I Entered a Gacha Game That Had Been Abandoned for 10 Years

27 – The Second Hero (1)

The next day.

Just as she had previously told the Lord of Lartania, immediately after a day had passed, Tiinus Upper was leaving the territory.

Inside Tiinus Upper’s luxurious carriage, Adria was looking at five bottles of potions that were placed in a somewhat extravagant box.

The box, surrounded by a golden frame as if it were something to be offered to the king of a country or used for special occasions, was an artifact that was currently being traded at a very high value, as it had a function to protect the precious items placed inside unconditionally.

So originally, the box was supposed to contain precious metals, not potion bottles.

But the reason she put the potions in this box was because these potions were worth it.

“Five bottles of the recovery potion…”

As Adria was absentmindedly touching the potions inside the box with an amazed expression, she heard the voice of her secretary.

“Indeed, Lord Upper is amazing.”

“Hmm? What’s that?”

“I’m talking about the recovery potion. Didn’t you buy five of them for just 100,000 gold coins? Your skills are truly remarkable.”

The secretary nodded, as if acknowledging that Lord Upper was truly amazing.

If the consciousness recovery potion were to be released in the world, not only would she receive a mere amount of 100,000 gold coins, but she could also receive a generous 150,000 or even 160,000 gold coins.

If Adriana could arrange conditions to her advantage, she could sell the item she currently held in her hands for 200,000 gold coins.

In other words, it was true that the skill Adriana possessed in purchasing an item that could be sold for twice the price of 100,000 gold coins was quite remarkable.

However, that was just a story on the surface.

“Indeed, is that so?”

Adriana recalled what Lord Lartinia, who handed her the potion yesterday, said, or to be more precise, his business proposal.

“To begin with, if I were to be completely honest, I can create this consciousness recovery potion. In other words, I can make an item that no one else in this continent can create.”

“And if you desire, I will exclusively supply this consciousness recovery potion to you from now on. If you agree to the three conditions I offer.”

Adriana recalled the conditions that Kim Hyun-woo had proposed.

“Firstly, I hope that you keep the fact that I can create the consciousness recovery potion a secret. You will be the only one who knows about this.”

“Secondly, I hope that you will give me 60% of the profit from selling the consciousness recovery potion that I supply.”

“Lastly, in this case, I hope that I will receive an advance payment. Around 100,000 gold coins should suffice.”

“Hmm.”

Adriana thought with a strange expression as she recalled the proposal Kim Hyun-woo had made.

“Indeed, remarkable.”

Adriana had already grasped why Kim Hyun-woo had proposed such a story to her.

“He wants to sell the item without revealing his identity… I see.”

Indeed, Kim Hyun-woo’s choice could be considered quite smart.

Currently, based on what she had discovered, there were too many risks in openly selling the consciousness recovery potion in Lartinia’s territory.

“They could force their way in with sheer force, and even if that was blocked due to diplomatic relations, they would apply political pressure from various sources.”

In that case, Lartinia’s territory would undoubtedly be in a very difficult situation, no matter what.

That is why he decided to give up on selling the item in Lartinia and proposed to Adriana that he would hand over the item to her and split the profit by as much as 40%.

40%.

In reality, that amount could be considered close to half.

“Of course, since the Lord of Lartinia has the cost of creating the consciousness recovery potion, it will undoubtedly be there.”

… Of course, Kim Hyun-woo only used the blue stone to produce the recovery potion, but Adriana, who did not know that, naturally thought that way.

Because of that, Adriana felt that Kim Hyun-woo was a very shrewd merchant.

Basically, all people value visible worth more than invisible worth.

Using the consciousness recovery potion as an example, they only looked at the value of the item itself and could not see the invisible worth beyond that.

This applied to even the cleverest lords or merchants, and especially when it came to items that could earn such large sums of money, it clouded their judgment.

However, what about Kim Hyun-woo?

Without hesitation, he calculated the unseen value and proposed a profit of 40% to her.

It is undoubtedly a substantial profit.

But, if you think about it rationally, Kim Hyun-woo will gain more than the 40% profit he offered her by handing over the goods.

In the end, by entrusting her with the recovery potion, Kim Hyun-woo can quietly sell the item, avoiding any external, impotent political pressure.

Even as Adriana contemplates this significant 40% profit, she is actively thinking about how to sell the goods.

That’s not all.

Furthermore, Kim Hyun-woo subtly conveyed his intention to Adriana by demanding an upfront payment of 100,000 gold coins.

‘I hope the minimum return is over 100,000 gold coins…’

Of course, from Kim Hyun-woo’s perspective, there’s nothing he can do if Adriana doesn’t sell the recovery potion for over 100,000 gold coins.

However, Adriana intends to generate a profit of over 100,000 gold coins for him, just as Kim Hyun-woo subtly conveyed.

No, precisely, Kim Hyun-woo made Adriana move in that way.

He proposed the supply and demand of the recovery potion while subtly showing other items, adjusting it appropriately. In essence, Kim Hyun-woo made Adriana move actively and, at the same time, practically tested her.

It was a test to evaluate whether she had the qualities to do business with him or not.

