Chapter 376: Chapter 376

Omori, the executive from Raiden, was nervously adjusting his suit. However, this wasn’t because of the importance of his proposal.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung, thank you.”

“Huh?”

Choi Yeonseung paused as he was shaking Omori’s hand, confused.

“Why are you thanking me?”

“...For rescuing me back then? I was held hostage by the monster, remember?”

“Ah, you were among them?”

Choi Yeonseung nodded as he finally understood. Omori was rather baffled by this, lost for words. Choi Yeonseung didn’t even remember him?

‘Was... Was I a low-priority hostage?’

Director Omori was among those with the most seniority at Raiden, and a large number of people within the company supported him. There were also many rumors within the company that Omori would be the next chairman.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Ah... It’s nothing.”

Director Omori was unwittingly staring at Choi Yeonseung with a rather desperate expression. He quickly cleared his throat and gathered himself. He didn’t bother telling Choi Yeonseung about his status because he wanted to preserve his last shred of dignity.

“As I was saying, I wanted to thank you for saving my life.”

“I didn’t do it alone, so it feels embarrassing receiving all the praise...”

Omori was impressed by the fact that Choi Yeonseung brushed off his heroic deed like it wasn’t a big deal. Indeed, he was unlike the other hunters.

All the other hunters would just lean back arrogantly, cross their legs, and look down on whoever was talking to them. However, Choi Yeonseung boasted both wealth and power, and yet there wasn’t any arrogance in his actions.

“Oh, wait a second.”

“?”

Choi Yeonseung stood up, opened the door, and walked out. He then shouted, “Kwon Yeongseung, don’t waste your time by playing around. Go into the training room and begin the training I’ve prepared for you!”

-!?!?

Choi Yeonseung closed the door and returned to Omori.

“I’m sorry.”

“N-no, I came here unannounced anyway...”

Omori brushed it off, but he wondered about it in his mind. Could it be that this Kwon Yeongseung was the A-grade hunter from South Korea?

Even if they were fellow Koreans, it was still unbelievable that Choi Yeonseung would treat another A-grade hunter like that.

‘Nah, maybe it’s someone else with the same name.’

“So? Why did you come here?” asked Choi Yeonseung.

“I know... I know you’re upset about our partnership with Peleza.”

“...?”

Choi Yeonseung raised an eyebrow as if wondering what Omori was talking about.

Aine, who was listening from behind, shook her head. It seemed like this executive still didn’t have a good grasp of Choi Yeonseung.

Of course, Hwang Gyeongryong would’ve been livid at Raiden and he would’ve said something like “How dare those cowardly pieces of shit join forces to kill my company in the industry?!”

However, Choi Yeonseung had already detached himself from the whole Peleza scandal. The good part was that he was broad-minded, but the bad part was that he seemed disinterested in anything that didn’t involve training.

Sometimes he surprised even Aine. People who ignored instructions and did stupid things always angered other people, but Choi Yeonseung just did his own thing and ignored whoever got mad.

Not even constellations could do that!

“I didn’t think much of it.”

“...I-is that so? In any case, as an apology to you, I want to offer you a proposal that I believe will interest you.”

“!”

Aine was utterly shocked by Omori’s proposal.

‘Hunter Choi Yeonseung taking over Raiden?’

Aine had been sitting with her arms crossed, not thinking much about this meeting, but this proposal stunned her, causing her to inadvertently tilt her head. Wasn’t Raiden known by everyone when it came to the industry of material development?

They had experienced some setbacks due to a lack of funds, but it was unexpected for them to make such a proposal to Choi Yeonseung.

With a somber expression, Omori started explaining.

“Peleza has shown its true colors...”

Raiden, Klein, and Peleza—this alliance had seemed plausible at first, but things had been different behind the curtain. Firstly, it was obvious who would be in the most advantageous position. Peleza had tons of money, while Raiden and Klein were on the verge of bankruptcy due to a lack of funds.

In that situation, Peleza had suggested, “We will buy your stocks, so take this money and let’s strengthen our partnership!”

