Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Manager
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[Summon Skill: Sandworm]
[Rank: Rainbow]
[I am the God of the Earth.]
[Show reverence.]
“…No way, did I get a dud?”
Sandworm?
Did it mean a giant sand worm?
I tilted my head.
I already had a summon if I needed one.
Chohogi was more than enough.
Did I really need another?
More than that, what threw me off was the skill description.
[I am the God of the Earth. Show reverence.]
It was more arrogant than any skill description I’d ever seen.
A mere oversized worm calling itself the god of the earth?
I voiced my doubts at the ridiculous phrasing.
The feeling that I’d drawn a blank wouldn’t go away.
What kind of thing was going to pop out, anyway?
The urge to test it right now was strong.
But I shook my head soon enough.
“No matter what, using it here would cause a huge commotion, right?”
I didn’t know the sandworm’s size, but even if it was just car-sized, downtown would be chaos.
I couldn’t cause that kind of disaster.
“I have to clear it again anyway to claim the number one ranking reward.”
I muttered to myself, postponing it for next time.
I’d be able to test it to my heart’s content when I challenged the 26th floor again.
I’d use it then. Looking forward to the next climb, I headed home.
***
Coming home, I was about to toss the staff, Heart of the Mountain, and Chohogi into the basement when I paused.
I wasn’t dumb enough to store the Heart of the Mountain with the others after what happened yesterday.
I reinforced the box containing the stone even more, embedded it in the corner of the basement, and took the staff and Chohogi up to the first floor.
“Oh, I need to deal with that too.”
In one corner of the basement, the pile of orihalcon was still stacked haphazardly.
I had enough to eat now, so I needed to sell the rest and turn it into cash.
“But when am I going to sell all this….”
The problem was the quantity.
It might be comparable to everything mined in Korea over a year.
Dumping it all on the market at once could crash the price.
Regular channels probably wouldn’t buy that much in one go anyway.
I’d have to dispose of it little by little through various routes.
Suddenly, a thought from moving day resurfaced.
The idea of suggesting a manager to the broker.
Now was the perfect time.
I didn’t hesitate anymore and called the broker on my phone.
***
Not long after, the doorbell rang.
The intercom screen showed the broker holding something, as usual.
This time, it was a box of apples.
“Sigh, I told you I don’t need that stuff….”
I let out a small sigh and opened the door.
“Still a barren house, huh.”
The broker clucked his tongue as he looked around the empty living room, then tilted his head oddly.
“But why’s the AC blasting in autumn? You’ll catch a cold.”
“Oh… there’s a reason for it.”
I glanced at the basement door and brushed it off.
I’d sealed it, but the heat from the Heart of the Mountain was still affecting the house. I had to run the AC at the lowest temperature to cool it down.
“You’re not cold?”
“Well, yeah, but….”
The broker looked puzzled but didn’t press further.
I led him to the basement.
“There’s a lot to sell this time. Better if you see it yourself.”
“…What the hell is all this?”
When I opened the basement door, the broker’s eyes went wide at the sight.
The bizarre air mixing heat and cold. And a third of the sand floor melted into glass and obsidian—an unreal landscape.
It was impossible to comprehend with common sense.
“I messed up during training….”
At my nonchalant answer, the broker looked dumbfounded.
I pointed to one corner of the basement.
There, the orihalcon pile formed a small mountain.
“That’s what I wanted to show you.”
The broker’s gaze turned there.
At first, he didn’t seem to recognize it.
But soon his eyes widened in disbelief.
He approached the pile like he was mesmerized and picked up a pinkish metal chunk from the top.
“This… this is all orihalcon?”
The cold texture and faint mana flow.
It was real. Pure orihalcon, no doubt.
“How did you get this? No, how did you get this much?”
The broker turned to me, his eyes full of confusion.
“This amount is something you might never see in a lifetime….”
“Yeah, it’s a lot, huh?”
It was a perfectly natural reaction. I casually kicked the metal pile with my foot.
“When am I gonna sell all this? Taxes and everything… I don’t even know how to handle it alone, and it’s too much hassle.”
At my grumbling, the broker stared at me with a look of disbelief for a moment.
I tossed it out casually, like it was no big deal.
“How about you just be my manager, mister?”
The broker fell silent at my words.
Then he let out a chuckle.
“Haha… good one.”
He seemed to take my offer as a complete joke.
It made sense. He still saw me as a pitiful little girl who’d been through hell.
I figured it was time to clear up the misunderstanding.
“Not a joke.”
I held out my hand to him.
A hand with all ten fingers intact.
No, precisely nine.
“See? No injuries. It was just some magic side effect.”
“…!”
The broker’s eyes widened in shock.
He looked back and forth between my hand and my face.
But he pointed out sharply right away.
“The pinky’s still missing….”
“Oh, that’s from making Chohogi… No inconvenience in daily life.”
I pulled Chohogi out from my pocket, where it had been quietly curled up, and showed it to the broker.
The little sand doll looked up at him with its round eyes.
At my gesture, it bowed politely.
“Good lord….”
The broker let out a low groan at the strange new creature.
That wasn’t enough.
