I tried pulling it up to 7x through a real estate auction, but it was a bigger deal in that it could be repeated any number of times.
4x, 4.5x, 5x.
Lokan, testing the market, sold all the equipment he had at an appropriate level.
"This is a lottery!"
The amount obtained was truly astonishing.
[Holding amount: 458 gold 98 silver 32 cooper]
It was almost 4.5 times his initial capital, and achieved in just a few tens of minutes. No matter how wealthy the players were, the capital they were willing to invest in new gear meant the profits were immense.
But Lokan had no intention of stopping there. After purchasing a large amount of items from the auction house again, he went back to the Dwarf blacksmith to strengthen them. He stuck to only +3 enhancements. While enhancing to a higher level would bring a much higher price, Lokan didn't want the items to become too strong. At this level, catching a Level 100 monster was still challenging. +3 was just the right balance, so he created a large number of these items and put them back on the auction house.
"The world is wide and there are many suckers!"
Any worry that too many items would unlock and devalue the market was baseless. How many people played The Lord? The fields were so vast that it was impossible to meet all users from the same country, let alone users from other countries, who would only meet much later. Since the Integrated Auction House transcended regions and countries, the pool of Level 90+ users willing to purchase Lokan's items numbered in the tens of millions. Even if a few hundred of them bought his reinforced weapons, it would be difficult to influence their value.
Because of this, everything sold out quickly as time passed.
Consequently, those who sensed something strange posted articles on the public website, but it was just an empty echo. There were plenty of comments from interested people and scammers trying to take advantage, but no one could give a clear answer.
'Of course. No one knows the source,'Lokan thought.
In the meantime, Lokan raked up money by repeating the item enhancements as if by magic. He was so engrossed that he didn't even have time to hunt or try the authentication quests.
"You should paddle when the water comes in."
He spent a full day on this business, but with this level of profit, he could easily afford to give up a day of grinding. He wondered if he was earning all the money in The Lord by himself. By quadrupling his capital with each transaction, and reinvesting larger amounts with every sale, he began to accumulate a massive fortune, even without his commissioned crafting items.
'Nevertheless, crafting items are long-term paving stones.'
He couldn't give up the crafting items, either. A well-made 'crafting item' had abilities equivalent to a +5 enhanced item or higher. Moreover, since the order in which a blacksmith could increase the intimacy for requests was [Repair], [Enhance], and then [Craft], even if the secret of enhancement were revealed, the production requests would remain exclusive for a while, allowing him to continue to profit handsomely.
After spending a full day dedicated to this business, when he logged in the next day, Lokan couldn't help but frown.
[Local Notice. The enhancement system has been modified.]
[As of this time, the daily use limit of the enhancement system is limited to 100. Please use with caution.]
Condor, the artificial intelligence governing The Lord, had issued an emergency patch. Evidently, the system was displeased with Lokan monopolizing the enhancement system and profiting so rapidly. It limited the daily use to prevent the indefinite printing of reinforced items.
"Is it fortunate that it is still a local announcement?"
If it were a public notice, everyone would know about the exclusive enhancement system, but as a local notice, it was only communicated to people in this area—meaning, just Lokan. This notification was essentially a direct warning message from Condor to Lokan.
But Lokan didn't care much. He wasn't acting outside the system rules, after all.
Besides, he had already finished strengthening all of his own equipment. The Sealed Helmet of the Lion King could not be strengthened, but its performance was already superior to most gear. His other equipment, which he used to secure his high critical hit probability, had been raised to +5, making it more than usable enough to compete.
Therefore, the remaining 100 reinforcement opportunities could be invested elsewhere. Although the limit meant he could only make thirty-three +3 items a day, that was sufficient. He had been so excited the previous day that he thought he had already flooded the market with too much gear anyway.
"It was good that I finished strengthening yesterday."
After humbly accepting the patch, Lokan visited the Dwarf Blacksmith again, looking for the products he had commissioned.
"Here it is. It's embarrassing that there are defective items too, but this is the result."
Contrary to the Dwarf's apologetic scratching of his head, the results were excellent. Out of the fifty swords, only five were of the lowest grade; the rest were all Magic and Rare grades. Three of them were even a stunning Unique grade. The higher the grade, the greater the attack power, and the options were significant. Since the options and attack power were randomized, but the weapons were superior to average heavy weaponry, it was clear that the game would be turned upside down if they fell into the hands of skilled players.
"How much should I price these at…"
Although the competition might catch up, Lokan felt entirely secure. While wielding such a powerful weapon would increase their chances of completing the 3rd job advancement quest, equipment couldn't solve everything when trying to overcome the threshold of Class Users. No matter how good the gear, a player lacking control would find the 3rd job change still a distant dream. The strength of combination skills was more impactful than the advantage of a weapon, and the weapons they would hold at Level 100 were in a different league than those held by Level 90 users. Even with the release of these items, the impact would not be as great as one might expect. Furthermore, the lies Lokan had released would make it even more difficult for his rivals to find the correct path to the 3rd city.
