Harpies and Desperate Requests
While all of South Korea buzzed with stories about Bangguseok Hyeolma, certain people were making noise for entirely different reasons.
Han Seol-a had suddenly vanished from the rankings.
The woman everyone was gossiping about was currently...
"Han Seol-a, you can't keep doing this."
"Let me meet him."
"That's impossible. You know that, right? If he doesn't reveal himself, we have to protect his privacy."
"I don't care! Just let me meet him. I'm not going into the labyrinth anymore."
"..."
She had been throwing a tantrum inside the Association President's office for months.
"You ready?"
At my question, the goblins nodded.
The goblins were currently in the center of the second-floor labyrinth, right where the gate to the third floor had opened.
This time, two gates had appeared: a brown one and an orange one.
Of the two, the brown gate leading into the rocky mountain range was our first target for expansion.
"Alright then. Move out."
Kerrk! Let's goooo!!!
Kyaaaak! For the customers' lives!
For the captain!! Kerrk!
Our kids really were well-trained.
Since there was a lot to check this time, I sat directly in the audience chamber's chair and observed the goblins.
"Aaa... Baa..."
"I told you, I'm not your dad. Got it? Come sit over here."
Bolt shuffled over and plopped down beside my chair, radiating silent pressure for head pats.
I scratched the top of his head while using the audience chamber's system to monitor the goblins.
Fifteen thousand kobolds covered the second floor while ten thousand goblins crossed through the brown gate.
For a first expedition, smart goblins were the right choice.
"Master, shall we increase our subordinates right away?"
"That's the plan. I've already raised our domination capacity by three thousand."
With the Bloodma Guard pushing into the third floor, we planned to add a new species this time.
The third floor had three types of monsters: flame buffaloes through the orange gate, ant beasts through the black gate, and the species we were targeting now.
"Ah! There they are."
Just then, one of the goblins encountered the new species.
The goblin crossed the brown gate into a brand-new world.
"Kerrk... This is it."
Just as trained, the terrain was rugged.
The rocky mountain range—a vast chain of brown stone peaks stretching endlessly.
Its size was roughly on the scale of South Korea's territory.
Awakeners here crossed the mountains searching for items.
Even with such difficult terrain, this field was known as the easiest among the third-floor zones.
It was the most popular hunting ground for third-floor awakeners.
In other words, the place with the most customers.
"Krrk, where are you, dear customer?!"
Goblin #4,592, a veteran of the Bloodma Guard, climbed the rocky slope with vigor.
After the second-floor boss was defeated and the level cap rose to 40, all our subordinates had undergone Bloodma Guard training and reached the limit of level 40.
"That was hell, kerrk. Adventuring with customers is way more fun. Kerrk!"
As he shuddered at the memory of training, a singing voice drifted down from the sky.
Aaaah~
"Kerrk?"
A clear, pure tone. No lyrics, just a voice, yet it resonated in his head.
At that moment, the goblin remembered his second mission.
Aaaah~
Listening to the voice while scanning his surroundings, the goblin instinctively felt it.
The captain was watching him.
Goblin, act a little. Stagger like you're drunk on the song.
"K-Kerrk, got it, Captain."
Hearing the captain's voice in his head, the goblin began to stumble slightly.
The monsters of the rocky mountain range used charm-type skills that bewitched people.
With beautiful voices, they would follow targets for days until their mental strength ran out, singing all the while.
And once they believed the target was charmed...
Thud!
They descended from the sky.
From the middle of the thighs down: bird legs.
From the thighs up: a woman's human body.
The arms and hands resembled a human's but were covered in dense feathers that doubled as wings.
"Hehe."
A harpy landed in front of the goblin.
Her face was that of a stunning beauty, likely to better lure humans.
Smiling, she spread both arms toward the goblin.
"Hold me."
This was the harpies' hunting method.
After wearing down mental strength with song and drawing victims into a charmed state, they appeared and seduced them directly.
"Ke... Keruruk..."
The goblin staggered toward the harpy.
"Welcome."
At her voice, clear as rolling jade beads, the goblin fell into her embrace.
Once held like this, the game was over.
The harpy would unsheathe her hidden claws and tear her prey in half.
"I'll make it comfortable for you..."
Just as she drew her claws to stab the goblin's back—
Whoa, you've got guts, huh? Goblin.
The goblin squeezed the harpy tightly.
Getting hugged by a vampire? Goblin. Bite.
"Keruruk, show me that neck... Let me see that neck!"
Crunch!
The goblin's fangs pierced the harpy's nape.
"Kyaaaaah!"
10 harpies have been turned into subordinates!
Perks granted!
Harpy job unlocked: Harpy Thrower.
50 harpies have been turned into subordinates!
Amazing achievement! Perks granted!
Harpy job unlocked: Harpy Runner.
With ten thousand goblins deployed, the number of harpy subordinates grew rapidly as expected.
As the subordinate count rose, both the subordinates and the territory grew stronger at an exponential rate, like compound interest.
Just like my bank account.
Three thousand domination capacity, which I'd raised using all my Ether, would be filled in no time.
Besides that, customers who had already met the goblins and joined up were appearing.
Whoa! You're from Bloodma Guard, right? Come here! Let's go together!
Finally!!! Bloodma Guard is finally on the third floor!! Let's go, goblin!
Uwahaha! I can sleep! They say you can sleep even on the third floor!!
The reaction was the best, as always.
Given that the most common request we'd received at Bloodma Group headquarters was for third-floor expansion, the welcome was explosive.
Up to one hundred, specialized harpy jobs unlocked one after another, just like with goblins and kobolds.
"...Bard? What's a bard?"
"Master, shall I go check on the subordinates? I'll head over to the Association for a bit."
