Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Clack-Clack, Snowfield
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[Didn't Hwayeon get screwed? lololol][Posted by: Rahela Kid]
(News column detailing the bridge collapse incident)
These guys' estimated damage from the collapse is over 300 billion lololol
They should've built the wall first, why start with the bridge, idiots
Considering the bid price, it's gotta be over 600 billion overrun? That’s gotta hurt lololol
-Really hurts, but they'll probably rebuild it anyway?
└(OP): No shit, do they have money rotting away?
└You know Hwayeon's market cap, right?
└If you know, then tell us instead of yapping, fucking coward
-Hwayeon's spending a ton this year lolol revenue's about the same though
└For real?
└They poured money into inventory R&D, and a shitload into gate management too, dunno what exactly. Plus building Yeonhwa Palace, bridge collapses, and they bought a fuckton of gates.
└How do you know so much? Insider...?
└Yeah, was in their finance team but quit cuz it sucked. Jumped to Baekya.
└Why? Don't they pay more at Hwayeon?
└Baekya matched it. And had to buy Molangtori lolol I do some hunter work on the side too
└Ah, gotcha
"Hwayeon, those bastards... they've been spending a fortune."
I already knew that, honestly.
The news was constantly buzzing about the five major guilds, and I never missed the bits about their R&D investments.
As someone running a business of my own now, how could I not be curious?
'R&D really costs a shitload, huh....'
That's just how new product development works. From research to production facilities. Astronomical amounts of money.
Well... for me, material sourcing and labor costs were basically zero thanks to the monsters.
'Still, I invested quite a bit in tools and equipment.'
Even accounting for that, my efficiency was insane.
Even as a solo developer, without my S-rank 'Monster Summoning' ability, I couldn't have achieved this.
Scaling that up to a major corporation's perspective...
'They'd burn through trillions easy.'
And I'd heard Hwayeon's R&D team was the best in the world.
Smart heads mean world-class money pits!
On top of that, developing new tech? Inventory tech at that?
Even with reverse engineering, without my ability, they had limits.
Pushing through all that adversity to produce a degraded version? Must've cost a fortune.
Yet the results? Zero.
Hwayeon's degraded version never even hit the market.
So naturally, their hostility toward me would've grown...
'But suddenly attacking like that? That's crossing the line.'
Or maybe not.
If I'd lost trillions because of some entity, I might've snapped too.
"Pfft... what am I even saying."
No way. I shook my head and clicked on another post.
Squelch.
[But seriously, why the sudden freakout?][Posted by: HugMePlz]
(Dragon Rider video)
Suddenly dodging like a mosquito avoiding hands, was this just a celebration show? lolololol
-Flew around super flashy af lol
-Rumor someone attacked it
└Bullshit, nothing on camera?
└There are hunter abilities that shoot invisible mana attacks
└That kind of ability exists...?
└Yeah, and rumor one of Hwayeon's execs has it
└Hwayeon assassin squad sharp af ㄷㄷ They even compensated the victims
└We get you're Hwayeon's spokesman. Never planned to rescue but compensation ok
└WannaRaiseADragon: Fr, shouldn't be thanking Molangmol first? lol Ungrateful af
└Wtf ghosted in
└That you?
└You the one riding the dragon?
└This guy's dodging comments again. Watching community nonstop why no reply ffs
Squelch.
"Ahh... so cold."
Even with gloves, my hands felt like they'd freeze solid, so no more gallery browsing.
I shoved my hands into the padding pocket with the hot pack.
Squelch. Squelch.
I picked up speed toward where everyone was, far ahead. All my eyes could see was snowscape. This was inside the T-4 Gate.
Must be why it was dumping snow—the entire gate interior was winter.
Around minus 10 degrees, brutally cold yet not overwhelmingly so.
"Haa...!"
Still, my breath came out sharp. Guess that's what you get with a girl's body.
'Honestly feels unfair.'
What felt unfair was that I'd maxed out cold resistance after surviving two brutal minus-20-degree winters as Korea's tough guy.
Where'd that cold resistance go? Aren't these things supposed to carry over by the rules?
Now my hands were numb, feet numb, even my soft cheeks a bit frosty.
