Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Spendthrift Necromancer (106)

Times Square (3)

The eventful commercial shoot finally ended. The group emerged completely exhausted.

“You all worked incredibly hard! Absolutely perfect!”

Beside the director, who was giving them two enthusiastic thumbs-up, stood a mountain of empty potion bottles.

As they left the set.

Park Siwoo stuck his tongue out in disgust.

“Commercials are seriously no joke.”

“They're paying you five hundred billion won. You can suffer this much.”

“That's true. But it still doesn't feel real. Five hundred billion just for doing this…… I don't even know if I should be getting this much.”

“You'll get used to it.”

Park Siwoo nodded at Kim Minwoo's words and looked toward Seo Yerim.

“Noona.”

“Yeah.”

“What are you going to spend the money on?”

“Who knows. I'll donate some to Sword Sea Pavilion…… and save the rest. I'll need it later when I buy equipment.”

“But our guild pays for all our equipment.”

“Still. There's a limit to what you can find. And it's hard to get equipment good enough to keep using for a long time.”

“True. That kind of stuff is brutal to find.”

Equipment valuable enough to accompany an Awakened for years after equipping it once.

Items so difficult to obtain that even having money wasn't enough were commonly called premium equipment.

Usually, that meant Legendary-grade or better.

Items of that caliber were normally traded privately among people who knew one another, and even then, governments often controlled their export.

You're selling that?

What, you couldn't find any Awakened in our country willing to buy it?

Then we'll pay fair market price, so just sell it to the government.

What? You won't?

Do you want to watch the country collapse or something?

That kind of threatening pressure was common. The reason governments could get away with it was the very real threat called Gates.

Most of the time they remained quiet, but if one burst at the wrong moment, enormous casualties followed.

High-quality equipment could play a major role in situations like that.

Naturally, governments had little choice but to control their export to some degree.

Of course, whoever obtained the item could keep their mouth shut and secretly smuggle it overseas.

If they succeeded, they could receive far more than market price.‘But it isn't easy.’Individuals rarely obtained equipment like that alone. Usually, it dropped while they were in a guild or some other group.

Even if everyone there kept quiet, as time passed, there was always a risk the information would eventually leak.

And if they got caught?

The public would be the first to tear them apart.

The government isn't even lowballing you!

They're offering full market value, and you sold out national security just because you got greedy for more money?

That was roughly how it went.

The one exception was listing the item at the Sky Auction House.

Every country had to register a certain quota of items to qualify for participation in the auction.

What if they didn't register anything?

Nobody from that country received an invitation.

That was an even greater loss.

Our country needs Archer equipment, but all we've got is Warrior gear?

Rather than stupidly clutching onto it forever, wasn't it more profitable to list it and enter the auction so they could obtain Archer equipment instead?

And since the Sky Auction House was fundamentally a stage where ‘money’ could overpower everything.‘Rich developed countries are naturally favored.’That was why nobody criticized people for listing items at the Sky Auction House even if they got caught.

Developed countries actually encouraged it.

The Awakened benefited by selling expensive items at auction with low commission fees.

The country benefited by gaining the right to participate.

Then the government would select Awakened attending the auction, hand them huge amounts of money, and tell them to buy the listed items back.

Of course, they couldn't repurchase everything. Even America couldn't manage that.

These items weren't cheap.

They usually fought tooth and nail only to repurchase pieces that counted as ‘core equipment.’‘Necromancer gear should be fairly easy to get.’There weren't many people who used it, and almost no Awakened could bring out 100% of such equipment's performance anyway.

Governments had little reason to go wild trying to buy it.‘Swordsman and Archer equipment will be the problem.’Those two Classes, on the other hand, were as mainstream as mainstream got.

Getting them would cost serious money.

Other countries would also be desperate to secure equipment for mainstream Classes first.

“When we go to the Sky Auction House, I'll try to find some Swordsman and Archer gear.”

“……

The Sky Auction House?”

Seo Yerim asked with wide eyes.

Then she nodded as though it made sense.

“Come to think of it, Mr. Minwoo has plenty of money and enough fame, so you might qualify. Maybe an invitation really will come…….”

“That's right! Hyung, you're probably going to get invited.”

“Well, we don't know yet.”

“But will we be able to buy anything? Our equipment will be expensive…….”

“We probably can't get everything, but we should be able to buy a few pieces.”

The Awakened who participated in the Sky Auction House.

The force behind most of them was their country.

A country was fundamentally an organization.

And because of that, there were many things it had to consider when purchasing items.

How should purchases be distributed across Classes?

How would they maintain fairness?

How much could they spend at auction without causing major public dissatisfaction?

And much more.

They couldn't simply see a Legendary item and mindlessly bid trillions.

There were roughly standardized price ranges for each kind of item.

Bid beyond that?

Then the government had to find more money.

Usually from taxes.

Naturally, citizens complained.

What about Minwoo?

He was a wealthy individual.

An individual who could dump enormous sums into one item without anyone having the right to complain.‘Of course, even I can't spend recklessly forever…….’Either way, he had far more flexibility.

It was a fight he could win.‘And I'll have even more money soon.’There were plenty of ways to pull in money.

