Chapter 53

Jae-yeon wasn’t aware of this, but there were resellers within Revenge. They didn’t hunt monsters nor participated in any events. Their entire day consisted of monitoring the exchange and repeatedly buying/selling items. These players solely focused on making profits from trading goods.

They manipulated the market price or hoarded items to earn diamonds. Then, they sold these diamonds at a lower rate for cash to customers seeking cheaper deals. Regular gamers typically disliked this type of player.

In fact, “reseller” was just their self-proclaimed term; most other players derogatorily referred to them as “hoarders” or “despicable merchants.”

“Huh, someone is buying Return Scrolls.”

It was natural for them to notice Jae-yeon’s movements as they spent their entire day monitoring the exchange.

“Why would anyone buy all those decaying Return Scrolls?”

“I don’t know. Let’s list our Return Scrolls at 20 diamonds each.”

“Understood.”

The resellers, who had multiple accounts, increased the price and listed the Return Scrolls on the exchange accordingly.

“Well…they’re still quite cheap.”

Jae-yeon bought them to teleport refugees outside the city. At only 200 won per person to transport hundreds of kilometers, it was indeed inexpensive. It hurt her heart that the price had doubled, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“This…is quite strange? Someone is buying all these Return Scrolls?”

However, they had no idea about Jae-yeon’s situation.

“What’s happening…?”

They made the wrong judgment call, and it wasn’t just them.

“Hey, buddy, what’s up? Can I ask you something?”

“Oh, that damn bastard… Wait a moment… Found it. Killians, Killians.”

Someone obtained internal company information through a Nemesis employee. The details of characters bought from the exchange weren’t considered confidential, so the employee readily shared the information.

“Killians… Killians? What is this? Why does this ID sound familiar?”

“Killians! It’s the ninth Mythical!”

“Hey, something fishy is going on here! Hey! Buy Return Scrolls whenever you can!”

“What?! It’s already at five diamonds for ten scrolls?”

“Buy them!”

The price of Return Scrolls, once so abundant that they were discarded, started to skyrocket. Resellers and major players in the exchange market noticed this trend, followed by several guilds. Although their movements were cautious, it was impossible to keep things secret. In fact, their careful actions fueled the absurd misconception further.

As Revenge became engulfed in the frenzy surrounding Mythicals, the exchange market experienced its own storm.

[Teleportation Scroll at 240 diamonds - Let’s gooooooo!]

[Sold! Sold! Sold!]

[Teleportation Scroll at 270 diamonds!]

[Why is it increasing? Is this not a bubble? There’s no reason for this rise.]

[Tsk tsk. Newbies. Haven’t you seen the recent Mythicals emerging? The probability increases if you use teleportation scrolls with the Return Command Spell!]

[Is there any evidence for that?]

[I don’t know, but Return Command Spell at 340 diamonds, woohoo!]

This occasionally happened on the stock market as well. Instead of stocks rising due to a company having a vision, finding new opportunities, or developing new technologies, they would increase even when everyone was asking, “Why?”

[Idiots! You have to ride the running horse! This involves the castle lords!]

[I don’t know either. I’m buying!]

[Yee-haw! Yee-haw!]

[440 diamonds, go!]

The price of teleportation scrolls was such a case, and nobody could clearly read the situation amidst all the flyers and fake news. It wasn’t well known but the price of teleportation scrolls was rising! And it would continue to rise much further! Due to irrational trading with no basis whatsoever, the price of teleportation scrolls continued to increase.

In this situation, Jae-yeon sold 8,000 teleportation scrolls. He still didn’t realize it, but he was like a needle bursting the bubble.

“Ah, for now…” I spent all my diamonds just in case. Maybe this was happening due to some bug? There might be issues later and they could be withdrawn, so it made sense to use them immediately.

[You have purchased 4,800 Class Summoning Rights.]

The largest amount of diamonds ever disappeared instantly. Then after sending out the summoning rights to Ardenia, I breathed a sigh of relief.

‘By the way, 4,800.’

It was an enormous quantity. Naturally, it required pouring in all the money earned by working tirelessly for five months without taking any days off.

“No, but seriously, what is going on?”

Initially, spending all my diamonds calmed me down somewhat. No, not really. In fact, I wasn’t calm at all.

Ba-dump, ba-dump.

My heart was pounding as I looked back, feeling slightly excited. It was the power of money.

“Really, though. In Ardenia, I lead tens of thousands of people and yet here I am, so thrilled.”

But it couldn’t be helped. The value of this 48 million won exceeded its monetary worth for me.

‘With this…I can secure 5,000 elite soldiers!’

They would be on a completely different level from ordinary soldiers. With equipment, skills, and levels bestowed upon them, they would possess abilities far surpassing those of regular Players.

I examined the exchange once more.

“Whoa!”

The lowest price now stood at 680 diamonds.

“What? Even higher?!”

In my shock, I nearly bought a Return Scroll, but I couldn’t afford it since I had already spent all my diamonds on Class Summoning Rights.

“No, no what is this… Why did it rise further?” Amidst my confusion, the Return Scrolls priced at 680 diamonds disappeared from sale. The minimum price became 700 diamonds.

”…Crazy.”

I was bewildered. It was too surprising; even though I had sold it at a lower price, how could this happen? “Ah! Wait! Just wait a bit before selling!” I rolled around on the bed, pulling my hair out. 700 diamonds! 700 diamonds! No way, why did it go up so much when it used to be just 10 diamonds?

“Wait, what’s going on…?”

Suddenly, such thoughts crossed my mind, but there was nothing I could do since I had already sold them. Should I re-enter the market now? That would be impossible. The stock—no, the prices of the Return Scrolls had already risen!

