Chapter 381
「World Awakened a.s.sociation
“Get ready to rebuild, Awakened!”
…Exchange is Officially Launched Today!
The World Awakened a.s.sociation (WAA) has announced the launch of ‘I-Trade,’ a commerce platform for the trading of supernatural objects called ‘items’ and ‘insignias’ among the Awakened. The platform will be launched on July 4th at 10 P.M. (Korea Standard Time) and will be available through the ‘Exchange I’ operated by the WAA secretariat.
According to Liam Vanon, the Secretary General of the WAA, the platform will allow for free real-time purchases and sales of these items through the use of virtual electronic wallets. This will provide a secure and convenient means for Awakened to obtain and sell supernatural products.
In addition, he explained that this system is among the a.s.sociation’s supportive policies, which enables the Awakened to view ‘rebuilding’ not as a burden but rather as an opportunity for active transactions with cooperative partners. He also issued a stern warning, stating that the a.s.sociation would take the highest level of disciplinary action against any forces engaging in excessive purchases.
Deposits and withdrawals for virtual electronic wallets can be made through SOB and partner banks under Jonathan Investment Finance Group, the global financial group. Also, transactions are limited to companies that hold partners.h.i.+ps with the a.s.sociation.
In order to successfully settle the transaction system Exchange I, ▲ the a.s.sociation plans to ensure equal access to information by making the system that reveals information obtained by Exchange I available to all relevant parties ▲ the a.s.sociation has established a disciplinary system to address obstructive activities, including ‘refusal to transfer’ ▲ the a.s.sociation has taken responsibility for organizing and guaranteeing all matters related to the delivery of goods.」
***
One building of the headquarters, which used to be Jeonil Resort, was empty for guests and the Awakened visiting the headquarters. It was already crowded with visitors with ID cards around their necks when I arrived. They seemed to have been dispatched from agents or private military companies to check transaction information in real-time on the spot.
In other words, they were elites of the groups that were in the high rank in the global business community. Therefore, restaurants and cafes had turned into their conference places just by exchanging business cards with each other. Their table was stacked with transaction lists while the food was cooling down.
Of course, food wouldn’t be able to catch their attention now.
Millions and billions of dollars were moving through their mouths.
Upon arriving at the suite on the top floor, Yeon-Hee greeted me while lying in bed with her stomach resting on it and her laptop open in front of her. The entire bed sheet was filled with the Kciphos’s fur.
I tried to tell her what happened with Doom Caso, but she looked discouraged by the numbers spinning in front of her. Lee Tae-Han had given me an update on the situation about a week after its opening, so I had a rough idea of what was going on.
Even though I didn’t ask if she won or lost money, her expression made it obvious that she lost money at a glance. She had an embarra.s.sed smile on her face and soon turned her body to face the ceiling. Then, she rubbed her eyes as she was exhausted from looking at the monitor.
「Total balance : ＄92,000,000 」
「Products in possession: Helmet of Swirling Darkness B (Trading in process), Training Hammer of Ronsius’s Magic Tower E (Trading in process), Reinforcement B (Waiting for acquisition), Reinforcement B (Waiting for acquisition), Reinforcement B (Waiting for acquisition), Reinforcement B (Waiting for acquisition), Reinforcement B (Waiting for acquisition), Reinforcement B (Waiting for acquisition) 」
I said after checking her monitor, “But you have close to one hundred million dollars, don’t you?”
She grumbled, “If I had left it alone, it would have been close to five hundred million by now. I thought it wouldn’t go up, but it suddenly soared the day before yesterday. Where is this money coming from?”
I shook my head. “You should have waited until the market price was formed or waited for me.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as Yeon-Hee was being attacked online despite being able to easily seduce anyone in person.
As I had mentioned earlier, the past week was all about the process of forming market prices. The Awakened weren’t leading the market right now. Instead, the capital forces that employed them had been steadily inflating the size of the market, so none of the Awakened had acc.u.mulated such wealth.
Therefore, the market price formed as of today could be summarized as follows.
Cla.s.s F, $20,000
Cla.s.s E, $60,000
Cla.s.s D, $200,000
Cla.s.s C, $1.5 million
Cla.s.s B, $12 million
Cla.s.s A, $150 million
Most of the Awakened were in the platinum section, so the cost to fully arm one of them was around twelve million dollars, which translated to twelve billion won in Korean currency. Likewise, having an Awakened in the master section get fully armed with A-cla.s.s equipment was the same as having 1.2 trillion won. Considering that one multi-purpose stealth bomber was three trillion won, the Awakened had a better value.
Although it was probable that the current market price would experience only minor fluctuations, as the profit model for outer s.p.a.ce drew closer to completion, the value of the items would inevitably rise.
「The transaction has been completed. (Sales)」
「Training Hammer of Ronsius’s Magic Tower (Item E): ＄64,300」
「Total balance: ＄92,064,300」
A notification alarm rang one more time on Yeon-Hee’s laptop.