"Well, if we put up a fight, we'll figure it out."
Lokan eventually put them all up on the Integrated Auction House. The difference from the other enhanced items was that he did not set a separate immediate purchase price. The auction period was set for one day for Magic grade or lower, two days for Rare grade, and four days for Unique grade. The winner would simply be the one who spent the most money during that period.
After that, he strengthened 25 more weapons, destined for the hands of many high-level users, and then exited the Integrated Auction House. Although the enhancement limit would have allowed for a maximum of thirty-three items, he only chose to raise twenty-five.
The reason was this item:
[+5 Slayer's Ax] [Rare]
An axe modeled after the one used by a slayer who delivered merciless death to his enemies. Infused with the madness of the slayer, it was endowed with special powers.
-Attack power: 320 (+150)
-Durability: 1,000/1,000
-[Blood Madness] Increases attack power as HP decreases.
He had sold the reinforcement items yesterday and used the profits to create additional weapons for his own use. The axe series had a poor drop rate, so he had commissioned one to be produced, but even Lokan hadn't expected such a perfect item to be created.
"Ooh, that's gorgeous!"
There were no additional stat options attached, but the overwhelming attack power and the sole option were absolutely perfect for a Berserker.
Thanks to this, Lokan had started strengthening this axe as soon as he received it. Due to bad luck, he had to attempt it more than 20 times to reach the final +5 enhancement, but in the end, he succeeded. With this kind of weapon, his combat effectiveness was not diminished at all, even compared to a Level 150 player.
"Then let's run again."
Lokan, momentarily blinded by money, snapped back to reality. He entered the Half-Elf race building, reminding himself that this was still only the beginning of his true goals.
"You are… Human. What's going on here?"
The wary expression of the Half-Elves, who mistrusted even members of their own camp, was quite annoying, but there was nothing Lokan could do about it.
'You're not even a real elf, yet you act like an idiot!' he thought, but quickly plastered a bright smile on his face.
"I came here to see if there was anything I could do to help. I heard you have a problem."
"Who told you that… That's fine, our problems are not small enough to borrow a fragile human hand."
The head of the Half-Elves flatly refused, but Lokan knew that was just talk. So he pushed again.
"I've already been recognized by the Dwarves. I'm not as fragile as you think, so please just pretend you're being deceived and trust me."
"The Dwarves were also… Alright, sit down for a moment."
At the mention of the Dwarves, the head of the Half-Elves' eyes flickered for a moment before ushering Lokan inside. While better than the True Elves, the relationship between the Half-Elves, who valued respect for life and preservation, and the Dwarves, who valued re-creation through destruction, was not good. But gaining their recognition was another matter. They didn't get along, but they seemed to recognize each other's stubbornness and ability.
Thus, he was given a difficult quest.
[Securing the safety of the gathering group] [Quest]
The Half-Elves who went to the Tekalona Forest to gather have not been contacted for several days. Find them, check their safety, and return them safely to the Crossroads.
– Success conditions:
Half-Elf Gatherer's Survival Confirmation (0/1)
Half-Elf Gatherer's Escort (0/1)
-Failure condition: Death of the half-elf gatherer
-Completion Reward: Recognition of the Half Elves
-Additional rewards according to the achievement rate
Again, there was an additional reward. While it might simply depend on whether he brought them back alive or how quickly he did so, Lokan knew the hidden mission involved. The original purpose of their expedition to the Tekalo Forest was linked to the quest.
'It had to do with the World Tree, maybe.'
He couldn't remember the details of every quest, but the Half-Elf race quest was definitely related to the World Tree. The ultimate goal was to reconstruct the World Tree to bring back the lost Elves and resurrect the Elven Kingdom. And inevitably, hostile forces—he believed the Undead faction—had intervened.
For that reason, the difficulty of the quest would naturally increase as the achievement rate increased, but Lokan was confident. What did he have to fear, now that he had strengthened all his weapons and armor up to +5?
Lokan confidently accepted the quest and headed to the stables. From now on, the quest line would be quite long, so shortening this travel distance would be the key to rapid growth.
[You have purchased a Black Horse.]
[A whistle for calling is provided. You can summon/reverse summon a Black Horse at any time by blowing a whistle.]
[Combat power may be limited while riding a mount.]
He bought the mount, so-called a White Bone Horse (not because it was white, but because it cost 100 gold each). At the current market price, 100 gold was equivalent to 20 million won in cash—the price of a real car—but it was an unavoidable choice to save time.
'As long as it's like this, I'll pull out the mulberry,' he vowed.
He had no choice but to roll until he drew the correct value. Lokan hurriedly mounted his horse, tightening his thighs and bouncing his heels. And he began to dominate the vast plains.