Chapter 106

Chapter 106

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 106: Times Square (3)

The tumultuous advertisement shoot finally came to an end.

The exhausted crew emerged, looking worn out.

“Thank you all so much for your hard work! It was absolutely perfect!”

Beside the director, who was giving double thumbs up, lay a pile of empty potion bottles.

As they left the set, Park Siwoo sighed, sticking out his tongue in exhaustion.

“Advertisements are no joke, huh?”

“We’re talking about 500 billion here. This level of effort is necessary.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But doesn’t it feel surreal? Just doing this and getting 500 billion... I’m not sure if it’s okay to accept this much money.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

The one who nodded in response to Kim Minwoo’s words looked at Seo Yerim.

“Big Sis.”

“Yeah?”

“What are you going to use the money for once you get it?”

“Well, first I’ll donate some to the Sword Sect... and then save the rest. It’ll come in handy when I need to buy equipment later.”

“But our guild supports all our equipment needs.”

“Even so. There’s a limit to what we can get for free. It’s difficult to find equipment that we can continue to use.”

“Yeah, that’s true. It’s tough to acquire stuff like that.”

Equipment that can be worn for a long time once put on.

Items that are difficult to obtain even with money were often referred to as luxury items.

Usually, this term referred to equipment of Legendary rank or higher.

These were often traded quietly among those in the know, or failing that, controlled by the government to prevent leakage.

You gonna sell that?

Oh, you can’t find a buyer among awakened in our country?

Then just sell it to the government at market price.Yoour favorite stories at novelhall.com

What? You won’t sell it?

Are you trying to see the country collapse or something?

Such ruthless pressure was common. The existence of Gates, a real threat, made it possible.

While usually quiet, if it were to explode once, countless victims would emerge from the structure. In such situations, good equipment could make a significant difference.

Naturally, there’s only so much control over leakage that can be exercised.

Of course, those who obtained the items could keep their mouths shut and secretly smuggle them overseas.

If successful, they could even fetch prices much higher than the standard market rate.

‘But it’s not easy.’

It’s not easy for an individual to get such equipment, and it’s usually obtained through guilds or gatherings.

Even if it’s quiet there, there’s always the risk of it being exposed after time passes.

What if that happens?

First of all, they’ll get a lot of hate from the public.

No, it’s not like the government is selling it off for cheap!

They paid the full price and are selling the nation’s security for money?

That’s the general idea.

The only exception was to put the item up for auction at the Sky Auction House.

In order to participate in this auction house, you had to register a certain number of items allocated to each country.

What if you didn’t register the item?

No invitations were sent to the related citizens.

This was actually a loss.

Their country needs archer-related items, but they only have the warrior’s items?

Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to just put it up for auction and participate in the auction to get archer-related items instead of stupidly holding onto it?

Moreover, the Sky Auction House is a stage where you can win with ‘money’.

‘Basically, it’s a structure that favors rich developed countries.’

So, even if you were caught putting items up for auction in the Sky Auction House, you wouldn’t face condemnation.

No, developed countries even encourage it.

Awakened selling expensive items in auctions with low fees was good for them.

The country could gain participation qualifications through this, and awakened buyers at the auction generously handed over money, making it a beneficial structure.

Of course, not everything could be resold. That would be impossible even in the United States.

It wasn’t just a small sum of money involved.

Think of it as items treated as “core equipment” being resold relentlessly.

‘I guess a Necromancer’s Gear would be relatively easy to ge

Since not many people use them anyway, and there are hardly any awakened who can fully utilize their equipment’s performance.

There’s not much reason for countries to scramble for them.

Well...

For them, it was indeed a huge sum of money. No, honestly, it was a significant amount for the majority of Awakeners.

A total of 1 trillion won.

It was a decent amount to consider buying some good legendary items.

‘What should I exchange it for...?’

Accessories might be a bit tricky.

Sorry, but accessories are really expensive.

‘It might be good to exchange some equipment.’

Both of them currently had rare-rank equipment. If they could fit in at least one legendary-rank item, it would significantly boost their power.

Almost comparable to a Command Sword-rank power.

‘They’ve been leveling up diligently even when I’m not around.’

“Where are you going, Minwoo?”

“Oh, I think I need to go abroad for a bit.”

“Abroad?”

Minwoo nodded.

April was the period when the Super Rookie Selection Tournament was held.

If they came out on top, they’ll receive an invitation to the Sky Auction House in less than a week.

‘We don’t have much time left.’

In other words, it meant he needed to earn a lot of money this March to be able to participate in the Sky Auction House.

Since this event only happens once a year, we need to gather as much wealth as possible.

60 trillion seemed a bit lacking.

If a good accessory comes out?

Skipping by tens of millions is the norm.

‘If it’s not enough, we can always duplicate it.’

So, the plan was to go and duplicate some real money.

* * *

[(Breaking News) Ilsung Phone Ad Sweeps the World! Pre-order Exceeds 5 Million Units....]

[(Breaking News) Ilsung Phone Dominates New York Times Square!]

[(Breaking News) Cost of Money Talk Guild’s Advertisement Model, Estimated in Tens of Billions?]

[(Breaking News) All Ad Costs Already Withdrawn! Ilsung, A Joyful Scream!]

— Whoa, this is crazy. The price of the new Ilsung Phone increased by 50% compared to the previous version, but what’s with the pre-order volume? Isn’t this price range like that of an Apple phone?

— Nowadays, all Ilsung products are becoming premium. Seems like they’re aiming for a premium status even with their phones. Apple’s leaving plenty for them to chew on, haha.

— But it’s selling like hotcakes, haha.

— Yeah, the ad was quite catchy. Even the rugged design has changed a bit. And that skull emblem on the back seems to be a big hit. They’re already giving it nicknames overseas.

— Nicknames?

— Skeleton Phone, haha. Shortened to Skelephone, they say?

— They’re also ramping up the features. There are even aspects better than an Apple phone, haha.

— Wasn’t it considered good if pre-order volumes exceeded 1 million units? What’s with starting at 5 million? Kim Minwoo Syndrome, seriously.

— Park Siwoo and Seo Yerim also made some money, right? The ad was impressive, haha.

— Don’t you know that Merhen Snow is famous? Ignorant Black Bear?

— Yeah, for real. The magic community in the U.S. is buzzing right now, haha. Single-handedly drawing all the aggro, haha.

— Yeah, but what if it boils over~? It’s a fact that you can’t do magic, haha.

— Don’t you feel anything when you see a Dragon Summon? It’s just on a different level, haha.

— For real, haha.

— A mage? Kim Minwoo cut through all the summoners, haha.

— Looking at it like this, it’s really magnificent. Even the Troublemaker Channel subscribers are seeing ads and exceeding 100 million. Is it really Kim Minwoo’s era coming?

— 100 million, haha. Twice the population of Kimchi Soup, haha.

— (Real Scary Story) Now I’m a newbie who’s been awakened for three months, haha.

— Three months? Isn’t that like 30 years? Seriously crazy, haha.

— We’re living in Kim Minwoo’s era...

— But what about the Money Talks Guild? Isn’t leveling up the priority?

— Park Siwoo and Seo Yerim used to go through the gates alone. But where did Kim Minwoo go?

— Is he running another hidden gate again?

At that moment.

One breaking news came to mind.

[(Breaking News) Kim Minwoo, Overseas Departure? Destination reported as Saudi Arabia!]

— Huh?

— Saudi?

— Why suddenly head to an oil country?

— Who knows?

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]