Chapter 197 |
197
100 The Golden Age of EL Starts Now! (1)
Sanghyuk stayed at the pinnacle for over an hour after checking the prizes. It was depressing that he could not mark this place to come back. He would have to be satisfied with videos. He used the Return skill, which could be used as a one-way ticket. He acted quickly, and after returning to Gorren, he had no time to rest. He had been absent for twenty days, and much work was to do.
His priority was to supply cigarettes that had been sold out four days ago. While he had secured a month’s supply of Sunstones and cigarettes, the cigarettes had run out. He could see how popular cigarettes had become, and he unleashed all of his stock. However, that barely satisfied the Sun People’s appetite. He had to call Ilia in the Lower Lands to collect all cigarettes in one place.
Sanghyuk knew that users were coming to the Sun Land through internet communities. He was raring to sell cigarettes faster. He had secured the supply chain, and the Sun People thought of Geumhae when they wanted a cigarette. As Sanghyuk was friendly with important NPCs through cigarettes, he was at an advantage when selling. Those who had come here could not become merchants, and even if they could, Geumhae would not be beaten.
This was why Sanghyuk had worked so hard. If Geumhae began to sell other items and cigarettes, Geumhae could become larger than even Geumsan.
**
“I will do my best as Team Apple’s master to make sure we reach the top.”
Dmitri, the former master of NSA, a massive guild alliance, announced his goal at the press meeting that announced a major sponsorship from the global firm Apple. As this sponsorship, which had been only rumors before, was now confirmed, many people thought this would change the power relations in EL. Sanghyuk nodded to himself as he watched the press meeting live.
The contract between NSA and Apple showed that EL’s relationship with firms would begin and that EL’s golden age would arrive soon. EL would be the best game for the next five years, period. Major firms and investment companies would jump to EL, and even Hollywood stars would personally invest in EL gamers. There would be specialized funds for EL investments, making EL even more popular.
While it was about a year earlier than Sanghyuk had remembered, the game had changed faster. By the game clearance standards, it was about the same. Money like this changed EL’s world completely.
People began to fight even more fiercely, and individual users could not even find a place in the battle. They were busy trying not to get crushed under these whale-like forces.
‘Now is the true beginning.’
This was the biggest reason Sanghyuk had concentrated on playing the game without regarding his health. Major funds would push in like money would solve everything. As Sanghyuk had been a puppet for them in the past and then had been thrown away like a rag, he wanted to crush them as an individual user. He had been preparing for this. While Sanghyuk was at a disadvantage as an individual even with his funds, he was at another level as a user.
‘They will go on their way, and I mine…’
Sanghyuk turned off the broadcast as he knew what would happen. Other major firms would follow suit within the month. As the trend of large guilds being sponsored by firms would grow, EL would become a major advertising market.
Sanghyuk was determined to survive as an individual user, even as EL’s world changed. The increased cash flow into EL would make EL’s currency, Gold, more expensive. Sanghyuk had exchanged 1 billion won in Gold beforehand because he knew this would happen.
He was now finishing up the last touches to establish Geumhae’s place in the Sun Land, but he needed a proxy because he had other work.
However, it was more difficult to hire an NPC here, as one needed to get friendly and pay more money. Sanghyuk had prepared for this and managed to enlist seven B class NPCs into Geumhae.
‘Now, the basics had been set. It will be easier to hire Sun People in the future. Now I needed to finalize things before bringing Ilia in to manage Geumhae.’
Ilia was his best NPC, and she would know what to do. Sanghyuk headed to the Lower Lands to meet her and confirm the storage. She had collected cigarettes and other items that could be sold at a high price in the warehouse. It did not matter that Geumsan had spent almost all of its Gold, as Sanghyuk planned to use Geumsan as a proxy for buying objects.
“You did well. Decrease Geumsan’s size and focus on the items I want you to buy. I will send you the Gold.”
“Confirmed.”
Ilia answered with a nod.
“Tell me when you hand over your post. I need you up there.”
Ilia could be summoned to the Sun Land if Sanghyuk wanted to, as she belonged to him like an item.
“I will finish things within two weeks.”
“I will be waiting.”
Sanghyuk spent a lot of money on coming back and forth, but he moved the items Ilia had collected to the Sun Land. The items would be sold up to twenty times their price here. For example, cigarettes would be sold at sixteen times the price they fetched in the lower lands. The Sun People were obsessed with them, and Sanghyuk was careful to control the supply.
He needed to use cigarettes to sell other items. He easily did so as they were items favored by the Sun People in Sanghyuk’s past life. Sanghyuk planned to dose the Sun People on his items, and after they thought Geumhae the best, earning money was easy.
The reason he placed so much effort in Geumhae was simple: Sanghyuk was going to use game money to counter the outside funds. This was his way of overcoming the gap between him and rich firms.