Ch.233233. Sugar Cartel

Needless to say, Farming Sugar has received all the necessary approvals from the Food and Drug Administration.

Even though I’m an SSS+ rank hunter, I don’t live my life disregarding the law.

I might receive certain benefits, but I still need to follow the rules to avoid getting into trouble.

Besides, this is something people will consume.

Getting proper verification to earn consumers’ trust is only natural.

Moreover, I’m selling it at 500,000 won per kilogram—not exactly pocket change—so I can’t afford to be careless.

It’s a product that has undergone rigorous inspection by the FDA and received sales approval, not just for its ingredients.

Since knowing the recipe or ingredients doesn’t mean anyone can make it anyway, I openly disclosed everything to build trust.

“Huh? Absorption Fruit? You’re asking if you can get that recipe? I bought it for 10 Farming Points, so there’s no way anyone else could get it. And don’t worry, oppa, it only grows in special biomes like the Steam Forest. I heard you’d need to be at least SSS+ rank in alchemy to enhance it this much. Nobody can replicate it.”

Cloud sugar is inherently produced in very limited quantities.

There are quite a few cloud sugar trees planted in the Steam Forest, but even with all those fruits, the amount of sugar that reaches the market is minimal.

I’ve been able to release a decent quantity only because I expanded it using the Absorption Fruit.

Others trying to create similar Farming Sugar by referencing mine?

I’m confident they’d only produce failures with no competitive edge that couldn’t even achieve the same effect.

That’s why I could confidently put everything out in the open.

So these kinds of doubts are reactions I anticipated but can only scoff at.

Instead, I received a concerned call from Team Leader Kim Jin-hyeop.

“Are you alright?”

“Pardon? About what?”

“It seems there’s considerable pressure being put on the FDA and other agencies that approved the sale of Farming Sugar. From what we’ve gathered, it appears to be the sugar cartel…”

“Sugar cartel? Does such a thing exist?”

“When sugar substitutes started taking over sugar’s market share, sugar companies used all sorts of schemes, lobbying, and any means necessary to drive them out. But when it seemed the market would shift to substitutes anyway, the sugar companies changed their strategy and bought several substitute companies. The companies that now control 70% of the sugar substitute market were all originally sugar companies.”

“I see…”

I had no idea about this behind-the-scenes story.

Naturally, I wouldn’t have any interest in such matters, so this is news to me.

“How do you know all this, Team Leader? Aren’t you a hunter?”

“…I wish I didn’t know either. These days, I’m not sure if I’m a hunter or a proxy.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine. I chose this path. Sometimes I think it suits me better.”

Anyway, after his investigation, Team Leader Kim Jin-hyeop explained that the current articles and attacks were a conspiracy by the sugar cartel targeting Farming Sugar.

“Not just us, but the FDA and the Korean government will do everything to protect Farming Company. I wanted to let you know that.”

“Yes, as they should.”

I don’t need to be cooperative.

Just by staying in Korea and operating Farming Company, I’m already doing the country an immeasurable patriotic service.

So Korea is the one at a disadvantage here.

Whether it’s the sugar cartel or sugar caramel, if they make life difficult for me, I can always gesture that I’m ready to relocate to somewhere that will protect me. Then it’s the Korean government that will have a headache, not me.

“There’s internal speculation that this might be a self-orchestrated drama by the sugar cartel, which is mostly based in the US, to get Farming Company to relocate there…”

“That’s not really for me to know.”

“…Yes, I suppose not.”

Anyway, I decided to wait and see.

Maybe I won’t need to step in personally.

Or if they keep bothering me, I might have to consider waging war against the sugar cartel, just like I cleaned up the dark site.

Farming Company isn’t just playing at running a business.

Farming Sugar is one of our main products.

If someone tries to obstruct our main business with false accusations, we’d be fools to just take it.

I decided to observe for now.

And the situation unfolded quite interestingly.

