Chapter 46. Biting the Bullet (1)

“Taemin, it looks like we can’t avoid a guild war now.”

Chunwoong, no, Best Sword Under Heaven, of Skies Above Skies, looked at Taemin, the vice-guild master of Skies Above Skies.

“Hmm…… this really isn’t good…….”

Muttered Taemin with a serious expression.

“We can’t help it. Those shitty Gold Rush guys found the secret passage and pushed their way in. With that, the possibility that those shitty mainlanders will give up on the underground hunting field is completely gone. They’ll come at us with full power.”

“Well, they aren’t the ones who would pass up on such a good hunting field.”

Taemin also knew that this was inevitable. However, he still wanted to avoid a guild war if possible.

“Since it came to this, we can’t delay the slightest. We need to go on strong and pressure them.”

“Yes, you are right. If we can’t avoid it, then we need to win. I’ll put on an emergency gathering call on the guild members. The moment they declare war…… let’s show them what our guild name really means.

Taemin eventually came to a decision.

Skies Above Skies had given up on negotiations, while Gold Rush started getting greedy. In the end, the clash between these two became inevitable.

Having turned into Large Golden Mountain, Sanghyuk ordered the six NPC merchants to buy all the war inventory regardless of the price.

Since it was about time, he had to raise the price of war goods and dry any stocks of them on the market at the same time.

Of course, a few of the quick-witted merchants also hoarded war goods as Sanghyuk did. However, their scale was like dust compared to Sanghyuk’s scale.

Since there weren’t any big merchants in the auction right now, Sanghyuk could practically monopolize everything.

Sanghyuk bought all the items regardless of the price unless it was like, a scam or something.

Since there were so many items, he had to buy an extra-large four-dimensional storage on the bank using the unique rights possessed by executives only, and put the items there.

Sanghyuk knew that the guild war between Skies Above Skies and Gold Rush would begin in at most a week.

Until now, both sides were hitting jabs at each other, but Gold Rush would soon hit Skies Above Skies on the back their heads.

At the time, Gold Rush ambushed the users of Skies Above Skies who were hunting in the underground hunting field. Skies Above Skies knew that the guild war would happen soon, but they didn’t expect their enemy to launch a preemptive attack without even declaring guild war.

Like that, Skies Above Skies, who were suddenly struck on the back of their heads, declared war on Gold Rush, and the guild war began then.

What was interesting here was that Gold Rush’s preemptive attack was a mistake. To be exact, it was some of the extremist members of Gold Rush, who were sick and tired of this battle of wits and did the deed.

Thanks to their incident, Gold Rush could only start the guild war. In this situation, apologizing to Skies Above Skies would do nothing.

The milk was spilled. If the spilled milk could not be gotten, then they had to at least protect the cup.

The time Sanghyuk, no, Large Golden Mountain, also contacted Skies Above Skies was also around this time.

***

Best Sword Under Heaven looked at the man in front of him with a rather absurd expression. Short stature, chubby body, as well as an evil-looking goat beard…… the man who introduced himself as Large Golden Mountain looked to be a generic merchant.

“So you want us to buy those items at those prices?”

“Yes.”

“Huh, what nonsense are you talking about? If I go to the auction right now, I can get these at a tenth of the price that you’re selling…… are you trying to take me for a fool here?”

“A tenth, you say…… if you can get them at that price, then you just should. However, if you refuse my offer today, the prices will double next time.”

“Hey, you…….”

Best Sword Under Heaven thought that Large Golden Mountain was provoking him. The one who stopped him from getting into a rage was Taemin.

“Chunwoong, don’t get excited.”

Taemin calmed Best Sword Under Heaven and had a closer look at Large Golden Mountain.

“Hoarding…… was that your doing?”

Taemin, who was preparing for the guild war, was on the lookout on the auction since a few days ago, so he knew what kind of things were happening in the auction and the commissioned sales store right now.

