Chapter 151 : Understanding the Preference - 3
Chapter 151: Understanding the Preference - 3
Edgar’s face turned even more ashen.
Next up was Aina.
* Kwehk. Kkweeehk.
“Ugh. Oppa, help me a bit.”
“You’d get much more help from Ms. Sienne than from me.”
“True. Ms. Sienne……”
Sienne pretended not to hear for a moment.
But soon, as if giving up, she let out a sigh and lifted the pig with one hand.
Thud.
The moment it was placed on the table, B’s mouth opened wide.
Crunch.
It was quite a horrifying sight.
Apparently unable to swallow an entire pig at once, B ate it “in two bites.”
Naturally, that meant that for a while, half of the pig’s body remained on the table.
“Uaaah.”
“Ugh. Uwek.”
“I really can’t watch this.”
No matter what the participants muttered, B continued eating in an elegant manner.
And when the remaining half was completely devoured—
■ Aina Noel’s Profit
* Revenue: 55 Gold coins 11 Silver coins
* Cost: 3 Gold coins 10 Silver coins
* Profit: +52 Gold coins 1 Silver coin
As expected, an enormous profit was generated.
The rest of our group was the same.
They each placed cows, horses, pheasants, and chickens on the table.
B bought them at high prices and devoured them.
Lastly, my monkey.
“I’ll definitely buy this.”
“…? Yes, thank you.”
B became visibly excited and devoured the monkey in an instant.
And then—
Tap tap tap.
As if still lingering in the afterglow of the feast, B rapidly tapped the armrest with her index finger in an excited state.
■ Mason Gear’s Profit
* Revenue: 184 Gold coins 66 Silver coins
* Cost: 4 Gold coins 28 Silver coins
* Profit: +180 Gold coins 38 Silver coins
Huh? What the hell.
The profits had been in the double digits until now, and suddenly it jumped to triple digits?
‘Why is my product being valued this highly?’
Just as I tilted my head in confusion—
Edgar’s trembling voice rang out.
“N-no way. B’s real preference is…….”
“Oh, so you noticed too. B’s preference. Then I suppose it’s time to inform the other participants as well.”
I turned toward the ordinary participants.
But then Magireta intervened.
“Why would you tell them? Just stay quiet.”
“It’s a world where we help each other live.”
“Little brother is quite kind.”
“No. I’m not kind.”
I grinned and continued.
“If the participants fail to figure out B’s preference like this, Edgar might pass.”
“Hm?”
“This game operates on the rule that the top 50 percent survive. Right now, Edgar is within that top 50 percent.”
Magireta nodded as if she understood.
“So you want to raise the profits of the other participants and relatively push Edgar down into the lower ranks.”
“Yes. Though it won’t be easy.”
“Well, if that’s the case, I don’t mind. Go ahead and tell them.”
I didn’t need your permission in the first place.
…Instead of saying that, I gently spoke to the participants.
“The answer is freshness.”
“F-freshness?”
“Yes. More precisely, B enjoys chewing and eating things that are alive ‘while they are still alive.’”
That’s why she had said Kaid, who was dying in reality, “wouldn’t taste good.”
But in the dream, she had tried to devour Kaid while he was alive.
It wasn’t about whether Kaid had iron-like scales or not.
“Even the fruits we brought last time—if you think about it carefully, the price differences weren’t due to the thickness of their peels. The differences came from freshness.”
“…! But can fruits really be considered alive?”
“The standards of the human world don’t matter. As long as B sees them as alive, that’s enough. And B considers fruits that haven’t spoiled to be alive.”
“……”
“On the other hand, cooked dishes or snacks—she doesn’t see the ingredients used in them as alive. That’s why she didn’t assign them value.”
That’s why we brought living livestock as they were.
This was B’s true preference.
Edgar had been unlucky.
If he had brought a dead turtle last time, B wouldn’t have paid much for it.
If that had happened, he would have realized that “chewiness” wasn’t the answer.
But the turtle had been alive, so it fetched a high price.
That only deepened his misunderstanding in the worst possible way.
I looked at Edgar and said,
“Odline’s information wasn’t wrong. The problem was your interpretation.”
“Ghk.”
“You mistook the presence of a shell and its hardness as the answer. Well, it was information that could easily lead to that conclusion.”
Edgar bit his lip.
I glanced at the Mini Bulletin Board.
Everyone in our group had already surpassed Edgar’s profit.
If this trend continued in the next trade, there would be no reversal.
I spoke to the participants.
“Thanks to Edgar making a wrong move this time, there’s still hope for all of you.”
“Sir Mason.”
“In the next trade, buy the freshest possible living livestock. I sincerely hope you all pass.”
The participants’ eyes reddened.
One by one, they bowed their heads to me.
“Sob… Thank you, truly.”
“Please don’t. I’m only doing this to push you into the higher ranks while eliminating Edgar. In a way, I’m trying to use you.”
“That doesn’t matter. Either way, you’ve shown us a way to survive.”
“If you think that way, then please repay it with good results. That’s all I ask.”
They all nodded vigorously.
And the trade continued.
Unfortunately, the fruits the ordinary participants brought this time didn’t receive very high prices.
At least compared to our group.
