Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 32

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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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32
“No, Manager Park, why can you only offer this price for it?”
Yang President pointed at the ogre leather stacked on the procurement officer’s desk.
“President, I told you this before. Look here—it’s damaged. Of course the price drops.”
The man introduced as Manager Park indicated a microscopic scratch that would only be visible under magnification.
“But once it’s processed, such minor flaws don’t matter, do they?”
“I wouldn’t know about that. The contract clearly states damaged goods are half price. If you don’t like it, take it elsewhere. Why waste my time?”
Manager Park turned his chair away from the desk entirely.
“So other companies deliver materials without even this level of damage? Let me see for myself.”
“Why would you look at someone else’s goods, President?”
“Isn’t this blatant abuse of your position as the buyer?”
“Look, I said leave if you don’t like it. I have no power here.”
Watching from the sidelines, he was engaging in shameless exploitation without hesitation.
“President, let’s go.”
My face flushed as I pulled the President’s arm away from the procurement officer he was arguing with.
“But we need to sell this to secure funding….”
“It’s fine.”
I calmed the President down and led him outside.
“Is it just that one person acting like this?”
“No. I contacted his superiors too, but apparently the higher-ups issued orders to squeeze several recovery companies. On top of that, they seem to have colluded with competitors, so we couldn’t even enter the market as newcomers.”
If it were just that officer trying to extort money on his own, I might have considered using force to resolve it, but the situation was far more complicated.
“What do we do now…? The warehouse is already full. And salaries will start falling behind soon.”
The President’s face turned ashen.
“If they won’t buy our goods, we’ll use them ourselves.”
“Pardon?”
“You know Jae-in, the craftsperson I work with, right? We can manufacture items directly from the materials we’ve gathered together with Jae-in and sell them to hunters.”
“But your capital will be tied up until that’s operational.”
“I’ll cover it with my own funds for now. You don’t need to pay me the salary you owe me until the business gets on track.”
“That’s not something that happens so easily.”
“Let’s just try it.”
Without further delay, I went straight to purchase a building. I found a warehouse factory not far from home and bought it.
“You’re buying such a massive facility without even thinking twice? Are you sure about this?”
The President grew restless watching me purchase a facility worth tens of billions as casually as buying daily necessities.
“It’s fine. It’s fine.”
I completed the business registration. Thinking of my reborn life, I named the company Rigen. Even as I did this, Yang President’s face remained clouded with anxiety.
“Now, please bring all the staff here. And move all the materials that have been stockpiling because they wouldn’t sell.”
“Sigh… understood.”
People and materials began filling the empty factory, and I called Jae-in over as well.
“Jae-in, I want to mass-produce items suitable for novice hunters using these materials. If we need more, I’ll source them. Just let me know.”
“No… President, how am I supposed to craft this much material alone? It would take years.”
Looking at the mountain of materials piled up, Jae-in spoke with an exasperated expression.
“You just need to oversee the work and handle only the essential processes. I’ll hire people for the rest.”
Most craftsmen dislike having other people in their workshops. There’s the risk of having their techniques stolen, and the quality can suffer. However, with thorough division of labor, the techniques would remain safe, and since these were mass-market items rather than luxury goods, quality wouldn’t be a major concern.
“You have a tendency to speak about impossible things far too casually, sir.”
“I’m not rushing you, am I? Just give it a try. Tell me if you need anything.”
“Understood.”
Jae-in scanned through the materials, opened her laptop, and began working. Yang President and I stepped out to discuss staffing expansion.
“Since we have the most ogre leather, we’ll make beginner and intermediate-grade armor with the highest demand. Please source the items on this list. And we’ll need about thirty workers.”
About an hour later, Jae-in handed me a list of required materials.
“Then I’ll start on product design and process design. Sigh. Another all-nighter.”
Jae-in scratched her head with a pen while inspecting various parts of the factory.
“Sang-heon, could you do some market research on where new hunters buy items and at what prices?”
“Got it.”
A few days later, the materials Jae-in had requested arrived. Among them were numerous pieces of equipment that must have weighed several tons.
“Sir, I’ve created a factory floor plan. Please move the equipment according to this layout.”
Following Jae-in’s instructions, I lifted the heavy equipment and moved each piece to its designated position.
“You’re better than any machine, sir. This will save us a lot of preparation time.”
True to her word, the factory took shape within just a few hours.
“Well… it looks like we’re ready. This rush job must have cost a fortune, right?”
Everything had been ordered urgently, so the prices were correspondingly steep.
“It’s fine. We’ll just recoup it later.”
The investment had already easily exceeded ten billion won, and everyone except me was deeply worried. With each expenditure, Yang President grew increasingly anxious, but starting was what mattered most.
Under Jae-in’s instruction, the Hwagok Recovery Company employees learned how to operate the equipment and manufacture items, producing prototypes.
“This level of armor should earn a D or E-grade rating. It can withstand goblin daggers, arrows, and even hellhound fangs from Earth-born specimens.”
As I tapped the armor Jae-in handed me, I felt the hardness of the hardened ogre leather.
“Look at this.”
Jae-in slashed the armor worn by the mannequin with a short sword, but it only left a slight scratch with no significant damage.
“That’s impressive.”
“Um… wait a moment. Are you going to sell it like this?”
Bae Na-young, who had been watching from the side, asked.
“Why?”
Jae-in asked as if she didn’t understand.
“Wouldn’t it be better to adjust the design a bit?”
