Episode 12
Episode 12: Building a Study Villa - Raising Funds (2)
“Ten percent?”
A 10% consignment fee was a figure unobtainable unless one was a VVIP customer of the Daesang Merchant Guild.
Of course, the place Gyeongjun was consigning to was not a store of the Daesang Merchant Guild, but a small carpenter’s workshop in the Starting Village.
Even so, it remained an incredible figure.
“Are you really sure about that? It’s good enough that I’d say yes right away.”
“Pay it no mind! In exchange, would it be all right if I took a look at the pieces before selling them? Seeing your work seems to rekindle an old passion of mine.”
“Of course. Just don’t touch them so much that they can’t be sold.”
“Don’t worry! If that happens, I’ll buy them myself with my own money.”
“Then that’s fine. Let’s proceed like that right away.”
[You have consigned Gyeongjun’s Sturdy and Durable Ashwood Chairs (Premium: 7, Normal: 12) to Carpenter.]
▶Sales Commission: 10%
▶Sales Period: Until sold out
Now all he had to do was wait for them to sell.
With the money earned that way, he planned to buy building materials and build a villa in some quiet place with good scenery.
A ‘Study Villa’ meant solely for studying.
Gyeongjun smiled faintly at the pleasant thought, then continued speaking.
“I have one more matter; is that all right?”
“Of course, by all means.”
“Do you happen to have a Construction Skill Book?”
To build the Study Villa, he had to learn the Construction skill.
Of course, Gyeongjun planned to learn it not by using a skill book, but by studying on his own.
* * *
Gyeongjun had entrusted the sale of chairs to Carpenter’s workshop to raise funds for the Study Villa.
Normally, when consigning items to NPCs or merchant players, people would just leave everything to them, trusting they would handle the sale well on their own.
But Gyeongjun was different.
Before going back to the library to study the Construction Skill Book, he had given Carpenter several instructions.
Carpenter had worn a somewhat doubtful expression upon hearing them, but soon agreed to follow them.
“Is this the carpenter’s workshop?”
A man entered, pushing aside the wooden door.
He was a beginner player who had just started World.
“Do you have any chairs?”
“Hmm? Chairs? It’s rare for a player to come buy chairs.”
“Well, my butt hurts too much just sitting on the ground.”
“Ah, you mean the Resting Passive?”
“Yes.”
Resting Passive.
It was a passive skill all players possessed, recovering 1% HP and MP per minute when sitting and resting anywhere.
However, trying to recover all HP with the Resting Passive was far too wasteful.
To think you had to sit and rest for a whole 100 minutes!
There was a saying that time is money, and since this was a game you paid money for, 100 minutes was inevitably too long.
‘But there is no other way to recover. Potions are expensive, and since this is the Starting Village, there is no healer, let alone healing skills…… Sigh, I’ll have to hurry up and level so I can leave this place.’
But it usually took beginner players two to three weeks to adapt to World and leave the Starting Village.
Unless they purchased plenty of potions with cash Riyan from the very beginning, the majority of beginners had no choice but to repeat hunting and resting.
“Don’t you have a chair I could just set up anywhere and sit on to rest?”
Having heard the man’s words, Carpenter began to turn his head.
It was to construct the situation exactly as Gyeongjun had instructed beforehand.
‘I’m sure he said not to immediately recommend the product in a situation like this, but to stimulate a sense of empathy first.’
“That’s right. Potions are expensive and have long cooldowns, so you have no choice but to use the Resting Passive. A chair for that…… a good idea. Is my guess correct?”
“Huh? Ah, well. I guess?”
The man replied casually.
His expression looked slightly pleased.
It was only natural to be happy when someone affirmed your thoughts, even if the other person was an NPC.
‘And again, Gyeongjun said players are weak to titles and praise of being the first……’
“For that reason, you are the first to visit our carpenter’s workshop. You are different from other players who only recklessly hunt and try to raise their levels.”
“Haha, really?”
The man’s expression brightened even more than before.
