Laborer Mr. Kim Reaps Sweet Rewards with Auto-Hunting - Chapter 68

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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 68

In his residence after returning from the meeting with the Chairman.
Kim Yong-phil let out a deep sigh.

“Hah….”

The conversation at the Labor Party Central Building No. 1.
A conclusion had been reached.

“All right then. You’re that confident, so I’ll place my faith in you this once. But if you fail, you’ll bear the responsibility just as the comrade said.”

Something along those lines.

“How did things come to this….”

He squeezed his eyes shut and thought it through carefully.
Nothing made sense.
Where exactly had things gone wrong?

Bear the responsibility if you fail.
Which meant death.
Damn.
Was this even reasonable?
How much had he sacrificed for this nation….

“Curse it all.”

True, there had been minor oversights.
But not enough to warrant this.

“They’re trying to cast me out over something so trivial?”

He’d remember this.
Once he weathered this crisis, he would not sit idle.

“Huh….”

But for now, he had to survive.
The justification lay with the other side for the moment.
If things unraveled here?
Even China, standing behind Kim Yong-phil, would be helpless.
Before it came to that—

“This matter has to be resolved properly.”

He’d bring in the Manager.
The words he’d thrown out hadn’t been thoughtless.
He had heard it clearly.
How China’s Special Operations Bureau had searched for the Manager.

“Obtain Korea’s recent Awakener roster… and narrow the search from there, it’ll turn up.”

After that?
He didn’t know yet.
He’d heard that the Special Operations Bureau had been destroyed around that time.
Something about some Guan Yu appearing, or whatever.
Word was even the Chairman had been swept up in it and was too distracted to think straight.
After that.
Word reached him of turmoil spreading throughout China’s interior.
That Guan Yu himself had descended to rain divine punishment upon them.
Idiots.
Where in this world does divine punishment exist?
And Guan Yu, of all people?
If you’re going to lose your mind, at least do it with some sense….
Next they’ll be saying General Yi Sun-sin is walking around out there too?

“This is what happens with these stupid common people, tsk.”

By now, things should be mostly cleaned up anyway.
Time to reach out after all this while.

“Hand over some pocket money while I’m at it.”

Request that list of South Korean Awakeners too.
Once I get my hands on that roster….
Finding them will just be a matter of time.
It’s not like I only have one or two operatives planted in South Korea.
So let’s start by securing that list.

“I should reach out to Li Wei with a favor request.”

* * *

The Central Awakener Management Bureau of China.

[The newly appointed director of the Central Awakener Management Bureau, Li Wei’s first steps as director—.]

Li Wei, who had been reading the article, heaved a long sigh.

“Ah….”
“Director, what troubles you?”
“Nothing, I just suddenly felt a bit stifled.”
“Haha… I understand. The previous director often felt the same way.”
“That man. We had a drink just the other day and he said he felt so relieved he wanted to fly away.”
“He must have been worn down terribly by all those complications at the end….”

No.
Wasn’t I worn down too?
I was deputy director then!
We suffered through it together….
More than that.

“At the very least, back when the previous director was in position, he got to enjoy the perks….”
“Well now, Director, since you’ve ascended to the director’s seat yourself, you should get to savor some perks too.”
“True, I should, but whoever keeps piling up documents makes it difficult….”
“Haha, whoever that might be, they’re quite the scoundrel.”

I know who it is.
It’s you.
Look, you’re stacking more on right now.

“Here, these are the documents you need to approve additionally by the end of this week.”
“These…. Wait, should the Awakener Management Bureau even be handling these?”
“Strictly speaking, this isn’t our jurisdiction, but as you know, since the Special Operations Bureau and its subordinate departments’ work has all been transferred over to us….”
Ugh.
“Zhang Zhian, Liu Hao. You bastards.”

Why’d you have to poke the Manager in the first place?
What a mess.
They made the problem, but
we’re the ones stuck cleaning it up.

“Ugh, the stress….”

It looked so simple from the sidelines.
God, this job.
Actually doing it splits your skull.
Now I understand.
Why the previous director was always popping headache pills.

