Laborer Mr. Kim Reaps Sweet Rewards with Auto-Hunting - Chapter 31

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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 31

[Breaking News: South Korea Joins the Five Great Powers]

The shocking announcement came without warning.
The entire world reeled.
What…?
South Korea among the Five Great Powers?

[United States, United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia]

The Five Great Powers as the world had known them.
Now?

[United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, South Korea]

Right.
China lost its top Ranker, so it’s been stripped of the status.
But still….
Don’t you need to clear the Tower past the 61st floor to be considered a Great Power?
South Korea?
Wasn’t it said they were only in the mid-50s?
The confusion lasted only a moment.
A quick search gave the answer.

[South Korea’s Top Ranker, Lee Bo-jun, Successfully Clears the Tower of Chaos 60th Floor!]
[Baek Hwa-rang (South Korea’s 2nd-Ranked Hunter), Following the Top Ranker, Successfully Clears the Tower of Chaos 60th Floor!]

Clearing the 60th floor.
Which meant they’d ascended to the 61st.
That’s enough to qualify as a Great Power.
Hold on…?
Insane.
Not just one—two of them?

– Weren’t they in the 50s just a few months ago? What in the world happened in South Korea?
– Two people breaking through the 60th floor in no time….
– I’ve heard about Korea from somewhere before….
– K-pop? Dramas? Is that where I know them from?
– Ah…. Yeah, that sounds right.

But that has nothing to do with the Tower, does it?
What on earth happened?
What kind of sorcery pulled this off?

The quick-moving nations had already begun their response.
Others were still reeling in shock.
But what about the Korean people themselves?

– Looking at foreign internet sites asking how Korea suddenly climbed up lolol
– Jealous? lololol
– They still don’t know, huh….
└ Right lol the fast-moving nations are already making their moves
– Us? We have the Personnel Management Bureau Director
└ Kyaaaa!!!
└ Really reassuring lolol
– But who the hell is it?
– For real….

[The Personnel Management Bureau Director — Who Is He Really?]

Now everyone knew.
That the Personnel Management Bureau Director had cleared China’s S-rank Dungeon too.

– This guy’s absolutely insane….
– He’s not human….
– There’s only one of him???

He’d taken on Awakening Management Bureau commissions and just demolished A and B-rank Dungeons left and right.
Then suddenly started crafting weapons that shouldn’t even exist.
And now what?
He cleared a Chinese S-rank Dungeon?
This is…
What’s even stranger is.

– Wait, how do we STILL not know who this guy is???
– He’s been totally silent ever since that day;;;​
– Yeah…. He just vanished out of nowhere.
– China, the US, and Russia all went into an uproar, or so I heard
└ Yeah same, he’s apparently investigating everywhere

This guy.
His identity just won’t come out.
He’s stopped all activity.

– Maybe he’s dead?
– A Hunter who can clear S-rank Dungeons???
– But if that weren’t it, how could it be this quiet;;;​
– Don’t you guys know??
└ ???
└ He’s the one breaking world records in the Tower of Chaos right now, duh.

Then new information surfaced.

[South Korea’s Tower of Chaos Floor 17 — New World Record Clear!]
[South Korea’s Tower of Chaos Floor 18 — New World Record Clear!]
……
…

These announcements that kept appearing….
They’re from the Personnel Management Bureau Director?

– Come on lol no way
– Does that guy have like 1000 bodies or something????
– fr….

Could it be….
Just the information we have so far is ridiculous.
But then you add the Tower of Chaos record-breaking runs on top of that?
It doesn’t make sense.
Everyone was skeptical….
Wait a minute?

[South Korea’s Tower of Chaos Floor 21 — New World Record Clear!]
[South Korea’s Tower of Chaos Floor 22 — New World Record Clear!]

Ever since the Personnel Management Bureau Director stopped his activities, the records have been climbing steadily?
But how are they going up twice a day…?
Wasn’t it supposed to be only once?

– This really does sound like the Personnel Management Bureau director
└ Real talk, that guy does pull off impossible stuff all the time
– Hitting the Tower of Chaos twice in one day is absolutely insane!!!
└ If that’s the standard, then clearing an S-rank Dungeon without a trace is…?
└ Living solo like that. I’m genuinely jealous.

Then, out of nowhere—
startling news came through.

[Breaking: Tower of Chaos cleared to floor 30—new world record.]

* * *

[Tower of Chaos floor 30 cleared!]
[Your Level has increased.]

[Clear Time – 00:10:33]
[World Record achieved!]
[Bonus Reward – Chaos Key Fragment]

Okay.
Finally floor thirty.