‘What, was I the only one who thought of this? Anyone could figure this out with a little thinking, so why didn’t they? Well, I may not be good at control, but I’m good at coming up with things like this. Hehe.’
It was not excessive praise, and because it was an NPC’s praise, the man was truly happy, believing himself to be smart.
Of course, this was all according to the scenario Gyeongjun had instructed Carpenter to perform.
“Now, come this way. This is something I don’t usually show to ordinary people…… but it should be fine for you.”
“Is it something good?”
‘Oh! Could it be a hidden piece? Jackpot!’
The man entered deep into the store, following Carpenter’s guidance with his fullest delusion.
There were 19 chairs there.
“This is something made by a fellow named Gyeongjun, a friend of mine. It is the real deal. I have been waiting for someone like you to appear.”
“Someone like me……?”
“First, take a look at what kind of item it is.”
The man checked the item with some doubt.
Then his doubt inevitably turned to astonishment.
[Gyeongjun’s Sturdy and Durable Ashwood Chair: 19]
▶Recovers 1.5% HP/MP per minute (Normal), 3% (Premium)
▶Item Grade: Normal (12), Premium (7)
“3% HP/MP recovery?! That means this is completely three times the Resting Passive!”
“No, not three times. If you add the Resting Passive’s 1%, it becomes 4% per minute. Four times.”
“Hwoah……!”
The man could not help but be surprised by the chair’s tremendous performance.
Items with special effects like this could usually only be obtained outside the Starting Village.
Moreover, they were expensive.
Because to imbue special effects, you had to use materials worthy of them.
“I’ll buy it! How much?!”
The man said he would buy it right away, excited.
But Carpenter rather played it slow.
Because Gyeongjun had told him that in this situation, showing composure would make the other party more anxious.
“Hmm, the thing is. Just as you were the first person like this, this chair is also something I have seen for the first time. So I haven’t properly set a price yet, have I?”
“Ugh……”
The man had a hunch.
That this NPC would demand an outrageous price.
And his hunch was correct.
“But if I were to give my thoughts, I think this should fetch at least 10 million Riyan at the very least.”
“T-ten million……!”
He had no way of paying the enormous sum of 10 million Riyan when he had been using the Resting Passive because he couldn’t afford potions.
‘With that money, I’d just buy potions! Who do they take me for, a sucker!’
“I don’t have that kind of money!”
The man tried to storm out of the shop immediately.
Carpenter did not particularly try to stop him.
He merely uttered a single word softly.
“Sigh…… I thought you were different from other players, but I suppose not. Just as foolish.”
“What? An NPC just said what……”
“Take a look at this first.”
Before the man could get angry, Carpenter quickly handed him something.
It was a piece of paper filled with numbers.
‘Potion vs. Chair Efficiency Calculation’
‘ㆍFor comparison, potions use Elixir (recovers 50% HP)’
‘ㆍCurrent Elixir price (auction house standard): 140,000 Riyan each’
‘ㆍAverage daily Elixir consumption (based on level 200 dealer, with healer): 17’
‘ㆍAverage daily potion cost: 2.38 million Riyan’
“This is……”
“My friend, a fellow named Gyeongjun, organized this table. According to his research, current level 200 players spend approximately 2.5 million Riyan per day just on potions.”
“Even with a healer, it costs this much……?”
“Of course, they earn accordingly. But there is no denying that a lot leaks out.”
“Hmm.”
‘If you convert that to cash, that’s $200 a day?’
The man, having forgotten his earlier anger, was gradually being swayed by Carpenter’s words.
Carpenter continued.
“But if you replace potion costs with this chair, you would recover roughly 10 million Riyan in about four days.”
“But this is based on level 200……”
“Don’t you know that Elixirs are typically used starting from level 100? Unless you are going to avoid dungeons entirely and only hunt weak monsters, if you are aiming higher, this is not ‘waste’ but a necessary ‘investment.’”
“Now that I hear it, that does make sense…… Urgh.”
The man’s heart was gradually wavering.
