The Crafters' Revolt
The reason custom items are so expensive is simple: they’re made to fit the user perfectly.
But when you look at the materials, there’s no reason for them to cost that much.
The main ingredients are just junk items dropped in the Labyrinth.
And their price? Unless someone’s buying them for a personal quest, they almost never get sold on the market.
So most people treat Labyrinth junk as the “miss” in a gacha pull meant to replace actually profitable items.
Which means their price sits at rock bottom. Ten to fifty thousand won.
Risking your life just to drag out a few pieces of trash doesn’t exactly balance the books.
Yet the price of custom items is absurdly high.
So is crafting them incredibly difficult? Is it all just labor costs?
Labor costs are part of it.
But it’s not actually hard to make them.
Crafter-class Awakeners are the only ones who receive system assistance even in reality. When they use their skills, the system automatically helps out, and it doesn’t take long.
In other words, there’s no reason labor should be expensive.
If a crafter feels like it, they can churn out crafted items one after another.
Materials are cheap. The work is easy.
So why are crafted items so expensive?
It wasn’t always like this.
Back when someone first awakened as a crafter, they’d compete with everyone else, desperately trying to make and sell even one more item.
But one day, they banded together.
“How long are we going to keep making items for pocket change?! Our value is something we decide ourselves!”
That was how the Crafters’ Union was born.
Every crafter was forced to join, and if anyone refused to listen, they’d quietly sabotage them from behind the scenes.
In the end, the price of custom equipment skyrocketed.
If you want to dive into the higher floors of the Labyrinth, custom gear eventually becomes a necessity.
Once their income rose, the crafter Awakeners were satisfied.
The damage was entirely passed on to ordinary Awakeners who had to pay ridiculous prices for equipment—thanks to the Crafters’ Union.
And standing at the very front of that union was—
“Kill all crafters! Evil corporation, get out! Get out!”
A-rank blacksmith Kim Dan.
“Get out! Get out!!”
Kim Dan stood in front of the Hyeolma Building, headband on and megaphone in hand.
“Kill all crafters! Evil corporation, get out! Get out!”
“Get out! Get out!!”
The moment he saw the Hyeolma Gentleman’s Magic-grade equipment sales ad, he’d gathered every union member he could.
Even Normal-grade gear was already eating into their market share, and now Magic-grade too?
Magic-grade equipment had a huge customer base. It was what people who entered the second floor bought after ditching their Normal gear from the first floor—and it was equipment they kept using until they graduated from the second floor.
Some people were happy to stay on the second floor for life, so Magic-grade items were the bread and butter for a lot of crafters.
But now they were selling them at half price?
Actually, half price was still generous. Compared to the price of crafted items, it was closer to one-third.
Were they trying to cut off everyone’s livelihood?
But the Awakeners ignored the protest completely and kept flocking to the Hyeolma Gentleman.
While the community marketplace had listings, the unwritten rule for expensive gear like this was to try it on in person and check the fit.
Besides, if you went straight to the Hyeolma Gentleman, there were far more special options available.
“I-Is this real? Why does this Magic-grade item have damage reduction on hit?”
“Yes, our artisans poured their hearts into every single stitch!”
“What? Why does this Magic item have a Rare option?”
“The Hyeolma Gentleman makes it possible!”
“Do you have a full set with the same options?!”
“Yes, what size do you need?”
The Hyeolma Gentleman, already bustling when it only sold Normal-grade items, now had a line stretching out the door.
Thanks to the protest from the famously aggressive crafter class, the police had even been called in to control the situation.
Yet the Awakeners didn’t spare them a single glance.
“Those bastards were quiet when they were colluding to jack up prices.”
“From now on, I’m only buying gear here.”
“If it weren’t for them, equipment would’ve been half the price by now.”
Public opinion among Awakeners was firmly on the Hyeolma Gentleman’s side.
After shouting through the megaphone for a while, Kim Dan handed it over to a union executive.
“Here, keep going. I’ve got somewhere to be.”
“Where are you going?”
Kim Dan’s eyes gleamed as he stared in one direction.
“I’m going to have a talk with the Association President.”
***
Two weeks had passed since the outpost evolved into a full territory.
The Hyeolma Guard had expanded to seven thousand members, and the Hyeolma Gentleman had begun releasing new products.
As usual, I hadn’t done a single thing.
“Heh… This is pretty fun.”
I munched on snacks while watching a webtoon that had just been uploaded to WebFlix.
I was making a ton of money, but I had no idea what to spend it on.
I barely left the house anyway, and as a vampire, going outside only made me irritable thanks to the penalties.
What was I supposed to do at night?
Drinking and nightlife had never interested me in the first place.
These days my hobbies were just lying around watching YouTube or WebFlix.
And one more thing.
“Should I check what the kids are up to?”
Familiar third-person view.
This was the real jackpot.
