webnovel Chapter 1098: Good News
Chapter 1098: Good News
"..."
"..."
One would honestly think the Bridge was angry.
Because the way it abruptly retracted, sealed itself shut, and practically left them out of the transaction made it feel less like a marketplace and more like an offended merchant ending a conversation.
However, once the lingering light faded and everyone’s vision returned to normal, they were finally greeted by something rather interesting.
A new projection hovered before them.
At the very top was a countdown timer starting from seventy-two hours.
And beneath it was a listing of every product they currently had available for sale.
"!"
"Woah..."
The whole thing was surprisingly impressive to look at.
Luca found himself glancing toward his calm husband, who had thankfully helped create all the labels earlier.
Without Xavier, the whole thing would’ve almost certainly been a disaster.
Luca could only imagine how bare and depressing everything would have looked if they had simply uploaded random jars without the adorable bee mascots attached to them.
Of course, he had helped too.
What the little wife didn’t particularly notice, however, was just how adamant Sid and D-29 had been about keeping him seated and focused on blocking out the nonstop barrage of prompts instead of helping with the actual design work.
Still, there was no real need to bring that up. Everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses, after all.
Besides, the final result was already being thoroughly appreciated by those who possessed a similarly suspicious sense of aesthetics.
"Wow!"
Ollie immediately leaned forward.
"Brother, it actually looks legit!"
"Right?!" Luca giggled. "I’m so glad we didn’t immediately give in to the prompts!"
The golden-eyed cadet looked genuinely pleased with himself.
Then he tilted his head.
"But I wonder if this window will just stay here for the entire three days?"
"Well, hopefully it does," Ollie replied thoughtfully. "That way we can check whether anything gets sold."
The blonde pointed toward the listings.
"Because see? Under each product it says things like twenty-five out of twenty-five. That’s kind of like the Limited-Time Items, right?"
Luca immediately nodded.
"Yeah!"
The little money-grubber stared at the display while quietly dreaming about their first sale.
Just knowing that they now had another, significantly more peaceful method of earning CP already made him feel infinitely better.
Of course, he was trying to keep his expectations realistic.
Even if this first attempt failed, that would be okay.
They could always continue experimenting until they found something people actually wanted.
Business was about learning after all.
And if things didn’t sell this time—
Then they’d simply improve next time.
Unfortunately for his carefully prepared emotional speech...
He never got the chance to finish it.
Because suddenly, a large hand wrapped around his forearm.
"Huh?"
Luca blinked.
"Luca," Xavier said carefully. "I think you need to look at this."
The little dungeon owner turned immediately.
Honestly, his attention could’ve been called by Kyle or Ollie as well.
However, both of them currently looked far too stunned to pull anyone out of their reverie.
So it fell upon the Imperial Prince to drag Luca out of his increasingly hopeful daydream.
"What’s wrong—"
Then Luca followed Xavier’s gaze.
And froze.
Because the projection everyone had been casually observing moments ago now looked slightly different.
The countdown remained.
The cozy product images were still there.
Even the prices appeared unchanged.
Which was already somewhat surprising because apparently the Trove hadn’t applied additional markups.
However, none of those details were what deserved attention.
No.
What mattered was the glaring change sitting directly beneath every listing.
[STOCK: 0/20]
[STOCK: 0/10]
[STOCK: 0/5]
[STOCK: 0/25]
[STOCK: 0/25]
"..."
Luca’s eyes widened.
Then widened further.
And finally, after staring at the display for several seconds, he managed to whisper:
"I-is this a glitch?"
The question hung in the air.
Then, for perhaps the first time all day, one little system successfully delivered good news.
"No, Host!" D-29 immediately announced.
The little manager sounded so excited that it practically vibrated.
"All items sent for vending are currently marked as Out of Stock!"
"..."
"..."
D-29 paused briefly.
Then added proudly,
"I’ve already rechecked five times!"
Honestly, the little system had initially suspected a malfunction as well.
After all, the stock hadn’t decreased gradually.
There had been no indicators.
No visible purchases.
No notifications.
Nothing.
One moment, everything was fully stocked.
The next moment, everything had sold out simultaneously.
But after repeated verification, the conclusion remained unchanged.
They had sold out.
Completely.
"And!" D-29 continued excitedly.
"There has been an increase in the account totaling 2,875,000 CP!"
"!!!"
Luca immediately felt his knees give out beneath him.
Fortunately, Xavier had apparently anticipated this exact outcome because the Prince caught him before gravity could finish the job.
"S-someone actually bought our goods?"
The little money-grubber stared blankly at the still-counting projection.
Then slowly.
Very slowly.
A beautiful smile spread across his face.
His legs still felt like jelly.
His heart was pounding.
And his thoughts were currently struggling to keep up with reality.
But make no mistake.
Because somewhere inside a garden that existed only within the mind of one tiny entrepreneur, a little chipmunk was currently dancing among the flowers.
They had done it.
There was actually a market for honey and apples!
__
If only he knew what kind of "market" actually existed beyond the suspicious Bridge.
For a simple sold out could not even come close to the near bloodbath that took place for the most unheard of items that had graced the sight of similarly unheard of beings.
Ages. It had been ages since something like this had happened.
Safe to say, when a window that had not been seen in who knows how long came up, hearts, hands, and even feet were mobilized to extents humans could probably never fathom.
It didn’t matter if they couldn’t yet understand what was before them, but when something that had remained unresponsive even in the midst of annihilation starts up once again, then all they could do was to buy, buy, buy!
But just what were they supposed to do with these?