The Goblin Workshop

Gob's roar sent the goblins scrambling in every direction.

Thanks to absorbing ten pieces of Ether, my Domination Power had exploded to 6,600. That meant I could now command well over six thousand goblins as familiars.

Six thousand goblins, all above level ten.

"Mongmo, open more memberships. Starting in two days."

"Understood!!"

Mongmo laughed and flew off toward his room. The Hyeolma Guard now had five thousand members.

"...Even after taking out the Ether costs, we're still pulling in ten billion won a month."

After giving the Association their ten percent cut, that left nine billion. Plus all the items the goblins were farming on top of that.

At this rate, the scrap dealer was going to need several trucks just to haul everything away.

I stared at the outpost warehouse, which was already starting to burst at the seams.

"Kyaak! That's supposed to go over there! No, first-floor items go here!!"

The goblin warehouse keeper was frantically directing his underlings.

The warehouse was currently level three. Thanks to the pocket-dimension effect, each crate now held as much as a small room. Hundreds of those crates, and even they were gradually filling up.

The dining hall was running nonstop, with designated goblin cooks churning out massive batches of fried rice from the daily influx of ingredients. The barracks and training grounds were also on the verge of overflowing.

But the outpost's level scaled with both the quantity and quality of my familiars.

The outpost rumbled and expanded, its facilities growing larger. Items stored in the warehouse were sucked into the central crate, and new furniture materialized for each facility.

Two new outpost facilities had appeared.

"I'm seriously swamped," I muttered.

The workshop itself hadn't even opened yet, and already two subordinate facilities had appeared. While I'd been focused on training goblins for the Hyeolma Guard launch, everything else had fallen behind.

"This is what running a real business feels like, huh? There's never just one or two things to do."

"Warehouse keeper! Throw all the Black Forest lumber and coal into the central crate!"

"Kerk, got it!"

I had the warehouse keeper and his goblins dump the accumulated scrap into the system. "Open the workshop!"

A flash of light. A new facility began taking shape on one side of the expanded outpost—the workshop.

I'd rushed to open the training grounds first because they seemed more urgent. Now it was time to see what the workshop could do.

"...What the hell?"

The workshop felt different from the other facilities. Rows of tightly packed workbenches and countless tools. It reminded me of those old European workshops from the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, where humans were worked to the bone.

While the other facilities felt spacious, this one was cramped, as if it was meant to pack familiars in shoulder to shoulder.

"So what am I supposed to do with this?"

I stepped inside and looked around. The most eye-catching thing was the large cylinder in the center. When I placed my hand on it, a system window appeared.

"...Materials?"

What kind of materials? Did it mean items?

"Warehouse keeper! Bring me one piece of scrap metal!"

"Kerrrk! Here it is!"

I placed the scrap item the goblin brought onto the cylinder.

Shhhk!

The scrap vanished.

"I can make all this stuff from scrap metal?"

The workshop let me turn junk items dropped in the Labyrinth into proper equipment. It wasn't bad that I could finally put useless scrap to work, but...

"Hey, Gob! Have the kids try making some gear here! I'll check tomorrow!"

"Kerrrrk! Got it!"

In the end, what mattered was the quality of the finished items. Wouldn't it be better to just farm equipment normally?

I could always decide after seeing what actually came out. Worst case, I could just use them as uniforms for the goblins. After all, I wasn't planning to send all 6,600 of them into the Black Forest anyway. A hundred working in the workshop wouldn't hurt.

"...I feel like a total sweatshop owner."

Well, these goblins would have been reset and disappeared without me anyway, so it was probably fine. They seemed content with food, clothing, and shelter.

Still, I was going to need to order more ingredients. At least the money coming in was far greater than the expenses.

What had started with a single Gob had become thousands of vampire goblins. Their numbers kept growing every single day.

Every day, I grew stronger.

"...Wow, there's even an achievement for five thousand? Then what about ten thousand?"

My familiars were slowly turning into an army.

***

The impact of the Hyeolma Guard far exceeded expectations.

In an era where only 0.5% of the population were Awakeners, that meant 250,000 Awakeners out of Korea's 50 million people. Roughly 50,000 had given up on the Labyrinth entirely out of fear. Another 100,000 only ran the first floor. 100,000 had pushed into the second floor and beyond.

The largest group was the second- and third-floor users. From the fourth floor onward—shared worldwide—death could come at any moment, so fewer than 20,000 Koreans had climbed that high.

That meant the Hyeolma Guard's potential customer base was those 80,000 people. Customers who could easily afford two million won a month.

But with only 2,000 spots open, people were losing their minds.

"I'm the only one without a goblin!"

"I'm the only one without a membership card!"

Just as the second-floor users were stomping their feet in frustration, good news arrived.

The Hyeolma Guard was expanding to a full 5,000 members!

Where to sign up? The Association.

When? In two days.

Awakeners rushed toward the Association building.

