NSE-Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Choi Yu-na of the Alchemist Guild.

She was really lucky.

Because even though the company that had placed the bulk order had gone under, she had found a financier to hand the Elixirs over to.

And she was quick to act, too.

When she had sold off all of the Lowest-Grade Elixirs, she had started producing the next tier, Low-Grade Elixirs, like mad, even though there were no particular orders.

It was all because of Kim Min-woo, who had left his information with her.

He had bought a truly huge number of Lowest-Grade Elixirs.

Then someday he would surely buy lots of Low-Grade Elixirs, too.

Obsessed with performance, she had run ahead with only that in sight.

‘All that holding out paid off!’

A judgment made boldly with the future in view.

The reward came far sooner than expected.

―This is Kim Min-woo. If you have Low-Grade Elixirs, I’ll buy them all.

A single, simple text message.

The moment she saw it, she shouted.

Eureka!

―I have 800 in total……

―Give me all of them.

A reply that came back matter-of-factly.

As expected, he was a man of insane wealth.

By this point, she even thought that Geumseong going under had actually been a blessing.

Thanks to it, hadn’t she been able to hold a huge stock of Low-Grade Elixirs and land a super-premium customer!

She came out to a cafe for a direct deal.

Before long, Kim Min-woo showed up.

“Oh my, you’re here!”

Choi Yu-na waved her hand, her voice coquettish.

“The goods?”

“Here you go.”

She transferred all of the Low-Grade Elixirs in her Inventory over.

They were Elixirs boasting a nerve-wracking average price of 300 million won each.

“Received them, and I’ve deposited 240 billion won to the Guild.”

“Th-Thank you.”

Choi Yu-na answered, gulping down her saliva. Even a decent company would find it hard to shell out this much money in a lump sum.

As expected of Kim Min-woo.

After waiting a moment, a text came.

[Dad]

―My daughter, good work. ^^

A grin spread across her face as she tapped her phone.

[Yu-na]

―Hehe. It’s nothing much, I’ve got to talk to my customer now……

[Dad]

―Right, the customer comes first. Cheer up. (Emoticon of a rabbit cheering)

To think that stern dad would go so far as to send an emoticon.

She had, in effect, truly delivered results today.

Coffee was placed in front of the two of them.

Kim Min-woo took a sip and said.

“You’re quick to act. You made them in advance, right?”

“Yes, because I figured you’d place an order.”

“That attitude is very good.”

“Hehe…… By any chance, do you plan on using Mid-Tier Elixirs…… too?”

Choi Yu-na asked cautiously.

Just as with equipment and Skill Books.

Elixirs, too, saw their prices shoot up dramatically as the tier rose.

Mid-Tier Elixirs cost 1 billion won each.

If he bought about 800 like this time?

Then that was 800 billion won.

Making these in advance was a tremendous burden even for her. Because if he then didn’t place an order, her life would truly be ruined.

It was an amount that even her dad, the Guild Master, would find hard to resolve easily.

“I’ll have to use them.”

At those words, she gulped, and looked at Min-woo with desperate eyes.

Please.

That.

Place the order with me.

Please do it, please……

Kim Min-woo, who had been silent for a moment, said.

“I plan to place bulk orders whenever I need them, like now, but there’s one problem.”

“A problem……”

“Since I get money and spend it as it comes, it’s a bit difficult for me to give a deposit. I don’t know exactly when I’ll buy, either. Because I have to raise my Level a lot.”

“Ah…… I see.”

“Yes.”

Silence continued.

Choi Yu-na realized.

It was a turning point.

At a glance, there were many problems with concluding a bulk contract.

Deposit? None.

Purchase timing? Unknown.

Still, would she trust him and stockpile the quantity first?

That was what Kim Min-woo was asking right now.

“……Deal.”

“Deal?”

“Deal!”

Choi Yu-na shouted with her eyes squeezed shut. The budget for making Elixirs could be pried out somehow.

This was a contract she had to win.

And on top of that, wasn’t he a world record breaker!

Leveling up would be a piece of cake for him.

As for the money, well……

He was running hard on ads, so wouldn’t he earn it somehow? Choi Yu-na decided to trust Ilseong’s power.

“Then, starting now, get this much more ready in Mid-Tier.”

