Chapter 427: Chapter 427

Bao looked at Choi Yeonseung with a flustered expression. He hadn’t expected him to request something like that.

Besides, what was up with this mountain of artifacts...?

“Ah. Did the Russian government give you these artifacts as a way of thanking you?”

“Uh, something like that. So can you fix them? I need to change their appearance.”

“It’s not difficult. We have good technicians.”

Dragon Artifacts specialized in the development and production of artificial artifacts, but there were also specialized technicians that dealt with regular artifacts.

Those technicians weren’t ordinary people; they all came from a hunter background!

“But why do we have to change their appearance?”

“Because they’re stolen goods.”

“...”

Bao once again looked at Choi Yeonseung with a puzzled expression. The Russian government had offered him stolen artifacts as a way of thanking him for his help in the raid?!

Wasn’t that outrageous even for the Russian government?

“Shouldn’t we formally protest about this?” asked Bao in a serious tone. He was a researcher, not a hunter, so he was naturally a bit stubborn when it came to such things.

Instead of trying to persuade him, Choi Yeonseung changed the direction of the conversion. “Um... Are you not confident?”

“Huh?”

“Well, if you think you’re not up to the job, I guess it can’t be helped.”

“W-what? Repairing and disguising these artifacts only takes a few days!” Bao retorted. Even though he was talking to Choi Yeonseung, the chairman of Dragon Industry, Bao couldn’t accept such words.

If developing new magic skills and melting them into artifacts was calculus, then repairing and changing the appearance of artifacts was addition or subtraction.

There was no way they couldn’t do it!

“Then I’m counting on you.”

“Please leave it to me!”

Even though they reached an agreement, Bao had a weird feeling as he watched Choi Yeonseung leisurely walk away

***

“I want to increase the impact of Dragon Industry.”

“...!”

Aine Lawrence looked at Choi Yeonseung with a surprised expression. She had never imagined that Choi Yeonseung would say something like this and that he would take on such a role.

He was one of the most active A-grade hunters, and he had secured the same amount of cores by himself as dozens of other small and medium-sized clans, so Aine had naturally thought that managing a large corporation on top of that would be too much.

However, Choi Yeonseung was the one taking the initiative.

‘A-grade hunters are often said to lack management skills, but that doesn’t apply to Hunter Choi Yeonseung at all.’

It was true that many people still doubted Choi Yeonseung’s management ability.

-The performance of Dragon Industry? There are a few companies under them. Aren’t those CEOs the ones doing the good work?

-How can an A-grade hunter manage it so well? Maybe the CEOs are carrying his reputation.

-Aren’t there more than a few companies where hunters act as the signboard?

If Choi Yeonseung were a regular person instead of a hunter, he wouldn’t have faced such suspicions. After all, few hunters had ever shown outstanding management skills!

Aine felt bad for him.

-That son of a bitch!

Dragon Artifact was fully developed by Hunter Choi Yeonseung! Where did this article come from?!

-C-calm down, Miss Lawrence! It’s just a tabloid article that no one cares about! If you respond to them, this nonsense will only get louder!

-Who doesn’t know that? I’ll contact them quietly, and if they don’t take down that article, I’ll quietly step on them. Tell them that they’ll be erased off the face of the earth if they turn this into a scandal!

If Choi Yeonseung wanted to step up and involve himself in the management of Dragon Industry, Aine would be there to actively support him.

In reality, Hwang Gyeongryong had often supported his subordinates from the sidelines, but Choi Yeonseung was the opposite.

Even though he had already proven himself multiple times, Choi Yeonseung was still getting directly involved in company matters!

“It’s a wonderful idea!”

Choi Yeoseung was puzzled by Aine’s reaction.

“...Is there anything touching about what I just said?”

Choi Yeonseung was slightly flustered by his niece’s appearance. Her eyes had turned red, and... Were those tears...?

“Oh, I just got dust in my eyes.”

“I-I see.”

“Okay. I’ll give you a brief explanation, so tell me what you’re interested in.”

Aine gestured to her people and stood up.

Thanks to Hwang Gyeongryong, who had brought in talent and built up the companies, Dragon Industry had many diverse subsidiaries.

“First of all, there’s the Dragon Fund Management that I mentioned last time. Adaquaniel, whom you told me about, is doing very well these days.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Dragon Industry was a company that ran on its own without outside investment, but Dragon Fund Management was the lifeblood of all its subsidiaries.

As such, only the best experts and elites in the financial world had been invited to join... And even these bright minds wept and fell to their knees as they witnessed Adaquaniel’s outstanding performance.

-Where have you been all this time?!

-We have been waiting for someone like you for a long time! Please help us rectify our mistakes!

“...”

Choi Yeonseung frowned as he learned about the situation. No matter what, that couldn’t be normal.

“They’re out of their minds, surely.”

“You have to understand that those who work there lose their minds rather quickly. In any case, Adaquaniel is doing a great job by herself, but if you still want to invest in Dragon Fund Management, I won’t stop you.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Next up are Dragon Hunters and Dragon Damage Control. You currently don’t have to worry about either of them.”

One was a beer company and the other was a construction company that specialized in repairing buildings destroyed by raids.

After Aine explained all about those two companies, Choi Yeonseung suddenly thought about Hwang Gyeongryong’s management strategy.

‘Did he just buy a bunch of companies whenever he got bored on the road?’

It seemed like Hwang Gyeongryong had expanded like an octopus, more than any other Korean companies...

“You already know about Dragon Artifact, so I’ll skip this one. Dragon Solutions is a high-tech materials company that you recently played a big role in. Dragon Battery is a mana battery developer. These companies tend to be in the red.”

There was a huge amount of research funding to develop technology, so the sales of companies like Dragon Solutions and Dragon Battery would often fluctuate.