“It’s good that there’s someone I can talk to. Yes, it was indeed my doing.”

Large Golden Mountain didn’t look ashamed at all.

“You’re not saying that you’ve gulped that enormous quantity, are you?”

“Well, it’s up to your imagination. If you find anyone that are selling these items at a lower price than I am, then you may just go to them. However, once you come to me later, the prices will definitely double.”

“You mean you have confidence in your stocks?”

Taemin slightly frowned and asked.

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Did you never think that you were too greedy? And that you may miss both rabbits?”

“Greed, eh?…… Is that what you see in me?”

“Asking for ten times the normal market price is indeed being greedy.”

“And who decides those market prices? Fufu, well, if you can get those items at your so-called ‘market price’ then go ahead.”

Despite Taemin’s warning, Large Golden Mountain didn’t bat an eyebrow.

“Of course, it’s up to you, sir Mountain, to sell at whatever price you want to, but I want you not to forget that it will be us who will be buying them.”

Taemin was saying that the customer was the one who should be prioritized. However, Large Golden Mountain just laughed.

“Well, you’re saying that it’s free for me to sell, and it’s free for you to buy, right? Well, okay, then. Then let’s call off the deal. Looks like I’ll have to go to Gold Rush’s side for this then. Oh yes. Please remind yourself that I’ve come here since I have better feelings for Skies Above Skies than the other one. Oh, and if you ever change your mind, you can just e-mail me with the address I just gave you. For your information, next time, the prices on all the items will double.”

Large Golden Mountain smiled as he answered.

At that moment, a chill ran down on Taemin’s spine. Taemin’s sharp instincts told him that he could not let Large Golden Mountain go like this.

“W, wait.”

Taemin grabbed onto Sanghyuk.

“Yes, speak.”

“Can’t you wait an hour more? Honestly, don’t you know that this is a hard thing to decide?”

“Hmm…… thirty minutes. I will wait thirty minutes.”

Large Golden Mountain wasn’t easy to sway until the very end. He was acting as if he was in the superior position here.

[Hey, he looks like a total scammer no matter how you look at it. Why are you doing that? Just send him away. Don’t tell me we can’t get any items without that bastard?]

When Taemin changed his attitude, Best Sword Under Heaven chatted to him in whisper mode as if he couldn’t understand him.

[Just wait a moment. Whether he’s a scammer or not…… it won’t be too late if we send him away after we check.]

Taemin knew exactly how important the items Large Golden Mountain was selling now were. As such, he also knew that they might lose the war without being able to do anything if they couldn’t keep a stable supply of those items.

If thirty minutes of investment could avoid that crisis, then he would gladly do so.

Taemin immediately ordered all guild members to go to the nearest auction of the commissioned sales store to check up on fragment of life, holy water, mana stones, and enhancement stones.

Then, he also asked Large Golden Mountain and logged out for a moment and looked for people who were selling those items.

The thirty minutes passed by in a flash.

Taemin, who logged out for a little, logged back in again. He was checking the shocking report that came from the numerous guild members he had just ordered.

[We can’t get any.]

[If any of those appear on the auction or the commissioned sales store, they look very expensive but they still disappear within one second.]

[They’re all gone. There isn’t a single one left.]

[I shouted that I’ll give them extra for thirty minutes, but all I got was a few fragments of life and one lowest-rank mana stone.]

[Since the auction takes them for an high price, everyone’s uploading their stocks on there. Since it gets sold in one second, no one’s trying to sell them by hand anymore.]

……

……

Taemin had already seen worrying information outside the game. When he checked what he got from his guild members…… he noticed that he, no, the entire Skies Above Skies guild had met a strong enemy.

‘This can’t be escaped!’

Large Golden Mountain was enjoying a drink with a leisurely expression. Taemin bit his lips as he was looking at him.

[Taemin, just what’s happening?]

[Chunwoong…… it looks like we took the wrong step this time.]

