The World Erupts

The world had gone mad.

Even nations that had shown no interest before were now beginning to take notice of the Shut-in Hyeolma.

America had dropped a bombshell statement to the entire globe one day.

Disregarding protocol even toward an ally, they offered a single Awakener three thousand Ether. They even promised to push him as the second SS-rank.

"I intend to do my best until the day no one dies in my homeland's Labyrinth."

"..."

Everywhere—TV, YouTube, it didn't matter—everyone was talking about me.

Please, stop.

Stop replaying that scene...

"Mongmo..."

"What is it, Master?"

"My Domination Power is seriously lacking..."

"Endure it. A king must naturally receive the attention of the masses..."

"I'm not a king, you idiot."

"Are you not the master of ten thousand monsters?!"

"..."

There were ten thousand goblins, at least.

The one saving grace was that Mongmo had covered his face with a mask.

Still, the embarrassment was unavoidable.

Especially that cringeworthy line.

"I intend to do my best until the day no one dies in my homeland's Labyrinth."

"Agh! Everywhere I go, that line keeps coming up!!"

"How is it? Isn't it magnificent? I wrote the script myself! The reaction is excellent, as expected!"

I buried my face in my hands.

It was burning hot.

But... I couldn't deny it.

The subscriber count on the personal YouTube channel Mongmo had opened for me—Hyeolma TV—was climbing at a steep rate.

"It is effective, though..."

A personal channel with only one video uploaded.

Why did I suddenly have three million subscribers when I hadn't done anything?

"Master, how about revealing your face and doing YouTube properly this time? We could layer another protective barrier with Ether..."

"Shut it, you idiot!!"

Chun Sang-hyun's instincts, honed from years in the National Assembly, screamed at him.

Run. This isn't an opponent you can handle.

"This... this...! That Kim Dan bastard...!"

If he wanted to die, he should've died alone. Why did he hand me a hornet's nest wrapped up like a beehive?

Defeat. A perfect defeat with nothing left to nitpick.

And the backlash from that defeat began to blow.

His political career's greatest crisis.

While sweating and having his aides contact reporters, an urgent voice called out.

"Assemblyman!"

"What?!"

"Th-the President has contacted you."

"..."

Chun Sang-hyun picked up the phone with a sigh and held it to his ear.

"I've taken the call."

"Yes, Assemblyman Chun Sang-hyun. It's been a while."

"Yes, Mr. President. I trust you've been well."

"Haha, well, between us, 'well' is a given. But it seems you haven't been so well yourself?"

"..."

Hearing the clearly mocking reply, Chun Sang-hyun ground his teeth.

"Everyone's working hard. I've been watching how busy you all are running around for the people's livelihood."

"...Thank you."

"But Assemblyman Chun, you've stepped on something rather unpleasant this time."

Chun Sang-hyun's face flushed at the continued mockery.

"Mr. President, your words are excessive—"

"No, they're not. Assemblyman, since taking this position I've learned many things. Do you know about Uganda?"

"...Are you referring to the country in Africa?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Why bring up Uganda so suddenly—"

"It collapsed two months ago."

"...Pardon? I haven't heard anything about that."

"Of course you wouldn't have. The media there is under control. Next will probably be Zimbabwe below it, or Chile in South America."

"That's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nonsense. A country collapsing without a sound in the 21st century? That's ridiculous!"

"Why is it ridiculous? Do you know what those three countries have in common?"

Chun Sang-hyun could only open and close his mouth at the utterly unrealistic story.

"Their Awakener numbers were weak compared to their populations."

"D-don't tell me—"

"Once monsters start appearing in the world, the vicious cycle continues. Gunfights break out in cities, civilians suffer. Infrastructure collapses, and Awakeners who can't properly recover their condition head straight into the Labyrinth."

"...Then why hasn't any of this been reported?"

"Because the entire world would fall into panic. Who's to say it won't happen to us? And Assemblyman Chun, unfortunately, our country is barely hanging on at the safety threshold."

"Th-that's impossible. Are you saying we'll end up like that too?"

"It was dangerous. But then, out of nowhere, someone fell from the sky and gave us breathing room. So much that we don't even need to worry about it anymore."

"Don't tell me that's—"

"Yes. The Shut-in Hyeolma. So, Assemblyman, you should've known when to stop."

Chun Sang-hyun pressed a hand to his forehead as a headache set in.

This had been happening?

Things were occurring worldwide that even he, a core member of the National Assembly, didn't know about?

A chill ran down his spine.

"A-are you allowed to tell me something like this?"

"No, of course not."

"...?"

Just then, the outside grew noisy.

"Wh-who are you people?!"

"Guards! Guards!"

"Assemblyman!! Right now—"

Bang!!!

The door burst open and men in black suits flooded into the office.

"Why don't you go cool your head somewhere with nice water and fresh air for a while."

"Refusal is an option?"

"Think it over yourself. But it won't end well."

Chun Sang-hyun closed his eyes and set the receiver down.

And the next day.

At the Manufacturing Association office, Kim Dan was watching TV.

"Today on 'What I Want to Know,' we have a special on manufacturers. How much does it really cost to craft equipment?"

"..."

"We asked a low-level crafter we managed to bring in. Does crafting really require a lot of money?"

