Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 572
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 3 Episode 42
16. The Auction (1)
Reina’s bow, Damian.
A weapon chosen by the Sanctuary as the perfect instrument of war, a bow that carries the story of her childhood.
The fact that she named the bow that would accompany her for life after Damian revealed her affection for him, but conversely, it also showed how much she cherished the bow that bore the name of someone she loved so dearly.
In other words, according to the lore, this bow was something Reina treasured like her own life, something she doted upon endlessly.
Almond found himself somewhat bewildered.
‘What are they doing?’
Wouldn’t the Dehaep fans want to have something with such symbolic meaning?
“It’s supposedly the first-ever real-sized SSS-tier quality merchandise.”
“Big bro, win it for us!”
“Get it for us!”
They were asking Almond to bring home Damian from the auction.
“It’s better if Almond gets it anyway. We don’t stand a chance.”
“Almond is the rightful owner of Damian!”
Since they couldn’t have it themselves, they seemed to be passing the torch to Almond, the only one they could acknowledge.
“How can you stop someone with 10,000 points from choosing~~”
“If only the ceiling would break….”
Almond was the owner of 10,000 points.
If he participated in the Damian auction, naturally no one would be able to stop him.
But did they really need to cheer him on like this?
Was this right?
‘Hmm….’
Almond tilted his head in confusion.
The Dehaep fans weren’t the type to let go of Reina so easily, were they?
-Dehaep fans lolol what is this
-Are these guys okay? Did they all give up?
-?? Why are they doing this lolol
Among the viewers, some sensed something was off.
Ding.
Someone who seemed to understand these interests well chimed in.
[Hogaeng donated 1,000 won.]
[They’re scheming to drive up the price]
Drive up the price?
What good would it do to raise the price of something they couldn’t even buy themselves?
-Huh?
-So what are they doing
-Oh! The Dehaep fans must be thinking about other Reina merchandise!
-Their other products??
-Ah. They’re aiming to raise the value of Reina as a character lolol wow lolol
Based on the chat, I could infer that they were hoping for a big spender like me to drive up Damian’s price.
Ding.
[Hogaeng donated 1,000 won.]
[Damian’s winning bid increases → Reina’s value increases → Other Reina merchandise prices increase]
When Damian’s winning bid goes up, Reina’s value is judged to have risen, which means the resale prices of Reina’s other merchandise also increase.
‘What? They were being nice because of this?’
I wondered why the Reina fans were being so friendly. In the end, it was all about money.
My expression became somewhat deflated.
‘Well, good is good, I suppose.’
I felt a bit used, but I didn’t really mind.
After all, I wanted the bow, and they wanted me to have it.
What could be wrong with that? Our interests simply aligned perfectly. We weren’t exploiting or taking advantage of each other.
I decided to participate in the auction without hesitation.
I was going to do it anyway.
“Yes, I’ll give it a try.”
Woooow.
Everyone seemed to be cheering.
“Tsk….”
But there were other stakeholders here.
* * *
Make Almond buy Damian? And drive up the price?
“That’s unacceptable!”
Bang!
One of the Reina fans slammed the table and stood up.
That’s right.
Not all of the Reina fans agreed with this plan.
There was an opposing faction.
This opposition group called themselves fundamentalists.
“You secularist bastards… daring to hand over the first real SSS-rank Damian to that popular outsider just for money? Isn’t that grounds for expulsion from the association?”
“Exactly! The association is named after Damian, and you’re handing Damian away. It doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t…!”
“They’re not Reina fans, they’re Reina merchants.”
Money or whatever—they didn’t want to lose Reina’s heart(?) to me, and they certainly didn’t want to lose the real merchandise too.
But sometimes reality is crueler than the most brutal novel.
“But is there a way?”
“Of all people, that bastard has ten thousand points….”
It had become harder to prevent me from taking Reina’s merchandise.
Because I had overwhelmingly claimed 1st place in G-Star points, no one had the capital to compete with me.
Even if 2nd through 5th place combined their points, they still fell short.
