The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 175

“I’ll check the community. Stand by.”

“Yes, sir! Standing by!”

I spoke to Ha Yunha and went further inside, accessing the community to browse the listings.

[1,352,602,100 Gold]

The gold accumulated over five years amounted to 1.35 billion.

Checking my gold reserves, I scrolled down.

Then, I stopped at the rifle section.

The pistol I used in the first round was an item purchasable with the Lord Community’s gold.

Of course, I knew this in advance thanks to K’s slip of the tongue.

A pistol cost 5 million gold.

Moving up to a rifle cost as much as 10 million gold.

The reason why buying guns to build up forces wasn’t cost-effective was because of this ridiculously high price.

Frankly, if a rifle with unlimited ammo cost 10 million gold, I could understand to some extent, but 5.56mm bullets costing 500,000 gold each was absurdly expensive.

Similarly, a rifle with a 30-round magazine costing 25 million gold was also outrageous.

Back in the first round, when K handed me a pistol, he said it was a huge advantage, and now I understood what he meant.

‘But buying guns to form the core of a force is foolish.’

Guns were overwhelmingly expensive.

For a typical lord, buying even one gun was a difficult task.

In fact, in the ranking chart that ranked lords according to their gold holdings, the average amount of gold owned by lords was calculated to be 30 million.

In essence, unless you were at my level, the gold typically owned by a lord was around 30 million.

The ranking was anonymous, so only the gold amounts were displayed. Looking at these amounts, I was ranked first.

‘Second place has 550 million gold……’

I guessed it was the Metro faction.

They operate guns on a unit basis.

I don’t know how much they actually have, but operating guns on a unit basis means that the total gold they’ve used so far would easily exceed the amount I have.

There are several ways to acquire gold, but the most common are through monsters, dungeons, and exchanges through the market.

In my case, I only exchanged through the market, so my gold acquisition was relatively small.

If I had engaged in regular subjugation and conquest wars, I would have earned an overwhelmingly large amount of money.

Metro has actually waged numerous conquest wars, using ‘Hunters’ to collect gold indiscriminately in the western Seoul area.

But what I want to do isn’t simply to increase military strength.

Guns can be sufficiently replaced.

I didn’t think that one ogre now couldn’t beat one rifleman. No, not even a unit of riflemen.

If I had to choose between an ogre and a rifleman, I would definitely choose the ogre.

Currently, I have 512 ogres, so according to Man-gyeong’s unit classification, I own a total of 5 units.

‘Do they have more than 5 units of riflemen?’

Even with simple calculations, they wouldn’t have the resources to operate all 5 units as riflemen.

With 100 people in one unit, it would cost 2.5 billion gold to equip them with rifles. Moreover, considering supplies, it was an absolutely impossible figure.

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

They are probably operating in a grid pattern.

One rifleman with 10 escort swordsmen attached.

Or, there might be only one rifleman in a unit, with the remaining 90 being escort swordsmen.

No matter how great guns are, they are not stronger than artifact players and ogres.

‘Guns aren’t a big advantage.’

That’s what I thought from the beginning.

Guns can be very effective in early conquest wars, especially against ordinary players.

But no matter how I think about it.

‘This isn’t an early conquest war anymore……’

The meaning was simple and clear.

The Metro faction’s growth inflection point has been reached.

Through this 2.5 round, they will try to maintain their growth, which inevitably means a great war is approaching.

‘I have to prepare. Above all, national defense is a priority.’

I scrolled down again.

The Lord Community, in simple terms, allows you to purchase ‘modern items’ that can no longer be obtained in the destroyed world.

In other words, gold is ‘cash’ to buy these items.

The most representative of these are guns, and you can buy everything from light bulbs to heaters, oil, cars, batteries, and even cola.

A heater cost 1.5 million gold, so it was more profitable to buy my boiler manufacturing method for 800,000 gold. That’s why it sold like hotcakes until now.

Of course, at this point when even 1 gold is precious, there wouldn’t be any crazy lords buying cola for 500,000 gold from the community.

Items that sell well sell well, and items that don’t sell from beginning to end still only attract flies.

I looked at the items that sold well.

And among them, there was an item that caught my eye.

Cigarettes and alcohol.

Humans are creatures of pleasure.

You could even see them as monsters living for pleasure.

Even though the world has come to this, they still sought cigarettes and alcohol, and some wanderers with a lot of gold bought cigarettes with this gold.

Buying things like cola or snacks with gold is crazy, but cigarettes were different.

●[One Cigarette – 100,000 Gold]

[Remaining this quarter: 1,035] [Days remaining this quarter: 105]

●[One Pack of Cigarettes – 2,000,000 Gold]

[Remaining this quarter: 77] [Days remaining this quarter: 105]

●[One Carton of Cigarettes – 20,000,000 Gold]

[Remaining this quarter: 25] [Days remaining this quarter: 105]

●[One Bottle of Soju – 1,500,000 Gold]

[Remaining this quarter: 249] [Days remaining this quarter: 105]

‘As expected……’

Cigarettes were as insanely expensive as the insane prices of rifles.

