Damn Necromancer - Chapter 104

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Spendthrift Necromancer (104)
Times Square
Crash!
Chairman Cho, who had been watching television, hurled the remote control violently. It flew across the room and shattered the screen.
“Damn it!”
Chairman Cho gripped his head in his hands.
The Guild Tournament.
The results had been utterly overwhelming.
That meant public opinion favoring Kim Min-woo had grown far stronger than before.
For Dorim, already battered by boycotts, it was nothing short of a death blow.
‘What do I have to give him?’
At this point, who was right and who was wrong no longer mattered.
What mattered was knowing what would satisfy this bastard enough to make him back off.
If it were merely a grudge stemming from his son’s actions, Min-woo would have come running the moment compensation was offered.
Or he would have ended things cleanly when his legs were broken.
But Kim Min-woo had done neither.
He kept appearing in the press, casually dropping Dorim’s name into the conversation.
It meant he wanted something far greater. He might even demand an entire business division be handed over.
His head was beginning to ache with the weight of deciding how much to concede.
One of Dorim’s security guards approached and spoke carefully.
“Chairman. Kim Min-woo has arrived.”
“……Yes.”
Chairman Cho answered weakly and rose to his feet. Soon enough, he was face to face with Kim Min-woo.
“Good to see you, Chairman.”
“……Right. Since I’m hardly a stranger to Chairman Kim, we can drop the formalities, can’t we?”
“Do as you wish.”
“What do you want? What will it take for you to stop? Are you looking for a sincere apology from me?”
At those words, Kim Min-woo let out a soft laugh.
“You’re joking, surely?”
“……Don’t drag this out. You’ve already mapped out your demands. What exactly do you want?”
“Leave home appliances alone. But I’ll need telecommunications and semiconductor electronics. On top of that, if you hand over the Maseok Battery division, construction, and shipbuilding, we can wrap this up cleanly. No more gossip after that.”
“What a madman.”
He’d been prepared to give up an overcoat, and now Min-woo was demanding the pants and underwear too.
If he handed all that over, Dorim would collapse in an instant.
Kim Min-woo, who had plopped down on the sofa, looked at Chairman Cho and asked.
“Then, what is your proposal, Chairman?”
“The issue is purely external to the company. Does it seem reasonable to you to demand business divisions for an external matter?”
“Well, if that’s how you see it, there’s no reason for us to continue this conversation.”
Kim Min-woo rose abruptly to his feet.
Chairman Cho’s jaw clenched.
It was outright blackmail.
But Dorim had deteriorated to the point where it would bow to the pressure of a young punk’s threats.
If negotiations fell apart here, Dorim would be the one screaming.
Every day that passed would inflict fresh wounds on the company.
Especially now, with Il-Sung’s market share climbing higher by the hour.
“……Tell me what you really want.”
“The Battery division. And I’d like to receive a few production factories along with it.”
“…….”
Kim Min-woo spoke into the silence that followed.
“The factories are probably sitting idle anyway. And the battery business—well, research just bleeds money while the actual results are pathetic, aren’t they?”
Home appliances and semiconductors. Telecommunications.
These were Dorim’s vital organs.
Construction and shipbuilding were equally essential.
Beyond that lay countless subsidiary companies.
‘The first demand was just me swinging for the fences.’
There was no way those would ever be handed over, even if the sky fell.
If he squeezed too hard, the government would voice obvious objection, so it was better for both sides to wrap this up reasonably.
Even now, the government was quietly prodding him from the sidelines to call it a day.
‘In the end, the battery’s the real prize.’

A business division that manufactures high-efficiency batteries using Mana Stones.
Research is underway in countless places around the world, though.
‘Dorim’s going to hit it big with this.’
Not immediately, though.
In about three years.
Dorim, which had been pouring money into research, finally achieves a breakthrough and hits a genuine home run.
A new battery with far greater capacity and dramatically lower consumption than existing models. When they succeed in developing it, they rake in enormous profits.
It becomes the moment when Dorim, which had been gradually eating into Il-Sung’s market share, surpasses Il-Sung’s market capitalization entirely.
‘But not right now.’
I fixed my gaze on Chairman Cho.
“We’ll absorb all related personnel as well. We’ll offer a reasonable acquisition price.”
“……If you hand that over, I can be certain you’ll stop, yes?”
“A deal must be certain.”
