The Automatic Rooting Range Is Too Wide - Chapter 154

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Auto Looting Range Too Wide Episode 154

Episode 154: Far East Energy (2)

The ball of his foot struck the ground like a pickaxe.

Crash-

The ground shattered around the point where his foot landed. A pit was carved out as if trampled by a giant.

The surroundings fell silent at the terrifying destructive power.

The Gakdeungjeong Awakened who witnessed Mincheol’s kick up close froze completely.

Splat-

Suddenly, the tip of the man’s nose split slightly and blood trickled down.

It was a wound caused by Mincheol’s kick grazing him.

“…Hah, hah!”

The man collapsed to the ground.

He trembled as he frantically patted his body with both hands.

“Am, am I alive?”

Mincheol had no intention of attacking the man from the start. Even his kick just now had been deliberately missed.

This place was reality, not the Tower.

It would be a disaster if he struck someone with full force and they died.

Moreover, his opponent was affiliated with Gakdeungjeong. He didn’t know what would happen if he killed him.

“Don’t act up. Not if you don’t want to die.”

Mincheol looked down at the man and returned the exact words he had heard.

The man looked up at Mincheol with terror-stricken eyes.

“How about stopping there?”

Just then, a voice came from the Gakdeungjeong side.

Mincheol raised his head to look at the speaker.

A small-framed woman was staring in his direction.

“If we go any further from here, we’ll both have no choice but to go all the way.”

Her hair was cut so short it looked like looking at a sea urchin.

Mincheol couldn’t take his eyes off the woman.

It wasn’t because of her distinctive hairstyle.

Among the Awakened here, only this woman was on a different level.

It was as if an enormous power had taken human form.

‘Why didn’t I know someone like this existed until now?’

What was even more bewildering was the fact that Mincheol hadn’t realized it until the woman spoke to him.

It meant she could perfectly conceal her presence.

Perhaps she was much stronger than Mincheol had assessed.

Then, the woman approached Mincheol.

Mincheol remained wary of the woman, preparing for any possibility.

But the woman did something unexpected.

“I’ll make sure to apologize for the rudeness committed by our side. Our actions were excessive.”

She apologized to Mincheol.

Though she didn’t bow her head, it was clearly an apology.

The large guild Gakdeungjeong had yielded to the unaffiliated Mincheol.

“So, may I take that person away?”

Having received an apology first, there was nothing to gain by being more stubborn.

“Do as you please.”

When the woman gestured, two Gakdeungjeong Awakened grabbed the man’s arms and lifted him up.

“Thank you for being so accommodating. Then let’s both do our best until the experiment ends.”

Saying this, the woman turned around.

The Gakdeungjeong Awakened left the area.

“Do you know who she is?”

As soon as she left, Mincheol asked Park Du-nam.

“Her name is Lee Min-yeong. She’s a Grandmaster of Gakdeungjeong.”

Grandmaster.

Originally, it was a term meaning someone with such exceptional skill in Go or chess that they could hardly find a worthy opponent.

In modern times, its usage had changed.

Among mid-tier Awakened, those who stood out were called Grandmasters.

‘A Grandmaster…’

Mid-tier Awakened were at the stage called designated superhumans.

And among them, an Awakened with exceptional skills.

He couldn’t even dare to guess how strong she might be.

‘More importantly, this newly acquired trait is incredibly useful.’

Mincheol recalled his movements from earlier.

He had blocked all the attacks unleashed by the Gakdeungjeong Awakened using only kicks.

Even more precisely, by kicking only their wrists.

‘To think enhanced senses could achieve this much.’

Due to the Super Soldier trait, all of Mincheol’s senses were currently enhanced by about 50%.

All his senses were sharp as if honed by a whetstone. With some exaggeration, it felt like being reborn.

Suddenly, Mincheol felt gazes directed at him.

Other Awakened were looking at Mincheol with shocked expressions.

‘Hmm, they all watched, so now they know, right? That I’m not the crazy murderer from the rumors?’

