The next day, Shu Bao woke up with great difficulty, having slept only four hours.
He blamed Sir Richard Alford, author of The First Magic.
Who asked an Englishman to write so vividly yet informatively? Exciting adventures were intertwined with real stories of young magicians from different countries, complemented by practical advice from experienced mentors. And at the end of each chapter, readers were presented with creative tasks that required serious reflection.
Having promised himself not to read First Magic before bed, he absentmindedly ate breakfast and returned to work. Seeing the sleep-deprived youth, the librarian merely smiled knowingly; he was all too familiar with the feeling of bookish insomnia.
Having entered three hundred titles into the system, Shu Bao was fully awake by lunchtime and able to maintain a constructive dialogue with his employer. He spent the rest of the day voraciously reading First Magic, and after dinner, he finished another two hundred books, completing his daily quota. Tired but content, he slept soundly that night.
Thus, day after day passed, until two weeks later the last page of the book was read.
"So, what conclusion did you draw from what you read?" the librarian asked him jokingly.
"The dimensional magic is too strong," Shu Bao answered honestly.
The old man almost fell out of his chair in surprise.
"The book is not about that at all!"
There was a more important conclusion that the young man could not voice.
"The economy is completely different. I don't understand a damn thing."
The chapters of the book, one way or another connected with the income or expenses of magicians, raised more questions than answers in him.
He could still handle construction, security, and healthcare. But hunting, which directly or indirectly involves about half of all mages?
Hunters earn incredible sums from selling unknown resource types, for which someone is willing to pay handsomely. They then spend every penny on consumables and personal enhancements—all of which are produced by someone else.
The income gap is a separate issue. Even a basic mage can earn tens of times more than the average person, and at the highest levels, they are all billionaires. Mages represent only 1–2% of the population, yet they seem to generate more than half of the global GDP.
"An economy built on magic. Maginomics?"
The young man sighed sadly.
In the previous world, even awakened in the middle of the night, he could easily name the country's ten largest industries, with their approximate shares, and provide a detailed commentary on each. Here, he's illiterate at best.
In a gloomy mood, Shu Bao set to work with redoubled persistence.
"Seven Forbidden Zones... Night Rendezvous with the Shadow Mage... Drill for the Little Ones, Volume Four..." he mumbled to himself over the tray, typing the titles into the system.
"The secret desires of the Parthenon priestess... The anatomy of a one-eyed rat... The most powerful summoning mage and his strange harem... The Market Price of Magic... A depraved gorgon and STOP WHAT?"
The boy stared at the book with interest. The one about the price of magic.
"Something about maginomics? Let's see what our colleagues have come up with."
With these words, he opened the first page.
The Market Price of Magic
Specially for the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing
Preface
In the first volume of the Money and Magic trilogy, we calculated the cost of resources needed to develop your own mages of various elements (See "The Cost of Talent: From Awakening to the Highest Level").
In the second part, The Market Price of Magic, we will talk about hiring magicians from outside.
Why are healers so expensive? Ten mid-level earth mages or one high-level one—who will build an office building more cheaply and reliably? Which elemental masters will form the most effective and cost-effective hunting team?
The answers to these and many other questions related to the market value of spells can be found within the pages of this textbook.
Sincerely,
Zhao Dehei,
Elder of the Zhao Clan
"Looks promising," Shu Bao decided and did not take it back.
When Old Man Luo came to call the young man to dinner, there was already a whole stack of books standing next to the young man.
"Problems of Maritime Trade... Business in Magical Education... Artifacturing: Taxes and Fees," he read off some of the titles.
The librarian smiled knowingly. When he'd first come to the library, he'd also been overwhelmed, and he'd already stocked up on enough publications to last a year.
"Old man, you're right on time," Shu Bao said, delighted at his arrival. "Could you tell me if we have Talent Cost from Zhao Dehei? We also need Using Elemental Stones and the entire Magical Beasts series."
Old Luo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. As for the scientific granite, his protégé clearly didn't complain about a lack of appetite.
He could only show his signature "understanding smile" and say:
"I'll ask around in other libraries about this."
At such moments, he was especially pleased with his work. How many young people had his library opened up to the wonderful world of literature? If even one of them grew up to be a remarkable magician or scholar, then his life had not been wasted.
The young man's days returned to the old routine of "work-reading-work."
Despite physical fatigue, he fell asleep every night with a smile on his face, satisfied with his progress. Absorbing knowledge of magical economics like a sponge, his brain literally gushed with new thoughts and ideas, sometimes forcing him to wake up in the middle of the night and urgently search for his notebook.
A week later he finished Market Price and began The Cost of Talent.
Another week later...
"I'm telling you, Zhao Dehei is a world-class TITAN in the field of economics and business," Shu Bao fervently convinced, "We need ALL of his books!"
"Haa, I'll ask around... By the way, shouldn't you be preparing for school? September is only two months away."
Shu Bao only grimaced in disdain:
"A waste of time."
As far as he knew, in middle school, young mages were judged only based on their control over stars, and then on their cultivation level.
As long as Shu Bao consistently trains magic, even if he is considered mentally retarded, he will receive his certificate with good grades.
The old man glanced at him respectfully. As expected of a student with A's and A+'s in all subjects, the boy was 100% confident in his knowledge.
"By the way, can I move one of the computers to my room?" Shu Bao remembered another matter. "Visitors always try to peek at the screen when I'm reading. It's irritating as hell!"
After thinking for a moment, the librarian suddenly seemed to understand something and said:
"Do as you see fit."
After which he gave Shu Bao his strongest, most understanding smile.
It wasn't just a simple, understanding smile, but the smile of someone who had truly grasped the essence and soul of their interlocutor. It seemed to scream, "I understand... I understand EVERYTHING..."
Feeling uneasy for some reason, Shu Bao took the computer away. Now he could safely search for all sorts of sensitive information without fear of being reported to the police by some overly vigilant visitor.
Until the very night, that same smile never left Old Luo's face.
"I understand everything. I was a teenager once, too, and I loved 'training the summoning beast' several times a day..."