Chapter 85: Frenzy
At that moment, Moira Lynch had no idea what kind of uproar her products were causing in the outside world.
Or perhaps she’d guessed, but she didn’t care.
By now, the extreme heat had been going on for some time. The prolonged high temperatures caused water resources to dwindle, led to widespread crop failures, and turned vegetables into a luxury that only the upper echelons and a tiny fraction of the wealthy could afford.
Even then, this luxury merely meant that green vegetables would appear on their dinner tables, and only as an occasional treat, not with every meal.
After all, seed germination rates had plummeted. People were struggling just to grow staple crops, so who had time for vegetables?
Moreover, each vegetable required a massive amount of resources to grow to maturity, not to mention protecting them from pests and diseases.
As a result, people from the middle class and below, deprived of vegetables for so long, suffered from vitamin deficiencies. Various health problems had begun to appear, with constipation being the most obvious.
With everything going in and nothing coming out, vegetables—once considered unimportant, even scorned—were suddenly a hot commodity.
So, when something as amazing as vegetable essence tablets appeared in Moira Lynch’s shop, everyone went crazy trying to grab them. They didn’t care about the flavor; as long as it counted as vegetables, it was good enough.
"Oh my god, they’re actually vegetable essence tablets! Fish Mint flavor? I’ve never had Fish Mint, but I’ve decided—from now on, it’s my favorite vegeta— DAMMIT, WHO SNATCHED MY VEGETABLE ESSENCE TABLETS!!"
"Slow down, slow down, you pack of animals! I haven’t gone in days... At least leave a little for me!!!"
"Chimefin scales? Isn’t this just a weaker version of a Water-cooling Stone? It’s not recommended to buy a Water-cooling Stone for personal use, so this should be portable, right?!"
"Exoskeleton Mecha, Anti-gravity Shoes, a Flying Device, a Gliding Cloak... Is this what I think it is?"
It wasn’t just Cathaya; the whole world was going crazy over Moira Lynch’s shop.
However, these people’s primary targets weren’t the vegetable essence tablets. Their eyes were fixed on the Exoskeleton Mecha and other such items. Of course, the Vegetable Purification Tablets and Energy Bar slices were still worth grabbing.
Everyone was frantically on the phone, demanding that resources be sent over.
「Game Management Bureau.」
A meticulous, serious-faced man asked, "Did you get them?"
"We got them!"
A staff member shot his head up, grinning from ear to ear.
As a non-combat player, his assigned task was to keep a constant watch on the activity in all the major shops.
Among these, as the sole private shop, SoySauceDrunkard’s "Don’t Miss It" shop had attracted attention from countries worldwide.
After all, it was the first player-run shop, and everything it sold was related to interstellar technology.
Either reason was enough to make them take the "Don’t Miss It" shop seriously.
This time, the moment the game ended, he didn’t even take a break. He immediately opened the shop page, and after refreshing for five minutes, the "Don’t Miss It" shop finally updated.
He had immediately locked onto the best and most valuable items.
Exoskeleton Mecha, Flying Device, Space Button...!!
’This is an Exoskeleton Mecha! And a Flying Device! Stuff you only see in sci-fi movies! Their value goes without saying.’
’If I had the resources, I’d buy a set even if it bankrupted me. I mean, who doesn’t dream of having a mecha?’
But unfortunately, he didn’t have the resources. He couldn’t afford it even if he sold everything he owned.
He reported the matter immediately. His superiors responded instantly, pulling strings to have the necessary resources delivered within minutes.
"Hurry, take them out! Let’s see them!" the man urged impatiently.
"Alright, I’m on it."
The excited staff member took out the Exoskeleton Mecha.
A giant metal case appeared in the room.
"This is the Exoskeleton Mecha? How do you use it?"
"The description says to just place a hand on the case. But each Mecha can only be bound to one person, so..."
Everyone in the room stared at the metal case on the floor, their eyes burning with desire—everyone except Redlight, who was still persistently sending messages.
He was completely oblivious to what was happening.
The man took a deep breath, suppressing his own impulse. "Don’t touch this one for now. Where are the other items?"
"Right here. The Flying Device, Space Button, temperature-regulating clothes, Anti-gravity Shoes, and Gliding Cloak." There was one of each.
The man looked at the staff member. "These don’t require binding, do they?"
The staff member shook his head. "They don’t. However, the Space Button only has one cubic meter of storage and a limited number of uses."
The man nodded and his gaze fell upon the Flying Device, which was shaped like a black bat.
The moment he stepped on it, a mechanism on the device automatically secured his feet, and he took off into the air.
Though a bit unsteady at first, the man quickly got the hang of it, zipping around the room on the Flying Device with remarkable flair.
Seeing this, the others eagerly started testing the other items.
The person testing the Anti-gravity Shoes noticed nothing unusual at first—not until he tried taking a step up the wall.
He could actually walk on the walls unaided, as if he had truly escaped gravity’s pull. His jumping ability was terrifying—a casual leap sent him to the ceiling. And that was the limit of the room, not the shoes.
The Gliding Cloak wasn’t on the same level as the Flying Device, but it still allowed for short-distance flight. Even if you jumped from a great height, you wouldn’t be killed by the fall.
The person testing the temperature-regulating clothes took a walk outside. When he returned, he was perfectly fine—he hadn’t even broken a sweat.
After testing every item, the man was ecstatic. He immediately turned to Redlight in the corner and ordered, "Contact SoySauceDrunkard, whatever it takes. Tell them we’ll buy everything they have, price is no object. We absolutely cannot let these items fall into the hands of other countries."
But Redlight had no time for his superior; he was still persistently spamming messages.
Meanwhile, the other countries that had managed to snag items were reacting similarly, if not with even greater frenzy.
"Send word: contact SoySauceDrunkard at any cost. Tell them resources are no object. Also, notify all players who have awakened a Divination Talent. They are to find SoySauceDrunkard, whatever it takes."
"If we can’t control someone like this... then we’ll have to destroy them!"
Meanwhile, Moira Lynch stopped adding items to her shop and opened her private messages. Unsurprisingly, she was greeted by a flood of DMs, including, of course, the ones from Redlight.