“Arthur, good work.”
“Easy stuff.”

Right?
The thirty floors went smooth as butter.
Got the Key Fragment too, so once I toss it in my inventory…

Ding!
[The Chaos Key is now complete.]

Huh.
Key’s done.
Let me take a look.

[Chaos Key]
– D-rank Chaos Key. Can open something.

D-rank again, naturally.
Which means I’ve got to hit a D-rank Dungeon.

“Go right now?”
“…….”

No.
You two just came back from running the tower.

“Let’s rest today and head out tomorrow.”
“Yes! Sounds good! So, boss, can Arthur and I brew you some coffee?”
“Yeah, of course.”

My Arthur.
At the start, he didn’t even know what a coffee pot was—kept asking what that thing was—

Hisssss—
Now he boils the water himself and drinks it brewed.
But I still can’t tell apart the Duldul Set from the Mix.
Though everyone says the coffee is Duldul Set….

“Yay! Duldul Set, here I come!”
“What about Lani? Lani wants Duldul Set too!”
“No way! Children aren’t supposed to drink it!”
“Lani’s not a child!”
“I want it!”

The two of them play well together.
Anyway, let me check the Awakeners’ website.

[Please leave a comment if you have any S-rank Dungeon–related commissions.]

It’s been several days since I posted.
Not a single substantial comment showed up.
Well, that’s only natural….
From what I’ve heard, S-rank Dungeons are controlled by the state anyway….
Still, you never know.
Maybe one will pop up.
So I check every day.

– Teacher ㅠㅠ Please, just one weapon….
– If you’d grant me this favor just once, I’ll never forget it as long as I live!!!!
– Hey, you make weapons so well, right? How much will you charge to make one for me?
……
…

Nothing.
Mostly just requests to craft equipment.

“Another bust today.”

I shook my head and went to close the window, then stopped.
Huh?
The Awakening Management Bureau…?

[Hello, Director Yun Ha-jun. We’ve received an S-rank Dungeon–related commission addressed to you, so we’re leaving this comment. If you’re interested, please check the private message below and reply. – Awakening Management Bureau]

What?
It actually worked.

* * *

A private message only I can read.
The contents inside were:

“A commission to clear a broken S-rank Dungeon in India….”

India.
I feel like I’ve heard about it before somewhere.
That it collapsed.
Why did it collapse again?
I search for it, and the answer comes up.

——-
Nations That Fell From Grace as Great Powers

You know what I’m talking about?
Before the current Five Great Powers became established as Great Powers, there were nations that cleared more than sixty floors.

India, Egypt, and a few other countries.
Their pace in the early stages was insane.
When the United States was at floor 62, they were at 64, 63….
If their nations had held together, they might’ve reached floor 70 by now.
But that’s just a dream.
You know why?
They collapsed.

Looking back now, it feels hollow somehow.
Their number-one Rankers should’ve been absurdly powerful….
But they went out just like that.
Died clearing the Tower, or got hit by terrorism.
Either way, they died.
And after that, everything crumbled in an instant.

This is just my theory, but it seems like countries that lose their Rankers get way more S-rank Dungeons breaking out.
Other nations get maybe one or two incidents.
India had five outbreaks after their Ranker died.

S-rank Dungeons keep appearing, but there’s no Ranker to handle them?
What can you do.
They just kept asking for help.
From the United States, Germany, that sort of thing.
But that only lasted a couple of times.
Each time they got help, it wasn’t like money didn’t change hands.
And the Tower of Chaos?
They couldn’t even get help from other nations for that.
The thing is, you could naturalize, supposedly.
But who’s going to naturalize to help another country.
And they wouldn’t send people anyway….
So what happened?
They collapsed, what else.

S-rank Dungeons they couldn’t stop kept breaking out.
Monsters poured out of the Tower….
They say it’s just hell now.

The people of India want to go back home….
Will they be able to go before they die?
Because it’s not a country anymore—it’s a monster warren….

No, wait.
You never know.
If someone breaks through that hell and clears it, maybe it’d be possible.
A Hunter in the 70–80 floor range would do it, probably.
Though I doubt that person would bother moving for a collapsed nation….
——-

So basically.

“After the Ranker died, S-rank Dungeons kept breaking out, and monsters poured from the Tower of Chaos, and that’s what destroyed it….”

India now is a monster warren.

“According to what I found, they’re stronger than ordinary monsters.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Money-hungry Hunters won’t even dare approach it anymore.”

An S-rank Dungeon in a place like that.
What kind of monsters come out?

“Knight-type monsters used to appear….”

