Chapter 7 · 10 min
Chapter 7
Chapter 7
The hairs on my body stood on end.
I hadn’t announced the product in advance. I uploaded it with no plan whatsoever.
So how did it sell in three seconds? Don’t tell me someone’s been watching me?
“D-Did some random passerby just buy out everything...?”
That wasn’t it either!
Every buyer was a different person.
The steep increase in price meant the competition to buy had been fierce.
If there were five buyers, then maybe around fifty people failed to get one?
“All these people... were waiting for me to upload something?”
That was creepy.
Isn’t this strange?
I know Climbers suffer from mana decomposition.
But how many Climbers are there in the world?
There are tons just in Korea, right? The percentage of awakened people has been steadily increasing lately too. Can’t those people just climb their way up and pick some vegetables themselves?
“Is there some story behind Tower vegetables that I don’t know?”
My eyes suddenly landed on the [Inbox].
[Messages: 0]
A fitting number for a rookie seller like me. Yet for some reason, that number suddenly felt ominous.
Because of that malicious seller <Moonlit Beauty> from before, I had completely disabled the messaging function...
[Message Settings]
I switched messaging back on. Nothing was going to happen anyway...
Click.
The instant I changed the setting.
[Unread Messages]
[99+]
[999+]
[9999+]
[Your inbox is full!]
Messages that had been blocked from entering until now began pouring down like a waterfall...!
Not metaphorically, but literally!
Messages!
Came crashing down on me!
Like a landslide!
Rumbleeeee!
― This brush algae is mine now. I can do whatever I want with it.(pleaspleasepleaaseplsplsplsplease)
― HEY!!!! STOP MAKING THAT SOUND OF MY MANA DISAPPEARING!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!
― Moss. Want. So that I may live.
― Mossmossmoss? Mossmossmossmossmossmossmoss? Mossmossmossmossmoss!
― Hehehe discontinuing sales is a crime
― You there. Why is a spirit trying to interfere in human affairs? The envoys and ambassadors of the spirit realm will not sit still if you...
Tower messages resembled actual sheets of letter paper. They possessed a bit of physical force, which meant I was buried beneath a pile of text.
If I didn’t want to suffocate to death, I had to start deleting like crazy.
[999 messages deleted.]
[Remaining Messages: 9999+]
“W-What the hell!”
I deleted 999 messages, and there were still countless more remaining.
― giveonebrushalgaeandIwonteatyourefusebrushalgaeandIllhavetoeatyourgiveonebrushalgaeandIwonteatyourefusebrushalgaeandIllhavetoeatyou
― IhavedecidedtobecomeavegetarianstartingtodaypleasegiftthispitifulsoulbrushalgaesothatImayfillmystarvingstomach
― M y m a n a i s b u r n i n g... B e c a u s e o f y o u... I f o n l y I h a d b r u s h a l g a e...
Every message had been lovingly written with painstaking madness, and they crashed down on me one after another! Aqua worked hard beside me, deleting them too.
[Aqua... Never stopping the rapid clicking! Zoomzoomzoom!
つ
]
“Delete delete delete delete!”
Only much later did I finally escape from the graveyard of messages. What in the world was going on...
“Ughhh... my back...”
[Aqua... Sincere massage!
Q–(ᵔ.ᵔ Q )
]
Aqua kneaded my back.
Whoosh whoosh smack smack smack.
It was basically a one-two punch, but the pressure was just right.
“You’re all I’ve got.”
I had been complacent. I understood far too little about the market.
“...Mana decomposition was much more terrifying than I thought.”
I needed to expand the farms even further.
“If this many people are suffering from mana shortages, then I’ll flood the market with an enormous supply and drive the price way down.”
Mass production X mass sales = massive profits.
Perfect.
My territory is huge anyway, so I can build practically unlimited farms.
I also needed to study mana decomposition in more detail.
I pulled up another interview with Wol Hayeon on MyTube.
「Ms. Wol Hayeon. Tower vegetables stop mana decomposition, but honestly, aren’t they too expensive?」
「They are. But there’s no helping it. They’re rare.」
「That’s what I don’t understand. All kinds of plants grow inside the Tower, don’t they?」
「Most Tower plants have [Defects]. Toxicity, curses, demonic energy, and so on... They contain harmful elements. Eating them will stop mana decomposition, but the secondary damage is even worse.」
「Oh. So they’re like poisonous mushrooms?」
「Exactly. Nobody would be foolish enough to eat poisonous mushrooms just because they were hungry, right?」
「Nobody?」
「Actually, quite a few Climbers eat whatever Tower vegetables they can find.」
Hahahaha.