At this moment, he needed to press on and push through with momentum.
“This chair is not a consumable; once bought, you can use it forever. Moreover, unlike Elixirs that only recover HP, this recovers MP as well. Do you know what that means? Have you never thought that you could actually earn money?”
“Huh?!”
‘That’s right! I could save that much on potion costs!’
The man made an expression as if he had been struck hard on the head.
Carpenter decided to deliver the checkmate here.
He recited exactly what Gyeongjun had told him to say at the end.
“If you really can’t believe it, why don’t you log out once and check? Go see how much ordinary players spend on potions per day. For your reference, the user who conducted this research in advance, ‘Gyeongjun,’ is said to be Korean.”
“K-Korean……!”
‘Korean! The cold-blooded race that pursues nothing but extreme efficiency in games, a people without blood or tears!’
The American gamer knew the dignity of Korean players better than anyone else.
“I’ll be right back!”
“You do that. But you’d best hurry. That friend Gyeongjun, I believe he is considering just putting these up at the auction house.”
“Ugh……! Anyway, I’ll hurry back!”
A short while later.
It is said that the man, having logged back into the game, immediately emptied his bank account to convert all $850 (approximately 1 million won in cash) into Riyan.
And he purchased Gyeongjun’s chair.
For reference, this entire situation had unfolded according to the plan Gyeongjun had orchestrated.
* * *
[A ‘Gyeongjun’s Sturdy and Durable Ashwood Chair (Premium)’ has been sold at Carpenter’s workshop for 10,000,000 Riyan.]
[A ‘Gyeongjun’s Sturdy and Durable Ashwood Chair (Normal)’ has been sold at Carpenter’s workshop for 5,000,000 Riyan.]
[At Carpenter’s workshop……]
.
.
.
It was around the time Gyeongjun had almost finished studying architecture at the library.
“It’s a relief Carpenter followed my instructions properly. With this, all consigned items have been sold.”
117,000,000 Riyan after commission!
Converted to won, it was worth a whopping 12,000,000 won.
About three months had passed since Gyeongjun acquired the Seeker of Infinite Knowledge, so it was practically no different from earning 4,000,000 won per month!
And all he had done was study!
“With this, I could really make a living just making chairs?”
“No, of course not. I’m just saying. Anyway, making money like this with chairs is probably a first and last time, right?”
Gyeongjun knew.
That his chairs were ridiculously expensive.
Even if a merchant with a keen eye saw them, Gyeongjun’s chairs would have fetched a decent price, but never 10,000,000 Riyan.
Comparing them to Elixirs was wrong to begin with.
Elixirs were finished once consumed, whereas Gyeongjun’s chairs required sitting for at least 10 minutes.
Even so, Gyeongjun had predicted that even at this price, the first few would definitely sell.
“New items on the market always have bubbles. And when they have performance to match, even more so.”
Gyeongjun knew.
If there were no competing listings, the asking price becomes the value, and perception ultimately determines value.
Gyeongjun had merely considered the situation of the Starting Village, a somewhat plausible efficiency calculation table, and the psychology of people buying items to create a ‘positive perception.’
And the fact that he was a Korean gamer added credibility to it.
“Business has never been done with skill alone. If that were the case, the study of management would not exist.”
There is an example of this.
In the early smartphone market, the reason Seolha Group lost to Apeul was by no means due to inferior technology.
The sensibility unique to Apeul!
The image of the brand called Apeul!
What Seolha Group lost to Apeul was not technology, but ‘perception.’
‘Of course, Seolha Group, which consistently dug into technology alone, eventually surpassed Apeul later on, but the Apeul myth that Stephen Jaepseu built was truly remarkable.’
『The God of Planning, Stephen Jaepseu - Seolha Publishing』
Gyeongjun carefully placed the book, the greatest contributor to this fund-raising, back onto the library bookshelf.
What that meant was simple.
“It’s time to say goodbye to this beloved library too.”
Since he had raised the funds, it was time to build the Study Villa.