Mr. Kim Strikes It Rich with Auto-Hunting [Novel] Chapter 37

[Next up is the news. The hero of India and Egypt, the Manpower Office Director — ]

“Uh…”

That’s me.

What the heck?

Why are they watching that in here, too?

“Welcome, Hero-nim.”

“Todd, you’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Come now… What do you mean, on purpose? I’m simply calling our hero a hero.”

Look at this guy.

Wait, no.

Look at this teddy bear.

He’s definitely doing it on purpose.

His voice was completely dripping with mischief…

“Yay! Director is a hero! Rani wants to be a hero too!”

“Of course Laborer Rani is a hero as well.”

“Rani likes heroes! Rani will make Teddy a hero too!”

“Aaargh…”

A newly discovered fact:

That Todd fellow.

He turned out to have quite a mischievous streak.

He was like that toward the other laborers, and whenever he saw an opening with me, he kicked into high gear just like this.

Of course, he got pushed around by Rani every single time.

“Rani, swing him higher.”

“Okay! Teddy is flying!”

“I cannot fly…”

Attagirl, Rani.

Well…

Even if Todd hadn’t said anything, I already knew.

I had literally been browsing the internet right up until I stepped in here.

[‘Salvation Without Compensation’: Manpower Office Director Conquers Egypt’s S-Grade Dungeon Following India!]

[The Korean Who Saved India and Egypt: The Dignity of the Manpower Office Director]

[Heroic Feats Crossing Borders! Manpower Office Director Sparks Tremendous Global Sensation]

[Elevating Korea’s Name: Manpower Office Director Becomes the Hero of India and Egypt]

……

…

Articles, community posts, and countless comments.

Man.

I had spent a while reading them before coming out because it felt so cringingly embarrassing…

And now they were watching the same thing here.

– Wasn’t China on the verge of collapsing too? And now India and Egypt on top of that??? He’s a true hero, holy crap

– Demolishing S-grade dungeons back-to-back in such a short time is mind-blowing in itself

– Fr, other people spend insane amounts of time preparing just to enter an A-grade dungeon hahahaha

└ Well… The Manpower Office Director has always rolled like that…

– At this point, can we get a ‘Do you know Manpower Office Director?’

└ Totally valid

The comments on the articles and community boards?

Overwhelmingly high praise.

There were a few people here and there leaving lukewarm reactions, but—

– Didn’t that guy take a massive payout from China last time? Isn’t this discrimination?

└ Uh… what’s your nationality, by any chance?

└ Caught you red-handed, pal.

└ Go back to your own country hahahaha

Most of them got flamed and ended up deleting their comments.

Honestly, even looking at it from my perspective, that criticism kind of had a point…

Well, whatever.

“It feels kind of surreal, and a little embarrassing, honestly… I really just went in there to farm gear for Arthur.”

“Well, what does that matter? What’s important is that the people of India and Egypt found hope thanks to you, Director. Wouldn’t you say?”

“I suppose?”

No.

Being called a hero was still downright embarrassing.

Why?

Because…

I hadn’t done a single thing except stand by and watch.

These guys did all the heavy lifting.

“Put in eff-ort! Eff-ort!”

“Chwik! Chwik!”

“Ar-thur is watching! You bastards not putting in eff-ort!”

“Chwik!”

Just look at them.

Peeking into the training ground, they were sweating buckets and training even now.

Even Robin…

Thwack! Thw-a-ack!

“……”

Was drawing with Arthur that much of a shock?

Ever since then, Robin practiced shooting arrows at every spare moment.

“Though, it really looks like Robin’s gotten even faster.”

“Correct! Ar-thur must also train hard so Ar-thur does not fall behind!”

Right?

It wasn’t just my imagination, was it?

Those shots were definitely faster than before.

Wait, weren’t you two already highest-grade?

You can get even stronger…?

“Ar-thur will try!”

What the.

He didn’t say it was impossible.

Could it be…

Suddenly, my expectations soared.

“Chwik!”

Oh, right.

In the meantime, the orcs had changed a lot, too.

The pathetic sight of them wobbling just from holding weapons?

Gone now.

“Chwik! Chwik!”

That’s it!

Brandishing their tools with pride and swinging them with all their might—!

“Kwoooh—!”

Thump!

Hm…

Looks like they weren’t quite there yet.

“Not doing it properly?! Why you keep fighting the ground!”

“Chwiiik…”

Arthur, now a highest-grade red-hat drill instructor.

He kept running them through the wringer and barking at them…

Yet he was the one who cared most about the orcs.

“Boss, can Ar-thur take these bastards to dungeons for a while?”

He had even stepped up to ask me that first, determined to raise them to high-grade as quickly as possible.

And so,

Robin was climbing the tower alone for now.

If they wanted to work this hard, I had to back them up.

“Chwik!”

Yeah.

Robin and the orcs were growing.

I couldn’t just sit on my hands either.

