Chapter 182
Chapter 182
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 182
Chapter Title: Transcender (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Right after the third night ended.
All the merchants summoned to the Demon Merchant Association had gathered in one place.
"Is it true that the Moon's Lord Aheta went bankrupt?"
"What about the payment? Don't tell me everything invested in the 'third night' went up in smoke?"
Questions poured in.
They too had heard the news that Aheta had gone bankrupt and vanished.
But it was simply unbelievable.
Aheta, famous for possessing countless treasures, bankrupt after just the third night!
And that wasn't the only problem.
The Night Shop had been prepared with the utmost care by the Merchants' Association.
They had lined up the finest goods, primarily handled by veteran merchants of high rank.
Naturally, payment was settled after the 'night' concluded.
However, thanks to Aheta's bankruptcy, the Merchants' Association hadn't received a single coin.
"The other demons who invested got their coins back, didn't they?"
"We got pushed down the priority list."
"They think our association is a pushover!"
"Damn it!"
The creators who invested and the participants in the third night.
It was only natural for them to receive compensation first.
In that process, even the proceeds from auctioning off all of Aheta's assets were completely depleted.
It was enough to make their jaws drop.
The Merchants' Association's losses were utterly catastrophic.
The merchants couldn't comprehend it at all.
"...Even with all those treasures and a million coins, they couldn't cover the compensation?"
"What the hell happened in there?"
"Tell us the details!"
The topic turned to the merchants who had participated in the Night Shop.
Aheta's bankruptcy had spread like wildfire across the entire Abyss, but no one knew what exactly had transpired.
That's when Vibola stepped forward.
"The Moon's Lord tried to nullify the entire event by killing everyone inside. He even manifested in person."
"Nullify? You mean he tried to kill all the merchants too?"
"Yes."
"Hah!"
Sighs erupted naturally.
No matter how easy they thought merchants were to push around, this was beyond lacking any code of honor.
It was a complete disregard for the Merchants' Association.
Had Aheta not gone bankrupt, they would have become blood enemies for generations.
"Hold on. So the Moon's Lord manifested personally and still lost?"
At that moment, the chairman of the Merchants' Association stepped up and asked.
For a creator to manifest directly in their own created Abyss was taboo.
It meant he had desperately broken the taboo to nullify the game.
However, it was utterly impossible for humans alone.
The merchants had a fairly detailed grasp of human capabilities.
The average human's power still fell short of even a lesser demon.
Vibola nodded.
"We don't know the exact details. But someone definitely cornered Aheta. In the process..."
Vibola glanced at Dagon with a peculiar look.
Dagon.
The fool, the demon deemed utterly lacking in merchant qualities, scorned by all.
They had chalked up his first place in the second night to sheer luck.
'It wasn't just luck.'
Reading the board, execution.
He knew exactly what actions to take for his own gain.
Had he been certain Aheta would go bankrupt?
Dagon had instantly contracted with humans, handing out shop equipment like candy.
This violated contracts with the creator.
It was behavior no merchant should ever engage in.
They had inwardly cursed and clicked their tongues at him, but in the end, Dagon was right.
Had Dagon not acted, all the merchants in the third night would have died.
"Dagon forged contracts with countless humans. He properly assessed and sold the 'value' of the shop's items. Over a thousand humans' lives and souls, plus everything else they possessed, as collateral."
"What?"
"O-over a thousand humans' everything...?!"
"As collateral?"
All the surrounding merchants stirred in shock.
Even if transactions were collateral-based, seizing everything a single lifeform possessed was treated as extremely high value.
Fail to repay the equivalent value within the term, and you gained full ownership of the human's rights.
If Vibola's words were true, it wasn't a bad deal for the Merchants' Association.
"What's the collateral term?"
The chairman said, eyeing Dagon.
Dagon put on a composed expression.
"One year, Chairman."
"Hm. Not a bad term. If the humans have to pay for all the 'Night Shop' items sold, it's no loss for our Merchants' Association."
The payment recipients weren't Aheta, but the humans.
That was the most appealing part.
Aheta's bankruptcy had nothing to do with the humans.
Over a thousand humans had to repay the value of what they bought from the 'Night Shop' within a year.
Naturally, the payments would be split between Dagon and the Merchants' Association.
Fail to pay, and those humans became the association's slaves.
Worked to death for life, then their souls harvested.
Only then did the chairman relax and ask again.
"Dagon. How did you secure so many humans as collateral?"
"Aheta tried to flip the board, so I flipped it right back."
"Flipped it together?"
"Yes. If they were going to die anyway, they had to thrash around, right? I just traded with the fleeing humans and fought alongside them."
"Hah, you rebelled against the Moon's Lord alongside humans? But if he hadn't intended to nullify the game and hadn't gone bankrupt, you'd have faced severe punishment."
