Chapter 27. After-Auction Wrap-Up Party
Chapter 27. After-Auction Wrap-Up Party
After the meal ended and everyone had left, he called the Chinese hunter and the Japanese hunter aside.
They were still wary of Song Hoon.
Song Hoon offered his hand, hoping to put them at ease.
"I am Chen Longwei, Master of the Tianmu Association."
With that, he took Song Hoon's hand first.
As if testing him, he put force into his grip.
But the moment he grasped it, a bead of sweat trickled down his temple.
'Wh-What in the world was this...!?'
They say the strong recognize the strong. Chen Longwei felt it in an instant.
He must not resist this monster.
He could only pray that the monster was already full and would not devour him.
'Yang Tenjin... you dared to provoke a being like this?'
Chen Longwei sensed something enormous behind Song Hoon.
'Isn't this like an Asura...?'
Song Hoon looked at Chen Longwei and grinned.
That smile was not mockery.
On the contrary, it was a smile filled with anticipation—as if he wished they would try something.
At least, that was how Chen Longwei felt.
"I-I heard you had a reason for calling us separately..."
"That's right. I'll tell you slowly, so no need to rush."
Saying that, Song Hoon extended his hand to the Japanese hunter.
Just like Chen Longwei, she shook it, but she flinched as if she, too, sensed something in that moment.
"Hmm... I am Takamine Reina."
"The reason I called you here is simply to ease some of your disappointment from not winning the auction."
---
For a moment, Chen Longwei and Reina couldn't grasp what I meant.
I pulled out the fruit before them.
"It's a fruit I found at the Baekdu Mountain Gate."
Their faces lit up with desire at the sight of the fruit, which radiated intense heat even at a glance.
"Here, a gift."
I tossed the fruit to them, and they caught it as carefully as if receiving a sacred relic.
"Why...?"
"Are you giving this to us for free?"
"Because thanks to you, the auction atmosphere was lively. I'm just giving it away."
I didn't know what value it held for them, but to me it was just a fruit I could go pick again.
I already had more than enough money from the winning bid for the corpse.
Meaning there was no need to desperately scrape together more.
"..."
Chen Longwei stared at the fruit for a moment, then spoke.
"I'm curious about one thing..."
I blinked and nodded.
"You don't hate us Chinese? Why show such favor to a Chinese like me?"
"To be precise, I dislike a few shameless individuals. I'm not a racist."
"Yang Tenjin..."
"He came even after I clearly warned him he wouldn't return in one piece. He must take responsibility for his actions."
Chen Longwei nodded as if he had realized something.
Then, with a slightly more relaxed expression than before, he chuckled.
"People call me a great man, but it seems the true great man was not me."
He clenched one fist and wrapped his other hand over it.
"I will not forget this favor."
Saying that, he carefully tucked the fruit into his inner pocket and walked out.
"What an interesting old man."
Then I turned my gaze to Reina, who was still holding the fruit and lost in thought.
"You can go back now too, Miss?"
"Ah, um... Could you perhaps obtain more of these fruits?"
"Huh?"
"I'm not asking for free. Of course, we will pay a fair price."
A hassle.
Go all the way back to Baekdu Mountain and pick the fruit again?
But if I sent lower-rank hunters, they would probably burn to death before even reaching the fruit's location.
To get there, they'd need heat-resistant gear and thorough preparation.
'But S-rank hunters wouldn't do grunt work like that...'
I should gently let her down without hurting her feelings...
"It's a hassle."
"What!?"
"..."
"..."
Ah, I should have phrased that delicately.
The words came straight out without passing through my brain.
Embarrassed, I scratched my head.
"Of course, it's not urgent right now... But our family truly needs it..."
"I'm a bit busy too... I'll get in touch later."
"R-Really!?"
Reina grabbed my hands, her eyes sparkling.
I guessed she probably needed something containing Fire Energy as well.
"But why do you need it?"
"H-Hieek! Th-That's... I-I'll tell you slowly later... I'll be going now!"
As if in a great hurry, she spoke hastily and rose from her seat.
Then she placed her business card on the table and went out.
"Talking and then just leaving..."
"She must be busy, right?"
"Oh, Laila? The cup is dented...?"
"Oh my, the cup must be old."
My brow furrowed.
A cup dents like that just because it's old?
No, could a cup even dent like that instead of shattering?
---
Max's female secretary opened the door and entered.
Even without Max, the guild would function, but she was such a vital asset that without her, they said, the guild would collapse.
