A room with multiple monitors linked up like a stock trading floor,
the computer room of the Sanare Clan was packed with people.
"How's it going?"
Though the clan had many administrative staff, those who were not Admiti couldn't use the OnTower Auction House, so all clan members had been mobilized out of necessity.
It was a situation where everyone was connected via PC or phone, doing nothing but staring at the auction house.
One person shook their head.
"There's nothing. Even though it feels like we're scooping up all the Star Dust in the world right now..."
"How much have we gathered so far?"
"15 grams. We've already spent about 2 billion just to buy this much."
"Ah... here, 3 grams, 3 grams just went up!"
"Bid immediately if you see it! How much?"
"7... 70,000 points..."
"Those crazy bastards!"
"Fuck, they know we're desperate... trying to bleed us dry with this opportunity..."
Idanbi bit her lip. Anger was boiling up.
They had urgently needed Star Dust and put out a massive advertisement, causing the price to skyrocket.
Sellers kept appearing demanding ever higher prices, even though they were selling minuscule amounts.
But even those were only a handful. If anyone had even a little, they would never miss this chance for the price explosion.
Proof that it was truly a rare material.
'At this rate, when will we gather 100 grams...'
Clan Leader Idanbi was burning with anxiety inside.
Money was money, but the problem was time.
It was already the third day since withdrawing from the Tower, and since yesterday, the remaining raid team members had also withdrawn to rest and regroup.
Time was flowing away helplessly, and the Tower raid deadline was approaching with every passing moment.
The 60th floor and above, especially the 65th floor and above, were expected to be high difficulty, so they had rushed through the lower floors at breakneck speed to buy time,
only to be tripped up from an unexpected place.
When would they buy and gather all the materials, entrust it for repairs to restore the sword, and re-enter the Tower?
If by any chance they failed to complete the raid in time and a Tower Break occurred, it would be a catastrophe.
A 70-floor Tower. If the undefeated demons of the upper floors poured out, modern weaponry would stand no chance.
The government had also jumped in to help secure Star Dust, easily able to imagine the terrible damage.
"Wow!"
One person staring at the monitors shouted, throwing their arm up.
"What! What is it!"
"It's up. Star Dust!"
"How many grams? How much!?"
"Holy crap, the starting bid is 1 million points..."
"Crazy..."
"But the amount is huge. What is this... it's not in grams...? K, kilograms!"
"What?"
Idanbi and the clan members rushed over and peeked from behind the screen.
"Good lord, 1 kilogram for 1 million points..."
"Wait, then isn't that insanely cheap...?"
"It's cheap!"
"Hallelujah!"
"We absolutely have to win this bid!"
"Contact the finance team, pull together as much clan funds as possible! Prepare for the auction!"
The clan grew frenzied.
But a clan member who had been staring intently at the screen as if nailed to it spoke.
"Wait... this isn't Star Dust."
"What? It's not Star Dust...?"
At those words, everyone who had been excited stiffened.
"Look closely. It's not Star Dust, it's Star Light."
"...Good lord."
* * *
As a result, the Sanare Guild safely won the bid for 1kg of Star Light at 1 million points.
They had hurriedly gathered money and waited while preparing for the auction,
but the 1 million points set as the 'auction starting price' suddenly changed to 'buyout price'.
It seemed likely to be the seller's consideration.
The Sanare Guild, which had been watching only that item, didn't miss the opportunity and completed the immediate purchase, wondering what stroke of luck this was.
1 kilogram of Star Light for 10 billion. No matter how you looked at it, it was a steal.
[Star's Song] was immediately sent to a smithy capable of repairs, and the Admiti of the Blacksmith class was shocked.
Because it was the first time seeing Star Light in its mineral form.
In fact, it was the same for the Sanare Clan.
"So it's not Star Dust... I've handled equipment items until now, but this is the first time seeing Star Light as a raw mineral."
