Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Kim Jin-ah (5)
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Hunter Bank Gangnam Branch.
The loan team was in an uproar.
“Team Leader Kim! You hit the jackpot again, huh? Hey, congrats!”
“It’s seriously amazing. How do you make every contract you sign blow up like this?”
The news that the Demir Workshop had produced an S-rank weapon had spread, putting Kim Jin-ah, who had signed the loan contract with him, back in the spotlight.
“Haha, well. Just got lucky.”
Kim Jin-ah returned the greetings with a wry smile.
It was something to celebrate, sure.
But her mind was a bit complicated in its own way.
‘They made an S-rank weapon?’
Honestly, Kim Jin-ah was still in shock.
‘Joo Dong-hoon…’
The man who had B-rank skills but lived as an E-rank for a while.
She knew he didn’t particularly like drawing attention to himself.
That’s what she liked about him.
A truly exceptional person
never shows off their talents if they can help it.
Like Bang Tong, the strategist from the late Han dynasty, or Zhuge Liang, whom Liu Bei visited three times in his thatched hut.
‘He’s…’
She thought he was a bold climber unafraid of the massive mountain called Oseong.
A brave wolf ready to fight a leopard, the tyrant of the region.
That alone made him plenty cool.
But.
‘He’s no mere wolf.’
His ambitions weren’t arrogance.
He had the potential to go toe-to-toe with Oseong Group.
Joo Dong-hoon was a tiger cub.
A being that could grow into a mountain lord, the apex predator.
Come to think of it, that made sense.
His gaze had never been fixed on Oseong Group.
Even in interviews with reporters.
He hadn’t even mentioned the road occupation incident that could have pissed him off.
He brushed it off like it wasn’t worth his time.
Like a tiger ignoring a mantis threatening it with its front legs.
‘So cool!’
She racked her brain quickly.
Her innate insight automatically sketched out a blueprint in her head.
What if she served him?
How far could he climb, with his apparent ambitions?
As she thought, she suddenly flinched.
Had she ever
thought this way about someone?
She’d met many people in her life.
Realtors, high-ranking executives, even rankers.
But she’d never thought like this before.
To voluntarily want to serve someone.
‘Instinct.’
It was a gut feeling.
Her intuition, which had never been wrong, was telling her.
Joo Dong-hoon.
That man’s potential had no limits.
If she had to serve someone, it’d be hard to find anyone better.
‘Would Joo Dong-hoon even accept me?’
She didn’t seem to need to worry much about that.
From the few weeks she’d observed him, there were no real talents around him.
She liked that he was just starting out.
‘Growth stocks over blue chips, after all.’
She’d always preferred aggressive investments.
And she was confident.
The odds of Demir Workshop growing big? Numerically, about 99.99% now?
A deal with zero risk of loss.
Mm.
Hmmm.
Yeah.
‘Alright, decided.’
In that brief moment.
She resolved to quit.
‘Can’t pass this up.’
Even if it didn’t work out, no regrets.
It was her choice.
“Wow, Team Leader Kim! I knew I could count on you! Huh? The bank president just called! He’s considering a promotion and bonus for you over this. Kahaha, thanks to you, our branch is number one again!”
“Ah, Branch Manager!”
Kim Jin-ah shot to her feet as the branch manager approached her desk.
“Thank you, but I have something urgent to discuss.”
“Huh? What is it? Not happy with the bonus? Don’t worry. It’s different from last time. The president’s going all out this time…”
“No, the bonus is fine.”
“Huh?”
The branch manager tilted his head.
“Team Leader Kim is turning down money?”
Kim Jin-ah pulled a prepared paper from her drawer and handed it to him.
“This is…?”
His eyes widened as he looked at it.
[Resignation Letter]
“What the hell!”
“I’ve been preparing for this for a while. Don’t be too upset. I worked hard and brought in a lot of money, didn’t I?”
“No, Team Leader Kim! Even so, this is too sudden…”
Mid-sentence, the branch manager let out a deep sigh.
Did he not know?
That Kim Jin-ah wasn’t the type to stay at a mere hunter bank forever. He’d known from the start.
“Fine. So the time has finally come?”
“Yes. Feels like life’s about to get interesting.”
She smiled.
A radiant smile he’d never seen before.
Watching her, the branch manager shook his head as if he still couldn’t understand.
* * *
“Hmm.”
Clang!
In the workshop corner on the second floor.
Demir hammered away diligently.
Though his body was just bones, the sheer power of his swings
made it seem like muscles were bulging all over.
Clang! Clang!
After who knows how long.
“Done.”
Boom!
“Now I can finally call myself a proper dwarf!”
Demir roughly set down his hammer.
“Good work.”
I encouraged him.
Because.
[Name: Demir]
[Stamina: 200/200]
[Unique Ability: Great Skeleton]
[Class: Blacksmith]
[Rank: B]
[Strength: 42] [Agility: 41] [Vitality: 38] [Mana: 40] [Technique: 52]
[Possessed Skills]
-‘Advanced Smelting’(Lv.1)
-‘Intermediate Weaving’(Lv.7)
-‘Advanced Item Creation’(Lv.1)
-‘Advanced Alchemy’(Lv.1)
-‘Skeleton Summon’(Lv.Max)
Three of Demir’s skills had already reached ‘Advanced’.
