The Monopoly of Miracles

The Holy Water suddenly isn't selling?

Currently, the most controversial miraculous recovery item on the market was the Holy Water of the Archangel. Its effects were absurd: it could cure almost any disease, heal acquired mental illnesses, and rapidly recover even the most severe physical injuries. On top of that, drinking it triggered the Grace of the Angel (Medium) buff for three days, which granted a one-time resurrection during its duration.

But the price—a whopping 10,000 Tower Coins.

Although the market value of Tower Coins was steadily rising, its initial conversion rate valued it at approximately 50 million Korean won. For average climbers, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this was a rather daunting price tag.

But the government saw things differently. From a national perspective, it was ridiculously cheap. As long as climbers continued to ascend the tower, monopolizing information was impossible. Thus, there was only one thing the government could do: manage the Holy Water directly.

The government moved swiftly. By the fourth day of Naejibtap's appearance on Earth, the government was already purchasing all Holy Water obtained from the tower with cold, hard cash.

The problem lay with those who had purchased and taken the Holy Water on the third day. To address this, and to prevent climbers from hoarding the Holy Water for purposes other than immediate medical treatment, a powerful piece of legislation was introduced.

The Holy Water National Monopoly Act was passed almost unanimously, and the government immediately went into action.

Large climber guilds, including the Glory Guild and the Black Sword Guild, were legally granted the authority to store bulk quantities of the Holy Water and use it for medical purposes. In exchange, they promised to cooperate with the government to establish a thorough surveillance system to prevent illegal internal distribution.

The government had also already secured the entry logs of climbers into Naejibtap. On the day thirty-seven climbers entered the tower, a few government-affiliated climbers were already mixed in among them.

The middle-aged woman with the Cleaner class was actually one of these government-affiliated climbers. They were monitoring everyone purchasing Holy Water on the 12th floor, and some had already been flagged as persons of interest.

The names and addresses of those who bought Holy Water on the 12th floor and left the tower were already fully compiled. And that afternoon, unfamiliar visitors arrived at the doorsteps of the very first climbers who had purchased the Holy Water.

The climber Go Han-bang had always believed himself to be a genius.

"Idiots. This is a guaranteed jackpot! All I have to do is pull out a massive loan, buy a bunch of them, and hoard them until the price skyrockets!"

The problem was that he had tried to hit the jackpot in similar ways before, only to ruin himself every single time. His credit score was in the gutter, and even by leveraging his status as a climber, he had barely managed to secure a loan of 500 million won.

Furthermore, he lost a chunk of it to exchange fees when converting the cash into Tower Coins, leaving him with enough to buy only nine bottles of Holy Water.

"It's fine. I can make up for this loss in no time! Once the value of Tower Coins rises and the price of the Holy Water goes up... I'll sell them for several times the price!"

Ding-dong.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"...Who is it? I'm not expecting any deliveries."

Go Han-bang tilted his head and checked the intercom.

"Mr. Go Han-bang. You purchased the Holy Water, correct? We are here on behalf of the government to retrieve it."

Men in black uniforms were standing outside his door.

"What? Why are you retrieving it?"

"The law was amended as of this morning. It is now illegal for individuals to possess the Holy Water for purposes other than immediate medical treatment."

Cold sweat ran down Go Han-bang's spine. Nine bottles of Holy Water bought with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠500-million-won loan. He couldn't just let them take it away like this!

As he desperately brainstormed ways to run away with the bottles—

"However, if you cooperate voluntarily, we will purchase them all at sixty million won per bottle—roughly a twenty percent premium over the original cost."

"...Twenty percent more?"

Hearing a much better offer than expected, he hesitated. Currently, the government's standard buyback rate for Tower Coins and Holy Water in Seoul was a 15% premium. A 20% premium meant he would actually make a slight profit, meaning he wouldn't lose money.

Of course, compared to the three- or four-fold profit he had dreamed of, it was incredibly disappointing, but...

"Of course, if you refuse to cooperate, you will be considered a criminal in violation of the law. From that point on, the Holy Water will be subject to confiscation, and you may face criminal charges. Please make your decision carefully."

"......"

This was his only choice. Go Han-bang bit his lip, and with a defeated expression, he finally opened the door. He had no choice but to sell all nine bottles of Holy Water to the government agents.

The government continued to retrieve the Holy Water from numerous other climbers in the same manner.

Some nodded and handed it over quietly, while others gritted their teeth and tried to hide it. One climber even hugged the bottles tightly and screamed:

"This is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mine! I'm going to use it later! I didn't break any laws!"

The government agent simply pulled out a contract.

"In that case, please sign this contract stating that you will not use it for any purpose other than medical treatment. If illegal distribution is confirmed later, you will bear full legal responsibility."

"I have to sign a contract just for one bottle of Holy Water?"

Some even tried to smuggle it abroad. One climber went to great lengths, wrapping the Holy Water bottle in the Skin of the Electric Rabbit—which disrupts both electromagnetic waves and mana—and double-sealing it in a box that blocked the Appraisal skill.

