WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Unlimited Money Shelter of the Apocalypse ◈
Chapter 30: Time for the Researchers to Arrive
──────
In a famous novel about a nuclear apocalypse, military rifle rounds are used as currency.
The reasons those rounds became currency are fairly obvious. They do not deteriorate over time, they can be used for self-defense in an emergency, and bullets are supplies that anyone surviving an apocalypse would want.
It also describes the value and demand for things that can no longer be produced in the post-apocalyptic world, such as batteries, canned goods, weapons, clothing, and medicine, soaring through the roof.
But naturally, I had no intention whatsoever of using “dangerous” goods like weapons or ammunition as currency for my shelter's settlers.
“Ammunition will be the best possible trade good when bartering with other factions outside the shelter.”
“It will.”
Wasn't that why I had set up automated production lines for 5.56 mm and 9 mm ammunition in the Munitions Factory?
Anyway.
That did not mean our shelter would have no internal currency.
As Anne had said, luxury goods like alcohol and cigarettes would have enough value to serve as currency, but...
Honestly, they were utterly useless to someone like me who did neither.
The same went for other luxuries. Every one of them was difficult to store, and their desirability and value varied from person to person, making them unsuitable as currency.
Of course, such luxuries would be useful enough in the half-ruined world outside. But as the operator of a fully functioning “underground city,” why would I need to cling to physical currency that could be damaged or counterfeited, while leaving room for theft and black markets?
Just issue every settler an ID card, link it to the Central Control Room's main server, and award points according to their labor contributions. Problem solved.
“That is an extremely reasonable judgment.”
“Mm, mm.”
“Furthermore, using shelter ID cards would allow us to tally all settler transaction records on the server in real time. We could also detect and prevent unofficial black markets before they form.”
Naturally, credits would be used not only to buy luxuries like alcohol and cigarettes, but as currency for every service and amenity in the shelter.
“I would also like to propose a three-tier labor incentive system to operate the credit system effectively.”
The labor incentive system Anne recited was as follows.
“Basically, every settler should receive two meals a day and basic housing free of charge. However, every amenity beyond that must be restricted to credit-only purchases.”
“So people will work?”
“That is correct.”
I read through the detailed guidelines listed on the tablet Anne handed me.
First, our shelter would provide two meals a day and housing.
Second, daily credits would be awarded at different rates based on work difficulty and performance, including manual labor, specialized research, and facility maintenance.
At this point, one might worry about the emergence of so-called freeloaders who did not want to work and only wanted to live off free meals.
But Anne had taken even that into account.
“All areas of the rest facilities except the park and outdoor sports facilities will be operated on a paid basis.”
From the indoor gym to the arcade, library, VR sports zone, woodworking shop, and PC café, all cultural and entertainment facilities would be open only to settlers who paid credits.
Naturally, anyone with enough credits could move into a larger home, buy better furniture, or eat better meals.
“Furthermore, as you mentioned earlier, credits will be required to purchase luxuries such as coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, and premium desserts. Those without credits will also be placed lower in priority when using popular medical facilities or additional educational facilities in the future.”
Well, it had cost well over $100 billion to build those facilities. I could not make everything free.
Besides, with this many facilities brought into the shelter, every one of the seven thousand settlers needed to keep their hands and feet busy if we wanted to maintain productivity.
I would guarantee the bare minimum of food and shelter, but if they wanted to enjoy human pleasures and luxuries, I would make sure they pulled at least their own weight somehow.
Of course, I had enough conscience not to make children work, so they could rest easy.
“Then clothing beyond the basic issued outfit should also have to be earned with credits.”
“That is correct.”
Of course, I was a little worried that this might create something like a class system within the shelter...
“Humans are social animals. Even if one tries to eliminate classes artificially, they will create inequality and classes on their own. Human history has always been that way.”
It felt a little weird hearing that from an android.
Still, after hearing Anne's argument that we should establish and manage a controllable system before people started doing stupid things and splitting into factions, I found myself nodding.