「The selected product has been registered.」
「Name: Reinforcement
Category: Insignia
Cla.s.s: A
Selling price: $ 60,000,000
Seller: Alex Brown
* Precautions for Transaction
1. The next transaction can arrive only after the receipt of the product is confirmed by insignia.
2. The seller is prohibited from using the balance of the purchase amount until the acquisition has been finalized.
3. Please pay special attention to the fact that insignia trading is very different from item trading.」
Unfortunately, trading insignias was more inconvenient, but it couldn’t be helped. In the case of items, after the transaction was complete, the a.s.sociation branch of each country a.s.sumed responsibility until the buyer was released, and ultimately delivered the item to the person who bought it.
The reason for using this system was to increase the size of the transactions. Rather than encouraging speculation, it was to increase the value of the Awakened. Prices had to be high to ensure their profits in the future. Also, if there were artifacts in outer s.p.a.ce, then the group of Awakened who succeeded in occupying the area of those artifacts deserved substantial wealth.
Without the involvement of capital forces, the transaction would only be limited to between the Awakened, so the current prices of the items would have been different. After all, most of the initial transactions came from those who didn’t want to enter the Cat Food Warehouse or outer s.p.a.ce.
Now, those who had been just watching the market situation started to join, so the volume of products was exploding crazily.
Rebuilding was a process of disposing of unnecessary items and finding ones that were more suitable and beneficial for an Awakened. Profit was the process of disposing of spoils acquired at outer s.p.a.ce. Trading was the process of making profits by using market fluctuations of the products. Such processes had been combined, so the trading system was successfully settling down.
Of course, if an individual or a group attempted to dominate the market, they would be strictly punished. If any of the club’s members had that kind of greed, then their families would be exterminated.
Appropriate purchases and sales would be tolerated for the revitalization of the market.
***
I returned to the mainland not only to check on the trading system with my own eyes, but also to partic.i.p.ate in the trading. No S-cla.s.s items had been posted since the market had opened.
The Cat Food Warehouse was filled with items, so I was paying attention to insignias instead. Insignias were a rarity, particularly those of higher level, which were even scarcer. That was natural because most people opted for items or skills rather than insignias as insignias disappeared after using them. Furthermore, those who had chosen to get insignias from rewards had exhausted them whenever their lives were in danger.
Nevertheless, the current market didn’t consider the rarity of insignias yet, so the price wasn’t as high as I had expected. Moreover, items were being traded continuously, but insignias were being shunned. Those who intended to buy insignias were people who would actually use them, but most of them could only use low-cla.s.s as they weren’t in the higher sections.
For instance, the following A-cla.s.s insignia would never be used by ordinary Awakened unless they were healers.
「Name: The Land of Sacred Healing
Category: Insignia
Cla.s.s: A
Selling price: $ 45,000,000
Seller: Lucy」
However, if someone had an insignia like this when the Spirit King of Fire had appeared in the duchy, the sacrifices could have been minimized.
「The transaction has been completed.」
There was a reason why insignias were one-shot, as the power contained within that particular one was enormous in comparison to its value of just forty-five million dollars.
I continued shopping as I wanted to fill all my vacancies with ten insignias. Also, I was thinking of studying the movement of Mana in the insignia if possible.
I suddenly interjected, “It’s still just an a.s.sumption.”
Yeon-Hee looked away from her monitor to me. Although the number of products she could purchase was limited like me, she was enjoying the situation in which items she had never heard of were pouring out.
I continued, “Insignias must be formed of Mana. That means we can supply and demand Mana.”
Yeon-Hee knew what I meant. She had witnessed how far I could handle Mana when I dismantled my skills and concentrated Mana within them into Hanuman’s Tail. That was how I created Odin’s Ethereal Animal.
What if I operated Mana in the insignias with the same method?
The problem was no one knew how much Mana was contained in insignias. In addition, it was difficult to obtain insignias due to their scarcity, and it required considerable manpower and time to study.
「The transaction has been completed. (Purchase)」
「Teleportation (Insignia B): $ 6,000,000」
Besides the supply and demand of Mana, I wanted to check the blueprint in the insignias.
As I was concluding my shopping, I pondered over which a.s.sociation employee would be the ideal candidate to deliver the insignias on my behalf. At that time, Yeon-Hee let out a short cry. She was looking at the same thing as me.
「 Announcement: The auction of ‘Xi w.a.n.gmu"s Ten Thousand Year Old Spider Egg’ has begun.」
「Name: Xi w.a.n.gmu"s Ten Thousand-Year-Old Spider Egg
Category: Item
Cla.s.s: S
Selling price: $ 1,000,000,000
Seller: SOW Co., Ltd
Bidding period: Until July 11th 16:00」
「 7.11 / 12:01 ― $ 1,100,000,000」
「 7.11 / 12:01 ― $ 1,150,000,000」
「 7.11 / 12:01 ― $ 1,155,000,000」
「 7.11 / 12:01 ― $ 1,300,000,000」
Prices were skyrocketing as soon as it was announced.
“Isn’t it the main item of the Eighth Evil?”
The trading system had a fixed-price system, but there were exceptions on S-cla.s.s items. But the first item that started the auction was Xi w.a.n.gmu’s Ten Thousand-Year-Old Spider… I wondered who had this.
I expected a series of extraordinary items would appear on the market, but this was quite surprising.
「 7.11 / 12:01 ― $ 1,500,000,000」
I had to get it no matter what. No matter which guys dared show off their money in front of me, this was mine.