Park Mongmo, Baron of the Park Clan

I waved my hand at the goblins who were shouting with their mouths wide open.

"Glory to the True Ancestor!"

"That! That's enough!!"

When I yelled, the goblins shut their mouths.

My face felt hot…

"Master, me too! Do it for me too!"

Mongmo poked my cheek repeatedly from my shoulder.

"You too? Ah… that thing just now?"

"Indeed! I want a surname too! I want a title as well!!"

Ah, right.

I could give one to Mongmo.

"Then Mongmo's surname is…"

"Me too!! Me too, Park!!"

"Huh?"

"Grant me the surname Park as well! The same surname as the True Ancestor! Is that not noble!!"

"…Yeah, sure."

How did things end up like this?

I thought of my dad who had passed down the Park surname to me.

Dad… You're going to have quite a few more grandchildren.

"From now on, you are Park Mongmo. Your title will be Baron, as expected."

Shhhhrrr.

A faint light enveloped Mongmo's body.

Just granting a surname and title raised his intelligence.

It was a shame I couldn't give everything to everyone, but if I handed out titles to all of them, then titles would lose their meaning.

Then the authority.

"Authority to use the community marketplace and command over familiars."

"This should make your work a lot easier."

"Uwahaha! Of course! I shall bring prosperity and strength to the Park True Ancestor clan!!"

"…Something feels off, but do whatever you want."

"Trust only in me! For I am now Baron Park Mongmo!"

The flying squirrel puffed out his chest proudly and placed his hands on his hips.

I patted his head, finding the sight cute rather than dignified, then looked around.

"Alright, we're done. Disperse. Get back to work."

"Kerrrk! Kerrk!"

"Time to work, kerrk!"

"Let's go farming, kerrk!"

The goblins all scattered, leaving only me and Mongmo in the audience chamber.

It had been embarrassing with the kids watching, but now that it was quiet, it felt so comfortable I didn't want to get up.

"Now then, what we need to do next…"

"We should check the disassembly shop and the school!"

"Yeah, let's look at those first."

I used the territory functions to check the disassembly shop first.

As the name suggested, it was a facility specialized in breaking things down and disassembling them.

But why were Labyrinth objects and items listed separately?

Anything from the Labyrinth other than items became meaningless once brought to reality. Walls or objects would just turn into ordinary real-world items.

That would remove any reason to risk entering the Labyrinth.

So everyone only took items.

"Why did they separate items and objects in the description?"

After thinking for a while, something clicked in my head.

Don't tell me…

"Gob. Have the kids bring me one of those signboards from outside the territory."

-Kerrrk, understood!

Park Gob quickly had some goblins fetch a first-floor Labyrinth signboard from outside the territory.

It depicted a small being slightly different from a human.

Right after the Labyrinth first appeared, there had been worldwide research on these signs.

But in the end, nothing was discovered and the research was concluded, treating them as mere environmental objects of the Labyrinth.

"Take that to the disassembly shop and break it down."

-Kerrrk. You! Come here!

Park Gob called over a nearby goblin.

One of the goblins who had survived since the early days.

Park Gob pricked his own hand with his dagger and dropped a single drop of blood onto the goblin.

Whoa! Does this mean I don't have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to prick my finger anymore?

Our Park Gob, Baron, who could now transform goblins in my place after receiving his title and authority.

The goblin who received the blood was granted the job of Disassembly Shop Manager.

The manager immediately carried the signboard into the disassembly shop.

After tinkering with some tools for a moment, he brought back two items.

"What the hell?"

"What is it, Master?"

"That disassembly shop is a goldmine!!"

No matter how junk an item was, only those dropped inside the Labyrinth held value.

Tearing off a door hinge from some random ruin wouldn't classify it as scrap metal.

But once it went through the disassembly shop, even ordinary environmental byproducts became items—junk items, but items nonetheless.

"…Does this mean I can now strip the entire Labyrinth for parts?"

"Excellent, Master! With this, we won't have to worry about materials for the workshop!"

"Looks like we're about to start mining the Labyrinth wholesale."

It was like having an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠infinite ore vein that reset every week.

A disassembly shop that could turn useless items and Labyrinth environmental byproducts into junk items.

The first thing that came to mind was the second-floor fields rather than ruins.

The Black Forest, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Four Seasons Plateau, and the blue gate, the Spirit Lake.

If I cut down entire trees, would they count as Black Forest timber?

"Next! Next is the school!"

"Right. The school."

I had been distracted by the disassembly shop's potential, but what I was truly excited about was the school.

Would my familiars finally become smarter?

"This is seriously huge."

One school would boost the efficiency of every facility.

Of course, the goblins who received this education would become permanent residents who didn't go out farming, but it was worth it.

And most importantly…

The Artisan job had appeared.

With this…

"Mongmo, looks like we can expand the Hyeolma Gentleman brand a bit more."

"Splendid!! Master has finally tasted the true joy of business! Expansion! New products!!"

Mongmo's eyes sparkled.

***

As the world descended into chaos, the community was in an uproar as well.

