Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 3073: The Boiling Frog Method

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Five Regions, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, TSR Tower, Penthouse Office

“Anna, no one cares about your mommy issues,” Jill snapped impatiently. Then, turning toward her silver-tongued fiancé, she demanded, “Wyatt, quit stalling and finalize the merit-loan system so we can announce it to the people. I thought you were short on time.”

Anna was a little offended by Jill’s bluntness, but she couldn’t deny that Jill had a point. Susan seemed to agree as well.

As the three of them turned their attention toward me, I couldn’t help but feel a little offended. I had just opened up to them and poured my heart out, only for them to interpret it as me stalling.

Apparently, emotional vulnerability has a remarkably short shelf life when it comes to men. Still, under the weight of their increasingly impatient stares, I eventually caved.

“Fine.” I leaned back and finally laid out the merit-loan system I had already decided on, putting an end to our endless debate and giving them something concrete to take to the people.

“Since we can keep the interest rates this low, we can offer everyone a merit loan worth roughly forty to sixty percent of their accumulated merits.” I paused, letting the three of them process the numbers. “However, the larger the loan, the higher the interest rate. Don’t worry, even the annual highest rate remains in the single digits, while everyone still has access to enough merits to prepare for what’s coming.”

“Of course, nobody gets to walk in and take a loan simply because they’re available.” I continued, “Anyone who wants to borrow merits will first need approval from their respective department head, organizational leader, family head, or whoever is responsible for overseeing them.”

“The criteria are simple. Do they genuinely need the loan, or are they simply trying to exploit the situation?” I projected the list of items available through the merit exchange. “Some of those resources are priceless in the Card World and can fetch a tremendous price on the black market. If we hand out merits without oversight, people with need could borrow everything they can, resell the resources, and walk away with a fortune.”

“So yes, we need the leadership to make sure the loans go to people who actually need them.” I then shifted to the second part of the system. “As for the merit pools allocated to departments, organizations, families, and other groups, those aren’t personal slush funds. They’re development funds.”

“The management should use them to identify members and employees with potential but insufficient merits, then invest in those people. If someone has the talent to become an important asset to the New Empire but lacks the resources to reach that potential, the merit pool should help bridge that gap.”

“Of course, the same interest rate applies there. The departmental employees or organization members receiving those merits have a moral and ethical responsibility to repay the loan with interest and help with the development of their respective departments or organisations, rather than enriching themselves.” I knew I was placing a considerable amount of authority in the hands of the Empire’s leadership. “I realize that’s a lot of authority to hand over to department heads, organizational leaders, and family representatives.”

“But none of them will be operating without oversight.” I gave them a meaningful look. “Hive Spirit will monitor the system, review applications, flag suspicious patterns, and identify cases where the leadership’s decisions don’t match the stated purpose of the program. Then, there is the appeal process where the employees or members or citizens can appeal their cases with Hive Spirit.”

“People can make mistakes. People can be biased. People can be tempted. Hive Spirit doesn’t have those weaknesses.” I leaned back. “So we’re giving the leadership enough authority to actually govern, giving Hive Spirit enough authority to make sure that authority isn’t abused, and giving the people a way to verify their leader’s work and hold them accountable if needed.”

“In all honesty, I’d rather remove the middleman entirely and let everyone apply for or appeal their cases directly through Hive Spirit.” I looked at the three of them. “It would be far more efficient. But I don’t think people would immediately trust Hive Spirit’s judgment enough to hand her that much authority over their lives.”

“So this system serves another purpose.” I tapped my finger against the table. “It gives people a reason to interact with the Hive Spirit voluntarily.”

“When they feel they didn’t get a satisfactory decision from their leadership they will willingly appeal their case to Hive Spirit, who will do her job splendidly. They’ll start seeing that she isn’t some mysterious entity watching them from the shadows, but an intelligence capable of processing their circumstances and making consistent judgments.”

“In other words, this is Hive Spirit’s official debut in the real world outside the VR-Universe.” A faint smile tugged at my lips.

Introducing leadership to Hive Spirit was a different matter. There were only a limited number of them, so I could gather everyone into one room, introduce Hive Spirit, explain her capabilities, and shove her existence down their throats until they understood that she was now an integral part of the New Empire’s administration.

I couldn’t exactly do that with millions of ordinary citizens. Well, technically, I could. If I wanted to be an absolute bastard about it, I could have Redfall use Faith or have Sansa unleash her innate Calamity to make the transition considerably more persuasive, or even instant.

But I wasn’t interested in turning my people into obedient puppets. I wanted acceptance, not submission, “So we’ll introduce her gradually. First through the merit-loan system appeals, then through administrative assistance, resource management, and eventually more aspects of their daily lives.”

“Little by little, they’ll become familiar with the Hive Spirit. And once they realize how much easier she makes their lives,” I smiled. “They’ll start relying on her. Eventually, I want Hive Spirit to become so deeply integrated into their daily lives that people can’t imagine running the New Empire without her.”

It wasn’t about forcing them to accept her. It was about giving them enough reasons to choose her.