“But I have to pull through. I didn’t climb this far just to stumble.”

I’ll hold the line, no matter what.
Once things stabilize, I’ll take it easy and enjoy the rewards.
Steeling myself afresh,
I tried to focus back on the work—

Ding!

“Kim Yong-phil sent me an email? What’s he up to?”

A contact I hadn’t heard from in ages.
The sender was Kim Yong-phil, a North Korean official with whom I’d sworn brotherhood long ago.
I checked the message to see what it was about.

“Christ, that lunatic.”
“Director, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Just got some crazy message out of the blue.”

Is this a dream?
What did I just read?
The situation made no sense.
I blinked and read it again, but the content remained unchanged.

[It concerns what you mentioned before regarding the Manager. I find myself in need of information about that individual. If you could obtain a list of South Korea’s Awakeners for me—.]

To put it simply:
Give me information on the Manager.
He said he’d compensate me generously, but….

“Could I even if I wanted to?”

In terms of whether it’s possible or impossible—it’s possible.
The Central Awakener Management Bureau as it stands now.
We handle all the cleanup operations.
And with that responsibility, our power grows steadily stronger.

[Recent Awakener List – Korea]

This?
It’s data the Special Operations Bureau kept on file.
If I set my mind to it, I could get it.
But….
Can I handle the fallout?

“Heh….”

Kim Yong-phil, that bastard.
Even if he is from the North, this is ridiculous.
What kind of state cadre doesn’t watch the news?
There must have been warnings before.
Touch the Manager and the entire Special Operations Bureau comes down on you.
Does he have a death wish?
And.
Besides, the game has changed completely now.
The Manager?
He’s become someone you absolutely cannot touch, regardless of how dangerous he is.

[The core issue is obtaining the Manager’s weapons—]
[Through improved relations with the Korea Awakener Management Bureau—]
……
…

Look at this.
Half the documents piling up on my desk are about the Manager.
Why?
Because everyone’s going crazy trying to get those weapons by any means necessary.
Touch him under these circumstances?
Did the Chaos Tower not appear in Pyongyang?

[The Chaos Tower rising from the middle of the Daedong River in Pyongyang]

It did.
And yet he makes a judgment like that….
No. This won’t do.
I need to keep my distance from Kim Yong-phil for a while.
No sane person boards the same ship as someone pouring oil on himself and charging headlong into flame.

“How did someone like him end up so stupid? That’s not who he was before….”

I’m staying alive.
If you want to die, die alone.
But there’s still the old loyalty between us.
So I’ll send a reply telling him not to touch this if he can help it.

“If we’re going to clear the highest floors within three months, we absolutely need the Manager’s assistance….”

After Wei Jin’s death.
China squeezed every resource dry to develop Qian Wei.
Thanks to that, he shot up quickly—now at floor 59.
And he only just climbed there recently….
Now suddenly they’re saying clear it within three months.
What in the—

“The Chaos Tower isn’t some children’s game.”

Reaching floor 60 in three months?
It’s impossible.
Unless there’s some variable at play.
So the conclusion they’ve reached is that the Manager’s weapons are necessary.
The problem is….

“Will he actually give them?”

Even with his position as Vice Minister.
Li Wei saw it all unfold.
China and the Manager….
No matter how I try to spin it, there’s no way to make this relationship look good.
And on top of that, there’s nothing I can even offer in return.

“Wouldn’t it suffice to offer a substantial sum of money? We’re not lacking funds—only materials and stones.”
“Money? To the Manager?”

Would he even need it?
He could just sweep money off the table.
And at this point, he probably doesn’t even need materials anymore, does he?
He’s already climbed to the sixty-third floor, hasn’t he?

“Ugh….”

Still, I have to make this work somehow.

“First, contact the Korea Awakener Management Bureau, and reach out to the politicians connected to us as well.”
“Should we proceed the way we did before?”
“Before?”

Ah.
You mean…
Threaten them? Coerce them?

“Are you insane? We need to bend over backwards. First, find out if there are any conditions the nation wants from us at a state level. Tell them we’ll accommodate them as much as possible.”