This incident drove it home: for the laborers to grow comfortably and quickly, the Manpower Office’s features were essential.

The training center, and…

All the other functions too.

Which meant.

“First, I need to raise my unique skill grade. That’s the only way to officially unlock the Manpower Office instead of keeping it temporary.”

The problem was…

This wasn’t going to be easy.

My current EXP was:

[(1/20)]

I needed to get it up to 20, and I was only at 1.

There was a long road ahead.

To make matters worse, ever since reaching Gold, the requirements had become absurdly brutal.

[Mission List]

1. Conquer the 40th floor of the Tower of Chaos (35/40).

2. Cumulatively conquer S-grade dungeons 5 times (3/5).

Conquering the 40th floor of the Tower of Chaos was one thing.

Clearing an S-grade dungeon five times was ridiculous…

Those barely even appeared!

Still, well.

“Gotta do it, what else can I do?”

Robin and Arthur said the tower was smooth sailing up to floor 60 anyway…

Let’s take it slow and steady.

——-

Must-read for Indian hunters worldwide.

You’ve all heard the news, right?

Our benefactor, the Manpower Office Director, cleared the S-grade dungeon for us.

As hunters, you all know how this works.

The monsters that spawned from the S-grade dungeon are completely gone.

Monsters from the tower and other dungeons are still lingering around, however.

So what I’m asking is…

Are there any hunters willing to take back our country with us?

Honestly, up until now, we only gathered people and gave up because there was zero hope.

If the monsters from the S-grade dungeon are entirely wiped out, we actually stand a chance, don’t we?

If you’re interested, reach out.

For your information,

Around 2,000 people have expressed their intention to participate so far, and our average tower floor is in the low-to-mid 50s.

It will obviously be grueling, but we still have to do it.

We awakened to protect our homeland, and we’ve leveled up with everything on the line until now.

Let’s reclaim our home with our own hands.

– Will it work? Didn’t the tower suffer a Break too?

└ Checked into it, and unlike S-grade dungeons, tower Breaks don’t spread out over a wide radius…

└ So we’re planning to leave the immediate vicinity aside and gradually clear out the rest.

– Will we be able to see the Ganges again?

└ Can’t say for sure. But we have to try something.

– Count me in. A complete stranger like the Manpower Office Director solved our biggest problem; we can’t just sit here doing nothing.

– Count me in too. My mother cries every day, missing our homeland.

– What are you all waiting for? Let’s go take back our land from those monster bastards.

——-

A post uploaded simultaneously across AwakenedNet around the world.

The gist of it:

Let’s take back the homeland stolen by monsters through the strength of Indian hunters.

– Can we pull it off…?

– Honestly, it’s going to be tough. Before the country fell, it wasn’t just the S-grade dungeon that broke.

– The tower broke too… and several A-grades…

Everyone knew.

It was obviously going to be harsh.

The odds of dying were high.

Even so…

– We have to go. Hope is alive now.

Until now, they hadn’t even dared to dream of it.

The odds had been zero percent.

What about now?

It might be dangerous, but it was no longer impossible.

– Then we have to go.

– Exactly.

– I gritted my teeth and leveled up all this time just to take part in a day like today.

└ What floor are you on?

└ Floor 37.

└ And you’re still coming? Respect, man.

Seriously.

A Korean hunter who was a total stranger risked their life to clear an S-grade dungeon.

If a 37th-floor climber was stepping up…

How could anyone hold back?

– Can’t let that fledgling die. I’m going too.

– Right. If even a 37th-floor guy is going… Whew…

– A 59th-floor big brother is stepping up, everyone stand at attention.

And so, Indian hunters scattered across the globe began to gather in one place.

All right, let’s move.

To reclaim the homeland stolen by monsters.

“He really is quite an extraordinary person.”

“Indeed. Not long ago, he was an unidentified hunter, and now he’s become a global hero.”

Section Chief Yoon Jihyeok of the Korean Awakening Management Bureau.

He nodded in agreement with the Director’s words.

“Haha… Who would have thought the day would come when India would stir to rise again?”

“Until last week, nobody would have believed it.”

China’s S-grade dungeon?

Back then, it was ambiguous whether he could truly be called a hero.

This time, however, the circumstances were different.

It had led directly to the revival of an entire nation.

If that wasn’t a hero, what was?

“I suppose we must acknowledge it now.”

“His abilities were never something anyone could deny from the start.”

He cleared A- and B-grade dungeons that others wouldn’t dare touch in about ten minutes flat.

He crafted magnificent weapons that shot Lee Bojun and Baek Hwarang, the nation’s top two rankers, straight up to the 61st floor.

And he went on to conquer an S-grade dungeon.

The only reason they had remained cautious was…

His identity was completely unknown…

It made people uneasy.

The powers of Awakened surpassed human limits.

Plenty of people used them for evil.

