Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Daily Life and New Events
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The abrupt launch of the Hwayeon ban policy. It might have seemed like just a single post, but its ripple effects were massive.
Squeeze.
[Yes. Next up, 'Molrangmol,' the store that's recently surged in popularity, has completely excluded Hwayeon from its purchase list.]
Amazing. Truly amazing.
No, beyond amazement, my own growth trajectory was downright frightening.
All it took was clicking out one post, and now it was spreading across the world through the news.
Sure, Recka reporters often turned community crap posts into news fodder, but...
'This feels entirely different.'
My news had landed in the 'Society/Issues' category, no less.
It all stemmed from the circus at the popup store, kicking off a chain of incidents that clearly resonated with the public.
['Hwayeon' is the guild many see as having the strongest influence among the five major guilds. What are your thoughts on this?]
[From my extensive experience, it feels like a declaration of war.]
[That's an intriguing perspective. Why do you see it that way?]
[Fundamentally, Hwayeon leads with reverse engineering—a technique that's arguably unethical...]
Squeeze.
No need to hear more. I shut off the TV. It was all stuff I already knew.
I'd entered full-on hostile territory with Hwayeon. They'd surely realized it by now, crystal clear.
That there was no chance of us ever joining hands.
So, they had only one option left.
The reverse engineering that expert on the news had mentioned.
They'd steadily buy up Molrangtori and pour everything into developing it.
That's why I'd implemented the hardline 'no sales to Hwayeon' policy, but...
'It won't really hurt them.'
They'd definitely resort to backchannel purchases.
Of course, Molrangtori was still hunter-exclusive, requiring hunter certification to buy.
Molrangmol followed that rule, as would the upcoming Baekya Castle stores.
But blocking detours entirely was impossible.
'They could pay premiums for proxies or borrow hunter community accounts.'
That's why I'd introduce a reporting system soon. Just like cracking down on scalpers.
I'd run something similar before.
Reporting Molrangtori black market deals got you three as a reward.
'Though... it got scrapped pretty quick.'
Because there were these slimeball types who faked black market trades, reported them, and racked up Molrangtori steadily.
Come to think of it, most of those jerks had 'Hwayeon' in their nicknames.
By the way, I'd heard Hwayeon Guild required 'Hwayeon' in all hunter community nicknames.
So no worries about witch hunts—just trash talk away.
Agh, you Hwayeon shitheads! You again?
Anyway.
The next reporting policy would fix that flaw, rolling out with a special event.
I was secretly looking forward to it.
Tap tap tap.
I plopped down at my computer in high spirits. This shiny new rig I'd splurged on recently.
Jina, the PC assembly pro, had spec'd it out and built it herself.
PC parts were bubbly expensive these days, so it cost a bit, but... totally worth it.
I'd always wanted to try a high-spec machine at least once. A bucket-list item for any guy?
Plus, Jina came over sometimes to work on stuff here, so it was practical spending anyway.
She'd even added the Baekya guild member discount feature recently.
Tap tap tap.
Savoring the blazing-fast internet speed... just some skull content?
Tap tap tap.
Anyway, I uploaded this week's sales notice to Molrangmol.
[This week's sales notice~!][Posted by: Wanna Raise a Dragon]
Back alive for another week without croaking!
Starting this week, a slight change to the sales lineup!
★Molrangtori (New Version)★
(Usage limit only decreases when activated!)
1. Merge Type - Total 600
450,000 won each ⇒ First-come, first-served (Max 4 per person)
2. Solo Type - Total 6
450,000 won each ⇒ Baekya guild member lottery (Can apply for both 1 and 2)
★Molrangtori (Old Version)★
(Usage limit starts ticking from opening!)
1. Merge Type - Total 500
150,000 won each ⇒ First-come, first-served (Max 4 per person)
2. Merge Type - Total 40
150,000 won each ⇒ Baekya guild member lottery (Can apply for both 1 and 2)
Oh! And Baekya guild member discounts are fully active this week.
You all joining Baekya now, right?
Plenty of Molrangmol merch for sale in the official Baekya gallery too!
-White Night favoritism, for real???