"Haha, it's the same for us. If we melt the Star Light and proceed with the repair, would the required amount decrease somewhat?"
"No need to even say it. With such high-purity Star Light, 50 grams is more than enough."
The Sanare Clan gave another 50 grams as a repair fee and received the remaining 900 grams back.
Even on this joyous day when [Star's Song] was entering full-scale repairs, Clan Leader Seoligeom Idanbi couldn't be fully happy and was obsessing over something.
A-rank Admiti clan member Iseojun called out to her.
"Noona, didn't we just put out the urgent fire? Why is your face so full of worry?"
"It went well... I'm grateful."
"But that's not the face of someone who's purely happy?"
"Seojun, who do you think it is?"
"What?"
"The Star Light seller. How did they list a material that didn't even exist until now on the auction house? And right at this critical moment when we really need it."
"I don't know either... basically, sellers are anonymous, aren't they?"
"But you can find out, right? You know people on the auction house side."
"...Well, if I grease some palms I could find out quickly... but man, I'll be cashing in favors."
"Please look into it."
"Well... if the Clan Leader asks, I have to do it."
"A newly appeared S-rank production and support-type Admiti... I somehow don't think this is unrelated. Same with that S-rank Etherium that recently turned the auction house upside down."
"Certainly, strange things have been happening a lot lately."
"If it's them... we have to recruit them at all costs. No matter what treatment we prepare, what sacrifices we have to make..."
Idanbi's eyes shone with determination.
* * *
The installation of the replica tower situated in the side garden of Suho's house had actually finished quickly.
The outer walls were made of two metals only found in the Tower, and after carving formulas designed by Alchemist Admiti like circuits on the inside, all that was left was to embed Etherium.
Actually, the core was the Etherium; the rest was a simple replica tower.
The first two had already been completed and brought by the Administration, so the moment Suho inserted the Etherium into the delivered replica tower, it began operating with a faint glow.
Though "operating" only meant he could briefly "enter."
Anyway, he would have to hold auctions more frequently,
and to gather points, he had to sell more things,
but for that, he needed to create a smoother justification for where he got the items.
In the end, it was forced patchwork, but he had completed a plausible excuse to some extent.
He could just say that item collecting had gone really well.
Suho received 1 yangwon worth of Star Light from Rabi as the fifteenth item, and stared blankly for a while at the shining 10-trillion-ton mineral.
'If I sell just a tiny speck of this, where would I even use the rest...?'
He had impulsively ordered it after hearing the Minister's desperate pleas, but looking at it like a pile of gold and silver didn't make him feel satiated.
He had considered contacting the Sanare Clan, which seemed desperate, but just listed it on the auction house instead.
How would he know what kind of people they were?
Meeting someone in person was still forbidden.
Without bodyguards and androids, he was just an ordinary person who would drop dead with one good stab.
Still, since they said it was urgent for the Tower raid, he thought he should reduce the auction time, so he listed it cheaply with an 'immediate purchase available' setting.
By the way, he had only just received 1 million points.
He needed to get more points, but what should he sell?
He considered listing Etherium again, but thought people might find it suspicious if only similar items were collected, so he decided to diversify his product line.
What would be as appealing as Etherium among the trans-planetary Tower drop items?
Suho couldn't overlook potions.
* * *
"Rabi, potions... I mean, tell me about the types of potions."
"Do you mean all the potion types existing in our universe?"
"Yeah, there are a lot besides healing potions, regeneration potions, antidotes, and stuff, right?"
"Yes, that is correct. There are a total of 2,731 potion types in our universe. Then let me tell you. First,.."
"Keck..! Wait, wait. Two thousand seven hundred??"
"Yes, exactly 2,731 types."
"Why so many... I didn't think that many were known on Earth."
"Correct. Fewer than ten are known on Earth."
"Then let's go with five: healing potion, regeneration potion, ether potion, antidote potion, and disease treatment potion."
