Mr. Kim Strikes It Rich with Auto-Hunting [Novel] Chapter 12

What should you do when a little girl is holding a hammer?

The correct answer.

Watch quietly.

Shouldn’t you take it away because it’s dangerous?

How could I take it?

She might not look it, but she’s a high-grade laborer.

“Hehe! Nice materials! Rani’s gonna make you look pretty!”

Look at that.

Clutching the armored turtle shell and core tightly against herself.

Anyone could tell she was a crafting laborer.

Her name?

——-

[Laborer Resume]

Name: Rani / High-Grade

Specialty: Item Crafting

Daily Wage: 10 Low-Grade Magic Stones

——-

Rani.

A whole high-grade.

The exact same grade as Arthur.

Her daily wage was…

Hm.

More than double Arthur’s.

The older guys at the site were right after all.

A technical skill really is the future, yeah…

“Ar-thur, sword? Possible?”

“A sword? Yep, yep! Rani can make anything!”

“Good!”

“Just bring Rani the materials!”

“Ma, terials…? What that?”

“If you don’t have materials, Rani can’t make it either!”

Was it because they were both high-grade?

Unlike with Robin, they became fast friends.

Still…

“Rani? As long as you have the materials, can you really make a sword Arthur can use?”

He was high-grade, so his standards would be high.

The sword he originally used had to be pretty decent, too.

“Yep! Want me to make a sword for the Director too? Rani can do it!”

“Ar-thur yield! Boss, first!”

“No thanks… What would I even use a sword for?”

“Ar-thur, first!”

Right…

You take it.

No matter how much I looked at her, though, nothing added up.

Her height, her face, the way she spoke.

She was a child through and through…

And she could forge a sword Arthur could actually use?

Look at that.

The hard hat was so big on her that her head practically sank into it.

All the while, she kept that hammer gripped tightly in her hand.

“Ugh… This is Rani’s……”

No, no.

I’m not taking your hammer.

I was just looking.

Well, whatever.

She could make swords, at any rate.

Could she make other things too?

I gave it a shot and asked.

“A super strong sword! Super tough armor! And… whatever the Director needs! Just say the word and Rani can make it!”

“Whatever I need?”

“Yep! Rani will make it all!”

Come on.

A kid was still a kid.

Claiming she’d make whatever I needed without even knowing what that was…

Besides.

“Can’t you not make anything right now anyway? You don’t have enough materials.”

“True… But they’re such good materials!”

The Armored Turtle Shell Fragments, and the core.

She called them great materials.

Well, of course they were!

They dropped from a Monthly Boss, for crying out loud.

The issue was…

She didn’t have enough of them.

“You said you need at least two or three, right?”

“Yep!”

“Hrmmm…”

Two or three.

I could gather them eventually, sure…

Right now, I had none.

What to do.

Specialty: Item Crafting.

Without materials, wouldn’t she be completely useless?

Hm…

Would she join if I coaxed her into the fixed team?

Once I gathered materials, I’d want to call her again.

Alright.

Let’s at least ask.

“Well, for today—”

“Ugh…”

What now?

I haven’t even said anything yet.

Why was she already tearing up?

Wondering what she was staring at, I looked over.

Her eyes were glued to the turtle shell and core.

“You… you said you’d give them to me! You said you’d let Rani use them…!”

Uh-oh.

Now real tears were welling up in her eyes.

Wait…

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t…”

It wasn’t like I could use them anyway.

I nudged them toward her, and her face broke into a broad grin again.

When I pulled them back—

“Ugh…”

The tears threatened to spill once more.

What was with her?

Her mood swung back and forth in a split second.

“Now she feels like a high-grade.”

Up until now, I’d seen two laborers at high-grade or above.

Arthur, a foreign laborer who was the spitting image of a seasoned day worker.

Robin, the ultimate embodiment of laziness.

Compared to them, a little girl with light pink hair swinging a hammer felt a bit underwhelming…

Sure enough.

That familiar feeling.

This was what a high-grade laborer was like.

