Laborer Mr. Kim Reaps Sweet Rewards with Auto-Hunting - Chapter 83

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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 83

Beep-beep, beep-beep-beep!
Yun Ha-jun’s eyes opened at the cheerful alarm that greeted the morning.

“Mm….”

Morning already.
Ugh.
Time to get up.
His eyes were barely open, but his mind was still foggy.
Still, work had to be done.

“Gather the Fixed Team.”

Everyone?
From Arthur to Yeo Hae, all of them.

“Boss! That’s great! It’s morning!”
“Hey—! Rani’s here!”
“At your service! Upper-tier Worker Yeo Hae reporting for duty at the Manager’s call!”
“Hah… you all have so much energy this early. It’s good to see.”

Yeah, seriously.
Sleep just vanishes.
That’s right.
This is the feeling.
When the house is quiet now, it feels empty.
Anyway.

“Today we’ll breeze through Floor 70 and then take a break.”

That was the original plan.
Take it slow first.
Approach Floor 70 at our own pace.
That’s what I thought, but now I’ve changed my mind.

“Given that the Japanese contacted China, it doesn’t look like they’ll stay quiet. I think we should clear Floor 70 cleanly before that happens.”

No point in putting it off, right?
We’ll have to clear it eventually anyway.

“What do you think?”

A rapid-fire plan delivered straight from the morning.
The workers’ reaction was—

“Okay! Arthur’s with the boss! Floor 70? We’ll be done in no time!”
“This mage’s Blue Flame Dragon is always ready, I assure you.”
“…Yeah.”
“Upper-tier Worker Yeo Hae! I will follow your command!”

All in.
Nice.
These are our workers, after all.

“All right then. Everyone, let’s get ready.”
“Roger that! Everyone focus! Gather following Arthur’s lead!”

That’s right.
You’ll get hurt if you move without warming up your body properly.
Just a quick warm-up!
Even calling out encouragement as you do it.

“In the meantime, I should take a look at this once.”

[Chaos Tower, Clearance Strategy Floors 61–69]

Ranked number one in the United States.
A clearance strategy created by Ralph Carter.
It ends right at Floor 69.
Floor 70?

——-
※ Warning: From Floor 70 onward, everything is completely different from before. We recommend you make full preparations before attempting. The monster on Floor 70, the Vampire Lord Malinu, is surprisingly a monster with intelligence that can speak like a human. Its presence is, of course, the strongest one so far—.
——-

Hmm, so that’s how it is.
How badly they were beaten.
The warning is longer than a decent clearance guide.

[By all means, bring an emergency escape scroll.]
[If things don’t look good, don’t hesitate—run.]
And so on….

“His clearance strategy for Floors 61 to 69 wasn’t written like this at all.”

Ralph Carter.
I haven’t met him yet.
But I have a rough idea of what kind of person he is.
He’s far too famous not to.

“Without his confidence, he’d be dead—so the strategy had exactly that kind of feel to it.”

This place is easy.
It’s simple if you do it like this.
Just looking at how casually those kinds of remarks pepper the guide….

“If someone like that would issue warnings this severe, it must have been quite the ordeal.”

Well.
It must be difficult.
Floor 70 wouldn’t be just anything, after all.

[Notification: Ralph Carter (United States) advances to Floor 70 of the Chaos Tower for the first time.]
[The world begins to change.]

If they said the world would change, it must be significant.
There’s definitely something different about it.
Most notably, this.

[The Vampire Lord Malinu is surprisingly a monster with intelligence that can speak like a human.]

Ralph saw it for the first time.
But….
We’ve seen plenty of monsters like that.
It’s not quite surprising enough to warrant that reaction.

“Difficulty level, sure.”

Won’t know until we try, but there’s no real cause for worry.

“Safety! Good! Good! Good!”

Our workers, shouting the rally cry.
Three at the Highest Rank, one at Upper-tier.
Floor 70 or not—
Can those things beat us?

“Boss! Ready to go!”
“Okay. Opening the gate now.”

Let’s make this nice and smooth.

* * *

Floor 70 of the Chaos Tower.
Where forest and ancient castle blend together like a scene from a film.

“Haaagh—.”

The master of Floor 70 yawned, his jaw cracking wide open.

“Boring.”

His name: Vampire Lord Malinu.
His task on Floor 70?
A gatekeeper to sift the wheat from the chaff.
A filter of sorts.
Pass through and move on?
You earn the right to climb higher.

