Laborer Mr. Kim Reaps Sweet Rewards with Auto-Hunting - Chapter 40

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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 040

“Come on, listen up. The new guy said he’d show us Grand Magic.”
“Yeah….”
“But why isn’t he doing it? Nothing at all.”

My thoughts exactly.
I definitely heard it too.
That he’d handle it with Grand Magic.
So why is he just standing in the middle of the living room with his eyes closed, not moving….

“Look, look! Grandpa’s not moving but his beard is dancing! That’s so cool!”

Rani’s bouncing left and right, but he doesn’t react at all.
Meanwhile his clothes and beard are rippling in the air.
It is pretty strange.

“This is amazing! Grandpa, you’re a magician!”

Rani’s already jumping around, excited.
The other workers are watching, curious too—

“Everyone, stay alert. A suspicious presence approaches beyond the gate.”

Huh?

Ding-dong!

Wait.
Was he serious?

“What is it?”
“Who knows…. We didn’t order anything, so who could it be?”
….
“I’ll go handle it, Director. Allow me.”

The Grand Magician Un-jang’s eyes are sharp with caution.
We tense up too.
Carefully looking through the intercom camera—

“Hello, is anyone home? I’m a student studying hard, and I’ve come to share some uplifting words.”
“It’s a cult recruiter, obviously.”

Sigh.
I got tense for nothing.

A cult recruiter.
The classic line about faith?
How do you deal with them?
Say you don’t believe, and they leave.

Still, they’re definitely a suspicious person.
Though not exactly dangerous.
I finally relax and catch my breath.

“Director, please wait a moment. I’ll handle this and be right back.”

Huh?
No, no.
What is this nonsense?

“Hold on, stop.”

If I let this play out, it’ll be a disaster.
I need to cut it off.
I reached out quickly to pause it, then picked up the intercom.

“I’m not interested.”
“Ah, yes… I’ll come back another time.”

Seriously.
The moment I say I’m not interested, they take it at face value.
I just saved your life.
You don’t know it, but consider yourself warned…

“Heh heh, Chief. Your heart is quite soft, aren’t it? Letting an enemy walk free.”
“Mm.”

Where do I even start explaining this?
Well…
He’s not a suspicious person.
Actually, no.
He is suspicious.

“Anyway, he’s not an enemy. Just your ordinary run-of-the-mill cult. You don’t need to worry.”
“Huh? A cult? What’s that?”
“Well… you know, they set up a fake god and swindle people out of money—”

No, that won’t work.
Rani won’t understand if I explain it that way.
Looking at her, sure enough.
Her head’s just tilting.
Let me match her level and explain.

“Well… it’s like a broken wolf’s fang, you know?”
“Something bad?!”
“Exactly.”
“Then Rani hates cults!”

Right.
That’s why everyone hates them.
And over this time…

“Arthur understands! This world has many strange things! Arthur adapts!”

Oh…
Arthur was showing some empathy.
Now that I think about it, that makes sense.
When he first came out, he didn’t even know what a coffee pot was.
Now?
He’s mastered it.

Empathy born from experience.
Its effect was tremendous!

“That’s just how magic works. It’s bound to malfunction now and then.”

Our grand mage Un-jang wore an awkward expression.
But then.
He added something more.

“Hmm… I could have sworn the magic resonated.”

Well, of course it did.
He kept insisting he was casting magic when he couldn’t use it at all….
Anyway.
The situation had largely settled down.
Time to wrap up this first summoning, I suppose.

“Yay! Grandpa, are we going to play together from now on?”

Rani seemed to have taken a liking to Un-jang.
Look at those gleaming eyes.
And the grand mage’s reaction?

“Hehe, I’d be delighted. If the Director permits it.”
“Yes! Our Director said he accepts everyone!”

Did he now?
That’s not quite what I said….

“Awesome! Our boss is great!”
“It certainly seems like it will be enjoyable, seeing how much everyone approves. Director, how do you think your Grand Magic will be of service to you?”

A new elite-tier worker.
The grand mage, Un-jang.
Or rather.
The grand mage Hosoein.
Certainly some peculiar traits.
But it’s fine.
I’m used to it.
All my workers, after all?
They’re all like this….
So then.

“Of course, naturally. I look forward to working with you going forward.”

[Fixed Team Management]
[Registered as Fixed Team – Un-jang (Elite-Tier)]

“Hehe, I look forward to it.”

* * *

A private detective guild in Korea.

[Truth’s Eye]

Guild Master Kim Sun-woo and guild member Lee Min-guk were in conversation.

“The guy we’re investigating right now is Yoon Ha-jun, right?”
“Yeah.”

Dossiers of Awakeners lay spread across the desk.

[Lee Ha-rang – B-rank]
[Yoon Ha-jun – D-rank]
[Woo Jin-hee – E-rank]
……
…

One of them.
D-rank Awakener, Yoon Ha-jun.
The name of the target Lee Min-guk had been monitoring every move of.

