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Episode 175. Egg (3)
“I’ll check out the community. Wait.”
“Okay! I’ll wait.”
I spoke to Ha Yoon-ha and went further inside, then logged into the community and looked through the items.
[1,352,602,100 Gold]
The gold accumulated over 5 years is 1.35 billion.
I scrolled down, checking the amount of gold I had.
And it stopped at the rifle item.
The pistol I used in round 1 was an item that could be purchased with gold from the Monarch Community.
Of course, this fact was known in advance thanks to K's slip of the tongue.
5 million gold for one pistol.
If you go up to the rifle, you get 10 million gold.
The reason why it was not cost-effective to buy guns and increase one's power was because of their ridiculously high prices.
To be honest, I could understand if a rifle with infinite bullets cost 10 million gold, but 500,000 gold per 5.56mm bullet was ridiculously expensive.
Likewise, a rifle loaded with 30 rounds costs 25 million gold.
When K handed me a pistol in the first round and told me that it was a huge advantage, I understood what he meant.
'But it's foolish to buy guns and form the central army of your power.'
The guns were absolutely crushingly expensive.
For a normal monarch, it would be difficult to even buy one gun.
In fact, in the window that ranks the monarchs by gold possession, there is a figure that calculates the average value of gold owned by the monarchs, and it was 30 million.
In fact, unless you are at my level, this means that the general amount of gold a monarch owns is around 30 million.
Since the rankings were given anonymously, only the gold was revealed in the ranking window. Based on the amount of gold, I was ranked first.
'Second place is 550 million gold… … .'
I'm guessing it'll be Metro forces.
They operate guns in units.
I don't know how many there are, but they operate guns as a unit.
This means that if you add up all the gold they've used so far, it will easily surpass the amount of gold I have.
There are several ways to obtain gold, but the most common ones are through monsters, dungeons, and exchange through the market.
In my case, I only exchanged through the market, so I had to secure relatively little gold.
If they had waged periodic wars of conquest and subjugation, they would have made an overwhelming amount of money.
Metro has actually waged numerous wars of conquest and is collecting gold by using 'hunters' he can find in the western part of Seoul.
But what I want to do is not simply increase military spending.
Guns are quite replaceable.
It didn't seem like one ogre today could defeat one rifleman, or rather, a unit of riflemen.
If I had to choose between the Ogre and the Rifleman which is stronger, I would say the Ogre without a doubt.
I currently have 512 Ogres, which means I have a total of 5 units according to Man-Gyeong's unit classification.
'Do you think they have more than five rifle units?'
Even if you just do the math, you probably don't have the resources to operate all five units as riflemen.
With 100 people per unit, even if they were made up of riflemen, they would need 2.5 billion gold. Even considering supplies, this was an absolutely impossible figure.
'That doesn't make sense.'
It is likely that it is being operated in a grid fashion.
One rifleman is accompanied by ten escort inspectors.
Alternatively, there could have been only one rifleman per unit, with the other 90 escort inspectors attached.
No matter how great a gun is, it is not stronger than an artifact player or an ogre.
'Guns aren't a big advantage.'
That's what I thought from the beginning.
Guns can be very effective in early conquest battles, especially against regular players.
But no matter how much I think about it.
'You're saying that this isn't the early stage of conquest… … .'
The meaning was simple and clear.
The turning point of the metro power's growth has been broken.
Through this 2.5 round, they would try to maintain their growth, which inevitably meant that a great war was coming.
'We must prepare. National defense power is the top priority.'
I scrolled down again.
The Monarch Community can, to put it simply, purchase 'modern civilization' that is no longer available in the ruined world.
In other words, gold is the 'cash' that can be used to purchase these.
A representative example is guns, but you could also buy everything from light bulbs to stoves, oil, cars, batteries, and even cola.
Since the stove cost 1.5 million gold, it was more profitable to buy the boiler recipe I made for 800,000 gold than to buy the stove. That's why it's been selling like hotcakes up until now.
Of course, at this point in time when even 1 gold is precious, there would be no crazy monarch who would buy a cola worth 500,000 gold from the community.
The items that sell like hotcakes will sell like hotcakes, and the items that don't sell from beginning to end will still just fly by.
I looked at the best selling items.
And among them, there was one item that stood out.
Cigarettes and alcohol.
Man is a pleasure-seeking animal.
It's safe to say that they are monsters that live for pleasure.
Despite the world's condition, they still sought after cigarettes and alcohol, and some wanderers with large gold reserves even used their gold to buy cigarettes.
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Buying things like cola or snacks with gold is crazy, but cigarettes were different.
●[One cigarette – 100,000 gold]
[This quarter remaining: 1,035][Days left in quarter: 105]
●[A pack of cigarettes – 2 million gold]
[This quarter remaining: 77][Days left in quarter: 105]
●[One pack of cigarettes – 20 million gold]
[Remaining amount for this quarter: 25][Days remaining in the quarter: 105]
●[One bottle of soju – 1.5 million gold]
[This quarter remaining: 249][Days left in quarter: 105]
'also…….'
