Mr. Kim Strikes It Rich with Auto-Hunting [Novel] Chapter 38

A new specialty had awakened.

Whose?

The orc misters’.

“Kyaaah…”

Yeah, this was it.

I’d been thinking about this every now and then anyway.

Come on.

The high-grade and highest-grade laborers all had specialties.

If the orcs wanted to become high-grade too…

Shouldn’t they get at least one specialty?

That kind of thought.

And now, they’d actually gotten one.

I had a good feeling about this.

“Boss? What you looking at?”

“They say the orcs developed a specialty. So I’m taking a look.”

“Ohhh… Arthur look too.”

Yep.

Let’s look together.

Just what kind of specialty could have popped up?

Since they were orcs…

Naturally, it’d be a combat-related specialty, right?

Full of anticipation, I pulled up the resume.

——-

Laborer Resume

Name: Orc Pack / Intermediate-Grade

Specialty: Worksite Labor

Daily Wage: 4 low-grade magic stones

——-

The grade was still intermediate-grade.

They’d developed a specialty, not gotten a grade upgrade.

Wait…

What was written under specialty looked a little strange.

“Worksite labur? What is that? Boss, you know?”

“Uh… good question.”

I knew about manual labor on construction sites.

I was good at that.

I’d even done it earlier today.

There was no way, right?

Could it actually be that kind of worksite labor?

Nah.

Couldn’t be.

“Chwiiik!“

Crunch!

“Wait, what…?”

What are you guys doing?

Why are you hitting the ground with a pickaxe…

Thunk.

Oh boy.

That one over there was digging the ground with a shovel.

“Hmm…”

His form was solid, though.

He knew how to handle a shovel.

At that level, I’d give him at least a ninety-seven out of a hundred.

“What those punks doing?”

“Can’t you tell? Shoveling…”

“Shuveling?”

“Yeah…”

Arthur tilted his head.

What about Robin?

“……”

Not a shred of interest.

Robin was busy continuing to hunt monsters.

This really was, though…

[Specialty: Worksite Labor]

Unbelievable.

How on earth was their specialty worksite labor?

What was the point of shoveling enthusiastically inside a dungeon?

It wasn’t like we were going to put up a building.

It seemed like all they’d dig up was dirt anyway.

No, wait.

A specialty was still a good thing.

Yeah…

Just as I was barely convincing myself and nodding along, I froze.

“Chwiiik!“

“Huh?”

What’s that in your hand…

“Magik stone?”

Right on.

It was a magic stone.

And there wasn’t just one or two…?

“Chwiiik! Chwiii-ik!“

Puffing out his chest with pride, he held it out, and when I took it—

[8 high-grade magic stones]

Hmm…

Wait a second.

“Did you just dig that out of the ground?”

“Chwiiik!“

He nodded vigorously.

“These are worth ten million won each, you know?”

“Chwiii-ik!“

This time, a thumbs-up.

What had that other guy brought over, though?

This also looked awfully familiar—

[Mithril Fragment]

Materials too?

Are you serious?

Shoveling and mining ore.

These guys had turned into real laborers, hadn’t they?

“Those punks earned their keep for once?”

“Well… Arthur. You guys always pull your weight and then some on a normal day…”

“Right? Even if you buy Korean beef, boss still has profit left?”

“Y-Yeah…”

Forget beef.

I’d have enough left over to buy the entire farm…

“Chwiiik! Chwik!“

Alright, alright.

I acknowledge your chest-puffing flex.

From magic stones to farming materials.

Quite shrewd.

Rani was especially going to love this once she found out they could mine crafting materials.

“She was just crying recently about how fast our materials were running out, too.”

I could already picture it.

Her jumping up and down with excitement.

Anyway.

“The Worksite Labor specialty is pretty sweet, isn’t it?”

Right now it was magic stones and mithril fragments.

Once they reached a higher grade…?

Somehow, I felt like they’d bring back even better materials.

No wonder.

I’d felt an affinity for them from the moment I first saw them.

Carrying their tools and all…

“Chwiiik? Chwik! Chwiii-ik!“

“Boss called them monsters when you first saw them and complained?”

“Huh? What’d you say? You hate coffee, Arthur?”

“Arthur cannot understand what orc punks saying.”

“Right?”

“Chwiii-ik?!“

What are you looking at?

If you have a problem, go learn the language while ranking up to high-grade.

Anyway, this was great.

“I like it.”

Yoon Hajun, twenty-three years old.

A young man who quit manual labor as of today.

And yet?

He still possessed the soul of a day laborer.

Maybe that was why I felt an odd fondness for them.

“Chwiiik!“

Whoa, hold on.

