Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Orichalcum (1)
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“Did you hear about it?”
The united market for western explorers.
The atmosphere was markedly different from yesterday.
They were buying and selling goods as usual, but the main topic of conversation had changed a lot.
“I heard the 15th Floor raiding party made it back alive.”
“They say the knights returned, but there aren’t any other rumors yet, right?”
“That’s true. It seems certain they all survived...”
“But that doesn’t necessarily mean they succeeded in conquering it.”
Rumors about the raiding party circulated through the market.
Most had spotted them, but no one was convinced yet that it meant success.
“There’s bound to be an announcement from the capital.”
The nobles weren’t releasing any information right away.
In other words, ordinary explorers wouldn’t know until the official announcement.
It was the first time everyone survived, so expectations were high...
But worries that those hopes might be dashed were just as prevalent.
“The raiding party has to actually succeed for once. It’s already been three years since they started collecting all that tax from us westerners.”
“That’s true. The whole survival thing could just be a show. To make it look like the conquest is going well.”
Some explorers passing through the market viewed the rumors pessimistically.
Their expectations and faith in the raiding party had already crumbled over many long years.
“Still, you never know.”
“Hm?”
“What if they really succeeded...”
But that was human nature—ending up hopeful again.
One explorer eyed a stack of books and papers in one corner of the market.
“Doesn’t that mean they might head to the 16th Floor soon?”
“...Yeah, I guess it does.”
Towers other than the western one had already pushed beyond the 16th Floor.
Explorers from those places had once come to the west full of bravado.
In the end, they failed and vanished after selling a few scraps of info on floors above 16.
“I was curious once and thought about buying them... but now they might actually be useful.”
Maybe those books they left behind would come in handy.
Having info on 16th Floor monsters could put you ahead of everyone else.
It was right then, as the explorers hesitated briefly and eyed the books hungrily.
“Shopkeep. Are these books for sale right now?”
A woman in a green dress appeared and picked one up.
It was Seria, faithfully carrying out Regin’s orders.
“You want to buy just the one?”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll take everything here.”
Seria held up a pouch of gold coins with a serious expression.
“...Well, aren’t you a VIP. They’re 40 silver each, but I’ll let ’em go for 20 silver apiece.”
The info on floors above 16 had gathered dust on the stall for years.
The shopkeep beamed at the noble customer willing to clear out his dead stock.
No room for kid-gloves talk with a buyer like that.
Anyone who actually bought in bulk was a treasured customer.
“You’re not trying to trick me into paying more with sweet talk, are you?”
“No, ma’am—this is cheaper than what I paid. Back then, those rotten easterners conned me, saying they’d need it once they broke through the 16th Floor.”
“Hm. Gotta buy cheaper than Greg to save face.”
“Greg? Your companion? No one’s getting this info at this price anywhere else.”
“Fair enough. I’ll put it to good use.”
Clink—!
Seria nodded and lifted the gold pouch.
She bought every last one of the fifteen or so books and info packets on the stall. It came to just shy of 3 gold.
The shopkeep grinned wide as he pocketed the gold, and Seria turned away with a mutter.
“Bought ’em cheap. Regin’s gonna love this.”
For now, it was a happy deal all around.
* * *
“No, listen—a dwarf just bought up all the 16th Floor info.”
“You mean... that stuff the easterners scribbled and left?”
“Yeah, that!”
“What a day. I sold all my books too.”
“You too?”
“Yeah, some woman came and bought a ton.”
By afternoon, new rumors were spreading through the market.
“Hm? A mage came to my stall and bought ten books and paper bundles.”
Suddenly, people were snapping up 16th Floor and higher info.
Word got around that the united market was fresh out of those books and related info.
In truth, Regin and his two companions had bought it all.
But the merchants, out of the loop, started thinking a bunch of explorers were scooping them up simultaneously.
“...They really sold out.”
“If we don’t conquer the 15th Floor, it’s all useless anyway. And someone bought it all?”
“No idea why everyone’s suddenly into books... You think they’re buying based on that raiding party rumor?”
“...Could be.”
As the talk built up, one theory started gaining traction.
“The 15th Floor conquest is done, and the participants are buying up info...!”
What else would explain it?
The 15th Floor must have wrapped up positively.
Nothing else made sense.
“So what happens now?”
“What do you mean? We can push to the 16th Floor and up, so way better loot’s gonna flood in.”
“Explorers will come charging in with fire in their eyes for the first time in ages.”
“That’s not all. Even if taxes go up, we’ll get adventurers from other regions.”
“True. Come here, and you can climb fast and monopolize the high-floor monsters.”
“Hold on—if that happens, won’t low-floor stuff become worthless?”
“Huh? Why would low-floor items...”
“If it doesn’t work on the 15th Floor, it sure as hell won’t on the 16th!”
“...What?”
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Amid the flood of guesses and assumptions, a few merchants weren’t laughing.
“Damn it all.”