A veteran player had no shortage of methods.

“……

If you really get into the Sky Auction House, I'll transfer all the money I earned this time.”

“Me too, Hyung. It's not much, but…….”

“We don't even know whether I'll be participating yet…….”

Just as Kim Minwoo said that.

A golden ticket suddenly appeared in his hand.[Conditions fulfilled!][You have received an invitation to the Sky Auction House!]

“Huh?”

He checked the item.[Sky Auction House Ticket][Rank: Special][A ticket that allows its holder to participate in the Sky Auction House.][Effect 1. Allows entry into the Sky Auction House on May 5.]

Seo Yerim and Park Siwoo stared at the ticket in Kim Minwoo's hand with shocked expressions.

“That…….”

“That's a Sky Auction House ticket, right?!”

“Yeah. They gave it to me already?”

It was early March.

As far as he knew, tickets normally started going out in April, meaning he'd received his invitation almost a month early.‘Because of the sixty-trillion investment?’That had probably satisfied the wealth condition.

As for fame…….‘The advertisement hasn't even gone out yet?’Maybe the aftermath of the recent Guild Battle had been much larger than expected.

Enough that he'd met the fame requirement before even airing an advertisement around the world.‘Well.’Seventy million NewTube subscribers wasn't exactly something to laugh at.

His Level was.‘A little low, but I'm still a monster, right?’Either way, there was no downside to receiving the ticket early.

“We'll transfer everything we earned this time.”

He looked at Seo Yerim and Park Siwoo.

Seeing the two of them resolutely declaring they'd transfer their five hundred billion won made him smile for some reason.

Well…….

From their perspective, that was a lot of money. Honestly, it was a lot of money for almost every Awakened.

Combined, one trillion won.

Enough to aim for a decent Legendary item or two.‘What should I replace for them…….’Accessories might be difficult.

Sorry, but accessories were genuinely expensive.‘Probably better to upgrade some of their equipment.’Both of them were currently covered in Rare-grade gear. Giving either one even a single Legendary piece would make their combat power jump sharply.

It would be almost equivalent to the Necromantic Sword.

“Keep leveling while I'm gone.”

“Hyung. Are you going somewhere?”

“Yeah. Looks like I'll need to travel overseas.”

“……

Overseas?”

Kim Minwoo nodded.April was when the Super Rookie Selection Tournament would take place.

And less than a week after that ended, the Sky Auction House would open.‘Meaning March is the only time my schedule is free.’In other words, if he wanted to run wild at the Sky Auction House, he needed to make an enormous amount of money during March.

Sixty trillion felt a little insufficient.

If a really good accessory appeared?

Prices jumping several trillion at a time was only natural.‘If I'm short, I can just duplicate money.’That was why he intended to go somewhere he could literally duplicate money.* * *[(Breaking News) Ilseong phone advertisement sweeps the world! Preorders surpass five million units…….][(Breaking News) Ilseong phone takes over New York Times Square!][(Breaking News) Spendthrift Guild's advertising fee estimated in the trillions?][(Breaking News) Ad costs already recovered! Ilseong screaming with joy!]..―Whoa, insane. This Ilseong phone costs 50% more than the last model, so what the hell is with those preorder numbers? Damn; that's Apple Phone pricing.―All Ilseong products have been going premium lately. Looks like they're seriously pushing the phone into premium territory too. Apple Phones make a fortune per unit lololol―And they're still selling like that lol―The ad looked really good. They changed the old clunky design too. Putting a Skeleton logo on the back seems to have helped a lot. Overseas people already gave it a nickname.―Nickname?―Skeleton Phone lol They shorten it to Skelphone.―They pushed the specs like crazy too. Some parts are even better than Apple Phone lol―Wasn't crossing one million preorders normally considered a success? Five million right out of the gate? The Kim Minwoo syndrome is insane for real;―Park Siwoo and Seo Yerim pulled their weight too. The ad was pretty badass lol―Anyone who doesn't know Merhen noona carried is an absolute fool.―For real lol The American magic community is boiling right now lol She drew all the aggro by herself lol―So what if they're boiling~ It's still a fact they're bad at magic lol―Do they feel nothing looking at that Water Dragon Summon? They're just on completely different levels lol―For real lol―Mages? All get cut down at the level of Kim Minwoo's summon lol―Looking at it now, this is genuinely overwhelming. Wastrel Channel passed 100 million subscribers after the ad too. Is the age of Kim Minwoo actually beginning? Damn.―100 million lol Twice the population of Korea lololol―(Actual terrifying fact) He's a newbie who Awakened only three months ago. Damn.―Three months? Not thirty years? That's actually insane lol―We live in the age of Kim Minwoo…….―But what's Spendthrift Guild doing? Shouldn't they be leveling?―Park Siwoo and Seo Yerim are running Gates alone. But where did Kim Minwoo go?―Running another Hidden Gate?

Then.

A breaking-news headline appeared.[(Breaking News) Kim Minwoo departs overseas? Destination reportedly Saudi Arabia!]―Huh?―Saudi Arabia?―Why the hell is he suddenly going to oil country?―No idea?