Chapter 319 The Real Artifacts and The Imitations.
This hostility was born after the humans had attempted to imitate the Dwarfs' Artifacts by using technology and elemental stones!
This happened almost 2500 years ago.
Well, it shouldn't be considered as an attempt since humans had truly succeeded in creating imitations!!
Those imitations were naturally not as good as the original artifacts. However, they were cheaper and more accessible than the Dwarf Race's artifacts.
After all, just like how the Witches needed to personally create potions and substances due to their innate trait, The dwarfs also needed to use their innate trait for artifact creations.
This meant, they could never contest against the machinery and technology of humans who were pumping out those artifacts imitations like a candy factory.
Despite so, the Dwarf race didn't mind the competition at all as the only thing in their eyes was reaching the limits of artifact creation!
Just like the Metal race, who spend their entire time searching for the Truth of the Universe, the Dwarf race had their own end goal.
That was creating an Artifact capable of changing the properties of minerals! An Artifact that could turn coal into gold, stone into diamond, a piece of metal into the rarest alloys in the Universe!
The money gotten from their products was just a means to help them create better and stronger artifacts until they reach that height of creating such an unfathomable Artifact.
So they didn't mind that the humans were selling imitations.
Thus, the Dwarf Race continued making artifacts and selling them like always. They weren't as expensive as before due to the imitations hitting the markets but they still didn't care.
However, this all changed when the humans started doing what they knew best...Letting their desires control the best of them.
The number one desire that was always prominent in humans and goblins was greed!
The demand for their imitations was starting to get out of their control as more and more customers all over the universe wanted to buy from them.
Since their imitations could never be as good as the Dwarf's Artifacts, the humans couldn't really raise the price of their artifacts to match the Dwarf's.
If they did, no one would bother buying from them as customers would rather struggle and buy the real deal than an imitation with the same price.
Just like on Earth, no one was retarded enough to buy an iPhone counterpart with the same price as the original device even if they were desperate.
So, they asked the Dwarfs to raise their Artifacts' price so they could raise their own prices for the imitations.
Unfortunately, the Dwarfs weren't that greedy and had their own principles about their products' pricing.
So, they got rejected without any chance to negotiate.
While most imitations' manufacturers carried on operating like normal after the rejection, some of them couldn't sit tight and watch free coins pass by them.
Thus, they started to lower quality and increase the quantity! Obviously, the price remained the same.
This was the greed doing!
After all, even if the demand went out of their control, they could leave it be and carry on their operations normally.
The Quality remains the same. The price remains the same. The ones without artifacts imitations would be eager to get one and those who got it would be satisfied by the human's work.
Too bad, in another alternate reality, they might have chosen that decision, but here? Everything went to shit after the new imitations hit the market.
Since the quantity had increased substantially there wasn't a draught anymore for artifacts and the demand was sated for a while.
However, due to many pieces being sold simultaneously, the reduced quality couldn't escape getting noticed by the majority of the users.
Especially when many of them ended up dying due to the imitations breaking or failing to work properly in critical moments!
Imagine buying a sword that was supposed to freeze the target after contact. However, it ends up exploding in the user's hand during the strike!
Or worse, buying shoes that were supposed to run on the wind to end up falling from the sky due to a short circuit inside the shoes!
After all, they were created by a mix of technology and elemental energy, unlike the Dwarfs who had an entirely different creation system.
Ultimately, no one dared to use the humans' artifacts imitations when their lives were at stake. Even though the majority of the imitations still had the same good quality!
What's worse, those who already spent a hefty amount of money on them felt cheated since they could only throw them in the garbage lest they end up dead like the others.
Hence, they wrote horrible reviews on the imitations in general, warning everyone from using them and even exaggerating the situation's seriousness!
Those reviews were in the trillions coming from all around the universe, making everyone treat not just imitations but also real artifacts like cursed items that would bring death by a single touch.
Whether one was a buyer or not, the majority was left traumatized by those reviews and didn't dare to touch any artifact.
When it comes to items that could affect the shoppers' lives, it was a must to either buy the best quality or at least somewhat good.
That's why everyone trusted the imitations in the first place.
They were good!