But they still earned more than Edgar’s 1 Gold coin.
The gap between the ordinary participants and Edgar narrowed.
I leisurely observed everything and thought,
‘But why did price differences occur even within our group? Even though they were all living livestock.’
Was it still a matter of freshness?
But they were all alive, so there shouldn’t be a difference in freshness.
Could it be that some of the livestock we bought were sick?
No. Aina had carefully inspected and selected them. That couldn’t be it.
‘Then maybe differences in age or meat quality.’
This needed more thought.
At that moment—
“We’re heading toward the final stretch now.”
“……”
“Everyone, take a break and come back. I’m looking forward to the end.”
Thus, the third Intermediary Trade ended.
After some rest, Magireta spoke again.
“Now go purchase the fourth item.”
“Wait, noona.”
It was Edgar.
He had raised his hand high.
‘What now?’
This felt ominous.
Magireta let out a deep sigh.
“What is it? Why are your eyes sparkling like that?”
“I request a trade.”
“What?”
She spoke in disbelief.
“Did you forget? Before this game started, you already made two trade requests.”
“I know. I reshuffled in exchange for my life, and in exchange for Immortality, I asked you to ignore Mason’s group’s trade requests.”
“That’s right. And now you want to request another trade? Three times in one game?”
“There’s no reason it shouldn’t be allowed. What we agreed on was that trades involving ‘one’s life’ can only happen once per game. If I offer something other than my life, I should be able to trade as many times as I want.”
Magireta crossed her arms silently.
So did I.
‘What is he planning?’
Then Magireta spoke.
“Let’s hear it first. What do you want?”
“When you send us down to the human world this time, send me together with the ordinary participants. Separate us from Mason’s group.”
“……”
“It shouldn’t be a difficult request. As for the price… hmm. Would this suffice?”
What he pulled out was the Tears of the Goddess.
The trade item he had previously offered to B.
But when B refused to buy it, he had taken it back.
Armelia’s eyes flared.
“You bastard! How dare you put that up for trade!”
“Why are you getting angry? Is it yours?”
“Th-that’s not it… but that belongs to His Majesty the Emperor.”
“That so-called Emperor already sold the Tears of the Goddess to me. In other words, the ownership of this jewel is now mine.”
He held out the Tears of the Goddess to Magireta and continued.
“Don’t interfere with how I use my property.”
“Ghk.”
“Noona, please accept this and grant my request.”
Magireta let out a small hum and took the jewel.
After examining it from various angles, she spoke.
“Even to me, this looks like a very valuable item. And yet you’re offering it just to separate yourself from little brother’s group?”
“Yes. That’s more than enough.”
At that moment—
A bolt of realization struck my head.
I understood what Edgar was plotting.
I shouted as if breathing fire.
“Edgar, you crazy bastard!”
“Oh? Did you figure it out already?”
“Are you serious? You’re really going to do that?”
“Heh… You’re not being specific, but your guess is probably correct. To answer—of course I will.”
“No. You can’t do that.”
Grinding my teeth, I turned to Magireta.
“Noona. Don’t accept his trade.”
“Little brother, I’m sorry, but……”
“I know you can’t refuse a trade request. Then I’ll make one too. A trade to refuse Edgar’s request— ah!”
At that point, something came to mind.
Edgar chuckled and cut in.
“Don’t you remember? I mentioned it just earlier.”
“……”
“Before this game started, I made two trades with noona. One was requesting a reshuffle…”
The other one.
Right. The other one.
Edgar’s words from before the game began replayed in my mind.
* In this quest, please ignore all trade requests from Mason. No, better yet, ignore all trade requests from Mason and his companions. In exchange, you may take away the Immortality that was given to me.
That’s right.
He had gone as far as giving up Immortality just to block our group from making trades with Magireta.
At the time, he probably hadn’t predicted this far ahead—but the result was an environment advantageous to him.
‘Damn it. I was happy just because his Immortality was gone.’
You really never know how things will turn out.
My fists trembled.
Seeing my unusual state, Karin asked,
“Hey. What’s wrong with you? What is that bastard planning?”
“……”
“Hey. Can’t you hear me?”
Edgar smirked.
“Looks like the shock has left you speechless.”
“Shut up.”
“Anyway, noona. Will you accept the trade?”
Magireta tossed the Tears of the Goddess once and caught it before answering.
“With something like this, I’d be making a profit. Fine, deal accepted.”
I muttered like a sigh.
“Damn it.”
At the same time, our vision blurred.
When I came to my senses, we were in the Imperial Capital.
We had descended to the human world for the fourth Intermediary Trade.
I looked around, but as expected, the ordinary participants were nowhere to be seen.
Nor was Edgar.
According to the trade with Edgar, Magireta had sent only our group to a different location.
Then, as if waiting for this moment, Armelia asked,
“Mason. What is going on? Why did you react so seriously?”
“……”
“Of course, I don’t like that he separated us, but…”
“It’s not just that. His scheme isn’t that simple.”
I let out a deep sigh and continued.
“The livestock we sold last time all had different prices, right?”
“They did.”
“I’ve been thinking about why that difference occurred. They were all living livestock—so why were the prices different?”
Berseum narrowed his eyes.
“Are you saying there’s another preference?”