In the auction, I was essentially king.
“Sigh. The only way would have been if I didn’t know Damian was coming.”
“Those guys won’t stay quiet. They’ll run off and blab about it.”
The only real countermeasure was to keep them from knowing Damian would appear at all. But that was nothing more than wishful thinking—like putting a bell on a cat’s neck.
If even one person opens their mouth, wouldn’t it spread immediately?
And these cunning, worldly people aren’t just individuals—they move collectively for profit.
There was no way to stop this.
Sure enough, they’re already running off to spread the word.
Almond’s participation in the auction was almost a fated inevitability.
“We need a strategy.”
Rather, what mattered was devising a strategy to outbid him at the auction.
“Does such a thing even exist? Against ten million points?”
But this approach too seemed hopeless against the massive wall of ten million points…
“…There’s a way. There always is.”
Someone was about to propose a method.
At this, some might ask.
Wait, an auction means the item goes to whoever bids highest. How could there possibly be a way to beat someone with more money? they’d say.
“Of course, you can never beat money directly.”
Dehaep, who had proposed the strategy, stated firmly.
“So we need to make sure the opponent runs out of money. We disperse their points.”
The strategy was this: scatter the opponent’s points.
“First, we prevent them from putting all their eggs in one basket.”
* * *
One of Dehaep’s fundamentalists approaches Almond and strikes up a conversation.
“Almond. Damian is certainly impressive, but there are plenty of other products that are quite good too.”
-??
-What’s this now
-Sounds like a door-to-door salesman lol
-These Dehaep guys are so clingy
Dehaep introduces Almond to other products besides Damian.
“Look, there’s also a limited edition succubus skin figure with Miho as the model… Ah, since she’s an acquaintance, this might be embarrassing. Then… Do you remember the Sayul combination?”
They’re preventing Almond from pouring all his points into Damian.
Given how many points he possesses, scattering them slightly wouldn’t make much difference anyway.
But this seemed to be the first phase of their strategy.
“Sayul?”
“Sana and Yul roamed the jungle together and kept going mid lane together, remember?”
“Oh…!”
A combination where Yul, the embodiment of close combat but boasting paper-thin durability, fights alongside Sana, a ranged damage dealer and healer.
This long-dead combination that was popular ages ago became quite the hot topic when Taco and Almond showcased it recently in the Nant match.
Of course, even without that particular incident, this combination was once so notorious that it’s now being released as a collaboration figure like this.
“We’ve created these two as a collaboration figure for the first time. It’s the Sayul combination concept. This is genuinely rare—Pollis almost never makes figures with two characters together….”
Apparently, if you were even slightly fond of Ril, there were more than one or two things that would make your eyes spin.
Since the main sponsor this time was Ril’s RPG game Legend Tale, the production company had put in considerable effort.
‘Not bad.’
Almond figured that since he had plenty of points anyway, it was worth buying everything.
Then—
“Huh? You still haven’t gone in? What are you doing there? It’s already started?”
Juhyeok calls out to Almond.
He’s surprised to see the guy who said he’d go in first is still at the entrance.
“Ah. Just dealing with fans for a moment.”
“Ah, I see. Hello. I’m the manager.”
Juhyeok smiles and greets Dehaep, approaching them.
“…Ah, hello.”
“Oh… Yes, yes.”
The Dehaep members, feeling threatened by his unexpectedly massive frame, unconsciously stepped back. They had something to feel guilty about.
“We need to get to the auction….”
“Ah, ah! Yes! Please go! We need to get to the auction too! Hahaha!”
“Yes, then….”
Hmm?
Juhyeok senses something is off.
* * *
The path leading into the auction house.
“What?”
Juhyeok hears something rather intriguing from me.
“The Dehaep told you what would be good to buy at the auction? That Damian is coming up too?”
“Yeah. They’re surprisingly helpful. The viewers want to drive up Damian’s price, apparently.”
“Hmm….”
Juhyeok tilts his head as if puzzled.
“But they told you about everything else too?”
“Yeah. But those people seemed different from the ones in front.”
