Laborer Mr. Kim Reaps Sweet Rewards with Auto-Hunting - Chapter 50

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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 50

“Should we check out Awakeners Net?”
“Love it!”

[Commission request received.]

A day had passed since I posted on Awakeners Net.
By now, everyone should’ve sent their offers.
Let me take a look.

[Awakeners Net]
[Unread Notifications: 259]

Huh?
259?
Why so many?
That shouldn’t be possible….
I tilted my head and scrolled through them.

“Ugh… why are there so many people just throwing random offers at me?”

I clearly set the condition to Materials from Floor 61 and above.
What the…
There’s Floor 30 Materials too.
Wait.
This is Floor 21 Materials.
This is a mess.
Nope, not buying.
Rejecting all of them.

[Reject]
[Reject]
[Reject]
……
…

After clicking through for a while, I paused.

“What’s this, China?”

[Requestor: Central Awakener Management Bureau (China)]

These people are something else.
They actually filed a commission.
Todd mentioned something about this.

“Probably a few countries, and at least the top leadership of China, will suspect that the director is pulling the strings.”

Hmm.
So they’d know not to bother asking.
Or maybe not.
They might not have a clue.
Either way, rejected.
I let a little personal bias slip in there.
But honestly, you wouldn’t have made the cut anyway….
What, you think this is some kind of convenience store?
The Floor 61 Materials check out, though.
He’s asking for double the amount at minimum, and it’s still not enough….
Well, there are all sorts of Materials mixed in, Magic Stones in both high and low Grades….

“Looks like they really cleaned out the entire warehouse and sent it over.”
“That they did.”

Right.
Still won’t accept it.
Especially not if it’s from China.
You lot are just rejected outright.
Well, that’s the end of sorting.
Let me look at the list once.

[Ralph Carter (USA)]
[Arthur Brent (UK)]
[Lucas Volfe (Germany)]
[James Moore (USA)]

Just four of them.

“Wow, the quantities of Materials from all of them….”

True Rankers after all.
That’s right.
This is how it should be.
There are far too many people without scruples.
Look at how much Rani’s items are worth.
And yet—?
She’s offering to make them without even taking payment!

“That… Director, if the Materials alone are double, that cost is overwhelmingly more expensive than money.”
“Rani, Todd says he wants to ride in an airplane.”
“Huh? Great! Go flying, little bear!”
“Ugh….”

Why does he always have to say something sensible like that….
Hmm.
Anyway, the USA submitted two Commissions.
James Moore?
Never heard of him before.
Looked him up, and there he was.
Currently climbing the 62nd Floor.

“Wow…. So the USA has two people above the 61st Floor.”

Is this the depth of American strength?
At any rate, well.
What matters is the Materials and their quantity.
Let me see….

“Ralph Carter really does seem like the better choice.”

The top-ranked ones are certainly different.
Lee Bo Jun was the same way back then.
Ralph Carter, the World Number One, operates on a different scale altogether.
The other Rankers invested at most two to two-and-a-half times the base amount.
Ralph, though?

——-
[Commission for Production]

Requester: Ralph Carter (USA)
Requested Item: Two-Handed Axe
Primary Materials: 60 teeth from a Giant Sand Worm
——-

Rani’s standards were different, though.
There were generally accepted quantities for primary materials.
For instance.

A sword required ten teeth.
A two-handed axe needed fifteen.
That sort of thing.

But if someone was ordering a two-handed axe and specifying sixty teeth….
That’s four times the standard amount.

“Heh.”
“Looks like you went through quite a bit of deliberation. First you sent three times the amount, then three and a half, and finally settled on four times.”

Giant Sand Worms were level sixty-six monsters.
Their materials were already the finest quality available.
And now they were ordering the largest quantity too?
There was no getting around it.
Sold.
Bang, bang, bang!
Still, just to be safe, I showed it to Rani as well.

“Rani, look at this! I want to make it!”

Perfect.
I accepted the commission immediately.
Here, Rani—take these.

“I can start making it right away?!”

The moment I handed over the materials, her eyes gleamed with delight.
She really was that thrilled about it.

“Of course.”
“Excellent!”
“How long will it take?”

Materials from the fifties usually took about half a day.
If Artifact Fragments were involved, a week.
So this time, how long would it be…?

“Hmm…. To make it really beautiful, it’ll take three days!”

Three days?
That was manageable.

“Alright! Off I go!”

I nodded in acknowledgment.
She immediately flashed a bright smile and headed straight for the Training Ground.
Now that Rani had begun, I might as well too.

“So, shall we head up the tower?”

* * *

From that day forward, tower climbing mode resumed once more.
How?
Wake up in the morning, summon everyone.

