Chapter 24
**BACKTICK**CHAPTER_TITLE: The B2 Two-Headed Ogre's Beheading! (2)**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**I quickly bent my waist along with the others and said, “It has nothing to do with money. Even if it wasn’t me, anyone with the power would have saved your wife and daughter…” Today I didn’t come to receive the money. This money… I can never accept it.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Honestly, it was a lie.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Today I had come here 100% because of the money.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**My identity was already fully exposed, so why not take the reward of one hundred million won?**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**But during our conversation with Jang Hancheol, I truly admired his character and integrity.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**So I decided to show him my sincere refusal and deepen our friendship with this elite chaebol’s youngest son, the young master of the Empire Group.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“No. If the benefactor refuses to accept this money, I would die of shame.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**He had lived as the third-generation heir of a chaebol since childhood, so he clearly saw refusing such a small amount as deeply embarrassing.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**I answered respectfully, “It’s not about being offended. I actually want to offer the representative greater benefits.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“What benefits?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“I plan to establish a small research lab with this young lady beside me to overcome the Rot Virus. When the time comes, I would greatly appreciate it if your company could provide maximum support in personnel, equipment, and facilities for our collaboration.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**As I spoke, both Han Yejin and Jang Hancheol wore astonished expressions at the same time.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Especially Han Yejin, her eyes glistening with tears from overwhelming emotion.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“O… This… Thank you so much. But… you don’t need to go through this trouble for me…”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**In truth, my offer wasn’t only for her.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Since I had received the Nobel Prize for the Rot Virus, there were limitless ways to commercialize it if I became a true expert.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Considering that, signing an MOU with a contract manufacturing firm like the Empire Group wasn’t a bad idea at all.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**But then Jang Hancheol said something unexpected.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“A Rot Virus research lab… That is quite absurd, but I’m not really recommending it.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Why?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“The reason our Empire Group fell into management difficulties is, in fact, attributed to excessive R&D on the Rot Virus. Conducting such research that even companies find difficult as an individual…”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**As I later learned, Jang Hancheol was truly a conscientious businessman.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**After the tower rose, he had invested enormous sums without hesitation to develop new drugs for patients suffering from the strange disease.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**They had achieved some results, but because too much money had been poured into low-yield research, the company was now on the verge of bankruptcy.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Of course, I know the Rot Virus research is no easy task. Neither I nor Yejin is an expert in the field.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“But I’m still going to try my hardest.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Very well. If that’s how you feel, we will gladly cooperate on our end.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**In the end, after several rounds of persuasion and refusal, I accepted the full one hundred million won he had prepared—post-tax!**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**On the surface, my refusal seemed to leave the chaebol heir’s pride completely unscathed.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Plus.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Jang Hancheol, Han Yejin, and I signed the MOU on the spot.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**From now on, the Empire Group promised to actively share their data for our Rot Virus research and support us with personnel, equipment, and facilities as much as possible.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**It had been an evening that flowed perfectly as I had wanted.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK*** * **BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“How much should I spend to buy D-class monsters?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“It varies by monster. I can’t tell you precisely.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“What about the Ogre?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Ah! For a D-class Ogre, about twenty liters should be enough. Ogres are deep sleepers and very weak to sleep-inducing drugs.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“I see. Then give me twenty-five liters.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**I bought the Potion of Nox from the alchemist shop ‘Fox and Crow’ in the Hunter District.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The problem was the price was astronomical.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**As I was about to turn away after paying the enormous sum of two thousand eight hundred, the apprentice asked me,**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“By the way, is that Ogre two-headed?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Yes, two-headed.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Oh, for a two-headed Ogre, you need at least double the amount. If one head sleeps, the other is still awake.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Aaa, damn it…**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“…Thank you for the information. Give me another twenty liters.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**I had to pay two thousand eight hundred more.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Shit. The money I spend is more than what I earn as a hunter.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**It really is.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Still, this was cheaper than I expected.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK*** * **BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**A grape wine aging farm in the countryside.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**This was Asia’s largest-scale grape wine aging farm, famous for digging into a rocky mountain and carving out enormous aging cellars inside.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Rumors spread that numerous chaebols, politicians, and celebrities had private storage here.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Someday I want to have one of those private storage rooms too.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**But right now, I wasn’t here for that purpose.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“I’d like to buy wine.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Haha. You seem to have misunderstood. This is an aging farm, not a sales outlet… We only sell undiluted concentrate—no filtration or bottling.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“I want to buy barrels.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The employee gave me a bewildered look and led me to the office.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Normally, the retail price of Korean grape wine in the market is around ten thousand won for five hundred milliliters and fifteen thousand won for seven hundred fifty milliliters—about twenty thousand won per liter.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The barrels here were Bordeaux-type, each holding two hundred twenty-five liters.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Calculating simply, the retail equivalent would be around forty-five million won per barrel. But since they hadn’t been aged, filtered, or bottled yet, it would be much cheaper.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“I’ll pay five hundred per barrel. Think about it.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**But the words that came from the boss, who had been playing poker in the office, stunned me.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Five hundred? Are you serious? Then it’s more expensive than market wine, isn’t it?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Then buy the market wine. Who’s stopping you?