How Dare They Look Down on Us?!

"How... how dare they look down on us?!"

"A boomer who should be playing Li*eage dares to look down on us?!"

The guild leaders had rarely been looked down on like this in their entire gaming careers! Being flexed on with wealth made the humiliation hurt several times more.

Meanwhile, Tae-hyun was deeply puzzled.

'Wait, the Uruk Region shouldn't be generating much revenue. Where did my father get all that gold?'

Uruk was vast, but it didn't make much money. Compared to Tae-hyun's territory income, it would be far less. Most of it was mountainous, most of the residents were Orcs, and they kept increasing the population instead of developing the territory. It was a triple crown of territory income penalties.

Of course, in exchange for giving up income, they could mobilize an immense army of Orcs, but...

'Did he sell a building? No, he's not the type to do that.'

The answer was Katuga Fortress.

It was a strategic stronghold held by the Guild Alliance, but it was taken by Smith and the pirates, then Smith sold it to Kim Tae-san... And Kim Tae-san and the old-timers set up a proxy outpost there, constantly screwing over the Guild Alliance! The Guild Alliance ground their teeth and tried to crush them, but Kim Tae-san threatened to blow up the fortress with a Plague Bomb he had acquired from somewhere.

The Guild Alliance had no choice but to back off because it was too dirty and underhanded. Even now, the Southern Plague Lands of the Ostern Kingdom were a complete wasteland! In the end, the Guild Alliance had no choice but to buy the fortress back at an exorbitant price. They couldn't fight with a thorn constantly stuck in their backside.

Kim Tae-san had bet that entire sum with a broad grin! If Su Ning had known, he would have clutched the back of his neck in shock. To think that money would flow like this...

"Now, next up is Milene," Lee Da-bi announced.

'Milene is a bit awkward, but we might not even get Treum.'

'True. It's surrounded by mountains, so it's easy to defend, and there should be plenty of resources. It looks great for finding dungeons too.'

'As for a port, we can just go down and grab one anywhere. Should we bid on Milene...?'

The guild leaders whispered among themselves, debating their strategy. They wanted Treum, but Milene wasn't bad either! Since competition for Treum would be fierce, maybe they should bid on Milene...

"500,000 gold for Milene."

"?!?!?!"

"Are you kidding me?!"

"What the hell is this?!"

Another absurdly massive bid! It was the player wearing the mask from earlier.

"50... 500,000 gold has been bid!"

Lee Da-bi didn't even try to hide her joy. She was definitely going to level up today!

"Any other bids? Anyone else?"

"As if there would be!"

"Hey, let's keep it within market value! The only one who benefits from this kind of bidding war is Kim Tae-hyun!"

"Why the hell are you hitting us so hard from the start?!"

But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the masked player ignored them completely.

"500,000 gold! Sold!"

'Whew. I need to get out of here quickly.'

Chairman Yoo felt relieved. There was nothing good about staying here for long! He would eventually be found out, but he didn't want to be caught right now. If his granddaughter caught him, it would be incredibly embarrassing!

As a result, the strategy he chose was this absurdly high bid.

'Judging by their reactions, they don't seem to know the true value of Milene.'

Chairman Yoo smiled slyly as he walked out. The guild leaders gathered here clearly didn't understand Milene's worth.

Those words had set a fire in Chairman Yoo's heart. He already had plenty of power on the seas. If he could add Wyverns to that...! Besides, he also had the Wyvern eggs he had acquired this time...

'I must buy it at all costs!'

And Chairman Yoo had succeeded. No need to bicker with the others—just strike hard with a single blow to seize the initiative! There was no need to be petty in an auction.

"What the hell is this! Who the hell are you?!"

"Take off that mask!"

Having the second city snatched away as well, the guild leaders were starting to growl in anger. Of course, Chairman Yoo was not someone to be shaken by such petty threats.

"If you're so upset, spend some money, you little punks."

"......"

It was the exact same line Kim Tae-san had used, as if they had rehearsed it! Chairman Yoo, who had copied Kim Tae-san's words, suddenly felt a rush of exhilaration. Ah, so this is what it feels like!

"Mwahahaha!"

Since he was wearing a mask anyway, Chairman Yoo laughed boisterously as he walked out.

Tae-hyun watched him and thought:

'I should record this and show it to him later.'

The old man surprisingly enjoyed this kind of thing!

As Chairman Yoo left laughing, the atmosphere inside shifted drastically.

'T-The remaining city...'

'There's only one left...!'

'Crazy. Just how much do we have to bid? I thought 100,000 gold would be enough to secure one...'

'Is 150,000 gold not enough?'

'There's bound to be another crazy bastard like those two...'

The sound of the guild leaders' brains working furiously was almost audible. Realizing the situation, the guild leaders quickly took action.

"What's going on? Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did everyone suddenly go quiet?" Tae-hyun was puzzled. The guild leaders were just exchanging glances and twitching their eyes. Are you guys playing a game of "silent conversation"?

"I think they're whispering to each other," Lee Da-bi remarked.

"Are they colluding? Come on... they should play fair and square."

The guild leaders were dumbfounded. If a crazy bastard bidding 500,000 gold right off the bat appeared twice, would you play fair and square?!

