[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 5: Investment

After Ves finished freaking out, he read the mission description again and understood he missed out an important detail. The mission demanded that he sell virtual mechs 'of his own creation'. What the phrasing implied that he wasn't stuck with trying to peddle the ungainly Fantasia 2R-E to a group of idiots.

As long as Ves spent the month designing a couple of decent variants and promoting them on the local net, he might reach the sales figure.

A hundred sales a month might sound like peanuts to established virtual mech designers, but meeting it remained a hefty challenge to a nobody like Ves.

"I can't physically build all hundred models by hand." Ves concluded as he formulated a basic plan.

"At this tier, pilots don't demand too much from their models. It'll be fine if I outsource the manufacturing to the game."

The game made it easy to automate production of any design as long as the owner had fabricated it in the virtual workshop by hand at least once.

It came with hefty downsides if Ves decided to enlist this service. The cost of production doubled and the quality of the finished mechs took a substantial hit. These were deliberately set by the BSBH Corporation in order to avoid the mech market being dominated by a small number of professional producers.

The biggest challenge was to design a custom mech that was still worth buying even after its quality took a dive when put into mass production. It had to offer at least one substantial advantage over the competition.

He'd never be able to accomplish such a design without help. Luckily, the bright credits and the Design Points he earned from the previous tutorial missions could help him out a lot, if he spent them wisely.

Despite the tight 1 month deadline, Ves felt highly motivated. The reward for completion mentioned that he could receive a production license for a real mech. Licensing costs for outdated mechs were modest, but nobody bought antiques except for special purposes. The licenses for current mechs started with prices ranging from tens of millions of bright credits, not an easy amount for Ves to pull out of nowhere. The System taking care of the license reduced his projected spending by at least 80%.

Only the randomness of the reward kept him a little vigilant. He hadn't received much luck with the System so far, so he felt there might be a possibility he might receive a useless model.

Any design over a hundred years old were too obsolete to be of use in the battlefield. While some mech designers have found a niche by refurbishing classic models with modern materials and technology, it had never been a large enough market.

Perhaps the System's randomness might also screw him in the other direction. Ves could receive a model that was too high-end, one that cost billions in materials alone to produce. His small-scale second-hand 3D printer might not even have the capabilities to process all of the exotic materials involved with the production of the parts. If he was particularly unlucky, some big players might even wonder why his small mech boutique possessed such an expensive production license in the first place.

Ves shook his head and got down to Earth. "First, lets spend the Design Points. They're not much, but enough for a total beginner like me."

He had received a windfall of a 1000 DP for completing the tutorial mission, but he couldn't rely on earning the same amount going forward. He only earned 1 DP for completing a successful design, and another point for selling it. At this pace, he'd face a considerable drought of DP in the near future.

"The points aren't doing anything sitting in my Status. I might as well spend them as I desperately need to improve my basic capabilities."

His recent experience in designing a mech variant and putting it on the market helped put his skill level in perspective. Ves had a better what his good and bad points are in comparison to other inexperienced mech designers who sold their work in Iron Spirit.