Chapter 444. Why is the Business... (3) |
By all logic, this corporation shouldn't have been generating any profit, and yet, somehow, excessive gains had been pouring in since the very first week of operation.
According to the newly hired human administrator, in just these few days, we've already earned enough to cover the electricity bill for the commercial building.
Expanding a guild on Earth only makes things more troublesome. So, the plan was to just hire a few low-rank members and run it quietly, like a small countryside supermarket. That had originally been a certain alien's main goal. However, as time went on, reality began to drift further and further from that plan.
Seventy-two clears in just a week... Even looking at it again, I still can't believe it. What the hell did those nine lousy hunters do in that short time?
Even shouting it out loud didn't make the situation any easier to understand. His tiny guild was still growing at an unbelievable rate even at this very moment. And so, the alien found himself retracting the flow of events from the past week.
...
How on earth had the guild business ended up doing so well? In truth, this kind of failed prediction was something the alien had been experiencing consistently ever since reincarnating on Earth. Still, in order to understand the problem that had once again surfaced—even just a little—he began to trace back through the past.
First, Choi Jin had brought in a few hunters who'd been resting in a particular region. After some brief introductions among them, the alien guild master—the guild's representative—took out an item.
"What is it? Is it an artifact?"
Kim Giryeo had handed each of those who'd gathered at his guild a long, staff-like metal rod. It was a handmade tool of his own design—a mage's custom creation—one that, once its color changed all the way to the handle, could be easily pulled out and retrieved. Come to think of it, even if one of them were to be lost, it wouldn't cause any major trouble. After all, it wasn't crafted from any particularly special materials. Even if it somehow ended up in human hands, its purpose wouldn't be easily discovered anyway.
"If you happen to stick it in the ground for about two hours and the color still hasn't changed at all, just pull it out and take it with you then."
After much deliberation, Kim Giryeo finally made up his mind to properly hire human personnel.
"For reference, this is just an additional note, but in the case of the EX-rank gate like White Maze..."
"The one with the lion statue?"
"You know how those gates have walls and floors that are extremely hard to destroy? So please try to choose gates where you can actually use this tool. I'll share an example list with you on your phones."
"Well, a muddy environment dungeon would probably be fine."
"That's all I have to say for today."
As this smooth exchange of words showed, at least during the time they were passing the steel rods back and forth, there hadn't been any problems between them.
"They actually told us to be sure to stick this in the ground before hunting..."
"This somehow feels like a rule I've seen somewhere before."
In fact, the hunters gathered at Choi Jin's call even found the rod somewhat familiar.
"Maybe it's because he often interact with the Guild Master of the Korea Magic Tower Guild. Somehow, the way things are handled here feels pretty similar to theirs."
It was quite common for other guilds as well to hand measurement devices to their members.
"Ah~ right. I think I saw something like this in a documentary about major guilds."
Information warfare has always been an essential element in large-scale battles. The Korea Magic Tower Guild had valued information gathering since its founding, focusing on it as a key element in hunting down monsters. In recent years, those efforts had given them a decisive edge across the industry. Even with major corporations pouring money into the market, the fact that a single S-rank hunter's guild still dominated the top was proof enough of their supremacy.
"Come to think of it, Hunter Seo Esther's mother was from somewhere in Southeast Asia, right? Anyway, I heard she was a businesswoman of some sort."
"Doesn't her uncle also run something big in real estate?"
"Their family's like that, so it makes sense they'd have some business know-how. But it's kind of surprising that Hunter Kim Giryeo, who's basically starting from zero, suddenly opened a guild."
"They'll probably do just fine anyway. I mean, it's him, after all."
Step, step, step.
For reference, this was around the time when the Awakened, have received a brief orientation from their Guild Master, were leaving the building. Kim Giryeo quietly listened in on the chatter of those moving about and made his own silent assessment.
"The more I hear about Esther's family, the more astonishing it gets."
