Chapter 10
“We’re not fooling around.”
Before he could finish speaking.
Bang-!
With a sound that tore through the air, Eunwol’s form blurred.
“Urk...!”
Just as Choi Tae-su reflexively tried to pull the trigger, Eunwol’s toe shot toward his hand.
Crack-!
At the same time, the pistol in Choi Tae-su’s hand bent like taffy and flew into the air.
“Urk!”
The moment Choi Tae-su swallowed a groan from the impact.
Before he knew it, Eunwol had closed the distance, and the edge of her hand was pressing down on his nape.
“B-Boss!”
The gang behind him panicked and drew their weapons, but Choi Tae-su hurriedly raised one hand to stop them.
“Whoa, whoa. Calm down... Just as expected of the Head Mod. So being a Hunter isn’t just for show, huh?”
“Stop pretending to be so relaxed. Unless you want to be humiliated in front of your lackeys.”
As Eunwol growled, Choi Tae-su instead held his chin high.
“Not only are you threatening to triple the price of the water being distributed, you’re also threatening to unilaterally cut off the refugee camp’s water supply, even though I’ve been regularly providing the mana stones for it? What’s the reason!”
“The reason? Fuck, I already told you!! It’s because of that goddamn shop.”
“You pulled this bullshit just because you’re worried your piece of the pie might get smaller?”
At Eunwol’s words, Choi Tae-su’s expression instantly turned cold.
“Just? The 350 bottles of Oda Water released into circulation have completely wrecked the price of the water we sell. Those refugee vermin keep bitching about why the shop sells water for 20 mana stones while we sell our shit water for 50!!!”
“That’s because you’ve been profiteering all this time! We tolerated it to preserve even that goddamn order, and now you’ve crossed the line?”
Despite Eunwol’s shout, Choi Tae-su greedily raised his eyes.
“Yeah, you get it! That’s why we’re going to restore order ourselves...!”
“What?”
“You know perfectly well that there’s a limit to the stock the shop puts up, don’t you? A hundred every three days? That’s nowhere near enough.”
“....”
“If we stop selling water, the price will inevitably shoot through the roof again. By then, our customers will wake up from their shop high and come to their senses.”
Choi Tae-su’s eyes filled with arrogance.
“They’ll painfully realize how precious our Oasis is, then crawl back to us and pay through the nose even for our shit water, won’t they?”
At his sophistry, Eunwol’s eyes flashed red with rage. Clenching her teeth, she spoke in a suppressed voice.
“...If mana stones are the problem, I’ll pay for the water distributed to the refugee camps myself, so keep the distribution going.”
For Eunwol, this was a compromise offered by swallowing her pride to protect the ordinary people and Awakened in the Yellow Zone.
But the moment Choi Tae-su heard that, he burst into loud laughter.
“Pwahahaha! Head Mod, you really aren’t cut out to be a businesswoman.”
“...What?”
“Do you think we’re going through all this trouble just to squeeze a few extra mana stones out of them? You think paying for them yourself will make those vermin realize their place?”
Fwoosh-!
At those words, the overwhelming killing intent pouring from Eunwol pressed down on the entire space.
“Yeah? What do you think will happen if I blow all your heads off right here?”
But Choi Tae-su only snickered.
“Heh heh... You’re going to fight all of us? Even if you are the Head Mod, do you think you can handle that?”
Shing- Click!
The moment Eunwol furrowed her brow, menacing metallic sounds rang out from every direction.
The gang that had panicked and backed away just moments earlier had already surrounded Eunwol completely, blocking every blind spot.
“Even if you kill us all, starting tomorrow, you’ll have to supply water to the entire Yellow Zone by yourself, you righteous Head Mod... Can you handle that?”
“Th-That...”
At this point, Eunwol was the one whose expression stiffened.
Tap-!
“If you can’t kill me, move your hand.”
Choi Tae-su subtly tried to brush Eunwol’s wrist aside, but her hand did not budge at all.
“Ahem...! Ahem!”
Even in this awkward situation, his mouth refused to stop.
“...Why? Are you going to give me a permanent ban from the gallery?”
“You think I can’t?”
To ordinary Stalkers, a permanent ban from the gallery was practically the same as a death sentence. Even in the apocalypse, it meant complete isolation and solitude.
