Chapter 215: Hunger Marketing
The crowd’s clamor lasted for a good four or five minutes.
It only started to die down after Reck left, completely satisfied with his One-handed Sword.
Before leaving, Reck even made a point of letting everyone “admire” the Sword.
After all, the Value of a Weapon or a piece of Equipment isn’t as obvious as a Healing Potion. You have to check its attributes to get a rough estimate.
When everyone got their hands on it and discovered the Sword actually had two attributes, they naturally grew even more envious. They could only curse their own hesitation for missing such a great opportunity.
As for the Dwarf who had truly “missed the grand prize”…
He had already staggered away while everyone else was admiring the One-handed Sword.
He was muttering things like, “This is fate,” and “This is systemic oppression against Dwarves.”
He looked utterly hopeless.
Lu Wei could completely understand his feelings. It was the same regret he’d felt back in the day after checking his college entrance exam answers and realizing he’d changed a correct answer to a wrong one.
So, he decided that if the Dwarf came back tomorrow, he would give him an Extraordinary box as compensation.
‘Sigh, I’m just too kind.’
Shaking his head, he looked away and continued selling the remaining nine boxes.
Spurred on by the “golden Legendary,” the rest sold out even faster, snatched up in less than five minutes.
“Huh? They’re all gone already?”
“Hurry back and get more! We’ll wait here!”
“Yeah, how is twenty enough to go around?!”
“This is a gift from the Goddess of Fortune! Don’t tell me you’re taking a cut for yourself, kid!”
Seeing the boxes sell out so quickly, those who hadn’t managed to buy one grew restless, clamoring for Lu Wei to restock immediately.
To be honest, given the current situation, he could have easily sold another twenty, or even more.
But Lu Wei wasn’t about to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Instead, he hopped onto his cart and shouted,
“According to the Goddess’s oracle, there will only be twenty boxes per day for the first ten days!”
“If you still want to buy one, come earlier tomorrow!”
“Damn it, I’m heading into the forest tomorrow!”
“Me too! If I’d known, I wouldn’t have hesitated just now!”
“Twenty is way too few!”
Hearing there were only twenty a day, the crowd immediately erupted in another round of dissatisfied grumbling.
But Lu Wei paid them no mind and offered no further explanation. He and Bai Ya loaded the empty boxes onto the cart, then slowly led the donkey away from the small square.
Behind them, the crowd lingered for a while longer before gradually dispersing.
It probably wouldn’t even take a day for the name “Lucky Blind Box” to spread throughout Heitai Town and become the most talked-about news of the day.
The story of “someone pulling a High Level Weapon with two attributes” in particular would greatly enhance the tale’s credibility and legendary status.
Ultimately, it would attract even more people to try their luck.
After all, no one could resist the temptation of “becoming Heitai Town’s luckiest person of the day.”
Just imagine: you open a box surrounded by a crowd, a golden light explodes forth, and a tide of gasps and praise washes over you… That “honor” was enough to captivate 90% of all Adventurers.
Because 90% of them might never experience such a moment in the spotlight in their entire lives.
Not to mention there was a “grand prize” with an incredibly high return waiting for them.
‘So, in the end, it’s all about providing enough emotional value.’
‘If I were just selling blind boxes, I might as well open a casino.’
‘But this whole unboxing and gacha-pulling business is way more profitable than a casino.’
Glancing back, Lu Wei felt smug, believing he had taken another solid step toward becoming the richest man on the continent.
Beside him, a somewhat confused Bai Ya asked,
“Captain, why are we only selling twenty boxes a day?”
“If we hurry back, reset the mechanisms, and put in the prizes, we can make another twenty Lucky Blind Boxes before noon.”
“You don’t get it. This is called ‘hunger marketing.’”
Lu Wei explained, “It’s about intentionally creating the illusion of a supply shortage. It makes customers think the goods are scarce, which increases their desire to buy.”
“Ah, I think I get it…”
Bai Ya summarized, with only a partial understanding, “So, it’s just tricking people.”
“…”
‘You don’t get a damn thing!’
Lu Wei pursed his lips. “It’s not tricking people. It’s just a sales tactic.”