In the end, we reached an agreement.

The Monthly Boss materials would wait for the next opportunity.

For today?

“I’ll pull out everything in my inventory, so just make whatever you can.”

Since she was already here, I had to see her skills in action.

I opened my inventory right away and emptied it out.

As for Rani?

“Yay! Awesome!”

She skipped over with a cheerful giggle.

Then she saw what was inside and fell silent.

“……”

Sorry.

I didn’t know either.

I had no clue my inventory was filled with junk items like bundles of spider silk, chipped wolf teeth, wolf pelts…

Well, yeah.

I hadn’t farmed them myself.

The other laborers had brought them back and dumped them in, so…

Still, could anything even be made from that stuff…?

“Director, is there anything you need?”

“Hm…”

Something I need.

That was tricky.

It wasn’t like I was climbing the tower.

If I had to name something…

“Ah, my Commission Points are climbing so slowly. I’d love it if they went up way faster.”

“Commission Points?”

Well.

An item that boosted Commission Points probably didn’t exist.

Even if it did, expecting one out of random trash was absurd.

“Just saying, since you asked what I needed…”

Saying it out loud felt embarrassing enough.

“Hrmmm.”

Oh boy.

She was actually pondering it seriously.

I’m not a scumbag…

It was really just a joke, so just make whatever.

“Director! Can Rani use magic stones too?”

Phew.

Deliberation over.

Magic stones were no problem.

“Sure. Use them if you need them.”

The moment I gave the okay—

“Hmph! Rani will give it a shot!”

Tightly clenching her small fists, she gathered the materials and headed off into a corner.

Right after that.

Clang, bang, clang, bang.

A cheerful rhythm rang out.

Could she actually craft a proper item out of that?

No way.

High-grade or not.

Come on, really…?

“Ta-da!”

Crazy.

She actually made something.

“Gloves? Wait, how did you get gloves out of those materials?”

“Rani worked really hard!”

Right…

Anyone could tell she’d put her all into it.

How were the stats, though?

Let’s take a look.

[Spider-Silk Woven Wolfskin Gloves]

– The work of a highly skilled artisan.

– Sturdy and comfortable to wear.

– Increases attack power when equipped.

Excuse me?

Wait, so…

They were sturdy, comfortable, and raised attack power to boot?

“Rani, are you sure you’re a crafting laborer and not a mage?”

How did she make something like this out of junk?

“Pretty great, huh!”

“Yeah…”

I touched them.

Oh…

Soft, yet remarkably tough.

How was this possible?

Truly fascinating.

“Good?”

Arthur was satisfied too.

However.

“Ar-thur, hand. This, better!”

He said the ones he was currently wearing were better.

Well, sure.

The materials for this were far too meager.

What should I do then?

I had no use for them myself…

“Director! Let’s sell that and buy other materials!”

Sell it?

Rani, are you a genius?

Farming materials yourself was ideal, of course.

Still, out of curiosity, let’s put them up.

[Item Trading]

I entered the section and hit sell.

What about the price?

I didn’t know the market rate…

Let’s just let the buyers figure it out.

Put it up for auction.

As for the minimum bid…

“We should at least be able to get twenty magic stones, right? Factoring in Rani’s labor costs!”

“That’s right! Rani worked super hard!”

“See!”

Set to twenty magic stones.

Once I closed it, the auction would handle itself.

Right as I closed AwakenedNet—

“Ta-da, I made this too!”

Huh?

Rani was holding something else out.

What was this?

I glanced over.

[2x Commission Point Scroll (Single-Use)]

Huh?

What????

Double Commission Points.

Truthfully, I’d just thrown that out as a passing thought…

And it actually worked?

[2x Commission Point Scroll (Single-Use)]

Granted, being single-use was a drawback.

Even so.

“Wait, you can make that out of those materials?”

“I used a few magic stones…”

Aha.

Right, she did say she’d use magic stones.

If using a few magic stones doubled Commission Points, that was an insane bargain, wasn’t it?

“How many?”

“Fifty!”

Did I mishear?