When have humans ever been the sort of creatures who did not raise hell about equality? No, absolutely not.
Naturally, we would need additional construction, such as separate smoking rooms and drinking areas, but that was more than worth accepting.
And of course, there would be no unreasonable discrimination beyond this.
Paying more would not get someone's child into a better educational facility, nor would it grant preferential treatment during emergency surgery...
They might receive a little priority when using entertainment facilities and other amenities, but medical care involving lives and children's education would be provided equally, without discrimination.
As long as they paid the minimum credits.
* * *
“I also recommend creating a marketplace, stalls, or a shopping street that allows voluntary trade between settlers.”
The intention was good.
If settlers needed different things, they could exchange goods or trade them for credits, creating a virtuous cycle.
But did our settlers even have anything to trade among themselves? I would be monopolizing and controlling one hundred percent of most raw materials, including food and daily necessities.
In response to my questioning, Anne flipped through the screen and listed examples one by one.
“First, settlers can trade handmade furniture and interior decorations made from the lumber supplied by the woodworking shop, as well as customized clothing altered with sewing machines.”
“Mm.”
“That is not all. A service market for trading personal skills and time will also form. Paintings and portraits, haircuts, beauty services, music and fitness lessons, individual appliance repairs, or distinctive dishes made by combining one's rationed ingredients could all become tradable goods. Knowledge itself may even become a trade item.”
Come to think of it, that made sense.
I would hold one hundred percent control over primary survival resources like food, medicine, energy, and raw materials, while freely allowing trade in secondary processed goods and personal services created through settlers' talents or hobbies.
Then the settlers would feel as if they were living in a “living” city.
Of course, transaction fees on every credit exchange would be collected faithfully by my central control server.
“This is much better than I expected. It will make them feel less oppressed, too.”
“However, introducing this system will require an additional $27 million for distributing credit payment terminals, constructing the shopping street, and printing ID cards.”
That was pocket change.
* * *
Twelve days remained until the demo service ended.
After setting up the shopping district facilities we had discussed yesterday, along with the key everyday infrastructure found in any ordinary city, such as libraries and pharmacies, I was finally going to decorate my dream home...
“You must now construct a route for external researchers to travel through.”
...No, I decided to build a secret underground road toward the abandoned mine through which the researchers would enter.
A few days ago, after the Tier-One Special Forces had thoroughly searched the abandoned mine and withdrawn, General Kang and the Juggernauts had conducted a detailed search of the area and confirmed there were no problems.
Furthermore, by intercepting internal military radio communications through the shelter's communications equipment, we had learned that no additional search operations would occur in this area for the time being.
Only after double-checking and triple-checking that no “traps” such as listening devices or vibration sensors had been installed did we finally begin construction.
Then again, no matter how cautious the military authorities were, they would not leave expensive surveillance equipment deep inside a creepy abandoned mine that had been closed for over thirty years, with no sign that anyone had even entered it.
“This is the three-kilometer point that barely falls within the construction range limit.”
I scanned the 3D underground map of the abandoned mine displayed on Anne's screen.
The end of a tunnel five hundred meters underground.
Abandoned after the mine closed in the 1990s, the bottom of the tunnel five hundred meters below ground was filled with black, rotting groundwater. The thick toxic gases and oxygen deficiency characteristic of a sealed space with its ventilation fans shut off also looked serious.
Now I understood why the special forces troops had been unable to descend any farther than the two-hundred-meter point.
How could a person possibly enter a place full of rotten water and gas like that?
But I was different. As long as I had the system and money, I could solve it somehow.
I immediately overlaid a blueprint for a generously sized tunnel, wide enough for large transport vehicles to pass through freely, all the way to the three-kilometer point within the shelter system's construction range.
Then, click.
Thoom!
With a heavy vibration that felt as though reality itself had twisted, a double-walled tunnel surrounded by special materials and shielding was carved out in an instant.
A smooth, three-kilometer tunnel had been completed in moments where thousands of tons of bedrock had stood.
