Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Systematic(?) Division of Labor, 98% Automation
-----------------------------------------------------------------
*Squish.*
[JH Hunter Love Future Account (4213) Deposit: 106,490,000 won - (Hunter Points Withdrawal)]
“Kuuh...!”
Earning 100 million won a week after peeling off just the right amount.
Of course, factoring in living expenses and utility bills would cut it down a bit, but it was still an absurd amount of money.
*Whiiish...*
A wind heavy with moisture brushed across the rooftop and flew away.
Above my head, the sky was packed with dull, overcast clouds.
It was extremely unpleasant weather where a deluge from the heavens wouldn’t seem out of place at all.
“Good. Very good.”
Having reached this level, the whole world felt incredibly beautiful.
But at the same time, a burning thirst tormented me.
My current weekly earnings, having hit the 100 million won mark.
It was certainly high, but broadening my perspective just a little made it not seem quite so impressive.
‘When you think about it, it’s way less than top athletes.’
Famous pro league players (non-Awakened, of course) were said to pull in 600 or 700 million won a week.
One certain sports star had signed a insane 1.1 trillion won contract over 15 years.
So how could thirst—not to mention greed—not arise?
‘This is a business, after all. I need to earn way more than athletes.’
Someday, I could even acquire a sports team outright.
Not that I was particularly into sports... but wasn’t it a standard bucket list item for famous businessmen?
So it should be fine for me to follow that path too.
In fact, the five major guilds each owned a few sports teams.
“Let’s go.”
To make that happen, it was work, and more work.
Time is money, so no slacking around.
*Creak!*
I promptly left the rooftop and headed down to the second floor.
*Zing...!*
From the room at the end of the second floor, dazzling flashes of light were bursting out.
It was Hayeong’s workshop. As I sneaked closer, the sharp tang of mana residue stung my nose.
Hayeong had clocked in two hours ago and started processing mana stones.
As the saying goes, Hayeong had been extremely busy lately.
The Baekya Guild had been steadily sending tribute mana stones.
She invested a full eight hours a day purely in processing, yet the boxes on the rooftop showed no signs of decreasing.
Of course, as a tremendously benevolent boss who valued work-life balance for my employees, I’d told her she just needed to finish her daily quota.
It was an amount she could wrap up in about two hours.
*Zing...!*
But Hayeong preferred working nonstop.
-‘When I’m processing, I feel satisfied with myself. It makes me think my life hasn’t been wasted.’
A form of self-actualization, perhaps. Or maybe she was a workaholic.
Just look at her now.
*Zing!*
Hayeong was concentrating all her nerves on the mana stone in front of her, not even noticing my presence.
Beads of sweat dotted her nose bridge. Below it, her lips curved in a faint smile.
‘She’s completely immersed.’
The more I watched her, the more I was convinced I’d made the right choice hiring her as a specialist processor.
Not just Hayeong—Seojin was diligently researching, and Jina was handling all the lottery draws and gallery management...
‘See? I’ve got a real eye for talent.’
Even setting people aside, every monster I summoned was a hit.
*Creak!*
Hm. But these guys might be... a bit slovenly.
Another room on the second floor.
It was a dark day already, and with blackout curtains drawn, it was pitch black like midnight.
In that cozy darkness sat ten baby cribs.
Atop the pricey luxury beds, cute little rock lumps were wandering through dreamland.
“...Hm.”
The clock on the wall read 10 a.m. Past ten. Way past their scheduled wake-up time.
I’d told them, no matter how late I got up, to be down by nine...
They never listen when I tell them outright, do they?
No excuses about not being able to read the analog clock either.
I’d drilled them thoroughly on it over the past five days.
*Click!*
…………
I turned on the lights, but sure enough, they were rocks.
Not one of the ten had stirred; they were all still lost in their dreams.
Of course, of course.
They shouldn’t budge at something this minor.
*Swish.*
In the end, I pulled out my smartphone and generously played their beloved wake-up song.
*Bbappappappabam! Bapparappabba bbappabam!*
Number one wake-up song men hate!
The song every guy hears at least once!
I’d served in the military before Awakening too.
Awakened usually get exemptions, but I Awakened after discharge... a slightly unlucky case.
“Everyone, rise and shine! Rise and shine! How long are you gonna sleep!”
!!!!!
At my shout mixed into the wake-up song, the rock lumps all shot upright.
Luckily, they had some sense—they hurriedly straightened their bedding and formed two neat ranks in front of me.
