Chapter 37: Contract
Chapter 37: Contract
Adam contemplated the situation for a moment as he looked at Kim Hee-cho's cunning smile.
Under normal circumstances, he would've turned down this arrangement, but in his current situation, he was racing against time with his life on the line. He had to become more powerful as quickly as possible before the next wave of hitmen came after him.
In the wake of the example he had set by taking care of those eight hitmen, only high-level hitmen were going to come after him from now on.
"Alright, I accept those terms," Adam declared with a nod.
Money was very important, but coming into contact with more anomalies was even more important.
"Are you insane? I'm telling you right now, I'm not doing this with you!" Hook clearly didn't think that this was a fair deal. "Even if we discount the fact that he's asking for 30% of our profits, we have to fulfill a monthly mission quota. Do you know how much danger you're getting yourself into? I'm not gonna getting myself caught up in your mess!"
"What do you think?" Adam asked as he turned to Nie Yiyi.
"I also feel like this isn't a good deal. Given my abilities, I'll be able to earn money even if I don't pursue this option," Nie Yiyi replied with a shake of his head. "Most importantly, I feel like having to fulfill a mandatory monthly quota is an arrangement that's too rigid and inflexible."
It was clear that two people out of the three-man team were opposed to this plan, and Kim Hee-cho immediately adopted a different strategy upon seeing this.
"Don't jump to conclusions so early, the system is a lot more flexible than you think. Firstly, even if you don't fulfill the quota, you don't lose anything, right? I'm the only one that would be incurring a loss in that case as I'm providing my shop to you for free. Also, the mission quota is very low. If you have psychotherapist qualifications, then a single mission would be enough to cover the rental fees. Even if you don't, it'll only take two or three missions."
"How about this? We'll give this arrangement a try, and if it doesn't work out, you can back out at any time."
Adam was making this suggestion to both sides. Not only did he need to secure Nie Yiyi and Hook's approval, Kim Hee-cho had to agree to this as well.
"If only have one condition: I'm not going to participate in the battles!"
Hook immediately made it clear that he didn't want to incur any risk. He was a bit of a coward to begin with, and he had been spooked by the last mission. He still had a bright future ahead, and the last thing he wanted to do was die in the psychic world.
"That's not a problem," Adam replied with a nod.
Hook's battle prowess was downright pitiful to begin with, and in addition to that, Adam had become far more powerful since their last job, so there was no need at all to risk putting Hook in harm's way. The main value that Hook provided to the group was his versatility, and they were going to need his help to find their way in the psychic worlds of their patients and in entering nesting dreams.
"Alright, then I'm in," Hook declared. "As long as there's no danger, I have no reason to refuse."
"What about you?"
"I only want to be an external personnel that gets paid at the end of each mission."
Freedom was an important priority for Nie Yiyi, and she didn't want to get bogged down.
"We'll have to see if Mr. Kim is willing to agree to this arrangement."
"That's perfectly fine."
Kim Hee-cho had already made up his mind. As long as he had these three adapters working for him, he had countless ways through which he could earn money through them.
Thus, a verbal agreement was established, and Kim Hee-cho led the trio to his shop.
Land was very expensive in the Metaverse, but it was relatively cheap to construct buildings. Discounting the design costs, the construction data expenses were very low.
Kim Hee-cho's shop was situated near the middle of the street, which was quite a good location.
It was referred to as a shop, but in reality, it was a massive mansion complete with a swimming pool and a fountain. The interior of the building was designed to resemble outer space, and the furniture was primarily constructed from timber, giving it a Buddhist-monastery-like appearance, an environment that seemed to be ideal for meditation.
"This design can be used by both psychotherapists and divinators without any renovations required, so it's very convenient regardless of who rents out the location." Kim Hee-cho was clearly very pleased with his design, and at the same time, he pointed at an object at the center of the room that resembled a signal transmitter, then continued, "This is the most expensive fixture in the shop. With this transmitter, you'll be able to release advertisements to all of the corresponding streets, and once the right people see the advertisements, they'll come to you of their own accord, so it's very convenient."
"Is that right? In that case, we'll be able to pick and choose our customers. We won't take the ones that are too dangerous, nor will we accept jobs with profit margins that are too thin."
Hook was still very much fixated on taking as little risk as possible.
"Rest assured, I'll organize suitable customers for you. After all, I don't want to put you three in harm's way, either. You are my cash cows, and the bond between a person and their cash cow is even more intimate than the bond between blood brothers!" Kim Hee-cho chuckled, displaying his humorous personality with that inoffensive joke.
"Alright, this place belongs to the three of you from now on. As the tenants, you have the right to kick me out at any time. In order to prevent any of us from backing revoking the agreement, I'm going to call my lawyer right now, and the electronic contract will arrive very soon."
Kim Hee-cho was truly afraid that the three adapters would suddenly get cold feet at the last second. After all, this collaborative partnership was far more lucrative than renting out the storefront.
A few calls were made, and shortly thereafter, a contract arrived. Adam and the others read through the contract to ensure that there were no issues, then signed it on the spot.
Kim Hee-cho eagerly signed the contract as well to seal the deal.
"We have to give the clinic a name... What should we name it?"
"Memories..." Adam thought back to his own experiences as a blank slate and all of the memories that he had lost permanently. "Let's call it 'Memories'."
"Alright, that's quite a cultured name. Can I set the minimum price a little lower? That'll give us more clients to choose from, and it's also important to remember that none of you have official qualifications."
"Sure."
"Alright, then each treatment will be priced at 80,000 to 300,000. That's a price range that even the average person would be able to afford."
Generally speaking, psychotherapy services offered by adapters only catered toward the rich. For example, the psychotherapy service that Deranged Pig had requested from the pawn shop had cost him several million.
The average person suffering from mental issues generally relied on medicine and normal therapists for treatment. There aren't many avenues through which one could completely eradicate an anomaly.
Hence, Kim Hee-cho knew that these unqualified adapter psychotherapy clinics were actually very lucrative. In this day and age, there were many people who were tormented by their mental issues and were willing to spend a large sum of money to eradicate their anomalies once and for all.
"Oh, that was quick! We've already got an order! It's only been less than a minute since the advertisement was released!"
Kim Hee-cho knew that this was going to be a lucrative clinic, but he certainly wasn't expecting a customer to come knocking right away.
"Do you want to accept the job?"
"Let's take a look at it first," Adam replied.
He had never arranged a job for himself. The only mission that he had gone on had been organized for him by the pawn shop.
"Alright."
Kim Hee-cho had a brief chat with the client, and after Adam agreed to issue the client an entry permit, a woman with a slim figure appeared in the guest hall following a flash of white light.
The woman was very scantily dressed, and she appeared to be around 30 to 40 years of age, perhaps older, but the heavy makeup that she was wearing made it very difficult to accurately determine her age.
"You're charging only 80,000 for the services of three adapters? Is that really true?" the woman immediately asked as soon as she arrived, and at the same time, she pulled a cigarette out of her breast pocket before lighting it and placing it between her lips.