Laborer Mr. Kim Reaps Sweet Rewards with Auto-Hunting - Chapter 57

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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 057

After a full day of sleep, the next morning came.
The moment I woke up, as always, I called my Workers right away.

Normally, mornings were free time.
Watch TV, train, or space out on the Veranda—whatever.
I’d let them do whatever they wanted.

“Alright, today we’ll head to floor 61 and back, then call it a day.”
“We’re going to the tower?”
“Yeah. I’ve got something to do.”

[Monitoring]
– Internal communication possible via Radio Function.

A new feature added from the A-rank Chaos Chest reward.
I absolutely had to test it out.
I’m seriously excited about this right now.
What if the Radio Function actually lets the Manager cheer me on from here?
That’d be incredible.
So.

“Let’s head right in.”

[Workers are entering the Chaos Tower.]
[Auto-Hunting begins.]

The moment prep finished, the Workers entered.

[Auto-Hunting in progress]
[00:00:07]

So I switched on the Monitoring.
A sharp hum—
A holographic screen flickered to life.

“Everything else looks the same.”

Alright, let me scan first then.
First, my Workers…
Found them.
There they are, clear as day.

“Arthur, Unjang, Robin!”

They’d positioned themselves the moment they entered, each in their proper place.
Top-tier Workers indeed.
Just looking at them gives me peace of mind.
Now, what about the enemies?

A low growl rumbled in the distance—

Not visible yet, but they’re there in the vicinity.
They’ll come charging the moment we leave the starting point.
How do I know?

[Hey everyone! It’s Ralph Carter, the strongest man in the entire world! Today, we’re going to conquer floor 61 of the Chaos Tower!]

She’s the one who told me.
I figured only top-ranked Hunters would post strategy videos, but….
Turns out they do it all the time.
What was it he said.
Something about raising their profile.
And there’s talk that Ralph just loves the attention….
Anyway, that’s how I found out about it.

“The boss told me! The shadow? The beast! It comes out!”
“Wasn’t it a shadow wolf?”
“Yeah! That! The shadow beast!”

Correct.
The monster on floor 61 is a shadow wolf.
Bigger than a cow, but faster—that’s the thing about them.
And they hide in shadows before suddenly lunging out.

Roooaarrr—!

There it is.
Just like that.

[Since you can’t block or dodge a shadow wolf’s charge, the recommendation is to keep the entire area brightly lit from the start!]

That’s what Ralph said, anyway.
Can’t block it, my ass.

Crack!

One swing of the shield and it just goes flying?
Well….
How are they even supposed to handle it.
Our Workers.
The ones who were setting world records going solo up to floor 60.
For those wolves, they might just be a natural disaster.

“The doggy got knocked away!”
“Rani, that’s not a dog….”
“Huh? But it made that cracking sound?!”
“Definitely a doggy!”

Oh, what’s this.
Arthur’s the one answering.
Can they hear us?

“Arthur, can you hear me?”
“Yeah, I can hear you!”

Nice.
So it works right away without needing to switch anything on.
And the quality’s good, too.
I thought the Radio Function would crackle and hiss.
It’s cleaner than expected.
Sounds almost like someone talking right next to you.

“Heh, Manager. Can you hear us?”
“Yes, I can hear you, Unjang.”
“Quite remarkable, indeed.”
“Wait, behind Unjang—.”

Crack.

“What is it, Manager?”
“Nothing, sir….”

What is this….
If I just left it alone, it’d break out in seconds flat.
Still, I should do what I can.
First, let me put on the hard hat.

“Hey! Looks great on you!”

I’ve lived a long time, but I’ve never heard anyone tell me I look good.
That’s a compliment, right?
Now I pick up the megaphone—ready to go.
All right, let’s do this.

“We hear you!”

Okay.
Time to cheer them on.

“Bark bark—let’s get ’em!-!

The Manager’s heartfelt encouragement.
And when Rani adds her own cheer on top of that?

“Arthur is all I need!”
“Don’t worry. They say magic is the cure for rabid dogs, after all.”

[The Manager’s cheering energizes the Workers.]