The total cost was $6.3 billion. It was not that large, but since it stretched over three kilometers, the cost had increased exponentially.
This tunnel connected directly to the inner tunnel at the shelter entrance. The S-shaped tunnel guarded by two-meter-thick double blast doors.
In other words, even if enemies discovered this tunnel through the abandoned mine, shockwaves and direct fire would be diverted by the curved section, and they would ultimately be stopped by the double Rashomon Gate, the wall of despair.
Of course, that did not mean I had been careless with concealment. Like our shelter's main entrance, the entrance at this connection was hidden by an entire cliff face toward the abandoned mine that slid open in the form of camouflaged bedrock.
The problem came after that.
I had to conduct on-site construction myself, mobilizing materials and manpower for the abandoned mine tunnels and the five-hundred-meter vertical shaft outside the three-kilometer construction range limit.
“...What were the dimensions of the elevator hanging there again?”
Fortunately, General Kang and the Juggernauts had searched and surveyed the site thoroughly in advance, so I did not have to struggle over what to buy.
I opened the shop and immediately purchased four industrial ultra-high-pressure submersible pumps, a set of high-performance toxic-gas filtration and ventilation ducts, and high-voltage, high-capacity power cables.
A little later, we directly entered the underground interior of the abandoned mine by opening the camouflaged rock door at the end of the newly created three-kilometer tunnel.
Hissss...
The moment the camouflaged rock wall opened, the pungent stench of mold trapped for thirty years and the stale, damp air pierced through my gas mask and stung my nose.
Soon, Juggernauts and unmanned work robots poured into every corner of the mine tunnels.
Rooooar!
As the sound of steel footsteps echoed through the tunnels, the four ultra-high-pressure submersible pumps installed by the Juggernauts started up at once.
Amid their insane, rumbling roar, the rotten water that had been stagnant for decades began pouring out.
At the same time, the unmanned robots drove anchors into the ceiling bedrock and quickly connected the high-performance ventilation ducts.
Whoosh! Rooooar!
As the dead ventilation system was replaced, cold, fresh air began forcefully rushing into the gloomy tunnels.
Whenever there were sharp rock outcroppings jutting menacingly from the walls, a Juggernaut would smack them flat with its palm.
Terrifying every time I saw it.
“You should step back a little farther.”
“I should.”
I was really glad I had worn a gas mask. The dust bursting up from all directions was bad enough to obscure my vision.
Next, we conducted real-time tunnel safety inspections and continued civil-engineering reinforcement work in every vulnerable area.
Whenever materials were needed, I only had to “take out” high-strength supports of the right dimensions on the spot. Since the Juggernauts could fill the role of heavy equipment, the construction speed was practically monstrous.
It was enough to make me think that I could use the Juggernauts as combat engineers later.
The final task was replacing the elevator in the five-hundred-meter vertical shaft leading to the surface.
There was not enough time to drill a new vertical shaft, so we precisely measured the existing abandoned mine shaft and decided to install a perfectly fitted precision freight-elevator module.
Rumble! Creak!
The Juggernauts climbed the vertical walls, then brutally tore out the thirty-year-old rusty elevator and its dangling wires, frame and all, and threw them to the bottom.
Afterward, work robots clinging to the walls began vertically stacking reinforced steel frames amid welding sparks like they were assembling Lego blocks, then bolting them into place.
It was massive construction made possible only because we were confident the special forces would not visit again for at least six months.
Watching the scene, Anne made a comment.
“At this speed, it will be completed in a day with time to spare.”
They would notice something was different if they came as far as the elevator, but entering a dark, damp cave with no electricity was not the sort of thing anyone did without serious courage.
Even if they took the elevator down, finding the entrance connected to our shelter would be impossible. How could they find a shutter perfectly camouflaged as a rock wall?
I had just closed it once myself. They would never find it.
* * *
January 12, 2027. Eleven days remained until the demo service ended.
With more than 99 percent of the shelter facilities complete, we would bring in the researchers four days ahead of schedule.
Now the real beginning starts.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