"No, actually, it doesn't cost us anything."

A man with his face mosaicked was speaking with the reporters.

"Then why is there such a huge price gap between materials and finished products?"

"Take a look."

The crafter stood up, grabbed a hammer, and headed toward some pre-prepared junk items.

Clang, clang, clang.

After about ten minutes—

"For Normal grade, this is it."

"Already?"

"Yes, because the system assists. Now this is worth 300,000 won at the previous price."

"..."

"In just ten minutes, the junk item's price soared to 300,000 won. That was surprising enough, but what came next left the production team speechless."

"Let's say this one was done roughly. It takes an hour."

This time the crafter brought out Magic-grade junk and finished products.

"These materials together cost 100,000 won, and the finished product is 1,500,000 won."

"So you're saying the price inflates fifteen times in one hour?"

"That's right. Even I felt guilty selling them at that price."

"Then why sell them like that?"

The mosaicked crafter let out a deep sigh.

"If the Manufacturing Association sets prices low, they block us from doing business. We have no choice but to raise them. We'd like to sell at around 400,000 won too. Actually, Hyeolma Gentleman might be a bit expensive. Because of us, their price became 500,000 won."

An announcer walked out against a black background and pointed at the screen.

"The Manufacturing Association, which had been making astronomical profits through large-scale price collusion. What is the truth? Is Hyeolma Gentleman really strangling them? Or were the Awakeners of Korea being strangled by the Manufacturing Association?"

Crash! Crackle!

The TV shattered from the chair Kim Dan threw.

"...Who the hell was that?"

At Kim Dan's question, all the crafters in the office turned their heads.

"Who the hell was that bastard!!!!!!"

Kim Dan screamed until his throat tore.

But that person wasn't here.

After the hearing, crafters had begun leaving the association one after another.

Only a handful remained.

Just then—

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

Men in suits stormed into the association office.

"Wh-who are you people?!"

"This is the Manufacturing Association office, correct? We're from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Fair Trade Investigation Division. We have a search and seizure warrant, so please cooperate. Everyone, step away from your computers!"

"Do you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠know who I am?! Without me, the rankers' equipment—"

"Yes, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we know Artisan Kim Dan very well."

One man approached and handed something to Kim Dan.

"Violation of Article 40 of the Monopoly Regulation Act, suspicion of bid rigging. Artisan Kim Dan, you'll need to come with us now."

"You think you'll be safe after doing this?"

"Yes. If we don't take you now, we won't be safe. Please cooperate."

That was the moment the Manufacturing Association was dissolved.

Now it was an era where Hyeolma Gentleman's equipment had become expensive at 500,000 won.

But since the amount was reasonable enough, no one complained.

Rather, Hyeolma Gentleman's quality was superior.

In an instant, the budget equipment specialist had become a premium brand.

"Master, should we lower our prices too?!"

Mongmo, who had been checking community reactions, turned to me.

"No. Let's keep them as is."

"Why? We could charge less."

"Our equipment is a bit higher quality, isn't it? It has special options, so people who need it will buy it."

Even though our products had become the expensive option, sales weren't affected at all.

Thanks to Awakeners who bought more from Hyeolma Gentleman out of patriotic consumption, sales had actually increased.

Lowering the price now would just be scummy.

"Understood! Then I'll handle other matters."

"Good."

I left Mongmo behind and entered the Labyrinth.

Something big had happened, but since I hadn't done anything myself, it didn't feel real. Still, one problem had been resolved.

From now on, the Association President and Mongmo would handle things, so I set that aside.

"Gob!"

When I shouted upon entering the Labyrinth—

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

From somewhere, Gob came charging toward me at full speed.

"Did you call, Boss!! Kerk!"

"Yeah. The Black Forest is open right now, isn't it?"

"It is!!! The goblins haven't gone in yet! This week it's the underground ruins' turn!!! Kerk!"

I nodded at Gob's spirited reply.

I hadn't originally planned to enter the Black Forest, but—

"Send some of the kids to fetch some kobolds from the Black Forest."

"You're making them familiars? Kerk?"

"Yeah. Ah! And if you see the boss mob, the High Kobold, bring it back and make it a familiar too."

"Understood, kerk!!"

Right now, there were exactly ten kobolds in our territory.

The kobolds that had been neglected while we focused on goblins.

Now that Hyeolma Guard had become famous, there would be less resistance to deploying kobolds.

"Boss! But how many are we making into familiars, kerk?!"

"Well, since there are already ten in the territory..."

The goal for the Familiar Count achievement was ten thousand, but we were short on Ether for now.

"Let's make a thousand familiars."

"Understood, kerk! ...You lot!! Move out, kerrrrk!!!"

Gob ran off toward the goblins.

I immediately used Ether.

"Use Ether. Strengthen Domination Power by 5 points."

"If I get the thousand familiar title, will the kobolds' intelligence go up a bit?"

It was about time to designate one kobold noble as well.

I turned my head toward the corner of the territory where the kobolds were gathered.

"Keng-keng."

"Woof-woof!"

"Whine, woof!"

The kobolds were huddled together, wolfing down stir-fried rice like dog food.

"...If I give them the noble designation too, they'll at least be able to speak, right?"

If the nobles still just barked, that would be its own kind of problem.