Chapter 221: Chapter 221 - Kelat Auction House (4)
Chapter 221 – Kelat Auction House (4)
Merchant A .
It was the mysterious merchant who Yeon-woo had frequently made deals with in the Tutorial .
He hadn’t even told Yeon-woo his name, only introducing himself as A . Yeon-woo couldn’t have imagined that he would meet him here .
Even though Yeon-woo couldn’t see his face because of his robe, he could tell right away from the merchant’s ridiculous speech and mannerisms .
Of course, since he was hiding his identity right now, he couldn’t act like he knew him .
However, Yeon-woo was thinking that it worked out nicely . He already knew the merchant’s personality, so he could deal with him easily .
The merchant was probably happy thinking that a pushover had come .
Trying not to reveal how he felt, Yeon-woo nervously adjusted his duffel and headed towards the guy .
The merchant Atran was someone that was pretty high up in the West Wind Union .
Other than the head boss, the ‘boss’ position was definitely the next highest .
And after he had gotten several Magic Stone mines at that time and sold them at high prices to different clans, he received a generous amount of profit .
However, because of his rude speech patterns and his ill-tempered personality, he frequently clashed with his higher-ups .
That was why he had pretty much been kicked out into this lower-level dealing area of the Kelat Auction House—because he had smacked the head of the rude head boss .
And obviously, there wasn’t much to do in this lower-level dealing area .
Even if there was business, it was just selling and snatching up the items that players brought in at a cheap price . For someone who had once controlled the Magic Stones market, this kind of money seemed like mere pennies .
“Thank you for choosing us . We love you . Fool, I mean, customer, I hope you choose to use Merchant A next time too . ”
But work was still work, so he was getting ready to butter up the next customer—
‘Ugh . Another pushover is here . ’
The door opened, and another player entered .
The player with a naive face was holding a single duffel bag, looking around . The merchant didn’t feel any particular aura from him .
Just with a single glance, he could tell that the player was the perfect pushover, no, prey .
He looked like a newbie merchant who wanted to sell what he had collected so far . Those kinds of guys were the easiest to rip off .
Even if they were dealing within the Auction House, the merchants could rip off the players if they were able to .
And if it was a novice who was just starting out? Even better .
But letting your thoughts be read was something that only stupid people did . It wasn’t something that a veteran like him would do .
“What are you here for, push… . . I mean, sir?”
When Atran spoke to him, the player even flinched . Atran didn’t know how the guy had mustered the courage to become a player .
It suddenly occurred to him that the newbie seller might be putting on an act, but he quickly shook those thoughts away, since there was no need for acting in a lower-level dealing area like this .
“I, I want to sell something . ”
“I see, so you’re here to sell? Is this your first time with us?”
“Yes . That’s right . ”
“Ooh . Then you’ve found the right place . Our West Wind Union is the most conscientious and honest out of all the merchant unions . ”
“Is that so?”
Then, the player beamed like it was a relief . It was a dowdy smile .
“We have to examine the object, so would you mind putting it up here?”
The player awkwardly set his duffel bag down .
Atran was only thinking of how to rip him off and send him away .
But the moment he saw the item inside the duffel bag, Atran was quite surprised .
‘Where did someone like that get something like this?’
The items he brought were weapons like swords or spears . They were all sturdy and sharp . They definitely weren’t something that a newbie merchant like him should have .
“Aren’t these pretty nice? Haha . ”
Like the player knew that his inventory was nice, he smiled .
‘So he’s a Crow . ’
Atran instantly knew what kind of person this player was . They were called Crows .
It was slang for players that went around old battlefields and ‘farmed’ items from corpses .
The world of the Tower was vast, and there were always battles even where players couldn’t see .
It seemed like he had gathered a decent amount .
There were traces of wear and tear, but they didn’t affect how usable the items were, so they could probably be sold at a high price .
Of course, Atran couldn’t let his thoughts show, and so he set a low price range .
“Yes . They’re all good quality . Good . Very . And a few of them are high-class artifacts that have magic . ”
“Then, will the price be… . . ?!”
“However, it’s a bit of a shame . ”
“W, What are you talking about?”
“Look here . As you can see, the rune letters on the blade are destroyed beyond the point of recognition, and it’s very worn . For items like these, the price will drop to ¼ of its original amount . And for something like this… . . ”
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Because of the management of the Bureau, he couldn’t painfully rip him off, but he could rip him off a little .
Even within the West Wind, Atran’s speaking skills were renowned . As he continued to speak, the bumpkin’s face paled .
Of course it would, since he had come here with high hopes, only to have them crushed .
Atran decided to stop there . He knew that if he dropped the price too much, the deal might completely collapse . If the player took his swords to another dealing area, all his efforts would go to waste .
“… . . But even if the care is a bit regretful, a pearl won’t lose its value just because it was under sand for a long time . If they’re repaired just a bit, you can sell it at a fine price . ”
“R, Really?”
Color returned to his depressed face .