Used to? Why past tense?
These days I can’t even get close to the area.
Apparently, if you venture into the border regions of India and go just a bit further, S-rank monsters roam around…or so I’ve heard.
I’m told it’s basically hell.

“Knight-type monsters? Arthur, I want to go check it out.”
“You want to go? Then we should go.”

But we’ll need to prepare a little first.
India’s pretty far away, after all….

“Sir, are we flying there? Lani wants to fly!”
“No…. I’m not going to fly us directly there.”

Getting to a country that far away…when would that even happen?
I haven’t even managed to visit Japan yet, which is close by.

[Temporary Dispatch Range Expansion Ticket]

I need to use this.
I got one from the China expedition as a reward back then….
I don’t have one now.
Well, can’t be helped.
Let me check the Quest Points shop.

——-
Quest Points Shop (Tier – Bronze)

……
…
Temporary Dispatch Range Expansion Ticket
– 10,000P
…
……
——-

Found it.

“Ten thousand points….”

I have enough, but I still need to spend wisely.
10,000 points.
That’s going to be hard to accumulate unless I pick up a commission for clearing an S-rank Dungeon….
So then.

“If I’m going anyway, I should do some preparation first.”

With China, I had at least some rough idea….
Here, I don’t even know how dangerous it is.
Honestly.
It’d be nice if I had some other high-level or top-tier workers….
Arthur and Robin are enough for just the two of them, though.
But having more would be safer, and I’d rather not anyone get hurt.

“Sir, you haven’t been summoning people much lately, have you?”
“That’s true…. I felt a bit bad about it.”
“Well….”

No, actually.
These Workers.
At first they didn’t want to join the Fixed Team no matter what I asked.
These days they’re all desperate to get in.

Look at Todd—he came to me asking first if he could join.
The slimes that were already here?
The moment I removed them from the Fixed Team, they got so upset they were wriggling around constantly….

“Surely this is all because you’ve created such a good environment for them, sir?”
“Do you think so…?”

I don’t think that’s it.
They’re just modest creatures, aren’t they?

Look at Lani—she’s like that.
She doesn’t need anything else.
Give her a few candies and some materials—

“Hee!”

See that?
She pops a candy in one cheek and rolls it around while she plays with the materials all delighted.
And Arthur?

“Tee-hee! The best! Boss, long live you!”

Well….
A cup of coffee and he’s content.
Robin’s the same way.

“…….”

I put a small rocking chair on the veranda.
And that’s where he just lives.
This isn’t something I’ve done well.
You’re all just humble….
Still, though.
If you’re satisfied, that seems like enough.
They do seem satisfied, definitely.

[The Personnel Manager’s words spread among the waiting Workers.]
[Reputation increases.]

This message keeps popping up.
So that’s why everyone’s trying to get into the Fixed Team.

“I wish we could increase the number of Fixed Team slots, though.”

——-
Name: Yun Ha-jun (Lv. 31) / South Korea
Occupation: Personnel Manager
Unique Skills: Worker Summoning (Grade – Gold) / Fixed Team Summoning
——-

The unique skill had reached Gold.
But everything else stayed the same.
The Quest Points shop was still Bronze.
Fixed Team management is at five slots.

“It’s frustrating that there’s no information on how to increase it.”
“Take your time. The way forward will reveal itself as you go, won’t it?”

Fair point.
That’s how it’s been so far.
Something always turns up eventually.
Okay.
The life of a Personnel Management Bureau director—half understanding, half mystery.
For now?
Do what I can.

“Alright, focus everyone. We’re going after the Chaos Key tomorrow. Remember that.”
“Got it, boss!”
“Yes!”
……

* * *

The third Chaos Labyrinth, entered the next day.
The result?
Naturally, over in an instant.

[Chaos Labyrinth has been cleared.]
[Exiting the dungeon.]

Danger?
None so far.
Monsters do swarm in greater numbers than in E-rank dungeons, though….

“…Too easy.”

Yeah.
Looks that way.
Didn’t even get to see the monsters—someone cleared them all too fast.

[D-rank Chaos Labyrinth cleared successfully!]
[Clear time – 00:06:19]
[Clear reward – D-rank Chaos Chest]

In any case, clear confirmed.
Wonder what drops this time.
Ideally, another Fixed Team slot….

[Ability Opening Elixir]

Huh?
This is the same as last time….

“Not bad.”

A pill that unlocks a new ability when consumed.
No hesitation—I have to take it.

Gulp.

Swallowed it without a second thought.
A message flashed across my vision.

[Personnel Management Bureau (Temporary) – ‘Work Site Exploration’ function has been unlocked.]

Huh?

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