“……Yes.”

“Don’t look so glum. In exchange, when I buy, I’ll pay full price with no haggling.”

“Yes, sir!”

The contract was concluded.

* * *

‘That gets me past one turn.’

Even for Kim Min-woo, it wasn’t easy to find a place that would produce 800 billion won worth of Elixirs with no guarantee.

That was exactly why he had formed a connection with Choi Yu-na.

Otherwise, when he needed to eat Mid-Tier Elixirs at Level 101, in the D-rank range, he’d have to wait ages for them to be produced.

True to her, blinded by performance, she had called “Deal” in one breath.

Her dad was the Guild Master, so she’d manage to make them somehow.

‘The problem starts from High-Grade, though.’

From here on, it was a truly punishing uphill climb.

Because the figures started going well past the trillion mark if made in advance.

Strictly speaking, Kim Min-woo was the special case.

Talentless.

Thanks to his maddening physical talent, a tremendous number of Elixirs were consumed compared to others.

‘Normally, about two hundred is enough.’

Attaining an S-grade Achievement usually meant the talent was good, too.

Such talents often had Stats rise by 2, not 1, with a single Elixir.

‘But even those guys start running into investment walls at High-Grade.’

An ordinary super rookie roughly did their Elixir-guzzling up to Low-Grade.

Up to here, with support from the state or a large organization, it was perfectly doable.

200 each of Lowest-Grade and Low-Grade.

An average investment of around 80 billion won.

Not an amount that couldn’t be invested.

And from Mid-Tier on.

‘The real separating of the wheat from the chaff begins.’

To guzzle Elixirs, you needed to spend roughly 200 billion won.

By this point, it got burdensome.

Only super rookies who had made a big splash got investment this far.

‘And from High-Grade on…….’

The state or a large organization invested this far?

It meant a truly mega-class rookie.

High-Grade Elixirs ran about 3 billion won each.

Even assuming just around 200, it meant roughly 600 to 700 billion won was poured in.

From Elixir-guzzling alone, the total investment approached the trillion-won mark.

Isabella was a representative Awakened of that kind.

‘Though she still got crushed by me.’

Still, she’s decent for a human.

Either way.

He decided to think about High-Grade when the time came.

Because there was still quite some time before reaching that range.

While he was thinking, he arrived at the Auction House.

[You have accessed the Skill Book Shop.]

[Search Level: 51~60. Class: Necromancer.]

[Searching with this information.]

[Summon Skeleton Mage(E)]

[Restriction: Necromancer, Level 51 or above]

[Price: 6 million won.]

‘Oh.’

Compared to Summon Skeleton, the price had jumped exactly threefold.

‘Well, it’s reasonable.’

Items also jumped about that much at the next tier.

If anything, one could say it had only tripled because it was a non-mainstream Class.

One fortunate thing was that the Auction House was fundamentally a structure where reselling was impossible.

If that had been possible?

I guarantee that Necromancer-related Skill Book prices would have jumped far higher than now.

Because hoarders would have appeared.

With a guy sweeping up the related Skill Books while splurging money, how could they resist?

‘Well, if that had happened, I’d just have gone to another country instead of Korea and swept them up.’

Items listed on the Auction House were integrated per country, not worldwide.

Then those who had hoarded loads of non-mainstream Skill Books would have been thoroughly wrecked.

Since that was blocked from the start, you could call it a win-win for both sides.

He swept up all the listings that had been posted right away.

[Purchasing all 53 Skill Books…….]

[Identical Skill Books exist in your Inventory…….]

He dismissed the message before his eyes.

Anyway, with this tiny quantity he couldn’t do anything.

He’d finish shopping and run it all at once.

He examined the Skill Book market prices.

‘The average price hasn’t jumped that much.’

Even without hoarding, the average Skill Book price could rise.

And no wonder, since, unlike before, they now knew that a mega-sized buyer called Kim Min-woo was waiting.

They didn’t know when he’d come, but he’d come once and sweep up all the Skill Books.

With that thought, they naturally raised prices little by little.

‘About 5%?’

There was a slight bubble in it.

But well, this was a level he could accept.

If it had been 10% or more, even he might have moved to go on an overseas expedition.