“Hah.”

As she thought about it, Adriana unintentionally burst into laughter.

Since becoming the upper class under his protection, she had never been in a position to be evaluated as a ‘merchant.’

However, she was already starting to be evaluated.

Not by just any merchant but by a lord.

As Adriana, it brought both a sense of amusement and genuine curiosity.

‘What kind of person is this lord?’

Through their conversation, Adriana learned that he possessed a remarkable level of merchant knowledge, even intriguing herself, who boasted of being a top-tier merchant on this continent.

He was not a merchant but a lord, so Adriana, who had been curious for a while, soon shrugged her shoulders.

After perfectly clearing the evaluation he gave her, she could gradually find out about him.

So.

“Did you bring the gift as well?”

“Yes, as you instructed, I discreetly brought it.”

“Good.”

“Indeed, it was the right decision to establish a connection with that person.”

Adria continued the journey with a smile.

####

At that moment.

“Was this really outside?”

“Yes. I heard it was left at the top of Titanus.”

Kim Hyun-woo, after completing the goblin subjugation at his request, looked puzzled at the box Elena was holding. He opened the box placed on the desk.

“What’s this?”

Kim Hyun-woo looked at a considerable amount of jewelry inside the box and, unintentionally, opened his mouth with astonishment, gazing at the card placed in the middle of the box.

[A small gift. -Adria-]

“Wow…”

Kim Hyun-woo, looking at the simple writing style, couldn’t help but admire. However, he wondered why Adria would give him this.

“As expected, big hands for a big reward.”

Kim Hyun-woo soon nodded with satisfaction, smiling. With this amount of jewelry, if he were to convert it when the territorial finances were in a crisis, it would be enough to cover the current state of the territory for about a month.

“Indeed, proposing a business was the right answer.”

The reason Kim Hyun-woo proposed a business to Adria, going beyond selling recovery potions to her yesterday, was because of the information window he was fortunate enough to see when she visited the pub.

He saw in Adria’s information window that she had the trait ‘Merchant’s Intuition,’ which could be considered the best trait for a merchant, and at the same time, she received various advantages from ‘Faith’ (信疑), a trait related to business dealings.

Generally, merchants with the trait of Faith don’t suffer unjust treatment as long as they uphold their faith, so Kim Hyun-woo had proposed a business deal to her.

“Selling recovery potions alone could lead to losses.”

Of course, losing 40% of the profit margin was a bit regrettable, but it was still acceptable. Even if she sold recovery potions at the minimum price, it was definitely profitable for him, considering that she could produce recovery potions with blue stones.

“While it may not reach the level of duplicating money as suggested, given the shortage of supply, the price is high…”

Knowing that the price was high due to a shortage of supply, Kim Hyun-woo had no intention of randomly extracting recovery potions.

[Red Stone: 5800] [Blue Stone: 19211] [Gold Coins: 102134]

While looking at the increased gold coins, Kim Hyun-woo had a satisfied expression. At that moment,

“That lord.”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t people who are too obsessed with money a bit… strange?”

“Hmm?”

Kim Hyun-woo made a puzzled expression when Elena suddenly asked a question he didn’t understand.

“Well, I suppose people fixated on money lack charm in various ways… or so it seems to me.”

Elena subtly averted her gaze as she spoke.

“…Well, there might be some truth to that.”

Kim Hyun-woo, puzzled by Elena’s unexpected remark, still empathized with it.

For him, the yet unmeasured affection was quite an important matter.

“Indeed, isn’t that right?”

Whether empathy was the correct response or not, Elena, who had been somewhat expressionless but seemed to have strangely improved her mood, subtly smiled.

After exchanging a few words like that, Kim Hyun-woo, who saw her trying to leave the study, stopped her.

“Oh, wait.”

He called her over and approached.

Tap.

“…What’s this?”

“A gift.”

He gave her a blue brooch.

“As a thank you for always working hard.”

Listening to Kim Hyun-woo’s words, she stared blankly at the blue brooch.

“Oh.”

“?”

Seeming to be fumbling with her words, she awkwardly left the study with a creaking, almost robotic movement.

“Well, it’s certainly expensive, so she should like it.”

Watching her leave, Kim Hyun-woo smiled satisfied and, feeling grateful for the precious metal box Adriana had given as a gift, pushed it aside.

“Well, now that the work is done, shall we start developing the territory in earnest?”

He wanted to start the development he had postponed.

And…

“Heh…”

Elena, who had left the study, unconsciously looked at the blue brooch the lord had given her and made a faint, awkward sound.

Even though she didn’t realize it herself, her face was turning red. She fiddled with her brooch several times before starting to walk towards her room with a strange, faintly giggling expression, as if she was feeling really good.

Elena suddenly felt a shivering sensation.

“!”

She stiffened her face for a moment, looking around her.

“…”

There was nothing around her.

“…What is it?”

Elena looked around for a while, shaking her head but couldn’t shake off the eerie feeling.

Lately, Elena had been experiencing this creepy feeling often.

But every time, there was nothing visible around her either.

“…Was it my imagination?”

With a slightly uneasy expression, Elena moved her steps with that thought.