Mongmo hopped down from my shoulder and transformed into a human.
"Didn't we just sell magic stones recently?"
"There's a tax adjustment issue regarding the Bloodma Group, so I figured I'd stop by."
"Tax? Why tax?"
"They say they're giving us a reduction. Something about a special tax cut for rankers?"
"...Again?"
They'd already done a massive tax cut last time, claiming it was some kind of benefit.
Was the government budget really okay?
"Looks like the government has its back against the wall too."
"The mass exodus of rankers was pretty big, yeah. Still, I'm not going anywhere."
"Anyway, if they're offering, I'll go collect it, Master."
Mongmo, now in human form, turned and walked out.
They kept shoving money at me. I already had way too much.
"Mongmo!"
I grabbed him as he was leaving.
He turned around, looking puzzled.
"Instead of just making money, think of some ways to spend it too."
"Spend money, Master?"
"We've got too much. It's not like we're taking it to the grave. Let's use some. Start a charity or something."
"We only have seven hundred billion in the account, though?"
"That's seven hundred billion, you idiot!! Even after taxes, it's still way too much! Just come up with something!"
"Hmm... Understood."
Mongmo pouted, clearly displeased, but nodded and headed out since it was my order.
Sheesh, our money-obsessed squirrel. All he does is hoard.
As expected, the five-hundred mark gave us the third installment of the copy-paste chieftain series.
I wasn't even expecting anything from the thousand mark.
"Yeah, the copy-paste title series isn't going anywhere. Still, the average stat boost isn't bad."
I'd worried they might be as dumb as kobolds, but thankfully the harpies were intelligent enough to speak.
The title's additional effects were also quite solid.
At this rate, they passed as our third species.
Just as I was about to close the system window, I paused.
"...There's one more line?"
A third line appeared under the Legion Commander title, something the other species didn't have.
Harpies become even more beautiful.
"...What am I supposed to do with prettier monsters?"
The title had one weird extra option.
Mongmo immediately left the labyrinth and headed for the Association.
The treatment from the nation was top-tier, complete with a dedicated driver provided by the government.
Upon arriving at the Association, Mongmo went straight to the President's office.
Ding!
As he stepped out of the elevator on the top floor where the President's office was located—
Let me meet him! Please let me meet him!
T-This is really difficult!
"...Huh?"
Strange voices were coming from the President's office.
"O-Oh, you've arrived, Mongmo-nim."
"Hello, Secretary Noona! What's that noise?"
"W-Well..."
Kim Hyun-ah wore a troubled expression as a voice filled with frustration echoed from behind her.
Am I asking for something difficult? Just let me meet him! I have a gun, what else do I need? Outside the labyrinth, I'm just a normal person!!
But Bangguseok Hyeolma's very existence is top-level classified...
Do I have to go to Japan to meet him?! Just let me talk to him!!
"Huh? Someone looking for our Master?"
"...I'm sorry. We tried to send her away, but she's being extremely persistent."
"Who is she?"
"Rank 2, Han Seol-a."
"Ah. The eternal number four?"
"...P-Please never say that in front of her."
"Got it."
After a moment of thought, Mongmo nodded.
"I'll meet her. It should be fine, right?"
"Ah, yes. Do as you like."
Mongmo nodded and entered the President's office.
The moment he opened the door, he saw a woman sitting on the floor.
"Good grief, Seol-a, this really won't do... Huh?!"
Kim Min-woo's eyes widened as the door opened.
"O-Oh my, what brings you here at this hour..."
Following Kim Min-woo's gaze, Han Seol-a turned her head.
Mongmo walked straight toward her.
"Do you have something to say to our Master?"
"M-Master...?"
"Yes. I'm Bangguseok Hyeolma's secretary."
At the mention of Bangguseok Hyeolma, Han Seol-a shot to her feet in surprise.
She grabbed Mongmo's hands in a fluster.
"P-Please, can't you let me meet him? Just a conversation... I just want to talk!"
Her eyes were brimming with tears, showing how desperate she was.
Mongmo naturally guided the emotional Han Seol-a to a nearby chair.
"Come on, don't cry. Tell me what's wrong, Noona."
Han Seol-a immediately began firing off complaints like a machine gun.
"Those incompetent government bastards just keep throwing money at problems and think everything's solved!"
"Kuhk."
"They keep demanding magic stones and Ether, but we already have money! Are they stupid or just clueless?!"
"Hurk..."
"What we actually need is something else, but they keep dodging with 'it's difficult' and 'it's hard'! That's why everyone's leaving for Japan!"
"Urgh..."
She was so worked up she couldn't even speak straight.
When Mongmo gave an awkward smile, Han Seol-a suddenly came to her senses and steadied her breathing.
"I'm sorry... I got too excited. I need help. Could you pass a message to Bangguseok Hyeolma?"
"What kind of help?"
"I don't have enough magic stones. Could he do a trade with me...?"
At Han Seol-a's words, Kim Min-woo squirmed like a puppy that needed to go outside.
"...That's surprisingly simple."
"Kuhurgh."
Just as Mongmo was puzzled by how straightforward her request was, he remembered what his Master had said before coming here.
The Master had told him to create businesses that spent money, but was it okay to just spend? We needed profit too.
Mongmo grinned.
"Do you need a lot of magic stones?"
"Yes! As many as possible! Whatever you can spare!"
"How about working with us? We'll pay you in magic stones."
At Mongmo's reply, Han Seol-a jumped up and shook his hands vigorously.
"Thank you! Thank you! You're so straightforward, unlike those stupid government people!"
Having achieved her goal, the moisture in Han Seol-a's eyes completely dried up.
But from somewhere nearby—
"Hurk..."
A single tear rolled down.
END