The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#063

 

The people who approached Sung-jun to participate in the on-site auction were not Awakened, but ordinary civilians.

 

Civilians who accompanied the raid not as combat members, but to participate in the auction held after defeating layer bosses.

 

Until now, the only civilians participating in raids were those who joined as porters to replace Awakened who disliked pulling heavy carts, but this raid specially permitted civilian participation for those who wished to join.

 

Of course, the standard of “civilian” was based on the distinction between Awakened and non-Awakened, and didn’t mean that the civilians participating in this raid were ordinary people.

 

Conglomerate officials who supplied massive amounts of disaster relief materials to the government, received vast amounts of credits in return, and joined the raid solely to participate in on-site auctions.

 

The true identity of these civilians who entered the dungeon following the attack team without any combat ability were a kind of “financiers” that Sung-jun had pressured the Japan Conquest Union to recruit.

 

“Is the first on-site auction finally starting?”

 

“I heard weapons dropped. If it’s a weapon dropped by the 61st layer boss of Osaka Dungeon, it can’t be an ordinary weapon, right? I’m incredibly excited.”

 

“No matter how much it costs, we’ll win that weapon. The chairman is also showing tremendous interest in this auction.”

 

“Oh? Your group’s financial situation is obvious, so do you think you can win the auction with the credits you’ve prepared?”

 

“We’ll have to compete to know who’s longer or shorter. We’ve staked everything on this auction. And if it’s a weapon, even if we invest all the credits we’ve prepared, it won’t be a losing business.”

 

Watching the civilians speak as if the successful bid was already confirmed, Ryusei frowned.

 

Then he spoke to the gathered men.

 

“As I mentioned before, raid clans also participate in on-site auctions. So wouldn’t it be better not to think you’ll definitely win the bid?”

 

“That could be true. But it’s a weapon, isn’t it? Raid clans would prefer strengthening existing forces over securing new ones, wouldn’t they?”

 

Equipment-type artifacts are broadly divided into two categories.

 

“Enhancement-type” artifacts that improve the abilities of Awakened who already have awakening abilities.

 

And “awakening-type” artifacts like the weapon-type artifact that dropped this time, which allow even civilians to gain completely new abilities.

 

However, awakening-type artifacts weren’t completely unusable by existing Awakened.

 

By abandoning their currently owned artifact and replacing it with a new one, they could acquire new awakening abilities instead of their existing ones.

 

However, when replacing awakening abilities this way, the previously developed awakening abilities would be lost, so the latter method couldn’t be considered very efficient.

 

“Of course it’s not an efficient method, but it’s not completely unusable either. If the ability of the newly dropped item is so overwhelming that it’s worth abandoning the original ability, replacing the artifact despite the reset isn’t a bad choice.”

 

“Then let’s appraise it right away. Depending on how powerful that sword is, the amount of credits we can pay will also change.”

 

There were broadly two methods for appraising items dropped in dungeons.

 

Simple appraisal and formal appraisal.

 

Simple appraisal refers to using a magnifying glass-shaped artifact to view the weapon’s status that normally only the owner can see, while formal appraisal means taking the item to the Adventurer Association to check the item’s abilities through professional appraisal equipment.

 

Of course, since appraisal conducted inside a dungeon couldn’t be formal appraisal, the appraisal before the auction referred to simple appraisal.

 

“Wouldn’t it be better to get formal appraisal to verify proper value?”

 

“That’s also the charm of on-site auctions. The true value of an item that might be missed by simple appraisal could be revealed through formal verification.”

 

“Conversely, couldn’t there be cases where an item that received tremendous value recognition through simple appraisal alone turns out to be not as good as expected after formal appraisal?”

 

“That’s why it’s gambling. Every business has risks. Auctions are venues that test the limits of risk each person can bear.”

 

While the auction participants were talking, a Black Spear clan member took out appraisal tools from his bag.

 

Then he examined the item on the ground and began writing something in his notebook.

 

After a brief moment, the clan member who had recorded all data obtainable through simple appraisal announced the results.

 

“I announce the simple appraisal results for the item dropped by the 61st layer boss of Osaka Dungeon. The name is ‘Soul Devourer’, with the unique ability ‘Soul Plunder’ that reduces enemy physical abilities by 1% with each attack, and after a maximum 20% reduction, grants the user abilities equal to the absorbed status for 1 minute.”

 

“Ooooh!! Soul Devourer!”

 

“With that level of ability, is it legendary grade? Even if it’s not at the level of raid clan elites’ signature techniques, it seems like a fairly high-tier ability.”

 

Though it says 1%, 1% of a layer boss’s status far transcends human capabilities.

 

If 20% of that was granted to the user, even an ordinary human could achieve the feat of crushing mountains with a greatsword.

 

If not for Sung-jun’s proposal, it would be a weapon that raid clans would openly covet.

 

Moreover, since the current appraisal result was simple appraisal, not formal appraisal, skills obtainable through growth hadn’t even been appraised.

 

It literally described level 1 skills obtainable immediately upon grasping the sword.

 

Considering that aspect, [Soul Devourer] could be seen as an item with powerful abilities ranking high even among legendary-grade items.

 

“A very good item came out for the first on-site auction item. Shall we start the auction then?”