As crazy as the price of rifles was, cigarettes were also crazy expensive.
A pack of cigarettes is worth the same as a gun.
In fact, alcohol and cigarettes were exclusive resources of the world's most privileged people.
The most elite wanderer.
A monarch of a power.
S-class player.
And monster hunters.
Even Jin Jae-hee said that in his previous life, he only used gold to buy cigarettes.
If you kill one boss monster, you can earn about 1 million gold, so there is no problem if you kill it only three or four times a month.
Of course I felt a little sorry for her, but that was stupid.
Between survival and pleasure, you chose pleasure.
In fact, luxury goods are just luxuries, and even if I monopolized them, they would not have a strong enough deterrent to control everyone in the league.
but.
Originally, the world was led by a small number of people.
If I could restrain them.
What if, exactly, I could curb their capital power?
For the remaining 105 days of the quarter, all capital belonging to the league will start with me and end with me.
105 days?
Enough is enough.
In it I can complete my plan.
I have no intention of spreading my influence here and there like an octopus's legs.
I will grow my power and the strength I possess to a level that no one can reach.
This value will make me stand out more and this result will soon lead to 'victory'.
[One cigarette x1035]
[1 pack of cigarettes x77]
[One pack of cigarettes x25]
[One bottle of soju x249]
[Purchase Completed!]
[-1,131,000,000]
[There are no cigarettes or alcohol available for purchase for the remaining quarter.]
So I bought all the cigarettes and soju I could find in the community.
Buy and sell.
Even if I spent 1.1 billion, my remaining wealth would still be ranked within the top 10.
It was an absurd fortune.
That would be the shining proof of the wealth accumulated over the past five years.
Just then a portal opened in the opposite hallway.
Baby angels popped out carrying boxes, accompanied by a familiar voice.
“The delivery is here-! You fu*king rascals-!!!!”
“Heavy, heavy, heavy!”
“Heavy, heavy, heavy!”
Manager F.
The baby angels that F brought began to put the boxes down one by one into the warehouse.
F laughed slyly and shouted.
“Hey-! You guys who are worse than cockroaches in the sewer! Haha. Were you having a lot of fun?!?”
* * *
“One… … . Two… … . Three stones… … . Raccoon… … . This is the end. Ouch-. My back hurts~. I told you that delivering lowly creatures is an extreme job. An extreme job.”
F straightened her back and stretched, but no one paid attention to her.
After spending 1.1 billion, a considerable amount of cigarettes and alcohol ended up piling up in the warehouse.
Ha Yoon-ha covered her lips with her palm and exclaimed in admiration.
“Hey, did you buy them all?”
“Yeah. Looking at it this way, it doesn’t seem like much.”
Kang Shi-on evaluated it that way, but in his own eyes, no matter how much wealth he had accumulated, it seemed insufficient.
It was such a huge amount that Jin Jae-hee and Ha Yoon-ha's mouths dropped open as they looked at it.
The baby angels put down their alcohol and cigarettes and returned into the portal.
F said to Kang Shi-on.
“But you know~ If you do this, will all the smokers and drinkers in the league just sit still? They’ll go crazy and find you and tear you to pieces! You dug your own grave! Do the minds of inferior races only have inferior thoughts?!”
When F taunted, Kang Shi-on responded.
“It doesn’t make sense to look for it.”
“Why? Why why??? Why aaaah~???”
“I’ve proven that for the past five years. My stockpile of cigarettes and alcohol has been sitting here, untouched, never on the market. If I could have found the missing stockpile, they would have been stolen long ago. But they didn’t. They don’t know where the cigarettes are stored, or how the alcohol is stored. Man-gyeong was excluded from suspicion in the first place. We already have a lot of cigarettes and alcohol.”
“Hoo~ Hooooo~~~???”
“And what I want is not just stockpiling cigarettes and alcohol. What I want is chaos in the market.”
“Huhh …
Kang Shi-on said, looking at the F flying in the sky in the shape of an '8'.
“One of the reasons the US was so overwhelmingly powerful was because the currency they circulated, the ‘dollar’, was the standard for the international market. The reason is simple. The oil companies controlled by the US sold oil only in dollars. That resulted in US securities immediately influencing securities all over the world. If you control the market, you gain a powerful war deterrent. This is the right theory. I will use the same method.”
“Oh~???”
F stopped flying and pursed his lips in admiration.
Kang Shi-on concluded his speech by looking at the huge pile of cigarettes and alcohol that reached the ceiling of the room.
“At least in the leagues that take place on the Korean peninsula, you’ll have to use the currency of the world, lighters, to buy cigarettes and alcohol. Not the gold you guys set.”
That's how I take over the market.
If you eat the economy, everything else will go smoothly.