The battery business division.
Even if we absorb all the personnel attached to factories and facilities there, it would come to roughly two to three trillion won at most.
We’d factor in a reasonable discount anyway.
For a company of Il-Sung’s caliber, that was a manageable sum.
“Do you agree?”
“……Very well.”
Chairman Cho nodded in assent.
The Mana Stone battery business.
American battery companies dominate this field overwhelmingly. Naturally, American batteries had conquered the global market long ago.
To diminish their grip, we’ve been continuously pouring money into research.
Despite nearly a decade of investment, we still have nothing of meaningful substance to show for it.
Of course, it wasn’t just Dorim. Major corporations worldwide were charging in with bloodshot eyes determined to develop batteries.
The problem is nothing better than the American product has emerged.
That’s why the battery division was a thankless department of sorts.
We throw money at it hoping to hit the jackpot, yet only America has ever won in this field.
‘It’s unfortunate to give it up…….’
But it wasn’t a fatal blow.
We’d have to give something up to make them stop anyway, so it was better to hand over a money-eating division rather than a money-making one. That’s why I could let it go with a certain sense of relief.
You think you can develop what companies worldwide couldn’t?
Go ahead and try.
That was roughly the mindset.
“I’ll send the operations team tomorrow. Then I’ll take my leave.”
Kim Min-woo rose from his seat and left Chairman Cho’s residence.
‘I’ve gotten what I came for.’
The battery market is genuinely massive. In this world, we’ve long since surpassed the electric vehicle era and moved into the Mana Stone vehicle age—a market exceeding one quadrillion won.
I’ve obtained the key to controlling that market. Perhaps Chairman Cho would regret this later and beat his chest in remorse.
‘Not my concern, though.’
For me, enjoying the blessings and eating the spoils was enough.
* * *
I arrived at the guesthouse where everyone had gathered.
When I entered the assigned room, Park Si-woo’s face was already flushed halfway red.
“Brother! Over here!”
He’d been pounding the seat beside him so hard that I sat down next to him.
“A full cup!”
Makgeolli was generously poured into the bowl.
“……How much has he had?”
“That much.”
Seo Ye-rim pointed to a place where more than seven empty bottles sat.
‘He’s really put it away.’
The only reason he wasn’t more drunk is because Awakeners recover faster; an ordinary person would have lost consciousness long ago with that much liquor.
Even if the two of them had split seven bottles, it was still a lot.
After drinking a cup.
I took a piece of pajeon, dipped it deep in soy sauce, and put it in my mouth.
It was savory and tangy at once.
‘Delicious.’
In virtual reality games, sensory synchronization caps out at fifty percent. Back then, taste was similarly limited to half sensitivity.
But this pajeon right now conveyed the full, pure one-hundred-percent flavor of reality.
Moments like these blur the line between game and reality so much I can’t tell which is which.
I watched Park Si-woo grin as he methodically devoured plate after plate of pajeon and gulped down makgeolli like it was inexhaustible.
Since we’re already doing the after-party, I might as well handle some guild master duties while we’re at it.
“Si-woo, you don’t have any worries or concerns?”
“Worries?”
He tilted his head with a confused expression, then shook it side to side.
“Come on. What’s there to worry about? I’ve got a decent house now, and I’m making good money.”
“That’s just what you deserve for your skill. What else?”
“Well… I guess just wanting to get stronger? Honestly, when I look at you and Ye-rim, I feel a little outmatched. Even when I try hard, the gap keeps widening…”
He scratched his head as he spoke.
I couldn’t say his concern was unreasonable.
That’s how it works in guilds too.
If your skill drops below a certain level, you get cut from the first team and sent to the second—it’s just another everyday occurrence.
That’s probably what he was worried about.
“Just keep doing what you’re doing. Ye-rim’s at a higher level, so there’s naturally some gap. As for me—don’t aim to match me. Aim for Cedric instead.”
Telling him he can catch up if he works hard enough would be honest, though admittedly misleading.
‘There are four Legion Commanders, after all.’
Sometimes honesty is better.
“…Well, yeah. I don’t think I can beat him either. I’d need to use the Holy Domain just to hold my own for a bit.”
“That’s just the way it is. His world is completely different from Earth.”
“How different?”
“If a dragon that was rampaging in that world came to Earth, it would be extinction-level.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. I told you earlier—Baron-rank knights are the cutoff for Korea’s first tier. That’s how I see it too.”