“Khahaha! Do it! Go ahead! Ban us or don’t! We’ve already set up an independent communications network.”
At those words, Eunwol’s red eyes quivered slightly.
It made no sense for a mere Oasis Guild to have established an independent communications network just because it had acquired a few communications devices.
Then Eunwol said,
“Who’s behind you? Who are you relying on to act so cocky? Another major guild?”
“Ha! No!”
At Eunwol’s interrogation, Choi Tae-su snickered with a sinister grin and shouted,
“Higher up...!”
At the same time, Eunwol’s eyes widened.
“To be precise, it’s the people you know so well. Your former colleagues...!”
As Eunwol’s eyes shook violently, Choi Tae-su leaned his face close to hers and whispered mockingly,
“You can figure it out if you have any sense. The higher-ups in the Green Zone don’t like the shop.”
“...!”
“We caught their eye because of this incident.”
At those words, Eunwol’s reason stretched taut, on the verge of snapping.
“You fucking lunatics...!!”
“Head Mod! Do you really believe we can rebuild this ruined world? Cut the bullshit. The Control Bureau has long been a hollow scarecrow with nothing but a signboard.”
“...”
“Look at reality! Where are all those Hunter colleagues you’re so proud of? They gave up on rebuilding long ago and crawled into the Green Zone!!"
“Shut your mouth...”
“Even among the Hunters who stayed on the front lines to fight, you’re the only one left, Head Mod. So you’d better compromise with reality while you still can...”
Choi Tae-su turned away without hesitation, leaving only a mocking smile behind.
“You can clutch that sense of duty and play noble all you want, but in the end, the only ones who’ll die are you and those gallery vermin.”
As Eunwol watched Choi Tae-su and the Oasis gang disappear into the darkness.
“That fucking bastard….”
Eunwol could only clench her fists and tremble.
****
At the same time.
“Cham Cham Cham!!!”
I whipped my palm toward Zombie-sensei, who stood beyond the transparent boundary of the disaster-control room.
Taaang-!
One of Zombie-sensei’s grotesquely bent necks suddenly twisted in the direction of my hand, whether by coincidence or not, and slammed its head into the transparent wall.
“Hey! Your second head from the upper right!! It moved in the same direction as mine!!!”
Grrrk-!
“Yes!!!!!! I won!! Hey, put your forehead out.”
I shouted at Zombie-sensei as I readied a forehead flick.
Grrrr-!
Zombie-sensei roared, opening a maw that defied sanity, but it was meaningless against me inside a tile activated by ownership.
“No, Zombie-sensei! What are we going to do if you still haven’t understood the rules? I’ve explained them three times already...”
Grrrr-!
“No, no. No taking it back. Don’t you remember that I let you win the last round?”
Kyaaaak-!
“Ugh, I’m not playing anymore. It’s too disgusting, and I’m scared you’ll actually challenge me to a fistfight.”
Apparently, Zombie-sensei wasn’t in the mood to take a forehead flick today.
Actually, I knew I couldn’t go out there to flick it, either.
Even if I did go out there to hit it, I wouldn’t know how many heads I’d have to hit, and fortunately, I still hadn’t lost yet.
I’d been bored while eating and browsing the gallery because everyone was talking about the shop update, so I played with Zombie-sensei a little for exercise, but it refused to play along.
“Zombie-sensei is really killing the mood.”
I grumbled and turned around.
Good.
I’d just started feeling sick from looking at Zombie-sensei’s appearance. I wasn’t sorry at all.
“Sheesh, isn’t there any interesting drama going around the gallery?”
I turned the gallery back on, but.
What the fuck is that supposed to mean??? [452]
Wait, I thought water prices were going down...? [553]
They said they’ve cut off the distribution too?? [664]
What does this mean?? They’re raising the water price threefold...? [566]
This is seriously fucked up lol [555]
...
Unlike the morning, the topic had changed completely.
“What the hell.”
Why is this happening all of a sudden?
Title : Why the hell are they suddenly raising the price of shit water???
They want us to buy purified shit water for 150 mana stones?? Does that make any sense?
We’re seriously fucked.
ㄴ No, why are they doing this?
ㄴ Are they throwing a fit because the updated shop is releasing water?;;
ㄴ For real, that’s exactly it.