"Boss, the corpse is so large we're using several hangars as temporary storage."
"Good."
"...Boss, what are you thinking about?"
"I was thinking about what would happen if I fought that man."
"You do that kind of image training too, Boss?"
Max did not take a single sip until all the ice in his glass melted.
Occasionally, he let out a sigh.
"My conclusion is that I could never defeat him."
"...!"
"No, to be precise, I wouldn't land a single effective hit."
She simply could not believe her boss's words.
The Max she knew was always overflowing with confidence and never got discouraged no matter the situation.
Of course—he was a survivor of the 'Grand Canyon Incident.'
"I want to become stronger."
"Boss, you're already..."
He clenched his right fist, muscles tensing audibly.
"I need to see that man once more."
"..."
"I'm going to Korea."
"But your schedule...!"
"Cancel everything."
The secretary was surprised, but she hid a small smile.
After all, she preferred her boss being this stubborn as usual rather than gloomy.
"In that case, we will proceed under the pretext of returning the ring in person after repairing it."
---
"Did everyone have a good time today?"
[Yeah, stream notif on]
[It's amazing seeing faces you can't even see on TV on a stream lol]
[Honestly, I don't really like that country, but that Chinese uncle earlier was kind of likable]
[Yeah, he really gave off a martial artist vibe from a wuxia novel]
"Ah, that interesting old man?"
[But it was surprising he asked straight out if you hate China]
[Isn't it risky to bring that up? Like you'll get mysteriously disappeared?]
[Who could make an S-rank disappear lmao]
[Are you a great hero?]
He certainly was very different from the Chinese people I'd seen and heard about.
Despite his weasel-like appearance, he was a bold and courteous man.
[But that lady earlier was really innocent-looking]
[She's comparable to the Saintess, bwaaahT_T]
[ Overflowing Holy-Power Pouch has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- So who do you like better, her or the Saintess?
"Galde Cup, you son of a bitch."
"Hmm..."
[Gasp!!!]
[(glancing around emoticon)]
[Gasp!]
"Laila is prettier, obviously, isn't she?"
Only then did Laila smile contentedly and nod.
She knew full well she's pretty, but I didn’t get why she needed so much confirmation.
[ Saintess's Foot Wiper has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- Come to think of it, isn't your year-end party coming up soon?
"Oh, right."
[????]
[Probably the department in charge called you]
"I don't answer unknown numbers."
[Lol Pajijik gonna ban you]
[Honestly, Sia doesn't have the spare time to call you herself just for the attendance list]
Prompted by the viewers' chat, I opened my phone and saw several missed calls starting with 02.
[So, how does it feel now that you're rich?]
[150 billion? Aren't you quitting streaming?]
[That can't happen...]
"Hmm... Still, I think the Hero will keep streaming, don't you?"
[If the Saintess hadn't said that, I would've started worshipping the devil...]
[Great Saintess...!]
[ Saintess's Foot Wiper has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- Just how much money do you have?
"Roughly 150 billion, give or take?"
[What do you mean give or take lol]
[Fuck lmaooo]
[If that's 'give or take,' let me get hit too, damn]
[My give or take is just worthless crap;;]
[Just crap?]
[You son of a bitch]
Honestly, I didn’t mind even if there were no donations.
I was streaming because it's fun, after all.
"Hmm... Then shall we donate the donation money regularly?"
[Then would my name appear on the donor list?]
[Sounds good?]
Speaking of money, something popped into my head then slipped away.
I definitely thought about something money-related a little while ago...
"Speaking of money, I just remembered I haven't paid my editor's salary."
[Exploitative shitty small-biz boss lmao]
[Goodgood small biz lmaooo]
[Do you even know your channel's subscribers and views?]
"I don't know about that? Views, maybe 300,000?"
[You really don't care, do you]
[300,000 my ass, it's already well over 10 million]
"Huh...?"
When I opened the Nutube app, my channel's video list appeared.
The Black Angel and Baekdu Mountain Gate videos.
Both already had well over 10 million views.
And the other videos were steadily climbing in views as well.
[ Hero's Video Editor has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- Boss, I'm cold and hungry...
"Wait a moment..."
As the boss, I'd forgotten to pay my employee's salary.
With a little apology, I coolly transferred the money.
There was no fixed salary; it was based on views, so calculating it was quite annoying.
'I should have just set a fixed salary with auto-transfer...'
[ Hero's Video Editor has donated 100,000 Watts! ]
- From now on, work me like a dog, please.
As expected, the power of money was absolute.