A few more days passed, and the beer price dropped to 600 times its original value.
It was almost cut in half.
Then, several speculators who had been waiting for the beer price to rise in the bar began to waver.
Is this going to end in a crash?
Bel and Bob were no exception.
Bel, who had become anxious, said to Bob.
"We can still save more than half if we sell now. Are you going to keep it?"
"Let's just stay still for a bit. It went down more than half before and then went up. This is definitely a fake. It's a fake."
"But what if it really goes down while we're waiting? Honestly, the beer price didn't make sense."
"Hey, it was the same back then. It was a crazy price back then too. But what happened? Did it eventually go up, or did it go down?"
“Well... it did go up.”
“We can hold on even if half of it is gone, so let's just wait and see.”
Unable to break Bob's determination, Bel reluctantly agreed.
“Alright, since it has come to this. Let's go all the way, like you said.”
And so, a few more days passed.
Surprisingly, just as they had hoped, the plummeting beer prices suddenly began to skyrocket.
The wealthy Rothsmedici family, who had been selling beer like crazy, suddenly began to buy it in large quantities.
As a result, even the taverns, which had no one but beer sellers, saw aristocrats coming in to buy beer again, and this planted an absurd belief in everyone who had bought beer that the price would only go up.
“See? What did I say?”
As the beer prices that had dropped to 500 times their original value recovered to around 800 times, Bob's voice regained its strength.
“Didn't I tell you it would go up if I held on? I said it would definitely go up if I held on.”
Since reality proved him right, Bel, who had been urging Bob to sell the beer for several days, had nothing to say.
Just as Bob had said, by holding on and holding on, the collapsed beer prices were already returning to their previous levels.
“Alright, I was wrong. I'll only trust your words from now on.”
“That's why I told you it would work if I held on. Just wait and see. It'll break the highest price soon and set a new record.”
At that moment, Bel suddenly had a question.
Just how high would the price of that mere beer go?
“It's amazing when you think about it. It's just beer, right? But now, even wealthy aristocrats can't buy it, and it's become a drink made of gold.”
“Hey, you. A drink made of gold? Even if there was a drink made of gold, beer is the best. Beer is faith!”
That day, when they even made the absurd statement that beer is faith, was their last day to escape from hell.
From that day on, for some unknown reason, beer prices began to slowly drop again.
However, despite the price changes, neither the speculators nor the aristocratic investors who had bought beer had any intention of selling it.
They held on to their barrels of beer, along with the vain hope that the prices would rise again, and went straight to hell.
“How... how could this happen? The war hasn't even started yet?”
The beer prices, which had soared up to 1,000 times their original value, had now completely collapsed, returning to normal levels.
Bel and Bob, who had become beggars in an instant, lay down on the floor of the tavern in a daze.
All around them were people who had made huge investments like them, only to be ruined by the great scam called the beer bubble.
Some even committed suicide by pointing their self-defense guns at their heads.
“How could this happen?”
Bel had no words.
Even though they had seen the beer prices plummet.
Because of the hope that they would rise again someday, and because of their faith in Bob and beer.
In the end, they did nothing.
“What do we do now? We're completely broke.”
“Sigh...”
Bob, who had been sighing, looked around.
He saw speculators who, like him, had been utterly ruined.
Just a month ago, they were shouting, 'Let's go for beer!'
'We're completely ruined. Completely... ruined.'
Everyone in the tavern, including the two of them, seemed to have lost the will to live.
Then, as time passed, the old customers who had been absent for a while began to return to the tavern.
And they called the tavern owner and ordered beer for the first time in a long while.
“Ah, I can't believe I haven't tasted this in so long.”
The man who had tasted beer in the tavern for the first time in a while frowned at the pathetic people lying on the floor.
‘It's because of those guys that I couldn't drink this beer. Serves them right.’
“I don't get it. What was all the fuss about this? I really don't understand.”
When they thought about it, what they had invested in was just beer, a favorite among commoners.
“It's just beer. It's not even a drink made of gold. How could it have jumped a thousand times its value? It's just a bunch of crazy people causing a ruckus.”
At that, one of the speculators who had been lying on the floor got up and approached the man who had just spoken.
“You have a big mouth. What's it to you? What's the matter?”
The nameless customer, who hadn't been able to drink beer because of them, was also angry.
The burly man also stood up and glared at the man who had approached him.
“Did I say anything wrong? I couldn't drink my favorite beer because of you guys, and I had to drink rum, which I didn't even like! How would you feel, huh? You deserve to fail!”
“You son of a... You're talking nonsense because it's not your business! You're going to die today!”
“Who's scared? Bring it on, you bastard!”
Soon, the fight between the two turned the quiet tavern into a complete mess.
In the midst of all this, the dazed Bel and Bob could only sigh deeply as they thought about their entire fortune that had vanished in an instant.
If they hadn't rushed over from Black Label that day...
By now, they would be living a rich life.
“Sigh... Life.”
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Finally, please let the beer arc end.
ReplyDeleteI just skipped the last 5 chapters of it. The author was dirty for that one. For shame! Should have enough chaps to tidy it up
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