Did she just say fifty…?

Wait.

You said just a few…

“Around fifty… A-and! It’s because we didn’t have materials right now!”

Must have shown on my face.

She immediately began reading the room.

“No, it’s fine.”

She was a high-grade, so she could have a lavish hand.

Yeah…

Besides, it wasn’t like this hurt me.

Think of all the low-grade magic stones piled up from daily commissions and dungeon runs.

“Double Commission Points for a million won…”

No.

No matter how I looked at it, that was pricey.

Pricey, yes, but not out of reach…

Ultimately, only one answer remained.

“Rani, if we have other materials, does this use fewer magic stones?”

“Yep! That’s right! If you give me lots of materials, we don’t even need magic stones! And if you give me better materials, Rani can increase the number of uses too!”

Insane.

This kid really was incredible.

The more I heard, the more intrigued I got.

She was practically turning garbage into items.

In that case…

What if she crafted with truly high-grade materials?

Especially materials from a Monthly Boss?

Alright, decided.

“Rani, want to join my fixed team?”

A card I would regret losing no matter what.

Without overthinking, I threw a straight pitch.

First meeting.

We’d barely even talked.

She’d probably decline at first.

Phew.

I was wondering what I should use to coax her, when—

“Okay!”

Huh?

That easily?

Why?

“Director! You didn’t scold Rani even when I used magic stones! And it looks like you’ll give me lots of materials! Rani loves making items with good materials more than anything in the world!”

[Registered to the Fixed Team.]

[Rani (High-Grade)]

Ha.

Was it just my imagination?

The person in front of me seemed to be glowing.

Right.

What did a little moodiness matter!

Rani was entitled to it!

“Just trust me! I’ll get you lots of great materials!”

“Director, you’re the best!”

Of course, I wouldn’t be the one gathering them…

The other folks would.

For now, okay.

That secured her spot on the fixed team.

I wanted to give her a little token of appreciation, though…

Arthur liked coffee.

Robin liked meat.

What would Rani like?

Something sweet, since she was a kid?

“Ah, right.”

There was candy in my pocket from the restaurant at lunch.

I reached in and pulled it out.

Ah…

Scorched rice candy.

Did kids even eat this stuff?

I didn’t think I ate it back in my day…

Yeah.

This was a bit much.

Just as I was about to put it back away—

“What that?!”

“Hey… Arthur, this isn’t for you. You got coffee.”

“Then is it Rani’s?”

Her eyes sparkled.

I couldn’t exactly not give it to her now.

Let’s just give it a shot.

If it tasted bad…

I’d just get her something else next time.

Without much expectation, I unwrapped it and handed it over.

“What is this?! Rani’s never had anything like this before! My mouth is dancing!”

Huh.

Her reaction was way better than expected.

If scorched rice candy got that kind of response, real fruit candy would probably make her cry.

“Boss? What about Ar-thur? None?”

“It’s Rani’s!”

Uh…

What kind of lives did you guys lead…?

Alright.

Don’t fight.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll keep candy ready too.

*

The next day.

“Director! Rani’s here!”

“Ar-thur here too!”

“……”

Rani, Arthur, and Robin were all summoned at once.

For now, Rani was on standby.

As for the rest.

“…A-grade?”

“Yeah. Figured the two of you, Robin and Arthur, would be enough.”

The target was an A-grade dungeon.

Information gathered so far:

The higher the dungeon grade, the more Commission Points it yielded.

D-grade gave 100, F-grade gave 30.

What about C-grade?

That went all the way up to 200.

The disappointing part was that I’d never been to a B-grade or above.

No commissions had come in for them.

Out of nowhere today, an A-grade dungeon commission popped up.

No way I was passing this up.

Just in case, I even called in Robin, so there were zero worries.

[2x Commission Point Scroll (Single-Use)]

Taking on an A-grade dungeon for the first time.

What if I stacked a 2x scroll on top of that?

The rewards.

My mouth was watering already.

So, let’s do this.

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Dungeon

Arthur and Robin set off.