Chapter 101
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Surprise Potion Box
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After meeting with Min Ju-ri.
Ryu Min went outside to kill mealworms.
*Stab— Stab—!*
[Current Kills: 100/100]
[Due to the effect of the Rune of Slaughter, all stats are increased by 100%.]
Ryu Min’s gaze shifted to another message.
[Due to the effect of the skill Bless, all stats are increased by 60%.]
[Duration: 02:51:21]
As always, he had received a buff from Min Ju-ri.
‘Alright. Preparations are complete.’
He took an item out of his inventory.
[Surprise Potion Box]
-Classification: Consumable
-Grade: Unique
-Effect: Randomly acquire 1-5 potions.
-Use Restriction: Until the next round, Regular grade or higher.
-Description: A limited-time item that grants random potions. The item will automatically disappear upon entering the next round. Affected by the Luck stat.
It was the gacha box he’d received as a reward for placing first in his zone.
He had boosted his stats for this very moment.
‘I have to raise my Luck as high as possible to get more potions.’
They could be different types, or he could get duplicates.
Either way, getting more was a plus, so he had no choice but to raise his Luck.
‘Use.’
As he held the box and uttered the command, it vanished with a soft hiss, and messages appeared.
[You have used the Surprise Potion Box.]
[Congratulations! You have obtained a Potion of Life!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained a Healing Potion!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained a Black Mana Potion!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained a Lowest-Grade Agility Potion!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained a Potion of Biting Frost!]
‘Hoh.’
Luckily, he had received different potions.
Five of them, at that.
[Potion of Life]
-Classification: Consumable
-Grade: Legendary
-Effect: Revive a player
-Use Restriction: Master grade or higher
-Description: A potion that revives one player of your choice. Must be used within 10 minutes of death. Cannot be used if more than 30% of the corpse is damaged. Cannot be used on oneself.
[Healing Potion]
-Classification: Consumable
-Grade: Rare
-Effect: Heals wounds
-Use Restriction: Novice grade or higher
-Description: A potion that heals both internal and external injuries. More effective than first aid.
[Black Mana Potion]
-Classification: Consumable
-Grade: Rare
-Effect: Restores Black Mana
-Use Restriction: Novice grade or higher
-Description: A potion that restores the Black Mana used for Dark Aura. Only effective for specific classes.
[Lowest-Grade Agility Potion]
-Classification: Consumable
-Grade: Normal
-Effect: Agility +2 for 24 hours
-Use Restriction: Novice grade or higher
-Description: A potion that increases the Agility stat. The effect does not stack if multiple potions are consumed.
[Potion of Biting Frost]
-Classification: Consumable
-Grade: Rare
-Effect: Frost Resistance +50% for 24 hours
-Use Restriction: Novice grade or higher
-Description: A potion that increases resistance to frost. Resists frost damage as well as status ailments.
Ryu Min’s eyes widened as he looked at the list.
His gaze was particularly fixed on the first item, the Potion of Life.
‘A potion that can revive someone... Truly a Legendary-grade potion.’
Of course, the other potions were good too.
But they couldn't compare to the Potion of Life.
‘The catch is, I have to be Master grade to use it. And it can only be used on others.’
That meant the user had to be at least level 60 to revive someone.
‘Regardless, just getting a Legendary-grade item makes it worthwhile.’
He wasn't sure if he'd ever need to use it, but just possessing such a potion could earn him incredible prestige.
‘This might be useful for persuading the Alchemist.’
The Alchemist, the only class capable of crafting potions, was in Nigeria.
Making him an ally would certainly be a great help.
‘He's reluctant to step forward for now, but later, the Alchemist's existence will be revealed and cause a massive sensation.’
If he made his move before then, he might be able to monopolize the Alchemist's abilities.
‘But there seems to be one useless potion among these.’
It was none other than the Black Mana Potion.
‘This is a potion made just for Ma Kyung-rok, isn't it?’
The only one who used Black Mana was the unique class, Dark Knight.
In other words, it was a potion exclusively for Ma Kyung-rok.
A regular player would gain no effect from drinking it.
The same went for Ryu Min.
‘Should I try selling it to Ma Kyung-rok for a high price?’
When a Dark Knight's Black Mana is depleted, their power drops dramatically.
‘You could think of it like a car that's run out of gas.’