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**These kids are complete bandits—except they’re just too cowardly to swing a knife!**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**But realistically, it was hard to find anywhere else in the country that sold barrels in bulk.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Last time on the B2 expedition, I had recovered eighty-two thousand three hundred twelve gold—about eleven million seven hundred thousand won in our currency.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The six thousand recovered from the Rotters around the bunker had already been spent on the Potion of Nox…**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Plus the one hundred million won reward from Jang Hancheol, I had a usable budget of about twenty-two million won right now.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Excellent. I’ll give you two hundred million. Please give me forty barrels.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The boss asked in surprise, “For real? Forty barrels?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Yes.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“What are you going to do with them?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Oh, I’m going to feed them to a friend. He’s quite the glutton.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Feeding one person twelve thousand bottles of wine? As expected of a hunter.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The transaction was completed smoothly after that.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**We had agreed on two hundred million won for forty barrels.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**A short while later, employees began loading the barrels onto my truck using forklifts.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**I casually approached the boss who was playing poker and said on purpose to provoke him,**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Sigh, boss. You really should hire new employees. Why do you have to carry these light barrels one by one with a forklift? Just carry them on your shoulders like pigs.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The boss and the employees playing poker all glared at me.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The boss smiled wryly and replied, “Tsk, you young guy has no idea. Do you think these barrels are light? People break their backs carrying them like that.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Really? Ah, it doesn’t look that heavy at all. Want me to try carrying one?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Don’t. Your back will break.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“I’m a hunter though?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“I know. Someone like you who’s offering a suspicious deal… You think I didn’t scan you? Your highest stat is only level one? Hehe. You don’t have what it takes. Not even a chin. The world record for deadlift is two hundred twenty kilos, and this barrel is two hundred twenty-five.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Great. Then let’s bet. If I can carry it, I won’t take any money.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The boss looked at me carefully and said,**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“You really mean without any tricks, just carrying it on both shoulders?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Yes.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“What if you can’t?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“I’ll calculate it at five hundred fifty per barrel.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**He had been playing poker all day, so it was clear he loved gambling.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Good. Pay up first.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**I immediately took out two thousand in cash and stacked it.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Then I loosened my arms and walked slowly toward the barrels.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The employees all watched me with mocking expressions.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Of course. They had never seen a single person who could actually carry four hundred fifty kilos on both shoulders in their entire lives. There were field workers who carried sacks of rice—around one hundred sixty kilos—but that was it.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Ura chacha chae!”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**But I casually placed two barrels on my shoulders and walked briskly toward my truck.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“W-What?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Those… empty barrels?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**I carried two more to the truck.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Suddenly the boss changed his tune.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Y-You… Your highest stat isn’t level one, is it? Hey. I… I misjudged you. Sorry. I… I’ll just… Please… void it.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**But I simply kept going.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**I made seven round trips until my strength was completely gone, loading fourteen barrels onto my truck.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**According to their calculation, that was seven million won worth of wine.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**I had taken back exactly what they had stolen from me.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The boss was completely dejected, but there was nothing he could do.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**What could they do against a man with superhuman strength carrying two barrels on each shoulder?**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK*** * **BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The last preparation for this subjugation was purchased from a crane company.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**The most important item.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“You want to buy bullets?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Yes.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Hey, did you have a hangover today? You came to a crane company asking to buy bullets?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“There are bullets here. They’re called Wrecking Balls.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Wrecking Ball.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Iron spheres used to demolish buildings when hung from a crane and swung.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**It’s a ball, but the size of a large medicine ball weighing about seven tons—an enormous iron monster.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Khehe. This guy’s funny. You’re using a Wrecking Ball as a bullet? Fuha. So what gun are you going to shoot it with?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“The barrel is already made.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“It’s not the barrel that matters, dude. To shoot, you need ammo, right?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“I don’t need any. The gun I’m going to shoot uses gravity, not gunpowder.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK*** * **BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**I had secretly placed the Waypoint in the demolition area scheduled for redevelopment last week.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**A Waypoint could not be reset for a thousand hours once set. But because the demolition workers were stubbornly resisting, it was unlikely this area would be cleared within forty-one days.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Boooooom—**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**Late at night. One crane approached the building.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**And then a huge, massive golden sphere dropped with a thud right in front of me.**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“As you said, I even painted it gold. Is it really okay to just lay it on the floor like this?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Yes.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“You… But how are you going to move it without a crane?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Just roll it.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“This kid. You’re messing around now? This isn’t a lightweight empty iron ball. It’s a fully filled seven-ton Wrecking Ball. Even on flat ground, if it hits a slightly dug hole or any slope, it’s over.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“That worry is mine to handle.”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Hehe, I don’t know what kind of accident this kid is trying to pull, but please don’t get us involved, okay?”**BACKTICK**
**BACKTICK**p**BACKTICK**“Don’t worry. There won’t be any harm to the knights or the company.”**BACKTICK**