Chapter 214: New Project’s Great Success
Taking a closer look at the Longsword in his hand, he realized it seemed to be true.
It was second-hand, true, and the blade had several nicks, but with a few repairs, it really would be about the same as the Longswords in the weapon shop priced at two or three Silver Coins.
“I guess it really is…”
Gradually, the gloom on the man’s face completely vanished, replaced by a hint of pleasant surprise.
After all, he’d originally thought he’d lost 3 Silver Coins, but now it seemed he had broken even. Of course, he was delighted.
Little did he know, he had fallen completely into Lu Wei’s verbal trap.
True, there were many similar Longswords in the weapon shop, and they were indeed priced at around 2 Silver Coins.
The problem was, the difference between 2 and 3 Silver Coins was a full one-third.
But Lu Wei, with the simple phrase “two or three Silver Coins,” had smoothed over that price difference.
Furthermore, the sticker price was the selling price, not the buy-back price.
This price not only included the weapon shop’s costs and profit margin but also the inevitable room for haggling.
This subtly inflated the price even further.
And that wasn’t even counting the cost of repairing the Weapon.
So, when all was said and done, the true Value of this Sword was actually only between 50 and 60 Copper Coins.
If he tried to sell it to a weapon shop or a merchant, that’s about the price he would get.
But now, Lu Wei had somehow managed to talk its value up to 3 Silver Coins…
‘Heh heh, this is the art of persuasion.’
‘Make the customer think they’ve come out ahead, when in reality, they’ve been completely fleeced.’
‘I’ve truly mastered the essence of marketing.’
Watching the man leave, completely satisfied, Lu Wei turned back to the crowd.
“Who’s next?”
The crowd was silent for a moment, then erupted.
“I’ll buy one! I’ll buy one!”
“Me too! If even the most basic white box breaks even, you’d have to be a fool not to buy!”
“It really is a blessing from the Goddess of Fortune!”
“Hey, stop shoving! I was here first!”
It turned out the “Equipment Blind Box” venture was entirely feasible.
Over the next ten minutes, Lu Wei sold another eight boxes in quick succession.
One green Extraordinary, three blue Rare, and five white Ordinary.
Since this was the “first day of building his brand,” Lu Wei had set the probability for High Level Boxes relatively high, so the drop rate was quite good.
Coupled with his spin, what was clearly a “major loss” from an Ordinary box became “breaking even,” a “minor loss” from a Rare box became a “small profit,” and a “small profit” from an Extraordinary box became a “huge win.”
This only made the crowd more convinced that he was acting on an oracle from the Goddess of Fortune and running a charity.
Of course, a few clever people saw through his rhetoric.
But that didn’t diminish the others’ enthusiasm, and Lu Wei couldn’t care less.
After all, every business model has its “target audience.”
So it didn’t matter if some people were skeptical. As long as there were others who weren’t, and he could keep selling boxes, everything was fine.
And right now, everything was going very smoothly.
Almost too smoothly.
Hiss…
Watching the Dwarf in front of him lock his gaze on a rectangular box, Lu Wei’s heart couldn’t help but tighten.
Inside that very box was the Advanced One-handed Sword he had prepared for Reck.
According to the plan, Reck should have shown up earlier and picked this specific box.
But because the boxes were selling so fast, the timing was now slightly off…
‘Damn it! I hid it so well, how did he find it?!’
‘This won’t do. I have to think of something, fast!’
Seeing the Dwarf’s interest in the box intensifying, Lu Wei glanced at Reck, who was now approaching. His mind raced.
Obviously, refusing to sell it was not an option.
The big-bearded Dwarf had already paid. Refusing to sell would be commercial suicide, destroying his credibility.
Plenty of companies in his past life had pulled stunts like this, but this was the very first day of his blind box venture. If he did that now, he’d probably never sell another box again.
Therefore…
‘There’s only one thing to do!’
A moment later, Lu Wei gritted his teeth. He silently shifted his position, using his body to block the view of most of the crowd, then gave his fingers a light flick.
Immediately, a faint but distinct glimmer of gold light flashed from another small box right next to the target.
“Hm?”
The two boxes were right next to each other, so of course, the big-bearded Dwarf saw the fleeting glint of gold.
His eyes instantly lit up. Believing he’d received a sign from the Goddess of Fortune, he immediately changed his mind, pointing to the small box and exclaiming excitedly,
“This one! I want this one!”