F was complaining.
“Will it really go as you wish~~? Right?”
“I’ll make it happen. Now get out. Stop buzzing like a mosquito in front of me.”
“Whoaaaaaaaaaa-!!! A mosquito!!! You lowly bastard! How dare you come at me?!?”
With those words, Kang Shi-on came out of the vault room.
F really followed me around like a mosquito.
Looking at that F, Jin Jae-hee felt a strong desire to cut him down.
Kang Si-on said to Jin Jae-hee, completely ignoring F.
“Oh, right. Your friend. This… was it Ho-seung?”
“Ah. Yeah. That’s Ho-seung.”
“Are you working in the hatchery now?”
"that's right."
Ha Yoon-ha received orders from Kang Shi-on and created a hatchery by deploying all the animal-related experts belonging to the force.
This is because Lee Ho-seung volunteered to help in some way.
Kang Si-on took out a pack of cigarettes from his bosom and handed it to Jin Jae-hee.
“You said you were my friend. With that one, you’ll have no problem living in the city.”
She took it carefully and looked back at him to ask for the English translation.
A pack of cigarettes. Kang Shi-on was taking care of her friend right now.
He was infinitely generous to his own people.
But Jin Jae-hee refused.
“Ah… … . No. No. It’s okay. I’ll be fine on my own. I can even do military work.”
“Take it. Or I’ll throw it away.”
“… … Ah. Yeah. Okay.”
Jin Jae-hee carefully accepted the pack of cigarettes he handed him.
Until then, F continued to whine.
* * *
Jin Jae-hee headed to the crematorium.
There were about fifteen people carefully managing the hatchery.
Of course, Lee Ho-seung was the lowest ranking manager.
Jaehee felt sorry for Hosung, who was cleaning the floor diligently with a mop, but she was also relieved to see that he had changed.
dripping-.
She knocked even though the door was open.
The biggest manager among them shouted in surprise.
“Jae, jae, jae, jae, Jaehee! Oh my! You’re here.”
He used to work as a zookeeper at Seoul Grand Park.
“I don’t think you had any plans to visit today, so what brings you here all of a sudden?”
“Oh. Just. I have some business to attend to. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“Oh, yes. Yes. Feel free to take it easy.”
The big manager turned around and smiled.
As soon as he turned around, he immediately started yelling at his subordinates and resumed work with enthusiasm.
Jaehee looked at Hosung and gestured.
Come here.
Ho-seung made a sullen expression and scrubbed the mop harder.
Jaehee frowned and approached him.
“I told you to come.”
“You come. I’m working. But why?”
“No, I wonder if it’s worth living.”
Jaehee sat on a box nearby.
Then Ho-seung became frightened and grabbed her shoulder and lifted her up.
“Oh, I just wiped it! Get up!”
“… … You’re really picky.”
“Labor is the most important thing in Man-gyeong, isn’t that what you told me?”
“… …That’s right, but.”
“So what is it?”
Jin Jae-hee glanced at Lee Ho-seung.
He was wearing glasses, and seeing him working so hard that his glasses were fogging up made me feel like a citizen of Mankyung.
Jin Jae-hee took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and handed it to him.
“?!”
Lee Ho-seung looked around with his eyes wide open.
“What, what, what, what?! This, this, that, that, that, that much money?”
It was such a huge sum of money that Ho-seung couldn't even bring himself to say it.
Jin Jae-hee chuckled at his reaction.
“I honestly thought I was going to die holding back all the way here. Hurry up and pack this before I finish. You’re living in a labor dormitory with dwarves and orcs, right? The living conditions there must be pretty bad.”
“Ah, ah, no. I, I can live with it. But this is… … .”
“At least buy a house. Can’t you buy an apartment with half a pack of cigarettes?”
“Ouch, not enough… … .”
“Because Zion gave it to me. Take care of it for yourself.”
“The hero… … ?”
“Yes. It was given to me by the hero. I came here to give you this.”
Jin Jae-hee passed by, tapping Ho-seung on the shoulder.
Ho-seung watched her turn around and walk away.
I never knew that a pack of cigarettes held tightly in my hand would be so precious.
“Jaehee!”
When Ho-seung called, Jae-hee just turned her head and looked at him.
Ho-seung said, holding up a pack of cigarettes.
“Thank you. For taking the time to come and deliver this message. I know you’re very busy.”
“… … .”
Jaehee nodded silently, sorting out her emotions, at his words of gratitude.
“Okay. Keep up the good work. I’ll come see you again sometime.”
“Yeah. Don’t come too often. It’s annoying.”
“You little shit. I mean.”
Jin Jae-hee smiled faintly and left the makeup room.
… … The warm feeling only lasted for a moment.
The chief manager of the hatchery shouted.
“Wake, wake, wake, it’s broken-!!!!! The egg is broken!!!!”
At his words, Jin Jae-hee immediately returned.
(Continued in the next episode)