Chapter 209: Chapter 209

In fact, Choi Yeonseung wondered what the point of his making the artifact was. The Cat of Lava and Magma was more troublesome than he expected.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ points out that the last motion was a lazy one!] n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says there was some killing intent in that motion!]

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says that having a pure heart devoid of temptation is the only way to become a true craftsman...]

Choi Yeonseung’s body had reached a perfect state, but the Cat of Lava and Magma still wasn’t satisfied. A true blacksmith had to be able to handle souls as well. To be honest, it didn’t make much of a difference to Choi Yeonseung, but he was the student here. He had to keep his mouth shut and do what he was told.

‘My time would be better spent on training my believers and preparing for a battle with another constellation…’ Of course, given that the cat constellation was a constellation that could really?sulk, he didn’t say that out loud.

“Hello! Hunter Choi Yeonseung! It is an honor to meet you like this!”

Director An Yeonggu greeted him politely after entering. The person in front of him was an A-grade hunter. Moreover, he was an A-grade hunter that was very dissatisfied with South Korea. Of course, Choi Yeonseung was working with Hwang Gyeongryong. An Yenoggu had to be careful when dealing with such an individual. Fortunately, An Yeonggu had a lot of experience dealing with hunters.

-Hey, this is just plain bottled water, not Evian! How dare you look down on me!

-Did you just give me Coca Cola because I like cola? I only drink Pepsi.

-Is that guy’s seat higher than mine? Unacceptable! I’m out of here!

…The higher the rank, the more terrible a hunter’s personality was...

A hunter’s seemingly good nature that regular people saw? It was all a fa?ade. The media was bound to portray hunters in a good light, so unless an incident broke out, they would always say nice things about high-ranking hunters. People would’ve been surprised if they'd found out how terrible their ‘heroes’ actually were.

‘Choi Yeonseung is an A-grade hunter, doesn’t like South Korea, and is close to Hwang Gyeongryong... I don’t know how difficult he will be.’

Still, what could he do? He had to put up with it because he came to make a deal.

“You look pretty tired. Perhaps it’s because you’ve come a long way?”

“Haha. It’s not the case.”

“Drink this.”

Choi Yeonseung lifted the kettle and poured some tea into the cup placed in front of An Yeonggu, who was taken aback by the abrupt tea service.

‘What? Did he poison it?’

Of course, it clearly couldn’t have been poison. Even if it had been, it wouldn’t have killed him. Maybe laxative?

“What is it?”

“Barley tea. I made it myself.”

“??”

The tea was made by roasting and then boiling the barley that the orcs had worked hard to grow in their territory. Apart from the light, savory taste, it had the power to restore physical strength and heal the body. Of course, An Yeonggu didn’t know about those properties. However, he didn’t want to make Choi Yeonseung feel bad, so he gave it a try.

“......!”

An Yeonggu drank the hot barley tea all at once. The secretary sitting next to him was confused.

‘But I offered him water before coming in…’

He drank it extremely fast…

“You’re a good drinker. Would you like another cup?”

“If I may…”

Choi Yeonseung didn’t hesitate to pour the barley tea. Director An Yeonggu had another cup.

“Do you want one more?”

“Yes!”

“D-Director-nim...”

The secretary tried to stop him, but An Yeonggu drank the barley tea once more.

“Do you like barley tea that much? Should I pack some so you can take it back with you?”

“... Eh, it’s not to that extent...”

It wasn’t until Choi Yeonseung emptied the kettle that An Yeonggu’s mind returned. Come to think of it, he drank too much.

With every sip, he felt a surge of energy in his body and his fatigue gradually disappeared. It was difficult to stop halfway.

‘Did he cast a spell on the barley tea...?’

“Just like the proposal we sent before coming, Hanseong Energy would like to exclusively supply the cores.”

“Um. I’ve heard good things about Hanseong Energy. They’re not bad,” Choi Yeonseung nodded.

“......???”

An Yeonggu was taken aback by Choi Yeonseung’s reaction. Was it that easy?

“Uh... Do you have anything to ask?”

“I already checked everything before you came. Is there anything else to ask?”

“What do you want?”

“I’ll be satisfied as long as you refine the core and send it to me.”

“????”

Director An Yeonggu was even more perplexed. It was way too easy. He thought he would have to deal with the ill feelings that Choi Yeonseung had accumulated against South Korea...

“Oh. Actually, I do have a question.”

“What is it?”

‘Ok, here we go…’

What would an A-grade hunter want?

“Are the Korean hunters paid well these days? I’m curious whether they’re still struggling.”

“......”

***

After the conversation was over, Director An Yeonggu walked out of the room with a haunted expression. With one hand he held the barley tea packed by Choi Yeonseung himself.

“Should I hold it?”

“No. I’ll do it.”

An Yeonggu held the barley tea in his arms like it was a treasure, which puzzled the secretary. If there were no drugs in there, why would he act like this?

‘I hope he shares some of it.’

“Well, it went well, didn’t it?”

Director An Yeonggu nodded at the secretary’s words.

“It went incredibly well.”

There was no abuse of power and no unnecessary harassment. On the contrary, Hunter Choi Yeonseung was worried about An Yeonggu, who came from far away. He was even worried that the company was making An Yeonggu do pointless work. He was unexpectedly kind for an A-grade hunter, so much so that it sent chills down his spine.

It would’ve been easier had he spoken nonsense, but the fact that he was so kind made Director An Yeonggu feel frightened.

