You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 105

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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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105

 

 

 

 

“So you’re saying there are too many factories and that’s the problem?”

 

“Yes. With this facility expansion, our production rate has increased…”

 

Jin-woo brought up the topic as if he was perplexed.

 

It wasn’t unexpected.

 

I just hadn’t expected this timing to come so quickly.

 

The remaining forces of the religious order included quite a lot of factory facilities.

 

While absorbing those, Hanwoori was also going through a period of expansion.

 

Since product quantities were always insufficient, Hanwoori’s factory expansion was quite a reasonable decision.

 

In the past, low quantities would have been a marketing tool, but not now.

 

Hanwoori’s Spicy Stir-fried Noodles were popular not only domestically but also overseas, and even among the gods.

 

The quantities I ordered also played a part.

 

There was even a separate factory line dedicated to me, so that says it all.

 

Besides these situational reasons, Hanwoori’s expansion was a predetermined course.

 

Mergers and acquisitions were just external justification,

the real purpose was absorbing the religious order enterprises.

 

You might think there was no particular need for it to be Hanwoori,

but there was no reason it shouldn’t be Hanwoori either.

 

After all, you naturally favor your own.

 

Honestly speaking, it was bothersome.

 

Finding and verifying mid-sized companies capable of absorbing religious order forces, then dispatching people there…

When would I finish all that?

 

When you think about it, Hanwoori was Asin’s parent company and simultaneously its largest client.

 

Why did Hanwoori put forward Kim Jin-woo to establish Asin?

 

It was because of the supply of dungeon materials for product development.

 

New product development utilizing by-products from dungeons.

 

Food ingredients from the unknown world called dungeons.

That title alone could make consumers’ hearts race, but if it tasted good too?

It couldn’t help but be popular.

 

You could feel this through the indicator of by-product prices that skyrocketed at that time.

 

As soon as Hanwoori’s new products succeeded, by-product prices doubled.

 

Just doubled? Certain materials went up to four times the price, so that says it all.

 

Asin was the guild created for the stable supply of by-products.

 

Of course, my true feelings were different when I received the scouting offer.

 

Creating a guild meant bothersome administrative work,

but being a freelance Hunter had many restrictions.

 

The signing bonus wasn’t bad either, and there was a well-funded master like a younger sibling to handle the troublesome tasks.

Moreover, if it was a food company that produced the products I supplied to Golden Township…

 

If I had awakened the power of gold at that time,

Kim Jin-woo’s face would have been shining golden rather than ashen.

 

After that, with my rapid growth, the status of both Asin and Hanwoori rose sharply.

 

Through the partner contract, Hanwoori purchased the by-products secured by Asin’s Supply Team.

 

But problems arose from the merger and acquisition of religious order enterprises.

 

The scale of the religious order was larger than expected.

 

Other materials could be procured somehow, but by-products from dungeons had limitations.

 

Factory production had increased, but now the supply of dungeon by-products couldn’t keep up.

After all that expansion, we were about to close the factories.

 

That was the extent of Kim Jin-woo’s explanation.

 

“So, you want me to solve that?”

 

I looked at Kim Jin-woo with an incredulous expression.

 

“Yes!”

 

Kim Jin-woo answered brightly.

 

The kid was still so cheerful.

 

“What materials are causing problems?”

 

“There are only a few.”

 

The documents Kim Jin-woo handed over contained a list of materials that needed to be procured from dungeons.

 

‘Dungeon Pepper, this is used as an ingredient in Five Times Spicy Stir-fried Noodles…’

 

I slowly examined the list.

 

I thought it was mainly used only for ramen, but the variety was more diverse than expected, including dairy products, spices, and more.

 

“Can’t we mix regular spicy peppers with Dungeon Pepper?”

 

“If that were possible, I wouldn’t have needed to come find you, Elder Brother.”

 

Well, that makes sense too.

 

“Dungeon Pepper especially cannot be substituted. It only tastes spicy when you eat it, and the spiciness doesn’t cause stomach pain or digestive disorders. And…”

 

Jin-woo continued his explanation.

 

After listening to Jin-woo’s endless rapid-fire explanation, I opened my mouth.

 

“So what’s the conclusion?”

 

“Whether we stop production or not, it cannot be substituted.”

 

“Tsk.”

 

I clicked my tongue lightly.

 

‘Does he think I’m some kind of God of Agriculture or something?’

 

“Just go out for now, I’ll try to find a way.”

 

“Yes!”

