Chapter 17 :The heart of a desperate person can be bought cheaply(2)

“It was a bigger problem than I thought.”

Wisu tightly bit her lip.

“It was an individual. I can’t believe it, but there’s an individual who can do all of that.”

“Is that even possible?”

The workshop is an organization that is too large to be called an “individual.”

“Artifacts are made by going into dungeons, mining special materials, and processing them into finished products.”

“Yes. That’s why it’s even more incomprehensible.”

An individual who can make over a hundred artifacts, not just one or two.

Even if that pistol wasn’t anything special, this was not an opponent to be taken lightly.

“Seo-yeon personally called the man and asked for his understanding. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn’t have believed it.”

“Ripping apart” and inspecting artifacts held by a large guild isn’t actually that big of a deal.

Of course, it was illegal, but they had the power to commit such illegal acts and get away with it without any trouble.

But Seo-yeon personally asked for his understanding. If he was a member of Seo-yeon’s guild or an affiliated workshop, this wouldn’t have been necessary.

“This call itself might have been a warning. The fact that she’s talking about something so unimportant at this exact moment.”

“A warning to whom?”

“To us. It might have been intended to let us know that this man is far more powerful than we imagined.”

Seo-yeon is the leader of a guild. Considering her information network and connections, it wouldn’t be strange if she knew that Jeong Isu was called to the academy today and is visiting there.

And while being aware that all those phone records could be wiretapped ‘without any trouble,’ she appealed that she could solve the problem ‘with her power.’

“She let us know that it’s more important to her to protect his convenience, even if it means having ‘some friction’ with the academy.”

Of course, nothing happened right away.

Jeong Isu understood the academy’s situation and raised no objections to changing the school rules.

“It’s also what the man said. Thanking us for calling him right after the test ended… In other words, it can be interpreted as an implication that something bad could have happened if we hadn’t called him now.”

Perhaps it was a threat.

“Well, I’ll take care of it from now on. You guys don’t need to worry about it.”

There were too many variables. For now, it was enough to confirm that the man was far more powerful than imagined and that nothing happened today.

“Later… We should have a meal together sometime.”

Wisu let out a deep sigh.

****

“Is everything alright over there?”

“Yes, yes! Thanks to the water you sent, everything is fine! Thank you as always!”

I was once again amazed by Lisa’s competence, and as always, we continued our pleasant conversation.

Water is a resource. Certainly, if you have an almost infinite supply of water, it would be easy to expand your influence in the world of [Wasteland 2].

However, protecting and managing it was a different matter. If you have an enormous amount of resources, many people will covet them.

Even a moment’s carelessness in ‘increasing power with resources’ or a disruption in the balance could easily lead to an incident.

Lisa was doing all of these things very well.

“Around here, Gremlin pistols are used as a kind of currency. Inadvertently… It had the effect of increasing jobs.”

“That’s not bad.”

I’m in a position where I just receive the Gremlin pistols they give me, but the people over there are not.

They have to fight Gremlins, collect the pistols, and sort out the usable ones, which requires a considerable amount of labor.

Normally, wasting labor on such meaningless tasks would be a loss, but if they can obtain water through it, it’s not a loss at all.

Such ‘power that can be used at any time in case of emergency’ becomes another element that contributes to the safety of the settlement.

“I can’t not receive the pistols right away.”

“Is, is this no longer needed?”

“There’s been a bit of a situation on my side too. As I said, I’ll keep sending water without rest, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“No, it’s not that. Rather, we’re glad to be able to offer you a new gift.”

“A new gift?”

“Yes. I don’t know how much help this will be to someone who sends water so effortlessly, but… We prepared this.”

She showed me a rough steel box filled with lumps of ore.

An ore with a yellow glow, but oddly rough-looking.

“Lumikite?”

“You know of it, as expected. One of the settlements that has a cooperative relationship with the Rangers had a Lumikite mine.”

This was a fairly valuable metal in the world of [Wasteland 2].

Players had to use this metal to add options to their weapons or equipment.

‘…Wait a minute. If I look at this based on my world-‘

I shivered slightly with excitement.

‘It’s the raw material for making artifacts, isn’t it?’

“You like it, as expected!”

“Yes… Thank you very much. It must have been difficult to obtain.”

There were two reasons why I hadn’t thought of Lumikite.

‘This isn’t something you can just get this much of in the first place.’

Lumikite is precious. In this world, the value of a special gun or special protective gear is like life itself.

You can’t help but consider the possibility of getting useless options, but even if you throw away dozens or hundreds of such trash, if you can get a gun with options for accuracy, range, and firepower, you can turn the tide of battle with that one gun.