“Okay, even if it’s not tricking people, what’s the point of doing it?”
Bai Ya still looked lost. “Is it to raise the price?”
“That’s only part of it. The main goal is to increase the brand’s ‘added value.’”
Lu Wei casually threw out another term Bai Ya had never heard, muttering in reply,
“Since it’s a gift from the Goddess of Fortune, we can’t just have an unlimited supply. That would devalue it.”
“Our Lucky Blind Boxes are going for a high-end image. If you want one, you have to fight for it. If you don’t get one, you have to wait for tomorrow.”
“Only then can this business be sustainable in the long run.”
Ah!
So that’s how it is!
“Mhm, mhm!”
Bai Ya nodded. “I didn’t understand a single word!”
‘What do you mean you didn’t understand?!’
Lu Wei rubbed his forehead in agony. “You don’t need to understand. Just do whatever I tell you to do.”
“Okay, so what do I do now?”
“Go back and prepare tomorrow’s Lucky Blind Boxes, of course.”
“Oh, oh, and about the share of the profits you promised…”
“Hm?”
Hearing this, Lu Wei’s face instantly fell. He was just about to lecture Bai Ya about being too greedy.
But on second thought, he had indeed promised her a share of the profits yesterday. It wouldn’t look good to go back on his word after just one day.
Besides, Bai Ya was responsible for all three of their daily meals, and he had never reimbursed her for the cost of ingredients.
‘Fine.’
“Not today. Even though we made 6 Gold Coins, we had a lot of High Level Boxes, and when you factor in that Advanced One-handed Sword, there was almost no profit.”
After a moment, Lu Wei grumbled reluctantly,
“We’ll start tomorrow. I’ll give you 5% of the profits.”
“In other words, after deducting costs, if we make 1 Silver Coin in profit, you’ll get 5 Copper Coins. If we make 1 Gold Coin, you’ll get 50 Copper Coins.”
“You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”
Looking at Bai Ya, Lu Wei admitted that 5% was a little low.
But it was the most he was willing to offer in good faith.
After all, the “Lucky Blind Box project”—from conception to preparation to execution—was all his own work.
To put it bluntly, Bai Ya was just a “startup employee.”
He was already being generous by not making empty promises about “stock options.”
“Don’t you underestimate this 5%…”
Seeing Bai Ya suddenly freeze, as if she thought the cut was too small, Lu Wei’s face hardened again. He was about to teach her a lesson about being content with what she gets.
But in the next second, Bai Ya’s eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly with immense joy.
“Okay, okay! I have no objections!”
“To be honest, I didn’t expect to get this much!”
“…”
‘What the hell? Is this some of that Yin-Yang Strange Qi?’
As it turned out, Bai Ya was not being Yin-Yang Strange Qi.
She genuinely thought 5% was a lot.
This, in turn, made Lu Wei feel a little regretful.
‘If I’d known she was so easy to please, I should have just given her 1%.’
But he had already said it, and he planned to eventually hand over the entire Lucky Blind Box operation to Bai Ya, so in the end, he could only reluctantly be generous this one time.
Though with Bai Ya’s intelligence, he could have easily used a little “art of language” to trick her into accepting a lower percentage.
‘Sigh, a boss like me who keeps his word is a rare find.’
“Alright, go reset the mechanisms.”
“Don’t forget, this time there’s only one Legendary box, two Extraordinary boxes, five Rare boxes, and the rest are all Ordinary.”
Half an hour later, the two returned to their small wooden cabin, leading the donkey cart.
Because sales had been much faster than expected, it was only a little after ten o’clock. Even Hess wasn’t awake yet.
After adding some fodder to Xiaohui’s wooden trough, Bai Ya went to the backyard to continue her work.
Meanwhile, Lu Wei first selected the prizes for the second batch of Lucky Blind Boxes, then returned to his bedroom and began to think about his plans for the near future.
First, in about seven or eight days, the construction over at the Dome Pillar would be completely finished.
Before then, he had to sort out the “security” issue and find a way to reverse his current “scam shop” reputation.
Second, the Lucky Blind Box project had just started. He needed to keep a close eye on it for the next few days. Only after it was running smoothly could he hand it over completely to Bai Ya, or perhaps find someone else to take charge.
