Chapter 13
I'm so pent up. The preparations for founding the Min-tu Guild went off without a hitch. Two months after I turned into a little girl, everything was ready. We're not registering officially with the association just yet. Until we build a solid foundation, we'll operate through the community. Luckily, Mina knows the community inside and out. Thanks to her, we were able to create separate personas: "V" and "Min-tu Guild Master."
"V," who shattered the Tower Floor 1 ranking with an overwhelming score. And "Min-tu Guild Master," V's mentor, who also possesses magic scroll creation abilities. It was the emergence of a guild that shook the entire hunter world to its core. From the moment Min-tu Guild made its debut, it was evaluated as having the combat power of at least an S-rank hunter.
If Min-tu Guild had been just a promising upstart, other guilds would have tried to steal our magic scroll tech. But the current Min-tu Guild already had a completed powerhouse at its helm, making it too risky to mess with. If you can't make them an enemy, make them a friend. Various guilds and governments showed favorable attitudes toward Min-tu Guild. The only hostile reaction came from Taesan Guild, but that was no big deal. Things were progressing extremely smoothly.
Sales of the magic scrolls were phenomenal. $100—about 140,000 won in Korean currency—for a single use of magic. Considering what a mage costs, it's dirt cheap. Plus, the scrolls I made pack way more punch than equivalent spells. Anyone who buys them won't regret it. Those magic scrolls were selling like hotcakes. We're only selling in Korea for now, and over 30,000 sheets flew off the shelves in a week. That's over 4.2 billion won in a single week.
The magic scrolls were a massive hit. Min-tu Guild had the perfect launch. Interest wasn't limited to the guild itself. Countless guilds and governments showed interest in the magic scroll production technology. We got a ton of tech partnership inquiries. For now, we turned them all down. It might sound greedy, but I want to monopolize the magic scroll tech a bit longer. Once we start selling other products besides scrolls, then we'll consider partnerships. It's not time yet.
Min-tu Guild's operations were going too smoothly. If we keep this pace, becoming the world's top guild isn't a pipe dream. But if things stay like this, we'll hit a wall eventually. Not with guild operations, but with me. While making magic scrolls, I couldn't maintain my focus any longer. In the end, I collapsed to the floor.
"Ugh... please, no more... I'm gonna die at this rate..."
Making magic scrolls wasn't hard for me. With my exceptional magic talent, I could churn out hundreds at a time. I had the ability to produce 5,000 in an hour. Before going public, I'd stockpiled a bunch, so I only needed to make them for about an hour a day. "An hour a day is fine, right?" you might ask. But that's not what pushed me to my limit.
What I couldn't endure was my battle instincts. Lately, I'd been focused solely on magic scroll production and guild management all day, every day. Not fighting for so long was driving me insane. Aaah... I thought my battle lust had calmed down a lot... but I guess I'm hopeless. Sitting here working isn't my style. I belong on the battlefield. I wanted to drop everything and head to the Tower or a Gate.
But I couldn't. Because the other two were working their asses off.
"Ugh... I'm seriously losing it... Should I just kill all these bastards? Why the hell are they ordering like this?"
"Ugh... I'm not some talent suited for this mindless repetitive labor...! Why do I have to do this...?!"
Sorting, portioning, and packaging the magic scrolls could be handled with Elroen's magic. But transactions had to be done manually. All Min-tu Guild trades used the community's trading system—and in person, no less. Every deal required a hassle of procedures. No automating that. Receive orders on Hunter Gallery, invite to trade window via DM, load up the items, confirm the dollars match. That's our current process. Not insanely complicated, but it demands constant attention.
And Min-tu Guild's staff? Just me the guild master, plus Mina and Elroen—three people total. Considering the volume, this is impossible for humans. Maybe we need to hire staff...?
Agh... but hiring is a pain too. To keep Min-tu Guild's secrets, we'd need super strict interviews... Is that even feasible?