Thousands of goblins each meeting different people and exploring the Labyrinth was like watching a movie you couldn’t find anywhere else.
I flipped through the familiar third-person views like changing TV channels.
“Man, this stuff tastes like crap. Hey, you got anything else to eat?”
“Kerrk, we only brought one piece of bread when we came out! The rest is jerky!”
“Was that the one I gave you last time?”
“That’s right, kerrk!”
An Awakener and a goblin sat resting, chewing on jerky.
To keep things light while exploring, they only carried jerky—food was a luxury.
Since they were our goblins, I was sending them each a piece of bread as a little service.
“The Labyrinth really is tough like this.”
And this was only the second floor.
The higher you went, the wider the fields became and the stronger the monsters grew.
Harsh environments on top of that—spending three, four, even six weeks searching for Ether and items in places like that? Of course it was exhausting.
“Munch munch… They’re working hard.”
I watched the scene while eating snacks.
Seeing this really made me appreciate my EX-rank ability.
The only downside was not being able to eat garlic.
“…Hmm.”
Still, they were our customers.
Wasn’t there something I could do to help?
These people were bringing in 14 billion won in revenue every month.
Maybe I should run a customer appreciation event?
Just then, Mongmo flew into the room.
“Sigh, I’m so busy!”
“What’s got you so busy?”
“Hyeolma Building employees, Master’s dad, Hyeolma Guard complaints! Hyeolma Gentleman item sales! Second branch preparations! Even two bodies wouldn’t be enough!”
Why was “Master’s dad” in there…?
“You’re working hard, Mongmo.”
“Of course! This Baron Park Mongmo finds national prosperity far too distant a goal! The only one with free time is Master!!”
“…Then should I do something?”
“Master’s job is to play around. Just sit back and suck on your honey!”
“R-Right.”
This was so sweet it was going to rot my teeth.
Just as I was about to go back to observing the goblins, I remembered something I’d asked Mongmo to handle.
“Mongmo.”
“Did you call, Master?”
“Yeah. What happened with those items the Golden Goblin brought back?”
“Ah, those! Just like you said, I sold them all off slowly over several days.”
If you wanted to sell on the community marketplace without haggling, you could do it anonymously.
I could’ve dumped everything at once, but that would’ve crashed the market price, so I spread it out over time.
After that, the Golden Goblin went back to resting.
I planned to send it out again once people had cleared out enough of the second floor and the reset was almost due.
It was so fast that it could return in just a few minutes, so there was no worry about getting caught in a reset.
Even if it got caught and died, I could resummon it in a week.
“Yeah? There was a huge amount. How much did we get?”
It had been enough to overwhelm the outpost before it became a territory.
At this point, it should be pretty decent, right?
Mongmo casually tapped at his panel as he answered.
“Roughly 35 billion won.”
“Oh, okay. 35 billion… Wait, what?”
“We sold so many items that we only got 35 billion. The market price really did keep dropping!”
“…Th-Thirty-five billion?!”
“That’s right.”
Mongmo casually dropped an enormous number.
“Th-Then the Hyeolma Guard and Hyeolma Gentleman…?”
“The Hyeolma Guard, as you know, has seven thousand members bringing in 14 billion a month… and the Hyeolma Gentleman…”
Tap tap.
Mongmo fiddled with his tablet for a moment, checked something, then nodded.
“Normal equipment brought in about 760 million, and Magic equipment around 2.6 billion! Ah, of course, that’s just from two days of Magic-grade sales.”
“…”
Roughly 50 billion won in monthly revenue.
I had become a walking mid-sized company.
“Mongmo, you’re going to exchange those points for cash now, right?”
“Correct. I’m planning to sell all the magic stones this time!”
“After you do that, let’s take care of one more thing.”
“Hm? What kind of task?”
We’d made this much money—how could I just keep it all for myself?
“The Hobgoblins. You said it was a waste to just have them playing around, right?”
“Indeed! It’s such a shame! 30-level Hobgoblins are strong enough to take down second-floor bosses!!”
“Let’s put them to work.”
“Oho?”
Mongmo turned to look at me with interest.
We’d earned this much—might as well give the employees bonuses, improve their welfare, and do a little something extra.
“Let’s take care of our customers.”
Time for a customer appreciation event.
***
Kim Dan stared at Kim Min-woo with a hardened expression.
After glaring at him for a long while, making no effort to hide his anger, he finally spoke.
“Are you just going to leave the Hyeolma Gentleman alone?”
At the mention of “Hyeolma,” Kim Min-woo’s face also darkened.
“Leave it alone?”
“Are you really just going to sit there and watch?! Mr. President!”
“…Look, Mr. Kim Dan. The Hyeolma Gentleman is a private company. We can’t tell them what to do.”
“Even so, there has to be a limit! You know as well as I do how ridiculous the Hyeolma Gentleman’s equipment prices are!”
“…”
“Shouldn’t the government step in? All of us crafters are going to starve to death!!”
