The Ten Thousand Familiars

Once the identity issue was resolved under the name Park Bok-hae, the business moved forward at lightning speed.

The Association directly leased out a prime building in Gangnam that had previously been paying taxes. It was a five-story structure with a full parking lot, clearly visible from the bustling main street. Despite everything, the real reason this building was perfect for the business was simple.

It was close to my house. No need to go far.

It had originally been used as an office but was now vacant. There was no need for interior work. Floors two through five would continue as office space for administrative work. And the first floor?

That was where the newly opened low-cost equipment brand, Hyeolma Gentleman, would launch its first store. The furniture and merchandise were already fully stocked. The employees were set to start coming in soon. I hadn't done a single thing myself. Mongmo handled the planning, hiring, and preparations. All I had to do was stamp my seal.

Two weeks passed like that. Thanks to the ten Ethers gifted from America, I returned the two additional Ethers obtained from the first floor to the Association. My debt now stood at eight.

"Hmm... looks pretty decent."

I stood outside the building, hat pulled low, watching the busy preparations at Hyeolma Gentleman. Just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then, someone who had been organizing the store inside opened the door and stepped out.

"What brings you here?"

"Huh? ...Oh, I was just looking around..."

"We'll open for business in two days, so please come back then!!"

"..."

The employee closed the door and went back inside. I'm the chairman. Well, technically the chairman since Dad is the president. "...As long as they do their jobs well, it's fine."

I should have Mongmo give the staff another lesson on customer service when I get home.

While Hyeolma Guard had started with suspicion, Hyeolma Gentleman opened with a completely different atmosphere. Real equipment for 50,000 won per piece? Buy a full set and get a weapon for free? Weapons were 500,000 won each? At Hyeolma Gentleman, individual weapons were 100,000 won.

"So where's the store?"

"Gangnam."

Low-level Awakeners from across the country flocked to Gangnam.

Park Bok-hae, age 56. Married at 27, had a son, and spent his life paying off business debts. Even he had his pride. Though he couldn't raise his child in luxury, he had done his best. Working manual labor in the mornings and deliveries or driving at night, he took pride in paying off his own debts and protecting his family. The mindset of burning himself out so his child wouldn't inherit failure. Was that mindset what created today?

"Huu... right."

He stood in front of a Gangnam building, wearing a suit. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. This was his new workplace. The Hyeolma Building. The first floor was packed with customers at the newly opened Hyeolma Gentleman store. My son takes after me when it comes to business, huh. He stepped inside to check on the store.

Inside was pure chaos.

"Excuse me!! Do you have 2XL tops and bottoms?!"

"Yes, we do!!"

"Over here!! Do you have size 290 shoes?!"

"Yes, we do!! I'll show you the shoes right away!"

"Do you have maces over there?"

"Yes! What size would you like?!"

"...Maces come in sizes too?"

"Excuse me, you don't have whips, right?"

"We do!! Would you like to see one?"

"Why would you even have that?"

Employees ran around carrying equipment while customers left with shopping bags in both hands. It was the exact scene he had dreamed of his entire life. I've finally achieved my dream!! Of course, it was thanks to his son, but still. In truth, all the money belonged to his son. He was just a salaried employee.

"President, you're here?!"

At the employee's words, all eyes turned to him.

"P-President?"

"Is that the guy who founded both Hyeolma Guard and Hyeolma Gentleman?"

"Hello! I'm Kim Hana, a reporter from SSB Broadcasting. Could I possibly..."

"Ah, haha. I'm sorry. Please arrange interviews through my secretary. Everyone, please get back to work."

Park Bok-hae winked at the employees and left the store, heading up to the headquarters building. A five-story building, and the entire thing was his company. He made his way to the president's office on the top floor. The image he had always dreamed of. A successful businessman and CEO.

"Welcome, President."

The secretaries stood and bowed their heads. All were top-tier personnel arranged by the Awakener Association.

"Yes, good morning. Carry on with your work."

Click.

The door opened to reveal a spacious room with a desk bearing the nameplate "CEO Park Bok-hae" in the center. And sitting there was...

"You're here, Master Dad!"

"...Yeah. Mongmo."

Mongmo, his son's subordinate. Apparently one of the abilities his son gained after awakening. He had thought it was just a cute flying squirrel, but it could transform into a human. He had been surprised at first, but in a world with Awakeners and Labyrinths, why wouldn't there be a transforming flying squirrel? Park Bok-hae adapted and accepted it quickly. The employees knew Mongmo as a special advisor sent by the chairman.

"Come sit down quickly, Master Dad!"

"Uh, yeah."

Park Bok-hae walked over and sat at his desk. The moment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he sat down, Mongmo, in his boy form, slapped a document onto the desk.

"Sign it!"

"W-What is this, Mongmo?"

"Master Dad doesn't need to know! Just sign!"

"...Okay."

Following Mongmo's words, Park Bok-hae quietly picked up the pen and signed the signature line.

"Now! Sign this one too!"

"W-What's this one?"

"Sign it!"

Scribble, scribble.

"This one's a stamp!"

Tap, tap. Thud.

"This one needs a signature!"

"What even is this...?"

"Just sign it!"

"..."

Park Bok-hae quietly signed the documents. The CEO of the impressive business he had always dreamed of.

"Sign it!"

"I want to know what this is too..."

"You just need to sign!"

Scribble.

Is this really okay?