“Ah!”

I sighed with regret. Despite selling something for 6,000 won that I had bought at 100 won, human desires truly have no end.

“It’s okay! This is still a huge profit. Login!” I shook my head to dispel any lingering thoughts and entered the study.

Then, I picked up a large book on one side:

[Register of Names]

It was adorned with a luxurious leather cover, imbued with magic by Smile himself.

“1,647 people.”

There were the names of minions who obtained classes after being appointed by me. Naturally, Stonestone was listed first.

[1. Stonestone]

Imperial Knight (Hero) Level: 37

[Granted]

Class: Imperial Knight (Hero)

Skills: Shield Aura, Battle Cry (Advanced), Shield Stun (Advanced), Strike (Advanced)

Equipment: Elemental Blade(Rare)+6, Full Plate Armor(Rare)+6…

[Honored]

12,000 Honor Coins.

170,000 gold

It contained basic information about my minions, items I had bestowed upon them, and the honor coins and gold they contributed as tribute. Essentially, it served as a ledger of sorts.

While that’s how I viewed it, my minions saw it differently. For the thousands of newly recruited soldiers, their dream was to obtain a class and have their names inscribed on this roster—what more could be said?

“Firstly…I need to recruit another 1,400 elite soldiers to reach a total of 3,000.”

However, there was no rush. Haphazardly distributing classes would be wasteful, regardless of the number of summon cards I possessed.

Knock knock.

Following the knocks, Flower entered the study.

“I have given the instructions. They say they will complete their preparations and assemble within one hour.”

“There is no need to come here first, so tell them to head directly towards the west gate. Once they meet the Porcupine Army, instruct them to maintain a suitable distance and wait,” I ordered Flower.

“Yes, Lordship.”

After sending away Flower, I continued my work. Unlike the soldiers, since I could fly on Sky, it was okay for me to depart later.

“Ah, before that…”

Chirin!

I started drawing classes.

Chirin! Chirin! Chirin! Chirin!

It was a laborious task, as each card pack contained 10 cards, and I had to go through 4,800 of them. And the results were…

“Compared to the probabilities…did things turn out quite well?”

Out of the 4,800 Summoning Rights cards, there were 4,254 general class, 481 advanced class, 60 rare class and five hero class cards.

“The general and advanced classes can be used to create new elite soldiers… Now the problem is with the rare and hero classes.”

I checked the rare and hero class cards I possessed.

“Rare totals 78, heroes…” Six cards remained.

For a moment, I pondered over this issue. The problem was that nobody had achieved enough merit to receive a rare or hero class! Unlike Santa Claus, rewards and punishments needed a reason.

“I have to set some standards first. Yes… I need to divide ranks.”

Since I was once a soldier, naturally, I based my standards on those of a modern army. Currently, there were Captains leading ten, hundred and thousand men, but strictly speaking, these were positions rather than ranks.

“First… let’s fill up the regular soldiers with those who don’t have classes yet. However, once they gain experience and become corporals after serving for several years, we’ll assign them classes to make them elite soldiers.”

I scribbled down my thoughts on a memo pad:

Private (2nd Class) -> Regular Soldier: Stamina test. Corporal -> Level 30+ plus Corporal exam Second Lieutenant -> Level 35+, Mana Awakening, Officer Exam Major -> Level 40+, Rank 3 Mage or Aura Expert, Field Officer Exam

Colonel: Level 45 or higher + Class 4 or Aura Expert Advanced + Officer Test >

I organized it according to the standards for each rank. For promotions within the same rank, I thought they would be based on years of service and military achievements.

“This way, corporals and non-commissioned officers will be ordinary, officers will be advanced, leaders will be rare, generals will be heroes…”

Of course, this was just a rough outline. As mentioned earlier, there were currently no outstanding achievements yet.

”…”

For a moment, I was quiet. Then what about the current rare and hero cards? Should I save them for later? I made up my mind:

“Let’s synthesize.”

Chirin!

The synthesized card flew towards the sky.

Ulleng!

“Huh?”

The face of the astonished goddess statue flashed past me.

“No?”

–Seeking the principles of this world, I count the stars.

–Now, I shall become the law itself.

Collection Completed!

Mage of Stars (Star Seeker, Meteor Mage, Rune Caster, Enchanter): Magic Attack Power +1%, Mana +5

“I haven’t synthesized any rare cards yet…”

I checked the class effect with amazement.

[Star Seeker(Class: Legend)]

Mana +100, Magic Power +180, Mana Recovery +100, Health +60, Magic Resistance +60

Mana recovery speed increased by 50%.

[Memorize]

[Thousand Enchant]

Acquired Legendary Class!

It should’ve been a time to rejoice, but I felt uncertain due to the feared outcome unfolding before me.

“Star Seeker… It’s a mage…”

Having experienced numerous instances of disappointment, I now understood all too well.

How foolish I was when I initially hoped to become a Sword Saint by using the lottery system.

“It’s not that easy.”

There were close to one hundred legendary classes available. It was already difficult enough to obtain a legendary class, let alone getting the exact desired profession.

“Ah, but in the game, it perfectly matched as Sword God! Why couldn’t it be mage there instead of here…!”

No matter how frustrated I felt, reality wouldn’t change. Ultimately, I decided to seal away Star Seeker. Despite its allure as a legendary class, with my current level, unable to properly master even one class, utilizing Star Seeker was impractical. Of course, if I purchased additional skills, I might have been able to make use of it somehow, but considering I had already acquired various skills like Inner Force Injection and Sword Energy Manifestation for the Sword King, defeating him would still be impossible.

“Sigh… despite being such a rare legendary class.” Grumbling, I left the study, feeling disheartened.