At first, it was just a passing impression about an acquaintance—but soon, his thoughts grew deeper. At that moment, Kim Giryeo pondered quietly.
The way she viewed the mysteries born from Dungeon Shock in such a positive light... And her overall personality as well... Somehow, that woman, Seo Esther, had an unusually magocratic at about her—rare even among the so-called primitives.
[Message Inbox]
[Sender: Seo Esther]
[Content:]
[Hello! Kim Giryeo-ssi!
First of all, congratulations!
I somehow heard the news from someone else.
Most importantly, thanks to you going through the confirmation process once, I was able to hear the situation from Jeong Haseong.
You were planning to step back from the industry due to some personal circumstances, but luckily, those got resolved sooner than expected—so you'll be returning soon, right?]
Tak.
A certain man checked his phone for a few seconds. However, he didn't reply to the message that followed.
===========
[I'll say it here. I'm practically a secret fan of yours, Kim Giryeo-ssi.
If you've judged that there's truly no problem, honestly, I have no intention of stopping the hunter's return.
On the contrary, I'd welcome it!
What fan in this world would refuse the comeback of some they admire?
But there's just one thing...
Before the license is fully restored, I'd like to hear a single explanation...
Why did you post a hunter recruitment notice under the name of a one-person guild that supposedly had no intention of operating properly...?
And why did you even go as far as securing an office in the capital, as if you were set on toppling the Korea Magic Tower's dominance...?
Overall, it's really intriguing!
When you have a moment later, could you give me a light reply?]
14:23
[Please reply even if you don't have time.]
===========
In any case, this was merely a personal matter for the guild master. The distribution of the long metal rods had already been completed safely. Moreover, the humans didn't show much resistance to the soil measurement activities.
'Five F-rank, two E-rank, one D-rank.'
Up until this point, the alien had expected his plan to proceed smoothly.
.
.
.
But all the problems began right here.
'I just came here after overhearing something about a person named Seonwoo Yeon...'
Jet-black short-cut hairstyle. Along with that, a fireproof coat obtained from killing reptilian-type monsters, and so on. That distinctive-looking person had been recruited into Kim Giryeo's guild.
'Surprisingly, the guild is even smaller than I imagined. Well, no wonder that official went out of their way to relay the situation to someone like me.'
The easygoing A-rank hunter came to a stop.
'Judging by how he's only picking up low-rank hunters, it seems his goal is data collection. Well, in that case, this isn't really our concern as outsiders.'
Choi Jin. She looked at the guild she had newly joined in Seoul and thought to herself.
'Running a guild as a latecomer won't be easy. I'll do what I can to help a little.'
The truth quickly becomes clear from the sentences above. In fact, Choi Jin never had any intention of working "diligently" from the start. She had just been through severe stress, and her physical and mental health were not in good shape.
'It's killing me to be out and moving after such a long time.'
But Kim Giryeo was someone who had gone all out to help a sister through a disaster. Choi Jin acted purely out of human decency. She came to work with the single mindset of repaying that favor, and after finishing her tasks, she would always glance at the hunter-exclusive wristwatch she habitually wore.
'As long as I don't overdo it... I just need to work at a reasonable pace.'
But strangely enough, there was just... too much time.
[Current Time: 6:00 PM]
Hunters, by nature, often worked overtime and overexerted themselves. But the company run by Kim Giryeo went so far as to explicitly state in the contract—something the guild master himself obsessively emphasized—that employees should avoid working beyond reasonable hours.
6:00 PM. For an ordinary office worker, this wouldn't be an unusual time to leave work. But upon seeing this hour, only one thought came to Choi Jin's mind.
'Oh... that's right. I'm not being forced to work. I can actually go home and have dinner now...?'
This is the truth about Choi Jin. Even among A-rank hunters, she was nearly at the very top. In other words, Choi Jin held the impressive domestic ranking of third, right behind monsters like Jeong Haseong and Seo Esther. Ever since she first gained recognition as an early beneficiary of the Awakening phenomenon, she had worked tirelessly. Having become excessively accustomed to overwork in many ways, ordinary tasks no longer even made her twitch.
