God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 165: Episode 33_So Sue Me (2)

3.

The items from the dragon’s lair were, of course, all top-tier. With so many treasures piled high, it wouldn’t have been surprising to find a few duds mixed in, but this was a dragon’s hoard. The items were of such exceptional quality that not a single piece seemed worth discarding, even to Han Simin, whose standards were absurdly high and whose eye was trained only on what would turn a profit.

The Specialists knew their market value better than anyone. These were high-end items that had not yet been released on the continent, all high-grade with rare bonus stats.

This world was a perfect storm, where knights and mercenaries would sell their homes to boost their combat power, coexisting alongside players whose desire to be the absolute best shot straight through the sky. It was the perfect environment to sell an item for fifty percent above its market value.

And into that environment stepped the unscrupulous salesman named Han Simin.

“Only one hundred gold coins! A bargain price! Today, in obedience to His Imperial Majesty’s command, for the brave warriors personally stepping forward to help resolve this continental crisis! For the brave warriors throwing themselves into the fray, I’m selling at a loss, just this once! An opportunity like this doesn’t come every day! Just one hundred gold! Cash on the barrelhead! No haggling, not even for a single gold coin! Better options for a higher price? Not today! Just pick one, any one!”

The crowd fell silent.

For the NPCs of the continent, this was a completely unfamiliar sales pitch. Naturally, they were baffled and suspicious.

Every single item from that pile was 100 gold? Were they even worth that much in the first place?

They couldn’t help but hesitate. In fact, they hardly had a choice. For players, 100 gold coins was an enormous sum, and it was no different for the NPCs. Countless people here simply didn’t have that kind of money.

The price was absurd, and they had no cash. Who was going to show interest?

The reaction was far colder than Han Simin had hoped.

However, he didn’t flinch. He had expected as much. If some random huckster had shown up hawking miracle cures, he wouldn’t have bought anything either. He wouldn’t have even listened.

And that wasn’t all. The man doing the selling was the Emperor’s son-in-law. To any observer, it would look like he was using his status to shake them down.

He had to clear up that misunderstanding.

The fake, merchant’s smile on his face grew even brighter.

“You’re all so stingy. You go out there and die, and you can’t get that life back. Are you planning to save your money for the ferryman to the afterlife? Come on, don’t hesitate! Come take a look. You can touch them, you can check the stats. As long as you don’t walk off with them or break them, you can inspect them all you like. So at least look.” 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

His strategy was simple: build trust first. Lay out the goods, let the customers see for themselves, and then talk price.

No one moved closer yet, but the atmosphere had definitely thawed. The ones who played a decisive role in breaking the ice were the players.

“Wanna at least take a look?”

“I don’t have the money to buy anything, but...”

“That guy’s really famous, you know. His items are supposed to be insane. Let’s see what’s so good that he’s charging a hundred gold.”

These were gamers who, despite being unable to afford them, loved to window-shop for good items and fantasize about the power they would gain. It didn’t cost anything to look, and these were items you might never see drop in your entire gaming life. Why not take a look when they were right there?

As one or two people started to walk over, some NPCs quietly joined them. In the end, everyone gathered here, whether player or NPC, had come to the Selection Tournament—an event held only once every few years, or even decades—to make a name for themselves and earn the title of one of the continent’s top guilds. In a situation where even a small boost in power was worth dipping into their own pockets for, taking a chance on a “maybe” wasn’t a bad choice.

Once a decent crowd had gathered, Han Simin stepped down from the dais and spread out his wares for everyone to see. It was the contents of just one of the dozen or so magic pouches he had brought.

From accessories to weapons, items of all kinds were piled in a heap. The guild members began to examine them.

And then, the hands checking the items began to slow.

The crowd was gradually swallowed by silence. Those who had been lounging casually straightened up, their postures becoming respectful.

“...Are these really one hundred gold?”

“Of course.”

“Here.”

It didn’t take long for the first customer to light the fuse. As if on cue, items began to sell.

Slowly, but steadily.

* * *

As Han Simin steadily hawked his wares, he made sure to cut off the approaching Specialists in advance.

“Don’t buy anything.”

“Huh? Why?”

“These are the worst of what I brought.”

The Specialists were speechless.

He kindly shared the truth—a special favor reserved only for them.

“I mean, the price isn’t a total rip-off or anything,” he confessed. “I haven’t checked everything yet, but these are from the bottom of the barrel of what I skimmed through on the way here. There’s no need for you to buy them. Even if the price is fair now, the market’s going to drop later.”

“So that’s why you’re dumping so much at once. Just how much did you bring?”

“About ten more bundles like this?”

“...Oppa, marry me.”

It was a jackpot big enough to make a chaebol heiress propose on the spot. Only then did Kang Yeseul begin to grasp the scale of the “jackpot” Han Simin had mentioned so casually.

’As expected. Han Simin wasn’t born with a silver spoon, but his eye for value has already surpassed most conglomerate heirs.’

If this was his idea of a “jackpot”...

Her jaw dropped. Just from what she had seen him sell so far, the total had already exceeded 2,000 gold coins. Setting aside the question of why someone heading into battle was carrying that much cash, if he sold the rest, he would make roughly 5,000 gold coins in one place, in less than an hour.

