Chapter 107 - Black Phenol Frenzy

The first team to succeed in clearing a new dungeon would receive additional rewards and Honour. Not to mention, since Sosil Valley was the final Level 3 dungeon, the equipment dropped there would be the best. These benefits spurred numerous guild leaders into attempting Sosil Valley with their elite members. Though the price of pioneering was wrought with bitterness and difficulty, some teams still advanced dauntlessly. Yet, in the end, the overwhelming majority would fail to even reach the boss, falling victim to the extremely potent poison of the common mobs.

A hallucinogenic poison that applied the fear status debuff and robbed the player of all movement ability… Presently, the only cure for it was Black Phenol!

Shortly after Sosil Valley’s opening, the demand for Black Phenol magnified countless times over. All of a sudden, it became the hottest selling item in the marketplace.

Sosil Valley was situated inside of a wide, open prairie. Today, the normally tranquil fields were bustling with activity as various teams from notable guilds dotted the entire region.

Among the teams gathered in the prairie, a group of Azure Falling Sky members were discussing a certain matter regarding the quantity of Black Phenol in the marketplace.

“This is really odd... Logically speaking, since we were one of the very first guilds to enter the dungeon, you’d think we’d be one of the first groups to snag all the Black Phenol in the marketplace, but when our members in the city arrived at the auction house... all of the Black Phenol suddenly vanished, and we were only able to purchase three bottles.”

“Just which guild was able to move faster than us...?”

“Captain Clear Sky, we’ve already ordered our Alchemists to put down what they’re doing and concentrate on producing Black Phenol.”

The person these guild members addressed as Clear Sky was a Paladin with the appearance of a man in his mid-twenties. His tall stature, standing at almost six foot three, was clad in unadorned ash-gray armour. The solemn expression on his face and imposing pressure he emanated left the other members feeling stifled and tense.

As the star player of Azure Falling Sky, one of the nation’s top ten gaming organizations, Clear Sky’s name was well-known to the gamers of China.

“How long will our supply of Black Phenol last us for?” Clear Sky asked. Someone was a step ahead of them and purchased all of the Black Phenol in the auction house. Thus, he could only look towards other methods.

“If we use them sparingly, we can still do another run of the dungeon.”

“How many of our Alchemists have learned how to concoct Black Phenol?”

“Only one…” the guild member embarrassedly replied.

Clear Sky’s expression became even more gloomy. If their supply of Black Phenol couldn’t keep up, then some other guild would get the first clear for Sosil Valley, which meant their rankings might fall by several places again. For a large gaming organization like them, falling one or two spots meant significant financial losses.

However, this type of development wasn’t only happening to them. In fact, aside from Azure Falling Sky... Victorious Return, Holy Empire, Brilliant Mother Earth, Atlantis, and almost all the other large guilds were in similar dilemmas. The market was entirely devoid of Black Phenol, and their own Alchemists couldn’t produce enough to keep up with the guild’s needs.

The guilds preparing to enter Sosil Valley numbered over sixty—

—and the same problem was perplexing all of them!

“Captain Sleepy Fox, what are we going to do? Without any Black Phenol, we won’t be able to run Sosil Valley! We’ll end up falling behind the other guilds. I heard someone found a piece of Gold equipment for Warriors in a recent run,” Dusk said in a gloomy tone. He felt their situation was the most tragic. There wasn’t a single Alchemist in the entire guild who could concoct Black Phenol, nor did they have any in the guild’s treasury.

“Give me the list of drops for Sosil Valley,” Sleepy Fox ordered, his tone somewhat jittery.

“Warrior’s Primal Wind and Tenacious Metal sets, Elementalist’s Scorching Flame Burst set, and a bunch of non-set equipment.” Dusk handed over the list to Sleepy Fox, but then, Nie Yan popped in his mind, and he quickly added, “This is only the list for Easy. No one knows what Specialist drops yet.”

“Tenacious Metal set... No, this won’t do. We must obtain that set!” As for the Black Phenol, first try and find an Alchemist who knows how to concoct it. If that won’t do, just contact the other guilds and offer to buy some for a high price! Where do Black Phenol Recipes and the required materials to concoct them drop?”Sleepy Fox scanned over the other team members.

“Celadon Tides Valley, but the drop rates are pretty terrible. We can go there, but we won’t obtain much.”

“Silent Gulf and Black Charred Islands also have them.”

“Are there any other areas?” Sleepy Fox asked.

“Not that we know of.”

“Tell some of our members to head over to those areas to farm. I refuse to believe this shortage will hold us back!”

“The other guilds have probably thought up something similar. They’ll be sending their forces to those areas as well. We won’t be able to obtain very much if we’re forced to share with too many players.”

"Sigh… Doesn’t matter. We’ll just have to take what we can get,” Sleepy Fox replied.

As predicted, various guilds shifted their manpower to gathering Black Phenol Recipes and the materials required for concocting it. Many teams soon departed the prairies in droves, and the bustling fields once more returned to their previous tranquil state.

Recently, Calore became even more lively, bustling with noise and activity. Many players were advertising on the streets: “Purchasing Black Phenol! Twenty-five copper per bottle, ten silver for a recipe!”

These prices had already surpassed the ones in his past life by more than ten times over.

Due to Nie Yan regularly cleaning the auction house out of all Black Phenol and related items for the past several days, the shortage in supply had grown even wider. As a result, the spike in prices rose even more sharply in this timeline. Even though others were offering generous amounts to purchase these items, very few players were willing to part with them

Yet the buying frenzy was just beginning. Players possessing large quantities of Black Phenol quickly caught on and began hoarding their stock, waiting for the prices to swell even more. Thus, the already depleted supply of Black Phenol only dwindled further.

After checking the market price, Nie Yan knew it would inflate even more. Right now it was a seller’s market, a state of affairs that would last for at least ten more days, so he was perfectly willing to bide his time. After all, he had complete control of the market.

Nie Yan checked his bag. With the Unknown Transfer Scroll, he would be able to retrieve another chapter from the Book of Order. However, before he planned to set off, a certain matter popped in his mind. Before he headed for the second chapter, he would need to complete this task first.

This matter was similarly dangerous, but the reward was simply too enticing.

Nie Yan headed to the NPC shop and purchased a large quantity of consumables. Then, he proceeded to the auction house to resupply on high-quality crossbow bolts, as well as purchasing a great deal of Silk Cloth, which he crafted into Combat Bandages. Furthermore, he bought some black garbs which had the property of hiding his appearance.

Nie Yan’s destination was a zone with monsters exceeding Level 10, so the Flash Powder, Web Scrolls, and Sheep Transformation scrolls wouldn’t be of any use, but he kept some in his bag anyways just in case.

Once he finished his preparations, he headed for the transfer area.

Along the way there, he came across countless players looking to purchase Black Phenol, which only further confirmed his speculations. The various guilds were extremely desperate. It seemed his choice of investing into this market early on was clearly a correct one.

Nie Yan suddenly had a thought. Holy Empire should be feeling immense pressure in trying to secure a supply of Black Phenol. If he called up Sleepy Fox and lent him a hand right now… Knowing his personality, if anything were to occur in the future, Sleepy Fox would certainly make sure to repay the favour.

Selling a portion of his supply to Holy Empire would be immensely beneficial for both sides. Not only would he obtain short term benefits, but when the other guilds saw Holy Empire reaping rewards from exploring the dungeon, they would undoubtedly turn green with envy, serving only to inflate the price of Black Phenol to even more ludicrous levels. In short, Nie Yan would be able to earn a large profit, make Sleepy Fox owe him a favour, and raise the price of Black Phenol simultaneously. This was killing three birds with one stone!