What Jae-in had brought was very crude in appearance, hardly something you’d say showed design consideration.
“Let me sketch something. Like this… and this… with cleaner colors too.”
Bae Na-young sketched rapidly. Even to my design-insensitive eye, her version looked better than Jae-in’s.
“Oh… it definitely looks better. I’ll make it this way.”
After adjusting the design and process according to Bae Na-young’s sketch, the newly created armor maintained its practicality while looking aesthetically pleasing. Most hunters would buy it if the price and performance were good, but with improved appearance, it would certainly sell better.
After completing the factory preparations to a certain extent, I called in temporary workers and F-grade hunters to the factory.
“Your task today is not to enter the Gate. Instead, you’ll follow Factory Manager Park Jae-in’s instructions to process materials and manufacture items.”
Yang President and Jae-in explained the work to the newcomers. The danger was minimal, the physical exertion manageable, yet the daily wage remained identical—everyone began without complaint.
While assigning simple repetitive tasks to Awakened individuals would be wasteful, their exceptional grip strength, fine motor control, and stamina made them far more useful than ordinary laborers.
As a result, the work proceeded at a pace that justified every coin spent.
On the very first day, we produced dozens of prototypes. We could increase production gradually from here.
“Thank you all for gathering today. Is anyone interested in staying on as a permanent employee?”
After paying the daily wages to the dozens of laborers, I posed the question. Most showed little interest, rising from their seats and heading toward the exit.
“Starting salary of at least 70 million won annually. Full insurance coverage. Guaranteed vacation time.”
The feet of the departing temporary workers froze in place.
“Why not sit and hear us out?”
“Ahem….”
Many reluctantly returned to their seats, and the majority of them converted to permanent positions.
Beyond that, I obtained a list of Awakened individuals who had gained their powers but wished to live ordinary lives and sought employment—the list came from Baek Young-shin, a department head at the Gate Management Bureau. I began making calls.
Those with exceptional agility but extremely low strength and stamina—unsuitable for combat or even manual labor—proved perfect for positions requiring swift hands. Sitting while working their fingers, low stamina posed no obstacle, nor was significant strength required.
A fearful mage who had failed to graduate from the Academy came under Jae-in’s tutelage and began apprenticeship training.
Beyond these, I sought out talent and placed each person precisely where they belonged.
As a result, my savings visibly dwindled with each passing day.
“I’ll simply earn that much more.”
I threw myself into clearing Gates with reckless intensity, gathering Mana Stones and byproducts. While I processed only a portion of the byproducts—the rest accumulated in storage—the Mana Stones found ready markets. My level rose considerably as a result.
“This quality is ready for sale.”
Jae-in completed the quality inspection of items produced at the factory and announced her verdict.
By sourcing materials directly and manufacturing in our own facility, we achieved substantial profit margins while still undercutting market prices by half. It became clear just how much profit distribution companies and large-scale item factories and workshops extracted.
“Let’s begin sales!”
Yang Sang-heon, who handled marketing, posted promotional content for our products on the Hunter Community.
Bae Na-young created the promotional homepage and photographs for Rigen. I’d noticed her talent in this direction before, even when designing armor.
“But without any sales history, will anyone actually buy them, no matter how cheap?”
Yang President voiced his concerns. Over the past month, I’d sustained operations through my investments and the Mana Stones I’d gathered, but Yang President worried that if this venture failed, all that capital would vanish.
His worries proved justified—initially, nothing sold at all. Hunters risked their lives entering Gates; they had no desire to purchase armor from Rigen, some unknown manufacturer, merely because it cost half the market rate. Certainly, if we persevered, a few customers would emerge and word-of-mouth would spread, but as time passed and funds drained away, I needed to take action.
“Go ahead and shoot.”
I donned the armor and stood behind the factory. Then I had an employee who knew how to use a bow shoot at me.
“Boss, you’re really going through with this? What if I miss?”
He appeared genuinely anxious.
“An arrow like that won’t kill me. Just shoot.”
With a resigned expression, he drew the bowstring taut and released it.
Twang.
The arrow should have struck the armor, but it flew toward my head instead—I caught it with my hand.
The archer’s face drained of all color.
“Again—aim a bit lower this time.”
After that, arrows repeatedly fell far from my body, and only after dozens of shots did we finally capture footage of one striking the armor.
True to Jae-in’s word, the arrow embedded itself in the armor’s surface without penetrating. If armor could withstand arrows of this caliber, the survival rate of novice hunters would skyrocket dramatically.
We also filmed promotional videos demonstrating defensive capability through dagger strikes and other tests, which Bae Na-young edited and uploaded—thanks to which dozens of sets of armor sold.
Within days of the first batch selling out, reviews from hunters flooded the Hunter Community, and once word spread, every unit we’d stockpiled vanished. Within weeks, production couldn’t keep pace with demand, and the waiting list grew longer by the day.
“Ji-seok… this is incredible. Truly. I never imagined it would go this well.”
Though recouping the initial investment would take time, the profit margins were staggering enough that it wouldn’t be long. Even Yang President had no choice but to acknowledge it now.
“So, President, you won’t be running the field as much anymore—would you take on the director position here as well?”
“Me?”
“I’m always out in the field anyway. You can run both this and the Hwagok Recovery Service simultaneously.”
“But I’ve never done anything like this before….”
“Your annual salary would be around this much….”
I whispered the figure into his ear.
“Chairman. I’ll work hard.”
Yang President bowed his head respectfully.

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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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