Laborer Mr. Kim Reaps Sweet Rewards with Auto-Hunting - Chapter 17

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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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Episode 017

Back at the Tower of Chaos after a while.
Which floor?
Floor 11.

“I heard things get pretty intense from here on out.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. That’s what I heard.”

Something like that, anyway.
Floors up to 10 were just a taste.
The real deal starts at floor 11, or so they say.

“Aseo, we’ve got Hwareuk coming up.”
“That’s right! With Hwal-hwal we’re good!”
“Hwareuk is so good!”

Back and forth they went.
They were perfectly in sync with each other.
But then again, they weren’t wrong.

“Come on, Aseo wouldn’t even get stuck at floor 11.”
“For real! Floor 11? Easy!”

Fair enough.
He’d cleared floor 9 in three minutes flat….
Just two floors higher and suddenly he’s stuck?
That doesn’t make any sense.
Besides, he’s got his new weapon now, Hwal-hwal….

“I’ll be done in no time.”

I was looking forward to this.
Just how fast would he clear it?
Let’s see.

“Aseo, you ready?”
“Yep!”

The warm-up was done long ago.
Now it was time to go in.

[Worker Dispatch]
– Tower

“Alright, I’m going in! Be back in a flash!”

The moment the gate opened.
In he went, just like that.

[Worker entering the Tower of Chaos.]
[Auto Hunt initiated.]

Normally at this point I’d leave him to it and get back to work.
Boil some water for coffee.
Call for another Worker.
Things like that.
Monitoring… do we really need to?
Aseo’s going to handle it just fine anyway.

“Hmm.”

Just look at Rani.
She’s already playing around with the materials.
And yet?

[Monitoring]

Today I should watch.
It’s the first time using the new weapon.

“Want to see how the Hwal-hwal performs? You coming too, Rani?”
“Yes! Rani wants to see!”

Off she goes in a pitter-patter.
But she’s still clutching those materials tight in her hands.
Rani, aren’t you worried someone’s going to snatch those….

“Director! Over there — Aseo!”

Right.
I see him.
But he’s over there petting the Hwal-hwal too?
Shouldn’t you be fighting, sir?
What about the enemy?
Screech!

“Huh? An orc?”
“It looks different from the orcs the director usually summons!”

Right.
These aren’t your ordinary orcs.
What kind of orc in the world wears a hard hat?

“That one looks really strong!”
“Doesn’t it?”

It certainly does look formidable.
Iron armor and a massive axe to match.
There’s probably a reason it’s standing alone like that.

Screech!

“Oh….”

It charges forward, impossibly fast.
Can he even stop that?
The moment doubt crosses his mind, it’s already in front of Aseo.
Just as it raises the axe to strike down—

Hwareuk!

What?
Sparks suddenly erupting?

Screech!
It hesitates, taken aback.
But wait—is it okay to leave something like that in front of Aseo?

“That’s the end of it.”

Scrape!

[Tower of Chaos Floor 11 Clear Complete.]
[Auto Hunt terminating.]

As expected.
But was that just now a skill attached to the sword?

“Yep! Hwal-hwal and Hwareuk counterattack on their own!”

I see.
What kind of sword is this…
It’s seriously insane.

[Tower of Chaos Floor 11 Clear Success!]
[Level increased.]
[Clear Reward – 120 Low-Grade Magic Stones]

[Clear Time – 00:02:19]
[World Record Achieved!]
[Bonus Reward – Chaos Key Fragment]

The record?
World Record again this time.
Since the Tower Clear is done, Aseo’s returning.
And he speaks up right away.

“Boss! Hey, can I go for an A-Rank now? A-Rank? I can do it!”

Huh?

* * *

An A-Rank Dungeon.
I’ve cleared one before.
Even went with Robin, who’s Top-Rank, and it still took fifteen minutes.
But…

“You can clear it solo?”
“That’s right!”

No way.
Just days ago he was saying it was hard.
One weapon swap and now he can do this?
That’s ridiculous.

“Well… it’s not just any weapon.”
“Hwareuk rocks! I love it!”
“Right? Rani made it!”

Hmm.
I’m suddenly curious.
If Aseo can do this much, and he’s Upper-Rank…
What if I made Robin a different bow? And he’s Top-Rank.

“It’d probably be beyond belief.”

But could you make more of them?
That’s what I asked.

“No… I’m exhausted… Rani, I can’t make any more today….”

Well, that made sense.
He’d been the same way after making Hwareuk yesterday.
So one per day was the limit?

“What about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow I can! But… do we have materials?”

No, we don’t.

“Sigh….”
“Aseo will bring them!”

Good, that’s reassuring.
Right, right.
So Aseo has a weapon now.
And we’ll be climbing the tower one floor per day, so—
we’ll get materials quickly enough.

“Oh, right. I had accepted that Awakened Management Bureau request….”

I should handle that before the tower.
I would’ve declined if I’d known I’d end up with this many Request Points!
Damn.
Still…
I’ve got to clear the requests I’ve already accepted.
That’s a promise.

“A-Rank Dungeon, where was it again?”

I opened Awakened Net to check—

“What? Why are there so many notifications?”

* * *

Moscow.
Russian Awakened Management Bureau.
High-ranking officials, including the director, had gathered in the conference room.

[Ranking 2nd: Baek Hwa-rang. Tower of Chaos Floor 53 Clear!]

Why were they watching Korean news out of the blue?
Simple.
This Baek Hwa-rang character.
He was going to throw their plans into chaos.