“Rani’s going to the Materials Workshop!”

Right, then.

“Have a Candy before you go.”
“Thank you so much!”

Our Rani.
Give her one Candy, she pops it straight into her mouth and heads right into the Training Ground to swing that hammer.
The rest of them?

[This is today’s news—]

We watch TV for a while.
Turns out they weren’t picky about it.
Dramas, news, documentaries, variety shows, movies—everything.
Omnivorous tastes, the lot of them.
Killing time that way until—

“Shall we start climbing the tower?”
“Sounds good!”
“I have been waiting for this.”

Call them, they assemble instantly.
After that?
Time to climb the tower.
I split our top-tier workers into two teams.

Arthur, Robin, and Yun Jang on one side.

That’s how we arranged it.
Arthur uses both sword and shield, so it’s relatively stable that way.

“From the 61st floor onward, the difficulty shifts. Let’s stick with this formation up to the 60th floor.”
“Come on, let’s hit the 61st too!”
“Nope. Safety first.”

Well.
The workers kept saying they could solo above the 61st floor.
But why push it?
There’s no rush—better to move carefully as a group.
Still, we’d clear at least one floor per day, wouldn’t we?
Anyway.
With this pace—

[Tower of Chaos 51st Floor Cleared!]
[Level Up!]

[Clear Time – 00:41:58]
[World Record Achieved!]
[Bonus Reward – Chaos Key Fragment]

“Awesome! Yes!”
“Arthur’s here, Arthur the Worker.”
“Yesss, yesss!”

That’s our Arthur’s record.
What about the other team?

[Tower of Chaos Floor 52 Clear!]
[Level Up!]

[Clear Time – 00:21:37]
[World Record Achieved!]
[Bonus Reward – Chaos Key Fragment]

Damn.
It’s just insane.
Must be what happens when two top-tier Awakeners team up.
They blitz through it like it’s nothing.

“If we repeat this for just five more days, we’ll be at floor sixty.”

Tower clearing.
Easy.

* * *

“Rani’s coming today?”
“Yeah. Shouldn’t be long now, right?”

Third day of the crafting job.
The final day.
The other Workers finished clearing the Tower of Chaos up to floor fifty-six.
Normally we’d be glued to the TV by now….

Clang, clang!

“Rani’s having a blast with that hammer!”

Today I’m just watching Rani work.
Why?
Because we promised to grab something delicious together once she’s done.

“Rani, you finished it!”

Hell yeah.
It’s done.
The finished product is an axe—taller than Rani herself.
Whoa.
Look at her struggling to keep it steady.

“Did you decide on a name?”
“Yep! Hu-Woong!”

Hmm….
No.
Usually I just roll with whatever, but this one’s got me curious.

“Rani, why Hu-Woong?”
“Because—! When you swing this, it goes hu-woong! Hu-woong!”

Hmm….
Okay….
I’m not sure.

“Well, even so, I don’t know….”

Right?
Well, Rani says it’s Hu-Woong, so that settles it.
I checked the options—

[Hu-Woong]
– The masterwork of an artisan whose skill has reached its peak.
– Protects the user through the power of sand.
– Upon attack, generates a shockwave that cleaves the earth at a certain probability.
– Penetrates enemy defenses with overwhelming force, negating a portion of their protection.
– Allows use of the special skill Sand Storm.
– Increases resistance to earth-attribute damage.

Oh.
Something changed.
Until now, the first line of the options was—

[The masterwork of an artisan with exceptional skill.]

Now it’s—

[The masterwork of an artisan whose skill has reached its peak.]

What?
Is the Grade really about to go up?
Now I’m curious.
First, let me send the item to the customer who’s been waiting.
I asked right away—

“Mm…. I need to make more things like Hu-Woong. But! If I make something even more beautiful, it’ll rank up in no time! For that, I need a lot—and I mean a *lot*—of Materials!”

Hmm.
So I’ll need quite a bit more?
Our customer got four times the amount from Ralph.
I thought that would be enough….
But they need more?
That won’t do.
I’ll have to accept another Commission.

“How is it? Not bad, right?”
“Mm! But Rani wants to rest today! I’m tired….”
“Oh, of course. You’ve been working until just now—I wouldn’t dream of asking you to make something else.”

Get some proper rest today.
Here.
I unwrap one strawberry Candy—the kind Rani likes—and pop it into her mouth.

“Todd, did you hear? Let’s accept just one more Commission.”
“Mm. That would be good. It would be best if we could gather as many Materials as possible.”
“Right? Shall I post it right away?”
“Hmm…. Let’s post it tomorrow.”