One carton of cigarettes was worth the same as one rifle.

In fact, alcohol and cigarettes were exclusive resources for the most privileged people in this world.

The best elite wanderers.

The lord of a faction.

S-class players.

And monster hunters.

Even Jin Jaehee, in her past life, only obtained cigarettes with gold.

She earned over 1 million gold for killing one boss monster, so she had no problem even if she only caught them three or four times a month.

Of course, I felt a little sorry for her, but that was a foolish thing to do.

It was choosing pleasure over survival.

In fact, luxury goods are just that, luxuries, and even if I monopolized them, they wouldn’t have a strong enough deterrent to control everyone in the league.

But.

The original world was led by a small number of people.

What if I could suppress them?

More precisely, what if I could suppress their capital?

For the remaining 105 days of the quarter, all capital belonging to the league will start with me and end with me.

105 days?

It’s enough.

I can complete the plan within that time.

I have no intention of spreading my influence like an octopus in every direction.

I will grow my forces and my power even more powerfully than anyone can imagine.

This value will make me stand out even more, and this result will lead to ‘victory’.

[One Cigarette x1035]

[One Pack of Cigarettes x77]

[One Carton of Cigarettes x25]

[One Bottle of Soju x249]

[Purchase Complete!]

[-1,131,000,000]

[There are no more cigarettes or alcohol available for purchase this quarter.]

That’s how I bought all the cigarettes and soju [a Korean distilled beverage] that could be bought from the community.

Cornering the market.

Even after spending 1.1 billion, my remaining assets were still within the top 10.

It was an absurd amount of wealth.

But that’s how the wealth I’ve accumulated over the past 5 years shines.

At that moment, a portal opened in the opposite hallway.

Along with a familiar voice, baby angels popped out with boxes.

“Delivery’s here-! You damn beggars-!!!!”

“Heave-ho, heave-ho, heave-ho!”

“Heave-ho, heave-ho, heave-ho!”

Administrator F.

The baby angels that F brought were placing the boxes one by one in the warehouse.

F shouted with a sly smile.

“Hey-! You guys who are worse than cockroaches in the sewer! Haha. You’ve been up to some very interesting things?!?”

* * *

“One… Two-shiki… Seoksam… Neoguri… This is the last one. Ah-. My back hurts~. Doing delivery work for lower life forms is also a tough job. A tough job.”

F stretched out her back, but no one paid attention to her.

After spending 1.1 billion, quite a lot of cigarettes and alcohol were piled up in the warehouse.

Ha Yunha covered her mouth with her palm and exclaimed.

“D-Did you buy all of this?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t seem like much when you look at it like this.”

That was Kang Si-on’s assessment, but no matter how much wealth he accumulated, it always seemed insufficient to him.

The amount was so enormous that Jin Jaehee and Ha Yunha’s mouths dropped open.

The baby angels put down all the alcohol and cigarettes and returned to the portal.

F said to Kang Si-on.

“But you know~ if you buy all this, do you think all the smokers and drinkers in the league will stay still? They’ll be looking for you to tear you apart! You’ve dug your own grave! I guess lower beings only have lower thoughts in their heads?!”

Kang Si-on replied to F’s sarcasm.

“It’s impossible for them to find me.”

“Why? Why why??? Whhyyyy~???”

“That’s been proven over the past 5 years. The reserves of cigarettes and alcohol that I have are left here, and they haven’t even appeared on the market. If they could have found the missing quantities, these cigarettes and alcohol would have been stolen long ago. But that didn’t happen. They don’t know where the cigarettes are stored or how the alcohol is kept. From the start, Man-gyeong is excluded from suspicion. We originally have a lot of cigarettes and alcohol.”

“Hoo~ Hoo-ooo~~~???”

“And what I want isn’t just to stockpile cigarettes and alcohol. What I want is market chaos.”

“Heeeuuuuuuum~~~~???”

Kang Si-on glared at F, who was flying in a figure ‘8’ in the sky, and said.

“One of the reasons why the United States was overwhelmingly strong was because the currency they circulated, the ‘dollar,’ was the standard in the international market. The reason is simple. The oil companies controlled by the United States only sold oil in dollars. That resulted in U.S. securities affecting securities all over the world. If you control the market, you have a strong war deterrent. That’s the established theory. I’m going to use the same method.”

“Oh~???”

F stopped flying, pursed her lips, and exclaimed.

Kang Si-on finished speaking, looking at the enormous amount of cigarettes and alcohol piled up high enough to reach the ceiling of the room.

“At least in the league that takes place within the Korean Peninsula, you will have to use Man-gyeong’s currency, lighters, to buy cigarettes and alcohol. Not the gold you guys set.”

