Chapter 6 · 10 min
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
The peaceful first-floor territory.
I absolutely loved the fishing chair.
Time passed quickly when I leaned back and watched the sun slowly set.
This place was an endless plain.
When sunset spread across it, the enormous sky split in two.
The natural black of space intertwined with the sun’s scarlet glow, until night slowly descended.
It felt like a waste to keep this view to myself.
“Is there no way to bring tourists into my territory?”
Owning this much land makes all sorts of ideas come to mind.
It doesn’t have as many attractions as other destinations, but entry only takes one second.
Travel with a two-second round trip!
As for content, just relax however you want!
It might actually appeal to office workers.
Sparkle, sparkle!
The starlight in the sky offered unsolicited advice.
Keep dreaming.
Apparently, my civilization needed to reach a certain level before I could invite guests.
[Invitable Guests: 0]
Seriously?
My territory was still too primitive, so a large number of features remained locked.
“If I want to unlock the tourism tech tree, I’ll have to develop the fundamentals first.”
The method was simple. Raise my farming tech like crazy.
Eventually, I’d probably stumble into the tourism tech tree too.
“For now, I may be a pathetic civilization that survives by selling brush algae, but I’ve got an ambitious new product prepared.”
Chlorella!
It’s on a completely different level from brush algae!
Less fishy!
And it’s green!
Wow! Makes you really want to eat it!
“Once sales begin soon, the history of this territory will be rewritten.”
[Aqua... Proud and smug!
( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
]
“But will there really be that many customers who want chlorella?”
[Aqua... Drooldrooldrool!
(꜆꜄꜆◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
]
Even we don’t eat chlorella.
It tastes bad.
Sparkle, sparkle!
Only a few of the stars cheered us on.
* * *
Korea has all kinds of internet communities.
Climbers formed their own communities too, and among them was one where only ranker-level Climbers gathered.
「Epsilon」.
The requirements for joining were extremely strict, but it was where you could obtain the highest-quality information with the greatest speed and accuracy.
It had class.
For middling Climbers, joining Epsilon could practically be a lifelong ambition.
And that Epsilon was now in an uproar.
========
Title: Why does brush algae actually work?
Author: ManaCompressionGod
Views 4821 | Likes 47 | Dislikes 11
Which guild made this stuff
My mana seriously condenses like crazy lol
↳ Ugh, fucking advertisers, this viral marketing is insane
↳ Everyone here is a ranker, dumbass, who would even run viral ads here?
↳ First reply hasn’t tried it lololol absolutely not viral marketing
↳ Brush algae? You mean literal algae? You actually eat that shit? Hilarious
↳ I saw the effect in real time too
↳ Only eat it if you have a strong stomach, I spent the whole day running to the bathroom
========
The cause of the commotion was brush algae.
A product released onto the market by a seller called <Lord Merchant>.
In just one day, word spread throughout Epsilon that eating it could even bring back mana that had already walked out the door.
At the end of the day, though, it was still soggy, fishy algae.
Even minnows wouldn’t eat the stuff.
↳ Buying
↳ I’ll pay double
↳ I’ll pay four times
Verified experts who belonged to Epsilon were desperate to get their hands on it.
There was still plenty of controversy. It was algae, after all. Arguments erupted everywhere.
========
Title: You bastards can eat it yourselves 🖕
Author: PreferDirectDeals
Views 3821 | Likes 17 | Dislikes 51
Have some pride as rankers, you bastards
Even frogs refuse brush algae lololol
Turn in your mammal cards, idiots
↳ Don’t fall for it, some group is manipulating sentiment so they can hoard brush algae
↳ Nobody here dumb enough to fall for hoarding propaganda, right???
↳ Fuck, they’re fabricating posts just to buy some brush algae? What the hell is this world?
↳ Fact is, brush algae sold out every single day and is now discontinued...
↳ Fact is snakes like OP can spread all the propaganda they want, sales are already over...
========
Epsilon had become complete chaos. Since rankers had such tight information networks, rumors about the brush algae were spreading at astonishing speed.
========
Title: Anyone need brush algae?