If the Manpower Office Director belonged to that sort…

They had worried, but those concerns were finally over.

If he were that kind of person, there was no way he would have rescued two nations from crisis.

“You mentioned suspicious movements abroad lately?”

“Yes. It seems they’re trying to dig into the Manpower Office Director’s background.”

“Impudent bastards… Block them by any means necessary.”

“Understood.”

Let them try.

Now that it was certain he wasn’t a dangerous figure, they would shut down any subversive moves no matter what.

Up until now, Yoon Hajun’s daily routine had been fairly consistent.

Wake up in the morning, head to work.

“Hey, Kim-ssi—!”

“Yes, sir!”

Work hard all day.

Clock out.

Head home, summon the laborers immediately.

……

…

An endless loop.

Today, however, marked the end of that cycle.

“Thank you for everything up until now!”

“Hah, you little punk. Just when I thought I finally trained you into someone useful, you up and leave.”

“Sheesh… Tsk.”

“Haha…”

“Don’t laugh, you rascal. I’ll get attached.”

“What good is getting attached when he’s already leaving?”

“Hey, Kim-ssi, you rascal. Did you hit the lottery or something?”

“Aey, no, of course not.”

Ah.

Were they kind of similar, though?

Our laborers were a way bigger jackpot than the lottery, but…

Well, still.

I wasn’t quitting simply because I had money now.

If that were the case, I would have quit the moment I awakened.

Yoon Hajun’s usual conviction:

A person ought to work.

Quitting work just because you won first place in the lottery?

Nonsense.

That was why I had kept showing up to work…

As time went on, the circumstances made it harder and harder to manage.

“Whew— Rani wants to craft lots and lots of things and play with them!”

“Ar-thur wants to be summoned a little earlier!”

That was the first reason.

Our laborers.

In the beginning, they had just taken care of business and gone back.

Lately, they started showing their disappointment.

They said their time out was too short.

Sure, during that week when Rani was crafting items, I summoned her in the morning before heading to work…

I couldn’t keep doing that forever.

There was also the orcs’ training schedule these days.

So,

After pondering it for a long time, I made my decision.

I would quit once this current job site was wrapped up.

And that day was today.

“Well, how can you hold back someone who wants to leave? Live well, kid.”

“Kim-ssi, if anything happens, call your hyungs, you hear?”

It was a shame, but you can’t chase two hares at once.

One had to be let go.

Give them one last proper bow, and let’s go.

“Yes, sir. Stay healthy, hyung-nims. I’ll stay in touch.”

Thank you for everything.

“Phew.”

Returning home left me with a strangely bittersweet feeling.

At times like this,

Lively company was the best cure.

[Summon Fixed Team]

Come on out, everyone.

“Ar-thur was summoned?”

“Rani is here too! Together with Teddy!”

“Uh… Laborer Rani, please stop sha—”

“……”

“Chwik!”

Yeah.

This is it.

Now I felt a little better.

“Hey, everyone.”

After giving them a wave,

I immediately popped open my inventory.

Happy reunions were one thing, but work came first before relaxing.

[Chaos Key]

– C-Grade Chaos Key. Capable of unlocking something.

I had crafted it yesterday right after clearing floor 40.

Still…

I suddenly grew curious.

Floors 31 to 40 were C-grade.

Floors 41 to 50 were B-grade.

Floors 51 to 60 would be A-grade,

And floors 61 to 70 would be S-grade…

If it kept scaling up one rank at a time like this,

What would appear beyond floor 71?

If I wanted to know, I’d have to go see for myself.

Arthur and Robin had mentioned it.

Climbing up to floor 60 was easy.

Beyond that?

They had said it depended on the floor.

Well, I’d find out once I got there.

“For today, let’s all head into the Chaos Labyrinth together on friendly terms.”

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Dungeon

I found a C-grade dungeon and opened it up.

Once we all stepped inside?

Ding!

[Chaos Key confirmed.]

[Transferring to the Chaos Labyrinth.]

“Phew…”

This was my fourth time visiting the Chaos Labyrinth.

In the beginning, it was terrifying…

Actually, no.

Truth be told, I was still nervous.

That was why I brought along all the orcs as well.

“Do not worry, Ar-thur is sturdy!”

I had to give him that.

Was it Holy Protection?

The moment Arthur entered the labyrinth, he slammed his shield into the ground—

[A sacred energy protects you.]

Having this active made me feel so much more secure.

Anyway,

With such solid defense in place,

And Robin sniping down anything that approached,

Should I take it easy and have a look around?

I swept my gaze from left to right.

“What’s that over on the left? It’s glittering and shining.”

“Chwik!”

Uh-oh.

I didn’t mean for them to go over there…

Our orcs.

Suddenly rushing over, they slammed their pickaxes into the glowing floor.

And then,

A message popped up with a chime!

[The laborers awaken a new specialty.]

[Orc Pack (Intermediate-Grade)]