Chapter 154 : Forced Sale - 2
Chapter 154: Forced Sale - 2
Armelia spoke.
[“Mason. No matter how capable you are, isn’t this a situation to be worried about? It’s already decided that four of us will be eliminated.”]
[“Why is that?”]
[“What do you mean why…? The bottom 50 percent are eliminated—that’s the rule. Or is there some hidden trick in the rules that I didn’t notice?”]
[“Your Highness. Do you remember the Pop Quiz Quest?”]
Back then, there had been a similar rule.
The bottom 25 percent were eliminated, and the top 75 percent passed.
But I had made all participants score full marks, allowing everyone to pass.
[“Don’t tell me you’re….”]
[“Yes. We just need to achieve the same profit. Of course, we still need to earn more than Edgar.”]
[“……”]
[“Edgar’s final profit after the fifth Intermediary Trade—we don’t know what it will be, but even if we earn just one Gold coin, no—even one Silver coin more than him, our group will pass, and Edgar will be eliminated.”]
Aina let out a hollow laugh.
[“Easy to say. How is that even possible?”]
[“Aina.”]
[“The Pop Quiz only required us to meet the condition of full marks. It depended on us alone. But this time, profit depends on B’s taste.”]
That’s right.
Under these conditions, our will didn’t matter much.
What mattered was B’s will. B’s preference.
I muttered quietly.
[“Just wait. I have an idea.”]
After some rest—
Magireta sent us back to the human world.
For the final, fifth Intermediary Trade.
“Yaaawn.”
Edgar stretched lazily upon arriving at the Imperial Capital.
Annoyingly relaxed.
Grinning, he said,
“I’ll be heading off to purchase humans now.”
“……”
“You won’t resort to such cruel and inhumane methods, will you, Mason? You called me trash, after all. If you have any conscience, surely you won’t.”
“Shut up.”
“Well, even if you shamelessly buy humans, it won’t matter. You can’t close the gap I’ve created. Do your best.”
He waved his hand and disappeared into the darkness.
I waited until he was completely out of sight, then spoke.
“Noona.”
“Yes, little brother.”
Magireta revealed herself.
Now this was the important part.
My plan was… unconventional.
No, far beyond common sense.
I needed her confirmation beforehand.
I asked,
“How is the price determined?”
Not just Magireta—everyone looked confused.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden? The price depends on the High-ranking Monster’s preference—”
“No. That’s not my question. I’m asking how it’s physically determined.”
“…?”
“Up until now, the High-ranking Monster has only said ‘I’ll buy it’ or ‘I won’t buy it,’ right?”
B had never once said, “I’ll buy it for this amount.”
She only expressed whether she would buy or not.
And when she said she would buy, Magireta displayed the Mini Bulletin Board.
That’s where the price appeared.
But before that—what did B do?
Every time, before the board appeared, B always—
* Tapped the armrest with her index finger.
I said,
“The exact purchase amount is transmitted to you by manipulating the armrest of B’s chair. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes. That’s correct. I thought you would’ve noticed, little brother.”
“……”
“There’s a number pad on the armrest of her chair. She taps it to input the amount. That value is then reflected on the Mini Bulletin Board.”
“Is that all?”
“Of course, she must first verbally declare whether she’ll buy it or not. Then she taps the number pad. That’s recognized as ‘setting the price.’”
I see.
Suppressing my pounding heart, I spoke to my companions.
“Your Highness. Do you remember the first Self-Introduction Quest?”
“Of course.”
“At that time, there was no guideline for people with more than one occupation.”
If someone had multiple occupations, the one they believed to be their main job was accepted.
That crucial detail hadn’t been written anywhere.
The same applied to the Frozen Season Quest.
It never explicitly stated that the altar—not Hellfire—provided warmth, even though that was the key.
All quests were like that.
“Magireta’s rule boards only contain basic information. The real key details must be discovered by the participants themselves.”
“……”
“And it’s the same this time. The fact that ‘the exact purchase amount is determined by tapping the armrest number pad’—how quickly you realize this is the key.”
Armelia asked cautiously,
“I also noticed that B sets the price by tapping the armrest. But what do you intend to do with that information?”
“……”
“Don’t tell me you plan to forcibly remove B from the chair and manipulate it yourself?”
“I did consider that briefly.”
I looked around at everyone.
“After realizing the amount is input through the armrest, a thought occurred to me.”
“What thought?”
“Why use such a complicated method? She could just say the price aloud, or use Magireta’s omnipotence to communicate secretly. Why the armrest?”
“……”
“So I formed a hypothesis. What if anyone could take B’s seat and input a value on the armrest—and that would be recognized as the purchase price?”
