Chapter 208: Chapter 208

“Are you trying to stick it to Hunter Choi Yeonseung because he found out about your shameful past? That’s not OK.”

At Han Seha’s words, Jeong Wonuk couldn’t help looking around. Fortunately, no one was listening.

“What shameful past?!”

“Then what’s the problem with picking the artifact from his company?”

“Obviously, we have to fairly assess all of them. Do I really have to explain this to you?”

“There is no such thing as a fair assessment in this world. No hunter would give a fair assessment.”

Han Seha’s words had sharp edges.

Each hunter had a different style and different way of fighting. There was no such thing as a perfectly objective assessment. Besides, there were some hunters who were more than happy to take bribes. It was a known fact that some hunters were getting paid to promote the artifacts of certain companies.

“That’s true, but shouldn’t you try to be as objective as possible in order to receive money from hunters all over the world? More than anything else...” Jeong Wonuk spoke in a dumbfounded manner.

Even so, Hanseong Group was Han Seha’s company, not his. If the company lost money, it wasn’t his loss.

“Even if I step forward and do my best, it won’t be enough...”

“I made it clear that I had no intention of doing the test, but the group left it up to me anyways,” Han Seha spoke in a very imposing manner.

Just because she was an A-grade hunter didn’t mean she had a comprehensive understanding of artifacts. She might’ve been able to use skills that others couldn’t, but that wasn’t the only important factor in determining whether an artifact was good or not.

A good artifact had to be just right.

A-grade hunters had a large amount of magic power at their disposal, but lower-grade hunters had to use their magic power sparingly when they cast spells. Having powerful skills wasn’t necessarily always a good thing. It was better to have a skill that was decently powerful, that had good usability, that didn’t consume too much magic power, and that could be used in any situation...

“If I don’t make a good decision, the blame will fall on those who recommended me for this test.”

‘The group directors would grab the back of their necks and scream if they heard this.’

However, it was also true. Han Seha wasn’t necessarily the best person for this task, yet they wanted her to do the test regardless. In that case, wouldn’t the person who recommended her be held accountable in case of failure?

“Then do as you please. I’ll test it and decide.”

Jeong Wonuk stood up.

No matter what Han Seha did, it wouldn’t be a big deal because she was the granddaughter of the chairman of the Hanseong Group. Meanwhile, Jeong Wonuk was an outsider. He might’ve been an A-grade hunter, but there would be a lot of resentment if he made the wrong call.

Hunter clans and big companies had a mutually beneficial relationship. Jeong Wonuk had to give a trustworthy assessment of the artifacts in order to justify the money he received, but also for the sake of his overall future.

“Why don’t you just pick Dragon Artifact?”

“I told you to go away.”

“Do you know what a great company Dragon Artifact is?” They’ve recently announced the new double skill casting.”

“I know that you just looked it up”

Jeong Wonuk ignored Han Seha and started using the artifacts one by one.

‘Is Tatsui’s artifact using water magic? So they’re still trying to push the water attribute. It’s been a while since water magic stopped being popular...’

Jeong Wonuk clicked his tongue.

Tatsui was one of the most successful companies in the early days of the raid era. Their knowledge and their technology were among the best in the world. However, the artifact market was so volatile that trends would change at the blink of an eye. People couldn’t survive by being stubborn. Tatsui continued to push the water attribute because he had once hit the jackpot with it, but in Jeong Wonuk’s eyes, the water attribute artifact wasn’t that great.

‘The damage is weak when dealing with monsters. If you’re going to put up a shield, you can use a completely different defense magic. They promote it as being versatile, but in reality it’s inadequate.’

The shortcomings of manipulating water into weapons and shields were way too obvious. Jeong Wonuk moved onto the next artifact.

“No... why do they keep giving Yin Nie artifacts? I told them last time...”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Forget it. It’s their job, so it can’t be helped”

Yin Nie was an artifact company from China. Jeong Wonuk frowned when he looked at their artifact. He didn’t have very good memories with them.

First of all, Yin Nie had sent industrial spies to competitors and had done many controversial things that made other people resent them, such as stealing technology and poaching valuable employees from other companies, just to name a few. In addition, the artifacts released by Yin Nie came with various issues, such as explosions due to core overheating, specifications that were lower than those they would advertise, etc.

There was a time when young hunters from Jeong Wonuk’s clan bought some artificial artifacts from Yin Nie because they were cheap, only to get severely injured. Using unreliable equipment during a risky raid was like asking to get killed. Thus, Jeong Wonuk immediately prohibited the clan members from buying from Yin Nie.

“Still, isn’t Yin Nie doing well?”

“I don’t care how well they’re doing. I have no intention of acknowledging their artifacts as being good.”

Jeong Wonuk assessed Yin Nie’s artifacts with a disapproving face. It was magic that summoned enchanted lightning, meaning it was quite destructive.

‘By the way...’

Even so, lightning attribute magic was volatile and difficult to handle, so to use it with an artificial artifact…

“It’s lightning magic. Isn’t it amazing?”

Han Seha was surprised to see the lightning in Jeong Wonuk’s hand. However, impressive as it might have been, making an artificial artifact with a lighting attribute was too much…

“It’s too unstable no matter how you think about it. It won’t last long.”

Jeong Wonuk took turns checking the other artifacts, and looked surprised upon setting eyes on one artifact in particular.

“As expected, the Parker Group’s artifacts are on a different level.”

The artifact used a low amount of magic power and it worked smoothly. It also had a sleek and sophisticated design. Parker Group was among the best in the world for a reason.

“Is it that great?”

“Yes. It’s amazing that they’ve attached two spells to it. How are they going to come up with an affordable price?”

