604 Chapter 604 - Unclear of the Situation (1/2)
Eternal Dominion, who had finally made it over to the 9527 rocky outcrop, could barely contain his excitement when facing this ever burgeoning and thronging crowd. He did not even show a bit of resistance like what Gu Fei had done and just grabbed hold of a monster on his way through. Eternal Dominion leaped right up the rocky outcrop, rolled up his sleeves, and yelled, ”Tag me in!”
Gu Fei, who had just finished a round of lessons at this time, heaved a sigh of relief. Taking two steps backward, he collapsed directly on the ground. Eternal Dominion was perpetually bursting with vibrant energy as he took over Gu Fei's seemingly endless lessons. The players below received a jolt to their senses as well, and their impression toward Gu Fei and his bunch deepened. To think that they actually have two instructors to do shifts! How impressive! With such an established and profound teaching source to tap from, adding on the lowest price of 99 gold coins, everyone present willingly helped Gu Fei's group advertise. ”Cheap price and sufficiently staffed; we like it all!”
”You guys like it, huh! I'm just gonna lie here for a bit…” Gu Fei mumbled to himself even as he heard the cheers from below.
As the sounds from the 9527 outcrop grew louder and louder, their presence slowly became like an assault to the bootleg industry. For an authentic product to be half the price of the bootleg version, imagine just how competitive this would be! As a result, plenty of people willingly waited and only offered the word 'scram; to those bootleggers that were looking to offer their lessons to them.
Slowly but surely, the number of potential students on the bootleggers' end dwindled, and only players who were looking to save time and did not mind the higher prices were willing to patronize their business. This was hardly satisfactory to these bootleggers. They missed that earlier period when business was booming, and they were all being pestered like gurus. But now? Not only did they have to take the initiative to hawk their services to potential clients, many of those they approached ended up sending them off with a single 'scram'.
”What's going on?” These people had been competing with one another before, but when they realized how the situation had gone awry, they could not help but gather for a discussion. Actually, after working for quite some time, these players' pockets were lined deep enough with gold coins that they could figuratively jingle as they ran. However, money was just the sort of thing no one would complain about earning more, and these bootleggers were feeling particularly discontented when they saw how there was more money to be made, yet all of it found their way into someone else's pockets.
”It's that 9527 rocky outcrop. Their price is still the same as ever: 99 gold coins.” One of them had already gone over and gotten a good grasp of the situation.
”Thousand Miles Drunk's bunch is back again!” Someone moaned. The newer players might have no idea, but these bootleggers were all participants of the initial demonstration, so they absolutely knew the entire situation, including the existence of that third routine of the Agility long weapon Gu Fei had shown.
These people were thinking rather simple and plainly at first conception. Figuring that Gu Fei would have no way of instructing like he did for twenty-four hours straight, their initial plan was simply to feed off the table scraps while he was away. But the moment they started their business, they quickly realized just how succulent and sizeable this meat they had bitten into was. It was so big that Gu Fei and his gang would have no way of eating the entire piece all by themselves, even if they were to run their venture twenty-four seven. Thus, they no longer satisfied themselves with mere table scraps and openly vied for a slice of the proverbial pie now, becoming more and more delighted as they fought. It was almost to the point of them forgetting about the existence of the founder, Gu Fei.
As a result, now that Gu Fei had reappeared from his hiatus, even though these bootleggers could still get some business, it devolved from the prime cut to the rump meat. It was truly excruciating.
”That guy! Look at how great things are right now, why is he still adamant on that 99-gold-coin price tag of his? What a d*mb*ss!” These pirates each criticized.
”If this is how he'll do business, how are we going to do ours?” another person complained miserably.
In fact, these bootleggers' prices were all at the same range. Even though they seemed to be competing, none of them were truly entangling with one another. In the beginning, they were all competing by keeping their prices low, forcing the others to see no business if they do not follow suit, which was why they fought like dogs and ruined their bottom lines. Later, when the business boomed, someone tried increasing their price and saw that it barely affected the demand. Naturally, the others were more avid about following closely when there was money to be made, and slowly, everybody increased their prices to the point that it reached somewhere around 200 gold coins. Some greedier individuals were even getting ready to increase their prices right into the 300s, but the sudden intrusion of Gu Fei's 99 gold coins stopped them dead in their tracks, causing all of them to feel even more dejected.
”We don't have a choice. We just gotta lower our prices again!” Someone sighed despondently. He had only managed to get himself four clients all this while. Thus, even though each of them was willing to fork out 200 gold coins, all he managed to make was 800 gold coins with him being limited to four at a time. Anyone else would be laughing their way to the bank if they got such a high rate of earnings, but because this man had experienced that bout of prosperity hours ago, this 800 gold coins now felt a little underwhelming. Perhaps, if he reduced to 99 gold coins, he could gain more students and ultimately average out to earn more.
”Don't panic!” Another waved his hand dismissively. ”I think that Thousand Miles Drunk should have a good idea what's going on by now, yeah? Could he perhaps be thinking that this business has the potential to last? Take us for example; didn't we pivot toward making a quick buck instead of grinding our levels after we learned the routines? There are only going to be more and more players like us as more and more people are taught of this routine, which means that the competition will become even stiffer at that point. It is only a matter of time until this business is picked clean to its bones. Now is the best time to make a killing and leave before it all goes to sh*t. At this time, for this routine to get to 200, even if it goes 300 or 400 gold coins per person, why won't the players be interested? Thousand Miles Drunk must surely be making such a huge blunder to insist on that fixed rate of 99 gold coins. Isn't he trying to make things difficult for us? Come; let's go and have a talk with him.”