Author: FootworkScammer
Views 1821 | Likes 87 | Dislikes 15
Wow I bought a container but couldn’t work up the courage to eat it so I left it untouched
Opened it and the fishy smell is fucking insane;;;
↳ buyingbuyingbuyingbuying
↳ I’ll buy too, how much money do you need?
↳ You think anyone here needs money? lol we’re all rankers
↳ Huh? What’s brush algae?
↳ How did the guy above become a ranker with information this slow...
↳ Can’t tell you because I need to buy it myself, later
↳ Buy what lol the seller disappeared
========
KIEEEEEK!
Give me brush algae!
That effect is fake!
It sold out!
Lord Merchant, open your store!
Epsilon, normally a place where only verified high-grade information circulated, was now covered in raw screaming.
On top of that, because the Lord Merchant had announced the end of brush algae sales, it was starting to gain a limited-edition premium.
* * *
Cheongyeol headquarters.
Flash!
Cheon Ryujin returned from the Tower.
“Welcome back from your climb—Ghk.”
The employees suddenly found themselves struggling to breathe. They were choking on the mana Cheon Ryujin was spreading in every direction.
‘His mana is pushing the air away!’
Of course they couldn’t breathe when every inhalation brought only mana into their lungs.
The employees were acknowledged elites in their own right, yet every time they stood before Cheon Ryujin, they were reminded of the wall called talent.
“Fucking hell.”
Cheon Ryujin himself was the one suffering most. He wasn’t releasing mana to intimidate the employees.
“Lord Merchant? What happened?”
Not water. Not clothes.
His very first words were about the Lord Merchant.
It was decomposing.
His mana.
His power!
Crunch. Cheon Ryujin ground his molars together. The amount of mana Earth extorted from him was growing by the day.
At this point, he suffered a drop in realm every single time he returned from the Tower.
“There has been no activity from the Lord Merchant!”
The employees answered carefully while watching his mood.
“That rude bastard... What kind of merchant quits in the middle of doing business? Everyone get out.”
“Yes, sir!!!”
His uncontrollable mana decomposition.
In the end, Cheon Ryujin sent out an SOS. He called his longtime friend, Wol Hayeon.
“Hey, Wol Hayeon. What are you doing? Got any Tower vegetables left?”
“You crazy bastard. That’s your opening greeting? Am I your vegetable shuttle?”
“Do you have any or not? Hurry up.”
“Has your mana decomposition gotten worse?”
Wol Hayeon’s voice turned noticeably concerned.
The two had been classmates at the academy.
Both were geniuses who had distinguished themselves from their teenage years.
That was why they knew each other’s circumstances well. Mana decomposition had always been Cheon Ryujin’s weakness, while Wol Hayeon had a different weakness of her own.
Back when they were academy students, they had helped each other out, but once their realms rose, neither had enough leeway to cover for the other anymore.
The stronger a Climber becomes.
The stronger their innate weakness becomes as well.
Dozens of rankers had been consumed because they could no longer control their own weaknesses.
“Mana decomposition? Yeah. Worse lately.”
“How much?”
“Every breath drains out a fucking tidal wave... A mana shrimp like you wouldn’t understand.”
“You’re absolutely not getting any Tower vegetables. Dry up and die.”
The two bickered for a while.
“Wol Hayeon. You’ve got good connections, right? Can you track a guy called Lord Merchant? The brush algae he sold worked best.”
“Epsilon’s going crazy over him too... but you shouldn’t trust the Lord Merchant too much.”
What was that supposed to mean?
Don’t trust him?
“I can sense the aura of a spirit from the products the Lord Merchant sells.”
“You’re saying he’s a Spirit Master?”
“Unfortunately, no Spirit Master in the world can contain an aura that powerful.”
There was the aura of a spirit, but he wasn’t a Spirit Master?
Cheon Ryujin understood what she meant.
“You’re saying the Lord Merchant is a spirit? Are you screwing with me?”
Cheon Ryujin responded cynically, but he couldn’t openly laugh it off. Wol Hayeon was never wrong when it came to spirits.
“I wish I were wrong too. Even Spirit Masters hate getting involved with spirits. They’re genuinely terrifying bastards.”
Cheon Ryujin knew that much himself.
