TC Business (3)
Hyun Si-woon held up his fingers and spread them wide.
"The strategy moves in three stages."
Every gaze locked onto his hand.
"Stage one: create the thirst. Starting today, for exactly three days, we list ten backpacks every morning at five a.m.—priced at precisely 100 TC. That's double the old rate, but anyone who's read the reviews will know it's still a steal. They'll swarm like mad."
"Ohhh…!"
"We only release a small batch at the same hour each of those three days. Competition will heat up, and the ones who miss out will be climbing the walls waiting for the next day, right?"
He raised a second finger.
"Stage two: explode the value. Once the three-day event ends, we jack the price to 500 TC from the next day on. And we only release five a day."
"Five hundred TC!"
Hwang Dae-un blurted.
"Isn't that suddenly way too expensive, Hyeong-nim?"
"It has to be expensive. That's how it becomes a luxury brand. The people who already tasted the 100 TC price for three days will be kicking themselves—should've bought then—yet they'll still throw themselves at the buy button even harder. Why? Because they already know the value. And with the quantity cut in half, the scarcity only climbs higher."
"…!"
Everyone swallowed hard, hanging on every word.
"By then, the scalpers will definitely show up."
"Scalpers?"
"Yeah. The ones who bought at 100 TC will start flipping them for 500 TC or more. We're not going to stop them—we're going to fan the flames."
"Fan the flames?"
Baek Yeon-ho echoed, unable to follow.
"Yep. The higher they push the price, the more the market itself proves the backpack's worth. We just sit back and watch the market pump its own value. And after a while? We stop releasing even those five a day."
"…!"
The members' mouths slowly fell open.
Then, finally, Hyun Si-woon raised his third finger.
"Stage three: market domination. From that point on, the backpacks stop being a way to earn TC and become a negotiation tool instead."
"…A negotiation tool?"
"For example, when a Unique item or rare material we want shows up on the exchange? Instead of TC, we offer a backpack. That'll have way more pull than cash. If we ever need real emergency funds, we can put one up for auction on the free board. Once the value is locked high, the uses are endless."
"…."
When Hyun Si-woon's explanation finished, a heavy silence settled over the room.
The members stared at him with something close to awe.
He had dissected market psychology, controlled supply and demand, and weaponized competition and scarcity to manufacture value out of thin air.
"You… did you used to work in marketing or something? Or run a business?"
Baek Yeon-ho let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
"Hyeong-nim."
Hwang Dae-un rubbed his arms as if goosebumps had risen.
"I'm just gonna train till my bones break and hunt whatever you tell me. As long as I trust you, Hyeong-nim, I feel like even the impossible becomes possible. Si-a, thanks for bringing me into this team."
The others felt much the same.
Meeting Hyun Si-woon as their leader already felt like the greatest stroke of luck in their lives.
"Alright."
Hyun Si-woon clapped his hands once.
"I'll keep handling this side myself from now on, so everyone get some sleep and focus on training."
The stronger the members became, the more it helped him.
From the fourth floor onward, things were going to get truly brutal.
Two weeks passed.
The business model Hyun Si-woon had designed was a spectacular success.
The community had fallen completely under the thrall of the Wandering Merchant syndrome.
Combat rations, snacks, potions—everything sold out the instant it was listed.
Especially once the Wandering Merchant became famous, even the scrolls that climbers had previously undervalued started moving one by one. Reviews from people who had actually used them spread like wildfire, and soon the scrolls were more popular than potions.
"H-Hyeong-nim! This is insane! At this rate, couldn't we increase the quantity?"
Hyun Si-woon refused.
Climbers were golden geese that laid eggs.
In a market of only eighty thousand people, there was no need to get greedy.
Moderation was always best.
As a result, even excluding the backpacks, their daily net profit hit 1,550 TC.
That alone was enormous—equivalent to hunting fifteen Rank-7 monsters every single day.
The backpacks unfolded exactly as Hyun Si-woon had predicted.
At five a.m., thousands of climbers hammered the exchange refresh button, and the ten backpacks vanished in less than a second the moment they appeared.
The free board filled with the bitter complaints of those who failed to buy, while the lucky ones who succeeded became the envy of everyone with their verification posts.
And once the price hit 500 TC, the scalpers truly appeared, just as expected.
Hyun Si-woon kept his promise and cut off the backpack supply.
"First, Yeon-ho hyung."
"Huh?"
"I bought one with the 20,000 TC we saved up. Let's give it to our tank."
With that, they cleaned out the monthly shop.
Heart of the Strong (Unique)!
A vest-type armor worn on the torso. Like Kang Si-a's Moonlight Bow, it would absolutely become a team asset.
"Ooooh."
Baek Yeon-ho's eyes went round.
With trembling hands he equipped the piece.
Strength +2 aura, nullifies one critical hit!
"Use it for a while, then when something better shows up we'll flip it."
"Sounds good."
