Chapter 124 Tyranny of Big Companies (4)
“Oh! You’re back safely. Were there any major problems going up?”
Armaments filled with carts pulled by the top of the pie. An NPC with a bright smile checking the condition of each item. He took out a thick pocket from his chest and handed it to Apple.
“Your order is complete. Contrary to what I was worried about because the scale was so small, it was a satisfactory deal.”
well done
[Successfully completed the ordering quest ‘Weapon Supply in Myrin Territory’.]
[The reliability of the top of the pie has increased.]
[Obtained 1300 gold.]
[Acquired EXP from trade.]
[Level rises . I did.]
[Skill weapon trade rises to C rank.]
[The discount rate of weapon trade increases.]
With the help of Jaeyoung, Apple successfully escaped the desert of death and arrived safely at the territory where the order was placed. He thought to himself as he stared blankly at the bag of gold that had come into his hands at the end of the long journey.
‘Purchasing cost of 500 gold, labor cost and time compared to the cost… Roughly 400 gold profit.’
A situation where a profit of 40 million won was obtained in one trade. It was a jaw-droppingly huge amount of revenue earned in about two weeks of round trip, but Apple’s face was not so bright.
‘It was a profit that I was lucky in many ways, but the risk is too big in reality…’
As it is an economy of scale, the top-tier system requires an appropriate amount of investment for a huge profit. However, Apple was able to feel firsthand that it could never survive in Arcadia at its current level.
“You said you wanted to run a proper business? Then you should also consider increasing the scale at once through investment. From what I’ve experienced at first glance, it seems that even a slight twist on the top will result in huge losses? In a halfway state like this, you can’t roll very much and get turned upside down.”
Dex saved the top of the pie from a crisis. Apple, who was deep in thought as he remembered his words, was startled by the merchant NPC who said something in front of him.
“…Are you listening to me?”
“yes? Oh what did you say?”
An NPC with an apologetic expression. He hesitated with a puzzled face, but then spoke with difficulty.
“You did a better job with the request than I thought, but I think it will be difficult to continue dealing with your guild in the future.”
“yes….? What do you mean by that all of a sudden…”
The Myrin Territory, which is the base of the Pi Merchants. Apple, which has been steadily building trust by solving numerous order requests here, asked without hiding its embarrassment at his words.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. It’s not because there’s something wrong with your guild.”
“Then, what the hell is the reason for this…”
He looked around with a troubled look on his face and whispered softly at Apple’s persistent question, which he couldn’t understand why he couldn’t issue orders in the future even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. .
“That’s what I mean….. The lord is thinking of arming all the troops in the territory with Dwarven equipment. But to do that, it’s too difficult to handle the volume with the size of a normal guild… It seems like we signed a contract to exclusively deal with one guild.”
“What?”
It wasn’t that there weren’t cases where certain items were purchased in bulk through one merchant. However, the fact that the item was a product made by the dwarves made Apple ask with a curious face.
“Is that the GM top by any chance…?”
“huh? Do you guys know the top?”
“I do know…”
“According to rumors, it is said that the top is the most reliable place to stably supply the dwarves in large quantities. That’s why the lord decided to take these measures, so don’t be too sad.”
Korean conglomerate GM Group.
Apple was silently thinking about the unstoppable move of the top of GM, which was aggressively expanding its power with the giant company as its parent.
“…..”
“Brother…”
Apple and Lemon turned around without receiving a new order. Lemon looked at Apple, who had a hard expression and said nothing, with a worried expression.
“Mijin, what do you think is good?”
Random questions. However, as if he understood what Apple was asking, Lemon pondered for a long time with a serious expression before opening his mouth.
“…I don’t know if what he suggested was real, and even if it was, whether it was right to accept those conditions.”
The condition that Jaeyoung put on these two.
It was none other than asking for a stake in the top of the pie.
“From now on, the two of you will help grow the top of the pie to the top of this continent. Instead, give me a 50% stake.”
“Half of me? What kind of nonsense is that…”
A very outrageous request. So Apple tried to decline the offer without giving it a second thought. However, he couldn’t bring himself to say it because of the painful reality that Jae-young threw at him.
“You may think this is excessive, but think about it calmly. Will this corps really be able to grow further than this? Perhaps, let alone maintain the status quo, the corps itself will not be blown away after suffering enormous damage in subsequent incidents.”
A place that is so realistic that it cannot be called a game and has a huge economic ecosystem. Even surviving in this world of hardcore itself, which did not consider the convenience of users, was not an easy task. And as time went by, Apple was realizing it directly in the sabotage of rivals and giants that grew more and more.
“Do you earn tens of thousands of gold a year and take half of it, or earn hundreds and thousands of gold and take all of it. Which one is the best?”
We didn’t know it at the moment, but now Apple understands exactly what he meant. Watching the GM corps encroach on the Myrin estate, which can be said to be the base where his corps has been active so far, Apple took out a scroll from its inventory as if it had made up its mind.
[Investment contract]
The contract he handed over to sign once he made a decision. Pulling it out and unfolding it, Apple said to Lemon.