I’d seen the knights at the academy.
Averaging it out, that world’s power level was definitely much higher.
“Didn’t the Holy Sword tell you?”
“He can’t hold long conversations. His memory’s pretty fragmented too. Sometimes he’s like a grandfather with full-blown dementia, I’m telling you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s gotten a lot better since he was Level 1, but even accounting for that, it’s hard to have a normal conversation with him.”
“Sounds like leveling up helps a bit with that.”
“That seems to be how it works. Anyway… he’s incredible, but he’s still just a summon, you know? Aiming for him feels a bit…”
“Cedric’s the same rank as you.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. Merchen too. So there’s no ‘better’ or ‘worse’ about it.”
Both Park Si-woo and Seo Ye-rim, who’d been listening quietly, opened their eyes wide in surprise.
I knew Kim Min-woo had a high Achievement Grade, but I never expected his summons to be ranked that high too!
“Wow… is this for real? So you’re running around with SSS-tier summons? While your own Achievement Grade is even higher than that?”
“Yeah.”
“…That’s absolutely insane?”
“I’m pretty broken, yeah. So don’t go comparing yourself to me and falling into despair. Besides, there are plenty of ways to get stronger. Look at Geom-seon.”
“Right… I saw that Mental Sword technique once, and it was seriously impressive. The opponent couldn’t even fight back and just got knocked around.”
Seo Ye-rim nodded in agreement.
“Ye-rim, do you have any worries like that?”
“Me? Well… similar to Si-woo’s, I guess. Wanting to get stronger. Most Awakeners think about this kind of thing anyway.”
I nodded.
Maybe in the early days, right after awakening and making quick progress.
But once an Awakener had built a solid foundation and satisfied their material needs, their worries tended to converge.
Wanting to grow stronger.
Refusing to settle for where they are.
Eight times out of ten, that was the common concern.
“I’ll give that some thought too. There should be some method or other.”
There were roughly four main ways for an Awakener to grow stronger.
Spirit Elixirs, equipment, fate encounters, and enlightenment.
Enlightenment wasn’t something you could just manufacture.
‘A fate encounter might be worth looking into though.’
Tokens from the Heavenly City that I could hand over were a kind of encounter themselves.
With Stage 6 opening up, the playing field was so much wider now that there should be more than just a couple of these opportunities.
For equipment those two could use, I could check the Heavenly Auction House.
As for Spirit Elixirs…
Park Si-woo hadn’t reached the required level yet, so there was no point considering him.
Seo Ye-rim could theoretically consume a Highest-Grade Elixir, but she couldn’t obtain one, so she was stuck in that situation.
‘I should get these two to consume one as well, though.’
An ability score of 600 was substantial.
It was a figure he’d regret leaving behind.
The problem was that even he wasn’t certain he could consume one right now.
‘I wonder if anything worthwhile will come out of the Rookie Selection Tournament?’
Since this was a tournament type he’d never encountered before, he had no idea what the rewards would be.
Given the tournament’s considerable scale, he hoped something useful would materialize.
Then.
His phone rang.
“Yes, Father. Yes. The discussion wrapped up well. We can send the acquisition team tomorrow. Oh, the investment went through? Yes. Yes. Really? Since we’re all gathered here now, I’ll ask about it. But how much? Oh, that’s not bad at all. Understood.”
Kim Min-woo hung up abruptly and looked at the two of them.
“An advertising offer came in. Are you interested?”
“……An advertisement?”
“Yes. They want to shoot an ad with our guild for the new Il-Sung Phone coming out. They’re planning to air it globally, starting from Times Square in New York. The rate per person is quite high.”
At that, Seo Ye-rim’s ears perked up.
“……How much?”
“Five hundred billion per person. Cash. Lump sum.”
At those words, both Seo Ye-rim and Park Si-woo’s jaws dropped.
“……Five hundred billion? Per person?”
“Seems like they want to completely overshadow Apple this time. So, shall we do it?”
“……We should, right?”
“Brother! Me too, I—!”
Kim Min-woo nodded in agreement.
An advertisement broadcast worldwide.
Naturally, their reputation would rise at an accelerated pace.
Add to that the sixty trillion in investment capital.
They might receive an invitation to the Heavenly Auction House far sooner than expected.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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