Lilith, still feeling the faint, electric tingle from her recent tryst with Lysandra, took a gamble. With the steady, post-coital breathing of her subordinates echoing softly in the background, her fingers danced across the virtual keyboard.
She shot off a brief, provocative message to the world chat:
"Bigfoot birds for sale. The meat is delicious. 5 gold a piece. Adding them to the trade menu now. First come, first served!"
The moment the post went live, the chat interface practically detonated. A localized avalanche of comments roared across the screen at a speed Lilith could barely track.
"Holy crap, how does someone have that much food two hours in?!"
"5 gold?! You scammer, that's highway robbery! Why so damn expensive?!"
"We all just started - most people don't have a single coin! 5 gold for one bird is insane!"
"Too expensive! No one's buying that. Anyone who does is a complete moron!"
"Agreed! Keep that trash until it rots in your inventory!"
Lilith bit her lip as she watched the vitriol pour in. For a split second, doubt flickered in her mind. Maybe I did overdo it? she thought, scratching her cheek. Logic suggested the crowd was right - the start was brutal, and few had managed to earn anything yet. But on the other hand… hunger was a far more desperate motivator than a high price tag.
"Whatever," she muttered, her crimson eyes narrowing. "I've got nothing to lose. Let's list the first ten."
She opened the trade menu and began dragging the icons of the dead birds into the sale slots. A system notification immediately popped up:
[NOTICE: The trade menu requires a listing fee. Each offer is active for only 15 minutes. If the item is not sold within this time, the transaction fee is forfeited, and the item returns to your inventory.]
Lilith hesitated, realizing she was risking her own hard-earned gold, but ultimately pressed "Confirm."
Almost instantly…
[TRADE SUCCESSFUL! YOU HAVE GAINED 5 GOLD!]
[TRADE SUCCESSFUL! YOU HAVE GAINED 5 GOLD!]
[TRADE SUCCESSFUL! YOU HAVE GAINED 5 GOLD!]
[...]
[ALL YOUR ITEMS HAVE BEEN SOLD!]
Lilith froze, staring at the screen with her mouth hanging open. All ten birds had vanished in less than a second. While the keyboard warriors in chat were still busy calling her a fraud and an idiot, the silent players - the ones who actually had the gold - had descended on the food like a pack of starving wolves.
"Gone… instantly?" Lilith whispered, completely stunned by the result. "The people in chat are just a loud minority. The real players, the ones with ambition and the means to back it up, don't waste time typing. They just buy whatever helps them survive the next hour."
She checked her gold counter. It had surged violently. Between the 240 gold from the hunt and the 50 from the sale… she had nearly 300 coins in less than three hours of gameplay.
So that's how it is… she thought, a predatory smile spreading across her face as a rush of excitement took hold. Hunger and fear - the ultimate marketing tools.
Lilith watched as the chat window went absolutely ballistic following the first transaction. The text scrolled by so fast it became a blurry smear of indignation and disbelief.
"Oh, hell! Who bought that?!"
"What the fuck! I refreshed and it was already gone! My meat! Where's my meat?!"
"Despicable! Didn't we agree to boycott this price-gouger?! Who's the shameless prick who broke rank?!"
"You guys are pathetic! You talk about a boycott while your fingers are glued to the buy button!"
"Please, list more! My kobolds are about to start eating their own tails!"
Lilith chuckled to herself, her Succubus nature finding a near-physical satisfaction in the chaos she'd unleashed. She had initially assumed no one had money at this stage, but she quickly found a rational explanation.
There's no way every player is a fumbling rookie, she mused, stroking the edge of the violet altar. There will always be elites who outpace the rest. Someone might have started in an area full of golems or undead - they'd have gold from the kills, but stones and rotten bones aren't exactly edible. Others might have just been lucky as hell, spawning next to a gold vein or something similar…
One could never underestimate the collective intelligence and sheer luck of such a massive population. Since the demand was gargantuan, Lilith decided to see exactly where the breaking point of her competitors' wallets lay.
