I Gain Infinite Gold Just By Waiting-Chapter 236: Episode 48_Money Spirit Bomb (1)

1.

Kim Buja had known a golden age before.

While nothing could compare to his current success, he’d had a previous peak—one that came before he awakened as a player, and long before the lean years when his video channel barely paid for his meals.

It was back when dungeons had just appeared. Interest in games was fading, yet more and more people were flocking to Kim Buja’s channel.

There was a reason for it.

It was the mood back then, the culture.

The players who would shine in dungeons would ultimately be those who had proven themselves with their control in games!

That wasn’t just a random guess; it was a reasonable deduction.

Setting aside the question of whether games and dungeons could be seen on the same level, the people who had fought unfamiliar monsters in games and shaken off some of their fear of combat would adapt faster, even if only by a little.

In that sense, Kim Buja was a rising star.

What if he went into a dungeon?

What would he show them?

On land no one else had ever set foot on, would every footprint belong to him?

Fans and even ordinary people waited with anticipation for Kim Buja’s awakening.

He had the same expectations, so he rode the wave and prepared to enter a dungeon.

It wasn’t that unrealistic a dream.

The number of people awakening as players was extremely small, but it wasn’t zero. You could easily see groups of players heading for dungeons if you looked around; the world had changed that much.

’Maybe I’ll awaken too. Someone like me should awaken, right?’

Those big dreams amounted to nothing but inflated expectations.

A day, two days, a month, half a year.

As time passed, the people who had come with high hopes drifted away to other channels.

His gameplay was still impressive and worthy of applause, but for those who had been waiting to see him shine in real dungeons, it no longer hit the same.

Overnight, games had become practice runs.

’The number of players is tiny anyway,’ he had thought. ’The rest of the people, the ones who can’t go into dungeons, will come to games to vent their dreams and hopes.’

All those guesses had been pointless.

People get used to stimulation and raise their standards.

When VR games first came out, people had said that with the expensive capsules and the time you had to devote solely to them, PC online games would still hold strong. Less than a year later, they were on the road to ruin.

VR games were the same.

As predicted, more people played them.

But video channel revenue plummeted to an unspeakable degree.

Before that, at the very peak of his golden age, Kim Buja had once had a thought.

’If all these people just donated 10 cents each, I probably wouldn’t even need to awaken as a player.’

That was back when he had prayed every day, anxious and impatient, wondering when he would awaken.

Back when just starting a stream would pull in a baseline of five million viewers, including those from overseas.

He had made a lot from views alone, that was true, but if you added donations on top of that...

Even when he didn’t have that many viewers, he would sometimes think about it.

Every little bit adds up.

If you gathered enough small amounts of money, it would become a Spirit Bomb and make him rich.

Who would have thought that five years later, that wish would actually come true?

“This is insane...”

▶ Points Owned: 912,400

That was what he had earned in a single day.

Not even a full twenty-four hours.

[SVIP Mileage]

▶ Mileage Tier: Normal

▶ Mileage Accumulation Rate: 2%

▶ Additional Mileage Accumulation Rate: 8.1%

→ Gold Power +8.1%

▶ Mileage Owned: 2,230,102 M

▷ You can spend 100,000 M to increase your Mileage tier.

The revamped Mileage system had helped a lot.

All that had changed was the SVIP Mileage system and a higher accumulation rate, but thanks to the gold he had spent on the continent, he had racked up Mileage easily.

The amount required to raise his tier had increased, but that wasn’t a problem.

He immediately spent 100,000 Mileage to raise it to Rare, then burned another 1,000,000 to raise it to Epic.

His base Mileage accumulation rate rose to 10%, and with an 18.1% total rate, he could now experience the miracle of earning 18,100 Mileage from spending just 100,000 gold.

Of course, that wasn’t the important part.

What mattered were the functions he could use with Mileage.

[Mileage Videos]

▶ Gold Missions

[Gold Mission Chapter 1-1]

▶ Video Sharing

“Video Sharing” had always existed as a feature.

But when he upgraded to SVIP, a new system was added that let him upload videos, not just share them with individual players.

▶ Upload Video

→ Upload the selected video. You can set a purchase price, and the payment will be converted and deposited in the buyer’s currency.

→ Fees for different payment methods and upload fees may vary.

That was why both players and ordinary people could watch the Gold Mission videos, and why the behind-the-scenes story was offered in two wildly different currencies: 200 points and $200.

Naturally, the amount that went to Kim Buja differed accordingly.

If a player paid 200 points, he got about 100 points.

If a non-player paid $200, it was converted to points, and he got about 10.

The efficiency was terrible.

Converted to gold, it was only 10%.

This was why he chose to receive payment in points instead of gold.

Not that he was complaining.

The 10 points from each non-player made up the bulk of his income, and without them, he would never have reached 910,000 points.

’At this rate...’

This was just one day.

The next day, and the day after that.

