Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Investments and Smuggling Routes
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While Yoo Chan-seok was lighting fires left and right with his TV appearances and interviews, Han Sang-ah wasn't slacking off either.
Her assignment was to secure investments from major corporations for the subjugation of Jaun Valley.
These were negotiations with heavyweight companies. In deals like this, even Han Sang-ah couldn't readily pull rank using Geumyang Group's influence.
How the investment talks played out would depend purely on her own abilities.
"Ms. Han Sang-ah, it's always a pleasure to see you like this."
Still, the Geumyang name wasn't entirely powerless. It was enough to draw the company chairman himself to the negotiation table.
"It's been a while."
"I figured after you stepped back from the succession battle to become a hunter, it'd be tough to meet up. Never thought I'd run into you here. Your grandfather... the chairman must be proud."
Han Sang-ah gave a slight bow and replied.
"This has nothing to do with Grandpa."
"Fair enough. Let's see... you want investment for clearing the Erosion Core in Changchun City, right?"
The middle-aged man seated across from her stroked his chin and shrugged.
"Truth be told, it's hard to see massive profits just from the Jilin Province Erosion Zone vanishing. Plus, Jaun Valley isn't the only Erosion Core there."
He had a point. Thanks to that damned Gonsalok in Beijing, the Jilin area was crawling with Erosion Cores—over thirty confirmed ones alone.
And on top of Jaun Valley, there was another Rank-1 Erosion Core plaguing Korea right now.
Han Sang-ah responded without a flicker of expression.
"You know as well as I do that those two Rank-1s are the real headaches."
Dealing with Rank-2 and below was no big deal. Hunters would swarm them like hyenas even without rallying anyone, cleaning up the Erosion Cores and Zones naturally.
"That Yoo Chan-seok guy's a headache too. He's been stirring up controversies nonstop on radio and TV lately."
"Which means he's drawing massive attention."
Yoo Chan-seok's strategy was straightforward. Hiding wouldn't stop the critics and attackers anyway, so he might as well go bold, courting controversy to pull aggro.
"For every person who hates it, there are even more sympathizing with Yoo Chan-seok."
"Sympathizing, huh? Coming from you, that's surprising."
His tone carried a hint of attack, but she brushed it off.
"The stats don't lie. Viewership and listenership are way up, and the videos we post occasionally with the Hunter Association's help are racking up views."
Numbers didn't lie. View counts were high, and the like-to-dislike ratio was holding steady. Yoo Chan-seok was sparking debates, but the buzz outweighed the backlash.
"He has star power. And honestly, it stems from that contradiction between his actions and his words."
He'd shot from Rank-3 to Rank-1 Erosion Cores in no time after becoming a hunter. In Seoul, he'd minimized civilian casualties while averting a major crisis.
Yet his mouth was as foul as they come. But when you thought about it, he wasn't entirely wrong.
"There are several times more people seeing it positively than negatively."
With that, Han Sang-ah pulled out some documents and continued.
"One of the chairman's affiliates is Narsha Tours, right? I hear their performance has been rough lately. If we clear Jilin's Rank-1 Erosion Core, we could roll out tour packages from Mount Geumgang to Baekdu Mountain."
The man across from her clicked his tongue at her words.
"Sang-ah, I have ears and eyes too. Jaun Valley's dangerous enough on its own, but Gonsalok in Beijing is the bigger issue. Lately, parts of its Immortal Legion have been spotted in Jilin's Erosion Zones."
Immortal Legion. The driving force behind most Chinese Erosion Cores growing so monstrously. The collective name for the millions of monsters lurking around Gonsalok in Beijing.
And now, some of that Legion had shown up around Jilin. Han Sang-ah's mind quickly calculated.
"250 billion."
Before she could even finish opening her mouth, the man across replied.
"100 billion. Anything more's too risky with the Immortal Legion around."
"There's a pretty effective countermeasure. 230 billion."
What flashed through Han Sang-ah's mind was the Talisman Drawing Method Yoo Chan-seok had showcased back on the Great Devil Island. Most monsters popping up in Northeast Asia's Erosion Zones were undead influenced by Gonsalok.
It'd probably pack a serious punch. Total annihilation might be off the table with talismans, but weakening them was doable.
"A countermeasure?"
"Yes. And tours to Baekdu Mountain? Huge demand from Korea."
Korea currently held the world's hegemonic power. National pride overflowed among the populace. North Korea might be in ruins from Erosion Zones, but Baekdu was still the sacred mountain of the nation for many Koreans who'd never seen it.
"Once we secure a baseline of safety, we can develop all sorts of tour products. Recovery on the investment would be quick if it takes off."
They could tie in with construction firms for hotels, and marketing would be a breeze.
"I'm curious about this countermeasure."
Han Sang-ah answered calmly.
"It's not a technique I use, so I don't have the authority to explain another hunter's skills to outsiders. But it works."
"Sang-ah, you expect me to just hand over 230 billion on your word alone?"