He hadn’t fallen for provocation, hadn’t attacked first, and hadn’t even killed anyone.

He had merely defended himself.

So Mincheol secretly hoped that the misunderstandings about him would be cleared.

But Mincheol didn’t know.

“…Did you see that? Just because someone picked a fight, he almost tried to kill a Gakdeungjeong Awakened.”

“He really is a crazy bastard like the rumors say… We absolutely must not mess with him.”

“I need to tell the other guys when I get back. To avoid the guy in the black mask at all costs.”

That far from being cleared, the misunderstandings were deepening even more.

* * *

“Kim Eun-ae.”

When they had gotten sufficiently far from the Butcher, Lee Min-yeong called Kim Eun-ae.

“Yes.”

Kim Eun-ae obediently ran to Lee Min-yeong’s side.

Lee Min-yeong was their leader and a mid-tier Awakened.

No one would disobey her words.

“I heard you fought the Butcher last time and were defeated. How would you compare the Butcher’s strength then and now?”

“…He’s become much stronger.”

“Much stronger?”

“Back then, I was able to match the Butcher. But the Awakened I met today… defeated Kim Won-hun one-sidedly.”

Comparing Kim Eun-ae and Kim Won-hun, Kim Eun-ae was naturally stronger.

But it wasn’t overwhelmingly so. If they fought each other, Kim Eun-ae would have to give her all.

And the Butcher had overwhelmed Kim Won-hun.

“I believe it hasn’t even been a month since the event battle. To become this strong in that time…”

Lee Min-yeong fell into thought for a moment.

Then, Kim Won-hun said through gritted teeth.

“I can win if we fight again!”

Lee Min-yeong didn’t even look at him as she spoke.

“That would be difficult.”

“No, no! I can win!”

“Do you know what I hate more than losers? Idiots who can’t accept defeat.”

Lee Min-yeong only turned her head to look back.

Her eyes glinted coldly.

“It seems our junior Won-hun wants to earn my hatred?”

Kim Won-hun couldn’t respond at all and kept his mouth tightly shut.

“I quite like that you realize your mistake early.”

Lee Min-yeong turned to face forward again. And she thought about the Butcher once more.

‘No matter how I think about it, I can’t believe he’s unaffiliated.’

There were often cases where unaffiliated Awakened gained opportunities in the Tower and became stronger.

But opportunities wouldn’t be called opportunities for nothing. They’re called opportunities because they might come once in a lifetime, if at all.

That’s why unaffiliated Awakened inevitably became weaker than guild-affiliated Awakened.

But the Butcher had returned not weaker, but much stronger.

‘He must be receiving support from somewhere.’

However, to raise an Awakened of this caliber, large-scale funding would have to be involved.

But when Gakdeungjeong’s upper management investigated, there were no such movements visible in the industry at all.

‘What’s even more amazing… was that talent.’

Stats could be raised as much as needed by mobilizing Tower items.

Skills and items were the same. They could be obtained and provided indefinitely.

But handling those things was entirely in the realm of talent.

The Butcher was handling everything he had obtained perfectly.

Even Lee Min-yeong, who had met countless Awakened as a mid-tier Awakened, had rarely seen talent of this level.

‘To put it simply… he’s comparable to Baek-ryul and Go Dan-hae.’

The more she thought about it, the more fascinating this person became.

‘Perhaps Gakdeungjeong’s defeat to the Butcher might not become a blemish after all.’

Right now everyone was only interested in the fact that the Butcher was unaffiliated, but that would change with more time.

The Butcher would surely transform into a powerhouse someday.

* * *

As more time passed, all the Awakened who had agreed to participate arrived.

“Oh my, hello. I’m Park Gu-chil, a manager at East Asia Energy Company.”

A middle-aged man spoke to the gathered Awakened.

“I’m nothing but grateful that you’ve taken on our headquarters’ request. As you all know, the request is to protect the building from outsiders until the test ends.”