'This work is way too easy. At this rate, maybe I'll schedule things a bit more tightly for tomorrow's shift.'
On top of that, the undisputed number-one ranked hunter was openly taking a break at the moment. Jeong Haseong had gone on leave, partly to check on his home's safety after his mother woke up, and partly to enjoy reuniting with his parents. As a result, the dungeon industry in South Korea was left with an abundance of unclaimed hunting grounds. And Choi Jin began to tackle them all, devouring every opportunity that came her way.
'What a shame. If this metal rod had changed color just a bit faster, I could have cleared one more dungeon...'
This happened because most Gates could be easily secured, unless the area was so popular it was put up for auction, like the Dimensional Treasure Vault.
Could it be that the Dragon's Heart also had a stamina-boosting effect? Choi Jin displayed feats that were hard to believe were done solo, all while spewing intense flames. Her trait as a workaholic, honed through years of endurance since school, played a part. And because of the shared fire attribute, some of her actions even resembled a budget-version Jeong Haseong. It was a testament that her own skills were just as formidable.
'Back in school, I used to sit in the study hall until late every night just to get good grades, and after awakening, I've been grinding daily enough to rank third in the industry—there's no way I should be feeling this tired from something this small...'
Then let's assume that a certain A-rank Hunter moved around vigorously, surprised by the 'balance between work and life' that they were experiencing for the first time.
[Guild Report] Choi Jin's dungeon clears within 7 days (C-8 rank hunting grounds): 21 times.Why were other guild members so active that they made headlines?
One day, eight low-rank hunters, brought in by Choi Jin, gathered at Kim Giryeo's guild.
In fact, if divided into teams, there were barely enough people for just two groups—an extremely small number. And looking at the abilities of the members, there were F-ranks here, F-ranks there—talent that any proper guild wouldn't even glance at. But still, what kind of conversation could possibly come out when such people put their heads together?
"Hey, hey, anyway, we really have to be grateful to Choi Jin for life."
"Even after everything that happened... come back to the industry and still looking out for us."
"You guys are at least young! I almost had to go to a construction site, get yelled at by non-awakened workers, and compete for a job!"
"When the top-ranked [faith] guild completely collapsed, the neighboring guys must've been thrilled. Honestly, it seems like all the gates around Chuncheon have now gone entirely to rival companies."
The bottom of the food chain hasn't been a good situation, then or now. In clean areas with few gates, a specific guild monopolized the work. Those present here, unfortunately, had left their hometowns behind just to make a living.
"By the way, the base pay is one, but isn't it amazing to be under a hunter like Kim Giryeo?"
"Right now, he's not officially a hunter, and... didn't some foreign articles mention there were issues with his abilities?"
"Ah, right. Kim Giryeo's health is..."
"Anyway, I'm fine with it in the end, he's paying a lot—what reason would I have to refuse?"
Meanwhile, a scouting offer had come in. For context, Choi Jin herself had honestly asked them, "If you have time, could you come by and help out here for a bit?" In other words, the news that Kim Giryeo was struggling with a manpower shortage was ironically unknown to everyone.
But since everyone was struggling to find work anyway, did the small details really matter? Those gathered were simply genuinely happy to participate in the alien's soil exploration. And to be clear, they were also people who understood at least the minimal sense of human decency.
"Let's give it our all! Choi Jin called us here even though we became freelancers, and honestly, we need to show results here to maintain a connection with them."
And thus began a chain of positivity. Choi Jin wanted to repay Kim Giryeo's kindness. Meanwhile, the low-rank hunters wanted to show their gratitude to Choi Jin. As a result, the unusually small guild in South Korea began producing results at a surprisingly fast pace.
It was a development entirely independent of the company CEO's intentions.
Author's Thoughts
Hi, from now on, I will update this novel 3 chapters/week. Thank you for all your support so far:)