Laborer Mr. Kim Reaps Sweet Rewards with Auto-Hunting - Chapter 62

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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 62

That name—the Manager of the Personnel Management Office—stamped its seal in global news articles with clockwork regularity.
This time, too, they’d made quite a splash.

[Large-scale Hunter Rebellion in North Korea—What’s Behind It?]
[According to interviews via the Awakened Network, North Korean authorities have been coercing Hunters by holding their families hostage—.]
[The ringleader, Ranking 1st Park Mu-pal, suddenly ascended the Chaos Tower. And once again, the Manager of the Personnel Management Office was behind it all.]
……
…

A rebellion in North Korea?
Led by Ranking Number One.
The one who’d previously been climbing up to the 57th floor….
They say he reached the 59th floor in just two days.

– The Manager supposedly made him a weapon…. I’m genuinely jealous.
– Wait, so just swapping weapons lets you climb the tower that easily???
└ That can’t be right…. That’d only be possible if you got high-30s level gear while climbing the 10th floor….
└ And if there’s a big level gap, you can’t even use it properly lol you’d actually get debuffed lol
– What exactly is the Manager anyway….
└ That’s probably why they call him a monster lololol

Lee Bo-jun, Baek Hwa-rang, Ralph Carter, and now Park Mu-pal.
The Manager’s weapons on an unbroken winning streak.
Naturally, curiosity about the Manager rippled across the globe.
The Manager of the Personnel Management Office.
What exactly is their true identity…?

– Even if they were just good at crafting, it’d be broken, but that’s not even all they do.
– Agreed. They broke the World Record clearing the 61st floor of the tower too….
└ And the record was insane. Things that take others half a day, they blew through in under an hour.

Crafting?
That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Dungeon raids, sure.
Tower of Chaos clears, absolutely.
There’s nothing they fall short in.

– But didn’t they say the 61st floor Tower record holder still hasn’t been revealed?
└ It’s basically 100% the Manager.
└ This is right. Once you see them just casually break S-Rank dungeons, how could you not know?

Yeah, the 61st floor.
They said it was definitely different from the 60th….
Yet here we are.
According to the anonymous records, they cleared it in a flash again.
Just like whoever finishes S-Rank dungeons in tens of minutes.

– What kind of Awakening could it possibly be.
– Doesn’t seem like Archmage or Sword Saint or anything like that….
– Maybe something like an All Master? They’re good at everything anyway.
– Could be a God <-
└ Lmao

Of course, it was all just speculation mixed with jokes.
There was no way to know for certain.
All that was sure was this.

– It's reassuring that he's Korean.
– For real….
– The way he's been moving really feels like a hero, honestly gives me goosebumps ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

They say he cleared the North Korean S-Rank Dungeon this time too.
Is this the end?
No way.

[India, Egypt, and now North Korea. Beside those without strength, the Personnel Management Office Manager has always been there.]

He helped China when it was in crisis.
And he personally stepped in to solve the problems of India and Egypt—nations that had already collapsed.

– An Indian friend called the Personnel Management Office Manager their savior.
└ Fair enough…. He literally brought a dead nation back to life ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Going forward, whenever I leave Korea I'm just going to walk around asking "Do you know the Personnel Management Office Manager?"
└ Please don't do that….

A hero, the Personnel Management Office Manager's deeds.
This topic has set the whole world aflame.
Naturally, the man himself heard about it soon enough.

* * *

[Let's take a look at the deeds of the hero—the Personnel Management Office Manager—who helps those without strength.]

"What the…."

Yoon Ha-jun, twenty-three years old.
Personnel Management Office Manager.
What he's doing right now.
Tilting his head, scrolling through the internet.
Something must have happened overnight.
Everywhere I look, it's about me.
And everywhere else….

"It's all about me."

Woke up and this is what I find.
The reason was obvious soon enough.
Park Mu-pal, the North Korean Hunter.
He'd made it to the fifty-ninth floor.
He must've worked hard.
Since I sent him weapons yesterday, he probably climbed without stopping.

"A hero, though…."

A hero.
A title I could never have imagined when I was working the field.
But….
Humans really are creatures of habit, aren't they.
I'm not shocked by it anymore the way I used to be.

"Good thing the Tower's going up smoothly."

That's all I can think.
Well, why wouldn't it be.
It's a weapon made by our Rani, after all.

