Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 465

About 30 minutes before the first-ever real estate sale in Barbarian history began, Ainar brought good news that made me smile.

“130 people gathered?”

“Yes! They’re all clamoring to know when we’re going to start selling!”

Far more people were waiting than I had anticipated.

I quickly asked Rick, the Minister of Urban Development for the Barbarian tribe.

“Rick, what was the maximum number of plots we could sell?”

“73 plots.”

One plot of land is 400 square meters.

That’s 121 pyeong [a Korean unit of area, approximately 3.3 square meters], so…

‘The total area available for sale today is 8,833 pyeong.’

Thinking about Rick going around surveying alone, I could see how much effort he had put in.

“But… is it really okay to calculate it like this? One plot of land…”

“Don’t worry. Everyone will find this much easier.”

If the numbers get too big, there’s a high chance the Barbarians will get confused.

Right, it’s easier to conceptualize one plot of land as a 20m by 20m square.

Of course, I plan to create and sell smaller and larger plots later to give people more options, but…

200 square meters is half a plot.

600 square meters is one and a half plots.

Isn’t this much simpler?

“Anyway, let’s sell about 40 plots this time.”

“…What? You’re not going to sell them all?”

“It’s not the right time yet.”

I prepared as much land as possible just in case, but if I sell it all now, my future plans will be disrupted.

“…Understood.”

Rick, who had been working hard for today, looked a little dejected, but there was nothing he could do.

The key to real estate is future value.

“Alright, then it’s time to go.”

After readjusting the lottery box to match the numbers, I headed to the location.

The forest near the outer city gate, which was convenient for travel to and from the city.

“Oh, it’s the tribal chief!”

“Hurry up and sell! I’ve brought enough money!”

The warriors who spotted me started talking excitedly.

I acknowledged their greetings and scanned the warriors’ equipment levels.

‘Average of about 5 layers [referring to the quality or number of layers of armor].’

At this level, it’s safe to say they’re in the upper-middle ranks of the tribe.

Well, only warriors like them would be able to buy land that I priced at 2 million stones without any trouble. Barbarians don’t have a habit of saving.

According to Ainar, some warriors even sold their precious weapons to buy land today?

“Welcome, warriors who haven’t missed this opportunity!”

I went up to the platform Ainar had prepared and started with an introduction.

“Do you see those four yellow flags over there?”

“We see them!”

“The land within those four flags is the land we’re selling today.”

I needed to explain the concept first.

There might be some people who came just to watch.

I needed to give them a little incentive.

“How is it, isn’t it quite spacious? Even with over a hundred people here, there’s still room!”

“Uh… is it?”

“Think about the inn rooms you stay in! They’re cramped even with just one bed, but here, you could easily fit 100 beds!”

Of course, inn rooms aren’t just bare floors, and they have walls and roofs, but…

That’s not something to bring up here.

“Th, that’s true? It does seem spacious when I think about it like that!”

Good.

“Yes, it’s a large plot of land! You can build a house here, and you can even set up a training ground in the yard. Ah! Since this is private land, you can use your abilities freely, which you can’t do in the city!”

“…Private land?”

“It means it’s completely your own land!”

“…Ooh!”

The warriors exclaimed, thinking it was a fancy-sounding term.

“Ah, by the way, in the city, it would cost hundreds of millions of stones to buy land of this size. And you can’t even buy it unless you’re a noble!”

I boldly skipped the part about it costing hundreds of millions only in the capital, Karnon, and continued to fuel the warriors’ desire to buy with similar stories for a while.

And when I judged that the time was right.

“Ahem!”

I cleared my throat and got to the main point.

“Anyway, we’re selling forty plots of land today. All of them are the same size as this place!”

“…Forty plots? There are over a hundred of us!”

The Barbarians, who had been called out since morning and had their desire to buy stoked by my speech, expressed their dissatisfaction with the limited supply.

But the more they did, the more confident I became.

“Don’t complain! Land is so precious that we barely managed to prepare forty plots! Don’t buy it if you don’t want to!”

Limited supply means the seller has the advantage.

The warriors shut their mouths, and I continued as planned.

“From now on, each of you will come out in order and draw a lot! The people who draw a black lot will get the chance to buy land!”

After dividing the 130 warriors into six groups, I started the lottery, and soon the warriors’ joys and sorrows began to diverge.

“Bl, black! It’s black!!”

“Wh, white! This is unfair! It’s because I drew later! Let me draw again!!”

No matter how much they complained, the results wouldn’t change.

Immediately after the drawing, the winning Barbarians were handed over to Rick Anderson, a member of the administrative corps, and purchased the land with cash.

“Hey, human…? I can’t read!”

“It’s okay. Isn’t it the land that the tribal chief sold? Don’t worry.”

“…Right?”

The land document stated that inheritance was only possible for Barbarians, and if no heir was designated, ownership would be transferred to the tribe, but…

That was also a minor detail.

“Okay, shall we stamp it?”

The Barbarians smiled brightly and put ink on their hands and stamped it on the paper.

And…

‘Selling barren land in the boonies for 80 million stones…’

So far, an average of about 10 million stones has been spent on each coming-of-age ceremony, so this is enough money to hold nine more.

“Hey! What are you doing! Hurry up and get out of there, that’s my private land! Get out now!”

“S, sorry! I just wanted to take a look…”

“Tsk, just for a moment. Understand? Try not to even breathe.”

“Understood!!”

Soon, the warriors who had bought land began to happily set up tents on their own land, and the warriors who had not bought land watched with envious eyes.