That didn’t mean I felt like picking up a pickaxe myself.

You guys were struggling to lift that thing too.

How was I supposed to lift it…?

I’d stick to cheering.

Fighting.

“……The raid.”

Gasp.

For Robin to speak up first with that personality…

Robin was pissed.

“Arthur picked up shield.”

“Chwiiik!“

Yeah, we needed to clear it.

Seriously, though.

It was honestly fascinating, wasn’t it?

They were suddenly digging up magic stones from the floor.

“……”

Okay, okay.

Don’t look at me like that.

You’re making me uncomfortable.

“Alright, shall we get moving again, everyone?”

“Right! Took long time because of those punks!”

“Chwiiik?!“

“Got something to say? Say it in Korean!”

Uh…

Arthur, buddy…

You understand them just fine.

He always learned stuff like that so quickly…

“Orc punks run fast! If arrive slower than Arthur, Arthur will not let you off!”

“Chwiiik!“

Unfair as it was, what could they do?

Arthur had already started sprinting…

“Chwiii-ik!“

Right.

They had to keep up.

With Arthur’s temper, if they were late, he’d put them through hell.

Wait a minute…

“Isn’t it a bit unfair of him to sprint ahead when he’s faster to begin with?”

At any rate.

And so, the conquest of the C-grade Chaos Labyrinth resumed.

Groooan — kgh!

It definitely felt tougher than the D-grade labyrinth…

What did that matter, though?

“Weak punks, Arthur sees your feet!”

“Chwiiik! Chwiii-ik!“

“……Turtles. Slow.”

Our laborers?

They’d grown even stronger in the meantime.

Arthur, who had become highest-grade.

The orcs, sprinting with the goal of reaching high-grade.

Even Robin, sweeping enemies away by rapid-firing five arrows at a time.

How was anyone supposed to stop them?

The C-grade Chaos Labyrinth?

It was over in the blink of an eye.

[The conquest of the Chaos Labyrinth is complete.]

[Transporting outside the dungeon.]

I felt like I’d just gone for a stroll around the neighborhood.

“Heeey! You’re back! Was it fun? Tell Rani too! Rani is curious!”

“Everyone, thank you for your hard work.”

As soon as we stepped out, Rani greeted us.

Ah, Todd too.

“Rani, take a look at this. The orcs just dug this up in the labyrinth. What do you think?”

“Huh? It’s mithril! Mmm… whoaaa, this is super good mithril!”

“Oh, really? Is it different from regular mithril?”

“Yeah! It’s different! This is good mithril! If Rani has lots of good mithril, Rani can make prettier things!”

“Chwiiik! Chwik!“

“Ehehe! Yay! If the orc misters dig up a lot, Rani will be happy!”

Man, she really loved materials.

Look at her hopping around in excitement.

Rani could play with the mithril fragments for now.

I needed to check the rewards.

[C-grade Chaos Labyrinth cleared successfully!]

[Clear time – 00:10:48]

[Conquest reward – C-Grade Chaos Box]

Ten minutes.

Maybe because we got distracted in the middle?

It definitely seemed a bit slower than last time.

Whatever, though…

The Chaos Labyrinth didn’t give achievements for clearing quickly anyway.

What mattered was this.

[C-Grade Chaos Box]

“Whew…”

I’d opened three of these so far, hadn’t I?

The results had all been thoroughly satisfying.

Which was why I was looking forward to it even more.

I wondered.

What would come out this time…?

“Drumroll, please—!”

Rani, please.

You doing that makes me even more nervous.

“Boss, open fast!”

Arthur too.

Wait.

Even Robin and Todd were staring intently.

“Chwiiik!“

Yeah.

You guys too.

“Alright, opening it.”

With everyone watching, something good had to come out, right?

Full of expectation, I slid it open—

“Huh?”

“A sheet of paper came out!”

“What kind of paper is it?”

Seriously.

Just a single sheet of paper popped out.

Wait, it looked familiar…

[1-Time Guaranteed Highest-Grade Laborer Summon Voucher]

“Highest-grade? Guaran… what is that?”

“Rani knows! More of Rani’s friends are coming!”

“Um… Laborer Rani, if they’re highest-grade, won’t their rank be higher than ours?”

“Heeey! Everyone’s a friend! Teddy Bear too! Arthur too! Robin too! The orc misters too!”

A guaranteed highest-grade summon…

“Sweet.”

Kyaaah, this was what I was talking about.

As expected of the Chaos Box.

It never failed to deliver.

A guaranteed summon voucher for the highest grade, not even high grade?

“Now all that’s left is for the orcs to step up to high-grade laborers.”

