I Level Up With In-app Purchases

EP.93 The Winner and Enhancement (1)

‘Whoever he is, if I leave him alone, he’ll eventually become my enemy.’

Otherwise, why would an Academy teacher suddenly buy consumables in bulk from somewhere?

‘I thought I’d have some peace for a while… Tsk! They keep crawling out like cockroaches.’

He planned to nip it in the bud this time too, just like before.

To make sure they never dare to do business here again.

He had come this far by crushing his competitors.

Having done it many times before, he could do it again now without hesitation.

He intended to get rid of the woman named Rebecca who was interfering with the general store, and use his victor’s privilege to draw out the one who was trying to backstab him.

“I should think of this as a good thing. Our products will get plenty of publicity because of this.”

Though he frowned at the thought of the arrogant teacher, he tried to think as positively as possible.

“I might as well raise the prices even more with this opportunity. Warehouse manager, come in!”

“Yes, sir!”

An employee promptly entered at Mr. Ash’s call.

He asked the employee who was bowing and frowning:

“The goods stored in the warehouse? They’re being kept well, right?”

“Yes, sir. We check morning and evening. Don’t worry.”

In fact, Ash’s General Store was deliberately controlling the release of goods despite having them in stock, to create artificial scarcity.

They were waiting for prices to go up before filling their pockets.

Actually, they had been doing this secretly even during previous exam periods.

But this time, hadn’t they gotten a perfect excuse with the Monster Wave?

He thought it would be stupid to miss such an opportunity.

Of course, things had come to this because he had been too greedy, but still.

“I need to make them pay dearly for interfering. Ugh!”

Up until then, the owner of Ash’s General Store was confident in his victory.

He was even quite pleased at the thought of trampling on the pride of the naive and arrogant Academy teacher.

However, he had prepared a gift for the Dean to handle those who might view him unfavorably because of this incident.

Once the Dean receives this gift, he won’t be able to say anything and will have to keep his mouth shut.

Just like it has always been until now.

With the bribe securely prepared, he had nothing to fear.

He decided to wait leisurely until the day of the showdown.

“Hey, you! What are you doing? Get lost!”

Mr. Ash, the owner of the general store, was preparing for the upcoming showdown with Rebecca late into the night.

As he was closing the store to go home, he spotted a man suspiciously loitering near the building.

Convinced the man was a vagrant, he yelled angrily.

It was best to deal with such people quickly, as they interfered with business by hanging around.

The man frowned at Mr. Ash’s shouting and said with displeasure.

“Did you lease the street? I’m just taking a walk, why should I leave?”

“This is in front of our store! Get lost, I said.”

Taking a walk at this late hour?

If he had come up with a more plausible excuse, he might have gotten less abuse.

“A beggar taking a walk? Get lost before you bring bad luck! Unless you want to die without anyone knowing.”

Mr. Ash, on edge from various issues, had no intention of allowing any strange approaches.

After all, who knows what tricks the Academy teacher might pull?

As they say, a guilty conscience needs no accuser. Being dishonest himself, he naturally assumed others would act the same way.

“My, how narrow-minded. Arrogant beyond your station.”

“You bastard..! Are you going to leave before I call the guards!? Ptui!”

The suspicious man disappeared, unable to withstand Mr. Ash’s threats.

After making sure the man was completely gone, Mr. Ash took out a key from his pocket.

“I should check one last time before I go.”

He couldn’t just trust his subordinate’s word that they were checking every hour.

Mr. Ash unlocked the warehouse door and went inside.

It was filled with consumables that had been hoarded and not released to control prices.

Of course, even this amount would be far from enough to meet the demand of the Academy students.

“Hehe, just selling these alone would make how much money.”

Mr. Ash looked at the numerous items with satisfaction, then lowered his gaze to the floor.

When he stepped on a certain part of the floor, there was a click and a ring appeared.

It was Mr. Ash’s secret warehouse, unknown even to his employees.

Opening the door revealed a single box.

When he unlocked the box, consumables that looked ordinary to anyone were visible.

However, unlike their ordinary appearance, the contents were quite special.

It wasn’t for nothing that Mr. Ash kept them so preciously.

“With these little darlings, there’s no way any unexpected situation could arise.”

These were consumables made by a very famous craftsman in the manufacturing world.

