies, factories, game development companies, or electronic device developers.

Then why hadn’t people in Tycoon City thought of building farms in the city?

It was because the people of Tycoon City were city people.

Of course, Tycoon City was indeed a city, but like Sir Dominic being invited to Gachaland, the people of Tycoon City were CEOs who were quite renowned in their respective dimensions.

Being such people, their thinking became confined, preventing them from having the unusual idea of building a farm in the city.

Thus, Sir Dominic accidentally found a blue ocean.

Sir Dominic simply wanted his own farm, but listening to Pedro, he thought it could indeed be so.

“Now, let me ask another question. How does Sir Dominic wish to run this company?”

Sir Dominic carefully considered Pedro’s words.

How to run the company.

What did it mean that Pedro, who had thought of so many things in such a short time, was asking him such a question?

Unlike his previous answer given without much thought, Sir Dominic stroked his chin and pondered this question.

But thinking longer doesn’t necessarily lead to the right answer.

Rather than thinking deeply, Sir Dominic decided to simply state his policy for running the company.

“Leisurely. Let’s go leisurely. Just because others are busy doesn’t mean we need to be. Let’s take it slow. Don’t we have plenty of time?”

Sir Dominic knew that farming doesn’t improve by rushing.

And he also knew that in Gachaland and Tycoon City, one could always revive as long as they had value.

With ample time and no need to rush, Sir Dominic thought going at a leisurely pace was the answer.

Pedro smiled at Sir Dominic.

“Good. This seems like it will be a uniquely interesting company.”

Sir Dominic’s answer was, at least to Pedro, the right one.