Mr. Kim Strikes It Rich with Auto-Hunting [Novel] Chapter 25

A new laborer.

His name: Todd.

His current occupation?

“Teddy bear!”

Getting scooped up by Rani.

Whoa, whoa.

Now she was hugging him tightly against her chest.

“Kyaa! So fluffy!”

Yeah.

Looks like it….

Still, Rani.

Did you bother asking how the teddy bear on the receiving end feels about this…?

“Ahem, mind your manners, please. I am not a teddy bear.”

“Warthur thinks so too. Is teddy bear. True.”

“Right!”

What the hell?

That’s the issue to you?

You don’t mind getting hauled into the air?

“Good grief, what ill-mannered folk….”

Guess he doesn’t mind.

Still….

Well….

I also thought you looked like a teddy bear….

Can you blame me?

You’re literally a stuffed bear.

Look at you from the front or the back — a fluffy teddy bear.

Look at your height, too.

You don’t even reach halfway up Rani’s waist.

Even so, we had to finish the conversation we started.

“Rani, that’s enough. Put him down, quick.”

“Aww… My teddy bear….”

Whoa there.

That’s not just a teddy bear.

And he’s definitely not Rani’s.

Thankfully, she did let go.

“Teddy bear….”

Her eyes stayed locked on him, of course.

What are you, a wild beast tracking prey?

I had no idea she liked stuffed animals so much.

I’ll buy you a teddy bear next time.

A big one.

So just bear with it for now.

“Ahem… At any rate, to wrap up what I was saying. We ought to be receiving more, but right now, getting our proper price will be difficult. That is my point.”

This laborer was putting serious emphasis on getting the proper price.

*

Laborer Resume

Name: Todd / High-Grade

Specialty: Commerce

Daily Wage: 15 Low-Grade Magic Stones

*

Maybe because commerce was his specialty, just about every explanation sounded like a merchant’s pitch.

“Then what ought we to do?!”

“Warthur is curious!”

“Rani too!”

He had quite the silver tongue.

Look at that.

Those two were already captivated.

At this rate, he could sell them jade mats and they’d open their wallets.

Still, I was curious too.

So what should we do?

“For now, let us wait a few days and observe how the situation unfolds.”

Excuse me?

“It is not as if you can dispatch anyone this very moment anyway, can you? A highest-grade laborer surely comes with restrictions.”

“Well, that is true, but…”

[Summon Fixed Team]

– Robin (Highest-Grade): 02 days, 11 hours, 42 minutes until summonable

Two days left.

What’s going to change in that window?

“Every transaction has its proper moment. I, Todd, pledge my very name that I shall bring about a flawless deal, so put your faith in me.”

“Whoa….”

He pledged his name.

Insane.

Talk about dependable.

Is he really just a high-grade laborer?

“You’re way too different from the others….”

“Warthur was called?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind….”

Just stay healthy, you two.

Yeah….

Right.

Every now and then, it’s good to have a laborer like this around.

Just as I was about to nod in agreement…

“Magic stones, crafting materials, and even a Robin Hood’s Bow fragment… Just how massive a haul is that deal? It’s money, sweet money, ehehehe.”

Huh?

What did I just hear?

When I tilted my head and peeked over, total silence.

Did I mishear?

“No way.”

Right.

I knew something felt off.

There was no way a laborer could be this cleanly put together without a catch.

Arthur, Robin, Rani.

Every single one was dependable.

Yet they shared a single common thread.

Take our Arthur.

The moment he caught sight of coffee, his eyes rolled back….

Robin was all about meat and food.

Rani had crafting materials.

And now, a brand-new discovery:

she loved teddy bears….

So what about this teddy bear whose specialty was commerce?

Let’s test it out.

“Todd?”

“Yes, Director.”

Polite, crisp, and composed as ever.

I popped open my inventory and slipped out a low-grade magic stone—.

“…….”

Hm.

Completely unbothered.

Then what about a high-grade magic stone?

“Oh!”

His pupils darted back and forth, tracking the magic stone.

What if I put it in his paw?

“Ehehehe.”

He loved it….

So that’s your vice.

“Hehe!”

And there was Rani, overjoyed just watching a teddy bear be overjoyed at a high-grade magic stone.

What kind of circus is this…?

The moment I shook my head in disbelief—

“The teddy bear is so cute!”

Our Rani.

In the end, she couldn’t take it anymore and sprinted straight for him.

“Director? Director!”

The teddy bear called out in desperate distress…

Huh?

I don’t know anything.

Have fun playing together, you two….

*

China.

Over at the Central Awakened Management Bureau, the mood was downright festive.

