Chapter 368: Chapter 368

Jacob’s secretary got a reply fast.

“Uh... They refused.”

“...That dumbass! Doesn’t he know what’s going on?!”

Jacob was furious.

Even though Choi Yeonseung was a hunter, he had recently accomplished a lot as a chairman, which was why Jacob’s opinion of him had improved. However, his current ignorance highlighted the fact that he was a hunter before he was an entrepreneur.

He didn’t understand the gravity of the situation at all!

***

“It’s bold.”

Choi Yeonseung admired Peleza’s invitation to their presentation. He hadn’t expected them to just blatantly invite him like this. They had to be very confident to do something like that.

Beside him, Ducoms, the CEO of Dragon Battery, nodded and said, “I heard that Bonnefant was an idiot, but it turns out that it was all just an act.”

“...Alright, but why are you following me?”

“It’s also important to observe the latest presentations from other industries,” Ducoms replied bluntly.

Of course, Choi Yeonseung and Monali knew why Ducoms was following.

‘He’s a nasty guy...’

‘What an annoying bastard...’

Ducoms had the nerve to come here just to watch Monali, his rival, suffer the consequences for his failure!

“Don’t you want to help out? You’re a CEO within the same group...”

“I will help. Dragon Battery will be sure to make up for the embarrassing losses of Dragon Solutions.”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung was once again amazed by Hwang Gyeongryong. To think that he had managed to sit down with Ducoms and Monali and ask them to cooperate...

Monali whispered, “Is it okay not to mention the project we’re currently working on?”

“We’ll have to announce it later anyway, so let’s just talk about it then.”

Monali nodded. In fact, he hadn’t had high hopes at first. After all, this was an industry with a lot of trial and error. Hunters said all the time that they killed a monster and that it was a jackpot, but that was rarely the case.

It wasn’t easy to match all the requirements. The manufacturers had to ensure that the material was high quality, that it could be mass-produced, that it would be widely available, and so on.

The general consensus was that one successful attempt out of a hundred was still very lucky.

However, Choi Yeonseung had come up with a material that met all the requirements from his first attempt, and he had brought it with him here.

Monali was shocked. He checked it again and again and had to admit that it was indeed flawless.

‘His abilities are truly limitless...’ Monali thought to himself. At first, he hadn’t understood why Hwang Gyeongryong had chosen Choi Yeonseung as his successor, but now he understood.

It was because of his limitless potential!

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ complains about why the incarnation of training is showing off, given that it was the cat constellation who guided him through the whole process.]

-I’m sorry.

Ducoms, who was sitting next to Choi Yeonseung and watching the scenery of the Abyss passing by through the window with his legs crossed, suddenly said, “By the way, Hunter Choi Yeonseung...”

“?”

“Have you seriously considered the proposal I made last time?”

“What proposal?”

“Uh... You know.”

Ducoms faked a cough and winked, but Choi Yeonseung felt awkward because he didn’t know what this meant.

“You do realize that I can just grab you and throw you out the window, right?”

“...You know, the food industry.”

“?”

Choi Yeonseung thought about it for a long time before finally realizing what Ducoms meant. He asked incredulously, “So you’re saying that I should enter the food industry just because you found the barley tea I made for you last time delicious? Did you take something before coming here?”

“There have been a lot of rumors recently that Ducoms is doing drugs,” Monali interjected, taking the opportunity to slander Ducoms.

Ducoms’s face reddened as he replied, “I-it’s legal in Canada. Monali Gupta, you’re only laughing at me because you haven’t tasted the tea. It really has a lot of potential!” he protested.

Choi Yeonseung became irritated and blurted, “Stop it with the nonsense!”

“Yeah. If you keep babbling on, we’ll just leave you here.”

It was ridiculous from Choi Yeonseung’s perspective. He had just made a cup of tea for Ducoms, but he had lost it and said, “OH! We need to turn this into a luxury product and sell it to rich people! We can make a fortune out of this!”

Hunters also enjoyed eating grilled pork belly, but that didn’t mean that they wanted to turn it into a brand.

Ducoms was more absurd than hunters...

“Please just think about it when you get back, Hunter Choi Yeonseung! You know that Dragon Industry has the resources and the brains to pull off something like this!”

“And if I ask those brains to formally review this and they give me their letters of resignation, will you take responsibility?”

As they chatted, they could finally see their destination in the distance. A city looming over the wastelands of the Abyss—New Oregon.

-Humans seem to be too fearless. I can’t believe there are so many cities in such a sparse area. What if something goes wrong later down the line?

-Get used to humans, goddess.

It was no wonder that the goddess of sloth was surprised. New cities kept popping up in the Abyss ever since humans had gained access into the First Realm.

Humans should’ve thought about the future and built their cities close to each other so that they could cooperate. However, many countries and companies had spread out and built new cities in desolate areas, far apart from each other, as if they were competing for land.

From Choi Yeonseung’s perspective, this was almost a complete disregard for safety. Sure, the hunters could deal with problems for now, but if more arose later down the road...

‘But this isn’t something I should say.’

There was no way Choi Yeonseung could just go to a government or a company and say, “Hey... Can you please build less cities, and if you do, build them closer to other cities?”

If he said that, it was a possibility that the other parties would consider it an attempt to keep them in check and publicly say things like “The leader of Dragon Industry is trying to expose the greed of capitalism, but he himself owns a city in the Abyss!”

In fact, the disputes between other countries in the Abyss had recently become more frequent.

-But I think it’s a good idea to hold a presentation here.

The reason Choi Yeonseung had said that Peleza’s invitation was bold wasn’t just because they had invited him; it was because they would hold their presentation in a desolate area in the Abyss.