Jeong Wonuk checked the artifact from Parker Group in disbelief. Artificial artifacts had to be cheaper than regular artifacts. If not, everyone would just buy the real thing. It was hard to believe that they could come up with an affordable price for a two-spell artifact.

“There is one offensive and one defensive magic. It’s stable and... It’s sturdy. No… How did they come up with a reasonable price for this?”

Jeong Wonuk was perplexed. Technically, it wasn’t impossible to put two spells in one artifact, but it required a lot of hard work.

“Maybe they set up a lot of factories in China?”

“Do the Chinese people work for no money? There should still be a limit.”

“Then prisoners must’ve done it.”

“......?!”

Upon hearing Han Seha’s words, Jeong Wonuk suddenly froze. It was actually plausible, and that scared him.

“Now, here. This is the new product sent from Dragon Artifact. Admit it’s good.”

“I said I would do a proper examination.”

Jeong Wonuk held up a sword that emitted a blue light. A cool energy emanated from it, perhaps because it used blue iron ore as its raw material.

‘The ice attribute? They’ve actually ventured to go with the ice attribute?’

Ice attribute magic was just as tricky as the lightning attribute. It wasn’t as unstable as lightning attribute magic, but it was still troublesome since its power constantly fluctuated. The moment Jeong Wonuk swung the sword, it released a cold blue wave from the tip and froze the testing dolls in the practice room.

‘That’s pretty good.’

Jeong Wonuk swung it once again. No matter how many times he swung it, the cold waves were released with the same amount of power.

“No… This is actually amazing. I can’t believe Dragon Artifact made something like this.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, it’s not like Dragon Artifact doesn't have great technology, it’s just that… Many eccentric people work there.” n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Jeong Wonuk didn’t underestimate Dragon Artifact. They had some of the world’s most talented people, and they also received a lot of support, so of course their technical skills were outstanding. However, Dragon Artifact was a bit...

‘They are very eccentric.’

Artifacts that were popular and stable sold well, while artifacts that were more experimental and weird posed difficulties for hunters.

On that note, Dragon Artifact was able to develop perfect artifacts if they were requested by other affiliates of Dragon Industry. However, when they were asked to make an artifact and release it themselves, they often came up with something strange.

The hunters that were obsessed with their eccentric designs were so loyal that they considered the artifacts from any other companies to be rubbish, but…

At the end of the day, an artifact did well on the market only if the majority of hunters used it.

“So, you think it’s good?”

“...Yes. It’s flawless. It has great durability and a neat design, the magic is solid and it doesn’t consume too much magic power... How did they manage to make this?”

“Great! Let’s pick this one.”

“Wait. I need to consider the one from Parker Group as well.”

“Hey! You’re Korean, so you should support Dragon Artifact!”

“Why does that matter?”

However, after some consideration, Jeong Wonuk finally chose Dragon Artifact’s new product. It was a subtle difference, but he felt that Dragon Artifact’s new product was better.

‘Ah... We’re going to look so bad if the artifact from Parker Group does well.’

-An A-grade hunter’s mistake inflicts tremendous damage on Hanseong Group in an unprecedented manner…

He could already imagine the terrible title of the article.

***

“It’s not just Hunter Han Seha, but Hunter Jeong Wonuk as well?! Has Dragon Artifact really hit the jackpot this time?”

“It seems so.”

“Well, at least it’s not a weird artifact this time. If they hadn’t only released stuff like that, they could’ve made it a long time ago...”

Director An Yeonggu had a look of disbelief. Due to his long experience in the industry and the rumors he had heard, he thought that the artifact from Parker Group would be selected.

“But I’ve heard that the people at Parker Group were really confident when releasing this new artifact ... Wouldn’t it be better to have insurance?”

“Then we might get cursed at by both sides. We have no choice but to pick a side. I believe in Hunter Jeong Wonuk’s judgment.”

“What about Hunter Han Seha?”

“...I only partially believe in her judgment.”

An Yeonggu was the executive director of the company and a talented individual in general. Naturally, even the senior members of the company had a lot of faith in him. He had a strong backbone when it came to their field, and despite not being a hunter, he had the sound judgment of one.

“Still, it’s a relief.”

“Why?”

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung is from South Korea, so it’s going to be easier to communicate with him, right?”

It was much easier to talk to people from the same country than people of different nationalities or races.

An Yeonggu shook his head. “It’s more difficult to deal with people who go to other countries because they don’t like their own country than to deal with people with different nationalities. Don’t you remember Chairman Hwang Gyeongryong?”

“Ah...”

The secretary’s complexion darkened as he remembered the crime that Hwang Gyeongryong had committed. It was the notorious incident where South Korea invited him to give him an award because he had been doing really well overseas, but he came and revealed all the grudges he had accumulated up until that point!

Hwang Gyeongryong had an amazing memory. He even remembered the name of the official who embezzled a core during the great invasion of the evil god constellations. He pointed them out one by one during the live broadcast. Because of that, even the high-ranking government officials who retired and received pensions were dragged out and annihilated by the media.

Since then, no government group dared to call Hwang Gyeongryong.

“You can go in.”

The two of them were led inside by a staff member. They came to have a meeting with Dragon Artifact.

Where was Hunter Choi Yeonseung?

“Why is it so noisy?”

“A machine is probably running.”

“In the CEO’s office?”

“......?!”

An Yeonggu thought it was strange. The loud noise they were hearing inside the room was supposed to be heard only inside the factory.

“Ah. You came.”

Choi Yeonseung was hitting the ore with his bare hands and stopped when he saw a guest coming.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says you need to focus!]

-I have a guest.