It was a dangerous gamble.
A merchant defying a creator.
An apocalyptic notion not even worth considering.
Revocation of merchant status was a given.
Even with his father in a key position in the association, he'd have been harshly dealt with.
It wouldn't have been strange if his head rolled.
That's why it was astonishing.
Other merchants, including Vibola, had approached it with the complacent thought that Aheta wouldn't actually kill merchants.
Only Dagon had grasped the full situation and made the bold bet.
And he won.
"I was certain Aheta would go bankrupt."
"...On what basis?"
"Instinct."
"Instinct... instinct, you say."
The chairman nodded.
Instinct was a crucial element for merchants.
A merchant without instinct could never succeed.
Just look at that confident gaze.
He was convinced of his judgment.
Of course, Dagon had simply trusted Sepiro.
'He's changed.'
The chairman and merchants, unaware of that fact, now saw Dagon in a new light.
Everyone had thought Dagon lacked any merchant qualities.
That he'd only become one thanks to his father's influence.
He always shrank in front of actual merchants.
He had no notable deals or contracts to his name.
But now.
At the center of all the merchants, Dagon was shining on his own.
Without Dagon, the association's damage would have been devastating.
The shop items mostly came from Aheta's treasure vault, but displaying them required the association to front 20% of their value first.
A sort of 'deposit'.
Upon sale, the association took 30%, for a slim 10% margin.
Unsold items were reclaimed by Aheta at night's end, refunds issued.
'Without Dagon, the association would be reeling.'
In short, Dagon was the association's hero.
His ingenuity had covered losses when deposits weren't refunded at all.
The chairman smiled and said,
"I'll promote Dagon to Special Class Merchant."
"Sp-Special Class?!"
"Isn't that too soon?"
The merchants buzzed once more at the chairman's words.
It was an unprecedented promotion.
Special Class Merchants were the association's power players.
They got first dibs on incoming goods.
Selling the best items at top value—a position every merchant coveted.
"In the second and third nights, Dagon proved his worth. Was there any merchant who outperformed him in that time?"
The chairman's will was firm.
He'd succeeded in a gamble with his life on the line; fitting rewards were due.
No merchant dared speak up.
"We'll hold a festival for Dagon. And Dagon, if there's anything you desire... Hm?"
Mid-sentence, the chairman blinked.
"...Where'd he go?"
...Dagon had vanished without a trace.
Right at this golden moment, as if he'd evaporated.
Dagon looked around.
A dim cavern.
A place littered with countless golems.
'Wh-what is this place?'
It was undoubtedly where his contractor was.
But he hadn't been forcibly summoned this time.
Dagon had come of his own volition.
To share the news of his promotion to Special Class Merchant first.
He'd moved the instant the chairman finished speaking.
However, something was off.
He'd thought the contractor was on Earth, yet he'd ended up somewhere entirely different.
"Dark Guardian, Death Golem, that one's... a Nightmare?"
But his bewilderment was short-lived.
Gazing at the golems, Dagon freaked out.
They weren't intact, but each one's value could buy a whole castle.
Especially the 'Nightmare'—a priceless treasure only seen in territories beyond the Demon King.
Nearly a thousand treasure-grade golems scattered broken everywhere; how could he not be shocked?
"Ah...! Contractor!"
That's when he spotted the contractor amid the golems and shouted joyfully.
But the contractor's condition was far from good.
He lay collapsed on the floor, seemingly unconscious.
"Wh-what happened? Why all of a sudden...!"
-Are you our master's friend?
The Dark Guardian standing behind Park Chan-woo asked.
Dagon swallowed hard.
'A golem spoke to me?'
Insane.
A golem with ego!
Sell it, and he'd get ten times the price.
Dagon forced himself to stay calm and replied,
"I-I'm the merchant contracted with him. Why is he collapsed like this?"
-He passed out from exhaustion repairing us.
"Exhaustion...?"
-Seems like he used too much blood.
"...Blood?"
A golem with self-awareness speaking to him.
The intact Dark Guardians standing behind it were indeed strange.
Red lines like blood connected their entire bodies—surely all the contractor's blood?
'At least fifty units...'
Even with top regeneration, using that much blood without dying was miraculous.
His skin was deathly pale.
Already fatigued from running the 'third night'.
'Why such reckless folly...!'
Sharing promotion news could wait.
"Pl-please wait a moment!"
Dagon returned to the Merchants' Association.
He addressed the chairman.
"I need the 'Acam's Waters of Life'! Right now!"
"...Acam's Waters of Life? You know that's the only one even our association has, a priceless rarity?"
"Yes. Forget the promotion. Take all the value from the thousand humans as collateral. Just give me the 'Acam's Waters of Life'..."!