However, thanks to the location, Peleza could display any kind of materials, as they had a lot of space to use and there was nothing around that could get damaged. They didn’t have to worry about their surroundings. Moreover, this setting would make the performance of Peleza’s newly developed material stand out even more in the eyes of the spectators.

‘Should I hold a presentation in the Abyss?’ Choi Yeonseung thought about it as he entered the city. It was already crowded with people, from clan leaders to CEOs.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ suggests disturbing their presentation.]

-...It’s not a bad idea? I’ll make some preparations for that.

Choi Yeonseung thought that the idea of the cat constellation wasn’t bad, but he was slightly disappointed that it hadn’t suggested it faster.

***

“This is really great.”

“I didn’t expect it to be commercialized so quickly...”

Klein’s CEO, Michael, and Raiden’s CEO, Watanabe, looked down at the city with expressions of admiration. They hadn’t thought that they would launch a new product with materials from all three companies so fast.

Boom!

The hunters wearing the new armor nodded and signaled above.

-We’re in good condition. We’re all set. Just give us the signal whenever you’re ready.

-I understand. Stay prepared.

Bonnefant had prepared a spectacular show to amaze everyone here and the entire world. He would release the captured monster and have the hunters attack it.

The off-road cars designed to drive through the rough Abyssal terrain started running, the engines producing a loud throaty sound. The hunters inside the cars were whistling.

“It’s going better than expected.”

“I wonder how much money Peleza spent.”

“I’m curious. Did Peleza actually spend that much money this time? Speaking of strategic partnerships, I bought a lot of shares in Klein and Raiden. They’re cooperating now, but will it last?”

“Yeah, I’m a bit curious about that as well.”

The hunters working under Peleza whispered among themselves.

Rumors had already spread. People were speculating that Peleza had used a lot of money to buy the stocks of Klein and Raiden to secure the partnership.

It looked like a solid alliance on the surface, but it was Peleza that had the overwhelming advantage, since they had more money and the stocks of the other two companies. Peleza could intervene in any decision or undo the partnership at any time, whereas the other two companies didn’t have the authority to do that.

“Klein and Raiden aren’t stupid. They must have something up their sleeve.”

“You’re right. Hey, they gave the signal. Stand by.”

“Start the test. Release the stael panther.”

The stael panther, a D-grade monster, didn’t have any special abilities or skills. It was just naturally strong and very stubborn. A monster like this was rather unexciting for seasoned hunters, but...

‘The armor isn’t perfect, so this is the most suitable monster to show off the product.’

Bonnefant looked down with a satisfied look on his face. He thought it was a well-organized show.

The stael panther would wake up from the anesthesia and pounce on the cars. They had already confirmed that no matter how strong it was, the monster wouldn’t be able to shred through the body of the car with its claws.

Then, when everybody was in shock, the hunters would show off their armors by tanking the attacks from the stael panther.

In fact, this new material from Peleza wasn’t perfect.

‘But there’s no such thing as a perfect material.’

The important thing was how they packaged it!

It was clear that this show would resonate not only with hunters but also the general public. A high-tech material that could withstand monster attacks—the uses for this would be limitless!

***

“Hello, Hunter Choi Yeonseung.”

Kwon Yeongseung spotted Choi Yeonseung from where he was sitting in the front row and greeted him politely. He had been invited here to represent the Six-Eyed Turtle clan.

Choi Yeonseung said, “It looks like you’re here on behalf of the Six-Eyed Turtle.”

“That’s right. The contract... I’m sorry about it.”

Kwon Yeongseung scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.

Considering that they were indebted to Choi Yeonseung, the Six-Eyed Turtle clan should’ve sided with him. However, it was Choi Yeonseung who had called him first. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

-Our side will announce something soon. Don’t feel pressured and make the decision you’re most comfortable with. Put the interests of the clan first.

Choi Yeonseung nodded kindly as he was about to speak.

Such things happened in life...

“What, are you too ashamed to look us in the eye? How can you be so ungrateful? You should go on air and formally apologize to Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”

“...”

Of course, even if Choi Yeonseung forgave him, Han Seha didn’t.

“On TV you pretend to be nice and loyal but you keep your mouth shut and hide when it matters!”

“...Y-you know I can’t ignore the opinions of my clanmates and act as I please.”

“Then try to convince them! You didn’t even try to convince them!”

“Stop it!”

Choi Yeonseung stopped Han Seha. The other clan leaders who were passing by looked excited as they tried to listen to the conversation.

‘It’s a disgrace to the country... A disgrace.’

“But he’s a heartless traitor!”

“Yeah, whatever... By the way, you said you’re from Hanseong Group, right?”

“Yes.”

“How’s the company going?”

“Hell if I know.”

“...Ah. Anyway, they’re starting the presentation,” said Choi Yeonseung, changing the topic. Judging by her attitude, he realized that he wouldn’t get a good answer from Han Seha if they continued talking about the Six-Eyed Turtle.

Grrrung!

“!”

“Huh? Can they use monsters like that?” wondered Han Seha as she pointed to the freed stael panther.

Most of the people sitting in the guest seats looked surprised.

“It’s legal in the US under certain conditions.”

“What are the conditions?”

“Uh... I don’t know... It’s probably legal after you pay enough bribes. I don’t know the exact conditions.”

After being released from their underground cages, the stael panther pounced and proceeded to chase their prey. They quickly caught up with the off-road cars and surrounded them.

Finding this pathetic, Han Seha said, “I can’t believe they’re trying to advertise that their new material is good by having a weak D-grade monster, which has no special skills, attack them. Isn’t this a cheap attempt to impress people? Who’s going to be fooled by such a cliché show?”

Bang!

Before she could finish, the stael panther crashed into an off-road car and tore it apart.

“...?”

Han Seha cocked her head. She hadn’t expected this.

Had something gone wrong?