Not because it’s expensive, but simply because it feels lousy.

So, as a kind of punishment for their cheek.

Perhaps because of that, traces of a moderate game of guesswork could be seen.

‘Well, this much is cute enough.’

After chuckling.

“Skill Books of 20 million won or less, E-grade, Level 50 or below. One more condition on top of that. Sweep up only items whose recent price fluctuation was 5% or less.”

He decided to start presenting a baseline to the suppliers.

I’ll allow a premium of exactly up to 5%.

‘Go over that and you’ll get hit with the unsold beam.’

For reference, even if unsold, a 10% fee was taken.

If you fail at guesswork, you take the hit.

Even just to prevent Skill Book price inflation, he needed to send a signal at least once. Otherwise, from D-rank on, he’d have to go on overseas tours.

[Purchasing 8,424 target listings.]

[Purchase complete!]

[126.36 billion won is withdrawn…….]

[10% is withdrawn as a fee…….]

“Phew, walking the straight and narrow is really not easy.”

It really wasn’t easy.

From E-rank on, the scale was in the hundreds of billions.

At around C-rank, it’d be in the trillions.

It was a hard road.

But only by building up step by step like this could he become a truly proper Awakened.

‘At least it’s fortunate there’s supply.’

At around A-rank, the listings would all dry up.

Because Awakened were structured to decrease exponentially the higher you went.

By then, it was uncertain whether he could even attempt a +9 even if he toured Auction Houses worldwide.

If it blew up midway, there’d be no listings and it’d be game over.

Roughly that kind of feeling, wouldn’t it be?

With the Skill Book Synthesis running, he bought equipment to fit onto the Mages.

Mages, when summoned, also started as Level 1 baby Mages.

Since it was low-level equipment, not much money went in.

A setup of roughly 200 million won per Mage, like the Black Heart Set.

He generously bought 250 sets.

There were no listings to buy more.

Lastly, even premium equipment sets for Cedric and himself to wear in the next Level range.

Both together cost about 15 billion won.

Having finished shopping like that, Kim Min-woo started grinding Skill Books.

* * *

The Forest of Ulpaulu.

Strategy Difficulty, 90 points.

It boasted a notorious difficulty, but unlike Tomb of Osiris, Awakened trying to enter here were swarming. Unlike the roaches of the tomb, the gorillas, this place’s main monsters, had nothing to waste.

Their tough hide was used to make armor, and the bones to process weapons.

Especially the Thunder Staff, an item dropped by the boss Ulparu, was a premium item with a price range reaching 3 billion won.

At 3 billion, even if a 5-person party got the item, it was 600 million each.

It was nothing short of a jackpot.

The drop rate was low, but what mattered to Awakened was the possibility itself.

Today, too, the soldiers standing at the entrance were diligently issuing entry permits.

“Yes. Your identity has been confirmed. Here’s your entry permit. Live long. Next?”

The soldier looked up and gazed at the Awakened before him. A moderately wrinkled face with patchy stubble.

An Awakened whose appearance somehow gave off a strong sense of seasoned experience.

“Are you alone?”

Nod.

Seeing that, the soldier nodded too. Being alone wasn’t that strange.

Because high-level Awakened occasionally came to solo-clear Gates with jackpot potential.

And no wonder, since if you got the item, the earnings were better than clearing a same-rank Gate.

“Please show your ID. Yes. D-rank Awakened, Mr. Park Cheol-ung. Confirmed. Here’s your entry permit. Live long.”

“You too, Mr. Soldier.”

The voice was somehow familiar.

The soldier, tilting his head slightly, took the next party.

And so Park Cheol-ung, no, Kim Min-woo, approached the Gate.

[Forest of Ulpaulu]

[Grade: E]

Right in front of the Gate.

Soldiers and one Awakened stood here.

“Five of you now. Go in.”

A party entered the Gate. The Gate, which had given off light for a moment, dimmed again, and.

“Mister, you go in now too.”

Nodding, Kim Min-woo leapt toward the Gate.

Just then.

Swish.

A transparent human shape was sucked into the glowing Gate.

There was an Awakened in charge of surveillance, but even a D-rank one failed to notice, so stealthy was the movement.

And so the Gate dimmed.