When Hyun Si-woon decided, everyone clapped in genuine, wholehearted agreement with zero complaints.
A warm atmosphere.
But it did not last long.
Crisis arrived faster than anyone expected.
"Si-woon, take a look at the free board."
After dinner, Jang Cha-yul approached with a grave expression.
"Huh? What's wrong, Noona?"
"There's a weird guy. Feels like he's been hunting for us."
Following her guidance, Hyun Si-woon pulled up the posts.
What Jang Cha-yul pointed out was a specific user's comment history.
"Looking at just that, he seems like a big spender, right? But the other posts get weird."
Jang Cha-yul showed him another thread.
I got lucky and bought a backpack at 100 TC, but my scalping attempt got screwed up. I urgently need TC, so I want to sell it directly back to the Wandering Merchant. If anyone knows where he is, I'll reward you.
"This is the same guy who was buying the kimchi stew. He's not being blatant, but it feels like he's probing for our location on the quiet. And look at this one too."
Jang Cha-yul pointed out a final post.
I gathered 10 kimchi stews to sell to that guy, but he never actually traded—just kept grilling me about where I got them and where I bought them. Felt shady so I bailed. Pretty sure meeting people is his real goal.
Hmm.
Hyun Si-woon furrowed his brow.
Something definitely stank.
By the way…
Cha-yul noona was terrifyingly good at this.
Was she basically staring at the community every free minute outside of training?
- Hmm. I smell something.
Ha-wol's voice resonated low and cool inside his mind at that moment.
- Rankers were never going to sit still, of course. This is probably some low-tier Ranker's underling, not a High Ranker. They're like hyenas. Once you become a Ranker, TC becomes brutal to farm, so they'll do anything to scrape it together.
Hmm.
Anonymous12903 (3rd Floor).
Was there a Ranker behind him?
If so, the situation was bad.
They were the ones who had punched through certain floors of the Tower and broken past their limits.
The memory of dying helplessly to the crocodile-headed one surfaced unbidden.
It's about time I made a save point… but…
He had piled up too much already.
The Heart of the Strong, the team's growth, the relationship with Eden Camp.
He did not want to abandon all of it and roll back to right after clearing the third floor.
"Get everyone together."
Hyun Si-woon's decision came fast.
He had always trusted his instincts.
Whether it turned out to be overkill or not, he needed a save first.
"We're leaving?"
"Where to?"
"The fourth floor."
"Ghk—r-right now? It's night!"
"Yeah. Right now. Move."
At Hyun Si-woon's urgent order the members snapped into motion as one.
- Brat. If you're planning to ride Pungjo, you know you can't go near the Tower itself, right? The second the Rankers learn that thing is a divine beast, a far worse disaster will hit you.
I know.
That was why they would only travel to the outskirts.
From there they would have to march on two feet.
As stealthily as possible.
Whoosh.
Pungjo settled without a sound onto the roof of an abandoned factory on the quiet outskirts of Seoul, well outside the Tower's influence.
The landing was catlike, completely at odds with its massive bulk.
Thanks for bringing us this far. Head back to Chi-ak Mountain now. See you later.
Hyun Si-woon stroked the horn and conveyed his will. Pungjo gently nuzzled its master's cheek with its beak, then vanished into the darkness with another soundless beat of its wings.
"Hah."
Hyun Si-woon turned to his teammates.
Exhaustion was plain on every face after the sudden night forced march.
Yet not one of them uttered a single complaint; they simply waited in silence for his next order.
Appreciate you all.
He still had not revealed that he could regress.
He probably never would.
Even so, they followed without a word of protest, and gratitude welled up inside him.
"Let's move."
The march went more smoothly than expected.
The outskirts looked little different from before.
Collapsed buildings, rusted cars, and a silence that had settled like death itself.
Everything was familiar.
Even after a good stretch of time, they met not a single climber.
Was I just being paranoid?
Hyun Si-woon felt a quiet relief.
Maybe Ha-wol's warning had been a little excessive.
Just as that wariness began to fade—
Far ahead, a familiar silhouette finally stabbed into the night sky.
A colossal tower reigning over the gray ruins of the city.
The Tower of Despair had entered their sight at last.
They kept walking.
They were almost at the Tower when—
- Hold it.
Ha-wol's sharp voice stabbed into his mind.
Her spirit form wrinkled her nose and sniffed the air as if she had caught a foul stench.
- This nauseating smell…
Shock and disgust flashed across her eyes at the same time.
- Run.
Huh?
- Run right now, you brat!
Ha-wol's near-scream slammed through Hyun Si-woon's skull.
"Everyone, run!"
He kicked off the ground on pure instinct.
Ha-wol continued rapidly.
- There's a Ranker nearby! And a Hound-tribe Ranker at that! Ha, a rare breed! Of all the ones to get caught by, it's the most obsessive and filthy of the lot! That one can smell the desert-fox scent clinging to you! Don't hesitate! Sprint with everything you've got straight to the front of the Tower—where the Executors are!