At a glance, they looked no different from other products, but their performance was excellent, befitting items made by a master craftsman.

Naturally, they showed overwhelmingly superior performance compared to other products sold at Ash’s General Store.

And Mr. Ash planned to use these consumables for this bet.

‘It’s a shame to use them for this, but I should think of it as an investment for greater profit. Besides, the teachers don’t buy such consumables from our general store, so there’s no chance of getting caught.’

Even if they did buy them, it would be the students who end up using them.

That’s why it was possible to cheat like this.

“Stupid fools. Hehehe!”

Mr. Ash didn’t know as he laughed, looking at the items that made him feel so proud.

That someone was secretly watching his malicious laughter.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

The Academy was buzzing with excitement for the first time in a while.

Just like during the marble event organized by the student council, various rumors spread among the students, causing quite a stir.

Rebecca, the owner of Ash’s General Store, and even students who came to watch after hearing the rumors.

Due to Mr. Ash’s maneuvering, more students than expected became interested in their bet.

Eventually, the bet took place in the large gymnasium.

“What’s there to be proud of, holding it in such a big place? Tsk!”

The faculty members who had planned to just borrow a classroom naturally didn’t like Mr. Ash’s tactics.

However, Mr. Ash argued that since all the people evaluating the products were faculty members, students should be allowed to observe in case of any unforeseen situations.

‘Is he suggesting we might give an unfair evaluation? How impudent…’

The result was the current situation.

The judging to determine the winner began, with more student spectators than expected.

“For fairness in product evaluation, we’ve invited the Dean and several department heads. Both Teacher Rebecca and Mr. Ash have agreed to this.”

The Dean and department heads who came to judge after hearing the situation didn’t look pleased.

“While I don’t like creating such an unsavory situation with a merchant, I’m here because I was told it’s for the students’ benefit.”

“Why is a teacher selling to students in the first place? Regardless of the intention, this is an unpleasant situation.”

The department heads were very displeased about creating this ridiculous betting situation with a merchant.

The Dean’s gloomy expression made it difficult to gauge his thoughts on the matter.

“Isn’t the current price increase due to the monster wave? The exam preparation process is also part of the students’ evaluation. It’s not right for a teacher to interfere with that.”

While one department head harshly criticized Rebecca from the start, another took her side.

“I hear Ash’s General Store raised prices by three times. That’s clearly crossing a line. How pitiful must the students have been for a faculty member to step in directly? The monopoly problem with Ash’s General Store was bound to explode someday.”

The department heads’ gazes subtly turned towards the Dean.

There wasn’t a single department head unaware of the peculiar connection between the owner of Ash’s General Store and the Dean.

They wanted to know what the Dean thought about this matter, but his expression remained difficult to read.

Seeing the atmosphere heating up already, the Academy staff member in charge of proceedings spoke up to change the mood.

“I believe I’ve explained the situation, but it might be good to go over it once more. It seems some students have come after hearing strange rumors.”

Indeed, many students had come to watch without knowing what was really going on.

Some had even come after hearing completely unrelated and bizarre rumors.

“Today, what you need to evaluate is a comparison between the products secured by Teacher Rebecca and those sold at Ash’s General Store. You should assess which performs better.”

The reason for the bet between the Academy teacher and the general store owner.

The situation was explained once again: Teacher Rebecca’s circumstances in trying to supply products for the students, and how this interfered with Ash’s General Store’s business.

Murmur murmur-

A commotion arose among the students.

From the students’ perspective, Teacher Rebecca’s actions seemed clearly justified.

In fact, many students who had been frantically searching for consumables had managed to obtain them thanks to Teacher Rebecca’s help.

“Shouldn’t Teacher Rebecca win?”

“That would be best for us.”

“But why does that store owner look so confident?”

“I heard he accused the teacher of interfering with his business? And something about selling cheap market goods to students?”

“Oh, really? If the teacher’s products are that bad, wouldn’t it be better not to have them at all?”

“We don’t know yet. No student has actually received the products.”

While most students were on Teacher Rebecca’s side, there were certainly some who doubted the quality of her products.

The department heads were displeased both with the fact that a teacher was trying to do business with students and that Ash’s General Store had raised prices by more than three times.

Some even thought that making a bet with a merchant compromised the dignity of the faculty.