The result of nonstop hammering since his awakening.
“I can now produce A-rank blueprints and handle advanced ores like adamantium or mithril. Kahaha, how about it, Master? Can you see my efforts?”
Demir grinned proudly.
“We put in the effort too, Demir.”
From the third floor came a skeletal archer, Eldrin, bow in hand.
It looked like he’d just finished training.
“I’ve strengthened my spellcasting ritual and honed my archery to a level worthy of the Forest Clan.”
“Still, it’s undeniable that you favor only Demir, isn’t it, my lord?”
Taeyang came down too, spear in hand.
The three fully awakened skeletons.
They’d started speaking casually to each other before long.
Since they were all my subordinates anyway, they’d apparently agreed to treat each other as equals like old friends.
By the way.
“Hey, Taeyang. Saying I only favor Demir? That’s a hurtful misunderstanding…”
Even as I said it, my mouth went dry.
Truth be told, even I could see I’d been focusing on Demir lately.
Eldrin smiled faintly at the sight.
“No, Master.”
For a skeleton, she had an incredibly elegant air.
“It’s time for focused priorities. Right now, Demir is far more helpful for your future.”
“Right?”
See?
Only Eldrin truly understands me.
Clap clap!
“Anyway.”
I clapped my hands and said.
“Now we need to make some weapons. It’s a pretty important moment. With all the media spotlight on Demir Workshop, we gotta surge up in one go.”
“Got it, Master. Together again this time?”
“Of course.”
“Kuhuhu, a collaboration between the two of us once more! Thrilling! So, what kind of weapon?”
“We’ll open them all together now. See who won the bid. Gotta know the client first to decide the type.”
I dumped the collected bid sheets on the floor with a rustle.
Submitted by various people over the past two days.
‘Honestly, rankers won’t commission me.’
I wasn’t expecting much.
There were other routes worldwide for S-rank weapons.
Rankers probably had weapons they’d gotten from dungeons themselves.
Plus, the only weapon I’d publicized was a single dagger.
‘Even if it performed well.’
No one would invest big in a place without certainty of another like it…
“Master, here’s 10 billion from Jinju Group.”
“My lord, there’s an elder from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. 12 billion.”
“Hmm, Master. This one’s 13 billion. Is that big money?”
What…?
My jaw dropped.
Jinju Group was one of the top 10 alongside Oseong.
Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was the domestic ranking 1 guild!
And all in the 10 billion range?
“For real?”
I frantically opened the scattered bid sheets.
Bids weren’t public, so many were between 1 and 10 billion.
But some had boldly gone over 10 billion.
“It’s real?”
This meant
the bank loan would be paid off in one shot.
Were there this many rich people in the world?
Or was I getting that much attention?
No clue.
At that moment.
“This one. Seems the highest. 30 billion.”
Eldrin handed me one bid sheet.
“What? 30 billion?”
I took it with a blank expression.
Written on it was…
[Bid: 30 billion]
[Hahaha, long time no see, you punk. If you could make S-rank weapons, you should’ve told your big bro sooner. Disappointing? Anyway. As your bro, gotta go big if my little bro’s in business. If this is the top bid, make it! But if it’s junk, you’d better prepare yourself. Hahaha.]
[Berserker Jang Dae-woong]
“Crazy.”
His chummy ‘bro’ vibe was still there.
But damn.
Writing ‘hahaha’ in cursive while laughing like a maniac.
His ‘Mad’ Warrior moniker wasn’t for nothing.
‘And.’
Prepare yourself if it’s junk?
The Berserker was world ranking 20 despite appearances.
A walking catastrophe.
“Shit.”
Now I had to make a good weapon, semi-forced.
Demir’s brand value?
More like for my survival.
* * *“Damn iiiit!”
Crash! Bang!
Shin Jong-oh bellowed.
“E-Executive Director. Please calm down!”
“Calm? Do I look calm? What the hell is wrong with how you all handle things!”
Shin Jong-oh fumed.
“Throwing money at it doesn’t work, the road occupation flops. And now? They made an S-rank weapon?”
Ridiculous.
Felt like the world was screwing him over.
The sacrifice he’d targeted was a genius blacksmith, of all things.
How could such a miracle happen?
‘And handing that expensive thing straight to Gi So-yul?’
As expected of Gi So-yul.
That haughty bitch didn’t follow him for nothing.
She saw his worth.
The Gi So-yul he knew would do anything to get stronger.
‘Separate from that.’
Shin Jong-oh’s eyes turned cold.
‘Joo Dong-hoon. You’ve already bruised my pride.’
Bang!
He kicked the overturned desk and glared at his secretary.
“No choice now. Bring the company ranker contacts.”
“E-Executive Director. You don’t mean…?”
“What do you mean ‘don’t mean’? The war’s already started.”
“B-But. Even you can’t just make a ranker move on a whim!”
True.
Even if Oseong hired them, rankers were rankers.
Not even his grandfather—they wouldn’t listen to him.
“That’s why we negotiate.”
“Negotiate, sir?”
“Bring the ranker list first.”
“Y-Yes, sir! Right away!”
The secretary bolted out at Shin Jong-oh’s command.