-The Korean clans are still... Um... They are fighting well, but they aren’t as competitive compared to clans from other countries.

-Why do you think that is?

-Hmm. I’m not an expert, but... Maybe it's because they're not organized and they don’t analyze their opponents...? Overseas hunters are very professional when training for these SSL games, but Korean hunters are really lacking in that regard...

-But that’s not Director Lee Changsik’s fault, is it?

-Huh? No, it isn’t. It’s not the fault of the director of the national team that the clans can’t properly train hunters. Of course, he’s responsible for managing the national team...

Bam!

-...But even if the team loses, he won’t really get punished, right?

-That's right. You have good eyes.

They talked about South Korea and about Director Lee Changsik. Then he got some words of support from Choi Yeonseung and the conversation ended. It was such a peaceful conversation from beginning to end that it was confusing.

“I hope Dragon Artifact hits the jackpot.”

“I’m not aiming for the jackpot. That’s too greedy...”

An Yeonggu didn’t want to hit the jackpot. It was as hard as winning the lottery. All An Yeonggu wanted was a decent performance that wouldn’t be surpassed by Parker Group or any of their competitors. That alone would mean a lot of profit for the company.

“But if it hits the jackpot, wouldn’t that be great?”

“It would be great, but it’s not something that will happen just because you want it. There is nothing good about being greedy. In addition, it hasn’t been long since Dragon Artifact appointed Choi Yeonseung as its new CEO. If the company gets decent results after changing its CEO, it’s good enough.”

Given that Choi Yeonseung had just become CEO and probably hadn’t gotten fully used to it yet, good results would be necessary to prove his ability to manage a company. They would guarantee that Choi Yeonseung’s position would last for quite a while.

“Do you want to do business with Hunter Choi Yeonseung for a long time?”

“I was flustered at first, but now that I think about it, he’s much better than others.”

There were very few hunters who were kind to others. An Yeonggu hoped that Hunter Choi Yeonseung would keep his position for a long time. That way, he would be able to work more comfortably.

‘I don’t want a jackpot. A big hit would be more than enough.’

However, Director An Yeonggu’s expectations weren’t met. They were exceeded. Dragon Artifact was much more successful than everyone had expected.

***

[Dragon Artifact’s new artifact, record sales...]

[Sold out in just one day! The stocks have skyrocketed...]

“That’s absurd! Surely there can’t be such a gap, can there?”

“Did Dragon Artifact buy the press?! Go check!”

The officials of the Parker Group were stunned and tried to make sense of the situation. The momentum of Dragon Artifact was greater than they expected.

No matter the company, any artifact would have its pros and cons exposed on the market, so there were never any sides that won by a landslide. At the moment, the artifacts produced by Chinese companies were still favored by Chinese hunters and there were hunters who bought them at low prices...

Normally, even if the sales were strong, there was never a side that had an outstanding amount of sales. Despite that, the product created by Dragon Artifact was a record-breaking success, ignoring the way the artifact market had always functioned.

At this rate, those in charge of Parker Artifact faced the risk of having to resign. No matter how much they tried to come up with an excuse, they couldn’t ignore or hide the facts. The reviews were decisive even among the hunters.

-When I went to the Abyss, they rented it out for free. I tried it and it worked great!

-You rented an artifact for free? That doesn’t make any sense.

-Doesn’t it? They must’ve lent it to you because they were sure you would give it back. If you steal it from them, they’ll just chase you to the ends of the earth, right?

-That’s terrifying.

-No. Hunter Choi Yeonseung didn’t lend it to me for that purpose. He said he lent it to low-grade hunters because he was afraid they would get seriously hurt.

-Is this guy an employee of Dragon Industry?

Of course, it wasn’t just anonymous hunters who praised it.

@Schreiber_Lane

-The newly released artifact from Dragon Artifact is amazing. Where else can I get such a powerful artifact for this price? I’m going to recommend it to other hunters in the clan.

@NewYork_Arenas

-Parker Artifact isn’t bad either but I want to go with Dragon Artifact this time.

Good performance was incontestable, but there were several hunters who owed Choi Yeonseung. Originally, these guys wouldn’t have said it even if they had been paid a few million dollars. However, despite no one asking them, now they voluntarily stepped up and helped promote the artifact.

The officials of the Parker Group weren’t aware of that, and thus were quite shocked.

‘We've lost big time!’

‘I can’t believe there’s such a gap in sales!’

‘I didn’t think to promote the artifact by lending it to hunters for free. Inviting so many other hunters and making it explode in popularity all at once... It’s a good strategy.’

At first, the effectiveness of the artifact wasn’t confirmed when it hit the markets, but thanks to the fervent endorsement of hunters, Dragon Artifact was selling at an outstanding pace.

The officials from Parker Group recognized their defeat. They had taken it too lightly. They never thought a hunter would have such an outstanding business strategy.

***

[Your power of existence has increased greatly!]

Choi Yeonseung shuddered at the enormous increase in power of existence. His ranking in the Abyss had risen even further and he was already ranked 89th. It was more surprising that he had achieved that by simply doing business, not by winning a constellation battle.

‘I gained more power of existence from this than from killing A-grade monsters?’

Choi Yeonseung was naturally surprised. Apparently it was more important to make a name for himself in the world of business than to fight in person!

‘I should’ve become a movie star instead of a hunter.’

.

-......