“I’m sorry, Mijin.”
“what….?”
“Just… everything. I was the one who said that this game would make money, and I was the one who made them spend most of their savings and savings to buy those expensive capsules and invest most of their savings to make an investment to raise the upper ranks. ….”
Apple had only thought of a rosy future when it started. However, Arcadia was not as easy as he thought.
“I’ve been thinking and worrying about it every day… Actually, even now, it’s a lot of limits. I don’t have the confidence to run this company alone in the future.”
A lawless society in which modern laws and norms that are more realistic than reality do not exist. Apple didn’t have the confidence to overcome all the adversity and threats and keep this top. He moaned and worried even when he was sleeping at night. Upon Apple’s candid confession, Lemon stroked his hand without saying anything.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“…..”
“I agreed with my brother’s words that it would be money, and I bought a capsule and broke my savings to prepare for investment. All the choices we made in this game were made by the two of us together.”
Apple always respected Lemon’s opinions and was with her at every important decision. That’s why Lemon held Apple’s hand tightly and looked at him with eyes full of trust.
“No matter what choice I make, I don’t blame or regret my brother. Everything we’ve done so far is what we did together.”
“Mijin-ah…”
Apple made a touching expression at her words. Lemon glanced at him mischievously and said.
“Are you going to keep calling me by that name? My name here is Lemon?”
“Yes….? Oh sorry.”
Apple is taken aback by Lemon’s words and apologizes. Smiling at his reaction, Lemon looked carefully at the contract he pulled out and muttered,
“Take half of it is too bullying, but… Judging from the current situation, this would be a wise choice, right?”
“…..”
A situation where you have to give half of the top tier that you have worked so hard to give to someone you don’t know. However, Lemon looked at Apple as if determined and said.
“If I want to give you half of it, I will have to work harder in the future to earn a lot more than I do now.”
At her playful words, Apple laughed and said.
“Of course… Thank you for trusting me.”
“It happens again. It’s just that I didn’t make a decision for no reason, so don’t be like that.”
Laughing at her words, Apple reached for the open contract.
[Would you like to agree to the contract?]
[Warning An established contract cannot be canceled without mutual consent of both parties. Do you really agree?]
A harsh phrase of warning that once a decision is made, there is no going back. But Apple hit the accept button without hesitation.
[The investment contract for the top of the pie was established.]
That’s how it started. It is the story of Apple and Lemon, the owners of the giant merchant companies who dominate the commercial districts of the second continent of Arcadia and in reality generate trillions of won worth of gold every year as net profit.
* * *
Jaeyoung was eating with Jaekyun at a restaurant. He looked at Jae-gyun, who was happily swallowing the food in his mouth as if it was about to explode, with a look of wonder as he asked.
“Eat slowly. Why are you eating so militantly?”
“…I’m hungry these days because I’m losing weight. Eating here doesn’t make you gain weight, so you have to deliberately eat your fill here.”
Jae-gyun hurriedly ate food as if he had starved for several days. Seeing him like that, Jaeyoung asked as if he was absurd.
“Are you on a virtual reality diet or something?”
“huh. This one is pretty effective. After eating like this and then disconnecting, you feel less hungry than you thought?”
The diet method that is emerging as a hot topic these days. Looking at Jae-kyun, who is on a novel diet, who feels full in virtual reality and eats a full meal that he cannot eat in real life, Jae-young asked.
“…You’re not losing weight because of Chaeyeon, are you?”
sting
Watching Jaeyoung hesitate momentarily at the question, there were many things he wanted to say, but the phrases that popped up in front of him made the nagging to him disappear from his mind in an instant.
[The other party has agreed to the contract.]
[The investment contract for the top of the pie has been established.]
[Acquired 50% of the stake in the top of the pie.]
“Hmm….. The decision is quicker than I thought.”
“….what?”
Jae-gyun, who shoves the food in front of his eyes into his mouth and looks curious at Jae-young’s self-talk. Jaeyoung asked him.
“Hey Jaekyung. Can I ask you one favor?”
“What request…?”
“It’s not that difficult… can you bring me this?”
Jaeyoung takes out a pocket from his inventory and hands it over. Jaekyun took the pouch without thinking and shouted in fright at the message floating in front of him.
[You have acquired 10000 gold.]
“A million gold…?”
It’s worth as much as 1 billion gold at the current market price. It was an enormous sum for Jaeyoung, a college student, to have, so Jaekyun looked at him in amazement as he handed it over casually.
“You have the top we used? I’ll give you a note to send to the two of them, so meet them again and give them the money.”
“All this much money…?”
“uh. Then, accompany me to the Dwarf Village and introduce me to Nanyatongson. I’ll tell you in advance by note, but if you go and mediate, it’ll be easier to talk with the dwarves.”
“story….? What the hell are you talking about?”
Jaekyun asks back with a stupid expression as if he doesn’t understand what the situation is. Jaeyoung replied to him with an evil smile.
“There is such a thing… There are people who need to be soaked properly.”
GM top.
It was time to feed the giant taffy to those who were doing all sorts of things at the top of the small and medium-sized companies.
