The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 58

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

#058

 

What Sung-jun demanded from Shindo Ayaka in exchange for installing the base camp were two main things.

 

One was a set of base camp facilities with the same configuration as what they had brought to this camp.

 

The other was the highest grade magic stones that could be obtained when eliminating layer bosses.

 

Since the currently conquered layer was the 55th floor, if the lowest floor of the Tokyo Dungeon was the 100th floor, Sung-jun’s demand was for 45 ultra-high grade magic stones.

 

“Do you mean you want to take all the highest grade magic stones that will come out of the Tokyo Dungeon from now on?”

 

“Is that not acceptable?”

 

“Even if I allowed it, the Japanese Government wouldn’t permit it…”

 

It wasn’t unreasonable for Shindo Ayaka to say that.

 

In the current situation where the maritime oil supply lines had completely collapsed, securing magic stones that could replace existing fossil fuels was a matter of life and death for the Japanese Government.

 

However, Sung-jun believed that this issue could also be solved with quantity instead of quality.

 

“As you know, the installation of a proper base camp will naturally lead Awakened to the deep layers.”

 

“That’s probably true.”

 

“And all the Awakened who come deep into the dungeon will want to use the base camp. The Guidance of the Goddess Clan doesn’t plan to provide that for free, do you? You’re probably thinking of providing all services for a fee. And that price will be incomparable to using the same facilities on the surface.”

 

“That said, we can’t raise prices indefinitely. As you know, the convenience we provide is literally a matter of choice, not necessity, if one can endure the inconvenience.”

 

If the pricing was appropriate, Awakened would gladly pay the price and use the base camp’s convenience facilities.

 

But what if using the bathhouse once required spending all the profits earned on that layer?

 

What if eating cooked food instead of preserved food required paying hundreds or thousands of times the price compared to the surface?

 

That was where the upper limit for base camp usage pricing lay.

 

No matter how much they wanted to raise prices, they couldn’t set prices higher than the profits that buyers could earn.

 

If using the base camp resulted in lower profits than before despite moving to the deep layers, no one would come down to the deep layers – that was Shindo Ayaka’s argument.

 

“So while usage prices can be set higher than on the surface, they can’t be set excessively high. If prices are set higher than an acceptable level, it literally becomes a matter of bathing once instead of three times, eating once instead of ten times.”

 

In the end, it was impossible to secure the ultra-high grade magic stones dropped by layer bosses just by receiving base camp usage fees in magic stones.

 

After hearing this, Sung-jun pondered for a moment and then spoke to Shindo Ayaka.

 

“Then what if we control elements that are necessary rather than optional?”

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

“As you said, using the base camp isn’t really essential for Awakened. Of course, Awakened who want to go down and operate at depths of the 50th floor or more would want to use the base camp a few times in between, but if prices rise too much, they’d try to control profits by adjusting the frequency. But food is different, isn’t it?”

 

“Food?”

 

“As the number of Awakened increases, the number and area of harvest sites that can be secured will also increase, and naturally the amount of harvest gathered from harvest sites to the collection point at the camp will greatly increase.”

 

“That’s probably true.”

 

“And the Japanese Government has no choice but to ‘necessarily’ buy those harvests.”

 

“Are you saying you want to charge a commission on the dungeon-produced harvests that the government is desperately trying to secure for the starving citizens?”

 

Shindo Ayaka’s expression changed.

 

Interpreting what Sung-jun said, it was essentially the same as threatening the Japanese Government by gripping the lifeline of the starving Japanese citizens.

 

That was an act tantamount to putting the cart before the horse.

 

“The reason I so strongly requested the installation of a base camp was to increase the number of Awakened entering the deep layers to secure more harvest sites. If the number of Awakened operating in the dungeon increases, the number of civilians who can work at harvest sites will naturally increase, and food production will naturally increase as well.”

 

“That would be the case.”

 

“Then you understand why I have no choice but to refuse that proposal.”

 

“That’s not the case.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because an increase in the number of Awakened operating in the dungeon means an increase in the supply of not only harvests but also magic stones.”

 

“Ah…!”

 

The deeper you go into the layers, the more powerful monsters appear.

 

Naturally, the quality and quantity of magic stones you can obtain also increase.

 

That was exactly what Sung-jun was pointing out.

 

Since the economic scale itself would grow, it would be possible to secure more magic stones without the government struggling to secure the highest grade magic stones like now.

 

“The ‘compensation’ I want to ask of you, Ms. Shindo, is simple. Raid clans have priority bidding rights on magic artifacts dropped when conquering layer bosses, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then I’d like you to purchase magic stones with those bidding rights and hand them over to me.”

 

“With priority bidding rights… magic stones?”

 

It was a method she had never thought of.

 

The most valuable reward obtainable from dungeons was naturally not magic stones but the magic artifacts dropped by layer bosses.

 

Raid clans employed Awakened and civilians at fixed amounts, and the costs involved were covered by selling the magic artifacts dropped by bosses at auction.

 

While the existing method involved handing over the magic stones dropped by bosses to the government and calculating the magic power inside as value to obtain additional profits, Sung-jun’s proposed method was for raid clans to give up priority rights to magic artifacts and conduct instant auctions targeting raid participants.

 

And to divide those profits and distribute them as 1/n profits to the Awakened who participated in that raid.