The man led the way once he gave his speech, but none of the people behind him moved. This person looked back at the others he had been conversing with, only to see them all staring at him. Someone voiced out, ”Do you have any idea what the situation you're in? That guy's Thousand Miles Drunk, and you're looking to negotiate with him? Are you thinking of using your lips or your sword, huh?”
That person smiled. ”What's there to be afraid of? Isn't he looking to earn some gold as well by setting up this business? I'll give him a cost-benefit analysis, which he can benefit from, as well as help him earn more. Why should I be afraid?”
These people found what he had said to be reasonable and thus nodded. ”Let's go, then.”
Still, someone hesitated. ”I still have three players awaiting me to reach them!”
”Who gives a rat's *ss about those three?! Once we're done with our chat, there's going to be a whole bunch of players lining up to be taught. Let those guys wait awhile.” The man who had said this was spirited, evident showing just how confident and deeply knowledgeable he was regarding the situation at hand.
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Over at the 9527 rocky outcrop, the players were obediently lining on the left and right respectively, leaving a path open right in the middle. This path was used for luring monsters, so everybody made sure not to stand in the way. When these bootleg vendors made their way over, Sword Demon and the lot were still too confused and disoriented collecting the crowd's fees. There were simply too many people for the three to deal with everything that was happening, and it was very likely for many players to have made it past them without paying as they worked their way through the crowd, but none of these three men cared for those that got away. Seeing another group of men directly barreling through the crowd the moment they arrived, the three could hardly be bothered to head over and accost them.
These bootleggers followed along that path used for pulling the monsters and strode forth. The surrounding players wrinkled their brows when they saw their impropriety, yet no one said a word about it. When this handful of bootleggers made their way to the base of the 9527 outcrop and moved to climb up it, they saw Eternal Dominion teaching above. They were, after all, looking to discuss this in private. The crowd was sure to skin them alive if they were to shout everything in front of them amid their lesson.
The crowd burst into a thunderous applause when they saw those bootleggers climb up, giving them such a fright that three of the bunch slipped down the rocky outcrop.
Discussions ran wild among the crowd. ”How indomitable! To think they have so many instructors; they truly are pricing this cheaply while being sufficiently staffed!” When the players saw those people began their ascent to the outcrop the moment they got there, the crowd instantly made the mental correlation between how Gu Fei and Eternal Dominion had arrived before and automatically assumed they were also instructors coming to lend a hand as a result.
Of course, these bootleggers were clueless on what was happening right now, so when they turned to see the crowd's cheers and hopeful gazes, they were all baffled. What they were about to do should garner the hate of the masses, instead! What were they all looking at them so happily for? With this question bouncing about in their minds, these men finally reached the top of the rocky outcrop.
Up on 9527, Eternal Dominion was conscientiously teaching the masses, while Young Master Han was taking swigs from his bottle of liquor two meters behind him, looking absolutely at ease as he sat there drinking. Several steps away from the man was a black-robed Mage sprawled on the surface, looking utterly unseemly.
A good portion of Young Master Han's focus was on that bottle he was holding, not even paying much attention to the situation below the rocky outcrop. He only realized what was happening when those men completed their climb. Eternal Dominion, who had already spotted the men while they were making their climb up, merely popped a question once they made it all the way to this spot. ”What are you guys up here for? Can't you see things clearly from below?”
The leader smiled. ”Oh, no. We're not here to learn. We have something to discuss with you guys.”
”What's the matter?” Young Master Han opened his mouth to ask.
When Eternal Dominion heard Young Master Han take this conversation, he no longer bothered with these newcomers and devoted his full attention to the lesson he was giving.
”May I know which one of you is Thousand Miles Drunk?” the man asked, his eyes already locked on to Gu Fe's prone body. Everybody knew that Thousand Miles Drunk was a Mage; it was obvious by the attires Eternal Dominion and Young Master Han had respectively just what their job classes were.
Gu Fei had already raised his head to look at these men when they first spoke, so when he heard them say that they were looking for him, he hurriedly gathered himself from his messy state and stood before them looking as prim and proper as he could. ”I'm Thousand Miles Drunk. What business do you have with me?”
The other party was delighted at how he had responded, taking it as if Thousand Miles Drunk was showing them respect by addressing them so formally. The person at the front took the initiative once more to speak for his group. ”Ha ha! Excuse us, but we're simply those people teaching this thing here over yonder.” He pointed to the distant grounds even as he gestured at Eternal Dominion's demonstration.
Hearing the man use the word 'thing' made Gu Fei feel extremely unhappy. Even though this routine was hardly considered as kung fu, it would nevertheless still utilize the knowledge that came from it; otherwise, would most gamers not have discovered it before? Thus, hearing others casually referring to it as a 'thing' really ribbed Gu Fei wrongly.
”Well, speak your mind!” Aside from this, Gu Fei really did not mind these men earning money by pirating this routine.
”It's like this; you guys seem to still be pricing this at 99 gold coins.” The person began.
”That's right.”
That man flashed an awkward smile. ”You guys don't actually have to do that. Given how things stand now, not many people have a good grasp of this grinding method, so it's very clearly still a seller's market. Despite us pricing it at over 200 gold coins, there's still a clear demand for this routine, but now that you guys are selling it at 99 gold coins… He he! Actually, we can all still be earning quite a tidy sum if we price it at 200, 300, or even 400 gold coins. However, this situation isn't gonna last for long, so what we ought to do now is to hurry and capitalize on this as best as we can, while we can. Bro, seeing how many people are here, I gather that there are about three to five thousand players, yeah? Think about it; if each of them pays 99 gold coins, just how much more can you make when it's at 299 gold coins, instead?”