101. Surprise Potion Box
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After meeting Min Juri.
What Ryu Min did outside was kill mealworms.
Crunch— crunch—!
[Current Kill Count: 100/100]
[Due to the Rune of Slaughter effect, all Stats increase by 100%.]
Ryu Min’s gaze moved to one side of the message.
[Due to the effect of the skill Bless, all Stats increase by 60%.]
[Duration: 02:51:21]
This time, too, without fail, he’d come back after receiving buffs from Min Juri.
‘Good. Preparations are finished.’
He took an item out of his inventory.
[Surprise Potion Box]
-Category: Consumable
-Grade: Unique
-Effect: Randomly obtain 1–5 potions.
-Usage Restriction: Until the next Round, Regular rank or higher
-Description: A limited-time item that lets you obtain potions at random. When you move on to the next Round, the item is automatically destroyed. Influenced by the Luck stat.
It was a gacha box he’d received as the first-place reward for this zone.
Everything he’d done to raise his Stats was for this moment.
‘The higher my Luck is, the more potions I’ll get.’
They could come out as different types, or they could come out as duplicates.
Either way, the more he got, the better—so he had no choice but to raise his Luck.
‘Use.’
The moment he gripped the box in his hand and recited the command, it slid away into nothing, and a message appeared.
[You have used the Surprise Potion Box.]
[Congratulations! A Potion of Life has appeared!]
[Congratulations! A Healing Potion has appeared!]
[Congratulations! A Dark Power Potion has appeared!]
[Congratulations! A Lowest-Grade Agility Potion has appeared!]
[Congratulations! A Potion of Chilling Cold has appeared!]
‘Hooh.’
Fortunately, each one was a different potion.
And there were five of them.
[Potion of Life]
-Category: Consumable
-Grade: Legendary
-Effect: Player Resurrection
-Usage Restriction: Master rank or higher
-Description: A potion that resurrects one player of your choosing. Must be used within 10 minutes of death, and cannot be used if the body is damaged by 30% or more. Cannot be used on yourself.
[Healing Potion]
-Category: Consumable
-Grade: Rare
-Effect: Wound Recovery
-Usage Restriction: Beginner rank or higher
-Description: A potion that heals internal and external injuries. More effective than First Aid.
[Dark Power Potion]
-Category: Consumable
-Grade: Rare
-Effect: Restores Dark Power
-Usage Restriction: Beginner rank or higher
-Description: A potion that restores Dark Power used for Dark Aura. Only effective for certain classes.
[Lowest-Grade Agility Potion]
-Category: Consumable
-Grade: Normal
-Effect: Agility +2 for 24 hours
-Usage Restriction: Beginner rank or higher
-Description: A potion that increases the Agility stat. Eating multiple does not stack.
[Potion of Chilling Cold]
-Category: Consumable
-Grade: Rare
-Effect: Cold Resistance +50% for 24 hours
-Usage Restriction: Beginner rank or higher
-Description: A potion that increases resistance to cold. Resists not only cold damage but also status ailments.
As he looked over the list, Ryu Min’s eyes widened into circles.
In particular, the place his gaze landed was the Potion of Life that had appeared first.
‘A potion that resurrects someone… It really is a Legendary-grade potion.’
Of course, the other potions were good too.
But they couldn’t compare to the Potion of Life.
‘But it’s a potion you can only use once you reach Master rank. And you can only use it on someone else.’
That meant the caster had to be at least level 60 to resurrect another person.
‘Either way, just the fact that a Legendary-grade one came out makes it valuable.’
He didn’t know if a situation would come up where he’d use it, but even just possessing it was the kind of thing that would get him treated incredibly well.
‘Maybe it could be good for winning over an Alchemist.’
In Nigeria, there was an Alchemist—the only class that could craft potions.
If he could make that person an ally, it would definitely help.
‘He’s still reluctant to step forward himself, but later, once the Alchemist’s existence becomes known, it causes a massive sensation.’
If he moved first before that happened, he might be able to monopolize the Alchemist’s abilities.
‘But among these potions, I can see one that’s useless.’
It was none other than the Dark Power Potion.
‘This is completely a potion for Ma Kyung-rok, isn’t it?’
The only people who used Dark Power were Dark Knights, a unique class.
In other words, it was basically a Ma Kyung-rok-exclusive potion.
If an ordinary player drank it, nothing would happen.
Same for Ryu Min.
‘Should I try selling it to Ma Kyung-rok for a steep price?’
If a Dark Knight ran out of Dark Power, their power dropped drastically.
‘You can think of it like a car that’s run out of fuel.’