 

Shindo Ayaka began to show interest in this completely new method that had never existed before.

 

“Please explain more.”

 

“First, if we change the system to this method, there are several benefits. Previously, even if you participated in raids, the profits for sub-clans or externally affiliated Awakened who weren’t raid clans were always fixed, right?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“But if we proceed with the new method, you can aim for a windfall depending on luck. If you can sell items at tremendous prices in instant auctions conducted inside the dungeon, the profits you can earn from that raid will greatly increase.”

 

What if a powerful item appeared that could change the fate of a guild?

 

Then all Awakened who participated in the raid would jump into the auction even if they had to empty their entire fortune.

 

Originally, it would be the raid clan with priority rights to dropped items who would possess such powerful items, and items acquired that way would never be released to the market.

 

“Until now, all legendary-grade and above items dropped by layer bosses have been secured by existing raid clans. Even items they don’t need are unconditionally secured and stored in warehouses. Isn’t the treasure trove owned by the Guidance of the Goddess Clan created for exactly that reason?”

 

Artifacts that are ambiguous for personal use but they don’t want to sell either.

 

Or artifacts stored in warehouses thinking they might be used someday, even if they’re ambiguous to use right now.

 

In the end, the items that raid clans put up for auction could only be ambiguous items that seemed ‘okay to sell.’

 

“But if we use the new method, the story changes. Whether it’s an auction conducted inside the dungeon, or putting artifacts won in internal auctions back up at external auction houses, in any case, one auction is guaranteed for all artifacts.”

 

“But what if the dropped item is something our clan absolutely needs?”

 

“Even in that case, there’s no problem. You probably have a lot of money anyway, so you can directly jump into the auction.”

 

“But there’s an upper limit to the profits that can be earned from the base camp…”

 

“That’s when participants receive compensation at fixed amounts. If raids proceed with the new method, all profits from auctions would be taken by everyone as 1/n, wouldn’t they? They might not know when going in, but by the time they come out, everyone would be rich.”

 

“…We could raise prices higher.”

 

“That’s good too, but the real advantage of this system isn’t there. The real strength of this system is that it can raise the value of credits, which were almost useless before, to more than 10 times their previous value.”

 

“The value of credits?”

 

“What are credits obtained by exchanging magic stones used for?”

 

“They’re used to buy food, purchase consumables, and replace equipment. The biggest demand would be equipment. Good quality equipment for Awakened is quite expensive.”

 

“Is that really ‘good’ quality?”

 

Of course it wasn’t.

 

In the first place, legendary-grade and above artifacts obtainable from dungeons could only be obtained by clearing layer bosses, and all artifacts obtained that way were monopolized by raid clans with raid authority.

 

Therefore, there was a limit to the grade of equipment available in the market.

 

Equipment made by processing materials from monsters obtained in dungeons, or decent equipment occasionally obtained from treasure chests in dungeons.

 

But what if you could buy legendary-grade equipment obtained by defeating layer bosses through instant auctions as Sung-jun suggested?

 

And what if participation rights were given fairly to all personnel who participated in layer boss subjugation, not just raid clans?

 

Shindo Ayaka imagined what would happen if she participated in layer boss subjugation in the Osaka Dungeon and jumped into the auction.

 

‘Since I don’t know which boss in which dungeon will drop good items, I’d need to secure tremendously many credits to guarantee acquisition.’

 

The biggest advantage of the method Sung-jun mentioned was exactly there.

 

The need to accumulate large amounts of credits to definitely secure items they needed, and for that purpose, items that existing raid clans had stored in treasure troves would be released to the auction market.

 

It was definitely not a bad method.

 

Perhaps items in the treasure troves of other raid clans like Unbreakable Shield and Black Spear, which were competing clans of Goddess’s Guidance, might also end up at auction houses to secure credits.

 

‘Interesting. Giving up the right to secure items actually provides opportunities to secure items.’

 

However, while feeling interested in Sung-jun’s proposal, Shindo Ayaka couldn’t rashly accept Sung-jun’s proposal.

 

To realize the method Sung-jun proposed, other raid clans would also need to give up priority rights to items dropped by layer bosses in the same way.

 

When Shindo Ayaka realized this and looked at Sung-jun, Sung-jun smiled and nodded.

 

“Of course, I’ll make the same proposal to other raid clans besides this place. In exchange for installing base camps like this one in their dungeons, I’ll ask them to receive magic stones and conduct instant auctions.”

 

“If that happens, the value of credits will certainly become much higher than now, as you said. But what I’m worried about is whether ordinary civilians’ lives might become harder when that happens.

 

If we follow your method, the profits of Awakened participating in raids will greatly increase, and everyone will want to participate in raids and share auction profits rather than safe work like securing harvest sites.”

 

Food production in dungeons is impossible without Awakened protecting civilians working at harvest sites.

 

Shindo Ayaka was worried about the damage to civilians that would result from this.

 

“Certainly, that’s also a reasonable point. If everyone applies for raids aiming for windfalls, the number of Awakened who want to earn money by working diligently will definitely decrease. But that problem can also be solved without difficulty.”

 

“How so?”

 

“The authority to select personnel who will participate in the raid is given only to the Raid Clan.”

 

With a smile on his lips, Sung-jun said.

 

“We can charge an entrance fee.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————