"Not handing over—investing. Besides, tours to spots with iffy security? Plenty of perks for you there, Chairman."
Perfect for stashing slush funds in back pockets. Easy to scam tour groups or hotel guests. Shaky public order made dodging government oversight a cinch.
"And for the scale of your companies, 230 billion isn't chump change, but it's not crippling either."
She finished and laid a few more documents on the table.
"Plenty of other candidates besides your firms. But you're someone I've known for a while, so I came to you first. We can't go below 230 billion."
"Even if we clear Jaun Valley, we won't get exclusive rights to tourism there."
Han Sang-ah replied smoothly.
"Anyone doing business there needs hunters anyway, right? And once Jaun Valley's gone, those hunters will stick around, mopping up Rank-2s and 3s. They'll need places to stay."
She took a sip of green tea and pressed on.
"Right after we clear it, I'll hook you up with the hunters from Team Headhunter."
No business without securing hunters first. Once they're hired and settled, outsiders can't muscle in easily. It's all about protecting your rice bowl.
"Lock in contracts fast and deploy them around Baekdu, and boom—your companies effectively monopolize the mountain."
The hunters under Team Headhunter would naturally base themselves there and operate out of it.
"...230 billion. Fine. Deal."
After agonizing deliberation, the words came from the middle-aged man's mouth.
Meanwhile, as Han Sang-ah hustled around pulling in funds, Jeong Noahoon got to work in his own wheelhouse.
"Chan-seok's on broadcasts, Sang-ah's schmoozing the rich, and me..."
Jeong Noahoon yawned as he strolled into the dingy traditional market. Unlike some that had successfully modernized, this place had failed to keep up with the times and was utterly kaput.
"Ugh, damn. The vibe's always this depressing. Totally not fitting for a dapper guy like me."
Cheap plastic tables and busted blue swivel chairs littered the ground. The stale stench mingled with gutter water trickling across the asphalt floor.
Broad daylight, yet the market was dimly lit, with sporadic sodium lamps flickering dimly.
"Filth."
"Hey, Brother Kim!"
A scarred-faced man glanced up at Jeong Noahoon while thunking through a raw chicken with his cleaver.
"What's up? Heard you've been hanging with that Yoo Chan-seok guy lately."
Jeong Noahoon grinned, plopped into a wobbly one-legged plastic chair, propped his chin, and replied.
"Gimme a coffee first, then ask. What's with the customer service?"
"Bullshit. Make it yourself and choke on it."
Jeong Noahoon stood, whipped up some instant coffee, and said,
"We're heading to Changchun City."
Thunk. The man chopping chicken looked at him.
"And?"
"Gotta be folks who've been there. Solid route, right?"
Monsters prowling Erosion Zones made it a death trap. Hard for authorities to reach, perfect for smuggling and black market runs.
"No words for a guy who's ditched this scene."
"Aw, feeling betrayed between us?"
Jeong Noahoon sipped his instant coffee as he said it.
"Brother Kim, between guys who work for cash, where's the trust or credit? I'll pay top dollar, so spill the intel."
There were guys navigating Changchun without getting monster chow. And Jeong Noahoon needed boots-on-the-ground info from the area.
"How much?"
"Dunno, two bills in the billions range?"
The man tsked at Jeong Noahoon's offer.
"Top dollar, my ass. No way, forget it."
Jeong Noahoon looked mildly surprised. He'd figured that was plenty—what was the catch?
Just then, his phone buzzed. A text from Han Sang-ah: Immortal Legion from Gonsalok spotted around Jilin Province, China.
Now he got why the guy was jacking up the price.
"Immortal Legion, huh?"
"Fuckin' hell. Two bills in the billions. Fine."
Spot on. Yeah, walk in blind and you might croak, so two billion plus made sense. But now that the buyer knew for free, the guy had no choice but to settle for two.
Jeong Noahoon swirled his paper cup of instant coffee and said,
"Jaun Valley's thick with toxic fog. How do you plot a smuggling route through there?"
Smugglers bypassing Jilin and North Korea into Korea weren't hunters. No way they'd have poison resistance. Yet routes existed...
Meaning there was a way for normals to survive Jaun Valley's fog.
"There's a way."
"Obviously. Who wants to smuggle as a corpse? Spill cheap."
Jeong Noahoon urged with an intrigued look.
"These things called sulfurweed. Stems are soft and tough, spin 'em into fibers for masks. Kinda like gas masks."
Make one, reuse it plenty. Blocks toxic gases, curses, hallucinations to a degree.
"Can't fully block Jaun Valley's fog, of course... but even normals—about 30 out of 100—can stay sane in it."
If normals got that resistance, hunters could expect even better.
Jeong Noahoon figured that intel was worth the price. But if he could squeeze more...
"Hey. Smugglers know the local terrain inside out, right?"
"You bastard, trying to skin me alive?"
Jeong Noahoon grinned and shot back,
"What am I gonna do, shave your bald hog hide? You stink so bad even grilling's off the table. Hurry up and talk."