“For our benefactor, it’s not a waste at all.”

“…Is the settlement alright?”

“We’ve defeated all the raiders who were threatening us. We should be fine for a while. They, too, will value water more than minerals like this.”

To obtain this much Lumikite without a Lumikite mine, you would have to completely give up either the safety or the growth of the settlement.

It’s a mineral that I, who can make a profit just by trading steadily, wouldn’t easily think of.

‘But… If it’s the world of [Wasteland 2]…’

In this world, there is a severe imbalance of resources within the dimension.

In some places, food is abundant, in some places, wool is abundant, in some places, oil is abundant, and in some places, gunpowder is abundant.

The only ones who can resolve this imbalance are the merchants who cross the desert. And they inevitably had to consume the most precious and valuable resource, water.

‘So…’

It wasn’t common, but there could be a settlement that abundantly produced the very valuable resource, ‘Lumikite.’

In this world, the only resource that was never abundant was water.

“You don’t have to give it all. I need to check if this is something I need.”

Secondly, it was difficult to be sure about the question, ‘So, is Lumikite useful?’

‘The options are random. The methods of processing it are also different…’

The level of Earth is high. Strictly speaking, it’s ridiculous to call a ‘Gremlin pistol’ an artifact.

‘Besides, it’s not easy to decide where to attach the Lumikite…’

In the world of [Wasteland 2], people strengthen ordinary guns or ordinary coats by attaching this ore.

Those are mostly industrial products, or things that are not very valuable in themselves.

But if a hunter uses an item ‘with this Lumikite ore,’ it’s probably a sword or a staff. Or they would use a special artifact.

And that is already an object imbued with magic. It must be an object of enormous value.

‘Still, I have to try.’

I’m in a situation where I can use Lumikite generously. It would be a shame not to even think about using it.

“I’ll accept it gratefully.”

“Yes!”

Not sure what was so great, but Lisa smiled brightly and sent the item.

I looked at the Lumikite ore that had suddenly appeared before me.

A slightly rough, but clearly magical metal with ‘mystery’ embedded within.
****

“Wh, what do you mean!”

“This has already been decided by the principal, so it won’t change. Besides, your ‘brother’ agreed to it too.”

“Th, this is an abuse of power! I’m going to protest!”

“When you say things like that, it doesn’t sound like a joke, so could you please refrain from it?”

“Does it sound like a joke? I’m really going to do it! I’m going to make a picket sign!”

Yuhwa was running wild, unable to regain her senses in the face of the bolt from the blue.

‘It’s something my brother is selling…’

The academy specifically prohibited the use of ‘pistols below a certain caliber’ in the expulsion test.

Everyone knew. The fact that it was forbidden to take the test with a pistol that could be bought through Roze, which had become a hot topic.

‘Is, is my brother going to go bankrupt? What if he prepared a lot to get those pistols…’

Yuhwa still didn’t know exactly how those pistols came into his hands.

‘Even if it’s a cheap item, the cost price must be over 800,000 won. If my brother has hundreds of them in stock at home…!’

It could ruin a person’s life. At least, that’s what Yuhwa thought.

‘Even if it’s not the test, I have to make sure my brother can sell those things. I’ll somehow-‘

Isu himself didn’t think much of this situation, but Yuhwa, who didn’t know the situation, was trembling.

“And, you know about the group field training coming up, right? Everyone prepare thoroughly, and be careful not to get into any dangerous situations.”

‘Group field training?’

Yuhwa’s eyes widened.

Compared to other schools, the academy had a very high proportion of ‘field training.’

This was a school that trained hunters to be deployed in actual combat, and naturally, they had to be trained in actual combat as well.

Group field training was a practice where a large number of cadets were mobilized to enter a weak gate and subjugate monsters.

‘…Can I use this in actual combat?’

First of all, the theoretical basis had been established.

The problem was that this theoretical basis was created ‘to persuade her mother’ while ignoring reality.

‘No, I have to do it.’

Yuhwa bit her lip tightly.

‘Other hunters… Hunters who use swords or guns, it doesn’t make sense for them to use this.’

She loved Isu, but that love didn’t override her reason.

Objectively, the power of the gun was terrible. If you try to fight a monster with this, most monsters will scoff and knock the bullets away.

‘If I can sell it to a mage-type hunter… A cadet, my brother can find a distributor!’

But, if it’s a mage-type hunter.

A type of hunter who desperately needs ‘auxiliary firepower’ at a crucial moment, a type of hunter who cannot project firepower infinitely.

‘I can do it! I’ll use this gun in a really cool way, and make all the other mage-type cadets want this gun!’

Yuhwa clenched her teeth.

For the business success of the person she loves.