In that sense, it was definitely an item Ma Kyung-rok would want.
There was no situation more dogshit than running short on Dark Power at a decisive moment.
‘For now, I’ll keep it. What I need isn’t money or anything like that.’
He decided to keep the others as well.
He wasn’t so desperate for cash that he needed to list them on the market and sell them off.
Beep-beep—click—
After returning home, Ryu Min changed clothes in his room.
He lay down on the bed in comfortable clothes and picked up his phone.
‘Should I check whether any Unique material items have been listed?’
Whenever he had time, Ryu Min would frequently log into the Plpl app and look over items.
It was to preemptively secure materials he needed, and about one decent thing would get listed each day.
‘Oh, there’s one again this time? A Unique material item.’
But the seller was a foreigner, so it was an overseas shipping item.
‘Well, no problem. We already put thorough preparations in place so overseas users can trade easily, too.’
Plpl had been created from the start as a social market targeting players worldwide.
After opening it so it could be used overseas as well, the number of users had surged.
Ryu Min tapped the payment button, then shoved his phone off to one side.
‘That’s another one done today.’
Looking around, this was the only material item worth buying.
He’d added Joo Seong-tak as a frequently visited seller, but after the Legendary material, he hadn’t listed anything in particular.
‘Well, Round 7 wasn’t a hunting Round.’
He’d have to look forward to the Rounds after that.
Tired, Ryu Min slowly closed his eyes.
Player Place holds a regular meeting every Tuesday.
Even Ryu Min, who held ultimate control of management, never missed attending on this day.
‘If I want to build ties with Ma Kyung-rok, it’s better to at least make my presence known.’
And today, he had something to say, too.
Ryu Min looked at Ma Kyung-rok as he conducted the meeting with the directors.
After various opinions were exchanged, the meeting ended.
“Good work. That concludes today’s meeting.”
“Everyone, good work.”
The executives stood up from their seats and left.
Only Ma Kyung-rok and Ryu Min remained in the conference room.
Now was the perfect time to speak quietly.
“Major Shareholder. You attend the meeting every week without fail.”
“How could I skip when I’m the one with management control?”
“It would be enough for you to come only when a vote is needed, so to go out of your way…”
“Today, I have something I want to say to CEO Ma.”
“Ah, I have something to say as well—may I speak first?”
When Ryu Min nodded and allowed it, Ma Kyung-rok bowed his head.
“Major Shareholder—no, Prophet. Thanks to you, I was able to get through Round 7 safely as well. I’m truly grateful.”
“It seems you remembered what I said about not being swayed by temptation.”
“Yes. When temptation struck, your words flashed into my mind. If it weren’t for you, Prophet, I might’ve fallen for it, haha. It’s embarrassing to say what kind of illusion it was, though.”
He said it was embarrassing and hid it, but Ryu Min had already read his inner thoughts and knew.
What kind of temptation he’d faced.
‘A situation where you have to not kill the criminal who murdered your parents, even with him right in front of you…’
For Ma Kyung-rok, consumed by revenge, he must have wanted to kill him—yet he endured it well.
“By the way, Prophet. There’s something I’m curious about.”
Ma Kyung-rok raised the doubt he’d had for the past few days.
“You knew the strategy, so why weren’t you able to place in the rankings? It wasn’t even a Round where you needed to exert strength.”
If he knew the strategy, he could have taken first place in the ranking—so why hadn’t he?
It was a sharp question, but…
‘I knew he’d ask that.’
Ryu Min had already prepared his answer.
“CEO Ma, didn’t you also know the strategy? Then why weren’t you able to take first place?”
“Pardon? Ah…”
Ma Kyung-rok looked like he’d been struck on the back of the head.
“Even if you know you shouldn’t be swayed by temptation, when it hits you in the moment, it’s hard to actually carry out. You experienced it yourself, so you know well, don’t you?”
“Y-yes, I do. I understand.”
Ma Kyung-rok immediately erased his suspicion.
Rather, he blamed himself for having thought too shallowly.
-He definitely isn’t someone you can take lightly just because he’s young. He’s subtly got insight—and even seasoned experience.
Ryu Min could hear Ma Kyung-rok’s thoughts, wary of him deep down.
He’d proven his ability not only with prophecy but also in management, so Ryu Min knew Ma Kyung-rok wouldn’t take him lightly.
But had he revealed too much skill?
‘Making him wary isn’t good.’
For Ryu Min, who needed to make Ma Kyung-rok open his heart, it wasn’t a welcome situation.
“Prophet. You said you had something to tell me, right?”
“Yes. I’m going to tell you about Round 8 information.”
