Atla Raid (2)
The Chaos Community.
Amid the madhouse of countless posts rising and vanishing without a trace, one thread appeared at a particular hour.
And in an instant, that thread seized the HOT title.
Hello. I am Yoo Jin-hyeok. Until now I have focused solely on climbing. Some of you may remember me from when I streamed under the name Oracle. Like so many of you, I have kept my head down and devoted myself entirely to the Tower without any outside activity. But after seeing this event, I felt a responsibility that I could no longer remain silent. The phrase “Tower deletion” upon failure means this fight has moved beyond individual growth—it is now a matter of survival for every one of us. What good is it to pull ahead alone if the very ground we stand on vanishes? So I will take the lead. I propose a three-stage plan. Please follow it.
A Floor 7 author.
That single fact alone detonated its influence. The title? The bait? None of it mattered. The sheer weight carried by the words “Floor 7” outclassed any amount of flowery language.
At a moment when Owl had yet to release the latest climber rankings, there existed only a single party of that caliber on the Korean server—a living legend.
“Whoa?”
“Is this real?”
“Gotta click this.”
“Is the top party finally making an appearance?”
“Uwaaaaaah! Click it! Click it!”
As if making a pilgrimage to a holy site—or receiving a revelation—climbers began clicking the post as though entranced.
Stage 1. Centralization of information and assessment of combat strength is urgent.
Climbers from every region, please send me mail under the title [Raid Participation] listing your current floor and active area. This is necessary for accurate force assessment and redistribution.
Stage 2. Regional force redistribution.
Based on the surveyed numbers, we need high-floor climbers and major guilds to deploy support to under-powered regions. Our party will split into three teams and, using Seoul as the hub, personally reinforce the nearest vulnerable zones—Incheon and Daejeon. For the remaining regions, we earnestly request the magnanimous decision of the leading guilds in each sector.
Stage 3. Request for cooperation.
Our party cannot accomplish all of this alone. This raid requires the cooperation of the entire Korean server. ★Wandering Merchant★, we earnestly request a stable supply of potions and consumables for every climber. Major regional guilds, please also send us mail. We respectfully ask that you take on the role of regional command headquarters.
The post was calm, yet it carried real weight. It was also public-minded.
The moment it went up, the community plunged into a frenzy of excitement. Climbers who had lost their bearings in the chaos had finally found a pillar they could lean on.
Yet even amid the explosive cheers, there were inevitably those who voiced unpleasant perspectives.
Especially the people of Jeju Island.
Complaints flooded in. It was understandable. But there was nothing Yoo Jin-hyeok could do about that part.
Other climbers answered instead.
Criticism poured down. Sharp words stabbed into the chests of the Jeju climbers like daggers. But that was reality. With everyone’s own survival on the line, no one had the luxury of fretting over the plight of people across the sea.
Yoo Jin-hyeok himself left no further reply on the matter. It lay outside the domain of what he could do. The majority of climbers deliberately averted their eyes from Jeju’s tragedy and, electrified by the appearance of a central figure in Yoo Jin-hyeok, began preparing to follow him.
The Korean server had finally found a rallying point that could unite it as one.
Eden Camp, the former research director’s office.
All six party members had gathered there, along with Park Du-shik of Midas’s Hand and Yoon Tae-shik of Owl. The practical core of the ★Wandering Merchant★ was assembled in one place. They too had already read Yoo Jin-hyeok’s post.
“I’ve crossed paths with Yoo Jin-hyeok online before. He was a famous streamer, and his physical ability was monstrous enough that even I had to acknowledge it.”
Baek Yeon-ho spoke while shooting a sidelong glance at Hyun Si-woon.
Obviously not on your level, though.
In the past he might have compared them, but now he was certain without even needing to measure. Yoo Jin-hyeok? You could line up hundreds of him and still fall short of a single Hyun Si-woon. If Si-woon was a genius, Yoo Jin-hyeok was merely ordinary.
“We’ve received contact on the Owl side as well. It was a cooperation request. For now we’ve held off on a reply.”
At Yoon Tae-shik’s words, Park Du-shik snorted with clear displeasure.
“But doesn’t that guy crack you up? Who does he think he is, casually name-dropping our Wandering Merchant?”
There was an edge to Park Du-shik’s voice. The merchant’s instinct had kicked in.
“Look, I’ll give him the name-dropping a hundred times over—it’s for the public good. But the nuance that we’re supposed to help him? That doesn’t sit right. It’s not like they entrusted us with their TC.”
The members nodded. He wasn’t wrong. On the surface Yoo Jin-hyeok’s post was polite, yet beneath it ran an unspoken pressure: As the Wandering Merchant, you ought to handle at least this much. And public sentiment was already shifting that way.
