Chapter 18
While I was diligently researching information, I quietly muttered in the disaster-control room.
“Wow... This is insane...”
I was reading posts about what people outside—especially those I'd invited as members—were actually eating to get by.
What kind of bastard was this Trolling NEET to be asking a question like that...?
ㄴ Where are you active?
ㄴ Are you in the Green Zone?
ㄴ Even piss is drinkable once purified ㅇㅇ
Of course, the contents went beyond imagination.
“Wow... They really eat mashed-together cockroaches? And turn rat meat into canned food?”
[Trolling NEET] Guess you're all former Marines;;
ㄴ Ah, the memories of that glorious day!
ㄴ But what kind of bastard is this to be asking a question like that?
[Trolling NEET] Ah, don't worry, I'm just an ordinary troll.
ㄴ Whew, that's reassuring.
ㄴ That one honest sentence calmed my heart, whew.
I want to eat tenderloin...
ㄴ I wonder if those Green Zone bastards get to eat it...
“Holy shit, fucking hell...”
So I'd been living way too comfortably.
“Hmm, still, it was good to drum up aggro first.”
Even if I was confident it would sell well, researching customers' needs was a merchant's basic virtue.
-Fuck, update already!!! [442]
-When are you updating? When are you updating? [411]
-Seriously, hurry up!!! [422]
-Wow, I never thought they'd sell food... [121]
-Food after bottled water ㄷㄷ;; [231]
....
Dozens of posts poured in every time I hit refresh.
[ShopWiki] Behold, thanks to the users' willingness to buy, the refill and update that used to take three days has been brought forward.
ㄴ [Head Mod] As people began following the greater cause, the System saw that it wished to rebuild the ruined world and decided to pass food on to people as well.
ㄴ [ShopWiki] I disagree.
....
The two continued a wholesome, constructive, and bone-dry discussion.
“No way, are these guys still debating...”
On top of that, the level of the conversation was pretty high.
Title : But I'm seriously curious...
What the fuck kind of food will they sell?
Honestly, isn't it canned food? The apocalypse-era food classic lol
ㄴ Canned beans? A can of corn?
ㄴ Ah, fuck, I'm so damn excited lol
I'm guessing hardtack.
ㄴ Won't it be something with an insane shelf life?
But the Shop gave us first-rate Oadasu bottled water. Would it really sell something as pathetic as hardtack?
ㄴ Then what, will it give us meat or something???
ㄴ Spam... If the Spam the Head Mod got goes on sale, I'll throw in my entire fortune...
ㄴ Please lol
What are you getting your hopes up for, fuck lol
ㄴ I'd be grateful even for junk food like Jjondeugi lol
ㄴ Seriously, I'd take even that...
Please sell us dog food that's at least fresh...
ㄴ Fuck, if you boil dog food in dirty water, it's genuinely delicious...
ㄴ Ah, I can't resist that...
First, ask them to invite us.
ㄴ Ah lol
ㄴ Please invite us first lol
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Title : System <<< This bastard's trolling is seriously...
Why would you get our hopes up like this...!
I hate the System for getting our hopes up...!!!!
ㄴ Baby Shopkeeper is so dirty-minded.
ㄴ You crazy bastard, dirty-minded about what?
ㄴ He lights up this dark world...
ㄴ Ah...
ㄴ Just the lamp in the dark tunnel GOAT... Great Shop
No, I'm telling you, the Shop is a Constellation!!!!
ㄴ This is what we're watching and enjoying!!!!
ㄴ Ah, okay, lol
ㄴ We get the Constellation bait~
If the System <<< is an AI...
ㄴ It's a seriously intelligent bastard..
ㄴ Seriously, does it toy with people's minds like this?
As someone with ten years of gallery experience, I had a gut feeling.
“Now's the time.”
Now that everyone's expectations had converged, this was the best time to list the product.
[Reward 2: 1 additional sales-slot expansion ticket]
“Let's expand the slots first.”
When I used the expansion ticket, an empty space appeared in the Shop UI I'd set to remain unopened.