Aina swallowed.
Karin glanced at Magireta.
“Is that true?”
“Who knows? Why don’t you try it? Experimentation is important.”
“Our lives are on the line for that experiment.”
“What a light thing to stake.”
“…Ha, damn it.”
I calmed Karin and continued.
“Originally, I thought we could all work together to force B off the chair. Then I’d take the seat and input the price myself.”
“……”
“But the risk is too high. If the number pad doesn’t respond to us, then B won’t assign any value to our goods out of retaliation.”
Magireta chuckled behind her hand.
“As expected, you’re clever. That’s a shame. It would’ve been entertaining to watch.”
“Noona.”
“Do you know what fingerprints are? The swirling patterns on your fingers. They differ for each individual.”
“……”
“Yours and B’s are different. That number pad only works with B’s fingerprint.”
Sienne’s shoulders drooped.
“So Mason’s idea is useless after all.”
“No. That’s not true.”
“…What?”
“We just need to use B’s fingers to operate the pad. We call out the price, and she inputs it. That’s all.”
“That’s impossible. Why would B comply? Ah… wait.”
Sienne froze as if realizing something.
The others also turned to Benjamin.
Benjamin pointed at himself.
“Me?”
Yes.
We had done something similar before.
“Mr. Benjamin can control monsters using the Beramut gloves. Just like when we interrogated Kaid.”
“…!”
“Use that to control B. Make her input the amount we want with her fingerprint.”
“That’s insane. Would something like that even be allowed?”
“The rules only prohibit participants from fighting each other. There’s nothing about harming or controlling B.”
Everyone was stunned.
Aina crossed her arms and muttered,
“This is… I see. This would count as so-called ‘Forced Sale.’”
“Exactly.”
A trade normally involves mutual agreement.
But not all trades in the world are fair.
Sometimes, one side suffers entirely.
This quest wouldn’t be any different.
The group fell silent, organizing their thoughts.
Then Berseum spoke.
“Isn’t it too risky? Benjamin struggled even controlling Kaid. What if B is far superior and can’t be controlled at all?”
“Kaid was already a rare High-ranking Monster. Intelligent and capable of conversation. B is the same level.”
“Still… what if we just force her hand instead?”
“That’s not enough.”
I shook my head.
“Magireta said B must verbally declare ‘I’ll buy it’ or ‘I won’t.’ We can’t force her to speak—unless it’s through Benjamin’s Beramut.”
Everyone sighed.
After further discussion, we decided to proceed.
It was a gamble.
But all gambles came with big rewards.
I said firmly,
“Let’s do it. Forced Sale.”
The plan was set.
B’s preferences no longer mattered.
What mattered was—
Making B say “I’ll buy it.”
And making her press the number pad.
Nothing else.
“We don’t need living food or intelligent food anymore.”
“Then what do we buy?”
“How about we stop by there?”
I pointed at a house.
A modest but well-maintained garden.
In this expensive capital, it clearly belonged to a well-off household.
The others followed me, confused.
I called out at the gate.
“Anyone there!”
“Who is it?”
“I have business with the owner.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No.”
A man—likely a gardener—frowned.
“Then leave. What kind of behavior is this?”
“We just want to make a very small trade.”
I pointed at a stone in the garden.
“Sell us those stones.”
“……”
He looked at us like we were insane.
After some back-and-forth—
We eventually met the owner.
He sold us the stones.
For 0 Silver coins.
He was clearly just fed up and said, “Fine, take them and leave.”
But regardless—
We had successfully made a purchase in the human world.
The condition was fulfilled.
Karin muttered,
“It’s been a while since we were treated like lunatics.”
“…Why ‘a while’?”
“Don’t ask.”
I tossed a stone in my hand.
“Let’s share our current profits and calculate how much we need to sell these for.”
“Doesn’t that depend on Edgar’s final sale?”
“If our plan works, Edgar won’t sell anything. Benjamin will control B to reject it.”
“Ah, right. Then we can calculate based on current profit.”
We calculated together.
Edgar’s current profit: 5,036 Gold coins 83 Silver coins.
Mine: 367 Gold coins 69 Silver coins.
My cost: zero.
“Then I need to sell for 4,669 Gold coins 14 Silver coins.”
“No. That ties with Edgar. You need more.”
“Right. Then 4,669 Gold coins 15 Silver coins—”
At that moment, Sienne spoke.
“Do we really need to barely surpass him by 1 Silver coin?”
“…What?”
“If we can control the number pad anyway, why not win overwhelmingly? Let’s just make it 10,000 Gold coins profit.”
We all stared in shock.