The interview erupted in laughter.
“So that’s how it was.”
Curses and demonic energy...
Just hearing about them was terrifying. Only verified Tower vegetables were safe.
「Why do Tower plants contain harmful elements?」
「Tower water contains far too many additional substances, making it unsuitable for humans.」
「So drinking it would be dangerous.」
「Of course. Tower plants grow by absorbing that water. Naturally, they develop defects as well.」
That was something else I hadn’t known.
Drinking water inside the Tower was basically contaminated water to humans.
Drink it and you’re screwed!
「So even plain tap water becomes a rare resource inside the Tower?」
「Yes. Finding fresh water is like trying to pluck a star from the sky.」
「Then what if Climbers bring water from Earth?」
!!!
The host had voiced my exact question. Farming didn’t seem like something only I could do, right?
Wasn’t the opportunity open to everyone?
「You mean the Tower Terraforming Project? The entire world has thrown itself at the problem, but there hasn’t been a single successful case yet.」
「Is it really that difficult?」
「The water restriction alone is brutal. Climbers can only bring twenty liters of water inside.」
「Ah! So the setting only allows enough drinking water for one person?」
「The Tower is pretty stingy.」
I closed the video.
Wol Hayeon!
You help me every time!
“What an admirable person.”
Climbers really came in all kinds. One bastard sells cherry tomato seeds after eating the tomatoes himself, while someone else gives away information for free.
Afterward, I researched drinking water in the Tower. Looking through the relevant research papers made me nauseous.
“Long-term consumption may cause cellular mutation and severe species-level transformation...? Is this radioactive material or something?”
Then again, the Tower was a world inhabited by monsters. It wouldn’t be strange if drinking water from a world like that turned you into some green radioactive mutant.
[Aqua... Arisu water quality is the best! Aqua has been missing out all this time!
づ
]
Aqua bounced around excitedly. According to Aqua, Earth’s pure water without additional substances tasted incredibly sweet.
That was fortunate, but.
One question remained.
“We’ve been bringing an enormous amount of water into the territory this whole time, haven’t we? There was no restriction.”
Our farming method fundamentally relied on pouring absurd amounts of water everywhere. It was only possible because Aqua could drink 500 liters from the sink and carry it inside.
“So we’re the only ones who can do that?”
Seeing is believing.
I tested it myself. I filled a large water container in my studio and tried entering the Tower with it.
A large portion of the water disappeared.
“Even as a lord, I can only bring exactly twenty liters inside?”
When it came to water, even a lord received no privileges. That was how rare water was inside the Tower.
Then what about Aqua?
[Aqua... Pewpewpew!
ꉂꉂ (ˆoˆ )
]
Aqua casually sprayed hundreds of liters of water...
So this little guy was the real cheat code.
“Aqua. You’re actually incredible, aren’t you?”
[Aqua... Puffing up proudly!
( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
]
It was a simple creature who became arrogant whenever praised... but there really was something extraordinary about Aqua.
The Tower doesn’t hand out privileges for free.
Maybe it had some hidden story it couldn’t talk about.
[Aqua... Pretty good at running! Cheetahs are laughing!
づ
]
Zoomzoomzoom!
Aqua, who had been running around the wasteland by itself, performed a spectacular tumble.
[Aqua... Waaagh!
(꜆꜄•ㅁ•)꜆꜄꜆
That rock fought dirty!]
...Or maybe not?
There wasn’t even one percent extraordinariness to be found.
[Aqua... Sob sob!
]
Wow, seriously pathetic... Now I’m confused...
* * *
Cheongyeol headquarters.
The conglomerate was busy as always.
The [Marketplace Monitoring Team] in particular had gone into full emergency mode.
Director Cheon Ryujin had given them an assignment. By any means necessary, they had to purchase ‘it.’
“Stock is up!”
A monitoring employee shot to his feet. The team leader didn’t even have time to answer and simply jerked his chin.
“Everyone, move!”
The team leader and employees opened dozens of marketplace windows and began building buy walls around the product.
Thud, thud, thud!
Other retail buyers browsing the marketplace slammed straight into the thick buy walls.
“Good. Everything’s going smoothly so far.”
A Climber could only possess one marketplace window per person, but at Cheongyeol, a single employee manipulated dozens.