Shut-inHyeolma, who had broken through the rankings overnight and settled into first place in the domestic rankings.

After boasting an incredible feat of obtaining 10 Ethers in just three days, he stopped rising.

Even 10 was enough for first place in Korea.

What had been mere suspicion until now was confirmed with the official announcement.

That Shut-inHyeolma was the chairman of both Hyeolma Guard and Hyeolma Gentleman.

Just who was he?

How could he pull off so many different things?

Then, in the midst of it all—

***

Two weeks had passed since the day Shut-inHyeolma brought 10 Ethers, a day now called the "Hyeolma Incident."

Shut-inHyeolma, founder of both Hyeolma Guard and Hyeolma Gentleman.

While everyone was cheering, there was one person who couldn't laugh.

"…The #1 ranked player is the founder of Hyeolma Gentleman?"

It was Kim Dan, chairman of the Crafting Association.

He had been eyeing Hyeolma Gentleman.

Despite sending emails himself, they had been ignored.

He had tried contacting Hyeolma Gentleman multiple times, but all attempts failed.

Arrogant bastards.

Kim Dan immediately worked to cut off Hyeolma Gentleman's lifeline.

His first attempt was to find their material suppliers and cut off their supply.

But what happened?

There were no material suppliers trading with Hyeolma Gentleman.

If they were producing that many Normal-grade items, they would need an enormous amount of Normal-grade junk items.

Where had all of that come from?

Yet no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't even find a trace of their suppliers.

In the end, Kim Dan moved on to the next plan.

His second attempt was to cut off their workshop maintenance companies.

Equipment crafting required various tools.

Not only basic blacksmithing tools, but also specialized equipment like personal furnaces or sewing machines.

Even though the System helped, classic methods were still involved to some degree.

But he couldn't find those either.

He checked every reputable workshop company and small-scale business in Korea, but none of them had contracts with Hyeolma Gentleman.

Moreover, Hyeolma Gentleman only had sales outlets; their actual workshops couldn't be located.

Just where were all those Normal-grade items being made?

They sold about a thousand Normal sets every day.

That volume would be suspicious even if they had a factory.

Yet even after scouring the entire country, not a single workshop or anything resembling one turned up.

Once, he tried tracing a delivery vehicle.

"What the… He's a ranker, so did he hide the workshop with Ether?"

Tracing the vehicle only led to it getting lost and looping back repeatedly.

The employees must have been paid extremely well, because even bribery didn't work, driving him crazy.

While he was stressing out in his own workshop, biting his nails—

"S-Sir Artisan!!!"

"What??"

His assistant came running in a panic.

"T-There's something you need to see!!"

"What is it?! Can't you see I'm busy?!!"

Kim Dan yelled, but his assistant only flinched for a moment and didn't leave.

"I-It… It's from Hyeolma Gentleman."

The moment the name Hyeolma Gentleman came up, Kim Dan's blood pressure shot up reflexively.

"Those… Those bastards, what now?!!"

"They… They released a new item…!"

"What?!!!"

They had only been making Normal items, and now suddenly a new item?!

Kim Dan stormed after his assistant.

The assistant played a paused video on his computer.

A YouTube advertisement began playing.

Once again, it started with goblins hammering.

Those damn goblins!

CG goblins in scrap-metal armor went into battle.

Then the armor shattered!

-Oh dear, is your armor too weak?! Are you thinking about the second floor instead of the first?!

"These damn bastards…!"

-For you, we present the Premium Iron Armor Set!!!

-Magic-grade armor for only 500,000 won per piece?!!

"W-What?! Magic for 500,000 won?!"

Normal-grade armor usually cost around 300,000 won per piece.

Magic-grade, one tier higher, averaged 1,000,000 won per piece.

From Rare onward, with special abilities, prices reached tens of millions per piece.

Magic at 500,000 won was half price even compared to farmed items.

Compared to custom Magic equipment, it was one-third the price.

"These… These bastards! They're driving the value of equipment into the ground!!!"

-But you're still not satisfied, right? Why is Hyeolma Gentleman so expensive?!

"What? Are these guys joking?!"

Expensive? They were already slashing prices by more than half, and they called it expensive?!

-Hyeolma Gentleman's equipment is different! From Magic grade all the way to special options!

Kim Dan's face froze for a moment.

Had he heard wrong?

Special options?

At that moment, equipment options proudly appeared on the ad screen.

"W-What?! Hit-triggered options?!"

Hyeolma Iron Armor, which came with activation options that normally only appeared on Rare-grade items, in addition to the stat bonuses that came standard on Magic items.

-Random options for only 500,000 won! Magic weapon discount service when buying the full set!

The goblin knocked on the sturdy-looking armor, gave a thumbs-up, and laughed.

-Hyeolma Gentleman is with you for your safe Labyrinth expeditions!!

"T-This… This…!"

"S-Sir Artisan!"

Kim Dan, chairman of the Crafting Association, grabbed the back of his neck and collapsed.

The End

ⓒ Diwalls #1mxtx