[India, roughly 20% of its territory reclaimed. Reconstruction efforts are now underway.]
[The capital Cairo looms on the horizon. Hunters gathered for Egypt's restoration shed tears of joy.]
……
…

Plenty of news from India and Egypt these days.
Those people.
They accomplish everything themselves, and now they're even calling me a savior.

"Savior feels like a lot of pressure, honestly."

In the old days?
I'd have shrugged it off and moved on.
Forgotten about it by the next page.
Peace in other nations?
Why should I care.
I'm too busy taking care of myself.
But….

"Hm…. That's good."

There's something odd about this.
Satisfaction?
I never thought I'd feel something like this in my life.

[World Ranking Number One, Ralph Carter. Finally enters the 69th floor. All of this thanks to the Personnel Management Office Manager. He expresses his gratitude.]

That guy's climbed pretty far too.
Is he heading for the 70th floor soon?
I've been curious what changes beyond the 70th floor.
I'll find out soon enough.

"If he's slow about it, well… I'll just go up first."

I have to go anyway.
I have quests to complete.

[Quest List]
1. Conquer the 70th floor of the Chaos Tower
2. Upgrade the Request Points Shop
3. Open the Personnel Management Office

"Hah…."

Three quest slots filled.
Just seeing them gives me peace of mind.
And of course, my experience points went up proportionally.

[(0/30)]

Well….
Even though there's still a long way to go, I'll fill it eventually if I keep at it.
Besides, now I'm earning three times the experience points per quest.
It'll be faster than before, so no worries.

"For now, barring anything unusual, I'll climb the Chaos Tower one floor a day…."

The Request Points Shop upgrade.
That one's simpler.
All I have to do is purchase a certain amount of points from the shop.

"From today on, I'm going to keep running Quests by mobilizing the middle and lower-tier Workers, so that's just a matter of time."

The real problem is the last one.

"The Personnel Management Office…."

One of the main functions of the Personnel Management Office Manager.
But until now, it had only been temporary.
Now it was time to open it officially.
I needed two things.

1. A large house.
2. The Personnel Management Office Expansion Plan from the Request Points shop.

How much was it again….

——-
……
…
Personnel Management Office Function Expansion Plan
– 100,000P
…
……
——-

One hundred thousand Points.
That's expensive.
Still, well.

"Combined with the Points I've been saving up little by little…. and what I earned from those two North Korea S-Rank Dungeon Quests…."

I could afford it after just a few more days of running Quests.
That handles one problem.
The issue is finding a large house….

"Todd said he'd look into it through the Eye of Truth."

I wonder how that went.
I should ask him about that first.

* * *

I called all the Workers together.
When I asked Todd about it, he explained for quite a while.
The conclusion was….

"The subcontractors were suggesting that maybe there should be a bridge connecting you and the Awakening Management Bureau."
"Hmm…."

A bridge.
Well.
Now that I heard the explanation, it made sense.
One of the Awakening Management Bureau's functions was protecting Awakened Ones.
And when I looked into it before, I heard that top-ranking Awakened Ones get treatment even better than the President.
Changing furniture and finding a house?
That'd be nothing for them.

"It's not a bad idea, actually."

The reason I hid my identity in the first place.
Nothing special.
I don't care for excessive attention.
And there's always the chance things could turn dangerous.
China did try to make contact behind the scenes, after all.
I managed to stop them, thanks to Unjang.

"Todd seems to be in favor of it."
"That's correct—once the Personnel Management Office is upgraded, there's no need to worry about your safety, Manager."

Right.
Even just one of our combat workers would be enough to keep me safe.
What else could be a problem?
Hmm….
What could there be.
The things I worried about at first.
What if someone tried to coerce me with force.
That sort of thing.

Back then, the world's top rankers were nothing special.
Korea's Five Great Guilds were practically trembling.
But now?

"Ridiculous."

With my workers around, who would dare threaten me with force?
Absolutely impossible.
So what do the other workers think?
I made eye contact with each of them.

"It seems acceptable. A talent hidden in a sack must eventually emerge—so why not selectively reveal your identity and control things through them instead? That's not a bad approach."
"Is that so?"

Yeah.
It's not bad.
But there's something that bothers me.
There's no such thing as a permanent secret in this world.
If I reveal my identity to someone?
Word leaks here, leaks there.
Eventually everyone might find out.

"What about approaching it this way instead?"
"What way?"
"First, put forward a subcontractor—as acting director of the Personnel Management Office. Then let's see how the Awakening Management Bureau responds to that, yes?"
"Oh…?"