Spirits.
Those bastards looked down on humans as if they were some exalted race of the Tower.
If they got annoyed, they were lunatics who would twist the mana of their contracted Spirit Master and turn them into a cripple.
“The spirit world is already in chaos because of a power struggle...”
“Those bastards play politics too?”
“Of course. Recently, one of the royal families that formed a pillar of the spirit world collapsed. All its members vanished, and I heard even the crown prince was driven out...”
Oh? So spirits happened to be unusually sensitive right now?
The timing did line up strangely well with the Lord Merchant’s appearance.
Maybe the people at the top changed and they were helping those beneath them—humans—as part of an image campaign?
It was a common enough development in Korean politics.
“Oh, right. Cheon Ryujin. Listen to this. I met the worst buyer on the marketplace. I sold him cherry tomato seeds dirt cheap, and that damn bastard gave me one star in the review...”
“Bye.”
Cheon Ryujin ended the call.
He had no interest in the subject.
* * *
The Tower’s first floor.
Aqua and I applauded.
Clap clap clap.
At last! Finally! Against all odds! One entire farm (=33 square meters) had been completely cultivated with chlorella!
[Aqua... Hurray!
づ
]
Smack.
We high-fived.
The farm was completely green.
Chlorella grows by consuming brush algae. Even among microorganisms, there was a hierarchy.
‘How many days did it take to win?’
Watching the chlorella struggle for dominance before finally devouring the brush algae had been awe-inspiring.
I’d burned through 30 million won for this upgrade... Time to recover my investment.
“Now I really have to taste it.”
The taste test I had postponed and postponed.
I scooped up some chlorella with my bare hand. On the surface, it looked like the algae bloom you’d see under the scorching summer sun.
But it was different.
The benefits of chlorella were as follows.
It was rich in protein, which helped muscle growth, while its abundance of chlorophyll helped expel heavy metals from the body.
And that wasn’t all. It contained nine amino acids, vitamins A, B, and C, plus folic acid, known as an essential nutrient!
“Wait! We’re not done yet!”
[Aqua... Utterly shocked!
( ⚆ ⚆)
]
On top of that, iron, calcium, magnesium, lutein, zeaxanthin, and antioxidants like phenols and beta-carotene...
“Whew, I’m out of breath.”
Wow! Incredible!
You’d want to eat it immediately, right?
However... chlorella was wet and mushy and looked exactly like an algae bloom beneath the scorching summer sun.
Ah. Right. It literally is algae.
My appetite vanished.
“...It’s such a precious product. I should graciously leave it for the customers, right?”
[Aqua... Strongly agrees! Customer satisfaction comes first!
ᕤ
]
Climbers must already be desperate for Tower vegetables. How could I possibly consume such valuable merchandise myself?
At that moment.
A quest appeared before me.
=======
[Quest: Agriculture 1]
Objective: Sell a total of 100 million won worth of crops
Reward: 「Crop Praise」 skill
=======
Wow.
I checked because it said quest, but the objective was surprisingly trivial.
“Is it really okay for it to be this easy?”
This quest.
It’s completely ignoring Tower prices.
“Earn 100 million won? Earning 100 million gold in a mobile game would be harder.”
My plan from this point onward was as follows.
1. Harvest chlorella from the farm!
2. Sell it on the marketplace!
3. Buy low-grade magic stones!
4. Expand the chlorella farms!
5. Return to Step 1!
A perfect cycle.
Begin upload!
=======
[Product: Fresh Chlorella]
Description: Extremely fresh∼ Haha~
Weight: 100g
Price: ―
========
...Price?
How much should I list it for? I decided to start at a reasonable 100,000 won.
“Upload five for now.”
I closed the marketplace window.
Dingdingding!
The marketplace notifications went insane, and a message popped up saying [All Products Sold].
“W-What?”
Why did they sell already? The sales money started pouring into my bank account.
[100,000 won deposited]
[300,000 won deposited]
[600,000 won deposited]
[1,000,000 won deposited]
[1,500,000 won deposited]
? What.
The price rose fifteenfold while only five products were sold.
I Set Up House in the Tower, and Making Money Became Too Easyg