Following the success of Hyeolma Guard, Hyeolma Gentleman also became a massive hit. After the first awakening and the end of the tutorial, most low-grade Awakeners gave up on the Labyrinth. They didn't even have the confidence to face goblins. Still, those who wanted to enter the Labyrinth first looked into equipment. But then they faced a second wall. Tops, bottoms, shoes, gloves, helmets depending on preference, and weapons. The lowest-grade equipment set easily exceeded two million won. Now the dilemma began. Was investing this money the right choice? What if I couldn't even break even after going in? Even one fight would require repair costs. If I got injured, there would be hospital bills too. The difficulty of the first-floor Labyrinth was quite low, but worry was inevitable. But what about Hyeolma Gentleman's equipment? A full set for 250,000 won. Buy armor and get a 100,000-won weapon for free. If I tried the Labyrinth with this and it turned out I wasn't suited for it, I could just throw the equipment away and return to my regular job. 250,000 won was like the cost of one academy class. The defense was 1 point lower, but a full set could easily handle ordinary goblins on the outskirts.

Click, click.

I turned on the program Mongmo had set up and checked the store's sales.

"...Seriously?"

1,500 sets sold in a single day. 375 million won. Of course, it was opening-day limited sales, but it was still surprising. I never expected it to sell this well.

"Well... 2 million won is too much to spend on starter equipment."

Normal equipment had always felt overpriced. If you were going to keep visiting the Labyrinth, it was equipment you'd replace quickly anyway. Repair costs weren't cheap, and sizes weren't flexible. Just then, a message arrived from Mongmo.

-Master! What should we do about this?

"What do you mean, what should we do?"

An attachment was included in the message. It was a long email that had arrived at Hyeolma Gentleman.

Subject: Greetings. This is Kim Dan, President of the Crafting Association.

Greetings. As an A-rank blacksmith and president of the Crafting Association... To sell crafted items, you must first join the Association... Your company's equipment is low-quality and sold at low prices... However, even such equipment should have prices... If you don't listen, we'll impose sanctions. If you ignore us, you'll never make equipment in this industry again.

A long, pretentious text stretched over 5,000 characters. In summary: Join the Association. And your equipment is too cheap, raise the prices. Otherwise, we'll sanction you. If you don't listen, forget about making equipment in this field.

"...Is that so."

The reason equipment prices never dropped was largely due to this Crafting Association. It was collusion among crafting-type Awakeners that everyone knew about but kept quiet. It was absurd. They should just keep making high-grade equipment like they always did. Why try ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to control prices even for low-level civilian equipment? I sent a message to Mongmo.

-Post an announcement. Hyeolma Guard members get one free normal equipment per month. Opening event.

-Understood!

What could they possibly do? Our goblins make the equipment inside the Labyrinth. I stood up from my seat. When I opened the door and stepped out, I could see goblins coming and going.

"Kerruk. Move quickly! And move quietly! Kerruk!"

The goblins were orderly carrying boxes of equipment to the parking lot at our house. During the day they worked hard making equipment in the Labyrinth, and at night they came out and piled it up in the parking lot. Then in the morning, the drivers would come and deliver it to headquarters.

"Good work, Gob."

"Keruk! It's nothing! Just meat once every two weeks is enough, kerruk!"

"Yeah, don't worry."

I left the goblins behind and returned to the Labyrinth. The house and parking lot were connected by a passage anyway. With the parking lot door closed, there was no worry of the goblins being seen. It was dark, so they weren't visible anyway. The wall was quite high too. The Labyrinth scenery had also changed significantly thanks to the workshop. Previously, all goblins carried backpacks, but not anymore. Using scrap wood from the workshop, they could now make carts. Since the first floor didn't require passing through entry or exit gates, goblins moved in groups of three, clearing the first floor with carts in tow. Thanks to this, the supply of wood and scrap metal had increased exponentially. The same went for other items.

"This should be enough for now, right?"

Hyeolma Guard had stabilized, and Hyeolma Gentleman had opened successfully. Since the big tasks were done, it was time to grow again. The ten Ethers I received from Elena last time. I could have used them, but there was too much to do, so I had put it off. If I just increased Domination Power recklessly, I'd definitely struggle with food supply and securing base space. Now the preparations were complete.

"Use Ether."

"Enhance Domination Power."

"...Huh?"

Until now, Domination Power increased by 500 per Ether Point. Was that changing?

"Then I'll use 7 points for now."

"What? Where did my 100 Domination Power go?"

Until now, Domination Power increased by 500 per Ether Point. Using 7 points should have added 3,500, making it 10,100, but 100 points had disappeared. Was this already the threshold? The effect of Ether changed depending on the Awakener's stats. Just as it took 1 Ether for an F-rank Awakener to reach E-rank, but 10,000 Ethers for an S-rank to reach SS-rank, it seemed the efficiency of Ether for Domination Power also decreased starting from 10,000. Should I test it...?

"Use Ether. Enhance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Domination Power by 1 point."

"The effect dropped by more than half?!"

Having it drop by more than half at once was too much, wasn't it?

"Haa... well, 200 is still something."

That didn't mean Ether had become useless. Domination Power still increased by 200, and it could also be used to enhance abilities like when obtaining the base system. Domination Power also naturally increased as the goblins leveled up. I should discuss the remaining Ethers with Mongmo after he got off work and decide how to use them.

"You guys, go out and bite them."

"Kyaaaaak!"

"Kieeeek!"

At my words, the goblins dashed outside. I decided to fill up to 10,000 first—exactly 10,200. Even if I added more kobolds later, goblins were more efficient right now. The title effect raised overall stats, and the "Cunning" racial trait increased intelligence. And most importantly...

[Familiars: 6,915]

"I wonder? Is there a reward for the 10,000 familiar achievement too?"

[Familiars: 7,442]

With thousands of goblins pouring out, the infection speed was tremendous.

[Familiars: 8,207]

"500 B-rank, 1,000 A-rank, 5,000 S-rank..."

[Familiars: 9,338]

"Don't tell me 10,000 is..."

"Wow, there really is a reward for 10,000 familiars?"

"...Golden Goblin?"

The golden goblin that people used to joke about had actually appeared.