Chapter 57: CH-57
We followed the old man up a staircase, the uneven stone steps chipped and cracked in several places.
The place was so run-down that even an abandoned addicts’ hangout would’ve looked more presentable.
May walked beside me, maintaining her silence, but I could still see her sweating from the lack of AC units and proper ventilation.
From the outside, the building looked spacious and promising—probably once a profitable business. But now, every corner told a story of neglect and mismanagement.
When we reached the second floor, many doors lined the hallway like a row of hotel rooms, each one identical and nondescript.
The old man stopped near the end of the hall and gestured toward a door.
"That’s where the owner office is. Please wait inside."
The room was modest—bare walls, one window with faded blinds, and a desk stacked with disorganized paperwork.
We took a seat on the two chairs in front of the desk. They were hard, uncomfortable, and gave off a faint smell of mold that made me wrinkle my nose slightly.
click!
I turned, half-expecting another grumpy old man... but instead, a woman stepped in.
She looked to be in her late thirties, with bright orange hair tied neatly in a ponytail. She was attractive, carrying the same mature aura as Ellie—though, admittedly, her figure wasn’t quite on the same level.
A casual white polo shirt and black pants gave her a simple, professional look—but it suited her perfectly.
Walking closer, her brown eyes studied us for a few seconds—sharp, calculating. Then she moved around the desk and sat down in the worn leather chair across from us.
"My name is Amanda Harland. Owner of Harland Training Center."
"Ace Mercer,"
My response was short and fast.
"What are you playing at?" she asked bluntly. "Why is a rich kid like you coming to a dump like this?"
I offered her a polite smile.
"Other men’s trash is another man’s treasure," I said lightly, glancing around the room. "I heard this place is going under, right?"
Her eyes narrowed. "So what? You here to make fun of me? Just so you know, things got this bad because our competitors sabotaged us. We used to be a credible and well-known center."
From what I could tell, she didn’t seem to be lying, and I could sense traces of resentment in her words, but I didn’t buy the whole sabotage things.
The center probably failed to adjust and innovate in time. Still, that was just my observation. No need to rub it in or push her buttons.
"Of course not," I replied. "In fact, I came here to give you a lifeline."
"A lifeline? " she repeated, leaning back in her chair.
"Yes. I’m willing to invest in this training center. And trust me, money will not be an issue."
That caught her attention.
"So... you want to buy it?" she asked.
"No. I’m not interested in ownership or paperwork. I don’t want the legal nonsense that comes with it."
"Then what do you want?"
"I’ll invest quietly—behind the scenes. And in return, you’ll give me a few favors from time to time. Nothing unreasonable."
Her brows knitted together, studying me like she was trying to read the fine print of a contract I hadn’t written down.
"You don’t strike me as the charitable type," she blurted out.
"I’m not. But it will be in your best interest to work with someone who has access to money you couldn’t even begin to imagine.
Her lips parted slightly at my bold claim. I was literally milking the Mercer family to the very last drop.
"Aren’t you worried that I’ll betray you if there’s no legal documents?"
As expected, she was guarded against my offer. Anything that seemed too good to be true always set off alarms.
"Betray me?" I repeated, pretending to find her words amusing.
"You’d have to be incredibly dumb to do that for bread crumbs. If you really want the green, then being on my good side is the best move you’ll ever make."
Her eyes finally glowed as my skill took effect. Honestly, it amazed me that it only worked now.
"Okay. I’m willing to work for you... but can you at least tell me what your exact plan is? I’m sure you’re not doing this on a whim."
Amanda took the bait, completely unaware of my ulterior motive. She was more than "pretty enough" for my taste so I could simply make her mine later.
Why bother owning the business when I can own the owner? Sounds like a smarter investment to me.
I stretched my back slightly, the chair proving too uncomfortable for my back.
"You’re right. I do want something from you. Even though your center’s practically worthless, you still have those special training certificates, don’t you? The ones that let a Seeker skip all the menial drills and assignments."
"You just want those?" she raised an eyebrow "Giving them to you would be easy enough... but you could also get them from other training facilities if you just offered the right price, right?"
"Sure, I could do that. But I have bigger plans."
Her lips quirked. "Bigger plans?"
My fingers tapped against the desk slowly, deliberately letting a few seconds pass before I spoke.
"I want to build my own guild...And for that, I need talent—new talent. So, I’ll turn this facility into a respectable place, one people actually want to train at."
Her eyes widened, and she instinctively stood up in her chair.
"You... you want to build a guild?!"
Not just anyone could build something like that from scratch, and she knew it.
But then, she remembered my origin, the weight of the Mercer name, and the influence I carried. If there was anyone who could pull it off, it was me.
The glow in her eyes intensified. Everything clicked in her mind, and suddenly, my value skyrocketed.
"I’ll do my best, boss," she raised her hand decisively. Her smile was all business.
"Perfect." I reached out and grabbed her hand for a firm handshake. "Then consider this the beginning of a very profitable partnership."
Once things settled, we got down to planning. The top priority was full-scale renovation.
Every corner, every wall, every facility needed an overhaul if this place was going to be operating again.
Just like that, I lost five million credits on the initial renovation of the facility. And that was only the beginning—I would need another ten million in just a one week to get the place barely operational.
The technology in this world was far more advanced, which meant that the renovations progressed quickly.
What would have taken a month in my old world could be completed in a fraction of the time.
There was also the matter of getting new training equipment, which would probably cost another ten to twenty million. And that was for the cheapest models.
There was just one problem, though.
I overestimated my liquidity. At the end of the day, I was only using the the Mercer name to pretend to be a somebody—but without my stepmother/sugar mommy backing me, I was practically broke.
"Contact me when you need more money,"
I’d bragged so much earlier about my endless resources that backing down now would make me look like an idiot.