Season 3: Chapter 42: Auction (1)
Demian, Raina's bow, was a fitting weapon for the battlefield. It was chosen from the sanctuary and a bow that contained her childhood story. The fact that she named her lifelong bow Demian confirmed her affection for him. It also conversely showed how much she cherished the bow named after her beloved Demian. This bow was an object that Raina cherished as much as her life.
Almond was a bit perplexed.
'Why is this happening?'
Wouldn't others want such a symbolic item?
"So far, there has never been real-sized SSS grade goods."
"Bro, win for me!"
"Buy it!"
They were asking Almond to get Demian at the auction.
"It would be better if Almond takes it. We're doomed anyway."
"Almond is the right person for Demian!"
If they couldn't have it themselves, they seemed to be passing the baton to Almond, whom they had no choice but to acknowledge.
"How can you stop someone chosen by 10,000 points?"
"The ceiling would have to break..."
Almond owned 10,000 points. Naturally, no one could stop him if he participated in the Demian auction.
Were they cheering him on just for that? Was this right?
'Hmm...'
Almond cocked his head.
They weren't the type to easily let go of Raina, were they?
— These guys, what's up?
— Are they okay? Have they given up?
— ?? What's going on lol
Among the viewers, some felt that it was strange.
Ding.
Someone who seemed well-informed about this spoke up.
[Scammed has donated 1,000 won.]
[They’re planning to raise the price through manipulation.]
They wanted to raise the price of something they couldn’t even buy?
— Huh?
— So what are they doing?
— It must be because of the other Raina merchandise!
— The other products??
— Ah. They’re aiming to increase the value of Raina as a character lol wow
The chat roughly inferred that these individuals hoped that a big spender like Almond would enter and raise the price of Demian.
Ding.
[Scammed has donated 1,000 won.]
[Rise in Demian's bidding price → Increase in Raina's value → Rise in price of other Raina related merchandise]
If Demian's price rose, it would be considered an increase in Raina's value, which would mean the resale price of other Raina goods would also increase.
'What? Was this why they were nice?'
The reason why they were acting friendly was all because of money.
Almond looked somewhat deflated.
'Well, good is still good.'
Although he felt a bit deceived, he didn't care too much. After all, Almond also wanted the bow and they wanted him to have it.
What harm could there be for either party? Their interests just perfectly aligned. It wasn't about using and exploiting each other.
He gladly agreed to participate in the auction. After all, he planned to do so anyway.
"Yes, I'll participate."
“Wow.”
It seemed like everyone was cheering.
"Tch..."
There were other stakeholders here as well.
***
They wanted Almond to buy Demian and thereby raise the price of all Raina merchandise.
"That's nonsense!"
Thump!
One of the members slammed the table and stood up.
Indeed, not everyone in the group agreed with this opinion. There were dissenters. This opposing faction called themselves the fundamentalists.
"Secularists... daring to pass the first real SSS grade Demian to that guy because of money? Isn't that grounds for expulsion from the association?"
"That's right! The association's name is Demian. To pass on Demian... it doesn't make sense. It just doesn't!"
"They aren’t Raina fans, but Raina merchants."
Money or not, these members did not want to lose Raina's heart to Almond, let alone physical goods. However, reality was sometimes crueler than the cruelest novel.
"But is there a way?"
"That guy has ten thousand points..."
The situation had become tougher for them to not lose Raina's goods to Almond. With Almond overwhelmingly leading in G-Star points, there was no one with the capital to match him. Even the combined forces of those ranked second to fifth had fewer points. Almond was effectively the king at the auction.
"Ah. It would have been better if he hadn't known Demian was coming out."
"Do you think they would just sit there? They rushed to tell him."
Originally, the only prevention strategy was to keep it a secret that Demian was coming out for auction. That was merely a pie-in-the-sky idea like trying to bell the cat. Wouldn't it be immediately known if even one person spoke out?
The cunning secularists moved as a group for their own benefit, but stopping this was impossible.
As expected, some individuals had already rushed to inform Almond. His participation in the auction seemed almost like a destined inevitability.
"We need a strategy."
It was crucial to devise a strategy that could surpass him in the auction.
"Does such a thing exist? In front of ten thousand points?"
The enormous barrier of ten thousand points was too daunting.
"... There is a way. As always."
Someone was about to suggest a method. To this, someone would obviously question. An auction gave the item to the one who bid the highest. Was there really a way to beat someone with the most money?
"Of course, you can't beat money outright," the member who suggested the strategy stated decisively. "So you have to make sure the opponent doesn't have the money. You have to disperse their money."
The strategy was to decrease the opponent's points.
"First, prevent him from putting all his eggs in one basket."
***
One of the fundamentalists from the group approached Almond and spoke, "Mr. Almond, Demian is Demian, but there are a lot of good items coming out before that."
— ??
— What's with this guy?
— He sounds like a door to door salesman lol
— These guys are really clingy
The member introduced Almond to other products besides Demian.
"Look, there's a limited edition succubus skin figure modeled after Miho... Ah, since you know her, this might be embarrassing. Then... you remember the Sa-Yul combination, right?"
The plan was to prevent Almond from pouring all his money into Demian. Although he had so many points that diversifying seemed a little meaningless, yet this appeared to be the primary solution.
"The Sa-Yul combo?"
“You roamed the jungle and middle lane as the Sa-Na and Yul combination?!”
"Ah...!"