No, fuck.
ㄴ Then what are the people who weren’t invited supposed to do...?
ㄴ For real, there are way more non-members than shop members...?
ㄴ I’m on my way to buy water from those guys right now...?
ㄴ Me too.
That’s why those guys can be so brazen about it.
ㄴ They know way more people buy water offline.
ㄴ Raise the water price and cut off distribution, then what the hell can we do? lol
ㄴ How does that make any sense???
They just announced that free distribution to the Yellow Zone refugee camps has been cut off too lololol
ㄴ Huh? I thought the Head Mod was controlling those guys throughout the entire area?
ㄴ It’s just a rumor right now, but I heard the Head Mod got pushed back in the negotiations;;
ㄴ Whaaat? The Head Mod...?
ㄴ What the hell are those guys plotting??
As I skimmed through the gallery, I realized what had happened.
“So that’s what this is...”
Because of the premium bottled water I’d supplied, the people selling water offline had decided that their livelihoods were in danger.
They were threatening to artificially raise the price of water and cut off the distribution as well.
“Hmm... This is a little...?”
It was a textbook case of a monopoly controlling its supply chain because it didn’t want an outsider taking its share, but doing it this blatantly was just thuggish.
Even if your livelihood was at stake, there had to be a limit. There had to be some moderation, even in a fight over one’s livelihood.
Besides, knowing this had happened because of me left me feeling a little conflicted.
“Hmm...”
Just as I rested my chin on my hand and watched the gallery’s reaction.
Title : *Announcement [Head Mod] Announcement Regarding the Current Water Price Surge and the Suspension of Refugee Camp Distribution
It is true that the Oasis Guild, which had been handling water distribution to the refugee camps with the mana stones I provided, unilaterally stopped distributing drinking water and raised the price.
However, I’m currently looking for other distribution routes or substitutes.
If there’s no other way, I’ll go into the Red Zone myself and get water, so don’t worry too much ㅇㅇ
Huh?
ㄴ Gasp.
ㄴ Was that the Head Mod’s official word?
The water distribution to the refugee camps was originally being paid for out of the Head Mod’s own pocket??
ㄴ ㅇㅇ Anyone who knew, knew.
ㄴ The Head Mod gave them thousands of mana stones earned from hunting every month and told them to release water in the Yellow Zone.
ㄴ Holy shit...
ㄴ Blessed Head Mod.
ㄴ I was posting nothing but shitposts without even knowing that...!
Head Mod... But... the Red Zone’s way too dangerous...
ㄴ No, you don’t have to go that far... (sob!)
ㄴ Can someone like the Head Mod... actually enter the Red Zone?
ㄴ ‘I can go.’
ㄴ Ah.
It had come to this: the Head Mod, who had been supplying bottled water to ordinary people and refugee camps out of her own pocket, had posted an announcement herself.
“Good grief...”
This doesn’t feel like something I can just let slide.
Hey, you bastards, Oasis has the right to do that too.
ㄴ The guild is selling you the water you were supposed to get yourselves in the first place.
ㄴ Everyone surviving on their own is only natural lololol
ㄴ If you don’t like it, shouldn’t you go get water yourselves??
But the Oasis Guild had already monopolized the water sources, slowly releasing water to make exorbitant profits.
ㄴ People had already been complaining that the price of shit water was inflated.
ㄴ We knew that too, but we just turned a blind eye ㅇㅇ
ㄴ If you don’t like it, why don’t you get a water source yourselves? lol
Bastard, what does that have to do with controlling the price of water?
ㄴ You can only get away with controlling the water price up to a point.
ㄴ They’re saying they’re selling the shit water that used to cost 50 mana stones for over 100 now lol
Oasis fanboys don’t understand the point.
ㄴ Their brains are;;
The comments were buzzing with debate when
the next post drove the final nail into the coffin.
Title : [Oasis] Hey, you bastards who use the shop, listen up lol
There were some of you bastards asking why we were selling water so damn expensive just because you buy water from the shop, right??
You can’t get water yourselves, so you cling to us, and now you’re complaining about the price of water??
If you don’t like it, buy all your water from the shop, you idiots. You can’t do that, can you? lololol
Camp out like beggars for the open run at the shop that releases 100 every three days but blocks resellers, and farm scraps for cash lol
Let’s give it a week and see whether you depend on the shop or depend on us lololol
ㅇ???