In real-world currency, that was an astronomical sum. While it wasn’t enough to live in luxury for the rest of your life, the speed at which he generated that kind of wealth forced her to reevaluate him.

While Kang Yeseul was marveling, Jeong Seolah was looking further ahead.

“Are you planning to keep releasing them like this?”

“I have to. There’s just too much, and it’s better to sell while there’s still some bubble in the prices.”

“You might not get the price you want.”

“I basically picked them up off the street. Rather than let them rot, I’d rather sell them quickly and put that money to work.”

Maximum efficiency and maximum profit.

Her assessment and Han Simin’s opinion didn’t quite align. Even so, after listening to him, she nodded. It wasn’t a bad choice, and he wasn’t wrong.

He was selling at a loss, slightly cheaper than he could. It might look wasteful. Even with this much volume, the continent was vast, and there were plenty of wealthy players and NPCs. If he took his time and sold them one by one, emphasizing their rarity, he could make more money. Even a child could understand that. After all, Simin himself had once used luxury branding to run an auction.

Selling like this would flood the market with good items, and the going rate for high-end gear would inevitably drop. He was accepting that loss in favor of volume. If he wasn’t planning to focus on business long-term, it was a perfectly reasonable approach. Maximizing profit could take years of trading. In that time, who knew what variables might appear or what other items might be released.

Above all, Han Simin was a player who ran at the very front of the pack. For him, time was more valuable than a small loss.

“Well, I’m going to sort them by grade and sell them in stages, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

“You’re right. I was worrying for nothing.”

Besides, this was Han Simin they were talking about. Of the three great worries in the world you never needed to have, one was worrying about how Han Simin was going to make a living.

He was a guy who could sell sand in the desert and mana to a dragon.

They humbly accepted the information he was giving them.

“I’ll give the Specialists a special chance to buy the very best stuff.”

“Thank you.”

“At a twenty percent discount.”

Thinking about it that way, the players who had been suspicious at first before falling for the items seemed a little pitiful. If things went as Han Simin planned, the items they just bought would be hard to resell at full price. They wouldn’t take a huge loss, but any players among them who had bought in hoping to profit from the price difference would be shedding tears.

However, that was not something the Specialists or Han Simin needed to worry about.

Once an item left his hands, it was no longer his. And any money that entered his hands was his, even if he had to die for it.

Once the noisy sales slowed, Han Simin moved on to the next phase.

“Alright! For those of you who couldn’t buy items because you don’t have cash, I’m running a special event for just two hours! We’re heading into a place with a dragon, and I’d feel guilty turning people away just because they’re broke. But giving them away for free would be too much of a loss for me and might create an awkward atmosphere. So, I’ll be offering a tab!”

The crowd buzzed.

“If you show me your guild nameplate and put up collateral, I’ll accept that in place of payment.”

The crowd gasped.

Credit! For items that cost a full 100 gold!

The players’ eyes flashed. ’Maybe this is...’

“Of course, the collateral has to be of equivalent value. The moment you put your fingerprint on the contract, His Imperial Majesty becomes the guarantor, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get any ideas about pulling a fast one.”

So much for that idea. A few people with Han Simin-like tendencies were disappointed, but most were delighted.

“I’ll do it!”

“Here! We’ll put up our guild building as collateral!”

“Don’t rush, there’s plenty of time! And if you happen to lose the item you took, you still won’t get your collateral back, so think carefully before you put your fingerprint down!”

The chance to get good items at the right time. Even players’ eyes went red as they considered taking out loans on the spot. For NPCs, whose very lives were on the line, it was no different. 100 gold was a lot of money, but it wasn’t an impossible amount to raise, so the items sold quickly.

It wasn’t direct profit, but as the stack of contracts grew, Han Simin felt a warm satisfaction.

The Specialists just shook their heads.

’He’s a genius.’

A genius, and a sly one at that. He was personally demonstrating what happened when someone with an advantage—no matter how small—used it to the fullest and had luck on their side.

The Specialists were amazed.

But unlike them, one more observer was frowning, sighing, and shaking his head.

The Emperor.

“...Doing business inside the Imperial Palace. And using my name to do it.”

With his temper, he would have been perfectly justified in marching down there and killing the insolent brat without so much as a reason. But humans are creatures of adaptation. Since their first meeting, the Emperor had grown so accustomed to Han Simin’s audacity that all he could do was shake his head.

“Thank you, Father.”

The biggest reason, of course, was the princess, who had regained her radiant smile. He decided to treat it as a kind of spiritual training and endure.

’He’ll stop eventually.’

Besides, this last-minute change to the Selection Tournament was giving him a headache, and Han Simin was at least helping with that.

But that was only the Emperor’s misconception.

“Alright! Has everyone finished buying? I’m in a great mood thanks to all of you. So, to commemorate that, one last special event! I’ll only be selling twenty of these!”

The crowd looked puzzled.

“I can’t go into detail in case His Imperial Majesty is listening, but I trust the hints are enough: the Guild Selection Tournament, His Majesty’s son-in-law, and something you’ll submit at the very end. First come, first served—one per guild, twenty in total! Just five hundred gold!”

That was the kind of man Han Simin was. He didn’t understand the concept of “enough.” If there was no limit, he would keep pushing until he found it, doing everything he could to earn more.