-Starplex-
[Product: Oadasu 500ML]
[Price: 20 mana stones]
[Stock: 700/700]
[Product (Slot 2): Empty]
[Not currently displayed]
Heh heh.
Tell me what you'd like me to put in this empty slot, and how you'd like it.
“Still, wouldn't canned tuna be just right?”
I intended to put canned tuna in the empty slot I'd unlocked.
Hearing that the gallery people were surviving on canned rat meat and cans of rotten corn had left me feeling strangely uneasy.
Besides, this was also a personally important matter for me.
“How much... how much will it be...?”
Come to think of it, this was my first time selling food other than bottled water.
Even I didn't know how the System would price this product.
“I couldn't find out the price until I registered it...”
If I registered it recklessly, I'd make my life miserable.
So please, let it fetch a high price.
“If it pulls some bullshit like 10 mana stones... my Living Corner will drift farther and farther away, while Jomssaem inches closer...”
So I calmed my trembling heart and shouted.
“All right...!! Registeeer!!!”
-Starplex-
[Product: Mild Tuna Can (150g)]
[Price: 40 mana stones]
[Stock: 100/100]
“40 mana stones...?”
Holy shit!!!! That's twice the price of bottled water!!!!
“Keh-heh-heh, that's what I'm talking about!!!”
****
It was at the very moment when rapture filled Sinsok's eyes.
Title : Fuck... Fuck... Fuck...
Guys, it's canned tuna!!! Canned tuna!!!!!!!
Aaaaaah!!!! It's canned tuna, canned tuna!!!!!!!
????!!!
ㄴ Canned tuna?
ㄴ You mean canned tuna????
What the fuck are you talking about? Explain it so we can understand.
ㄴ You got a can of tuna as loot?
ㄴ Ah, fuck, I'm so damn jealous...
No!!!!!
ㄴ The Shop put up canned tuna, you fucking idiot!!!!
ㄴ ????
The Shop's food update is canned tuna, you bastaaaard!!!!!
ㄴ (More or less a proof photo. JPG)
ㄴ Fuck!!!!!
ㄴ It's really canned tuna!!!!
ㄴ Holy shit, a legendary situation just happened, holy shit!!!!
Title : Am I seeing this wrong...?
(More or less a screenshot of the Shop. JPG)
Are you saying I'm really being given a chance to buy canned tuna...?
That Mild Tuna? You mean I can buy it...?
No fucking way, it's really up!!!!!
ㄴ It really is Mild Tuna!!!!!
No fucking way, it costs 40 mana stones...?
ㄴ Only 40 mana stones...???
In all my life, I never thought I'd see that can of tuna going for 40 mana stones.
ㄴ Fuck, I was insanely jealous because the party leader bought that for 120 mana stones at an auction, but fuck fuck
ㄴ You can buy it at the Shop for 40 mana stones, fuck lol
Suddenly, frenzied posts appeared in the gallery.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!!!!”
The instant they saw the post, screams erupted from the roundtable of the Food Coalition that controlled Orange Zone commerce.
“Canned tuna!!!! Why did it have to be canned food!!!!!”
Mr. Kim, the head of the canned rat-meat merchant house, was pounding his head against the roundtable and sobbing.
“M-Mr. Kim... Are you all right?”
“Damn ittt! It's over!! My canned rat meat is finished!!!”
Before the canned tuna was registered at the Shop, they had hurriedly gathered for a meeting the moment the Shop announced that the next update would be food.
-Are you all going to sit there like mutes with your mouths stuffed with honey...? We need a countermeasure... Surely we need to come up with some kind of countermeasure!
-A countermeasure? Fuck, how are we supposed to come up with one! The System announced it's selling food! Actual food!
-Until now, what the System sold was bottled water from before the apocalypse. It's obvious it'll sell pre-apocalypse food this time too...
-B-But the food we're selling does have some demand...
-Demand? Canned rat meat slathered in chemicals... Do you think it can compete with the pre-apocalypse food the System sells? Our goods are defective garbage to begin with...!
Despite their lengthy meeting, they realized there was no suitable answer.
