Survival Queen of the Frozen Wastes novel Chapter 219

Chapter 219 Market Manipulation

Chapter 219 Market Manipulation

Naturally, that meant a food delivery from TartKing.

“Riley! Dinner time!” Neeko cheered, waving a fork.

Riley shed her coat, washed up, and sat down to enjoy a rare moment of peace.

After eating, Riley didn’t go straight to bed.

She went to the workshop to organize the materials she’d gathered.

+10 Free Coins

First was power; her single wind turbine only produced 40 units, which was barely enough. With extra components on hand, she added two more.

System assistance made crafting easy; they were finished quickly and installed with the help of the three pets.

“Wind Turbine (with Storage) installed.”

“Current Power Units: 120.”

“TV: 5, Lighting: 10…”

Next was ammo.

She had two Auto-Turrets now, but they weren’t infinite; they needed bolts.

Riley had an arbalest; but she used it sparingly and her stockpiles were low; the turrets needed mass production.

“Crafting Requirement: Refined Iron Bolts (Set of 20).”

“Materials: Iron x 2, Wood x 2, Raptor Feathers x 1.”

She had plenty of iron and wood.

“Feathers…”

Riley checked her bag.

She’d saved some feathers Ash had shed, but filling the turrets would probably require plucking him bald.

“I’ll have to buy some on the market.”

Riley wiped her hands and opened the “Trade Channel.”

She immediately noticed her brow furrowing.

“Hot Trade Categories Today:”

Lumber (Common): Demand skyrocketing!

Lumber (Hardwood): Price up 30%!

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4.35 pm P P

Chapter 219 Market Manipulation

tron: Price rising slightly.

Coal: Demand stable, but listings are hear zero.

“Wood is getting expensive?”

Riley was surprised.

In this game, Wood was the bedrock of hard currency.

It was the basic fuel and required for every upgrade and tool. Even in the mid-game, consumption remained massive.

Coal, as a high-tier fuel, usually maintained a stable exchange rate due to system substitution.

Generally, 1 Coal equals 5 Wood.

For other items, people used wood or coal as the base currency for psychological pricing.

It was a spontaneous market consensus.

But today…

Riley scanned the listings.

“Seller: Anonymous”

“Selling: Coal x 10”

“Price: Wood x 80 (Unit price 1:8)”

Riley stared blankly at the screen.

Talk about a ripoff.

She refreshed the page.

“Buying: Wood x 500”

“Offer: Iron x 80 / Coal x 75”

The price of wood had surged by 30%!

Inflation?

The word flashed through Riley’s mind.

+10 Free Coins

Everyone had woods near their spawn, but chopping took stamina, and as time passed, the nearby trees were gone. Players had to risk the wilds for timber.

Plus, with everyone hitting Lv. 3 or Lv. 4, wood requirements were growing exponentially.

A price hike was inevitable.

But this was too fast, too aggressive, and it had shattered the standard exchange rate; someone was playing the market.

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Chapter 219 Market Manipulation

Riley noticed several IDs sweeping the boards.

“1

“Goldingot,” “LuckyWealth” “Prosperity Blooms”…

+10 Free Coins

Checking the logs, these IDs had been buying wood and coal at slightly above market price. Anything listed was gone in seconds.

Someone is hoarding to create a monopoly on basic resources?

Riley narrowed her eyes.

This was a classic MMORPG tactic.

She opened the group chat and pinged TartKing, the information broker.

“SpicyBurger: TartKing, what’s up with the market? Wood and coal are going nuts.

TartKing replied almost instantly.

“TartKing: Riley, you saw it too! People have cleared out the trees near their camps, so wood is getting rare!”

“TartKing: The rumor in the sub-chats is that the ‘Golden Rose Chamber of Commerce’ is behind it.”

“SpicyBurger: Golden Rose Chamber of Commerce?”

“TartKing: Yeah! It’s a merchant guild! Their leader supposedly has a trade-related talent. They’ve recruited a bunch of people to buy low and sell high.”

“TartKing: Now they’re blasting the World Channel, saying a ‘Super Blizzard’ is coming and fuel will run out. Everyone is panicking and hoarding.”

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4:35 pm P P

Chapter 220 The Counter-play