The Dislocated Man: A Cyberpunk LitRPG (Slumrat Rising Book 5) by Warby Picus

Author:Warby Picus [Picus, Warby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Published: 2025-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

ONE ANT NOT ENOUGH? WANNA BET?

Karz Sung’s poker face was justly legendary. Even so, he couldn’t quite restrain a certain crinkling at the corners of his eyes and a subconscious throbbing of the veins on his temple.

“I do always like more power. It’s never free, though.” The old man’s voice remained mild as milk. Things hadn’t quite risen to the level of actual strong emotion.

“Oh, yeah, you could potentially be out … I want to say as much as twenty or even thirty thousand wen.” Truth nodded. “Well, I guess there isn’t really an upper limit; it really depends on how you want to scale things.”

“As much as that, huh?” Karz sat deeper into his buttery-soft leather armchair, which might not have cost twenty thousand wen but did cost eight thousand. The sofa in the living room, now, that was a twenty-thousand-wen item.

“I’m converting food, shelter, and labor costs into wen and guessing. You might be able to do it cheaper. More expensive might be a better option, but like I said, up to you.”

“Recruiting people?”

“Children. Consider it an alternative form of eating them.” Truth’s smile was quite warm. Karz didn’t find it particularly reassuring.

“Raising a child costs considerably more than twenty thousand wen, young man. As you may well learn.”

“Nah.”

“Don’t want children?”

“Don’t think money is going to be a thing by the time I do have kids.”

That got the old man shaking his head. “I know why you think that, but you are wrong. The mechanism of currency doesn’t rely on cosmic rays. Like fire and steel. Having magic makes it easier to use, but you can have them without it.”

“Sure. So, how many cans of beans will twenty wen buy you when farms are barely functional, wagons don’t work anymore, and everyone with an open aperture is in agony? On the other hand, I do have this machete”—Truth waved an empty hand—“that I beat out of a bit of carriage-door panel and sharpened on a brick. Twenty wen or machete—which is the better trade for the bean-seller?”

“Ah, but that only applies in a situation where there are only two people. What about two thousand people? Or twenty thousand? How many cans of beans is a person expected to carry around with them?” Karz smiled. “You will be shocked how quickly large groups form up. It’s cold out there alone. Having a medium of exchange just makes sense.”

Truth nodded slowly at that. His evaluation on how bad things would get was pretty different from the old man’s, but on the other hand, organizing people was this old-timer’s full time job. One he had likely been doing since long before Truth was born.

“Well, that does take us back to my suggestion.”

“The kids. Instead of having them sew clothes, you think I should adopt them?”

“Adoption seems a bit much.” Truth shrugged. “I was thinking enlistment.”

That got a slow nod. “Level Zeros, trained from youth to serve the clan loyally. Cheap to train, because we won’t be spending any cultivation resources on them.

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