With a decisive flick of her claw, she doubled the price. She listed 10 more bigfoot birds at 10 gold each.
[ SYSTEM MESSAGE: ]
[ SUCCESSFUL TRANSACTION. YOU HAVE GAINED 10 GOLD! ]
[ SUCCESSFUL TRANSACTION. YOU HAVE GAINED 10 GOLD! ]
[ ... ]
[ ALL YOUR ITEMS HAVE BEEN SOLD! ]
Gone in a heartbeat. Another hundred gold flowed into her treasury in seconds. A thrill raced through her. Her total balance had soared to nearly 400 gold.
"Incredible…" she whispered, her red eyes burning with intensity. "Everyone else is struggling just to stay alive, and I've just discovered that being the only food supplier in the region is the most powerful skill I could have been granted."
The chat menu was practically howling now, the lines of text flying by in a frantic blur of resentment and desperation.
"Goddammit, this is just cruel! You bloodsucker!"
"The price doubled in an instant! Have you no shame?!"
"I hesitated for one second… one fucking second to count my gold, and it was all gone! You animals are too fast! Do you just have piles of cash sitting in your bases or what?!"
"Reject the inflation! Boycott the overpriced food!"
"Screw off, paupers! If you don't want it, there are plenty of us who do! My goblins need to eat!"
"I've got plenty of gold looted from adventurer corpses, so keep the supply coming, boss. Even at 10 gold a bird, I'll take everything you've got! Just hurry up!"
Lilith's grin widened, her blood-red eyes flashing with cold calculation. She noted that selling these ten birds took about 30 seconds - considerably longer than the first batch, but still lightning-fast.
In the short term, normal food priced at 10-20 gold is sustainable, Lilith analyzed, her claw tracing the altar's rim. As I expand the territory and unlock more perks, these margins could grow even larger... though in the long run, food shortages won't remain the norm. This is a game of Demon Kings and Heroes, of conquest and defense. If a Demon King can't meet the basic needs of their servants, they'll fall quickly.
Her eyes glowed even brighter as she realized she had to strike while the iron was hot, before the other players stabilized. Since her inventory was running low and demand was still peaking, there was only one logical move.
She turned away from the altar and looked toward the Succubi playing nearby. Kala and Lysandra, still in their human guises, had Mina cornered. They were squeezing the little demoness's petite breasts, drawing muffled squeaks from her.
Lilith approached them with a look of near-fanatical resolve, her presence suddenly radiating the heavy, predatory aura of a Monarch.
"Girls! Playtime is over!" she barked, her voice echoing through the ruins and instantly shattering the erotic display. "We're going hunting. We kill EVERYTHING in this forest that walks, crawls, or flies! We need more stock!"
Without waiting for a response, Lilith unleashed her massive, violet wings. They snapped open with a thunderous crack as she launched herself off the ground, shooting upward toward the Forest of Darkness.
The three girls, startled by their mistress's sudden shift in mood, traded looks. Mina, still being held by her chest, looked at Lysandra and Kala with pleading eyes, wanting to finish what they'd started. Lysandra only gave a heavy sigh and let her go.
The white-haired Succubus wordlessly swatted the back of Mina's head with an open palm, earning a loud "Ow!" from the smaller girl.
"We'll play later, brat," Lysandra growled, her body shimmering as she shifted back into her demonic form and took off after Lilith.
Kala transformed as well, flashing Mina a wicked, predatory grin. "Looks like your 'recovery' will have to wait, short-stack."
Mina pouted, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched her companions fly off. "I was this close to coming…" she whispered to herself in disappointment.
She let out a heavy sigh, her form flickering with a green aura as her demonic features returned. Green wings unfurled, and the gaze she cast toward the forest turned suddenly terrifying, fueled by sheer spite.
"Well… if I can't take it out on you guys, I'll just vent my sexual frustration on those damn monsters."
She streaked into the sky, leaving a trail of emerald light in her wake as she joined the bloody harvest.