For now, Ryu Min told him the next Round’s information, as intended.
“Ohhh, this time there’s a lot of truly specific information.”
“That’s how Round 8 is.”
“Thank you, Prophet. You always help like this, and I don’t know what I should do for you…”
“Don’t feel too burdened. Since we’re on the same boat, wouldn’t it be good if we both prosper together?”
“Haha, thank you so much.”
Even though he said not to feel burdened, Ryu Min wanted to keep piling up that debt in Ma Kyung-rok’s heart.
“Um, Prophet. Since you’re helping anyway, may I ask for permission for one thing?”
“Permission for what?”
“You remember my fiancée from last time, right?”
“Of course.”
“Would it be alright if I shared this information with my fiancée?”
‘He must’ve already taken the information, though?’
He laughed inwardly, but without showing it, he said,
“Of course it’s fine. I gave a separate prophecy back then too, didn’t I? That once Round 11 comes, it’ll become dangerous. You can consider that as me having already permitted sharing at that time.”
“Ah, thank you for giving permission.”
It felt like the number of people sharing future information was gradually increasing, but that was fine.
‘If I have to lead everyone anyway, it’s better to make them rely on me through prophecy.’
Ryu Min curled his lips into a smile and showed a benevolent expression, just as he was about to talk about business—
“CEO?”
An Sang-cheol entered the conference room.
There was a sense of urgency on his face for some reason.
Not missing that, Ma Kyung-rok asked seriously.
“Chief An. What is it?”
“T-the Chairman has come.”
“My father?”
A startled Ma Kyung-rok rushed out in his socks.
In front of the door, Ma Dae-cheol, the Chairman of Ohsung Group, was entering with a young bodyguard.
“Father… Chairman. How did you come here without even telling me?”
“If I say I’m dropping by my son’s company, do I have to announce it beforehand?”
“Still, if you’d contacted me, I could have at least prepared to receive you…”
“Enough. I’m only planning to take a quick look around and go.”
Saying that, Ma Dae-cheol clasped his hands behind his back and swept his gaze through the company.
“Not bad. You set it up well.”
“……”
“I heard about it. That the start was good.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“You don’t need to know that much.”
“……”
“Your brothers said congratulations, too.”
At the mention of his brothers, Ma Kyung-rok’s eyes changed.
“Oh? Those brothers who didn’t even send a single congratulatory wreath?”
“Don’t be sarcastic. Whether you like it or not, they’re still your brothers.”
“Can people who constantly eye Father’s fortune be called brothers?”
“And you’re no different, are you?”
“I’m only participating in the competition because I don’t want to divide my share with my brothers. You agreed to that too, didn’t you? You said that if I just prove I’m more capable than them, you’ll 인정—recognize me as successor and pass all your assets on to me.”
“You did. But can you do it? There’s less than a year left until the time we agreed on.”
“Please wait just a little longer. The start is several times better than Cheonma Consulting was. We still need to watch for a few more months, though.”
“Why did you tear down Cheonma Consulting? At that level, it wouldn’t have been bad in its own way.”
“There was no more room for growth. And would you have acknowledged me with only that much?”
“Hmph, absolutely not. Something like KOSDAQ market cap rank 150—if you can’t get into the top 50, it’s meaningless.”
“I gave up because I figured you’d say that.”
“You’re bold. You even know how to gamble on an uncertain industry.”
“……”
Ma Kyung-rok fell silent.
The truth was, if it hadn’t been for Ryu Min’s suggestion, he wouldn’t have changed industries at all.
“How did you come up with the idea to make a player market? Did you think of it because you’re a player?”
At the Chairman’s question, Ma Kyung-rok hesitated.
Should he tell the truth that it was Ryu Min’s idea, or should he claim it entirely as his own?
Ma Kyung-rok had to choose.
And he knew which choice was the right one.
‘Father isn’t someone who wouldn’t be able to find that out.’
With a sigh inside, Ma Kyung-rok answered honestly.
“That idea wasn’t mine.”
“What did you say?”
“There is a Major Shareholder who acquired 51% of our company. He proposed and devised the idea. Right now we’re working together as business partners.”
“It was someone else’s idea? Who is it?”
Ma Kyung-rok turned around.
Ryu Min was right there in view.
“Major Shareholder. Do you have a moment?”
“Ah, yes.”
Ryu Min, who’d been watching, approached the Chairman.
“Chairman. It’s him.”
“Hello. My name is Ryu Min.”
“……”
He kept his face expressionless, but Ryu Min knew.
The Chairman was quite shocked inside.
-That kid barely looks twenty, and he’s the one with ultimate control?