[Huh? What do you mean?]

[That guy…… is no ordinary guy.]

[What, then is it really true that he is monopolizing all the items?]

[Probably. Without that guy, I think we can only gather enough of those items for a single party, not to mention for the entire guild. Once that happens…… we’ll really be doomed.]

[Whew…… that’s crazy. Just where did such a guy pop up from? Ah, my head hurts.]

[But if you think about it, this is instead an opportunity for us.]

[Huh? What do you mean by that?]

[We’re not the only ones that need war inventory. If we could monopolize the supply even if we have to buy them at 10 times or 20 times the price, this guild war will be our victory.]

[Oho…… that’s true.]

[So, from now on, let’s try to low-ball him a little. That’s the only way.]

[Okay.]

Best Sword Under Heaven quickly nodded. He was talking about how this guy was a scammer until now, but the situation had completely reversed, so he now looked at Large Golden Mountain with a humbler expression.

Taemin’s words were definitely reasonable.

War goods were indeed necessary for both sides of the war, so if they could monopolize the supply through Large Golden Mountain, then victory would be theirs.

However…… that was just his, no, the guild’s deluded hope.

“Huh, what? You’re going to sell to Gold Rush as well?”

Taemin looked at Large Golden Mountain with an unbelievable expression.

“Why are you surprised? I would sell my items to anyone if they had the money.”

“But you said that you’ll do an exclusive trade with…….”

“I never mentioned exclusive anywhere.”

“But we are thinking of trading with just you to show trust. You should trust us too and…….”

“I’m sorry, sir Taemin. Who trusts who? Fufufu, I don’t believe in me. I only believe in money. You shouldn’t believe me either.”

Sanghyuk, having become Large Golden Mountain, really acted like a merchant greedy for money. In fact, Sanghyuk was planning to earn some money separate from his personal revenge this time.

“Even so…….”

Taemin was the sort of guy who had a hard time speaking his heart out. With this, he knew who exactly was in the superior position here.

“Hm, you keep making a pitiful expression, and it’s making my heart weak. Fine, then I’ll give you an offer.”

Large Golden Mountain judged that this was the right time and started releasing the bait.

“I’ll increase the price a little. Exactly 40%. Instead…… I’ll increase the price by 40% on Skies Above Skies side and 400% for Gold Rush. Oh, we’re not in a relationship of trust, so we’ll do all this through the ‘scroll of oath’. Then you can believe me right?”

Large Golden Mountain’s offer was that he’d sell them at four times the price so they could pay just a little more for it.

This was an offer that only the bone-deep merchants could make. Taemin momentarily was about to burst out swearing. He really felt like he was steaming in the head in vexation.

However, he swallowed each and every one of those insults and smiled with an awkward expression. That was the only thing he could do in front of this offer which he couldn’t easily accept, but could not reject either.

“Oh, since you’re having a hard time in your decisions, I’ll help you out a little. If you reject this offer, I’m going to propose the same thing on Gold Rush. Of course, you know that it will be 400% for you and 40% for them, right?”

Having finished his words, Large Golden Mountain looked at Taemin with an evil expression.

“Ugh…….”

*Crunch*.

Taemin subconsciously grits his teeth, and endured it as best as he could. If he burst into a rage right now, this guild war would be their loss.

If they lost the war without being able to do anything when all the attention was on them, their guild may disintegrate to pieces, not to mention the compensation they had to pay.

Not to mention the immense post-war compensations they had to pay Gold Rush, the ‘image’ of Skies Above Skies would fall into the abyss, so the results were obvious.

In other words, Taemin had no choice but to accept this absurd offer.

‘So vicious…… we took the wrong step with the wrong guy…….’

Taemin, who looked at Large Golden Mountain with a given-up expression, sighed and opened his mouth. It was his utter loss…….

In the end, Skies Above Skies had to bite the bullet and went into an insulting contract with the war merchant Large Golden Mountain.