Along with the message.
A soft aura shimmers around the Workers.
Ahhh….
This is it.
Buff applied via Radio Function.
I half-expected it not to work, but it actually does?

“Insane, that’s so broken….”

So the Unique Skill should work too, then?
Curious, I test it right away.

“Today is Early Dismissal.”

Beep, beep!

“Poof!”

Ah, so that’s why it’s called “Poof”?
It does sound very like Rani.
Now that I think about it, it does sound like “poof.”
This sound.
Yesterday in the Chaos Labyrinth, it was the king of aggro.
The monsters had zeroed in on me so completely they’d forgotten to look anywhere else.
But what about now, hearing it through the Radio Function?

Growl—?

They can still hear it, apparently.
A few wolves were peeking their heads over the shadows, tilting them in confusion.
Let them search all they want.
How are they going to find me out here, beyond the tower walls?

In the meantime, the skill ended.

[Early Dismissal is the strongest motivation in the world!]
[Workers’ stats temporarily surge dramatically.]

The buff kicked in, naturally.
This is it.
So, should we head out now?

“Rani was saying she’d make something from Arthur’s sword scabbard. Before that starts, why don’t we all grab something good to eat and finish up quick?”
“Squawk! Meat?!”
“Wa-tta loves sushi too!”
“Heh, this old mage found mapo tofu quite agreeable to the palate.”

Everyone had different tastes.
After ordering all sorts of things, the choices had multiplied considerably.
What struck me as particularly odd was Unjang.
The senior Hunters I’d seen in the field used to hate mapo tofu.
But Unjang turned out to be quite fond of it.

“I’ll order whatever you’d like, so just come back safely.”
“Excellent!”

And with that final word,
the Workers’ morale was fully recharged.
Now we really needed to get going, didn’t we?

Grrrowl—!

Enough growling.
Shut your mouths and get ready to take some hits, you creatures.

* * *

[Chaos Tower Floor 61 Cleared!]
[Your level has increased.]

“Wa-tta! Wa-tta!”
“Meat, meat! Squawk!”

Wow.
With everyone gathered, it certainly gets loud.
Well, it should be. We’re quite a few now.

“Let’s all settle down first and go over what happened, shall we?”
“Review? What’s that?”
“We’re just going to talk through how the clear went, Worker Arthur.”
“Ah? Got it, boss sees so I know. Easy.”

Yeah.
I know that.
But.

“I went to test it, so I need to know how much the buff is actually being applied. Whether it was similar to yesterday, things like that.”
“From this Grand Mage’s perception, it seemed similar to yesterday, if I may say so.”

Then it’s being applied consistently.
That’s good.
About the same level as yesterday.
You said roughly 1.3 to 1.5 times, didn’t you.
If I can keep using it steadily going forward….

“There shouldn’t be any trouble clearing the tower for a while, then.”
“Indeed so. Once we go past the 70th floor, who knows what happens, but at least until then it should be smooth sailing, I would say.”

Hmm.
The 70th floor again.
There’s definitely something different about what’s beyond that.
Still, well….
We can think about what comes after the 70th floor when we get there.
Besides, our Workers will keep growing as we climb the tower anyway.

“Right, Rani?”
“Yeah! Rani makes pretty things and gets stronger! Making something for Arthur now!”
“That’s right! Said we’d make something for Arthur! What is it?”
“Well, you know. That thing we got from the England S-rank Dungeon a while back.”

[Holy Sword Excalibur’s Scabbard Fragment]

That.
I thought it’d be nothing special since it’s just a scabbard piece, but look at that.
Rani started bouncing the moment she saw it.
Said it was good.

“Once you finish it, Arthur’s going to get even stronger, right?”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Yay! That’s great! Long live Bokdeong!”
“Heh! Perfect! Rani’s been amazing lately!”

Of course she’s amazing every day.
The kids all figured it out by now.
When Rani calls herself Bokdeong and floats herself around, they absolutely love it.

“…I’m envious.”

Robin let out a heavy sigh all by herself.
Her expression looked complex, too.
Well, I understand.
She was always much stronger than Arthur.
Somewhere along the way, he caught up….
And if Arthur gets even stronger from here?
There’s a chance she could fall behind, I suppose.