“Though it’s hardly likely anyone will.”

The ones ascending Floor 70 now—what would they be…
Most would be no better than that yellow-haired wretch he’d seen not long ago.
Trembling vermin at a glance.
No.
If they just trembled, that’d be mercy.
Touch them and they’d soil themselves outright.

“Damn, if I’d known they wouldn’t come for this long, I would’ve eaten back then.”

He’d considered devouring them on the spot.
But he’d held back.
They’d return soon enough anyway.

“Now that I think of it, those axes and armor they were carrying looked quality—surprisingly well-suited.”

Hmm.
Equipped with gear like that?
That’s harder to judge.
They might just climb near the passing mark.
Then I’ll have to eat them.
That’d be delicious.

Whoooosh—!

As he’d been swallowing hard for some time now, a low sound rang out quietly.
Malinu smiled with satisfaction.

“Heh heh, fresh prey has finally arrived.”

The domain suddenly trembled.
There was only one cause.
A Gate was opening.

“Who could it be?”

That yellow-haired one from before?
Or someone new?
Well.
Any pest would do.
The outcome would be the same anyway.

“Good timing—I was getting hungry.”

This time, no matter who it was, I’d have to eat.
Should I head out right now?

“It’s only polite to greet a guest properly.”

Humming a tune, he dashed forward in a burst of speed.
Within moments, he’d reached the entrance.
Soon the prey would come tumbling out.

“Ah.”

If he stayed in plain sight, it wouldn’t work.
If they tried to run away in there, he’d never catch them.
Better climb a tree first.
Whoosh.
Hide up there, then surprise them from behind.

“Heh heh.”

Eagerly, he watched the Gate.
Whoosh!
Light flashed brilliantly as someone emerged.

“Alright, everyone follow Arthur! Gather around before we head out! We’re doing a briefing!”

Yellow hair again.
But—

“What… what is this… How can he be so strong…?”

This one just climbed to Floor 70?
Impossible.
And that wasn’t even one person.
Why?
The rule was only one person could enter at a time…

“One, two, three… four…”

A situation that defied all logic.
Malinu’s expression began to harden.
The ones spilling out of the Gate.
Four in total.
You could sense it at a glance.
All of them possessed strength comparable to Malinu.
But four of them?
No.

“This is cheating.”

Malinu’s role was essentially a filter.
At this level?
Filter nothing.
The filter would burst wide open.

This won’t do.
There’s no way through this.
Especially not in such an exposed place as this.
I need to flee to the castle first—
Buy as much time as possible.
My plan was already falling apart—

Whish!

“Insane….”

An arrow, fired out of nowhere?
Had they known all along?
The Vampire Lord’s Concealment—they’d detected it?

Crunch!

“Where do you think you’re going?”

No.
When did this old man get here?!

“Upper-tier Worker Yeo Hae standing by! Firing at once!”

Damn it, you madman.
That’s a cannon—!

* * *

“My, they’re all quite formidable, aren’t they?”

Upper-tier Worker Yeo Hae.
The man known as a rookie marveled as he surveyed the battlefield.

“The bat bastard—weak! Arthur, your fangs won’t penetrate!”
“Heh, how does this mage’s Blue Flame Dragon taste?”

Arthur the Worker—peculiar manner of speech.
Unjang the Worker—calling himself a mage.
They all looked touched in the head, yet….
Their combat ability was astounding.

Bang! Crash!

And then.
Robin the Worker, quietly nocking arrows without pause.
Monstrous people, even though they were on the same side.
What about the vampire lord on the other side?

Clang!

He grits his teeth and blocks, but he’s clearly reaching his limit.
Blood streams from the corner of his mouth.

“These monsters!”

Fair point.

“So that’s highest rank…. It really is different.”

Highest rank versus upper-tier.
Just one grade apart.
Yet the gap widens more and more with each exchange.
Especially now.
Facing stronger enemies here on Floor 70, I feel it even more keenly.
If Yeo Hae were alone?
Well….
He might have struggled.

“Still, soon enough I’ll be able to catch up.”

What the Manager said not long ago.

[If you overcome your trauma, your rank goes up — why don’t you try it?]

There’s a way?
Then I’ll do whatever it takes.
A mere trauma like that — I can overcome it easily enough.
That’s what I told myself, and I’ve been pushing hard.