"Alright, let's get started. Now! The final city, Treum!"

"10,000!"

"20,000!"

"50,000!"

"100,000!"

'Crazy...!'

'Ah, those lunatics!'

The guild leaders who had hoped to get it for under 100,000 gold snapped to their senses. This was absolutely not a game that could be won with such pocket change! The aggressive bidding of Kim Tae-san and Chairman Yoo had completely shattered the atmosphere. It felt like they were going to bet their entire guild assets!

"150,000!"

"200,000!"

'T-That's impossible! There's no way their guild can raise that much money!'

'They've joined forces! We have to join in too!'

In an instant, several alliances formed beneath the surface. Tae-hyun watched this and was amazed.

'Wow, they have surprisingly a lot of money. Where did all these guilds get their gold?'

"250,000!"

"Stop bullshitting! You don't even have that much gold!"

"You bastard, how dare you? How do you know if I have it or not?!"

"300,000!"

"Damn it... 500,000! 500,000!"

"...550,000!"

"!!"

The record was finally broken! The bidding of the desperate guild leaders didn't stop until it reached a staggering 750,000 gold. In hindsight, Kim Tae-san and Chairman Yoo had actually spent their money quite wisely!

"Sold for 750,000!"

"Die, you son of a bitch! What kind of grudge do you have against me to keep dragging this out?!"

"Where do you think you're talking to?!"

"You're supposed to be the leader, and you couldn't even win this one?!"

"Why the hell are you taking out your lack of gold on me?!"

As soon as the auction ended, the place turned into absolute chaos! The winning guild leaders hugged each other and cheered, but the rest threw curses and shifted the blame onto one another.

Seeing this, Tae-hyun nodded with a satisfied smile.

"In the future, I should auction off territories instead of items..."

It seemed to be the most lucrative business in the world!

"We've finally arrived!"

"Look at the way they're staring at us. Look, look, look... they're jealous because they were sucking up all the sweet rewards alone until we got here, right?"

"How petty. People should learn to share!"

The newly arrived expedition players on Nodranche! They were players who had come to the Prica Continent and then requested Tae-hyun to let them join the new expedition.

The existing expedition players stared at them as if they were looking at complete madmen.

Since everyone just stared at them in silence, the newly arrived players also became flustered.

"What is it?"

"They're doing that to keep us in check. No need to be swayed! Kim Tae-hyun said so himself. Go to Nodranche and do whatever quests you want! They have no right to stop us!"

"Ohh... Ohhh!!"

"Let's go!"

*Clatter-*

The players quickly disembarked from the ship and ran forward. Whether they tried to stop them or not, they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were going to do quests to their heart's content!

"Ah, new adventurers! The ground over there is frozen solid, so we can't do anything. Could you melt it and till it for us?"

"It's so cold here because we don't have any buildings. If you could build something for us..."

"The shop building was destroyed by the storm..."

"Our boat was wrecked. If you could get us a new boat..."

But the quests welcoming them were all somewhat strange.

"...N-No. Isn't there some rare monster or... something like that?"

"Hasn't your family been kidnapped to a dangerous dungeon?"

If it was an unexplored land, shouldn't there be... hidden dungeons... or rare monsters?

Of course, the village NPC took offense at that question.

"What is this adventurer blabbering about! Are you cursing us right now?"

"N-No..."

"This is a place where storms rage and blizzards howl the moment you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blink! How could we have the luxury of being kidnapped to some dungeon? We're barely surviving day to day here. If you want to find something, do something about this brutal cold first!"

"But... but..."

*Pat.*

"?"

Turning around, a veteran expedition player had a hand on his shoulder.

"Here. Take this pickaxe. You're going to need it."

"...Where the hell is Cain?!"

It wasn't like Cain had done anything wrong, but for some reason, they found themselves looking for him! The expedition players all nodded in agreement.

"I also find myself looking for Cain first whenever I get angry."

"Strangely, it feels like it's Cain's fault."

"But isn't it actually Cain's fault? We were dragged here..."

Of course, that didn't mean Cain, who was smiling happily while filming a broadcast far away, would suddenly appear.

"T-That bastard is filming a broadcast...!"

"And with a pretty celebrity, too!"

"Cain... I'll kill you!"

"How? Wouldn't you lose?"

"...Then let's change our goal. I hope Cain becomes miserable!"

"Cain, I hope you step on a ginkgo nut while walking!"

"Cain, I hope you stub your pinky toe!"

The players shouted as they swung their pickaxes. For some reason, it felt exhilarating!

As the players burned with hatred for Cain, a message window suddenly appeared.

"...!??!"

"W-What is this?"

Some places required certain conditions to be met before a quest would start. The quest for Nodranche was precisely to stop the cold! One could find hints in the NPCs' words, but the players hadn't realized that. However, it was suddenly broken by the players' labor.

"Does anyone know what this quest is?"

"Never heard of it..."

"I don't know, but wouldn't it be better than what we're doing right now?"

"But the message window says 'Prepare for a brutal struggle'..."

"...H-Have we only done this kind of quest once or twice? Look how many of us are here..."

*Shiver.*

Suddenly, the players shuddered. For some reason, it felt terrifying!