So please, just one weapon.
If not…
Beijing looks like it’s going to disappear.

“Tch… Zhang Zhian, Liu Hao. These damn bastards.”

He’d only just stepped into the director’s position.
Yet why was it…
He was already having thoughts of resigning?
Li Wei’s sigh, the newly appointed director of the Bureau, grew only deeper.

* * *

The sudden change in Chaos Tower difficulty.
This ripple effect had begun to shift the mindset of ordinary hunters as well.

——-
Complete Breakdown: Chaos Tower Difficulty Comparison

I’m currently a fifty-third floor hunter.
Over the last three days, I’ve gone through the twenties, thirties, and forties all across the board.
I’ve also pooled information from other hunters and reached a rough conclusion, so give this a read and let me know your feedback.

Looking at it, the difficulty shifts seem to vary at different intervals.

20s → 5 levels up
30s → 3 levels up
40s → 7 levels up

That’s roughly the pattern I’m getting?
In other words…
If you’re currently a forty-third floor climber, you should think of it as the fiftieth floor by the old tower’s standard. That’s what I mean.
Of course, this isn’t gospel.
The sample size is still too small, so it could change.
But let’s use roughly this standard to work out strategies.
And if anyone has information to share, please leave a comment.
I’ll verify it and add it to the post.
Information is literally life or death right now, so we all need to help each other out.
Please give this your full attention, everyone.

– I’m at floor 57 right now, but can someone add that the 50s floors are about 5 levels harder?
└ Thanks.
– Floor 32) Everything else is similar, but the monsters have insanely high HP. You’ll be attacking for a while, so keep that in mind if you’re attempting it.
– It’s brutal, but the rewards are insane. I got rewards from clearing floor 40 that were like clearing floor 50?
└ When you climb higher later, your eyes are going to pop out of your head.
└ The problem is, you have to clear it all within three months….
……
…
——-

Tower conquest the way it used to be?
The entire world was competing against each other.
Of course, there were strategies, and people shared information to some degree.
But the overall mood was pure competition.
The whole “Five Great Powers” thing came out of that atmosphere.

But now?
It’s completely reversed.
When you’re one mistake away from death, competition means nothing.
First you survive, then you worry about everything else.

[Tower of Chaos Floor 43: Complete List of Changes from Before]
[Need to clear floor 31, but short on antidote? Post on the Commission Board.]

Active information sharing.
And even cooperation.
The problem was….

– Wow, and still no one’s cleared the highest floor in three days.
└ Honestly, unless you’re someone who cleared the previous highest floor over a year ago, it’s impossible anyway.
– I’m already dreading what happens in three months.
└ 100% agree. Wonder how many national capitals will disappear….

Clear the highest floor within three months?
How on earth?
It made no sense.
Just as the whole world began to feel the dread sinking in.
Word came from Korea.

[Korea: Anonymous Awakener Successfully Clears Tower of Chaos Floor 62!]
[Korea: Anonymous Awakener Successfully Clears Tower of Chaos Floor 63!]

– Wait, what’s going on with that country?
└ That anonymous Awakener is the Manager, isn’t it?
└ Ah…. That makes sense now.
– I’m so jealous.
– How does anyone clear two floors in a single day?
└ People have been talking about this for a while, but nobody actually knows. Probably something to do with their job, I’d guess.

Two floors in a single day?
Of course that was stunning.
But what was truly astonishing was something else.

– The fact that they cleared consecutive top-tier floors is what really blows my mind.
– Exactly. Floors 62 and 63 are basically around floor 70 by the old tower standards….
└ And doing two floors in a single day, no less? Hardly human.
– If only we had a Manager….
– Or failing that, just one weapon.
– They’ve even frozen new Commissions….

This hunger for weapons was different from mere greed. It ran deeper.
Now….
If we don’t clear it within three months, the nation collapses.
As desperation seized them all,
a post appeared on the Awakener Network.

[Accepting weapon commissions. For now, coordinate terms with the Korea Awakener Management Bureau. – Manager]

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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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