Every day, deployed to Pyongyang.
Dunking my whole head in the sea.
After a few days of that, I started to feel something.
How do I put it.
Like I’m almost there?

“If I just had some kind of trigger….”

The trouble is.
I have no idea what that trigger might be.

“Shin-ip! What are you doing? Fire now!”

Well.
I’ll figure it out soon enough.
With reliable teammates like these.
For now, it’s time to work.

“Yes! Understood!”

Upper-tier worker Yeo Hae.
Weak compared to those of highest rank, sure.
But that doesn’t mean I can just sit idle.

“Going in!”

* * *

[※ Warning: From Floor 70 onward, conditions are entirely different from what you’ve faced. We recommend preparing thoroughly before attempting.]

“Hmm….”

That’s all there was to it?

[Chaos Tower Floor 70 Conquest Success!]
[Level increased.]

The Vampire Lord, Malinu.
Dead without landing a single blow?

[Clear Time – 00:17:44]
[World Record Achieved!]
[Bonus Reward – Chaos Key Fragment]

And in just seventeen minutes at that.
At this rate.

“We were actually faster than Floor 69?”
“A vampire? That bastard let his guard down!”
“Is that so?”

Why did that happen.
Our workers.
Three of them at the highest rank….
And he got careless facing that much power.
Well, thanks to him we basically coasted through — pretty sweet if you ask me.
And more than that.

[The Chaos Key is now complete.]

Excellent.
The key is finally complete.

[Chaos Key]
– S-rank Chaos Key. Can open something.

Definitely S-rank, as expected.
Climbing one step at a time until now.

“The next one will be the tier above this, then.”

S-rank dungeons are already grueling with hefty rewards, so what about the tier above?
What kind of rewards could that possibly offer.
I’m already looking forward to it….
First things first.

“Everyone’s worked hard. Shall we take a break for now?”

S-rank or not, whatever tier comes next.
We can’t go right away anyway.
I figured we’d rest today.

“Manager. There’s something urgent I need to tell you.”

Hm?

* * *

“So you’re saying Japan has already made a move?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Ugh, I was hoping for some rest, but they couldn’t wait a single moment.”
“Apparently the United States even asked the Awakening Management Bureau to ask you to exercise restraint, sir.”

What?
Me? Why?
I haven’t done anything!
Treating me like I’m some kind of wild animal.
They won’t hear it, but this is all a misunderstanding.
I know how to hold back.
But.
My workers? They don’t hold back.

“What do you think we should do about Japan, sir?”
“Manager, this old mage must speak plainly. You gave them more than enough opportunity, and yet they scheme behind your back? I believe we cannot allow this to stand.”
“Arthur agrees! A sound judgment!”
“Rani’s angry too! Time to teach them a lesson!”

Look at this.
Everyone’s fuming.
Well, they’re not wrong either.

“Then let’s vote. Those in favor of disciplining them, raise your hands.”

Snap!

Wow….
Unanimous.
Well, I have no choice then.

“The boss raised his hand too!”

Of course.
I can’t hold back either.

“Sir, we also received word from the contractors. They say preparations are complete.”
“Oh, is that so?”

Truth’s Eye, these people.
Every time I witness it.
Their work efficiency is absolutely incredible.
They’ve already finished the preparations?
Let me take a look.

[Worker Dispatch]
– Temporary Office (Truth’s Eye, Tokyo)

Excellent.
Spot-on work.
Even if it’s temporary, they threw up a proper office.
So we can move whenever we want.

“Now we just need to decide who goes.”

What about North Korea back then?
We moved all at once.
But that was different….
There were no cameras there, and few eyes watching.
But Japan will be different.
Photos would spread all over in a heartbeat.

“If we all move at once, we’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Does anyone have a better idea?”
“I’ll go and have a look, if I may.”
“You, Unjang?”

Not a bad option.
Unjang’s the best there is when it comes to this kind of work.
He’s already proven it twice over, hasn’t he?
Okay, decision made.
Bang, bang!
I was about to settle it when—

“Upper-tier Worker Yeo Hae, requesting permission to participate in this operation!”

Huh?
Yeo Hae too?

“Ha, I like that.”

When it comes to Japan, after all…
Fine.
Let’s go with these two.
I’m curious what kind of performance they’ll deliver this time.
We’ll just have to see.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————