“Boring guy.”

What.
The kid’s hardly even old.
Even after awakening, he kept going to construction sites.
I thought he’d quit by now.
But he’s basically just locked himself in his house?

“If I’m going to surveil him, he’s got to actually go out. There’s nothing to work with right now.”
“Wait, what about the construction site?”
“No clue. Apparently he kept going even after registering his awakening.”
“Why would a Hunter do that?”
“Looking at his abilities, I get it.”

D-rank.
Just barely enough to make a living.
But his abilities are the worst.
He cleared an F-rank Dungeon in an hour and thirty minutes, or so I heard.
That’s fast, sure.
But what good is it if he can only do it once a day?
And what else?
Orc Summoning?
Hmm.

“Anyway, since he never came out of his house, I approached him posing as a cult recruiter.”
“And?”
“Weird thing is, he lives alone and nobody goes in or out, but I detected other people inside.”
“What? You’re sure?”
“You know my skill.”

Lee Min-guk.
His combat ability was weak.
But he had a Detection Skill.
That’s why he joined the private detective guild.

“The detection was a bit murky compared to usual, which happens if my condition’s off. But there were definitely several people in there.”
“Maybe they were orcs? He’s a Summoner, right?”
“Could be.”
“Or maybe family dropped by. Either way, we should dig deeper just in case.”

Yeah.
He says to do it, so I do it.

“But Gilma, why are we taking this request in the first place?”
“Why? Because a request came in.”
“No, this is weird.”

Who the hell places a request like this.
With this much detailed information, no less.
He’d press Gilma about it, but.

“I’ll take responsibility, so don’t worry about it.”
“No, I mean, that’s weird, isn’t it?”

Why was this guy acting like this?
Lee Min-guk tilted his head.
Whether it was him or Kim Sun-woo, the guild master.
They’d worked as private detectives, but they’d never lived badly.
But this….

[Awakener Information]

And it was from the Awakener Management Bureau itself.
Could this really have come through normal channels?
There was no way.

“Boss, you remember we decided not to live badly, right?”
“Yeah, I remember. Now that you know, don’t worry about it and get going.”
“I trust you.”

Creak.
And so Lee Min-guk left.
Kim Sun-woo, now alone, let out a long, heavy sigh.

“Damn it…. Who would want to do this?”

With a gloomy expression, he touched his ankle.

“I mean, it’s not even an electronic ankle bracelet, for crying out loud. These bastards strapped this thing on me. Damn them all.”

Even Lee Min-guk, his guild member, didn’t know.
He couldn’t know.
The attack by those mysterious thugs had happened only days ago.

[Investigate these bastards and report back immediately]

And that’s what they’d handed him—the Awakener information.
Lee Min-guk had sensed something fishy about it.
But would Kim Sun-woo, the guild master, not know?
Of course he knew.
So what could he do?
They said they’d kill him if he didn’t comply.
This bracelet, forcibly fastened around his ankle.
If he didn’t report on time or got any funny ideas, they said it would go off immediately.

“I wish it was a bluff….”

But it wasn’t.
Kim Sun-woo.
Master of a private detective guild.
How much information had he handled over the years?
How many people had he met?
The instincts honed over all that time were screaming.
Those guys.
Dangerous.
From their accent, they sounded like Chinese…
The kind of men who wouldn’t bat an eye at killing a handful of people.

“Damn it….”

A feeling was taking shape.
He didn’t know what their real purpose was in having him investigate these people….
The ending was probably already decided.
When this is over, they’ll all be dead.

These people too.
Myself as well.
Even that bastard Lee Min-guk who went outside.
There’s no silencing method as simple as silencing through murder, after all.

I want to stop it somehow.
But there’s no way.
This bracelet on my ankle.
The moment I try to tell Lee Min-guk what method they used, it grows scorching hot in an instant.
As if it’s warning me.

Do something, and I die.
Stay still, and I die.
Is this how it feels to be given a death sentence with an expiration date?

“Please….”

I pray every day.
Please.
Let a miracle happen. Let someone save me.
If someone would just save my life.
I’d give everything, please.

* * *

“Boss! Boss! You enjoying that?!”
“Huh? What is it?”

The new daily routine of my workers.
Once they finish their tasks, they watch TV.
See the outside world.
Enjoy some entertainment.
So they say.
Sometimes they even ask me like this.
I wonder what it is this time.
I looked.

“A room escape?”

Hmm.
I’m not sure either….
Never done it before.
My daily life before awakening, before I became an Awakener.
Construction site every day.
Sleep when I got home.
Room escapes? A luxury?
Never even crossed my mind.
Isn’t that something young people do….
Oh.
Well, I’m young enough too….

“But it does look fun.”
“Right! Rani wants to try it!”