If it spread by word of mouth and went viral...

He couldn’t even begin to estimate how many points he might accumulate.

So he gave up.

’They’re all so screwed.’

He didn’t even feel like doing the math.

Points were basically money.

If they were going to keep flowing in endlessly, there was no need to agonize over how much he had earned or how much he needed to save.

He already had more than enough to worry about.

What mattered was how to spend it.

He set out to solve that problem.

* * *

“The island got bigger, huh?”

“Heh heh. Thanks to you, I’ve made a lot.”

The Point Dungeon, which he hadn’t visited in a while, had grown to twice the size it had been the last time he was there.

The buildings, stacked high with goods, hadn’t grown any taller, but they had certainly become more luxurious.

From the old man’s finer clothes to the maids serving him, Buja could tell that selling those free tickets had been quite profitable.

“Aren’t you worried you’ll go broke if you keep pouring everything you earn into expanding the shop?”

“I’m not just selling to humans, you know.”

“Oh, right. I see other races here now.”

“They’ve always come, from time to time. Heh heh.”

Either way, seeing the old man looking so much more prosperous, Buja felt he was finally beginning to understand why merchants were willing to risk their lives for their business.

For the old man, managing the Point Dungeon must have felt like expanding his own home. There had to be a special kind of satisfaction in growing a dungeon that was practically his house.

In a way, this place was just another dungeon.

Just as he had grown attached to his Ice Castle and felt a deep satisfaction from upgrading it through dungeon management, Buja could understand the appeal.

That was why he was sure they could be good partners. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Have you gotten anything good in stock?”

“Heh heh. I have plenty of things that are more than ordinary humans can handle.”

The old man’s voice was filled with pride.

And for good reason.

It wasn’t arrogance or conceit.

From the very beginning, back when this was just a tiny island, most of the items for sale had been high-end and expensive—the kind of things players would covet but could rarely afford.

Now that the island had grown this large, the most expensive items were likely so rare that most players would never even lay eyes on them.

That applied to Buja as well, even now.

Yet he didn’t feel the slightest bit intimidated.

Perhaps he would have in the past, but not anymore. He had already settled the score with the old man; there was no reason to be intimidated.

“Have you ever heard of a Spirit Bomb?”

He met the old man’s curious gaze and declared his intentions with confidence.

“It’s a move where people on Earth gather energy, but I’ve gathered a Money Bomb instead. I need to buy another castle this time, so let’s go see what you have in the two-million-point range.”

2.

The old man watched with a rueful expression as Kim Buja walked away, a massive sack slung over his back.

“Heh heh...”

“I’ll be back again!” Buja called out. “Please stock up on the items I mentioned. I’ll probably bring several times as many points as I did today, so you’d better get a bigger wallet ready. Moving the dungeon to Korea was a good call, but it’s still a bit far. If you can, you should move it closer to Gangnam. The land’s expensive, sure, but I’ll be selling a lot for you from now on.”

Waving his hand, he confidently promised his return.

The old man couldn’t dismiss that confidence.

The spending power Buja had displayed today was enough to leave even him speechless.

He might have earned more today than he had from selling all the Ice Castle admission tickets.

Of course, in terms of pure profit, it was a different story.

For the old man, however, this kind of deal was more beneficial.

Earning points was nice, but in the end, what mattered was his sales performance.

Selling high-quality items and boosting his performance metrics was the nourishment he needed to advance in the world.

That was why he was already looking forward to Buja’s next visit.

He was curious just how many points the man, who always kept his promises, would bring to spend next time.

Buja didn’t hold back.

He showed exactly how many points he had, then spent every last one with ruthless efficiency.

Last time, he had focused on potions that increased damage against monsters.

This time, he had gone for equipment.

A few of the rare, hard-to-stock items the old man had painstakingly acquired were sold off in an instant. Then, Buja had requested even more expensive items with stats so good that even the old man would have trouble acquiring them at the moment.

If an ordinary player had made such demands, the old man might have cut off their arms and legs.

He might smile as he took points and sold items, but he was still a being higher on the food chain than humans.

Yet he hadn’t done that.

Not to Kim Buja.

He had acknowledged him.

“Heh heh. Looks like I’ll have to hustle for the first time in a while.”

If he wanted to have everything ready and earn those points before Buja showed up again, he would have to move fast.

“Watch the shop for me.”

“Yes, Master.”

The old man spoke to the maids, then heaved his heavy body to its feet.

He stood at the entrance, where countless players came and went.

The island had grown so large that he would soon be able to puff out his chest in front of other merchants, yet he still felt a pang of regret.

It was the kind of regret that could only come from a merchant to the core, someone who understood profit and loss better than anyone.

Day after day, the growth had been incredible, but every time Kim Buja left, this lingering sense of frustration remained.

The fifty-percent discount.

If he could turn back time, that was the one moment he would undo.

* * *