We could handle the flood of applicants somehow. The real issue is industrial spies. Min-tu Guild has shown unprecedented growth and the best tech of any guild. Other places will definitely send spies to uncover our secrets. Governments too, maybe. So hiring outsiders is impossible.
From the outside, Min-tu Guild looks like it's skyrocketing. Inside, it's a total mess that could collapse any second. I admit it—this was poor planning from the start. I underestimated running a business. Guild management is no joke.
"Ah... is this why they hire experienced pros? I'm going crazy..."
My hands are shaking. I want to fight right now so bad it's killing me. If this keeps up, I'll snap. This is dangerous. Too much stress in too short a time. Even with my weakened battle instincts, I can't hold out much longer.
Ugh... If I say I want to fight, Mina will get pissed and give me a brutal 'education'...! But I have no choice! I gotta say it...! I need to go fight now...!
I take a deep breath, steeling myself to tell Mina I'd be stepping out for a bit. That's when Elroen spoke first.
"Ah...! Right! There's a way to solve this tedious labor...! The second floor manager's abilities could fix all our problems!"
Elroen seemed to have figured out a solution for Min-tu Guild's woes.
"The second floor manager is an alchemist! That guy can make homunculi, and if we have those moving dolls, we can offload all this simple work!"
Elroen had a great idea. Intelligent beings to handle repetitive tasks would be perfect—especially for security. I don't know exactly what homunculi are, but assuming they obey their master, we could dump all the annoying stuff on them. Mina smiled, clearly on board. My lips curled up too, but for a different reason. I was just thrilled to have an excuse to climb the Tower.
Aaah... yes...! With this...! I can legally head to the Tower...!!
"He's the second floor manager, overseeing floors 11 to 20. Head to floor 11, and you'll meet him."
The moment I heard that, I sprang into action. To recruit talent for Min-tu Guild—and to quell my overflowing battle instincts—I headed straight for the Tower.
Welcome, Vgbh.
Entering Tower Floor 2.
I entered the Tower interior. No repeating past mistakes. I dove into the Tower system settings and turned off record updates. Now I won't refresh any rankings. I'm currently on Floor 2. Destination: Floor 11, where the alchemist resides. That means climbing 10 floors in one go.
Even on lower floors, scaling 10 at once is insane. No breaks during those 10 floors. Continuous combat will wear me down eventually, and that fatigue could kill me. That's why I'm thrilled. The fact that I can revel in this madness fills me with genuine excitement.
"...Haha. Hahaha...!"
These past few days, no fighting—just paperwork. I was already mentally drained from the stress. Yeah, blowing off steam like this is great. Right now, nothing else matters. Just pure battle bliss.
"Hahahaha!! Hahahahaha!!!"
Of course, I'm not fighting to die. I promised Mina. My dream isn't dying in battle anymore. It's becoming the world's top hunter. This isn't my grave. So, pace myself. Not reckless like before—fight smart and gentlemanly.
"Hahahahaha!! Hahahahaha!!!"
The first block of the Tower, Floors 1 to 10, is basically a labyrinth. Just monsters popping up. Think of it as the prologue to build basic combat power before the real climb. So my job is simple: kill the enemies.
"Ah... this is the best... Climbing the Tower is pure joy..."
While learning magic scroll production from Elroen, I picked up mage basics—mana control, various spells, the works. My pure mage skills are nearly perfected. My combat power has skyrocketed. But I'm not going full mage. Magic's just another tool. I still main the sword.
Why? Because slicing enemies with a blade is way more fun.
"Only one left... Such a shame..."
I lost track of time. Snapping to, I'd cleared up to Floor 10.
"But that's fine... The last one's... the tastiest prey..."
Elroen was a ridiculously strong mage. If she hadn't let her guard down, I'd have lost for sure. The guy I'm facing now is on her level. The Tower's second floor manager. How strong are you, really? How much can you push me? I'm dying to find out.
Entering Tower Floor 11.
I can't wait to feel the sensation of cleaving you. So please, don't disappoint me. If you suck, I might kill you without thinking.