"Yes, but each potion has various grades. Which grade would you like?"
"What grades are there?"
"Referencing Earth's classification standards, they can be divided into lowest, low, mid, high, and highest grade. In reality, only up to high grade has been observed on Earth. Highest grade potions have never actually been discovered."
"Really? Potions need to have kickass performance. Then let's make all five highest grade."
"I have created them. As they are unprecedented items on Earth, they are valued at 10 trillion won per milliliter."
"Cheaper than the Elixir of Anti-Aging?"
"Yes, because their universal scarcity is less than that of the [Elixir of Anti-Aging]."
"Then... how much of each?"
"Highest grade healing potion, highest grade regeneration potion, highest grade ether potion, highest grade antidote potion, and highest grade disease treatment potion have each been granted and stored at 1 trillion liters. Would you like to check?"
"No, no, that's fine. It's probably like a lake-sized swimming pool."
"That is correct."
"By the way, Rabi. If I ask you to transfer these into bottles, you're going to put them in diamond bottles again, right?"
"It does not have to be diamond; I can form them into bottles. Gold, silver, platinum, or Etherium are also possible. Ah, Star Light as well."
"...I knew it... What about ordinary glass bottles, can't you do that?"
"I cannot create items processed by humans."
"Tsk... I'll have to order bottles from outside first anyway. Okay! I'm off now. Take care!"
* * *
He had heard that even when obtaining potions as rewards in the Tower, you didn't receive portable potions neatly bottled.
After clearing each floor of the Tower, liquids sometimes pooled somewhere in altars or in bowls and jars in boss rooms; you carefully collected them in prepared containers, analyzed their components outside the Tower, put them in bottles for packaging and labeling, then listed them on the auction house.
Perhaps that was why potion types varied greatly in bottle and design depending on the seller.
However, the quantity, performance, or grade of the contents couldn't be exaggerated, because the auction house conducted one more detailed quality inspection before registering items.
Suho found out that the standard size for a single potion bottle was usually 50 milliliters.
The shape and form of the bottle could be freely designed, but the amount of 50 milliliters was an international Admiti standard that had to be followed.
Containers could be freely chosen,
and while glass was undoubtedly the best container to prevent contamination since it didn't react chemically with various potions,
glass was heavy and fragile, making it inconvenient to carry.
Especially for Admiti who had to fight intense battles.
So protective auxiliary shock-absorbing containers were often added externally, but that increased volume and became inconvenient.
An alternative that came to mind was titanium containers.
Titanium was light, had excellent corrosion resistance and durability, was harmless to the human body, and didn't react chemically with potions, making it an ideal container.
The only downside of titanium containers was always the high cost due to processing difficulty,
but to Suho, that was the most trivial issue.
"Yes, did you say 1,000 titanium containers that can hold 50 milliliters of contents? You said a twist-off cap type, and asked for a ring on the cap side to connect something like a carabiner... Understood. I will contact you again as soon as the design draft is ready."
Suho, finished contacting a titanium product specialty manufacturer, called a packaging label sticker company.
"I'd like to order labels to wrap around bottles that are about 50 milliliters and elongated. If I send the bottles in advance, do you also do the application?"
"Yes, yes, of course. If you just add a little for labor costs, we can do as many as you need."
"Then please do that. The contents will be highest grade healing potion, highest grade regeneration potion, highest grade ether potion, highest grade antidote potion, and highest grade disease treatment potion. Keep the design unified but make the colors slightly different for each."
"Hohohoho! Looks like you're doing some fun event. Hoho. How old are the participants? If you need, I can include cute character art and send you a draft."
"...Just put the text in a clean, simple way. Please write both Korean and English. It's not for a kids' event; adults will be using it."
"Hohohohoho! I see. I see. Understood! I'll make it look great and send it to you."
...Hoo, he wondered if he had made a mistake deciding to sell potions.
What a hassle.