That's actually good.
A subcontractor—Truth's Eye.
They know who I am.
They helped during the China situation too.
But no information has leaked from them anywhere so far?
That's trustworthy enough.
On top of that, those people.
They haven't even told the ones who used to be guild members.
That's why only two of them are in China.
Hmm….
Not bad.

"Let's proceed in the direction Unjang just mentioned."
"Yes, understood. What about the house, Manager?"
"Well, let's think about it depending on whether we establish contact with the Awakening Management Bureau or not. If it doesn't work out, we can always head to the provinces or somewhere remote."
"Yes."

So for now, let's take a look.
See what the best approach would be.

* * *

One of the nerve centers of North Korean power.
The Organization and Guidance Department.
Director Kim Yong-phil, who headed that office, listened to the report with a troubled expression.

"We're tearing the place apart like we're hunting rats, but apparently they still haven't found him."
"Still? What in blazes are these people doing?"

How could they not catch a single rat?
It made no sense.

Colonel Park Mu-pal, the Combat Division Chief of the Revolutionary Talent Corps.
He'd crossed paths with him a few times before.
A former street vagrant with all the tact of a common thug.
It had been how long since he became Combat Division Chief?
And he still showed no proper respect?
The worm even resisted simple orders, claiming it wasn't his place to do such things.

"This isn't what the Revolutionary Talent Corps was formed for," he'd said.

Words like that.
Cursed nuisance.
What was so difficult about rounding up a few citizens and bringing them in?

Tsk.

Still, he was useful enough to keep around for now.
And conveniently, the son of an administrator who'd been consistently showing proper respect had just reached the fifty-second floor.
Of course, he'd brought a substantial show of respect along with him.

"Just take care of Park Mu-pal. Find him by any means necessary and deal with him."
"Understood, sir."

The other Revolutionary Talent Corps members?
Spineless idiots, all of them.
Turning them was no problem at all.
Besides, where would anyone take men like them—trivial climbers who couldn't come close to Park Mu-pal's tower progress?
Might as well visit them in their sleep.
Send them off to meet their ancestors.

"Sigh… no matter how I think about it, sending him to the China mess back then would've been the cleanest way."

The decision had been so straightforward at the time.
If they disposed of Park Mu-pal and something went wrong?
So what.
They could just rely on China's backing to handle it.

The backing Kim Yong-phil trusted.
The leadership of China's Central Awakening Management Bureau.
They were quite close.
Close enough to have sworn sworn brotherhood.
As long as he paid a reasonable price?
They'd promised to help with anything he needed.
Of course, the cost would come from the party's coffers.
And in the process, he could pocket a tidy sum — all the better.
That was the thinking behind it, anyway.
But wouldn't you know it.
Everything went sideways from the start.

"This Manager of the Personnel Management Office, or whatever — damned bastard."

So the fool came back alive after all?
Even born from the gutters as a vagrant, he wasn't brainless.
He must have figured out that someone was trying to erase him.
No turning back now.
One of two options.
Eliminate him, or quietly ship him off to another country.
Kim Yong-phil chose the former.
If Park Mu-pal had known nothing about it from the start, that would be different.
But why leave a loose end?
There was no reason.
He'd been about to finish it cleanly, the way he always did.
Then an S-Rank Dungeon opened near Pyongyang.
Actually, that worked out perfectly.
Through the special forces, he issued Park Mu-pal an order immediately.

Go in, and he dies.
Don't go,
and he dies for insubordination.
He thought it was one or the other —

But what in blazes.
This Park Mu-pal, dismissed by everyone for his vagrant roots, had more backbone than expected.
He'd actually deserted, taking most of the Revolutionary Talent Corps with him.
And worse still…
While on the run, his whereabouts couldn't even be traced.
This didn't make sense.
Someone had to be helping him.

"South Korea? No, what could they possibly want. Then it'd have to be China, or maybe Japan…"

First he needed to identify the backer before he could negotiate…
It was right then, as his brow furrowed,

that a shrill ring cut through the silence.

A call came in with no number displayed.

"What?"

Kim Yong-phil's number — a core operative's private line.
Few would know it.
And they'd even blocked the caller ID?
Who the hell were these people?
He answered despite the frown creasing his brow.

"What? You know where Park Mu-pal is? Then by all means, tell me."

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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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