ㄴ No, fuck lololol
ㄴ Are you kidding me?
ㄴ You’re seriously posting this openly in the gallery?
ㄴ You know this is grounds for a permanent ban, right?
[Oasis] Try giving us a permanent ban.
ㄴ [Oasis] (Roughly, a photo of a communications device. JPG)
ㄴ [Oasis] We’ve already become independent enough to stand on our own without the gallery.
ㄴ Uh...?
ㄴ Wait, you got a satellite phone...?
ㄴ How the hell did you get military communications equipment???
[Oasis] Do you still not understand what’s happening?
ㄴ [Oasis] You, Head Mod—you couldn’t even make a peep after meeting us in person, you bunch of beggars lololol
ㄴ ...!
ㄴ ??
[Oasis] Oh, and.
ㄴ [Oasis] (A video of a shop member being kidnapped. JPG)
ㄴ [Oasis] From now on, we’ll beat the shit out of everyone who uses the shop ㅇㅇ
What the fucking hell are these lunatics!!!
ㄴ Aren’t they crossing the line like crazy...?
ㄴ No matter what kind of world this is, this is way over the line, you fucking bastards!!!!!
[Oasis] Shut your mouth.
ㄴ [Oasis] We’ll hang this one outside Suwon Station tomorrow as an example, so have fun ㅇㅇ
ㄴ [Oasis] Know that this is what happens when you use the shop.
ㄴ [Oasis] If you don’t like it, try taking us on ㅇㅇ
I slowly lowered the hand that had been supporting my chin.
“They’ve crossed the line...”
Well, since it was a fight over their livelihood, I tried to understand it, giving them the benefit of the doubt.
But they’d freely cut off the distribution they’d already been paid to provide to the refugee camps, and instead of following market logic, they arbitrarily raised the price of water to profiteer and make people’s lives impossible?
"That’s not right. They’re not even businessmen—they’re blatantly just thugs."
And even though I was trapped in here and living alone, the structure of my ability meant that I couldn’t survive on my own anyway. In the end, the survivors outside and I were in a symbiotic relationship.
In metaphorical terms, a crocodile bird and a crocodile.
In practical terms, the better off they were, the more I earned.
“I can’t tolerate anyone making life difficult for my potential customers!”
All of them had to live well for me to live well too.
And when you think about it, why should I let it slide just because it’s a fight over a livelihood?
"I’ll monopolize it all!!!"
If it was a fight over livelihoods, then my livelihood was the most important one.
And kidnapping and threatening my shop customers was simply a blatant violation of business ethics and outright interference with my business. Fuck.
“I absolutely can’t tolerate anyone making life difficult for the customers I secured myself!!!”
It already kills me that I have to sell at an absurdly low price compared to the market.
“They’re even interfering with my business?”
No, no. I couldn’t let this slide.
So we’re really supposed to buy this shit water for 150 mana stones?
ㄴ I went to get water, and they said they’re selling the shit water for 100 mana stones;;
ㄴ What a bunch of motherless bastards lol
No, the shop sells refreshing bottled water—the kind people only drank before the apocalypse—for 20 mana stones...
ㄴ They’re telling us to pay 100 mana stones for their half-assedly purified water...?
“So the problem is that water is only trickling into the market.”
All I had to do was solve that. It was too easy for me.
I manipulated the status window.
[Maximum registration limit per slot (LV.1): 100]
[Mana stones for upgrade: 1,000]
[Mana stones currently owned: 3,000]
“Ah, I was planning to use this to expand my tiles.”
Well, this worked out even better. Once I sold this batch, I’d make far more than the mana stones needed to expand my tiles.
[Until inventory refill: 4 minutes]
The inventory refill was only a short while away, and I had plenty of stock.
“You guys started this shitstorm first, you know?”
This is justified self-defense.
Click-!
[Spending 3,000 mana stones to upgrade the maximum registration limit level for Slot 1 (Oda Water 500ML)]
[Slot 1 (LV.1) >>> (LV. 4)]
[Current maximum registration limit for Slot 1: 100 >>> 700 (UP!!)]
At the same time, I posted on the shop account and muttered,
“I was bored, so you picked a good time to show up.”