Atelier Tycoon Episode 3
“Hahaha.”
Lilife laughed hollowly before letting out a sigh. The heavy, deflating sound spoke volumes about her state of mind, but she soon accepted reality. Sweeping her hair back, her eyes blazed as if they could shoot laser beams.
It didn’t matter if the other portals were locked like this one. The unlock conditions were simple, so she should be able to open the portal soon enough. She was confident in her ability to grind.
In <Atelier Tycoon>, the map is divided into two types: the ‘Atelier Map’ and the ‘World Map’.
Unlike the Atelier Map, which is available from the start of the game, the World Map only opens after fulfilling certain conditions.
If the Atelier Map is a place to collect materials, then the World Map is where players can sell the items or materials they’ve created. It can be thought of as an expanded version of the shop.
There were a total of 6 regions on the Atelier Map.
First, the ‘Atelier Area’ served as the home base, complete with a house, a spacious yard, and a door leading to the shop, making it the players’ base camp.
Being the most frequently mentioned area by players, it was commonly referred to simply as the ‘Atelier’ on the official forums. Sometimes the entire Atelier Area was called the Atelier, while other times the mansion or workshop specifically was called the Atelier.
Since ‘Atelier’ is the most frequently mentioned word in Atelier Tycoon, the term was used in many different contexts.
Next was the Golden Fields area, which opened alongside the Atelier Area after completing the tutorial. Crops could be harvested here.
‘And next is the Misty Forest.’
On the Atelier Map, it was the forest located beyond the Golden Fields. It was a place where you could gather herbs and mushrooms. Potions made from herbs were quite profitable, making it a location most players utilized efficiently.
Then came the Aqua Shore and the Twinkle Twinkle Mine. These two regions followed a format where players had to choose one to progress through first.
Depending on which region you chose, the romance routes would also change—
“I had no interest in the male protagonists, so I wouldn’t know.”
True to their names, the Aqua Shore allowed for the collection of seafood, while the Twinkle Twinkle Mine yielded minerals.
The final region was the White Snow Mountain, and very few players had managed to unlock this area.
Since the male protagonists could be romanced without unlocking the White Snow Mountain, most players didn’t even look in its direction or pay it any mind.
Occasionally, players who willingly walked into the thorny path would post about the White Snow Mountain on the forums, and the sporadic posts were all of a similar type.
[-AtelierTaikun: You absolutely must not unlock the White Snow Mountain.. You’ll end up like me.. You’ll regret it like I do..
-Cotton bat: Shiva Ryuㅠㅠㅠ I must have been crazy.. I should have just been satisfied looking at Ian’s face Ughh..
-Oolongcha: I think today is the breaking point for me. Can you see I’m in the red?ㅋㅋkㅠ I can’t help but laugh.. I guess I just have to restart the game..ㅎ
-What’s your nickname: Um.. I think I unlocked the White Snow Mountain after drinking yesterday.. What do I do..?
⤷Kim Manong: How much did you drink to unlock the White Snow Mountain..; You’re 100% going bankrupt, so just restart.]
As seen here, posts about the White Snow Mountain were always about ‘regretting unlocking it’ or ‘going bankrupt.’
Unlocking the White Snow Mountain meant you had unlocked all the other regions.
Players who reached that level were high-level, so bankruptcy was a massive blow. The losses were incomparably greater than for players who went bankrupt in the early game.
Thus, the White Snow Mountain was an infamous location among players. There was even a joking rumor that the reason it was called the White Snow Mountain was because players’ minds went blank (hayahaejida) from bankruptcy.
Each region had its own difficulty, but the White Snow Mountain was uniquely hellish in its difficulty. The reason was that the materials collectible there were extremely scarce.
While other areas allowed for easy acquisition of materials, the White Snow Mountain was, as its name suggested, a place covered only in snow.
The occasionally found materials were high in rarity and thus valuable, but the discovery rate was extremely low.
People even said the chance of finding materials was probably in the single digits, and that was indeed the case.
Although Atelier Tycoon was famous for its otome story and CGs, its foundation was still a tycoon game, so there were many expenses. It was only natural that money was needed to manage the unlocked regions.
With no way to obtain materials and money draining away regardless, it was an inevitable outcome for players who had focused on romance routes over atelier management to go bankrupt after unlocking the White Snow Mountain.
Unlike them, Liliphe, who had no intention of pursuing romance routes, had built a solid foundation according to the management simulation aspect. Therefore, even after unlocking the White Snow Mountain, she didn’t suffer major losses. She had even paved a solid path all the way to the Sky Island above the White Snow Mountain.
“It was all fine until I found the 7,777 Gem……”
Lilife lamented how she had ended up in this situation, then gathered the tools she had brought with her and returned to the atelier.