One merchant sighed at the Skeleton Knight breastplate and pauldrons on his stall.
“...Selling it!”
Having worked this trade long enough, he could easily simulate how the market would shift.
Low-floor items would plummet in value unless they were truly special.
Just like in the east, north, and south.
“Full Skeleton Knight armor—50 gold...!!”
He had to unload this headache first.
The merchant shouted through tears.
Yesterday, he’d bought it for 80 gold from a mage, and now he was dumping it at a loss.
“...Selling holy scriptures!”
And next to him, another merchant wailed in echo.
“One last holy scripture—10 gold...!!”
* * *
Having swept the market, Regin’s group gathered at Greg’s forge.
“Seeing it all piled up, it’s quite a lot.”
“Sure is.”
“I got five more books than Greg. Regin.”
Regin chuckled and nodded.
Combining everything they bought came to about 40 or 50 volumes.
There were scrolls too, not just books, so the total info was massive.
‘Most of it’s probably duplicates.’
Honestly, they didn’t need this many books.
Most would cover the same ground, and truly vital stuff like the 18th Floor wouldn’t be there.
‘If it was, that’d be a jackpot, but no one’s selling that kind of premium info at market.’
And above all, Regin already knew the info on floors above 16.
His own strategy guide was probably thicker than any one of these.
“I’ll start reading through them.”
Still, they had to check.
For any unexpected variables.
‘No escape portals from floors 1 to 4. And the First Wave hitting early.’
Changes Regin hadn’t anticipated had already happened twice.
The fight with Kaluan was his own choice.
But the first two were pure acts of nature.
‘Parts where DAT applied differently than expected, or contradictions with the lore I built while writing guides.’
You could say it was bad luck, unavoidable.
But that wouldn’t help.
He’d decided to survive.
And now, he even wanted to live like a human.
If any variable could pop up, he had to account for it all.
“If you two see similar content, skip it and just check the differences. I’d appreciate it.”
“...Ugh. Fine. Never been one for books by nature, but I’ve read with my wife before.”
Greg reluctantly picked up a book and started reading.
Books describing the 16th Floor landscape and monsters.
Not exactly the same as the west, but the ecosystems seemed similar from the info.
“Fascinating. The southern and northern towers are almost identical from the start.”
“Monsters too. Banshees show up a lot.”
Regin nodded slowly at their words.
“Probably just boss monsters, rare monsters... and Red Portal rewards that differ.”
Terrain might vary a bit, but it was nearly the same.
Differences between towers came down to bosses and rares, mostly.
“Take the 15th Floor. Ogre fur colors varied by tower. Only Tower 1 had pitch-black fur.”
Ogres were twice the size of normal trolls.
Even compared to the orc lord he’d hunted before, they’d be that big.
They vaguely resembled humans in form, but fangs and looks closer to gorillas.
‘The main 15th Floor boss, but after the raiding party clears it, it becomes an optional hunt.’
Path-blockers by nature, but once slain, they stayed cleared.
So ogres wouldn’t respawn blocking portals after conquest.
Players could fight or avoid them by choice.
‘Usually a freakish spec monster in other games... and here DAT slapped attributes on it.’
An ogre infused with black magic power.
Tower 1 had that blocking the 15th Floor portal, slowing conquest.
And not just that—the Verdante backroute group sabotaged too.
With paths blocked, Verdante freely roamed up and down.
They’d deliberately blocked raiding party access to monopolize high-floor resources.
‘When I first posted that theory on the forums, everyone laughed. But when the 15th Floor party followed my route and filmed it, they all believed.’
Hey, if you could monopolize legally, anyone would.
He was scanning the info, comparing to his knowledge, when...
Greg glanced at Regin from the side and asked casually.
“But seriously. Did we need this many books?”
“Hm.”
Regin chuckled and nodded.
“I’m planning to stash these away in storage, not release them.”
“Just gonna hoard them?”
“Controlling info’s gonna be more important.”
“...Can you even control it? Adventurers from other regions will start flooding in soon. The smart ones probably already bought and read these.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Competition would kick off in earnest from the 16th Floor.
They’d passed the ogre section where everyone had to cooperate.
“If it were you, Greg—would you release info where only a few know how to quickly farm 16th Floor monsters and resources?”
“Huh?”
“While most adventurers don’t even have this.”
Greg pondered, then nodded slowly.
“Right. Most explorers don’t even have this much.”
“Exactly.”
Buying the books was to spot DAT/world differences early.
But stockpiling this many had another purpose.
‘Info’s about to skyrocket in value.’
Especially this—better if people didn’t know.
Regin paused on a page, eyes on one word.
‘...Golden Banshee.’
A DAT-exclusive rare monster, as expected.
Regin’s eyes sparkled as he memorized it.
‘Custom enchanters need this bad.’
Sorry, folks—if they reached the 16th Floor, Regin planned to hunt every Golden Banshee himself.