It was the combination with Yul, the embodiment of close combat with paper-thin health, and Sana, the long-range healer. The long-dead combination had become quite a topic when Tako and Almond showcased it recently at the tournament. Of course, even without that event, this combination had once been so infamous that it now came out as a collaborative figure.
"They've made them into a collaborative figure for the first time. It's the Sa-Yul combination concept. Such things are really rare from Police. Figures featuring two characters together are hardly ever made..."
It seemed that there were more than a few items that could turn a fan's head. The main sponsor this time was LIL's RPG game, Legend Tale. The producers had put a lot of effort into it.
'Not bad.'
Almond thought he might as well buy everything since he had plenty of points. Then—
"Eh? You haven't gone in yet? What are you doing there? It's already started?" Ju-Hyeok called Almond.
He was surprised to see that Almond was still at the entrance when he said he was going in earlier.
"Ah. Just a moment… because of the fans."
"Ah, I see. Hello, I’m the manager," Ju-Hyeok approached the members with a smile and greeted them.
"… Ah, hello."
"Ah... yes, yes."
Feeling intimidated by his much larger and unexpected size, the members unwittingly stepped back. They probably felt guilty.
"We need to go to the auction…."
"Ah, ah! Yes! Go ahead! We need to go to the auction too! Hahaha!"
"Yes, then…"
‘Hmm?’
Ju-Hyeok felt that something was off.
***
They went on their way to the auction hall.
"What?"
Ju-Hyeok heard something quite curious from Sang-Hyeon.
"The members told you about good things to buy at the auction? Including the fact that Demian is coming out?"
"Yeah, they were surprisingly friendly. The viewers say it's because they want to raise the price of Demian."
"Hmm…"
Ju-Hyeok tilted his head, puzzled.
"But they told you about the other items too."
"Yeah, but those people seemed a bit different from the others in front."
"Different people…"
They were the same members, but there was something different about them. Ju-Hyeok felt like he knew what was going on. At least, it was clear they were trying to diversify Almond's assets.
"Anyway, let's go. We have plenty of ammunition, so why worry? Just do as you like. Once you sit there, that's it."
A little slip wouldn't matter since Almond had so many points.
Ju-Hyeok sat down in the auction hall with an easy mind.
"Here."
Click.
Sang-Hyeon handed him a signboard with a screen on it, which was used for participating in the auction.
"Huh? Aren't you going to do it?"
"I've never participated in an auction before."
— The delegate, Walnut, is taking charge again lol
— Quick and accurate Walnut lol
— A man who graciously yields as long as it's Walnut!
— ??? Agent?! This is also part of the plan!?
"Ah... Yes." Ju-Hyeok examined the front and back of the signboard and asked, "Have you decided what you want?"
"For now, just Demian. It's Raina’s bow and it's limited edition. Besides that, let's just bid on anything that looks good."
"Okay. With this much firepower, we'll sweep everything."
Ju-Hyeok had already devised an auction strategy after hearing about the members. It would be much easier to do it himself.
***
The atmosphere in the auction hall was already heated. They had arrived a bit late, so the first item had already passed.
"Come on, come on! The second item!"
The second item was now coming up.
"It's the statue of the demolition expert Terry. It's of considerable quality. It's not a limited edition, but it is the first edition that will be sold. Considering today's distribution rate, we will start at 100 points."
The distribution rate was quite an important concept in this point system. It literally indicated how many points had gone to whom and how big the wealth gap was.
This year's G-Star had an exceptionally low distribution rate because the points for first place were too high. When the distribution rate was low, G-Star lowered the overall market price. This was a consideration to allow those with fewer points to at least participate.
'That's hardly a consideration.'
Because of such consideration, those who had more were much more advantaged. They had a lot of points and the prices were low.
'It's advantageous in regular sales and especially so in auctions.'
Besides the prices according to this distribution rate, the auction environment at G-Star had another unique aspect. The top ten with the highest capital were publicly revealed here. This led to a psychological effect where if one ended up competing with these ten, they just gave up right away, making it possible for the wealthy to bid with less money.
'If Almond intervenes, almost everyone will have to back down.'
Especially since Almond was the one with the most overwhelming capital here. He was the most feared in this auction hall.
"Going to participate."
"Eh? This one? The demolition expert?"
Sang-Hyeon questioned why he would buy that item.
Ju-Hyeok lifted the signboard.
Click!
"Ah. Number 14! 300! He bids 300! Do we have 310? Do we have 310~?"
No one would oppose him. It was clear that anyone who tried would be at a disadvantage.
"Wow. Is that Almond?"
"Number 14 is Almond. Remember that."
"This..."
"Insane, Almond is bidding?"
Knowing full well that Almond had ten thousand points, it was natural that no one dared to challenge him. This auction item would easily go to him.
'That’s how it should go.'
That was supposed to be the natural course, but—
"Ah! Number 92! 400!? He raises by 100 at once!"
Ju-Hyeok turned around. Indeed, some man had raised the bid by 100.
"Alright~ 400 it is! Do we have 410?"
Reality and theory were different. Here, forces were willing to risk their own lives to jump in and drain Almond's points.
'Caught.'
A smirk appeared on Ju-Hyeok's lips as he looked forward again.
If there was a disparity between theory and reality, it meant the theory was flawed. A well-crafted theory even accounted for the variables of reality.
Click!
He lifted the signboard again.
"Aaaaah! Number 14! Raises to 410!?"
A bizarre race began over a mere statue of a demolition expert.