“Right?”

“Yeah, because only then will a spot open up on the fixed team.”

“Chwiiik!“

“Who said chwiiik? Punks who were slower than Arthur in the labyrinth, prepare to follow Arthur to the training ground.”

Wasn’t that all five of them?

Arthur seemed eager to see another highest-grade laborer too.

He immediately dragged the orcs off and began training.

Following along to watch—

“Oh… Director. The orc laborers seem to have changed somehow.”

“Right? They learned a specialty, you see.”

Apparently, specialties had something to do with it.

Those guys.

They’d definitely been wobbling before, but now they held firm.

“Chwiiik!“

They even practiced lifting and slamming down.

After slamming, totally fine.

Ah…

I had a strong hunch.

The orcs would reach high-grade soon.

And after that?

[1-Time Guaranteed Highest-Grade Laborer Summon Voucher]

I’d use it immediately.

Who would arrive this time?

I was already looking forward to it.

Beijing, China.

“Director, these are the investigation results.”

“Let me see them.”

Rustle, rustle —

“Sigh… So the conclusion is that despite investigating based on this intelligence, we failed to identify him?”

“…I apologize.”

“No… how could this be the deputy director’s fault?”

[Recently Registered Awakened List – Republic of Korea]

Information contained in an anonymous email.

We thought we’d be able to find him if we combed through that list, but…

The result was unidentifiable.

“Damn it, those Koreans make no sense. Why would someone keep going to construction sites even after awakening?”

Then again…

Looking at his awakened ability, it did seem plausible.

Regardless.

“Can’t be helped. Send these materials upstairs as they are.”

“Upstairs, meaning…”

“Yeah. Orders came down from higher-ups. They told us to take our hands off and hand it over.”

“Hmm… Will that be alright?”

How could it be alright?

Anyone could see those folks upstairs had zero clue.

What choice was there, though?

If they ordered us to do it, we had to do it.

“Haa… on days like today, I miss that bastard Wei Jin even more.”

Indeed.

If that guy were alive, an order like that?

There’d be no need to listen.

He possessed that much power.

What about now?

Not a chance.

It might be different if we’d produced any results up to this point.

Ever since Wei Jin died, we’d done nothing but blunder.

The Central Awakened Management Bureau, which had once boasted authority so immense it could pluck birds from the sky, was gone.

Now, if we didn’t follow orders properly…

It wouldn’t be our positions at risk, but our lives.

“For now, forward this entire roster as is.”

“Once we send it, how do you think they plan to move?”

“Well, it’s obvious.”

Wouldn’t they just do what they’d always done?

Kidnap, threaten.

At first, I’d wondered if that would really work against hunters…

When the government stepped in, it worked.

Well.

“If the Manpower Office Director isn’t on that list, they’ll all just suffer.”

“And if someone stands out…”

“Yeah, chances are high that’s the Manpower Office Director.”

Any trace of China during the process?

No way it’d be left behind.

Just the usual modus operandi.

I felt uneasy for some reason, though…

“As it is, A-grade dungeons have been breaking out more frequently than before Wei Jin died…”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

On the off chance.

What if the guy slipped away?

And found out in the process that China was behind it.

What if he harbored a grudge…?

Then…

No.

Surely they wouldn’t fail?

“Whew…”

Letting out a deep sigh, the director raised his head.

A painting hanging on the wall came into view.

“If General Guan were in reality…”

China wouldn’t have fallen into such a state.

General, please watch over our China…

Please.

“Kyaaah! They finally ranked up!”

Just as I thought.

The specialty had been the key.

Our orcs.

Ever since gaining the Worksite Labor specialty.

They’d grown in no time at all.

[The laborers’ EXP has reached its limit.]

[Checking suitable weapons.]

[Conditions met.]

[The laborers’ grade is increasing.]

[Orc Pack (Intermediate-Grade) -> Orc Pack (High-Grade)]

“Chwiiik! Thank you, Director! Thank you, Arthur! Chwiii-ik!“

Wait, what?

They were actually speaking?

Uh…

“Where do you get off talking informally? Arthur is highest-grade. You punks are high-grade.”

True enough.

Let’s leave them to fool around amongst themselves for now.

Time to summon a highest-grade laborer.

This was what I was most curious about.

Right now, let’s do it.

Boldly.

[Using ‘1-Time Guaranteed Highest-Grade Laborer Summon Voucher.’]

Flash!

Light flared.

And then—

“Oh…”

A long beard.

And a sword that looked like a spear?

Huh?

This looked awfully familiar…

“Greetings, Director. I am Archmage Yunchang.”

Excuse me?

Hold on.

Did you say Archmage?