Rani.
Just because you’re staring at me with those sparkling eyes doesn’t mean everything can be solved….
Huh.
Arthur’s eyes are lighting up too.
Robin keeps sneaking glances like he’s trying to read the room.

“You all want to do this?”

They all nod in unison.
Seriously.
These little meerkats.
Their timing is always impeccable when it matters.

“But wait, even if Rani’s interested, you two are always fighting monsters and running dungeons—wouldn’t this be a breeze for you?”
“Arthur, listen. It’s different!”

Is it?

“Ah, I suppose enjoying something and fighting for your life are two entirely different matters.”
“What? Master, are you interested too?”
“Well, not exactly. I simply thought it might be of some benefit to my magical research.”

No, that’s not it.
That’s just a roundabout way of saying you want to go.
The man adapts quickly, I’ll give him that.
Just the other day he was calling a cult suspicious and trying to kill it.
Now he’s already fully accustomed.
Just look at how he’s sitting.
Cross-legged, watching television—he looks like an elderly gentleman through and through.

“Hmm, a room escape….”

I’ve been mulling it over continuously anyway.
My workers.
If only there were a way to get them outside now and then…

Rani—airplanes, amusement parks
Arthur—coffee from cafes
Robin—grilled meat at restaurants

I’ve even written it all down.
But….
I can’t just take them out like that.
They all look far too distinctive.
Taking them anywhere as they are would raise too many questions.
Is there a way around it?

* * *

If I’m curious, I should ask.

“What can I do for you, Director?”

The information broker.
I called Todd in separately to ask him.
Is there actually a solution?

“Well….”

He pauses in thought.
Then he answers.

“When you unlock a permanent Personnel Management Office later—not a temporary one—many additional features will become available. Do you recall my mentioning that?”
“Of course. I remember perfectly. You need to raise your Unique Skill rank higher.”
“That’s important too, but from what I understand, your home space will probably matter just as much.”
What?
Home space?

“Yes, sir. Since you needed training ground space when you moved here, you’ll probably need more space for this as well.”

So I’d have to move again.
That’s not exactly easy.

“If you’re really eager, there might be a way to manage before that. If you check the Request Point Shop, there should be something called a Temporary Disguise Voucher.”
“Really?”

Is there?
There are so many items….
Let me just scan through it quickly.
Oh, it’s here.

——-
Request Point Shop (Rank – Bronze)

………
…
Temporary Disguise Voucher (24 hours) – 2,000P
…
………
——-

Two thousand points for twenty-four hours.

“Hmm….”

The workers outside.
Arthur, Robin, Rani, Todd, Un-jang.
That’s five people exactly.
Do I even need to use one for Todd?
Even if I didn’t, that’s eight thousand points.
Almost like spending one expansion voucher in a single go.
Man, that’s expensive.

“Still, it’s not impossible to afford.”

Right.
Besides, all those points came from my workers earning them anyway.
What’s the point of hoarding them?
I should let them enjoy themselves.
Okay.
Decision made.
Now, let me head out to the living room.

“When do you think we could all go out together sometime?”
“Go out? Rani, you can actually leave the house?”

Our Rani.
Her eyes get that big just hearing about it—how much does she love outings?
If she had a tail, she’d be wagging it off.

“Sure, sure. We can do an escape room, go to a fancy restaurant and grill some meat.”

Chirp.
A slurping sound.
I don’t need to look to know who it is.
Obviously Robin.
He’s drooling already—what’s he going to do when he actually sees meat?
He’ll flood this whole place like the Han River.

“Coffee too?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t there be?”
“Excellent!”
“Hmm….”

What is it now.
What’s gotten into this old man.

“Un-jang, is there something you’d like to do?”
“Hehe, nothing of great consequence. It’s just that, should you happen to venture out later, I wondered if I might steal away some solitude for my magical research.”

In other words.

“You’re saying you’d like to go out and explore on your own?”

He has to make everything so complicated.
How hard is that to say.

“Just don’t cause any trouble.”
“Hehe, this Grand Mage Un-jang has already adjusted perfectly.”

I believe that.
I do trust Un-jang.
But.
Sometimes when the Grand Mage Un-jang comes up, he’s got this way of standing out….
Anyway.

“I’ll book us an escape room café and a restaurant, so get some rest today and tomorrow, and we’ll all go out around the day after?”
“Great!”
“A café? Excellent! Arthur, we should study starting now!”

Study, of all things.
Still.
It’s nice seeing everyone happy.
Sigh.
I wish we could get out more often.
It’s a shame, really.

[Unique Skill: Worker Summoning (Rank – Gold)]

I’ll let that one slide.
It’ll rank up eventually if I keep working at it.
The real problem is the house….
Is there some guild out there that would exchange Magicoins for me and keep their lips sealed about it?
Probably not.

“Sigh.”

Putting that aside.
I should hunt down an actually fun escape room café.

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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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