Kim Min-woo sighed as he looked at Kim Dan.
This was giving him a headache.
It was true that the Hyeolma Gentleman kept releasing ridiculously good products.
But if they wanted to sell at those prices, what could anyone do?
It wasn’t like he could force them to charge more.
Still, the Kim Dan standing in front of him was an important figure in his own right.
He was the president of Korea’s Crafters’ Union and its only A-rank crafter-class Awakener.
Most Korean rankers’ equipment passed through Kim Dan’s hands.
“I’m sorry, but this is beyond our control…”
“Is it really? I confirmed that the Association holds shares in both the Hyeolma Guard and the Hyeolma Gentleman.”
“We have zero decision-making power. The shares are barely a fingernail’s worth.”
“So you’re going to keep playing dumb?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Then I have no choice either. I understand Mr. Kim Min-woo’s words very well!”
Kim Dan shot to his feet.
“If the Association won’t do anything, I’ll have to go somewhere else.”
Bang!
Kim Dan slammed the door to the president’s office and stormed out into the hallway, fuming.
He had never expected the Association to solve this.
This was a declaration of war.
From now on, he would use every connection and ounce of power he had to bring down the Hyeolma Gentleman.
“Hoo… I should start by making that item for Assemblyman Cheon…”
As he walked down the hallway toward the lobby, a small child brushed past him.
“…Kids these days are awakening too?”
***
“That crazy blacksmith. Who does he think he is, messing with a company run by rankers?!”
Gulp gulp.
Kim Min-woo kept chugging water, still furious.
“Anyway, the ones who don’t even enter the Labyrinth are always the loudest. Pathetic bastards!”
The crafter class had always been a double-edged sword for the Association.
They were valuable Awakeners, but things were different in Korea.
They stuck together and were the main reason equipment prices kept rising every day.
Minimum wage went up, so equipment prices went up. Electricity bills went up, so equipment prices went up. Prices had stayed the same too long, so let’s raise them anyway.
Raise, raise, raise.
One of the main reasons Korean Awakeners gave up on the Labyrinth so quickly.
If good equipment was affordable, they might actually feel safe entering the Labyrinth, right?
But the moment they saw the prices, they got scared off.
Low-floor users lost more money replacing broken gear than they earned from farming.
Unless you farmed a Rare item, custom equipment was just a dream.
The Association had tried to push back, but the Equipment Union threatened a total strike.
If the Equipment Union went on strike, the number of Awakeners entering the Labyrinth would plummet.
Then community points wouldn’t accumulate, and magic stones would become scarce.
In the end, the Awakeners’ Association had no choice but to dance to the Crafters’ Union’s tune.
Knock knock.
The door opened with a knock.
“Huh? Mr. President, you look like you’re in a bad mood.”
“Ah, aigoo! I just had a conversation with some ridiculous bastard! Haha! Please, have a seat!”
The moment he saw Mongmo walk in, Kim Min-woo’s expression melted like snow.
He had no idea how good life had been lately thanks to Mongmo and the shut-in Blood Demon.
Completely different from those whiny troublemakers.
“What brings you here today? I believe I already delivered the Ether some time ago?”
Mongmo plopped down in a chair and grinned at Kim Min-woo.
“I have something else to sell today.”
“S-Sell something? D-Don’t tell me?!”
Kim Min-woo’s face lit up with anticipation.
Could it be… finally? After never selling even once…?
“Yes, I’d like to sell some magic stones. I’ve got quite a lot piled up, so I want to convert them to cash.”
“Bwahaha! Thank you! I was worried you might sell them somewhere else!”
“We don’t really have any use for them. By the way, where should I take them out?”
“Haha! You can just take them out right here! I’ll have someone come and handle the rest…!”
“Eh? All of this?”
Mongmo looked around the room.
“Isn’t this place too small??”
“Excuse me? What do you mean…?”
“It’s 35 tons of regular magic stones. Should I really take them out here??”
“Pardon? Pardon?”
“35 tons. Won’t the building collapse? This is the third floor, you know?”
“Guhk.”
Forgetting all about his earlier standoff with the blacksmith, Kim Min-woo trembled with dopamine.
35 tons of regular magic stones—350 billion won in cash, and enough to ease the strain on the barrier stones that were always running on fumes.
One person had earned enough magic stones for hundreds of rankers.
“Long live Hyeolma!!!”
“Aack, what’s wrong with you, Mr. President?”
“Bwahaha! Long live Hyeolma!! Ten thousand years!!!”
Even Mongmo’s confused expression looked adorable right now.
With this, the upcoming hearing would be a breeze!!
“I’ve been living thanks to all of you lately! Bwahaha!!”
Every worry in Kim Min-woo’s mind vanished in that moment.
“How dare some blacksmiths lay a finger on a ranker like the heavens above!”
Just try touching even a single hair on the Hyeolma Gentleman.
THE END