————–

The FDA issued a statement confirming that Farming Sugar had passed all verifications without issues.

But the articles kept coming.

Unknown side effects.

Cases of harm were reported without any evidence, and even though they were quickly refuted, there was a clear effort from unseen forces to create a negative image.

With all the buzz, people started paying attention.

The reactions were, as expected, divided:

– Farming Sugar is great!

– I’m diabetic and Farming Sugar has stabilized my blood sugar, so I use it with every meal… I don’t care if it has drugs or poison in it, just please keep selling it.

– As expected… selling it at such a high price, they were planning to make a quick buck and run.

– Shouldn’t we gather everyone who bought this and file a class action lawsuit?

– What did you even buy to sue? Only those who participated in the open run got to try it… I wish I could try it too.

The political response was also split:

One side claimed it was a conspiracy by the sugar cartel to check Farming Sugar and that Farming Company should be protected. The other side, having taken money from who knows where, demanded the immediate expulsion of Farming Company.

Both were major parties, and neither seemed likely to back down easily.

There weren’t any actual restrictions on Farming Company, and since Farming Sugar had already sold out and none of the buyers were requesting refunds, there wasn’t a real problem. But still.

I just didn’t like being caught up in this kind of issue.

“Arrogant bastards…”

I know that getting involved means losing, but considering the future path of Farming Company, I thought it might be good to settle this definitively now.

After all, many resources from the Rift Dimension will replace existing Earth resources in the future, which will lead to various frictions.

If each time there’s such a commotion and issue-making, it could damage Farming Company’s reputation.

I considered stepping in directly, but then thought that resolving it directly like with the dark site might do more harm than good, so I looked for another approach.

Well, the alternative wasn’t difficult at all.

In fact, it was much easier and more fun than going there and smashing things up.

I turned on my broadcast.

“Today, I’d like to address the issues related to Farming Sugar.”

I didn’t need to gather broadcasters or reporters.

I already had a YouTube channel that gained tons of subscribers every time I visited a farm.

It had already surpassed 50 million subscribers and was still growing by the minute.

Not just Korean viewers, but international ones too.

“Farming Company has one purpose: to provide resources that are hard to obtain on Earth to as many people as possible at the most reasonable price. Of course, we can’t provide them at a price everyone wants. But out of a desire to provide for everyone, I’ve been offering all items, except for VIP and VVIP products, exclusively to Koreans for the sake of my country.”

I speak to them.

This is honestly such a childish move from a business perspective that I could be called an elementary school kid, but given my position, I don’t need to consider such political relationships, so I just go for it.

“But some people, including those who work for the country, don’t appreciate our intentions. They take illegal money from overseas and blindly criticize Farming Company, praying for our downfall. Of course, there are more people supporting Farming Company, but in this situation, our reputation is only being tarnished, so it seems we must make a choice.”

– ?

– No way

– Please don’t

– Please ㅠ

“If there’s no apology from the party leader of XX Party regarding the unfair conspiracy related to this incident within a week, Farming Company will cease all sales activities. We’ve been doing honest business, sacrificing profits for the sake of honor, but I can’t find a reason to maintain Farming Company when we’re treated this way.”

With these serious words, I ended the broadcast.

Saying we’d only stop sales in Korea wouldn’t be helpful.

I need to not only gain people’s support but also address the root cause of this incident—the sugar cartel—and set a precedent for the future.

Who would be most shaken by such an announcement?

While there are people who found hope in life through Farming Sugar, those who would suffer the most are the VIP and VVIP members who have already invested in Farming Company.

These aren’t people who would struggle to live without 10 billion or 100 billion won, but it’s still a significant amount for them.

They invested because they thought they’d gain a lot, not because they could afford to throw the money away.

Of course, no one was foolish enough to ask, “What about our mileage points?”

They’re all smart people.

They understand what I’m saying in the video.

Surprisingly, the response came immediately.

– Breaking News: Second son of XX Party leader found dead

Quite extreme. And fast.