“Hah, since you’re all such formidable warriors, just focus on training, will you?”

Hmm….
Unjang really is the best.
He read my mood and comforted me right away.

“Maybe someday, just like a true mage, I’ll be able to cast Grand Magic too?”

Hmm….
Yes.

…….

Hey, Robin.
You need to answer, human.
Well….
Anyway.

“Worry’s just fate. As we clear more S-rank Dungeons, we’ll find your Unique Skill and Unjang’s too. Just like he said, we’re already counting them, so don’t be so impatient.”
“…Yeah.”

Her head nodded, but it was clear she wasn’t convinced.
Naturally.
She quietly headed to the corner of the Training Ground and started shooting arrows.

“Fine, let’s just train instead.”

That’s the right call.
If a few words could solve it
She wouldn’t be feeling that longing in the first place.
Arthur used to be the same way.
In the end, there’s only one solution.
Train hard and build experience points.
Things will come around eventually.

“You’ve got this.”

Wait.
To be honest, I think the real problem might be me, not Robin….
My workers are putting in that kind of effort.
What’s a so-called Personnel Management Office Manager doing just sitting around?
I need to make some effort too.
Like, leveling up my Unique Skill, for example…?
I’d need to raise my experience points for that.
And that’s not easy.

“Still, I’ve raised my experience points quite a bit….”

[(10/20)]

Exactly halfway there—not bad.
The problem is.

[Quest List]
1. Complete 5 Requests (3/5)
2. Conquer S-rank Dungeons 5 times cumulatively (4/5)

The first quest is easy.
I’ll only clear the tower with top-tier Workers anyway.
I can finish it by running quests with the Orcs.

“But the S-rank Dungeons….”

Damn.
Yeah, that one.
That second Quest that’s been sitting in my list for quite a while now.

I was hoping a request would come from Sub Skill Enhancement because of it.
Actually, no.
Since I can milk Monitoring Enhancement thanks to it, I’m satisfied for now.
Still…

“I should clear that thing soon.”

At this difficulty level, it should give me a decent chunk of Experience Points.
Maybe I’ll gain over 5 in a single run.

“Sigh…”

Right.
Just one thing needs to drop.
Then I’ll rush over and clear it.

* * *

[Breaking: Anonymous Korean Hunter Clears Layer 61!]
[Who Is This New Number One Ranked Hunter? Is He Really the Personnel Management Office Manager?]
[Nonstop World Record Achievement Up to Layer 61—Just How Far Can He Go?]
……
…

Fresh news, hot off the press.
Korea’s Chaos Tower, Layer 61 cleared.
As always.
The Awakening Management Bureau was in complete chaos again.

“What…? He cleared Layer 61 too?”
“Yes, sir. And it’s another World Record, apparently.”
“Good heavens. Does that monster have an off switch?”
“If he did, he would’ve used it by now.”
“What’s the situation on the ground?”
“Sir, it’s pandemonium. Calls flooding in from everywhere asking who the Personnel Management Office Manager is and demanding a meeting.”
“Ugh…”

I saw this coming.
No, wait.
We don’t even know.
Why are they trying to find the Personnel Management Office Manager here?

“I thought Layer 61 would be tough enough to make him take a break for a while…”
“That’s what I thought too.”

Whoever this guy is, he’s reckless.
He should take a breather now and then.
What’s with this full-speed sprint…?

“This is a headache.”

Up to Layer 61?
It was all manageable.
It wasn’t even confirmed that the Personnel Management Office Manager was the anonymous Hunter anyway…
We could’ve simply denied it.
The real problem.

“Now that he’s become the number one ranked Hunter, if we say we don’t know who he is, we’ll look utterly incompetent.”
“Perhaps we should contact the Personnel Management Office….”
“What? Ask them to tell us who he is?”

As if he’d volunteer that information.
If he’d wanted to go public, he would have by now.
Unless there’s something he needs from us.
My head’s pounding.

Brring-brring-brring!

Damn it.
And now the phone’s ringing again.
Who is it?
He picked up with a frown—

“Yes? North Korea’s asking for support? They want us to send a Hunter?”

No.
What is this now….

—————
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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