Tomorrow?
Why?

“Hehehehe, you’ll understand perfectly once you see it tomorrow.”

Is it just my imagination?
I’ve been hearing that sinister laugh quite often lately.
Still, what can you do.
Every time it happens, he’s brought back something tangible.
Well….

* * *

USA Ranker number one: Ralph Carter.
He’s usually kept pretty busy….

“When will it be finished, I wonder.”

For now, he was doing nothing but stare endlessly at the Awakeners Net.
Well, no.
When I looked into it, apparently that Personnel Management Office director sent a weapon in just a single day before….
So I waited.
Endlessly, from the first day until now.

“But why isn’t there any word?”

Ding!
[Your commissioned item has arrived.]

“Oh…, finally!”

The moment he received the item.
A pair of twin axes that radiated sheer pressure just to behold—they fit perfectly in his hands.
Yes!
This is it!

“Of course the Personnel Management Office director is the real deal!”

Naturally, the name would be impressive too, right?
He picked them up with anticipation—

“Hu-Woong?”

No.
Come on.
That’s just too much.
How is the weapon’s name Hu-Woong?
Well.
I roughly knew it already.
I’d seen the Korean Rankers’ weapon names before.
But even so, this is pushing it.

“And after all the materials I supplied….”

Of course, the weapon itself was satisfying.
Once he checked the options.
The moment he gripped it, he felt it—this was something special.

“Ah.”

So that’s why the Korean Rankers didn’t complain about the names.
This thing is absolutely insane.
Just holding it, it feels like my level jumped up by at least ten or more.

“That should do it….”

The wall standing right before me—the 67th floor—I’d breeze through it.
No.
Maybe even beyond that?

“But this isn’t the time for that.”

There were still others waiting for me.

[Management Team Leader, Sam]

These guys.

Whirrrr—!

– Hey, Ralph.
“Just got my weapon delivered, actually.”
– Oh! How’s the performance? Not bad? We didn’t waste the materials, right? Did everything come out okay?

Geez.
So many questions.
Worry’s a given, I suppose.

“What’s the point of explaining? It’s just insane. I’ll show you the options when we meet later. It’s incredible. If this were something for sale, I’m pretty sure I’d have to sell everything I own and still couldn’t afford it.”
– To that extent…?
“Yeah. I mean, even with a weird name, I’m satisfied with it.”
– What’s the name?

What else.
Hu-Woong….
Sigh.
You’ll find out eventually.
Just don’t want to say it right now.
Instead.
I got to the real business.

“Everyone’s expecting it. Prepare yourselves—tomorrow we’re clearing the 67th floor for sure. Since this is our last party, prepare something grand.”

Hmm.
I can guess.
I’ll probably lose my top rank soon enough.

The Personnel Management Office Director.
Cleared the S-Rank dungeon in China that everyone gave up on.
Saved India and Egypt.
And as of today, achieved a world record on the Tower itself—a complete monster.
On top of that….

“Can make a weapon like this…?”

What kind of human being is this person, anyway?
Yeah, really.
The world’s unfair, that’s for sure.
At this point, I have no choice but to accept it.
Someday I’ll be overtaken.
And it won’t be long.
But.
I’m the one opening the door to the 70th floor.
Ralph Carter.

* * *

Another post from the Personnel Management Office director appeared on Awakeners Net.

[Taking commission requests.]

The conditions were much the same as before.
One thing was different, though.

[This commission will proceed as an auction with all conditions fully disclosed.]

– A public auction???
– Rankers will participate, but the competition might not be as fierce as we’d think…
└ Yeah, the weird part is how quiet Ralph’s being
└ Right, he loves bragging about his gains—if he’d gotten something good, news would’ve dropped immediately lmao
– So it’s a game of reading the room.

Most people think alike.
Just as Awakeners Net’s responses showed, the auction started slow.
At best,

[Lucas Volfe (Germany)] – 21.
[Arthur Brent (UK)] – 22.

Both hesitating above double, inching up bit by bit.

– Just as expected lmao
– Seeing Ralph not participating… you get the vibe, yeah?
– But he must’ve made a decent haul, so it’s still a win?
– Ah, but the competition would’ve been way more intense if this was what we thought—dopamine rush and all
– Forreal… the US would be shocked, the UK would flip out, and so on…
– Well, they do say materials from the 50s are different from the 60s tier…

And Ralph wasn’t even participating.
What was this?
The answer was clear.
Disappointing, but a bust.
Just as everyone reached that conclusion,
a breaking news alert flashed across the world simultaneously.

[Ralph Carter becomes the first to clear the 67th Floor of the Tower of Chaos!]

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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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