In that sense, it was definitely an item Ma Kyung-rok would covet.
There would be nothing worse than running out of Black Mana in a critical situation.
‘I'll hold onto it for now. What I need isn't something like money.’
He decided to keep the rest as well.
He wasn't desperate enough for cash to sell them on the market.
*Beep— Click—*
Back home, Ryu Min changed his clothes in his room.
Lying on his bed in comfortable attire, he picked up his phone.
‘Should I check if any Unique material items have been listed?’
Whenever he had free time, Ryu Min would frequently log into the PlePle app to check for items.
He did this to secure necessary material items, and usually, at least one worthwhile item was posted each day.
‘Oh, there's one today too? A Unique material item.’
However, the seller was a foreigner, so it was an international shipping item.
‘Well, that's no problem. I made all the necessary preparations for international users to trade easily.’
From the start, PlePle was a social market created to target players worldwide.
The number of users had surged since it recently opened for overseas access.
Ryu Min pressed the purchase button and set his phone aside.
‘Another good find today.’
After searching, this was the only material item worth buying.
He had added Joo Seong-tak as a favorite seller, but he hadn't listed anything special since the Legendary material.
‘Then again, the 7th Round wasn't a hunting round.’
It seemed he would have to look forward to the rounds after that.
Feeling tired, Ryu Min slowly closed his eyes.
* * *
Player Place held its regular meeting every Tuesday.
Ryu Min, who held the ultimate management rights, also made sure not to miss this day.
‘To build a bond with Ma Kyung-rok, it's best to at least show my face.’
Besides, he had something to talk about today.
Ryu Min watched Ma Kyung-rok conduct the meeting with the directors.
After various opinions were exchanged, the meeting came to an end.
"Good work, everyone. That concludes today's meeting."
"Everyone worked hard."
The executives got up from their seats and left.
Only Ma Kyung-rok and Ryu Min remained in the conference room.
It was the perfect time for a quiet conversation.
"Major Shareholder. You attend the meetings every week without fail."
"How could I, the one with management rights, miss them?"
"It would be sufficient for you to come only when a vote is needed..."
"I also had something to discuss with you today, CEO Ma."
"Ah, I have something to say as well. May I go first?"
When he nodded in permission, Ma Kyung-rok bowed his head.
"Major Shareholder—no, Prophet. Thanks to you, I was able to get through the 7th Round safely. Thank you very much."
"It seems you remembered my words about not being swayed by temptation."
"Yes. When the temptation came, your words flashed in my mind. If it weren't for you, Prophet, I would have succumbed to it, haha. Though I'm too embarrassed to say what the illusion was."
He hid it out of embarrassment, but Ryu Min already knew from reading his mind what kind of temptation he had faced.
‘To be in a situation where he couldn't kill the criminal who murdered his parents, even when they were right in front of him.’
For Ma Kyung-rok, who was consumed by revenge, the urge to kill must have been immense, yet he had endured it well.
"By the way, Prophet. There's something I'm curious about."
Ma Kyung-rok raised a question he'd been pondering for a few days.
"Since you knew the strategy, why didn't you make it into the rankings? It wasn't even a round that required strength."
He was asking why Ryu Min hadn't taken first place in the rankings if he knew the strategy.
It was a sharp question, but...
‘I knew he'd ask this.’
Ryu Min had already prepared an answer.
"Didn't you also know the strategy, CEO Ma? Then why didn't you take first place?"
"Pardon? Ah..."
For a moment, Ma Kyung-rok looked as if he'd been struck from behind.
"Even if you know you shouldn't be swayed by temptation, it's difficult to act on it when you're actually faced with it. You understand well, having experienced it yourself, right?"
"Yes, yes, I understand. I see now."
Ma Kyung-rok immediately dismissed his suspicion.
Instead, he chided himself for his shortsightedness.
-He's definitely not someone to be underestimated just because he's young. He has insight and a surprising amount of experience.
He could hear Ma Kyung-rok's inner thoughts, wary of him.
He knew Ma Kyung-rok wouldn't take him lightly, as he had proven his abilities not only with prophecies but also in business management.
But had he revealed too much of his skill?
‘Making him wary isn't good.’
For Ryu Min, who needed to make him open up, this was not a welcome situation.
"Prophet. You said you had something to tell me?"
"Yes. I was going to tell you about the 8th Round."