Manager Park wiped his forehead with a handkerchief as he spoke.

It seemed like this was probably his first time facing so many Awakened.

“Upon successful completion of the request, 100 million won will be paid to each individual. Good deed points will also be separately provided by the Tower.”

The Awakened’s expressions brightened at the mention of 100 million.

Mincheol’s expression also brightened. Even with Auto Looting, money was something where more was always better, wasn’t it?

‘Well, my purpose is the good deed points, so the money doesn’t matter.’

Moreover, according to what he had confirmed with Park Du-nam, solving this request would earn him quite a decent amount of good deed points.

It was much better than solving multiple emergency quests.

‘But if it’s 100 million per person, the company will have to spend a lot of money.’

Mincheol scanned through the Awakened gathered at the site.

Even roughly counting, there were over 20 people. It meant they were burning 2 billion won on this request alone.

“This test must be really important, right? Seeing how they’re spending over 2 billion on security.”

Mincheol whispered to Park Du-nam.

“Huh? No. 2 billion is a small amount. It’s only cheap because only low-tier Awakened are gathered here.”

“This is considered cheap?”

“For really important experiments, they have to call mid-tier Awakened. Then it costs tens of billions per person.”

Tens of billions.

From Mincheol’s perspective with Auto Looting, it was money he could collect in just a few days.

However, companies wouldn’t hire just one mid-tier Awakened.

To think this much cost was involved in hiring security just once.

Mincheol newly realized how massive the Awakened industry was.

“Then we need to choose a leader… we’re thinking of going with Awakened Lee Min-yeong from Gakdeungjeong. Does anyone have other opinions?”

Naturally, not a single person voiced an opinion.

Considering Lee Min-yeong’s skills and reputation, it was only natural.

“My shoulders feel heavy taking on such an important position.”

Lee Min-yeong stepped forward and spoke to the Awakened.

Of course, contrary to her words, her face remained expressionless.

“Actually, I arrived early and observed all of you. I think it would be good to assign areas like this.”

Lee Min-yeong took out a pen from her inventory and began drawing something in the air.

Yellow lines drew out a blueprint of the factory.

Lee Min-yeong wrote not only the blueprint but also the names of the Awakened who would be assigned to each area.

“Anyone with complaints?”

No one voiced any complaints.

Lee Min-yeong clapped her hands and said.

“Then the experiment will start soon, so let’s each move to our positions.”

* * *

The place Mincheol and Park Du-nam were assigned was the rooftop.

The two of them weren’t the only ones assigned to the rooftop.

Kim Eun-ae.

She, a promising talent from Gakdeungjeong, was also assigned to handle the rooftop.

“…”

Kim Eun-ae glared at the two with a displeased expression.

She didn’t seem to be in the mood to build rapport.

She had no intention of doing so in the first place anyway.

“It seems like we both got on Lee Min-yeong’s bad side pretty badly.”

Park Du-nam whispered to Mincheol.

“Why do you think that?”

“It’s the rooftop. There’s no place to rest, and we have to monitor everything around us, so it’s just tiring.”

“I wonder.”

Mincheol didn’t agree with Park Du-nam’s opinion.

Both Mincheol and Kim Eun-ae specialized in long-range attacks.

In that sense, he thought being placed on the rooftop was an appropriate personnel decision.

Park Du-nam probably came along because he was teamed with Mincheol.

‘Above all, she didn’t seem like someone who would torment others with personal feelings.’

Mincheol recalled Lee Min-yeong.

He had only seen her once, but she didn’t seem like such a petty person.

Oh, Older Brother. Would you like some drinks?”

“Drinks?”

“Teacher received them as gifts, and he said they’re drinks that can only be obtained in the Tower.”

Saying so, Park Du-nam tapped the air.

【’Romantic Adventurer’ has sent you Item Information. Will you accept?】

When he pressed accept, something appeared before his eyes.

【Ice Water】

-Grade: Special

-Description: Water refined by melting ice that settled on high altitude. Very refreshing.

