Ch.205205. 7 Trillion vs. Ri Su-in?

Typically, most of the world’s wealthiest individuals were famous CEOs or stock investors.

Investment. Or global corporations.

Without these, earning trillions was nearly impossible.

But as the world changed and Hunters began to appear, the rankings of the wealthy underwent a transformation.

CEOs and stock investors still maintained their positions on the wealth rankings.

However, Hunters gradually infiltrated those ranks, either securing positions or climbing even higher.

Logically, this shouldn’t be possible.

No matter how famous or powerful an individual becomes, they’re still just one person.

What a single person can accomplish is limited, and the world isn’t so easily conquered.

While world-famous singers and actors earn substantial amounts, they ultimately can’t reach the wealth rankings that require trillions in assets—hundreds of trillions—to climb.

Yet SS-rank and above Hunters were individuals who broke this rule.

Walking global corporations. Or organizations.

Such descriptions weren’t strange at all.

They single-handedly prevent global crises.

They extract new resources that influence global markets, and just by selling dungeon resources, they conquer dungeons worth tens or hundreds of billions before anyone else.

People who smell money rush in to get a piece of the action.

Many Hunters can be bought with money, especially S-rank and above.

But SS-rank and above are in a completely different league from those who can be bought.

To get even a small share, one must bow and scrape.

Hunters and dungeons.

Industries unrelated to them have some breathing room, but for those connected to dungeon resources, it’s a matter of life and death.

History teaches us:

Adapt or perish.

Perishing doesn’t mean simply falling behind—it means being erased from history entirely.

Contemporary people might remember, “There was once this company…” but even that memory would become nothing more than a laughingstock, ridiculed for failing to keep up with the times.

To avoid this fate, one must always read the changes.

Lobbying, bribes, schemes, and more—all to monopolize the limited dungeon resources.

It’s a world where not doing everything possible makes you the fool.

SS-rank Hunters who lead the dungeon trends run global companies, sell services worldwide to accumulate wealth, and investment geniuses multiply their assets several times over by simply sitting still—this has been going on for hundreds of years.

That’s why they can wedge themselves in, coexist, and now prepare to rise even higher.

Simply by running dungeons and conquering higher ones, numerous companies offer them money, advertisements, and sponsorships.

With that money, they establish companies, promote themselves globally, and end up becoming CEOs of world-class corporations as a bonus.

If asked about the greatest advantage of such Hunters, it’s their high cash liquidity.

Unlike the wealthy who grow companies and increase their value as assets,

Hunters are cash-rich.

The money they earn from selling resources isn’t just highly valued stocks or liquid assets—it’s pure funds deposited directly into their accounts.

Moreover, they’re exempt from taxes.

Whatever they do, all Hunter activities related to dungeons are tax-exempt, allowing them to freely manage their funds, unlike other wealthy individuals who groan about taxes when moving even tens of billions, let alone trillions.

That’s why VVIP auctions inevitably become battles between Hunters.

No matter how wealthy someone is,

How could they compete against Hunters who can freely mobilize cash?

Even their desperation differs.

Hunters bid confidently, certain that what they consume will be worth more than what they spend, while non-Hunter wealthy individuals must constantly calculate how they’ll use their purchases.

“Two trillion is okay… I can profit if I make a deal with the Hunter I want.

But three trillion? Hmm… To make my desired profit, I’d need to impose stricter conditions—would an SS-rank Hunter accept my deal under these terms?”

Meanwhile, Hunters simply bid freely, thinking only of the money in their accounts.

“Four trillion.”

“Five trillion.”

Of course, even SS-rank Hunters like Kelin and the Murim Alliance Leader can’t regularly acquire ridiculous items like I do, so perhaps they consider this item worth spending their accumulated wealth on.

Maybe that’s why.

In the end, the bidding stopped at exactly seven trillion.

The winner was Kelin.

“As expected. Sister Kelin won with exactly her liquid cash assets.”

“Does the Murim Alliance Leader only have seven trillion?”

Beside me, Kim Soo-jung was enthusiastically explaining as if she’d correctly guessed something based on AI information.

“Since it’s from China, the information might not be completely accurate, but his available liquid cash is about seven trillion. But Sister Kelin—well, her father was already on the world’s wealthiest list before the dungeon era, right? It’s known that she’ll inherit everything when her father dies. I heard her publicly disclosed cash assets alone exceed 150 trillion. Honestly, no one could win against that.”

So this is what happens when someone who was already wealthy becomes a Hunter.

I had honestly hoped the Murim Alliance Leader would bid more aggressively.

Seven trillion was certainly not a small amount to be disappointed about.

It seems that for the Murim Alliance Leader, defeating not just Kelin but the Kelin family, who had accumulated wealth for generations, was difficult.

“Seven trillion…”

That’s more than the combined amount paid for VVIP memberships by everyone gathered here.

Moreover, of the VVIP membership fees, I only received about 600 billion, with the rest going into these people’s mileage accounts.

Money they’ll eventually spend if they don’t cut and run.

But the seven trillion earned from selling the Purified Thousand-Year Snake Pill will be deposited directly into my account.

No taxes, no auction fees.

Nominally, 10% will go to Farming Company as the manager, but since that’s just a paper company owned by Kim Soo-jung anyway.

I’m starting to wonder if I might actually make it onto the world’s wealthiest list at this rate.

And hearing about Kelin’s cash liquidity makes me feel more secure.

The financial power to confidently buy the pill even after giving an SS-rank Holy Ring, plus the decisiveness to invest boldly.

Probably many of the VVIPs gathered here could use 7 to 10 trillion.

But the reason they don’t is ultimately about profit and loss.

Clearly, the Purified Thousand-Year Snake Pill is a good item that greatly enhances a Hunter’s abilities, especially for rankers, but it disappears after consumption.

So it’s an item that only someone like Kelin could afford to buy.

“Are you going to sell it right away?”

Of course, the auction isn’t over yet.

This VVIP auction is very special—after the cash bidding is completed,

I get to see a list of items offered by people who want to trade items instead, and I choose which one to exchange for.

The list was organized and presented before me.

Items are paid for in advance.

And if rejected, the payment is returned.

There was a variety.

Honestly, I was a bit conflicted.

What if a truly SS-rank item like the Ice Spirit Cold Drink, or an SS-rank item like the Holy Ring appeared—what should I do?

Although money is just a lower-dimensional currency to me, seven trillion is enough for me to do everything I want to do right now.

But an SS-rank item would give me some breathing room in the increasingly difficult dimensional rifts, so I might have to reluctantly give up the seven trillion depending on the options…

With these practical thoughts, I looked at the list, but unfortunately, there were no SS-rank items.

Well, just as I keep meeting SS-rank Hunters and think “Aren’t there supposed to be few of them? There seem to be many!” when in reality there aren’t many,

I’ve already encountered and obtained two SS-rank items, so the possibility of another SS-rank item appearing and coming to me is very low unless they’re breeding somewhere.

Whether as a test or not, there were S-rank and S+-rank items that the VVIPs had somehow acquired, but they were clearly inferior compared to seven trillion.

And there was something strange written on the list, as if someone had made a mistake.

– Marriage with SS-rank Healer Li Soo-in.

“…”

At first, I thought the Murim Alliance Leader had gone crazy.

Selling off his beloved granddaughter seemed contradictory.

But the one who offered this “item” wasn’t Li Wei-xing but Li Soo-in herself.

“She’s an unpredictable one too.”

In the end, the reward for the Level 2 Biome main quest went to Kelin for seven trillion.