“I was told that ranking 2nd in that country had been stuck on floor 53 for quite some time.”
“That’s correct.”
“Then what’s this news?”
“That’s….”

The reason?
Everyone gathered here already knew.
He’d suddenly acquired a Top-Rank weapon.

“So, who’s in first?”
“Still the same. He’s trying to find a weapon, but it’s hopeless.”
“Good. Keep watching, and if things ripen, offer him defection. Tell him that if he comes to us, we’ll provide him with every piece of Top-Rank equipment.”

In this day and age, the height of a tower is a nation’s strength.
The recruitment war surrounding elite hunters from every country wages fiercely at every moment.
Why?
Because the materials, Upper-Rank Magic Stones, and miscellaneous byproducts that emerge from the tower’s upper levels fill a nation’s coffers.

“Curse that bastard Aleksei. America cleared Floor 61 ages ago, and now we’re stuck doing all this legwork.”

The five great powers of the current world.

[Russia, America, China, Britain, Germany.]

And the weakest among them?
Our homeland, Russia, currently stuck at Floor 61.
Which is why.
Korea, lurking just behind us, has always been a thorn in our side.
Even Aleksei, Russia’s foremost Floor-Clearer, is blocked from advancing.
What if Korea overtakes us?
In that nervous state, good news arrived.
Intel from the intelligence bureau.

[Korea’s Ranking 1st, weapon destroyed. Currently unable to clear Tower.]

This was the moment.
So?
We joined hands with China right then.

“The operation to isolate the Ranking 1st is proceeding smoothly.”
“Of course it is. The Koreans—they crumble the moment we shake them. What else could they possibly do?”
“Indeed.”

It was almost too easy.
Routes to acquire a weapon?
There were never many to begin with.
We monopolized them all.

[Korea’s Ranking 1st, slump.]

Simultaneously, rumors spread.
Rock public opinion in one blow, and what can they do?
The Korean Awakened Management Bureau?
They couldn’t respond in time and were swept along.

When public opinion strikes, people crumble.
We were trying to exploit that gap to lure him in—

“I never expected the second-ranker to suddenly draw all the attention.”
“Depending on how you look at it, it could be an opportunity. The more attention concentrates on the second-ranker, the more the first-ranker will fade from view.”

A fair point.
Of course, we have no intention of sitting idle.
We’ll stir things up with every scheme we have.
That’s when he’ll come to us.
There is one variable, though.

“The problem is whoever made a weapon for Korea’s second-ranker. What if that bastard makes one for the first-ranker too?”
“That’s impossible.”

Absolutely impossible.
Why would there be a shortage of Top-Rank equipment?
There are barely any people who can make it.
Even if someone could?
Once they make one, they can’t make anything for at least a year.

“So it takes a minimum of a year.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.”

A year is more than enough time.
More than enough.
By the time his cooldown finishes and he can forge weapons again?
We’ll have achieved our goal by then.

“First place in the Korean Ranking.”

His Tower Clear layer count is lower than Russia’s, true.
But?
He has sufficient potential.
Perhaps he’ll climb even higher.
I’ll provide him an environment to unfold his abilities freely.
Come into Russia’s embrace.

* * *

[Awakened Net]
[Unread Notifications: 371]

371?
Why so many?
Let me check.
They’re all Requests.

“How did hundreds of Requests come in?”

Most of them are crafting Requests too.
There are even more than when I first posted.

“What the….”

Baek Hwa-rang must have bragged about it.
Even accounting for that….
It’s still far too many.
What happened?
Let me search and see.
A quick search brought up the answer immediately.

“Ah, so he cleared layer 53 and mentioned that the Awakened Management Bureau director made this for him.”

This is why people should watch the news….
Yun Ha-jun, twenty-three years old.
Occupation: Worker and Hunter.
Time to watch the news?
I didn’t have any.
Heading out at dawn….
By the time I get back from work, it’s like this.
Yet so much happened in just one day.

[Baek Hwa-rang Clears Floor 53!]
[The Management Director—Who Is He?]
……
…

Baek Hwa-rang had broken through a wall that had blocked him for so long.
And the entire nation learned the name of the Management Director.

“Why is everyone looking for Rani and me?”
“Huh? Rani and the Director?”
“Yeah, they want me to make some equipment.”
“Sigh…. Rani’s exhausted…. Can’t do it right now……. Maybe tomorrow…!”

It’s fine.
I’m not asking for anything right now.
For the time being, we need to focus on making what we need ourselves.
I only came to check on A-Rank Dungeon requests anyway, so don’t worry.

[Request Proposals: 370]

All these stacked requests?
I’ll reject every single one.
No point giving false hope—that’d just be cruel.

[Reject]
[Reject]
[Reject]
……
…

I’d been tapping through for a while when something caught my eye.
Wait.
That name looks familiar.

[Requester: Lee Bo-jun]

Same name as the Ranking 1 player….

“Nah. Must be someone else.”

Could it really be the top-ranked player?
On a whim, I tapped it anyway.
Just to check.

[Requested Item: Sword]
[Primary Material: Toxic Basilisk Fang]

Hmm.
A Toxic Basilisk Fang.
Let me think….

“That’s a Floor 57 monster, isn’t it?”

So it really is the top-ranked player.
Interesting.
Wait a second.
If I take this request and craft his weapon, and there’s material left over…?
Could I even make Robin’s weapon too?

“This one’s… tempting.”

A crafting request?
I hadn’t planned on taking any for a while.
But if they presented materials I couldn’t refuse….
There’s no helping it.

“Rani.”
“Mm?”
“Let’s make just one more tomorrow.”

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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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