Relics and Shops – An Unwanted Lesson For a Sloth Heiress
by: Shatea
“Boss! We got a 1/1!” I cried out while waving my arms like we just beat Wall Street. “Whoa, this is big money! I trust you boss, but I am still new to NFTs so, uh, why don’t we just buy out the collection again?”
My boss, a woman who held the underbelly of New York to Singapore in the palm of her hands as a business prodigy, smiled gently. “Sakura-chan. Would you play a game without players? It’s boring, right? We’re going to be a leader in this new metaverse. At first, opportunities soared with the invention of the internet, then the explosion of social media–now we have Web3. Take note, dear.”
I nodded. To her, $100,000 for a 1/1 was nothing to worry about, but I was still confused. It was just a collectible, right? Boss Marcialla Noteashin PLTCKSDM Weeb (I say Boss for short since I bet she was born ordering people around. Grandma hated her, poor woman. PLTCKSDM? I heard she just picked random letters off a keyboard! She even willed Boss to keep the dang name).
For some reason, though, Grandma loved me, and now my relatives all wanted to kill me off for the fortune I was to inherit. Mom wouldn’t give it to me until I finished training under Aunty Boss here because of that. Learn or get eaten was the motto.
I sighed. Honestly, I just want to create art.
Anyway, Aunty Boss had the resources of resources, so this wasn’t a crazy purchase, but it was still big for a collection in this Web3 thing coming to the mainstream. I was still stuck in Web2, always forgetting my passwords, so Web3 was an alien creature to me. Thankfully, Boss was the leader, though I did feel bad about her long cursed name. I wonder if her mother just called her Boss too.
“Sakura, you’re thinking of weird things again, aren’t you?” She raised a brow.
“No, Boss! I mean, yes! No, I mean no.” I shook my head quickly.
Boss sighed and flicked back her sparkling blonde hair. Tall, beautiful, smart. This menacing power icon had everything. No one dared to cross her, even my corrupted relatives.
‘If it wasn’t for her name,’
She glared up at me from her desk. “You just looked at me with pity.”
“N-no…” I stuttered.
“This is why I shouldn’t hire relatives,” she mumbled to herself.
“Huh?” “Nothing. Now about the 1/1. Let me ask you—did you read the whitepaper?” She held my stare as if she knew I was about to lie.
“Um…I skimmed?” I decided not to say I did so while watching anime and forgot half of it.
“Did you even open your laptop?” She moaned out in disappointment. Boss seemed to always look tired these days whenever she was with me. Must’ve been her other work stressing her out. She should watch more anime.
“I got sick! Mom said I could say that. No wait —” I covered my mouth.
“Oh my god. Sister! I swear if she hadn't threatened to blackmail me I wouldn’t have hired…” Aunt — No, Boss, covered her face with her hands while mumbling to herself.
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Look, she asked me to teach you life skills, so I’ll explain why I made this purchase. I sincerely hope you don’t buy out another adult store and sell weird hotdog costumes again.” With a look of resignation, she placed her hands on the ornate desk while she got to business.
“It’s a meme store! A pop-up store is popular!” I said. Why didn’t she like my business ideas? Learning business was something Mom begged me to do, but I was more of a free spirit. I just want to make figurines and sell them, but Mom said I needed to learn some real skills too so I did both. Ugh. I hate working though! Cry.
“Sit down. Okay, so you know the metaverse is like a digital universe with various ecosystems. In Anime Metaverse, they’ll go beyond a game to having LP tokens, characters that can change traits and a premium shop using only tokens for valuable items. There are also great partners, Zalora and Amazon are supporting them with merchandise to be sold. Now what does this say?”
“That I can buy socks! Aha! I’m right!” I answered with confidence.
She cradled her forehead. “Yes, and?”
‘Oh, not that?’ Um…Oh! I snapped my fingers and said, “I can get my ideal waifu?”
“How are you my niece? Okay, okay. Deep breaths.” She fanned herself and continued, “This means that Anime Metaverse products will be hitting mainstream stores through Zalora and more partners, and the premium shop in-game will have items of good worth.” She grabbed a file off her desk and opened it to show an analysis of Zalora’s stores and a few other prominent brands. “You’ll study this next.”
“Aw.”
“Do it. Now, the game system can reward items with real value from NFTs to whitelists and more. A big factor in all of these is the token. They hid the mechanics for now, but tokens will play a big part, and the 1/1 will have a great advantage. Not only will its rarity be of worth as a collectible, but there will be an advantage in acquiring tokens, I believe. Let’s look at the store, for example — WAKE UP!” She slapped her desk.
BAM!
I quickly sat up and wiped the drool from my face. Ugh, Aunty, just let me be a sloth…No, no. Boss. Right. Boss, let me slack…
“Sakura, I’m doing this for your own good. That no-good biological father of yours won’t provide you any support if something happens to your sickly mother, so you need to be strong. I’m going to train you to outwit all enemies, even if they are blood relatives, so pay attention! The worst betrayal can come from someone close. Ugh, how did our cold-hearted family give birth to complete fluffballs like you and your mother?”
“But Aunt — I mean Boss, I don’t want to rule an underworld business empire,” I moaned out sadly.
She snorted. “You couldn’t in a million years, you sheep.”
“I’d be hurt, but that sounds like a good life. Can the sheep god turn me into a sheep so I can chew grass and laze forever?” I held my hands out in prayer.
“No. You’re now a wolf, so listen! Do you want to lose your investment to scammy schemes, or do you want to grow a business empire?!” She slapped her desk and roared.
“Um…Can I just have a hobby — “ I leaned back into my seat, pretending I was invisible. Ugh. I hated responsibility. Just let me create figures, boo!
“No living like a trust fund kid. C’mon, your mother wanted you to at least not lose all your inheritance in the first year. You know your cousins are eyeing you like a fat piggy bank for new years.” She gave me a discerning look. “Be afraid of the next holiday—your other distant relatives are joining this time.”
“Okay, now I’m hurt. I’m not that bad!” I pouted.
“Back to the topic. The premium shop is a good example of what you can study for your own ideas in the future. They have Relics that act like Legendary items but are permanent. There are Aquila Regia, Saiph, Alphacrux, and Procyon. Some give immunity to failure or error, and some fix items. Some permanently increase yields. These are highly limited, and every use requires burns, so what does this mean?”
“Helps decrease token supply and rarity makes it highly valuable while not giving too much of an unfair advantage?” That was the only thing I remembered from the last lecture in her office.
“I’m so proud of you.” Aunty Boss clapped her hands slowly but with a slight sneer on her face. “You didn’t say the names sound like an angel harem. Your mind has hope!”
I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic, but I’ll take it! Praise was praise!
“Oh, idea!” I quickly picked up my pen and opened my notebook. Guess I had a weird grin on my face again because Aunty Boss gave me that look.
“MOVING ON! I’ll keep this hope alive. To get these Relics, you need to buy them from the premium shop, which only uses tokens. So if 1/1s get a great benefit token-wise or some other way, we have an advantage. Once gone, that’s it since they are limited. Do you understand so far?”
Scribbling furiously, I nodded. “Yes! Limited. Uh-huh.” My heart thumped as my sleepiness started to fade away. Ideas pumped into my brain. I actually wanted to learn more!
Aunty Boss pursed her lips together with suspicious eyes. “You seem too obedient right now, but I’ll continue. We can also partner with the shop and provide items perhaps or collectible nfts as well. I heard N.Fungible had a unique royalty structure for holders that’s generous. We would also be able to collaborate with Anime Metaverse as holders of 1/1s. That would be a great partnership to — Why are you drawing angels?” She frowned at me.
With a broad smile, I showed off my designs. “You gave me an idea! I just had a great design, so I multi-tasked. Ok, so a 1/1 was useful in the game and in irl as a way to maybe gain a partnership with Anime Meta as holders and network and get cool items in-game better. Plus still more affordable and probably more useful than an expensive tv ad. Gotcha. Look! Can I make an NFT collection for a figurine business and partner up, too?”
“Hm. This could actually be a good idea. Irl benefits in the anime figurine business,” She rubbed her chin as she thought.
I smiled. Mom was sick, Dad ran off, and my relatives eyed my inheritance, but at least I had Aunty by my side. Despite her long lectures, Aunty Boss cared. And the Relics talk gave me an idea.
Huh. I guess Web3 wasn’t just about boring charts and weird profile pics. I’ll start a figurine business next! Then partner up with Aunty and AM to make an NFT with utility. Maybe I could still live out my dream AND learn about business as Mom wanted! I could create a huge and immersive ecosystem with NFTs, community, and business that is both fun and tangible. Who knows?
Maybe we can all grow together: Aunt, me, and Anime Metaverse in Web3.
And I wanted an angel harem now.
Last modified 8mo ago