At the same time, he also needed to lay the groundwork for a future “business merger”—that is, moving the Lucky Blind Box sales location to the general store.
Finally, there was the matter of Furen and Freya.
From the looks of it, Freya seemed to have softened her stance and was trying to resolve the issue with money.
He didn’t know why she’d had this change of heart, but it was undoubtedly a good thing for him.
Perhaps it was time to “cash in” that 100 Gold Coin IOU.
WHOOSH~
Sitting on his bed, Lu Wei casually tossed the wooden die in his hand.
It traced a short arc through the air, landed on the bedsheet, and rolled a few times before stopping.
[13]
‘Hmm, my luck seems to be back to normal today…’
‘Though it’s not like this thing is useful at all.’
‘Ah, whatever.’
‘I’ll go this afternoon!’
Before noon, all twenty new Lucky Blind Boxes were ready.
Lu Wei slightly lowered the drop rate, but to solidify today’s success, he still bit the bullet and set up one “golden Legendary” prize.
It was the [Fire Burning Magic] Magic Scroll.
When he first got this Scroll, it had seven uses left.
He had used it a few times since then… to burn down Nick’s cave entrance and to kill a Giant. Now it had three uses remaining.
According to the “Precise Identification” appraisal, it was worth a little less than two Gold Coins.
It was cheaper than the One-handed Sword he’d given to Reck, but in a small place like Heitai Town, it was still worthy of being called a “golden Legendary.”
Besides, Lu Wei could now openly use [Light-guided Arrow], so he no longer had any need for it.
So, he simply put it in one of the boxes as a prize.
“By the way, who is tomorrow’s grand prize rigged for?”
Bai Ya suddenly asked during lunch.
Hm?
‘Is that really what you think of me?’
Lu Wei shot her a glance. “It’s not rigged. Whoever pulls it, gets it.”
“Really?”
Bai Ya looked skeptical. “Somehow, I don’t think you’d be that generous.”
“Believe it or not… Hm? Don’t tell me you’ve got some ideas of your own?”
“Huh? What kind of ideas?”
“Like, for instance, you want to pull that box yourself.”
“N-No way!”
Faced with such an accusation, Bai Ya’s eyes went wide. “How could I ever do something like that!”
“If you say so. No need to get so worked up.”
Lu Wei bit into his bread nonchalantly and mumbled,
“Besides, you’re an employee. There’s nothing wrong with it. Just think of it as an employee benefit.”
“But I wouldn’t! I don’t cheat!”
“Give me a break. Then why didn’t you expose me this morning?”
“I… I just don’t cheat myself…”
Bai Ya’s face turned red as she muttered under her breath, “I can’t control it if you cheat…”
“Alright, then just keep it that way.”
Not bothering to say more, Lu Wei quickly swallowed his bread and stood up.
“I’m going to find Freya. If you have nothing to do this afternoon, go find Marcus and get the Healing Potion back.”
“Eh? Are you going to discuss Furen’s situation with her?”
Bai Ya froze and quickly put down her wooden bowl. “I want to go too!”
“What would you do there?”
Lu Wei waved his hand dismissively and walked straight out the door. “You’re so clumsy with your words, you’d be useless.”
“That’s true… Well, you have to make Furen’s intentions clear to her.”
Bai Ya followed him, nagging worriedly, “Make her understand Furen’s conviction and determination.”
“Okay, I get it.”
“You could tell her about how brave Furen was during our adventures.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.”
“Even if you can’t get through to her, be patient. Don’t get into a fight.”
Bai Ya followed Lu Wei all the way to the courtyard gate before finally stopping, adding one last special instruction.
Lu Wei, however, just gave another perfunctory agreement and walked away without a backward glance.
A gentle breeze brushed past her brown hair and the hem of her linen skirt. Bai Ya stood outside the gate, watching his retreating back with a worried expression and a strange sense of unease in her heart.
She’d had this same feeling before, back when they were in the forest.
‘Say, Freya isn’t going to become my love rival, is she?’
‘Probably not.’
‘She’s a noble lady, after all. How could she fall for an ordinary person?’