“Director, we’ve succeeded.”

“Naturally. We completely emptied our vaults, so of course it had to succeed!”

Hunters were pouring in from all across the globe.

The current count alone stood in the tens of thousands.

What’s more, the numbers kept climbing.

With a force this large, holding back the monsters expanding their perimeter would be more than manageable.

“What about the top rankers?”

“Starting with Ralph from the United States, it looks like they will cross over one after another.”

“Ralph, as in that guy who’s ranked number one in the entire world?”

“Yes, that is correct!”

The guy currently conquering Floor 67 was coming?

Ha!

It’s as good as over.

The very peak of the top tier.

If Ralph made his move, the other rankers who had been testing the waters would rush over in a heartbeat.

“They should have shown up sooner instead of making our stomachs churn.”

“It could not be helped. Once word got out that Wei Jin had failed, they needed absolute certainty that it was safe.”

“Meaning they only came after seeing the intermediate- and low-grade hunters who arrived first come out unscathed.”

“Yes, precisely.”

Haah.

Wei Jin, that fool.

After all the backing and resources poured into nurturing that talent.

To think that life would end so vainly.

“What about Chen Yu?”

“With the goal of pushing into the 60s as quickly as possible, we are concentrating every resource we can muster.”

“If I’d known this would happen, we should have split our focus between Chen Yu and Wei Jin from the start…….”

Sigh.

What good did it do to regret it now?

The only option left was to pour everything in right now.

Chen Yu was currently on Floor 55.

There was still a long road ahead, but that was fine.

With the collective might of all China rallying behind this, how could cultivating a single Chen Yu prove impossible?

For now, the priority was surviving this immediate crisis.

“Um… Director. I considered ignoring this, but just in case……”

“What is it?”

Taking a look at the document.

It was a commission proposal sent by some Korean fellow calling himself the Manpower Office Director.

The contents were… what in the world…?

“He’ll clear the S-grade dungeon immediately, but in addition to the existing bounty, he wants the Robin Hood’s Bow fragment as a personal reward?”

Who puts this much effort into writing utter bullshit?

“Who on earth is this Manpower Office Director?”

Did the staff completely lose their minds from all the recent chaos?

Why would anyone bother reporting garbage like this?

Irritation surged straight to the surface.

Yet the subordinate had the audacity to keep talking.

“Director, please calm down and see what kind of figure this is….”

“Whew….”

Fine.

Let’s take a look.

Just what kind of bastard possessed the gall to spout this sort of nonsense so casually?

[A weapon craftsman who contributed greatly to South Korea’s current 1st- and 2nd-ranked hunters pushing through the tower’s higher floors.]

[A hunter who clears A-grade dungeons in roughly ten minutes upon taking commissions from the South Korean Awakening Management Bureau.]

[Possibility raised that this individual is identical to the hunter who monopolized South Korea’s Monthly Boss Raid.]

[Timing also closely aligns with the figure currently setting world records while clearing up to Floor 21 in South Korea’s Tower of Chaos. Presumed to be the same person.]

……

…

Hm.

“Are you telling me these records belong to a single person?”

“There are rumors that it might be a team of several individuals.”

“Even if that’s the case….”

It defied reason.

Isn’t the world entirely too unfair?

No matter how many times I looked over it.

This was a scam.

Downright excessive.

How could one person hoard every single achievement…?

If only someone like that existed in our China!

“Clearing an S-grade dungeon would have been child’s play. Hm, what do you think?”

“In my opinion….”

A South Korean hunter known as the Manpower Office Director.

Supposedly, no one knew the true identity….

Still, with a track record this solid, it made one want to take the gamble.

It was a commission submitted through AwakenedNet anyway.

Even in failure, there would be zero loss.

“Still, no matter how I look at it, the price demanded is far too steep…. Wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes. A fragment of Robin Hood’s Bow is a bit much….”

Indeed.

If the request had been for some other reward….

For instance, demanding the entire bounty originally posted.

Or asking for more money.

Then the offer would have been accepted without a second thought.

“If we want to place a decent weapon into Chen Yu’s hands, we have to use that fragment as leverage to cut deals with the great powers….”

Therefore, rejected.

Overcoming the current crisis right now?

It was tempting, but selling away the future was out of the question.

Better to grind through it slowly instead.

“It should be fine. Even now, hunters are flying in from across the globe.”

“Right.”

Manpower Office Director?

We’re already teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, so take a hike.

Either accept the original bounty or get lost.

*

Several days passed following Todd’s initial summon.

During that stretch.

I kept climbing the tower, completed the key, and Robin’s cooldown finally came to an end.