“Different people….”
They were Dehaep, but different ones.
Juhyeok felt like he understood what was happening.
At least it was clear they were trying to disperse Almond’s assets.
“Anyway, let’s go. We have plenty of ammunition, so what’s there to worry about? Just do what you want. Once we sit down there, we’re good.”
With so much wealth at our disposal, a little slip wouldn’t matter.
Juhyeok says this and settles comfortably into a seat in the auction house.
“Here.”
Flick.
I hand him the paddle—the one with a screen used for participating in auctions.
“Huh? You’re not doing it?”
“Right. I’ve never done an auction before.”
Here we go with the walnut substitute again lol
Quick, accurate walnut lol
-The man who gracefully yields to none but Hodu!
-???: Agent?! This is part of the plan too, right!?
“Ah… okay.”
Juhyeok examines the paddle front and back as he asks.
“Do you know what you want to get?”
“For now, just Damian. Reina’s bow came out as a limited edition, apparently. For the rest, let’s just bid on whatever looks good.”
“Okay. With this much firepower, we’ll sweep everything.”
Juhyeok already had an auction strategy in mind after hearing about the Dehaep just now.
If I handle it directly, it’ll be much smoother.
* * *
The auction house was already buzzing with fervent energy.
Having arrived a bit late, the first item had already passed.
“Come on, come on! The second item!”
What’s coming up now is the second item.
“It’s a statue of Explosion Maniac Terry. Quite high quality, and while it’s not a limited edition, it is the first edition that will be sold going forward. Considering today’s distribution ratio, we’ll start the bidding at 100 points.”
The distribution ratio is a rather important concept in this points system.
It literally refers to the numerical value of how many points each person received and how wide the wealth gap is.
This G-Star had an unprecedentedly low distribution ratio. It was because 1st Place’s points were far too high.
When the distribution ratio is set low, G-Star lowers the overall market prices.
It’s a consideration so that people who obtained fewer points can still participate.
‘But that consideration actually becomes the opposite.’
In fact, because of such consideration, those who have more become far more advantaged.
They have more, yet prices are cheap.
‘It’s advantageous in regular sales too, but especially in auctions, it’s even more advantageous.’
Beyond this price-setting based on distribution ratio, G-Star’s auction environment has another particularly unique aspect.
Namely, they’ve publicly revealed the top 10 individuals with the highest capital here.
When this happens, psychologically, if you find yourself competing against these top 10, you just immediately give up, and as a result, people with more money can bid with even less.
‘If Almond gets involved, almost everyone will have to back down.’
Almond especially possessed overwhelming capital here.
He was the most feared person in this auction house.
“I’m participating.”
“Huh? This one? Explosion Maniac?”
Sanghyeon questioned why he would buy that of all things.
But Juhyeok raised his paddle.
Snap!
“Ah. Bidder 14! 300! 300 points! Do we have 310? Do we have 310~?”
There would be no one to oppose him. After all, it was obvious that anyone who tried would face bloodshed.
“Wow. Is that Almond?”
“Bidder 14 is Almond. Remember that well.”
“Geez….”
“Crazy Almond came here?”
Knowing full well that Almond possessed 10,000 points, it was natural that no one dared to challenge him.
So this auction item passes easily.
‘That’s how it should be originally.’
That would be how it should normally go.
But then—
“Ah! Bidder 92! 400!? Raising 100 points all at once!”
Juhyeok turns to look behind him.
A man had indeed raised 100 points.
“Alright, 400! Do we have 410?”
Reality and theory were indeed worlds apart.
Here existed forces willing to burn through their own resources without hesitation, all to strip Almond of his points.
‘Caught perfectly.’
A sneer played at the corner of Juhyeok’s lips as he turned his gaze forward again.
When a gap emerged between theory and reality, it meant the theory was flawed.
A well-constructed theory could account for even the variables of reality.
Snap!
He raised his paddle once more.
“Ah! Number 14! A raise to 410!?”
An bizarre bidding war erupted over a mere explosion-loving statue.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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