Mincheol looked at the message with a fascinated expression.

It wasn’t the Ice Water that was fascinating.

“You could send Item Information too?”

“Yes, I understand you can send it directly to someone visible in front of you, or send it through the friends window.”

Indeed, the Tower’s system was more fascinating the more you learned about it.

Mincheol received a bottle of ice water from Park Du-nam and threw it to Kim Eun-ae.

“Catch.”

Kim Eun-ae was startled and caught the ice water.

She immediately frowned.

“…Why are you giving this to me?”

“We’re working together for a while, aren’t we? We can at least share this much.”

He knew their feelings toward each other weren’t good, but discriminating over food felt a bit uncomfortable.

“…Hmph.”

Kim Eun-ae also took something out of her inventory and threw it.

When he caught it, it was a thumb-sized chocolate.

“It’s expensive.”

That was the end of their conversation.

The three people silently consumed their food.

‘Forget about people approaching, I don’t see anyone at all.’

Mincheol chewed the chocolate thoughtfully while looking around.

Wherever he looked, he could only see yellow weeds swaying.

“Older Brother, you don’t need to be so on guard.”

Park Du-nam said while sipping his ice water.

“What do you mean?”

“Criminals rarely actually attack corporations. At most, petty thieves might come after hearing rumors.”

“Then there would be no reason for corporations to hire us, would there?”

“You never know, right? If they think carelessly and get their items stolen or experiments fail, they suffer massive losses. And since skills are so diverse, even petty thieves can’t be stopped by ordinary security.”

Park Du-nam crushed the empty bottle with his hand and put it in his inventory.

“So we just need to stand around appropriately, take our money, and leave.”

Hearing this, it was like the perfect part-time job.

Park Du-nam hadn’t recommended Mincheol for nothing.

In his own way, he wanted to introduce him to a good job.

‘Should I thank him separately later?’

Just as Mincheol was thinking this and turning his head.

He saw something between the thickets.

When he focused his gaze, he could see something like heat haze wavering.

It wasn’t just one or two. Even roughly counting, there were more than four.

Some of the heat haze had already reached near the factory.

“I’m completely ruined this time. Who would have known Goseong Electronics stock would drop 8% in just one day?”

“That’s why I told you to invest in American stocks like me. That’s much safer.”

In the direction the heat haze was heading, two Awakened were having a conversation.

His instincts rang alarm bells.

Mincheol immediately took out a hand axe from his inventory.

“Older Brother?”

Park Du-nam looked puzzled.

There was no time to explain.

Mincheol threw the hand axe toward the heat haze that had approached closest to the factory.

Thunk-

The flying hand axe stuck in mid-air. A scream burst out.

“Aaaahhh!”

The heat haze peeled away and an Unnamed Man appeared in mid-air. The hand axe was embedded in his back.

“What? What’s happening?”

“Enemies! Enemies have appeared!”

The Awakened in charge of security immediately drew their weapons.

“Damn, we’ve been discovered!”

“What do we do now?”

“What do you mean what do we do! Kill them all!”

With fierce shouts, Awakened revealed themselves from the thickets.

There were far more of them than Mincheol had identified.

“Hey, you said attacks rarely happen.”

“T-Teacher told me that…”

Mincheol sighed and took out a hand axe from his inventory.

Looking to the side, Kim Eun-ae was also generating flames.

‘My assigned role is rear support.’

Just throwing hand axes diligently from the rooftop could be considered doing his part.

That’s when it happened.

Thoom-

A heavy sound came from far away.

Mincheol cast his gaze a bit further.

Then some monster came into view.

A massive frame over 2 meters tall.

A grotesquely oversized muscular body.

And a shiny bald head.

“Huh?”

Mincheol’s face went blank for a moment.

“Butcher!”

The Bald Giant shouted.

“The thief who stole my muscles! I’ll never forgive you!”

A Class 2 criminal of the Tower.

Kang Ung-hyeok charged toward the factory.

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