Food was as essential in this ruined world as water, but.
They had merely cornered the market so they could sell food at exorbitant prices.
They themselves knew better than anyone that it couldn't compare to food from before the apocalypse.
Among the merchants fattening themselves on others' hunger in a world where law and morality had collapsed, not one was anything but vile.
The Food Coalition was no different from Oasis in that regard.
They, too, manipulated prices by controlling supply, regardless of how many people died.
That was why they knew better than anyone what would happen to them the moment actual food was registered in the System.
In the end, they came up with one countermeasure.
‘Please, let it not be canned food...!’
‘Please, let it not be pet food...!’
‘Please, let it not be seaweed noodles...!’
‘Please, let it not be bug blocks...!’
Ironically, they were desperately praying to the System that would bring about their destruction.
Praying that it would not sell food that overlapped with the goods they monopolized and distributed.
And when the fateful moment arrived and they checked the gallery post, the fate of the canned-food merchant was sealed.
“Uuugh... What am I supposed to live on now...!!”
Whether Mr. Kim wept tears of blood or not, the pet-food merchant...
and the bug-block merchant wiped the cold sweat running down their backs and let out sighs of relief.
“Phewww... Fuck, that scared me.”
“Thank goodness. The System only touched canned food.”
Mr. Park, the feed distributor, said as he gulped down dirty water with trembling hands.
“I feel bad for Mr. Kim... But at least we're safe. Besides, think about it. Didn't it take a whole week and a half from when the System first put bottled water up for sale until this food update?”
“That's true...”
“They say the update cycle has sped up, but that means it'll still take more than a week for the next product to appear! For the time being, rice and noodles! And feed and bug blocks are safe!”
At those words, the seaweed-noodle merchant and the bug-block merchant nodded vigorously.
“Let's lower prices quickly and try selling them even at rock-bottom prices!”
“Let's do that...!”
They were vicious merchants, but their ability to size up and objectively assess the situation was dazzlingly fast.
‘That Shop only has 100 cans of tuna for now... It's obvious it'll inflate the stock to 700 in a few days, just like with Oadasu.’
‘Remember... Remember... Remember Oasis, whose entire guild vanished while trying to monopolize water...’
Going against the tide of the times—the System Shop—was suicide.
In that moment.
“Damn it... I can't go on like this...”
The canned-rat-meat merchant, who had been lying face down on the floor and crying, slowly raised his head.
A determined yet sinister light flashed in his tear-soaked eyes.
The other coalition leaders were so startled by that ominous air that they shot to their feet.
“D-Don't tell me you're planning to rebel against the System...!”
“Have you gone mad?! Have you forgotten how Oasis went down?! You'll die alone!”
“Don't drag the coalition into this!!”
Despite their protests, Mr. Kim calmly put on his outer coat and rose from his seat, as if he had made some decision.
A cold smile hung at the corner of his mouth, like a fighter preparing a massive counterattack.
“Y-You'll see...”
“...!!!”
“Even if the heavens collapse, there's always a way out, and there's always a way to survive... Just you wait...”
And so Mr. Kim left the roundtable with a grimly determined air.
****
The moment Mr. Kim left the roundtable, a post appeared in the gallery.
Title : Live <<< Mr. Kim of Canned Rat Meat is launching a counterattack lol
(More or less, a photo of Mr. Kim laying out a street stall and shouting while drenched in sweat. JPG)
Mr. Kim, who monopolized the distribution of canned rat meat
Started a massive counterattack (changing businesses) within ten minutes of confirming that canned tuna had been registered at the Shop lol
[Special Deal: Mini rat meat perfect for mixing with the oil left over from canned tuna!] << This crap;;
Surprisingly, the price is reasonable at 15 mana stones;;;
Please show it lots of support lol
LOL
ㄴ Oh no, LOL
ㄴ LOL
Damn, I never even dreamed he'd change businesses lol
ㄴ Mr. Kim's quick judgment lol
ㄴ A major decision (positive)
ㄴ LOL
"Pfft..."
At the same time, laughter burst from my mouth.