Should've worn the Molangtex. Skipped it cuz it killed the vibe—regrettable choice.
For reference, I was wearing a white short puffer jacket now. Hayoung figured out my closet lacked winter clothes and dragged me to the department store to buy it.
She dressed me in it today too. Bottom half: black stockings. Monster-material insulated ones.
'...They're so warm it hurts my pride.'
Reason she forced them on me despite my protests.
Squelch!
Anyway, this snowy space wasn't huge.
Roughly... size of 100 soccer fields?
Half the size of Korea's most famous amusement park. Pretty small for a gate.
'Which makes me like it even more.'
Minus the scenery, it was nothing special, so plan was to develop it as a sorta tourist spot... not full theme park.
Woo-ee!
And the minis were the core of that operation. About 20 golems hauling rocks.
Molang!
Woo-ee! Woo-ee! Woo-ee!
Molangs spat out rocks from storage, and the lined-up minis passed them along like a conveyor belt.
Woo-ee!
The mini at the line's end stacked the rock in the right spot.
I peeked at the spot where a rough circle was forming.
"Ugh... so warm, nice."
Steam rising melted my frozen body instantly. Hot spring. Not dangerous mana spring—pure water.
Obviously part of the gate's value, so using it as-is.
Not using it would be dumb.
Winter hot spring romance speaks for itself, and check the scenery.
Blanketed in snow, plus auroras dancing in the dark night sky.
'How do you resist a hot spring with this view.'
World's only aurora hot spring experience.
Someone might nitpick about Iceland having them, but...
I could confidently say this was the only place for year-round aurora soaks.
Woo-ee!
"...Don't just watch, help out?"
Woo-ee!
"Okay. Mini, tablet confiscation later. Been letting me slack too much lately."
Woo-ee...!
"Should've done that sooner."
Leaving the more enthusiastic mini behind for the tablet.
I headed to another construction site, away from the spring.
"Yeah, yeah. Couple it there?"
Seojin was directing more mini golems at full volume.
They held modular glass kits. Special kits for easy building inside gates.
Made by Quantum, one of the five major guilds.
Top dog in gate tourism development tech—we were using it properly.
'Pretty amazing.'
Glass panels that bond solid using gate interior mana.
Huge advantage, and they could control internal temperature too.
Downside: gate-only use...
Still, insane functionality.
"Good! Snowy! Lift me up top?"
Kiiing!
Stacking them into a glass dome to make a greenhouse inside.
Straight-up benchmarking Quantum's mana plant garden method.
Of course, mine was a monster zoo, not plants.
Truth be told, one hot spring barely covered the 40 billion bid price—close to bullshit.
So adding revenue streams: the monster interaction theme park I'd dreamed of.
Not just viewing—touching, bonding, feeding.
Slime shows and gate rescues already proved cute monsters had high favorability.
'Pudding slimes, minis, and a kendat oughta suffice.'
Test run with three types, summon more if needed.
Probably enough as-is. Real main attraction was—
Kuuuoooooo!
The dragon.
World's first dragon riding tour course. How many could resist?
Safety meant no high-speed flights, but riding a dragon? Good enough.
Practically the gate's main revenue source.
Ding!
[Baekya: Hired everyone you specified.]
[Baekya: Even got a B-rank hunter, should be fine.]
[WannaRaiseADragon: Good good!]
Baekya handling mini theme park management.
All monsters linked to me for safety guarantee.
'Still need minimal staff.'
Merch store like Molangmol goods planned inside greenhouse—needed people.
Revenue split: JH 10%, Baekya 25%, me 65%.
Considering Baekya's elevator construction share, fair ratio.
"But... isn't this kinda lacking?"
Question flying at me from the work site sidelines. Jina, who'd been playing with the dragon till now.
"Lacking what?"
"It's a theme park, right? Sell something unique?"
"We got Molangmol goods."
"That's fine too, but food maybe. Or monster-material toys."
"Hmm...."
Valid point. Worth considering suggestion.
"Heard Molangtori civilian permits drop early next year. Use this as a stepping stone to expand into civilian markets... foundation, yeah foundation?"
"...."
"Or whatever."
...Sounds good?