People proved eager to partake in the Broadcasting Event, as Severin called it.


    At the same time, the event gave Severing the perfect excuse to temporarily restrict the amount of items each person could buy; the Emporium being notoriously understaffed and the now increasing number of responsibilities, such as taking care of registrations and otherwise prepare for the main event, would simply make it impossible to simultaneously keep up production and sales. Or at least that was the official reason.


    And in the beginning, this scheme seemed to work out quite well.


    Soon, the contrived excuses of them being too busy to take care of their regular duties very much became a reality. As the day passed and the number of customers increased, so did the number of overeager participants.


    Ito an extend which far exceeded anyone’s expectations.


    While the rules stated one could cast their vote as one pleased, no matter their affiliation, this only applied if one was not a participant themselves. This important exception was thought up in order to at least somewhat mitigate the inherent advantage larger groups had over their smaller counterparts. To maximize this same advantage, Severin and his [Employees] had assumed these people would register as one or at most two separate groups, which by sheer size would guarantee them a certain minimum of votes.


    As it turned out, far fewer groups than expected adapted this strategy, with many guilds registering several smaller groups, instead.


    Severin grew restless again.


    Every single unit sold made him more anxious, as their current stock suddenly appeared utterly insufficient.


    Yes, it was advertised to be automatically replenished by the System, but given their current circumstances, was this really something they could depend on? Wasn’t this situation much the same as for their other ingredients?


    More and more, it seemed the problem they had tried so hard to avoid had found them, anyway.


    Only that this time around, there would be no good excuse to stop the sales.


    The whole event was dependent on this. And there was no going back.


    His anxiety ultimately peaked in the late afternoon of the second day, when the last available unit was sold, and a line of customers, all expecting their own unit, stretched to the front of the store.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.Even a whole night of brooding had not brought them any closer to a solution.


    All he could do now was pray to the System.


    His prayer had been heard.


    The moment coins exchanged hands was the moment a new batch of products appeared in the store’s inventory.


    Waiting only for Severin to be used to restock the shelves of the store.


    Either way, while his sigh of relief was long and deep, Severin hardly had the time to dwell on the matter. Not until the next day, the third since the announcement, that was.


    Would they resume manufacturing again now that they had reason to believe their supplies weren’t limited, after all? Or would they use this downtime to take a much deserved break? And how would the actual main event in a few days look like?


    Questions upon questions. Decisions upon decision.


    As if a switch had suddenly been flipped, a second wave of would-be participants broke over them.


    First, the ones who didn’t have their main base of operation directly in either this focal point of the Golden Mountains or around Hanvia, and who therefore only received the news belatedly.


    Like for example, Samuel, his two mentees, Markus and his retinue of Eagles, and the many other groups like them who had been holed up in some dungeon or raid.


    It helped that the matte black cards in their possessions had already informed their holders of the new available products and service and thus saved them at least some time catching up.


    Still, the descriptions clearly didn’t paint the full picture. While they already knew about the Class-Orb Removal Device, they weren’t aware of its full capabilities.


    Or that it was due to this new technology that the [Berserker’s] old, prideful mentor had somehow become Severin’s subordinate.


    Even seeing it firsthand, it was hard for the man to accept.


    It didn’t matter much to him that he already had one of these memberships at his disposal. In his eyes, these cards represented more than just a cheap discount. It represented real political power. Power which would only increase as the Emporium gained more and more influence. Power which shouldn’t just be surrendered to some random adventurer.


    Much to the lamentation of his worn-out guild members and subordinates, Markus almost immediately decided their participation; a short meeting with his royal sibling and they would once again depart.


    It was also the second to last day before the actual main event. And the day that Severin finally had to admit to himself that he had no idea how he would handle it.


    Which he left hours later, with his signature under a piece of paper that declared his commitment to drastically increase production of the gravely neglected [Heating Spheres] the princess had been so interested in.