Once they seriously built a buy wall, individual buyers had no chance of keeping up.
It was a powerful exploit.
“Hurry! We’ll be in trouble if the Tower notices!”
The employees moved faster. This method was close enough to illegal that the Tower would track it.
Meaning it wasn’t something they could use often.
Sweat poured down the employees’ faces.
“Team Leader! Massive mana emission detected above the Tower! A mana tracker has been dispatched!”
“Team Leader! The Tower is tracing us in real time! Orders!”
Calls for the team leader erupted from every direction.
It was an emergency.
The Tower had smelled the exploit and sent mana all the way to Cheongyeol headquarters!
That was the price of cheating the system.
“Everyone stay sharp! Lure the mana toward the dummy transaction accounts! Fake data should buy us three seconds!”
Decoy data cleverly distributed throughout the company confused the Tower’s mana.
“Purchase complete!”
“Cut the connection!”
Papapapapap!
Dozens of marketplace windows shut at once, erasing every trace that they had used an exploit.
It was a nerve-racking moment.
Why?
Because right now.
The Tower’s mana tracker.
Was standing right outside the office door.
「...」
Step. Step. Step.
They heard the Tower’s mana tracker walking away. The entire team released a collective sigh of relief.
“Twenty products were listed in total. We purchased five.”
“Excellent... everyone did well...”
They had successfully acquired an item facing brutal competition.
Meanwhile, angry posts began appearing on the rankers’ secret community, 「Epsilon」.
=======
Title: What the hell was that marketplace server lag just now?
Author: InkBlackBaldy
Views 2821 | Likes 132 | Dislikes 1
Cheongyeol basstardfdks
spamming bids you fukcing assholess!
I told you not to do that ahsdfj
do you people have no shsdf conscience
↳ I missed it too! My chlorella! AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!
↳ How do you know it was Cheongyeol?
↳ Newbie? If it’s shady, it’s Cheongyeol.
↳ Anyone from Silver Hand who wants a nuke dropped on Cheongyeol’s chairman, upvote lol
↳ sure, me first
↳ What’s with the one dislike? Is this dislike real-name verification?
↳ At least try not to make it obvious, you Cheongyeol parasites
=======
Cheongyeol’s exploits were fairly notorious, so they were exposed almost instantly. Public opinion turned vicious.
“This is absurd.”
Cheongyeol. And the rankers.
The item they were foaming at the mouth trying to obtain.
Was just chlorella!
“When Cheon Ryujin ordered it, I sighed inside. But now even rankers are swarming it? Over some damn chlorella?”
What kind of idiot competition was this?
Either way, Cheongyeol won.
The victorious idiots.
Hurray.
At that moment, Cheon Ryujin’s right-hand man, Secretary Lee, appeared.
“The goods?”
“Here they are.”
“Hoho. Five whole units. Excellent work. Here’s an unlimited black card. Go have a team dinner at the most expensive hotel in Seoul, then each of you rest in a hotel suite until the day after tomorrow.”
“G-Gasp...!”
The team leader’s common sense began falling apart.
What the hell was chlorella...?
“Still, this feels great! Hahahaha! Guys! Team dinner tonight, then two whole days of hotel vacation!”
“Waaaaah!”
Whatever chlorella was.
They decided to thank the seller.
* * *
The peaceful first-floor territory.
I like money.
Is there anyone in the world who hates money?
I don’t trust people who say that. In my experience, nine times out of ten they’re obsessed with money.
“Aaaagh...”
And yet here I was.
“Stop bringing me money!”
Actually saying those words.
Had I forgotten my roots?
No.
The situation was just that serious.
[8,000,000 won deposited]
[10,000,000 won deposited]
[14,000,000 won deposited]
“Stop the bidding war!”
I repent.
I had gravely underestimated the madness of Climbers.
The insane rise in chlorella prices had blown far beyond anything I expected. At this point, it was reaching socially problematic levels.
“Come on, people! This is literally just an algae bloom!”
Click!
I tried manually lowering the price, but I must have touched something wrong because the price climbed even higher.
[16,000,000 won deposited]
[22,000,000 won deposited]
“How does this thing even work! What did I just do? AAAAAAGH!”
=======
[Quest: Agriculture 1]
Objective: Sell a total of 100 million won worth of crops
Reward: 「Crop Praise」 skill
=======
Looks like I’ll clear the quest much sooner than expected.
I Set Up House in the Tower, and Making Money Became Too Easy