***

Countless news crews had set up outside the Association, broadcasting live.

"A massive line has formed for membership applications to the newly emerged company known as the Hyeolma Guard!"

"..."

"Even though there are still two days left, you can see the long queue stretching out."

"..."

"Excuse me, sir! How long have you been waiting in line?"

"Agh! I jumped in a taxi the moment the announcement dropped. I was in such a rush I only grabbed my wallet."

"Are you an Awakener?"

"Yes! Second-floor user."

"What do you think of this suddenly appeared Hyeolma Guard?"

"It's the best! Just signing up means a 90% reduction in the chance of dying on the second floor. Only an idiot wouldn't do it!"

"Thank you for your time."

"......"

"The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hyeolma Guard—a brand-new company that has suddenly appeared and brought innovation to the Labyrinth! Just what exactly is the Hyeolma Guard? What is its relationship with the Association? This has been reporter Kim Young-hee from National Broadcasting!"

"..."

Kim Min-woo, who had been blankly watching the TV, stood up and peeked through the blinds with his fingers.

A huge crowd had spilled onto the sidewalk, forming a long line that wrapped around the Association building. People waiting to buy Hyeolma Guard memberships.

Even though only three thousand additional spots were being added, over five thousand people were already lined up. And there were still two days left.

"...See? I told ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you it'd work. But..."

This was getting out of hand.

The Association still had its own work to do... The Hyeolma Guard craze was paralyzing Association operations.

Tomorrow, when the expansion went through, membership would hit five thousand. Monthly revenue: ten billion won. The Association would pocket one billion every month.

Once the membership cards were issued, there was literally nothing left to do afterward. If I could just get through today...

"Maybe I should just tell them to open a separate business office?"

Right now, the Hyeolma Guard was still in its early stages. By borrowing ten pieces of Ether, it had grown enough to accept another three thousand members.

At least four pieces of Ether were guaranteed every week. Even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if I paid the Association back in installments, the Hyeolma Guard would keep growing. And if we started finding Ether on the second floor as well...

"This won't work as is. We need to separate things."

If the Hyeolma Guard kept expanding, I couldn't keep handling everything in this slapdash manner.

Kim Min-woo sat down and opened his messenger app—the direct hotline connected to Mongmo, whose identity had been fabricated for him.

"Mongmo, I think we need to establish a separate Hyeolma Guard branch office."

***

Click.

I placed Mongmo on my shoulder and entered the Labyrinth.

The moment I stepped inside, explosive power surged through my body. I wasn't sure why, but it seemed my physical abilities improved along with my Domination Power.

What level was I at now? It was hard to tell since levels had been converted into Domination Power.

"Gob, how's it going?"

"Kerk! Chief, you're here! Everything's perfect!"

"Good work. How's the workshop coming along?"

"Kerk! The underlings have been making equipment, kerk!"

"Oh? Really?"

A day had passed since I'd left the workshop demonstration to Gob.

Equipment made from scrap metal dropped in the Labyrinth.

"Kerk! Kerk!"

"Kerk! This goes here... that goes there!"

Clang, clang.

Goblins stood at their workbenches, working diligently. Apparently, once a goblin entered the workshop, the crafting recipes automatically appeared in their minds. Of course, the lower their intelligence, the lower the efficiency.

Thanks to the Cunning passive skill, even level-ten goblins could now operate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the workshop, albeit barely.

The finished prototypes:

"...These are a bit worse than the normal items that drop on the first floor."

Both defense and attack were one point lower than typical first-floor normal gear. At this rate, the only use was handing them out as uniforms for the goblins.

"Master!"

Mongmo, who had been examining the scrap set, poked my cheek repeatedly from my shoulder.

"Hm? What?"

"Can't we just sell these at a low price?"

"Sell them cheap?"

"Exactly! We can still sell them for more than what the scrap dealers would pay!"

"Huh? Now that you mention it..."

Normal equipment from the first floor usually sold for around two to three hundred thousand won per piece. Weapons went for around five hundred thousand.

Labyrinth gear needed regular repairs from crafting-type Awakeners. But these...

"Even if we sell them for fifty thousand won per piece, we'd still make a profit, right, Master?"

"Yeah, we would."

Instead of selling the scrap as-is, turning it into equipment would multiply its value several times over. If we sold them cheap, people could buy, use, and replace them easily. Fifty thousand won was less than the usual repair cost.

Mongmo's eyes began to sparkle.

"Master, this is business! This is a business item!!"

"But the Hyeolma Guard is already busy enough as it is."

The Association had just suggested opening a separate branch, and my head was already pounding. That meant hiring staff and finding someone to run the company in my place...

"Master! This will work! A budget equipment brand! You just stay in your room and eat Ether! The goblins will make the items, and I'll handle sales!"

"..."

The business-obsessed flying squirrel was trying to expand the business again.

"It's money!! Master!! Money is pouring in!!!"

End