That’s how I take over the market.

If you eat the economy, things will work out smoothly afterward.

F sneered.

“Will it really go your way~~? Yo?”

“I’ll make it that way. Now get out. Don’t buzz around in front of me like a mosquito.”

“Uwaaaak-!!! A mosquito!!! You lowly being! How dare you to me?!?”

With those words, Kang Si-on came out of the vault.

F really followed him around annoyingly like a mosquito.

Looking at such F, Jin Jaehee felt an urge to cut her down.

Kang Si-on completely ignored F and said to Jin Jaehee.

“Ah, right. Your friend. Lee…… was it Ho-seung?”

“Ah. Yeah. It’s Ho-seung.”

“I heard he’s working at the hatchery now?”

“That’s right.”

Under Kang Si-on’s orders, Ha Yunha had brought in all sorts of animal-related experts belonging to the faction to create a hatchery.

Lee Ho-seung volunteered because he wanted to be of some help.

Kang Si-on took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to Jin Jaehee.

“He’s your friend. With that, he won’t have any problems living in the city.”

She carefully accepted it and looked back at him to ask what he meant.

A pack of cigarettes. Kang Si-on was taking care of her friend now.

He was endlessly generous to his people.

But Jin Jaehee refused.

“Ah……. No. No. It’s okay. He’ll live well on his own. He can also do military work.”

“Take it. Or I’ll throw it away.”

“……Ah. Okay. I understand.”

Jin Jaehee carefully accepted the pack of cigarettes he handed her.

Even then, F was still buzzing around.

* * *

Jin Jaehee headed to the hatchery.

There, a dozen people were carefully managing the hatchery.

Of course, Lee Ho-seung was the lowest-ranking among the managers.

Jaehee felt sorry for Ho-seung, who was diligently mopping the floor with a mop, but she was also relieved by his changed appearance.

Knock knock-.

She knocked even though the door was open.

The biggest manager among them was startled and shouted.

“Jae, Jae, Jae, Jae, Jaehee-ssi! Oh my! Have you come.”

He was a former zookeeper at Seoul Grand Park.

“We weren’t expecting a visit today, but what’s suddenly going on?”

“Ah. Just. I have a little business. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“Ah, yes. Yes. Please feel free to look around.”

The big manager smiled and turned away.

As soon as he turned around, he yelled at his subordinates and enthusiastically resumed work.

Jaehee looked at Ho-seung and gestured.

To come over.

Ho-seung made a sullen expression and scrubbed the mop even harder.

Jaehee frowned and approached him.

“I said come here.”

“You come here. I’m working. But why?”

“No, I was just wondering if you’re doing okay.”

Jaehee sat on a box nearby.

Then, Ho-seung was startled, grabbed her shoulder, and stood her up.

“Ah, I just cleaned that! Get up!”

“……You’re very picky.”

“Man-gyeong says labor is the most important thing, right? Didn’t you tell me that?”

“……That’s true.”

“So what is it?”

Jin Jaehee glanced at Lee Ho-seung.

He was wearing glasses, and seeing him working so hard that his glasses were fogging up, he seemed to have completely become a citizen of Man-gyeong.

Jin Jaehee took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and handed it to him.

“?!”

Lee Ho-seung’s eyes widened and he looked around.

“Wh-wh-wh-what?! Th-th-th-this, this fortune?”

It was such a fortune that Ho-seung couldn’t even bring himself to say it.

Jin Jaehee chuckled at his reaction.

“I almost died trying to hold back while coming all the way here. Hide it quickly before I smoke it all. You, I heard you live with dwarves and orcs in the labor dormitory? The living environment there must be very bad.”

“Ah, ah, no. It’s, it’s livable. But this…….”

“Buy a house or something. Can’t you buy an apartment with half a pack of cigarettes?”

“Mo, more than enough…….”

“Si-on gave it to me. To take care of you.”

“The Hero gave it……?”

“Yeah. The Hero gave it to me. I came to deliver this.”

Jin Jaehee patted Ho-seung on the shoulder and passed by.

Ho-seung stared blankly at her as she turned around and walked away.

He never knew that a pack of cigarettes held so much gratitude.

“Jaehee-ya!”

When Ho-seung called out, Jaehee only turned her head to look at him.

Ho-seung held up a pack of cigarettes and said.

“Thank you. For coming all the way to deliver it. You must be very busy too.”

“…….”

Jaehee silently organized her emotions at his words of gratitude and nodded.

“Yeah. Work hard. I’ll come see you again sometimes.”

“Yeah. Don’t come too often. It’s annoying.”

“You little rascal.”

Jin Jaehee smiled and left the hatchery.

……The heartwarming feeling was only temporary.

The top manager of the hatchery shouted.

“It’s, it’s, it’s broken-!!!!! The egg is broken!!!!”

At his words, Jin Jaehee immediately returned.

(To be continued in the next episode)