Evidently, Raiden and Klein accepted the money because they desperately needed it. They didn’t really care if they would actually cooperate, but they were unaware that Peleza had really nefarious intentions from the get-go.

Peleza’s plan was to obtain Raiden and Klein’s technology, resources, and overall valuable information, and then cut them off completely.

Peleza owned the stocks of its partners, whereas those partners didn’t own any of Peleza’s stocks, which meant that Raiden and Klein would have no way to stop Peleza from going through with their scheme.

However, there was the disaster in New Oregon, which brought Peleza’s plans to the surface. Both Raiden and Klein were appalled by the intentions of their so-called partner.

-What are you doing?! Weren’t you supposed to leave this production line to us? Why are you guys securing the green stone?

-Why are your hunters sneaking in and out of the mining area we discovered?

Raiden and Klein had been hit in the back of the head, so they were naturally shocked. Given that Peleza had been caught red-handed, the most reasonable course of action was to apologize profusely and... Evidently, they did no such thing. Apologizing meant weakness in the world of business.

Instead of apologizing, Peleza aggressively bought even more shares. They were engaging in hostile mergers and acquisitions!

They acquired even more shares of Raiden and Klein in order to take control of management!

“...So you can think of it as attracting people from the other side’s territory.”

“It’s a weird analogy, but I get what you’re saying.”

Aine whispered an explanation to Choi Yeonseung.

Any company whose stocks were publicly available were exposed to this risk. After all, the real owner of the company was the shareholder with the most shares. Whoever accumulated more than a certain amount of shares could take control of management and kick out the executives.

It didn’t matter how much the executives loved the company and how much they had dedicated their lives to it. If a new majority shareholder wanted them gone, they would be gone. Simple as that.

“So you’re asking me to take over?”

“That’s right,” Omori replied firmly.

“...Why?” asked Choi Yeonseung, perplexed. He knew that Peleza had stabbed Raiden in the back, so why would they ask him to buy their stocks? What if he also had bad intentions like Peleza?

“I believe you are a trustworthy person, Hunter Choi Yeonseung.”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung looked at Director Omori like he was a madman.

‘This guy is crazy.’

Director Omori had risen to the position of an executive in Raiden thanks to his numerous achievements. And yet, this hunter considered him a madman.

“Aine, is this guy alright? He’s saying that I saved his life in that hostage situation or whatever.”

“He... As far as I know, he’s a great person.”

Aine was a bit taken aback by Choi Yeonseung’s reaction because she knew what kind of person Omori was.

“What do you think of his proposal?”

“Honestly, it’s not a bad proposal.”

Raiden essentially wanted Dragon Industry to be their white knight and defend their management rights against Peleza’s hostile M&A!

Of course, this white knight could take over Raiden’s management rights just like Peleza, which was why Choi Yeonseung thought Omori was out of his mind. To think Omori would blindly trust him just because he had saved his life...

“From the perspective of Dragon Solutions, there’s nothing good about Peleza merging with Raiden and Klein. If we can interfere, we should.”

“But from what I’ve heard, it sounds like we would need to spend quite a bit of money. Can we actually do this?”

“It’s... possible. Last time I checked, Peleza had around twenty percent of Raiden’s shares. Even if they’ve secured more than that in the meantime, we’d be pretty safe if we secured, let’s say, between thirty and forty percent of Raiden’s shares...”

“How much money do I need for that?”

“Between three and four billion?”

“Between three and four billion won? That’s so much...”

“Uh, it’s dollars. We might need more than that actually.”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung wouldn’t falter even if a monster stronger than S-grade emerged, but he was at a complete loss this time.

-Is this okay?

-...Even if I’d been hit with mental magic, I wouldn’t have thought that it would cost this much.

“But I think we can handle the cost”

Choi Yeonseung felt a chill down his spine as he heard Aine say that they could gather that much money.

“...Is it really possible? How?”