As planned, Ryu Min shared the information for the next round.
"Ooh, there's a lot of specific information this time."
"That's how the 8th Round is."
"Thank you, Prophet. You're always helping me like this, I don't know what I should do for you..."
"Don't feel too burdened. We're in the same boat, so it's good for us to prosper together, isn't it?"
"Haha, thank you so much."
Contrary to his words, Ryu Min wanted to keep accumulating Ma Kyung-rok's debt of gratitude.
"Um, Prophet. Since you're helping me, may I ask for your permission on one thing?"
"What permission would that be?"
"You remember my fiancée from last time, right?"
"Of course."
"Would it be alright to share this information with my fiancée?"
‘Hasn't she already taken the information?’
He laughed inwardly but didn't let it show as he spoke.
"Of course, it's fine. Didn't I give a separate prophecy for her back then? That she would be in danger in the 11th Round. You can consider that as my permission to share."
"Ah, thank you for your permission."
It seemed the number of people sharing his future information was growing, but that was fine.
‘If I have to lead everyone anyway, it's better to make them rely on me through my prophecies.’
Just as Ryu Min, who was smiling benevolently, was about to talk about business...
"CEO?"
Ahn Sang-chul entered the conference room.
A sense of urgency was written on his face.
Noticing this, Ma Kyung-rok asked seriously.
"Manager Ahn. What is it?"
"The... the Chairman is here."
"My father?"
A shocked Ma Kyung-rok rushed out.
At the door, Ma Dae-chul, the chairman of Oseong Group, was entering with a young bodyguard.
"Fath... Chairman. Why have you come here without any notice?"
"Do I need to announce that I'm visiting my son's company?"
"Still, if you had contacted me, I could have prepared a proper reception..."
"Enough. I'm only planning to look around for a moment anyway."
Saying so, Ma Dae-chul clasped his hands behind his back and glanced around the company.
"You've decorated it decently."
"..."
"I heard the stories. That you had a good start."
"Where did you hear that?"
"You don't need to know that."
"..."
"Your brothers also send their congratulations."
At the mention of his brothers, the look in Ma Kyung-rok's eyes changed.
"Ah, the brothers who didn't even send a single congratulatory wreath?"
"Don't be so sarcastic. Like it or not, they are your brothers."
"Can you call them brothers when they're constantly eyeing Father's fortune?"
"Aren't you the same?"
"I am merely participating in the competition because I don't want to share the inheritance with my brothers. You agreed to it, Father. You said that if I prove my skills are superior to my brothers', you would acknowledge me as the successor and pass on all your wealth to me."
"I did. Is it even possible? There's less than a year left until the promised deadline."
"Please wait a little longer. The start is several times better than with Cheonma Consulting. Though we'll have to see how it goes for a few more months."
"Why did you scrap Cheonma Consulting? It wasn't doing too badly."
"Because there was no more room for growth. And would you have acknowledged me with just that, Father?"
"Hmph, absolutely not. A KOSDAQ market cap ranking of 150 is meaningless unless it's within the top 50."
"I figured you'd say that, which is why I gave up on it."
"How bold. To take a risk on an uncertain industry."
"..."
Ma Kyung-rok remained silent.
In truth, he never would have changed industries if not for Ryu Min's proposal.
"How did you come up with the idea for a player market? Did you think of it because you are a player?"
The chairman's question made Ma Kyung-rok hesitate.
Should he tell the truth that it was Ryu Min's idea, or take all the credit for himself?
Ma Kyung-rok had to choose.
And he knew which was the right choice.
‘Father isn't the type who wouldn't be able to find out something like that.’
Sighing inwardly, Ma Kyung-rok answered honestly.
"That idea wasn't mine."
"What?"
"There is a major shareholder who acquired 51% of our company. The idea was proposed and designed by him. We are now working together as business partners."
"It was someone else's idea? Who is it?"
Ma Kyung-rok turned around.
Just then, he saw Ryu Min.
"Major Shareholder. Do you have a moment?"
"Ah, yes."
Ryu Min, who had been watching, approached the chairman.
"Chairman. This is him."
"Hello. My name is Ryu Min."
"..."
Although the chairman maintained a blank expression, Ryu Min knew.
He knew the chairman was quite surprised on the inside.
-That kid, who looks like he just turned 20, is the chief executive?