So I tried sending in the commission proposal, but…

[Commission proposal has been rejected.]

“They turned it down?”

“Ehehehe, exactly as I anticipated.”

Well….

Coming from someone holding a magic stone and cackling like that…

It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

Could he be a total flake deep down?

Then again, it was already too late to back out.

[Summon Fixed Team]

1. Arthur (High-Grade)

2. Robin (Highest-Grade)

3. Orc Pack (Intermediate-Grade)

4. Rani (High-Grade)

5. Todd (High-Grade)

I had already swapped out the slime to put him in.

He was the one who asked to be added in the first place.

Claiming that just by looking at things, he could tell we’d be striking plenty of lucrative deals, or whatever.

He wasn’t wrong.

If our little treasure, Rani, just crafted equipment for him to sell…

Whew.

We’d rake in mountains of cash, wouldn’t we?

“Do not fret. I deliberately submitted it now knowing it would be rejected, purely to drive up our market value later.”

Or so he claimed.

I have no idea why, but…

“Hrmmm.”

“You appear skeptical. Well then, shall we take a look together?”

Ever since Todd was summoned, his sole activity was keeping tabs on AwakenedNet and browsing the web.

Information is the lifeblood of commerce, or so he preached.

A sharp, impeccably capable type unlike anyone I’d seen before….

“Warthur looks!”

“Huh?”

No, no.

Just stay healthy, you two.

Yeah….

Anyway.

[New Commission]

<Dungeon> S-Grade Dungeon Break near Beijing, China. Assistance from hunters worldwide urgently requested.

– China, Central Awakened Management Bureau

The commission was still posted.

The client was China.

The offered reward was jaw-dropping, but…

“They will never clear this anyway.”

That was Todd’s claim.

His reasoning?

“Because the only person capable of resolving this situation is you, Director.”

Huh?

“Look here. The intermediate- and low-grade hunters have already crossed into China. And while they say the world’s top rankers are beginning to mobilize one by one—”

He extended a fluffy paw, pointing straight at the monitor…

“Hehe, teddy bear.”

Rani’s eyes tracked his paw back and forth.

She was going to pounce on him at this rate.

I quickly unwrapped a piece of candy and slipped it to her to calm her down.

Now, back to the teddy bear.

Rather, listening to Todd:

“Far too many monsters have already poured out. Had they summoned the rankers the moment the Break occurred, perhaps things might have differed….”

Now, it was too late.

Which left only one path.

“The moment they realize all hope is lost, you dispatch your team and clear the S-grade dungeon, Director. End of story. Quite simple, is it not?”

Uh…

Simple?

Still…

What if they manage to clear it first?

You never know how things play out in life.

I asked out of curiosity.

“There is no cause for concern. By then, the entire ordeal will be broadcast across the internet anyway, so we can simply summon a highest-grade laborer and scoop the S-grade dungeon right out from under them, yes?”

“Oh… That sounds pretty good?”

Todd really is a genius.

Best of all, I loved that I’d still be able to complete my promotion.

Which meant:

I might as well sit back and wait for now.

*

— I’m a hunter milking this dry in China right now, and it’s still not too late so haul ass over here ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ How’s the mood over there???

└ Just blocking the monsters racks up contribution points, you know? Thinking about the rewards I’ll cash in later is so sweet my teeth are rotting

└ Should I go even now….

└ Still plenty of time ㅋㅋㅋ Ralph’s supposedly coming too. Once the rankers get here, they’ll blast through the S-grade dungeon in no time and we can grab our payout, right?

└ Aight. Catching the last train out!!!!!

That was the early atmosphere when hordes of hunters flew out to China.

Everyone thought it was easy pickings.

Lower-level hunters held the line casually.

Higher-level ones picked off one or two at a time.

Build up your contribution points, and later the top rankers would arrive to wrap it all up.

[Peace on the Horizon for China.]

[The Entire World Unites as One!]

[US Rank 1 Joins the Fray! Stated Intent to Head Straight to China Upon Concluding Current Schedule.]

The mood across the internet was heartwarming.

Some even thought:

Is a life-changing windfall right before our eyes?

Still….

As one day passed, then two.

The atmosphere began to subtly shift.

— Something feels off here??

└ Aren’t you the guy who said you were in China earlier? Why???

└ The monsters aren’t thinning out;;;

└ Did the top rankers not show up???

└ The absolute top tier isn’t here yet. A few folks in their late 50s arrived and are fighting alongside us, you know? But… there are way, way too many monsters???

The monsters kept multiplying.

For now, they barely managed to hold the line, but if the numbers swelled any further….

Could this really change even if the top rankers arrived?