“Vykkan, son of Shriv! Would you sell me your land if I give you 100,000 more stones?”

“Hmm, 100,000 stones…?”

The situation I had expected was already unfolding.

Well, the deal didn’t go through in the end.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can sell it at that price.”

“Is that so… I understand. Come find me if you change your mind later.”

The warrior who offered a premium of 100,000 stones or more backed down easily, perhaps feeling it was a bit much.

That was not a problem either.

“Ainar.”

As I quietly murmured, Ainar nodded with a determined look and silently slipped away.

I watched the spot where he had left for a moment and then let out a heavy sigh.

“Hoo…”

Now, there’s no stopping it.

***

The day after the forty plots of land were sold out, a rumor swept through the holy land.

“Did you hear? Vykkan, son of Shriv, sold the land he bought yesterday for 3 million stones!”

“He made 1 million stones for free in less than a day!”

“What?! Is that true! 1 million stones is enough to buy a lightinium armor if you add a little more! The one the tribal chief likes to wear!”

The land that was sold for 2 million stones had gained half its value in just one day.

Of course, it wasn’t a normal transaction.

“Isn’t he out of his mind? The tribal chief’s words make sense, but still. To pay such a high price…?”

“So who is it? Who’s the guy who bought the land?”

The buyer’s name was Seyrik, the second son of Vytol.

A member of the ‘Comrades Association,’ a private organization within the tribe created by the second elder who started the backpack revolution.

“…I heard he made a lot of money by stealing backpacks before, but I didn’t know he had that much money!”

I had heard from Caron that he was particularly tight-lipped, so I had been secretly funding him from behind.

There was only one reason for doing so.

“But… maybe the tribal chief’s words are true…”

No matter how much I talked, not all of my tribesmen would place a high value on land.

“Ah, you mean the part about it being too expensive to buy later!”

“Yes! They said they’re going to sell land again this month, so I’m thinking of participating this time.”

“Hmm, I thought you said you didn’t need land. Did you change your mind?”

“I still don’t need land! But think about it. If you just buy it and sell it later, you get a good weapon for free! You should buy some too!”

“Well… I think it’s better to just save that money and buy a weapon! You can use a weapon to fight enemies, but land isn’t like that!”

Well, there were still many warriors who were skeptical, but it was only a matter of time.

2 million was sold for 3.5 million in one day.

3.5 million was sold for 3.7 million the next day, and 3.7 million was sold for 4 million the day after that.

All by the hands of our ‘comrades’.

“…Wh, what kind of money is that to buy land! Are, are you all crazy!!”

In just three days, the holy land began to stir.

“Why won’t you sell! I’m offering 4 million stones!”

Some Barbarians were quick to try and buy land, but no landowners were willing to sell.

Well, the landowners weren’t stupid either.

“I can sell it for more tomorrow, why would I sell it now?”

“Th, that’s…!!”

In fact, the land was sold for 4 million stones the next day, and the warriors who saw this had fire in their eyes.

It wasn’t because they were particularly foolish.

Even modern people who had learned about economics were swept up in the frenzy and lost their reason.

“4.3 million! I’ll buy it for 4.3 million!!”

It was a change that had happened in just four days.

The market was now so active that there was no need for the ‘comrades’ to step in. However, I instructed Caron to continue buying until all 50 million stones that I had given to the Comrades Association were used up.

It was two-thirds of the net profit, but I didn’t feel any regret.

‘The next land I sell will sell out even if I sell it for 6 million.’

Why did the price go up?

Just make something up.

It’s natural that the land inside is more expensive than the land that was sold before.

They’ll try to buy it no matter how much it costs.

Once you buy it, money is duplicated?

‘Okay, it seems like I don’t need to pay much more attention to this…’

Just as I was about to wrap things up and leave the tribal chief’s tent, Rick Anderson, who was in charge of real estate, spoke to me.

“Isn’t this strange?”

“What do you mean?”

“The land prices. In my opinion, there’s no reason for the land prices to go up. The holy land is already large, isn’t it? Mathematically speaking, there’s enough land for every member to have one plot and still have land left over.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“Yes. The warriors who are buying land now will all regret it in the end. How about you stop them, Baron?”

“Well, why would I stop them if they want to buy it?”

“That’s… true.”

“Anyway, I’m going now!”

Whew, how long has it been since I got off work?

I’m going to get an earful from Amelia and Erwen again.

Thinking that, I ran home in one go, but surprisingly, there were no complaints.

“Emily, Erwen! I’m ho–”

“Read this.”

Amelia tossed a torn envelope at me.

“It’s a letter from Mozlan.”

“…Huh?”

Feeling an unknown sense of unease, I read the letter.

As Mozlan was like the police for the nobles, the formal content was unnecessarily long, but in the end, it was enough to read just three lines.

[…This is a formal request to the Mozlan Dispute Committee by the Alminus County, the sponsoring family of the Toothed Fang Clan, acting as an agent…]

Who reported me.

[…Accordingly, we are requesting half of the value of the essence of the Chaos Lord Liakis, which is 2,135,000,000 stones…]

What they want from me.

And…

[…We request that Baron Bjorn Yandel visit the Mozlan headquarters within 15 days from the date of receipt of this letter.]

Until when I have to go.

Shred, shred.

After reading the contents, I tore them all up and swallowed them.

‘I never thought I’d receive a lawsuit here, something I’ve never received in my original world.’

It’s ironic, but I wasn’t particularly scared.

It’s already been four years since I came here.

‘Count Alminus, huh…’

I haven’t lost yet.

At least not to someone who has a lot to lose.