However, he was caught red-handed at the airport security gate, where screening had been heavily reinforced.

"You wrapped it thoroughly in double layers. The Holy Water almost leaked out of the country."

"It's a misunderstanding! I didn't hide any Holy Water! I really have no idea what that is!"

"We already have records from government agents confirming your purchase. Even without that, you wouldn't have made it past this checkpoint."

The smuggler, who had the worst intentions, was banned from entering Naejibtap and slapped with a massive fine.

In this way, the government tightly controlled the Holy Water to ensure it never leaked outside official distribution channels.

Now, if climbers purchased Holy Water inside the tower, they could only sell it at government-designated booths before passing through the barricades. While they could still hoard Tower Coins, the Holy Water had become an item that absolutely had to be sold to the government.

Other items brought out from the tower—monster materials, mana stones, diluted tears, and agricultural products—also had to undergo government inspection and legal procedures before they could be exported.

Still, climbers couldn't complain too much, as the government was accommodating them in its own way. Guild-affiliated climbers, in particular, received benefits like being allowed to store various tower goods, including the Holy Water, in their guild vaults. Since the government wasn't openly hostile, the situation remained somewhat ambiguous.

Of course, the guilds were also walking on eggshells, waiting to see what the government would do before making any moves of their own.

Ultimately, the climbers reached a single conclusion.

"What's the point of buying Holy Water now anyway? The government just confiscates it all. And they pay us in cash, not Tower Coins..."

"Yeah, we're better off hoarding Tower Coins, since their value is only going to keep going up."

Even now, the market price of Tower Coins was steadily climbing. Since the government's buyback price was fixed at a 15% premium based on the initial exchange rate, the profit margin from selling the Holy Water was shrinking.

The government would eventually collect a massive amount of Tower Coins to purchase the Holy Water, markup the price several times over to sell domestically, and sell it to foreign countries at an astronomical premium.

But for now, the climbers were forced to sell the Holy Water at the government's dictated price.

As a result...

Not a single climber bought the Holy Water of the Archangel anymore.

The next day, inside the 9th floor of Naejibtap.

"I'm so bored. It'd be fun if at least one more climber came up like yesterday."

Rekki, who managed and cared for the aberrant rabbits in the Twisted Nether Rabbit Garden, was rolling around peacefully on the grassy field today.

This place was essentially her bedroom. For the record, the 2nd floor, the Explosive Rabbit Garden, felt more like her living room.

Because of this, she had designed the trial of the 9th floor to be incredibly simple.

It was a trial where you literally just had to stand still. When a climber entered the 9th floor, they were teleported to a random location, and a small circular barrier would form around them.

Inside the circle, they were free to do whatever they wanted—sit down, talk, whatever. But if they took even a single step outside, the countdown would reset to zero, and they would have to endure it all over again.

Whether they danced or attacked, anything was fine as long as they stayed inside the circle.

But there was a real reason why this trial was so difficult.

It was because of the aberrant rabbits scattered all over the 9th floor.

Imagine a creature with a rabbit's head, the body of a mackerel, and rabbit feet instead of fins flying straight at you. Wouldn't most people freak out and run away?

On top of that, there were spider-like rabbits, bear-like rabbits, and even a three-headed rab-rab-rabbit.

These grotesque appearances were bound to cause cognitive dissonance in climbers, and the possibility of their brains freezing in pure terror could not be ignored.

And what if they panicked and ran?

The aberrant rabbits, who absolutely loved playing tag, would swarm the "it" and unleash a relentless barrage of attacks until they stopped moving entirely.

A total disaster!

In other words, it was no exaggeration to say this floor was a test of a climber's courage.

However, no matter how brave a climber was, there was one scenario where clearing the floor became virtually impossible.

That was when their initial teleportation point happened to be right in front of Rekki.

If that happened, the trial ceased to be a "test of enduring the aberrant rabbits' attacks" and degenerated into a "test of enduring Rekki's taunts for three minutes."

For the record, the Seeker Park Do-yoon had fallen victim to this exact scenario.

Because he had teleported right in front of Rekki, he couldn't withstand her relentless taunts, stepped out of the circle, and was beaten to death by a swarm of aberrant rabbits!

When Tricia first received this trial proposal, she had hesitated before approving it, telling Rekki to "keep the taunts reasonable and not go overboard."

Of course, what happened on the 2nd floor earlier was a completely different story, which was why Tricia had rushed down immediately to stop Rekki back then!

Anyway, as Rekki was enjoying her leisurely break on the 9th floor, a broadcast system message arrived.

"Oh, I didn't have anything to do anyway. Guess I'll go."

As soon as Rekki checked the message, she stood up and warped to the 99th-floor Meeting Room.

And a moment later—

A climber entered the 9th floor through the warp point.

"...Is that rabbit beastkin not here today?"

It was the Seeker Park Do-yoon, entering the 9th floor at the absolute perfect moment.

With Rekki away, he was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠able to easily clear the trial by simply standing inside the circle and observing the aberrant rabbits for three minutes.