And just as I was about to start a light scolding...
*Wooee!*
Mini had somehow found her way into the room.
“Mini. Didn’t I tell you to train them?”
The ten rock lumps were mini golems I’d summoned at about 15% smaller than Mini.
I’d made them smaller on purpose, to position Mini as their sort of captain.
With so many monsters now, I couldn’t look after every single one personally.
Mini was smart anyway, so I’d assigned her the role.
But maybe because they were smaller, their mental age felt younger too.
Like friends hitting puberty.
*Wooee!*
“You told them to take it slow?”
*Wooee!*
And Mini turned out way more soft-hearted than I’d expected. She didn’t want to burden her subordinates and tried handling everything herself.
“You can’t do that. You can’t manage alone.”
I fully understood Mini’s feelings, but reality was always harsh.
No matter how capable, no one can handle everything solo.
That’s why I’d summoned the other mini golems in the first place—overloading was obvious.
*Wooee!*
“Okay. I’ll let it slide just for today. Next time, I’ll scold you too. Got it?”
*Wooee!*
Mini thumped her chest firmly. Her way of showing maximum confidence...
‘Her reliability’s been dipping lately.’
She overdid that gesture so much, it felt a bit iffy.
Oh well. I had to trust her.
*Wooee!*
At Mini’s spirited command, the ten mini golems dashed out of the room in unison.
Five headed straight to the yard.
Their job was harvesting mature herbs and planting new seeds.
Three went to Hayeong’s workshop.
They’d receive mana stones from Hayeong, feed them to the giant slime, then harvest the fragments.
The remaining two headed to the rooftop room.
They handled everything from coating with the new material we’d developed to attaching shipping labels—the full packaging process for Molrangtori.
And Mini...
*Wooee!*
You’re just playing?
Well, as long as she managed and supervised the golems well, it was fine.
I headed to the first floor with Mini, who was taking it pretty leisurely.
*Thud! Thud!*
The first floor bustled with various monsters hard at work.
It looked perfectly automated on the surface, but of course, I had my tasks too.
*Iwoo!*
As always, Seolbaek—disguised in Mini’s form—handed me a glass container.
Inside the water-filled jar were mana herbs gathered three days ago.
From making the new material a few times, I’d learned that three days of fermentation yielded the best results.
*Splash!*
I dumped out the right amount of water and placed the mana herbs in a basin. Then I began crushing them vigorously.
*Crunch!*
It required delicate mana control, so I couldn’t leave it to the golems.
“Seolbaek. How’s it going? Getting the hang of it?”
*Iwoo!*
Instead, the mana control master Seolbaek was eagerly learning the knack from me.
*Iwoo!*
Her movements still had plenty of clumsiness.
But judging by her growth rate, I could hand everything over to her in a week at latest.
That’s when my dreamed-of full automation would begin.
I’d be free to focus solely on summoning monsters.
‘I need to crank out way more pudding slimes.’
Selling just 250 a day was too few. At least 1,000, right?
That’s the minimum. If I had my way, 10,000 a day.
‘Time to think about packaging too.’
I couldn’t stick with bubble wrap forever.
Not that it was bad, but it screamed cheap.
Fine for early business days, but someday I’d be a mega-corp.
Naturally, I’d need classy, fitting packaging.
‘Honestly, pure design isn’t my strong suit.’
Should I ask Jina?
She showed decent aesthetic sense making Molangmol.
Or outsource it entirely?
Eh, I’d mull it over slowly. Still plenty of time...
*Boom!*
“Eek...! That startled me!”
Lightning suddenly crashed. The murky sky had finally started vomiting rain.
Taking that as the signal, all the mini golems rushed outside.
*Pourrrrr!*
*Wooeee! Wooee!*
They were too busy reveling in the downpour to care.
Seriously, sand at their core, yet they loved water so much?
Seeing them so blissfully happy made it hard to yell at them to come in.
“Guys! Play for just one hour and come back in!!!”
*Wooeee!*
At my shout, all the golems nodded vigorously.
No—beyond that, every monster except the giant slimes poured into the yard.
Molrang, Molkang, Dart too.
And...
*Kiiing!*
Seolbaek, even you!
“Yeah... playtime’s playtime.”
I could just delay sales by an hour. No big deal.
That leisurely interlude I’d been enjoying.
*Thud!*
I’d planned to lie on the giant slime for an hour of rest, but...
*Ding!*
[Delivery completed.]
An unexpected package arrived.