I pulled out the final proof from my pocket.
The unofficial A-rank hunter license made by Kim Suho.
“And this.”
The broker took the license and checked it.
The name Kim Hanbyeol, with a clear A-rank mark.
His hand started trembling faintly.
“I’m one of only five mages in Korea now. A-rank hunter. It hasn’t hit the news yet.”
The truths hit like a storm.
Not the pitiful injured girl he knew. A national top-tier asset, an A-rank mage?
The broker was speechless for a long time.
He just looked back and forth between the license, me, and Chohogi.
“….”
I thought he’d obviously accept my offer.
An exclusive manager for an A-rank hunter.
For one of Korea’s only five mages, no less. It would bring him wealth and fame beyond what he’d gained in the gray areas all these years.
No reason to refuse.
But his response moments later completely missed my expectations.
He handed back the license and said quietly.
“…Can’t do it.”
The broker rejected my offer.
“A guy like me can’t be your manager.”
“…?”
His unexpected refusal left me speechless for a moment.
He shook his head and continued.
“I’m a broker who’s worked in the gray zones. Me officially managing an active A-rank hunter would just tarnish your future.”
His voice was firmer than ever.
“You’re an A-rank hunter, one of five mages. You should join a major guild or sign with the top management firm in the country. Get the best support from the government and operate that way.”
He looked straight into my eyes. No ulterior motive in his gaze.
Pure, sincere advice for my sake.
“That’s what’s best for your future.”
“…….”
Okay, I get that you’re looking out for me.
But that didn’t mean I wanted to find another manager.
Major guilds, management companies, government contracts…
None of that suited me. I couldn’t adapt to places like that.
To operate freely, on my terms, a few trusted helpers were enough.
I decided to persuade the broker one more time.
“Mister.”
I opened my mouth calmly.
“Do you remember when we first met?”
The broker nodded.
“You thought I was just a kid with nothing.”
“…Yeah.”
“You didn’t think about squeezing anything out of me. You even helped me at a loss. Out of pure goodwill.”
At my words, his shoulders twitched slightly.
I looked straight into his eyes.
“I hate owing debts. Especially that kind. I just want to repay it. Think of this as a business proposal and my way of showing thanks.”
“….”
“Major guilds? Management companies? Could I even survive there? I want my manager to be you, no one else.”
At my earnest persuasion, the broker’s face grew complicated.
After agonizing for a while, he finally raised both hands in surrender, like he was giving up.
“…You win. You win.”
“You’ll do it?”
“Yeah. How can I refuse when you put it like that?”
And so the contract was made.
Now everything finally felt in place.
No more hiding my hand every time we met.
Satisfied, I held out my hand.
“Please take care of me from now on, Manager.”
The broker looked down at my small hand for a moment, then chuckled and shook it.
“You too, President.”
“President? Me?”
“Of course. Gotta think of a company name now.”
“Ugh, don’t use formal speech. It’s cringy.”
“Pfft… just like my daughter.”
The broker laughed heartily at my words.
Seeing his laugh, I smiled contentedly too.
Finally, I added the most important condition.
“Oh, and one more thing—the most important.”
“What?”
“Never, ever post about me on the gallery again.”
“Oh, that from the beginning… I haven’t since then.”
At my words, the broker scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
I warned him sincerely.
“I was mortified to death back then. Do it once more, and it’s really over. Got it?”
“Got it. Won’t happen again. Promise.”
“And fix that weird messenger talk.”
“I’ll… try.”
With that promise, our first task began.
Now a rookie manager, the broker immediately started planning how to handle the orihalcon pile in the basement.
He carefully loaded the minerals into the car. The weight was too much, so he’d have to make several trips.
Watching him bustle about, I finally felt at ease.
He’d handle all the miscellaneous stuff from now on.
***
Today, I planned to challenge the 26th floor ranking.
I already knew the strategy. This time, I’d clear it in record time without wandering.
Now I had a solid trump card.
[Summon Skill: Sandworm]
[Rank: Rainbow]
[I am the God of the Earth. Show reverence.]
On par with Erosion, a rainbow-rank skill.
And that ridiculously arrogant description.
God of the earth? Perfect fit for me.
[Entering Tower Floor 26 (EXTREME).]
The familiar ruins greeted me.
Without hesitation, I planted my staff in the ground.
Desertification.
Waves of sand swept the entire area, just like last time.
The scrap soldiers turned to grains before they could assemble.
In an instant, only the massive mithril wall remained.
Up to here, it was the same as before.
But this time, there was a difference.
As I walked toward the wall, I activated the new skill.
“Come out, Sandworm.”
A rainbow-rank summon.
It could surely demolish that giant mithril wall in one bite.
Full of anticipation, I stared at the ground.
“…Why isn’t anything happening?”
But nothing changed.
Just the silent sand desert stretched out. My mana vanished into thin air.
Panicking, I looked around.
Not enough mana?
No, that couldn’t be. I definitely felt the skill activate.
That’s when it happened.
Something bulged up at my feet.
Wriggles.
Bursting through the sand was a worm.
A worm as thick as my pinky finger, staring up at me blankly.
“Baby… It’s just this small?”