└Kikikikiki pure honey~
-Fuck, when do I get to try one? Just join Baekya?
└? Stock's plenty these days, not that bad
└For real
└Still not enough... Raise the per-person limit!
-So when's membership? My purchase total's def VIP
└You bastard, stop buying already
I skimmed the rapidly piling comments.
Creeeak!
I stepped out of the rooftop room.
Tilting my head up, I spotted Ppangppang playing with the late-arriving dragonflies.
Crunch!
...Playing? Well, from Ppangppang's view, it's snacking, so yeah.
"Ppangppang! Time to work!"
At my call, Ppangppang fluttered over and perched on my shoulder.
Agh...! Don't spit half-eaten stuff on my shoulder!
Purrr!
"...For me to eat?"
Purrr!
Ppangppang picked up the dragonfly again and thrust its beak toward me.
Like a mother bird feeding her chick.
"Ptooey ptooey ptooey!"
I spat furiously to refuse. If not, it'd force-feed me to the end.
Ignoring the still-reluctant Ppangppang, I headed down the stairs.
Whirr!
Mini golems scurried about busily.
I'd upped their numbers to boost Molrangtex production, and now it felt like a kindergarten.
Pushing through the bustle, I reached the first floor.
Thud!
38 massive pudding slimes filled my view.
With that many, when they jumped in sync, the ground shook sometimes.
Of course, the factory still had tons of space left. More giant slimes wouldn't be an issue.
But I had no plans to summon more pudding slimes for a while.
'Current output's plenty satisfying.'
I'd hit the minimum goal of 1,000 per day.
Next phase could wait till civilian sales kicked off.
Truth be told, Molrangtori was already seeing civilian use in a way.
Squeeze.
[Today's wages ㄴㅁㅊ?][Posted by: Lowest Life]
(Daily wage envelope photo - 400,000 won.)
Sucking up the sweet loading/unloading gigs with Molrangtori.
Deliberately taking heavy cargo or rice shifts to max out quotas lololol
-Didn't know Molrangtori got used like that
└(OP): Yeah. 4 merged = 200kg easy
└But Molrangtori's pricey
└(OP): Pays for itself in 4 days. Still good for 6 more
-Bro lives so earnestly lol
└Fr lol
-Molrangtori finally normalizing D-rank life...
-You bastard, which country's dialect is that partial hangul?
Some D-rank hunters struggling with material hauling had found a new lifeline.
Each little story like that was marketing gold.
Molrangtori would surely spark a social revolution.
Right before smartphones launched, no one imagined devices with those features.
But now, people not using smartphones are the rarity.
'Molrangtori's headed the same way.'
That's why I wanted civilian certification ASAP.
But it required long-term testing across 100+ scenarios.
Last time's slime ball had no real functions, so it cleared quick, but actual tools were different.
"Ugh... cha!"
I dumped a heap of mini golem shed skins into the cauldron.
This cauldron was new too. The old one could only do one at a time—useless for mass production.
This one's the largest capacity available now.
Roughly 6-7 Molrangtex per batch.
"Ppangppang."
Swooo...
Of course, it needed more heat, so better mana stones for Ppangppang.
Boom!
Ppangppang, even more bloated than before, spat out the mana stone.
Seemed like Ppangppang's puff-up size scaled with mana stone grade.
Feed it an S-rank, and it'd fill the whole factory?
Bubble bubble!
Stirring the lava-boiling cauldron with a massive rod, heavy resistance tugged my whole arm.
"Ahh... tough."
More volume meant twice the stirring effort.
Shoulders and back muscles screamed from the heat, sweat droplets from my chin plopping into the brew, sizzling away as vapor.
Grueling labor.
But no one else to offload it to.
Seolbaek was swamped with mana herb processing, and mini golems struggled with fine mana control.
Bubble bubble!
Maybe summon a new one?
Nah, better to make more mini golems...
Mulling it over, I stirred for about 30 minutes.
Just as I was about to pour the finished Molrangtex onto the floor—
Ding!
A message arrived.
[JH Bank: We've confirmed the details you mentioned. Proceed as such.]
Oh! Finally!