Atran realized that the player had completely fallen for the bait and pretended to punch some numbers into a calculator, pushing it towards him .
“So normally, it’s this price, but you brought a lot of items, and to continue a good relationship with our customers, I’ll raise it to this . How’s that?”
“Y, Yes! Deal!”
It wasn’t as much as he had expected, but seeing the price increase from what was said at the beginning, the player gripped Atran’s hand .
Just then, after he looked around, he carefully pulled something from his chest pocket . Atran wondered what kind of item the guy would be taking such special care of, and it was something that he never would have expected .
It wasn’t an artifact or armor .
It was a tablet .
Most of the letters were hard to recognize, seemingly from the oldness of the object .
But the moment Atran activated his decoding skill, Atran forced a gasp back down .
‘This is… . . !’
Merchants had to know a little of everything since they came in contact with all kinds of items . Atran knew especially a bit more about alchemy .
But the information on the tablet wasn’t ordinary .
There was complex alchemy inscribed on it . And they were all foreign to him, as if proving how old it was .
The Tower was a place where people from all kinds of worlds came . There were a few players who entered the Tower after stealing treasures from their home worlds .
However, most of the players didn’t know how to understand the treasures, so they were thrown away in the end . These treasures were tossed around by people who didn’t know their value, and it was eventually given to someone who saw it for what it was worth .
This item was exactly like that .
It was regretful the ending was a bit cut off, but this was enough . The broken letters would be able to be found after some research .
‘I have to have this . ’
Most merchants said, ‘Eureka!’ when they found items like this . Atran wanted to shout out ‘Eureka!’right then and there .
It suddenly occurred to him that with this, he could return to his former position .
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His eyes shined under the robe .
‘Things went smoothly since he seemed to know its value . ’
Yeon-woo lightly laughed as he left the dealing area . He had planned to make the rumors leak out after it was exchanged by several people, or create some rumors himself .
But it seemed like there wasn’t any need to do that .
To trick the mysterious merchant, he acted as a Crow, and he perfectly tricked him .
Since he had given the fake Emerald Tablet along with the weapons, he didn’t have to worry about being caught .
The seed was planted .
Now all he had to do was wait for it to grow .
Atran didn’t move right away after getting the tablet in his possession . Rather, his head was filled with thoughts of how he should take care of this .
‘I can’t just put it up for sale . I have to wrap it up nicely, and make rumors leak out . ’
In the Auction House, it was most important to control public opinion .
It was because consumers felt more satisfied and content when they thought they had something that no one else had in their hands, and the price would rise astronomically .
To do that, he had to spread rumors so people would be filled with curiosity and expectation .
As he was thinking, he came up with a method and rang the bell on the table calling for his subordinate .
Ring, ring—
“Did you call for me?”
“Do you know a good scribe?”
“Wouldn’t there be some of them in the labor market?”
“Then bring 10 of them after asking around . As soon as possible!”
Atran made the scribes copy just 20% of the information on the tablet .
He was making a sample .
He wrapped it up with smooth silk, and sent the sample to his VIP list, along with a few words .
-May luck be with whoever receives this letter . I hope what’s in here can be that luck for you .
Most people who received the letter wouldn’t be interested .
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Inside the fancy envelope, there would just be a few strange letters, and warrior-type players who didn’t see its worth would just toss it into the trash can .
However, apostles or magic-type players would realize its worth at once .
The Emerald Tablet!
The truth of alchemy, which was just considered a legend, was partly written on there .
Although it was only a small part, people who saw it exclaimed in astonishment . The research that they had been stuck on was solved right away, and the truth that they were missing was recreated .
Thanks to this, different groups within the Magic Tower, like the clans of alchemists, Walpurgisnacht, and a few other religions and sects started to contact the Kelat Auction House, asking what in the world this was .
They asked for where this was from, and if the rest of it was being released by the Kelat Auction House .
Each day, hundreds of people visited the West Wind, and thousands of letters arrived in front of Atran .
The response was larger than Atran expected, and Atran’s name was quickly spread amongst the rankers .
Even priests and monks who said they had realized the gods’ messages and stayed away from worldly life visited him .
Thanks to that, the Eight Large Clans began to take an interest .
Because of this, the West Wind had to ‘escort’ Atran back after kicking him out .
At first, they had tried to take it by force, but Atran had hidden it as soon as he made the sample, so there wasn’t anything else they could do .
They even gave him the position of a head boss and ordered him to carefully finish this big event of their union .
Atran didn’t let it go with just gaining this position, though .
He made another sample with 5% added on and sent it to even more people . People who realized the information was ‘real’ began to make a fuss .
In the end, even the Bureau had to observe what was going on with Atran and the tablet .
The greater the response, the more deals with other items could come, so they were going to raise the scale .
They gave the main auction house for him to use, which was the largest, at the peak time when there were the most customers .
Also, since they had advertised it in the name of the Kelat Auction House, countless players, from rankers, clans, business owners, to even spectators arrived on the day of the auction .
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