 

His answer was cheerful until the very end.

 

As Kim Jin-woo left the room, I lit the Golden Incense.

 

***

 

A great plain reminiscent of the African Savanna.

 

As I set foot there, a pungent smell pierced my nose.

 

‘Even the air here is different.’

 

It wasn’t an unpleasant smell.

 

However, the environment here was dry and acrid air that seemed like it would register on the Scoville scale.

 

One might wonder if plants could grow in such a place, but what’s the point of saying that?

 

This is a dungeon.

 

The adaptability of creatures living in dungeons easily surpasses human imagination.

Though honestly, I did wonder what kind of evolution would be needed to choose such a place as a natural habitat.

 

On red soil that seemed to have chunks of capsaicin buried in it, green crops had taken root.

 

Dark purple peppers visible through the gaps in the green leaves.

 

I was now in the Crophil Great Plains, where Dungeon Peppers were said to grow naturally.

 

I carefully dug up a handful of red soil with my hand.

 

A subtle heat sensation was felt on the skin that touched the red soil.

 

‘I’d believe it if you told me this was actual capsaicin.’

 

I could guess that the heat sensation originated from the pain sensation of ‘spiciness.’

 

I bent down and picked one pepper.

 

This one also radiated heat from its surface.

 

I lightly pressed the skin with my fingertip.

Some juice oozed out slightly.

 

Unlike when I touched the red soil, my fingertip stung.

 

‘Interesting plant.’

 

For something grown in a dungeon, it was on the mild side.

 

After all, plants living in other dungeons were overflowing with bizarrely strange ones.

 

But what caught my attention was the mana mixed in the Dungeon Pepper’s juice.

 

When I opened my Fire Eyes, I could see it clearly.

 

The mana mixed in the Dungeon Pepper’s juice was making my skin sting.

 

And when all that mana evaporated, the pain sensation disappeared along with it.

 

‘So that’s how it produces such effects.’

 

The reason the spiciness was stronger but had no aftereffects was precisely because of this.

 

Human organs cannot digest mana.

 

So you only feel the spiciness while eating, and the pain disappears over time.

 

I quietly pulled out a book.

 

A book that gave off the atmosphere of a Korean ancient document.

 

This was the artifact I had purchased from Golden Fragrance yesterday.

 

The method I came up with to solve this problem was ‘agriculture’.

 

If plants that only grow wild in dungeons could be farmed outside dungeons,

stable material supply would become possible.

 

The theory sounds plausible.

 

There were attempts in Korea too.

There were attempts in Korea as well.

A very long time ago.

Now even such research and attempts have disappeared without a trace.

The reason is obvious.

Because they all failed.

You can tell just by looking at dungeon peppers, which are the only ones with any real possibility.

Their natural habitat is a place where Scoville units can be detected in the air, soil, and even groundwater.

What kind of lunatic would do something so crazy as to spray capsaicin inside a greenhouse.

Hanwoori would at least be able to mimic it somewhat.

 

But the problem is that the capsaicin pepper field created through such hardship has no mana.

 

Even for Hanwoori, hiring mages to inject mana into capsaicin fields wouldn’t be cost-effective.

 

Those gentlemen already have weak respiratory systems from being stuck in the Magic Tower doing research all day,

These are people who already have weak respiratory systems from being holed up in the mage tower doing nothing but research,

How many brave souls would there be willing to be put inside a capsaicin greenhouse that would make chemical warfare seem like nothing?

I’d be lucky if I don’t get hit by a fireball.

Fine, let’s say you survived a few fireballs and managed to set up your environment.

It means suffering.

 

Since I’m a Hunter, I just feel it as burning, but what if ordinary farmers entered this place?

Pain is meaning.

Since I’m a hunter, I can feel the heat, but what if an ordinary farmer came in here?

They will feel the burning agony of chemical weapons and lose consciousness.

You’d need to be at least the God of Agriculture to make this challenge worthwhile.

 

So I decided to do that insane thing.

 

Winning miracles at auction is my specialty, after all.

 

What kind of people are we?

But we’re also a people who have been farming for five thousand years.

 

In all that history, wouldn’t the Korean Peninsula have produced at least one God of Agriculture?

 

While searching through the Golden Fragrance auction house, I came across one ancient book.

 

An agricultural manual written by gods from the Korean Peninsula.

 

「Farming Instructions Revised Edition」

 

I slowly opened the book.

 

***

“Nongsajikseol Revised Edition”

I slowly opened the book.

***

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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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