But after getting cheated like that? No one was going to repeat the same mistake. This affected the industry as a whole which in turn affected the Dwarf Race.
They were peacefully creating artifacts in their galaxy and selling them to outsiders for money to create more artifacts.
Their entire lives and world revolve around Artifacts from the day of their birth to the die they die.
That's why every artifact that was sold had only peak quality in its rank! They took pride in their creations and they refused to sell faulty artifacts or subpar ones.
Thus, how could they accept having their creations getting spoken in the same breath as imitations?
Alas, what's done was done, the industry was already f*cked by the human race and it needed years upon years until the Artifacts regain the users' trust.
Heck, there were even some who were willingly spreading rumors about the Dwarf's Artifacts failing as well so more and more wouldn't bother buying them!
This would lower the demand immensely which in turn make them cheaper.
Since the dwarfs took pride in their Artifacts, there was no way they would lower the quality to match the low price.
This led to them losing massive amounts of coins in those transactions.
All of this had resulted in the Dwarf Race completely cutting down all relations with the Human Race.
There was a complete halt of trades between them. Artifacts, energy stones, and minerals ranging from alloys to gems.
Nothing was sent to the Milky Way Galaxy from the Dwarfs' Galaxy anymore. Nada!
To add salt to injury, the Dwarfs made sure to add a clause in their contracts that their products could never be sold second-hand to the human race.
No one had any issues with this term as humans truly had a shitty image in other Races' eyes due to their monetization plans done in the UVR.
The final blow came from within the Galaxy.
Since the bloodliners were also affected by the artifacts' imitations, they didn't dare to buy them even if they were cheaper by five times than their original price.
This ended up killing the industry eventually in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Right now? Humans were the only race in the entire universe who had no official access to the Dwarf's Artifacts besides the gold games and above in Supremacy Games.
Only now could Felix start buying Artifacts that he needed from the Prize Pool and trade the rest to others.
He didn't want to buy them before from the PPFT market since he would be required to pay a 5% commission to the seller.
If he got unlucky, he might bid for them against others as he did with the Uncommon Elemental Flower.
However, after reading the stock of those three artifacts, his eyebrows frowned in annoyance. There were only 1 Seeker Shoes, 2 Wrist Webbing Artifact, and 1 Shield of Dominic in this game.
This stock was for all of the participants!
"Whatever, I still have 9000 game points after I spent 2000 GP on buying a room in the Ivy League City." Felix closed the prize pool and smirked, "No one in mid-tier gold would have the same amount as me. So, it's quite worth it to spend all of it to secure the artifacts the moment the game ends."
Felix already calculated the amount required to purchase all of them would be 8000 GP. Since he planned on keeping one Seeker Shoes, the price would fall to 6000 GP.
When he goes to the PPFT Market, he could sell them at the same price. But he would be getting the agreed-upon 5% commission.
Only the rich players like Felix could afford to utilize this method as the rest wouldn't dare use their own game points to buy something that might not get sold.
In worst cases, the item might end up stuck in their hands until they sell it cheaply or outside with Supremacy Coins.
So, they would rather keep hold of their game points until they find an item that they were certain would be sold or fought for by others.
As for the rest of the items? They would only use the usual method of getting a commission for letting other players shop with their prize Pool randomized list.
After Felix had dealt with the situation concerning the PPFT, he read the rules of the game. They were quite complex and simple at the same time.
Felix kept reading them one by one carefully until he reached the 12th and 13th rule. Those rules were concerning the ranks of fish and fishing GP bundles.
Felix knew that his fishing skills were nonexistent but those didn't really require skills but just luck.
Luck was closely related to numbers!
After all, buying a single lottery ticket wouldn't have a higher chance than someone buying hundred lottery tickets!
In the case of Felix? He had the numbers with his new active sand ability!!
"Hehehee, this game might turn out not so bad after all." Felix grinned widely while rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
'You are a cheat.' Asna chuckled after reading what he had in mind.
'Thank you for the compliment.' Felix smirked while closing down the interface.
He swiftly logged inside the UVR as he wanted to test the plan's viability in his Training Center Room.
He was planning on copying the same environment and conditions of the game to see if his plan would work.
If it did? He was going to break the balance of the game!!