 

When Sung-jun stepped forward, the eyes of the gathered people instantly changed.

 

Since they were all heirs or representatives of conglomerate groups, an atmosphere was created where they absolutely couldn’t miss this auction item.

 

Of course, since Sung-jun planned to defeat 19 more layer bosses, there would be many more opportunities, but the problem was that this dropped item was a “weapon” type item that rarely came out even from treasure chests.

 

‘Didn’t that man Sung-jun say earlier he wanted to conquer up to the 80th floor in this raid? Of course, actually catching 19 more layer bosses would be impossible, but if they conquer up to the 70th floor…’

 

‘The competition seems fierce, should I give up this bid and aim for boss drops every 5 floors? But there’s no guarantee weapons will definitely come out then…’

 

‘Sigh… If only I could make a phone call, I could ask the chairman and decide. If I miss this opportunity and no weapon-type items come out in subsequent conquests…’

 

‘That sword is exactly what the young master wanted. I will definitely win the bid and present it before him. Young master.’

 

As everyone’s thoughts crossed complexly, the auction began.

 

“Then we’ll start with a starting price of 1 billion credits. Considering this is the first auction of this raid, it’s a somewhat high starting price, but given that the dropped item type is a weapon type, I don’t think it’s an excessively low price. Let’s start the auction now. Those who wish to win Soul Devourer for 1 billion credits, please raise your hands.”

 

“1 billion!”

 

“1.2 billion!”

 

“1.5 billion credits!”

 

“3 billion credits!”

 

Though the winning bid was rising rapidly, Sung-jun watched the participants with an indifferent expression.

 

He had originally threatened the association not to even accept applications from those holding less than 100 billion credits.

 

As if knowing Sung-jun’s thoughts, the auction price that started at 1 billion credits was instantly surpassing 25 billion credits.

 

“30 billion credits!”

 

‘This crazy bastard. Using 1/3 of the participation fee from the first auction?’

 

‘Was weapon type that valuable? Then I should also…’

 

“35 billion credits!!!”

 

At this point, those who began getting excited were not the auction participants but the clan members who participated in the raid.

 

According to regulations that general participants had no distribution rights, all amounts from this auction would be distributed to clan members who participated in the raid in 1/n format.

 

Of course, saying 1/n was simplified, as actual differential distribution based on contribution would occur, but it was still a large amount nonetheless.

 

A massive amount they had never received distribution of in any raid they’d participated in before.

 

Moreover, this was just the first on-site auction being held.

 

This meant that similar amounts might be distributed for each boss they defeat going forward.

 

“50 billion credits!!!”

 

“Nothing above 50 billion? If not, I’ll close it. 51 billion one! 51 billion two! 51 billion three! Sold! Soul Devourer has been won by Mr. Maruyama Ryuto of Maruyama Group for 50 billion credits!”

 

“Wow!!!”

 

“Congratulations!!!”

 

The clan members who participated in the raid sincerely rejoiced and applauded.

 

That was because 47 billion credits, excluding the raid clan’s 30% auction commission from the 50 billion credit winning bid, would be evenly distributed among raid participants.

 

Moreover, this was just the first auction being held.

 

The clan members who participated in the raid immediately realized this raid was a golden opportunity to sit on a money cushion.

 

‘Not bad.’

 

Kurosaki Ryusei, clan master of Black Spear, felt deep satisfaction with the hotter-than-expected atmosphere of the on-site auction.

 

When he first heard Sung-jun’s proposal, he felt strong resistance to giving up the raid clan’s exclusive item rights, but after actually getting his hands on the huge sum of 50 billion credits, he thought accepting Sung-jun’s proposal was the right choice.

 

Moreover, the 50 billion credits obtained now wasn’t money with simple 50 billion credit value.

 

As long as boss subjugation occurred in dungeons other than Osaka Dungeon, the amount of credits held would be the fastest means to acquire desired items.

 

Furthermore, the most satisfying point was Sung-jun’s proposal to solo subjugate bosses up to the 70th layer in exchange for conquering up to the 80th layer in this raid.

 

Along with the declaration to give up distribution rights to all items dropped during the solo subjugation process.

 

Having literally gained the opportunity to sit on a “money cushion,” he moved to the next layer with his clan members as soon as the auction ended.

 

To defeat even more bosses and proceed with the next on-site auction while the auction fever hadn’t cooled yet.

 

Behind the attack team moving to the next layer, general participants who had failed to win bids in the recent on-site auction were grinding their teeth as they followed the attack team.

 

‘We’ll definitely win the next one.’

 

‘The real deal is bosses that appear every 5 layers. If weapons come out there, we might be able to get mythic-grade weapons if we’re lucky. Let’s watch a bit more and make others spend money first.’

 

The aesthetics of auctions wasn’t simply about winning desired items at desired prices.

 

Even for items they had no intention of bidding on, inducing opponents to win at higher prices to empty their wallets beforehand was also one of auction strategies.

 

People determined to definitely win the next item.

 

People trying to make others consume their credits beforehand to ensure they win when their desired items appear.

 

People aiming for big hits that could reverse everything at once rather than wasting energy on useless items.

 

As everyone’s aspirations and schemes mixed chaotically, Osaka Dungeon’s attack team was vigorously advancing toward the 62nd layer boss.

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