“Alright.”
‘That was way too close…’ Lu Wei breathed a sigh of relief as he handed the small box to the Dwarf. At the same time, he shot a look at Reck, who had just reached the edge of the crowd.
POP~
On one side, the Dwarf excitedly opened the box, and a puff of white powder shot into the air.
On the other, Reck pushed through the crowd, frowning as he sternly berated,
“What’s all this? Who gave you permission to set up a stall here!”
“I’m the Sheriff from the Town Hall. I’ll give you five minutes to pack up and leave immediately!”
“I see.”
“Since you’re merely delivering the Goddess’s blessings to everyone according to an oracle, then this can’t really be considered a business.”
Three minutes later, after listening to Lu Wei’s “explanation,” Reck immediately put on an amiable smile.
‘But to be honest, his acting is way worse than Marcus’s.’
‘He didn’t show a hint of suspicion and just readily believed that story. That’s not the kind of composure you’d expect from an experienced Sheriff.’
‘And his “transition” was also incredibly stiff.’
“How about this, I’ll buy one myself.”
‘Without even waiting for me to speak, Reck took out three Silver Coins from his pouch and impatiently handed them over, showing no “psychological transition” from enforcer to customer whatsoever.’
‘It was like a scene from my past life: a teacher catches a student smoking in the bathroom, the student says, “I only smoke because it helps me study,” and the teacher just accepts this absurd excuse and goes with the flow, lighting up the cigarette the student offers him…’
‘It’s hard to tell if he’s “enforcing the rules” or just jonesing for a smoke.’
In any case, Lu Wei was rather dissatisfied with Reck’s acting.
Fortunately, perhaps due to his status as the Sheriff, the crowd didn’t seem to suspect a thing.
So, not wanting to drag it out, he took the Silver Coins and shot a deliberately casual glance at the target box.
“Alright, please select a box.”
“Hmm…”
Reck nodded, strolled over to the ten remaining boxes, and made a show of deliberating for a few seconds.
Finally, he pointed to the correct one.
“I’ll take this one.”
“Very good. You can open it right here. Whatever’s inside, you can take with you.”
“Haha, I’m so excited! It would be amazing if it’s a piece of High Level Equipment!”
‘Seriously? Could you be any more obvious?!’
‘Just open it already!’
“Anything is possible. Perhaps your wish will come true,”
Lu Wei managed, forcing a smile while silently praying that Reck would stop ad-libbing.
Reck seemed to realize he was talking too much. He gave an awkward cough, squatted down, and lifted the lid of the box just a crack.
At this moment, a large crowd still remained.
Everyone was watching Reck and the rectangular Wooden Box in front of him, holding their breath in anticipation. Clearly, there was a special kind of fun in “watching others open loot boxes.”
It was no wonder “unboxing streamers” were so popular in his past life.
They didn’t play the games and had no particular skills; they just went live to open boxes, and yet they still drew huge audiences.
‘Maybe I can sell tickets for this in the future. After all, it’s a rare form of entertainment around here.’
‘It’s way more interesting than those crappy plays, anyway.’
Watching the surrounding crowd, who were so captivated they seemed to have forgotten all about adventuring, Lu Wei propped his chin on his hand and fell into thought.
And just then, Reck finally opened the box.
And then…
THUMP~
The muffled sound of the mechanism piercing the thin pouch seemed a bit louder than with the previous boxes.
The next second, a brilliant, dazzling golden powder erupted from the box like a fountain, scattering and drifting in the sunlight—a truly noble and stunning sight.
“It’s gold!!
“That must be the highest-level box!”
“Oh my gods! His luck is insane!”
“I wonder what’s inside. I bet it’s worth at least 1 Gold Coin!”
“How could it be that little? Even the blue ones are worth almost 1 Gold Coin!”
Gasp…
In an instant, the crowd erupted for a second time in a clamor of astonishment that could be heard across the entire plaza.
Everyone began to chatter with shocked expressions, debating what could possibly be inside to deserve the title of a “Golden Legendary.”
Only the big-bearded Dwarf, who had yet to leave, was not celebrating. His eyes bulged wide, his face flushed red-hot like a branding iron, and it looked for a moment like he might have a stroke.
“AHH!! That was mine!!!”
“That was supposed to be mine!!!”
“I was going to pick that box!!!”