If it were any other officially listed company, the shareholders would’ve gone wild and yelled, “Fire the CEO!” However, most of the stocks of these companies were currently in Choi Yeonseung’s hands.

“Then there’s Dragon Biopharm, which is a pharmaceutical company. Dragon Medicine is for magic medical devices, and it’s always been making a lot of profit. You know the cars of Dragon Motors, right? Your limousine is from there.” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In fact, Choi Yeonseung didn’t care about the brand of the car at all. Besides, he felt that bicycles were much more efficient in big cities, but he nevertheless nodded to make Aine feel better.

“Yeah, of course. It’s a nice car.”

“Really?”

Aine laughed slightly as though she felt better. She always complained about this and that, but she actually cared deeply for Dragon Industry.

And now that Hwang Gyeongryong was away because of that battle with Demiargas, Aine was being even more responsible.

‘My father is away. I must make sure to step up.’

Of course, Aine didn’t know that Hwang Gyeongryong was enjoying himself at the orc farm, which was a haven with fresh air and fresh water.

If she had known, her reaction might’ve been a bit different.

“Then there are these companies... So, how is it? Are there any companies you’d like to work with?”

-How is it?

The goddess of sloth was also curious.

Choi Yeonseung answered with a nod.

-Now, let’s talk about a field that everyone is confident in.

-??

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ questions it!]

The silent constellations were taken aback by Choi Yeonseung’s words. Why did he have to drag them into this?

-I’m a combat expert. You guys are probably better in other areas.

[...]

[...]

The constellations had quietly kept to themselves, and yet the arrows had still hit them. They had merely asked Choi Yeonseung about his plans because he seemed particularly confident, but to think that he would ask them to join...

Of course, if Choi Yeonseung was going to proceed with this, the constellations would have to cooperate. However, it was still a bit absurd to see him coming out like this.

-Now, you guys tell me what you’re confident in.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ raises its paw first, saying it is confident in developing artifacts!]

The cat constellation quickly stepped forward.

Generally speaking, one could only thrive in this kind of field if they were ahead of others. If the cat constellation competed with other constellations for no reason, it might have to take on a field it wasn’t confident in.

[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ says she is confident in the work of Dragon Partners.]

Dragon Partners.

It was a headhunting company that found and analyzed various talents from all over the world.

In the eyes of the manipulator constellation, this was the field she would do most well in.

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ is flustered!]

The goddess was embarrassed and hesitated. The other constellations had stepped up quickly, but she couldn’t decide...

-Ah. Goddess, you don’t have to do it.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is protesting!]

[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ is protesting!]

Of course, the other constellations immediately protested. Why did Choi Yeonseung give special treatment to the goddess of balance?

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ says not to worry.]

[She will take on something and help.]

‘I really don’t want her to.’

Adaquaniel was already working hard, and so Choi Yeonseung didn’t want to make the goddess of balance work unnecessarily. In addition, for some reason, he couldn’t be hard on the goddess of balance...

-So it’s okay to treat the other constellations badly? The goddess of sloth was curious about that.

-That’s not the case. It just means we can be closer and more comfortable with each other. They will be pleased. Ah, right. What are you going to do?

-...

The goddess of sloth kept her mouth shut, pretending she hadn’t heard him. She had never imagined that Choi Yeonseung would be so wicked to make her work, out of all constellations.

***

Han Gyeongjun nervously glanced at his watch.

He was an executive of the Namhyeong Group, and everyone envied him. However, at this moment, his position didn’t mean anything.

People from various companies around the world were waiting together.

‘Damn, his influence is amazing.’

The hunter everyone had come to see was C-grade at best, but what mattered in this situation wasn’t his rank, but his skills!

There were few hunters out there who were proficient at crafting. Normally, such hunters didn’t enter the production industry because it was almost certain that they wouldn’t receive the comfortable treatment of a hunter.

However, some of them had risen in the industry despite poor conditions.

Every company and clan were after hunters who possessed outstanding non-combat skills. Being able to consistently craft useful artifacts was greatly advantageous.

As such, it wasn’t surprising that so many people had come to such a remote clan like this one.

“...?!”

Han Gyeongjun was suddenly taken aback. A man he had seen many times from a distance was walking toward him.

“A-aren’t you Hunter Choi Yeonseung?!”

“Huh?”

Choi Yeonseung stopped and looked at Han Gyeongjun. The latter belatedly realized his mistake and handed over his business card.

“Oh, please excuse me! I am Han Gyeongjun, executive at Namhyeong Group!”

“Ah, nice to meet you.”

Choi Yeonseung wasn’t really impressed with Han Gyeongjun’s position at a large corporation. However, Han Gyeongjun wasn’t offended at all. After all, Choi Yeonseung had reached such a high point that he was naturally hard to impress.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”

“Don’t say something like ‘I’m sorry. I came first so this person is mine’.”

“N-no! Who would say such nonsense?”

“Quite a few clans say that... So what is it?”

Choi Yeonseung cast Han Gyeongjun a skeptical look. He felt that the bigger the company or the clan, the less trustworthy their leaders were.

Such people always thought they would be entitled to everything as long as they arrived first. In fact, a person in charge of a US clan had once tried to play this card with Choi Yeonseung, and in response, Choi Yeonseung had given him ten seconds to run away.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung,” Han Gyeongjun said in a solemn voice. “Everyone in Namhyeong Group is eagerly waiting for your teachings.”

“Oh, those in management?”

“Huh??!” Han Gyeongjun shouted in surprise, but he instantly realized his mistake and cleared his throat, his expression stiff.

“N-no... As a hunter.”

“I see.”

“I apologize if I came off as rude...”

“It’s okay.”

Han Gyeongjun was even more concerned as he saw that Choi Yeonseung’s expression didn’t change.