“Please calm down for a moment, Mr. Park. I agree with that point as well.”
Yoon Tae-shik soothed the agitated man.
“Nevertheless, that post has shaped public opinion. Every climber’s eyes will now turn toward the Wandering Merchant. How we move from here can drastically change the board going forward.”
He was right. The Wandering Merchant was no longer a simple vendor of goods. It was the invisible giant hand that held and shook the Korean server’s entire economy. What stance that hand would take in this crisis had become the matter of greatest interest.
Every gaze naturally settled on one man—the man who had watched the entire meeting in silence. Hyun Si-woon.
In the midst of this massive current, what decision would their leader make?
“He just seems like a decent person to me?”
His answer was unexpected.
Huh?
A decent person? Yoo Jin-hyeok?
Not some sly guy trying to use us?
Hwang Dae-un and a few other members tilted their heads, but Si-woon continued calmly.
“It’s something that needed doing. When no one else would step up in the chaos, he was the first to shoulder the burden and put forward the most realistic plan—personnel assessment followed by force redistribution. Without that post, wouldn’t we all still be wasting time just watching each other?”
Si-woon felt no particular malice from Yoo Jin-hyeok. If anything, he was grateful the man had handled the tedious work in his place. And so he decided to help.
“Mr. Yoon Tae-shik.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Have Owl reply that we will cooperate fully. Support him with every piece of information he needs to the fullest extent.”
“Should we also mention that another party has already cleared Floor 7?”
“If he asks, tell him.”
The climber rankings had not yet been released. That was entirely due to Si-woon’s own reluctance to put himself in the spotlight.
No need to go around shouting that I’m at the very front of the pack.
“And Mr. Park Du-shik.”
“Yes, sir. Please speak.”
“In accordance with Yoo Jin-hyeok’s proposal, announce under the name of the ★Wandering Merchant★ that every climber who sent mail will receive ten lowest-grade potions and ten random food items free of charge.”
“……What?”
Park Du-shik’s eyes flew wide with shock. The members beside him gaped as well.
“Every climber?”
“Whoa.”
“Holy crap…….”
“C-Captain.”
Park Du-shik’s voice trembled.
“The estimated number of climbers is at least fifty thousand. ……How do you intend to cover that cost?”
“How much TC do we currently hold?”
“The profit we turned over the past month is around two million TC. It would have been more, but material purchase costs for crafting ran a bit high…….”
“That’s enough.”
Si-woon currently held nearly nine hundred thousand TC when combining the two million he already possessed, the six million from the Floor 6 rewards, and the miscellaneous TC from beast hunting. Altogether it came to roughly eleven million TC. He no longer needed to worry about TC at all. On top of that, he would soon sell the Moonlight Bow Kang Si-a had been using. She now wielded the Autumn Wind’s Bow, after all.
“If we figure fifty thousand people at exactly forty TC each, two million TC covers it. Do it that way.”
As long as Lumi was paid in TC, it could produce food and potions without limit. They were essentials; flooding the market with them would not collapse the economy.
“Haaah.”
Park Du-shik let out a breath of pure admiration.
This man.
His vessel was different. Even in the old days when he had been called the God of Market Price, he would probably have made the same choice Si-woon was making now.
Still.
It was also reality, and because he had not yet fully grasped the disposition of their leader, he had deliberately spoken conservatively. Yet Si-woon’s answer had exceeded every expectation.
I acknowledge it.
Si-woon would not regard those two million TC as a mere expense. He would see it as an investment—the price of fifty thousand lives. In other words, an investment that purchased fifty thousand loyalties. It meant he possessed the insight to read the market’s flow. It also meant he was already painting a picture of buying the people’s hearts and completing a market monopoly.
In short, it was identical to a telecommunications company pouring money into building a nationwide network infrastructure. There was an initial investment cost, but once the network was laid and every citizen used that company? From that point on, they enjoyed a monopolistic position that earned money while they sat still. The ★Wandering Merchant★ was in exactly that position now.
And did anyone know what was even more terrifying?
Information.
Goosebumps rose along Park Du-shik’s spine. By riding Yoo Jin-hyeok’s proposal, they would obtain a roster of nearly every active climber on the Korean server. Sending [Raid Participation] mail was the same as voluntarily reporting one’s nickname, floor, and active region to them. This was a living, top-tier database that even the Owl Guild could not obtain no matter how much TC it poured out.
“I’ll proceed at once, Captain!”
Park Du-shik bowed deeply toward Hyun Si-woon. At the same time he thought to himself:
I’m glad I boarded this ship. I will devote my entire life to assisting this man.