“What do you mean, how? Think about the performance of all the companies you were involved in, the monster cores and items you’ve collected from raids. The torch dragon that you killed is worth five billion dollars alone.”

Of course, many other hunters had participated in those raids, so the rewards had been divided, but even so, Choi Yeonseung had indeed participated in many high-profile monster raids. While other hunters were resting and taking care of themselves, Choi Yeonseung was constantly running back and forth. Thus, the rewards were bound to pile up.

Aine was genuinely astounded that Choi Yeonseung was even asking where they would take money from. Did he even count his rewards?

“You didn’t look at the money you obtained from the raids, right? I specifically wrote a separate report for you...”

“Oh, yeah. Anyway, I’m glad we can make this work.”

“...”

Aine wanted to scream, but she held off because Director Omori was also there.

***

[Dragon industry is participating in the takeover race? Raiden announces acquisition of Klein...]

[The dragon is coming... Dragon Industry and Peleza. Who will win the takeover race?]

[The ‘Greedy Owner of the Treasure House’ appeals for help!]

[The ‘Warrior Stained with Madness and Blood’ asks why he would help you.]

[The ‘Snake of Alcohol and Dancing’ is ignoring it.]

[...]

The clash between the two companies didn’t become a hot topic just within the industry. The constellations were also heated up.

What an idiot. I guess that little company was this guy’s money bag.

In any case, he’s an idiot. Isn’t it embarrassing for a constellation to play with a mortal’s crumbs?

Of course, the evil god constellations laughed at the Greedy Owner of the Treasure House. He had become the laughing stock of the Abyss.

Constellations had to look down on the world and act arrogantly. A king wouldn’t collect pennies from various mortals. That was a merchant’s job.

[The ‘Greedy Owner of the Treasure House’ tells you to shut up unless you want to help.]

The treasure constellation cursed and silenced the other constellations. He had asked the evil god constellations for help, but they were a bunch of old imbeciles who didn’t even know what was important!

The treasure constellation was still angry and continued making a fuss.

The other constellations were currently ridiculing the Greedy Owner of the Treasure House even though they would come to him whenever they needed money for something on Earth. Thus, they shouldn’t spew a bunch of nonsense about how useless Earth’s money was, given that they always relied on the treasure constellation to lend them cash.

The treasure constellation was furious because they were making fun of him despite having lent them money countless times.

“M-Master...”

There’s nothing to worry about! Do you think my plans will be thwarted by humans?

The treasure constellation could no longer contain his anger as he saw his household members trembling in fear. He didn’t want to hurt his household members because of others.

One human had died, but the plan was still ongoing!

The treasure constellation had a reason to be confident. He had several other household members besides Bonnefant, and those who were on Earth were really good at figuring out people’s desires and manipulating them.

He had made other preparations besides the plot with Peleza, so there would be no problem acquiring companies such as Raiden and Klein.

My household members will never get tired of negotiations. Humans are greedy beings. My household members know how to read and take advantage of that greed.

“It’s wonderful!”

***

“Adaquaniel. You’re absolutely brilliant!”

“You really are amazing. Really... Why don’t you join Dragon Fund Management?”

Choi Yeonseung and Aine took turns admiring and praising Adaquaniel. However, the angel had her eyes closed and a troubled expression.

“I’m sorry,” said Adaquaniel, “but can you be quiet for a bit?”

“Sorry.”

“I’m sorry!”

The two of them shut up.

Even in the eyes of Choi Yeonseung, an outsider in the world of business, Adaquaniel was an absolute business genius.

Adaquaniel closed her eyes and thought about it. Then she wrote down someone’s name and the amount of money. After that, the other side sold the stock and handed over the power of attorney without arguing.

It was truly staggering.

Having completed this arduous task, Aine sighed in relief and wiped the sweat off her forehead.

“So much money... But I think we’ve got this one in the bag. We can't let our guard down until the shareholders’ meeting, but...”

[The ‘Greedy Owner of the Treasure House’ requests negotiations.]

“??”

Choi Yeonseung was taken aback by the sudden message.