The Merchant Lord of the Namho Merchant Group couldn’t believe what was happening.
He thought he’d already pulled over everyone who used to trade with the Migwa Merchant Group.
But one day, the Migwa Merchant Group suddenly slashed their herb prices.
Down to 40% of the original price.
He even heard that some merchant groups were getting herbs at 30% of the original price.
When he heard the news, the Merchant Lord thought that the brat acting as their temporary Merchant Lord had completely lost his mind.
So most of the merchants who had moved to the Namho Merchant Group shifted back to the Migwa Merchant Group.
But he wasn’t too worried.
‘They’re just struggling in their last death throes.’
Just then, a voice came from outside his office.
“Merchant Lord, Chief Administrator Seo is here.”
“Let him in.”
Chief Administrator Seo entered the office and got straight to the point.
“Merchant Lord, the deficit is growing much faster than expected. At this rate… we won’t even last the half-year we originally predicted.”
It was obvious.
They were still buying herbs, but none were selling.
“Don’t worry. The Migwa Merchant Group said they’re only selling herbs at that price for one month. After that, everyone will come back to us.”
The Merchant Lord continued.
“With their situation, there’s no way they can keep selling at those prices for more than a month.”
“Understood.”
But near the end of that month… his deputy came running in, his face pale.
“Merchant Lord! We’ve got a problem!”
“What is it?”
“Take a look at this!”
It was a sheet of paper.
[As thanks for your support of the Migwa Merchant Group’s special pricing, we are extending the event for another month.]
The moment he read it, the Merchant Lord felt a sharp pain in the back of his head.
“Gah!”
He grabbed the back of his neck and staggered.
“Are you alright, Merchant Lord?”
“How… how is this even possible?”
“Looks like… the Eunhae Merchant Group’s funds are backing them.”
“The Eunhae Merchant Group… those sons of… Do they have no shame? This is crossing the line!”
The Merchant Lord shouted in rage.
Watching him, the deputy muttered to himself.
‘Weren’t you the one who crossed the line first…?’
The Merchant Lord shouted until he wore himself out.
Then, frowning, he muttered,
“That Acting Merchant Lord… he’s no ordinary kid.”
“Pardon?”
“No matter how much money someone has, an ordinary person wouldn’t dare pull something like this.”
“Then… you’re saying it wasn’t Merchant Lord Eun Jo-san, but that Acting Merchant Lord who’s behind this? I heard he’s not even twenty yet.”
“No doubt about it. Do you seriously think Jo-san could do this? If he could, I wouldn’t have started a price war in the first place!”
“…”
After thinking for a moment, he gave his deputy an order.
“Bring Chief Administrator Seo.”
“Yes.”
.
.
.
The Merchant Lord sat in his office, sighing deeply.
Chief Administrator Seo had just left after giving a grim report.
At best… they could last three months.
That was assuming the Migwa Merchant Group ended the special pricing this month.
“Three months…”
But the insane Acting Merchant Lord had no plans of stopping.
‘In the end… this merchant group won’t stop until one of us is ruined.’
When merchants go to war… it only ends when one side falls.
‘Why… why did I even start this?’
He wanted to beat his past self half to death.
‘It was greed… all because of greed.’
He hated that the Migwa Merchant Group rejected his offer to collude on prices.
He wanted to monopolize all the profits from being the sole herb intermediary in Guizhou.
That’s why he started the fight.
And the result… was a disaster.
His biggest mistake… was underestimating the influence of the Eunhae Merchant Group, standing behind Migwa.
But in his defense, it made sense.
He knew how prideful Merchant Lord Eun Jo-san was.
Jo-san probably sent a letter begging for help… but something like, “If you could help… just a little…”
Even so… the Eunhae Merchant Group was still the Eunhae Merchant Group.
The fact that they immediately dispatched a Deputy Merchant Lord showed it.
Of course… this wasn’t really the Eunhae Merchant Group’s doing.
It was because of Eun Seo-ho.
In his previous life, the Eunhae Merchant Group hadn’t responded properly.
But the Namho Merchant Lord had no way of knowing that.
All he could do… was bitterly mutter, ‘The Eunhae Merchant Group is the Eunhae Merchant Group.’
“Sigh…”
He let out another deep sigh.
“Maybe… maybe I should just liquidate before it’s too late.”
The stress was eating him alive.
His blood felt dry in his veins.
If this kept up, he wouldn’t survive much longer.
‘This… this must’ve been how Jo-san felt.’
Now that he was going through it himself, a weird sense of guilt crept up.
At that moment…
A servant called from outside.
“Um… Merchant Lord… A guest has arrived.”
“A guest? I don’t have any appointments today.”
“Well… he’s from the Migwa Merchant Group. He says… he’s the Acting Merchant Lord.”
The Merchant Lord shot to his feet.
“Who?!”
I was currently sitting in the Namho Merchant Group’s reception room.
To be exact… sipping tea.
Sllrp.
Mmm. The tea’s pretty good.
As I silently savored the tea, the Merchant Lord asked,
“So… why are you here?”
Instead of answering, I studied him.
His face… showed the signs of serious stress.
In my previous life… it was Brother Jin-ho who handled cleaning up this place.
Father, as the Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group, couldn’t leave his seat.
Grandfather had offered to go himself, but worried the shock would be too much for him, Jin-ho went instead.
I remembered Jin-ho talking about it afterward.
— Cousin Ji-seo and his wife… looked like the living corpses.
In the end, they both fell into depression… and didn’t live much longer.
With that memory in mind… I couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry for the Merchant Lord of Namho.
I put down the teacup and spoke.
“No need to be so tense. I’m just here to make you an offer.”
