17 Under Construction

As Alan sulked over the fact that the system wasn't going to set up the cafe for him, he went ahead and began ordering the various furniture, equipment, and stock that he'd included in his design. Luckily, though the design wasn't real, it was accurate.

After he finished ordering everything he called Tom and asked him for the number of a contractor he uses.

Tom told him not to worry about it, he'd send someone over. Alan was going to argue, but Tom promised he wouldn't have the contractor do it for free, he'd just make him go there faster.

Pretty soon he'd spoken with the contractor and had them draw up plans for his fireplace, the changes to the floors and walls. The contractor also pointed out he'd need custom lighting. All told, it ended up costing him the remaining $7,000 he had. He was as broke as he had been yesterday, only more so because now he was in debt.

He still hadn't paid off his student loans either. Alan suddenly felt nervous.

"Was this really a good idea?" He wondered. He was risking a lot here. If he didn't succeed then he wouldn't be able to dig himself out of this financial hole for the rest of his life.

These days it was hard for students who took out loans to go to college and graduate school. Supposedly they were more hireable, but from Alan's experience that wasn't the case at all.

He could only work hard. If the system had heard that thought of his it would surely be ecstatic.

Of course, it wouldn't realize that he meant he'd have to work hard to pinch every penny he could from this extravagant, stingy system.

For example, when he ordered supplies just now he'd made sure to purchase enough to get free shipping. If one place didn't offer free shipping he found a different one. With that, the system's estimate was slightly off. Of course, that money then went down the drain when he had to shell out for the lighting system.

Alan's struggle to be cost conscious continued!

Meanwhile, Tom was speaking with the contractor that he had sent to Alan.

Hearing all of the work that Alan wanted done, he despaired. He wouldn't be able to get his coffee anytime in the near future at this rate.

The contractor worked for his company, so he ordered him to put aside all of his other jobs and focus exclusively on this one. Furthermore, if he didn't finish it within a week he'd be fired. If he finished it in less than a week he'd get a nice bonus for the holidays.

And so, once again, a number of innocent people found themselves called in by their boss, the contractor. Birthdays went uncelebrated, weddings were postponed, and workers from all over found themselves recruited in a massive effort to renovate this one two story building.

The contractor sweated as he wondered if he could get it all done in time. He shouted a little louder at the workers as the work went on.

Of course, karma was swift.

Alan, who now lived upstairs, found himself unable to even think as the loud sounds of hammering, sawing, and drilling rang out from the lower floor.

He tried putting a pillow over his head, but it didn't work.

He sighed. "Well, I'll just put up with it for now. They'll have to stop when they go home to sleep."

However, contrary to his expectations, as the sky grew darker the work never stopped. New workers replaced the old workers, taking shifts to make sure that construction was constant. No contractor had worked so hard, so quickly in history.

The next day, Alan, eyes red from lack of sleep, walked downstairs where work was still happening. The entire first floor had been torn apart as they prepared to install new wood floors and paneling.

Alan sighed. "I might have to sleep at my parent's place tonight."

He'd called them the night before to tell them what was going on. He said a customer had decided to invest in his business to explain the sudden change. They were thrilled to hear it, but somewhat skeptical.

He didn't look forward to another night there. It would just make them doubt his story even more.

"System, if this keeps up I won't be able to run the cafe when it opens because I'll be too tired."

The system was silent for a minute before responding. "System has developed a solution while taking into account Host's preferences."

Alan was taken aback. Since when was the system so considerate?

"What's the solution?" Alan asked cautiously.

"Host can buy earplugs." The system said blandly.

And there it was. Alan almost keeled over. Though he'd expected it to be unhelpful, he'd thought it would do more than that.

"System, can't you soundproof the building or something?" He asked desperately.

"Host, you have made it clear you want to save money. Given your current lack of money, soundproofing would be impossible. Thus, system considerately thought of a low cost solution. You're welcome Host."

Alan could only ignore it. Maybe he was just projecting, but he swore the system sounded smug when it said that.