"Twenty thousand liters? Are you certain?"
The receptionist looked at Tina in surprise.
The price of Zephyr Slime Gel had now reached 915 gold coins per liter. Twenty thousand liters amounted to nearly twenty million gold coins.
She simply could not reconcile the plainly dressed, exceedingly young-looking Tina with someone capable of producing such an enormous sum.
Still, when she saw the VIP Gold Card of the Merchants' Guild that Tina handed over, she placed it—half doubtful—onto the dedicated magic device used to read account information.
Only when a dazzling number appeared on the crystal screen did the receptionist's hands begin to tremble as she set the card carefully aside on the desk.
Yet inwardly, waves of shock surged through her.
She could not understand why a young girl with such immense capital would not conduct her transaction in the private lounge reserved for major clients, but instead had come to her ordinary counter.
But she knew better than to say anything—better not to ask anything.
She only needed to do her job.
For a client of this scale was someone even the Guild stewards treated with deference.
If her service proved inadequate and displeased the other party, the best outcome would be losing her well-paid position.
If the client were even slightly petty… she did not dare imagine how the Guild President might "handle" her to placate such anger.
And so, she pressed one hand firmly over the gold card resting on the desk, a sheen of cold sweat forming at her temples.
She focused with absolute concentration, afraid of making even the slightest mistake.
After checking the documents several times over, she finally returned the card along with the papers.
Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
"Th-this is your bank card. Please keep it safe.
"You have purchased twenty thousand liters of Zephyr Slime Gel futures, with a settlement deadline in seven days.
"The current price is 915 gold coins per liter.
"The principal for this purchase is 18.3 million gold coins. In addition, you must pay a 5% risk-control fee on the principal.
"That brings your total expenditure to 19,210,500 gold coins.
"As a VIP Gold Card holder enjoying member privileges, your transaction fee is only 0.005% of the total expenditure."
"That comes to 960.75 gold coins in handling fees."
"Mm, alright."
Tina nodded, took the documents, and put away her card.
Just as she was about to leave, however, the receptionist kindly added:
"Please wait a moment, ma'am. Because the volume of your transaction is extremely large, once it is listed, there may not be buyers willing to take over the contract immediately. It could also cause significant price volatility.
"I recommend listing it in batches instead, to better protect your interests."
"Alright."
After a moment's thought, Tina agreed.
The current stock of gel in Savent City might not even reach twenty thousand liters. Dumping that amount all at once would clearly be unwise.
"Then let's divide it into four batches," she said. "List five thousand liters per day."
"Very well. Please wait."
The receptionist drafted another document and handed it to Tina.
Once these twenty thousand liters were sold, Tina would be able to unload another ten-plus percent of her total holdings.
Though the massive influx of gel might eventually trigger a sharp price collapse, the gold she earned should still be considerable.
As for the remaining fifty-plus percent of her stock, it would likely have to be sold at bargain prices.
Even so, Tina conservatively estimated that the gel would not fall below 300 gold coins per liter.
To Savent's merchants, Zephyr Slime Gel was not a luxury item without intrinsic value—it was an asset closely tied to the Goblin Resurrection Potion.
No matter how far prices dropped, they would not fall beneath that threshold, nor return to the former price of three gold coins per liter.
However, the order Tina had received from Hel was clear: she was to sell all her gel within seven days—
Even if that meant pricing it at 100 gold coins per liter, or even lower.
That was why, after hearing the rash young girl mention futures trading, Tina had immediately decided to use this method.
On one hand, it would allow her to sell at a better price. On the other, it was convenient.
Afterward, Tina bid farewell to the reckless girl.
The next day, however, when she returned to the Merchants' Guild, the girl was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, Tina discovered something deeply strange.
After her five thousand liters of gel hit the market, the price did not plunge as expected.
It rose.
And at an astonishing pace.
In just a single night, Zephyr Slime Gel—whose price had hovered around 915 gold coins per liter the day before with almost no movement—had surged to 989 gold coins per liter.
And it was still climbing at a terrifying rate.
Now the price changed nearly every hour.
The merchants crowding around the notice board had rekindled their enthusiasm for the gel market.
Many had believed the valuation ceiling hovered around one thousand gold coins.
But seeing prices enter another phase of explosive growth left them stunned by what felt like fortune descending from the heavens.
Some began to fantasize—if gel had once again entered a growth phase, could it rise even further?
And so they rushed once more to queue at the Guild counters.
No one wanted to miss this opportunity to make money.
As more and more capital poured into the gel market, prices skyrocketed.
Finally, after several surges, the gel officially broke through one thousand gold coins per liter.
The historic moment was captured by reporters from various newspapers gathered around the notice board.
A commodity once worth only three gold coins had soared to one thousand—a miracle unprecedented in history.
It was a breakthrough of historical proportions.
Surely this news would bring their newspapers sales far exceeding even the previous report when gel first broke the 300-coin mark.
But before the reporters could celebrate for long—
Guild staff once again approached the notice board.
With a cloth, they wiped away the previous price and wrote a new one.
When the crowd saw the number, composure vanished entirely.
For written clearly upon the board was—
1,100 gold coins per liter.