“An offer?”
“We’re both busy people, so I’ll get straight to the point. Would you be interested in joining the Eunhae Merchant Group?”
At my blunt offer… the Merchant Lord was left speechless.
It took him a long moment before he finally asked,
“Why?”
At least… as a merchant, the Merchant Lord of Namho was better than Uncle.
When I asked Uncle to step down, his first response was to scream, “What nonsense is this?!”
This visit to the Namho Merchant Group… and this offer… were already part of my planned strategy.
It meant I already had Father’s approval.
If I wanted to destroy the Namho Merchant Group, I could’ve done it anytime.
If that happened, the Migwa Merchant Group would become the sole herb intermediary in Guizhou.
But honestly… monopolies are dangerous, especially when it comes to stable supply and pricing.
If something happened to the only remaining merchant group, those who urgently needed herbs would be in serious trouble.
And… I couldn’t draw the attention of the Murim Alliance.
I was planning to bring down the Murim Alliance, after all.
If this attracted their attention, nothing good would come of it.
A monopoly Migwa Merchant Group could become a delicious target for the Murim Alliance.
Even the government wouldn’t be pleased.
Price surges caused by monopolies were enough for officials to intervene.
They actually did in my previous life.
So… it had to look like a two-power system on the surface.
If Uncle had taken his own life like last time, the Eunhae Merchant Group would’ve never forgiven the Namho Merchant Group.
But… I intervened before it got to that point.
So now… that incident only existed in my memory.
Honestly, I did want to crush them completely.
But I had a bigger goal.
To become the greatest merchant group under the heavens.
And to destroy the Murim Alliance.
That’s why I chose to squeeze as much benefit out of this situation as possible.
The Namho Merchant Lord was indeed a talented merchant.
It felt wasteful to completely destroy him.
So I’d grind him down instead.
It might be painful… but that wasn’t my problem.
It was self-inflicted.
Since I was already moving, I might as well catch two rabbits.
And in the process… I realized something.
Part of this situation was Uncle’s fault too.
Sure, the Namho Merchant Lord used dirty tricks and started a price war.
But if Uncle had put his pride aside and responded well… would it have escalated into tragedy in my last life?
From where I stood… Uncle with his pride and the Namho Merchant Lord with his greed were really the same.
Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud.
I grinned and said,
“I’m here… to give you one last chance.”
“…”
“The problem is… the method you used was filthy.”
“Hm, hrrm…”
I continued.
“Not sure if you’ve been informed yet… but the Clerks and workers you bribed to pull off your little scheme… have disappeared.”
“…”
“They’re under me now. Some Unorthodox Sect warriors tried to kill them under someone’s orders… but I saved them.”
“What… what’re you saying?”
“Oh please. We both know exactly what you did. No need to play dumb.”
“…”
“Why do you think the merchant groups that stopped trading with Migwa started trading with us again? You don’t actually believe it’s just because the price is cheap… do you?”
I smiled.
“Also… I’m someone who regularly meets with His Majesty.”
“With… with His Majesty? What kind of nonsense—!”
“If you think I’m lying… you can investigate. Just check with the Daeseong Merchant Group, the salt retailers here in Guizhou. You’ll find out right away.”
“…So… what’s your point?”
“What do you think would happen… if His Majesty found out that you used dirty tricks… and then tried to clean it up by murdering the people involved?”
His face went pale as a ghost.
“I don’t know for sure… but I doubt you’d get a nice, clean death.”
“Is this… blackmail?”
I grinned.
“Blackmail? No, no. This… is a leash. And how tightly it’s pulled… depends on who’s holding it.”
It was the same thing… but leash just sounded classier than blackmail.
“I came here… because if I don’t save the Namho Merchant Group before it’s too late… I won’t have any use for it.”
It had to at least look intact.
“If you don’t accept my offer to become part of the Eunhae Merchant Group… well, then there’s no helping it. We’ll just see this through to the end.”
I stood up from my seat.
At that, the Merchant Lord hurriedly grabbed my sleeve.
“Wait! Let me ask one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Can… can the Namho Merchant Group be saved? Can the people working here… keep working?”
I sat back down and replied.
“Seems… you care about your people.”
“They… even if I’ve done something dishonorable, they’ve worked here… they’ve been part of this merchant group.”
“Then why… did you do something like that?”
“Ghk…”
“The Namho Merchant Group… will continue operating under that name.”
I continued.
“The Merchant Lord seat won’t change either. As long as you follow the core principles that the Eunhae Merchant Group values.”
I pulled out the contract I’d prepared.
“Have a look.”
I knew… the Merchant Lord wouldn’t be able to refuse.
The fact that I could report his nasty little tricks directly to His Majesty… that was the leash.
A leash to stop him from running.
In his position… the only choice left was to take my hand.
Because if this kept going… his merchant group would really collapse.
“I understand the clause about being able to dismiss the Merchant Lord and Deputy Merchant Lord. And I understand the part about submitting financial reports every quarter. And… following the guidance of the Eunhae Merchant Group… well, considering what I’ve done, fine. But… what’s this?”
The Merchant Lord flipped to the back page.
It was the hidden contract.
It stated that 30% of the Namho Merchant Group’s monthly profits would be sent directly to me.
“Oh, that… that’s my commission.”
“Your… commission?”
“Actually… Father told me to take down the Namho Merchant Group’s signboard immediately.”
Gulp.
“But I… barely, barely managed to convince him. That’s the only reason we’re even having this negotiation.”
I smiled.
“So… shouldn’t I get something for my trouble?”
“But… 30% every month… isn’t that too much?”
“Then… should I just take the signboard down?”
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt