With Loki and Su Mo now present, Zanis was completely silenced. After Su Mo laid out the full proposal, and Soma confirmed that his brewing supplies would be multiplied several times over, he signed the contract immediately. He didn't haggle. In fact, not only did he not negotiate a share of the profits—he didn't even realize that what Su Mo had given him wasn't a revenue split, but a salary. In effect, Soma had given up any chance of sudden wealth and turned his familia into Su Mo's employees.
It was called a partnership on paper, but in truth, Su Mo now controlled the lifeline of Soma Familia's finances. Over time, it wouldn't be incorrect to call them a subsidiary of Su Mo's group. Loki had no objections to the contract. Knowing full well the chaotic state of the Soma's familia, she didn't think this change was a bad thing at all. The three of them signed the contract in one smooth motion. And then, Soma immediately stripped Zanis of his position as captain and handed the title over to Liliruca.
To him, it made no difference who the leader was. All that mattered was who could meet his brewing needs. Zanis had shown resistance to the partnership, while Liliruca was Su Mo's direct representative. Naturally, she was the logical choice. Don't be fooled by Soma's usual apathy—when it came to official decisions within a familia, a god's word was absolute. So, with a single command, Zanis lost everything.
He didn't even try to protest. He simply collapsed to the ground, defeated. And Liliruca, now the god-appointed captain, took charge of the entire familia. Everyone understood she was acting on Su Mo's behalf. But with the gods themselves backing the decision, no one could do anything about it. After the contract was signed, Soma turned toward Su Mo, hopeful.
He wanted to ask for help with his brewing. With the aid of someone possessing [Mystery], the quality of his divine wine could skyrocket. Until now, the only reason he hadn't used [Mystery] was that no one in his familia had awakened that power. Now, given the rare opportunity, he had to at least ask—even if the odds were slim. Su Mo, for his part, didn't hold Soma in particularly high regard. But when it came to his brewing skills—those demanded respect.
To craft wine that could intoxicate even gods without the aid of divine power… that was craftsmanship bordering on the divine itself. Su Mo was genuinely curious about his methods. And beyond that—
If Soma could already create divine brews without [Mystery]... Then what could he do with it? That was a question Su Mo was eager to explore. He agreed to the request. Not immediately, of course—but a later time was set.
After finishing discussions with the two gods, Su Mo turned to Liliruca beside him. "Well done," he praised with a slight smile. "All of it was thanks to you, Lord Su Mo," Liliruca replied, not taking any credit for herself. And she truly believed that. Without the magic swords or the divine wine, she wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything. But Su Mo didn't see it that way. To him, the ability to carry out instructions flawlessly was a talent in itself.
...
...
Once the contract was signed, Su Mo returned to prepare the stock. Under Liliruca's leadership, the Soma Familia contacted various merchants to purchase packaging bottles and other necessary items. They also secured distributor partnerships, ensuring the new wine would be prominently displayed. At the same time, the Loki Familia, under orders from their goddess, began promoting the new wine across the city.
When it came to marketing, Su Mo spared no effort. Drawing upon his knowledge from the modern world, he personally invested millions into advertising. Soon, all of Orario was buzzing about the upcoming release of the Soma Familia's new product—Heavenly Wine. Advertisements for "Heavenly Wine" blanketed the entire city—from the bustling commercial districts to residential buildings, and even within the Dungeon itself. But that wasn't all.
Su Mo also launched a promotional card campaign. Each scratch card revealed a unique piece of artwork. Collect all five pieces to form a complete image of Heavenly Wine, and you'd be eligible to enter a lottery with a top prize of 100,000 valis. With a barrage of marketing tactics from the modern world, the local adventurers—many of whom had never seen such things—were instantly overwhelmed.
It wasn't just the adventurers who were stunned. Even the gods were fascinated by these clever and unfamiliar techniques. Loki, in particular, was left speechless by the sheer volume of innovative ideas swirling in Su Mo's mind.
Thanks to the massive publicity campaign, adventurers and residents across Orario became obsessed with completing their five-card sets. Even before a single bottle was sold, the entire city had already been captivated.
Three days passed in this frenzy.
And finally, the Soma Familia completed all preparations.
Everything was ready for launch.
The product would be released that evening.
Initially, many adventurers viewed the hype around the so-called divine-tier wine with skepticism. Most assumed it would be priced far beyond their means and were content just to watch the spectacle unfold. However, when the pricing was revealed, they were left in utter shock.
Heavenly Wine was indeed expensive, priced at 200,000 valis per bottle. But that wasn't the surprising part. The surprising part was this: a Heavenly Wine – Light Edition was also available—for just 20,000 valis. Though it came in a smaller portion, the price was one even a Level 1 adventurer could save up for within a couple of months.
Twenty thousand valis—for a taste of something supposedly better than divine wine? How could anyone resist? And that wasn't all. A Trial Edition was also released at a limited quantity, priced at just 5,000 valis. It was a small serving, just a single sip, but the price point was perfect—especially for the curious and cash-strapped adventurers who had originally ruled themselves out of the purchase.
Most adventurers didn't have savings, but even newcomers could manage a few thousand valis. Slay a few monsters, gather a few drops—soon enough, they'd have enough to afford it. And now that everyone in Orario was talking about this legendary wine, who could afford not to try it? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?
Driven by this mentality, Su Mo captured both newbies and veterans in one fell swoop. But the marketing didn't stop with adventurers.
For the wealthy elite, there were exclusive versions available:
• Heavenly Wine – Divine Collector's Edition: 1 million valis.
• Heavenly Wine – Celestial Supreme Edition: 5 million valis.
And on top of that, Su Mo deliberately spread a tantalizing rumor: there existed a Mythical Legend Edition—a version so rare and precious that not even the creator himself dared to drink it.
With this layered branding strategy, the prestige was locked in. The Collector's and Supreme Editions differed only slightly from the standard version—not in ingredients, but in dilution. Less water, essentially. When Liliruca learned of this, she honestly thought it wouldn't sell at all. After all, aside from the packaging, the wine was practically the same. But the packaging—now that was a different story. The Collector's and Supreme bottles were adorned with gold and silver ornaments, nestled in crystal bases. Pure extravagance. Anyone could tell at a glance: this was a luxury good made purely to flaunt status. And sure enough, the gods of Orario ate it up.
On launch night, Ottar—the top adventurer of the Freya Familia and a LV.7—walked into the store and bought twenty bottles of the Celestial Supreme Edition without blinking. He even asked the staff if the Mythical Legend Edition was available.
Unfortunately, the staff was instructed to deny all knowledge. Disappointed but accepting, Ottar left. Just from his purchase alone, the store raked in over a hundred million valis. It was a staggering demonstration of Heavenly Wine's money-making potential. That night, the entire city of Orario stayed awake, consumed by the fervor.
Newbies bought Trial Editions. Veterans went for the Light Edition. High-level adventurers chose the original. The rich and the divine snapped up the luxury variants. Three days of hype erupted into a full-blown phenomenon. The aroma of Heavenly Wine wafted across the city. Oddly enough, Hestia—who had already tasted something even better—didn't bother joining the crowd. And Su Mo? He had gone to bed early.
The next morning, after waking up, Su Mo ran into Liliruca. From her expression, he knew things had gone well—but even he was unprepared for the report she delivered. "Lord Su Mo," she said, her eyes sparkling, "last night's sales revenue reached 1.5 billion valis!" She had never seen so much money in her life.
One and a half billion! Not even the Loki Familia had likely ever seen such a sum. Probably only the Freya Familia had those kinds of reserves. "If we deduct the costs, the net profit is 300 million," Liliruca said with a playful wink. Of the 1.2 billion in costs, more than a billion had gone directly to Su Mo for the wine itself.
Liliruca, however, knew the truth—Su Mo hadn't spent even a single coin on production costs. Well, that wasn't entirely fair. He had spent a bit… on water. Just a few hundred valis' worth of water was turned into an expense report claiming over a billion valis. Falsifying the accounts to such a degree was almost admirable in its boldness.
But none of the other collaborators—neither the Loki Familia nor the Soma Familia—had any objections. Clearly, they all believed that such divine wine must have enormous production costs. Under those assumptions, the numbers made perfect sense. In fact, if Su Mo revealed the real figure, they probably wouldn't believe him.
So, while he made a killing from the "cost," he also took the lion's share in actual profit distribution. Aside from a 10% net profit cut given to the Loki Familia, the rest—after paying the wages of the Soma Familia—went entirely to Su Mo.
After glancing over the account books, Su Mo casually said, "Give everyone a bonus equivalent to two months' salary—both the Soma Familia and the distribution partners. With incentives, they'll be more cooperative next time."
A strong opening shouldn't be rewarded with just a fixed wage. If you wanted people to work hard, you had to pay them accordingly. Su Mo understood this perfectly and didn't mind being generous.
"Understood," Liliruca nodded.
Then she added, "Although the profit-sharing period hasn't been reached yet, your cost payment is due and must be paid as soon as possible, Lord Su Mo. When would you like it delivered?" That was the main reason she'd come today.
"A billion valis, huh…" Su Mo thought for a moment before instructing, "Have it all converted into magic stones and bring it over." He hadn't forgotten his original goal—to collect enough Philosopher's Stones.