Mr. Kim Strikes It Rich with Auto-Hunting [Novel] Chapter 5

Yoon Hajun’s awakening: Manpower Office Director.

The perk?

Auto-hunting, naturally.

Still.

There was a modest little charm to it, too.

“Drawing them gives you that suspenseful kick every time, kind of like scratching a lottery ticket.”

Then again…

Hitting the jackpot meant a massive payout, so maybe it was pretty similar?

Oh.

There was one key difference.

Unlike a scratch-off, this never gave you a blank.

[Using ‘1-Time Higher-Grade Laborer Trial Voucher’.]

[Summoning laborer!]

[Summon Range: All candidates from Intermediate-Grade to Highest-Grade]

Even low-grade laborers chewed through F-grade dungeons for breakfast.

Intermediate-grade at the very least?

Need anyone say more?

Clearing the second floor of the Tower should be a breeze.

Even so, if given the choice.

“I’d really love to see a highest-grade one.”

This was his second time using a higher-grade trial voucher.

The first time?

Their coffee freak, Ppoggulrom.

Or rather.

Arthur had popped out.

For the record, his rank was high-grade.

If a high-grade was already that impressive…

What would a highest-grade — with its razor-thin odds — look like?

While he watched in eager anticipation.

Flash!

A brilliant burst of light.

And then, someone appeared!

Who was it?

“Bawss?”

Hm…

It was Arthur.

Bummer.

“…….”

No, wait.

He was still high-grade.

That was a solid pull.

Yeah.

“Bawss? Naw happy to see Ahtoor?”

Right, time for some poker face.

Breaking into a welcoming smile, he answered.

“Hey, no way. Of course I’m happy to see you.”

“Bud Bawss face look weird.”

What.

That felt pretty rude to hear to one’s face.

Whatever.

“Just caught me off guard, that’s all. Seeing you again, Arthur.”

“Das right! Ahtoor came!”

“Yeah, I see that.”

How did Arthur come out again?

Wasn’t the summon pool from intermediate-grade to highest-grade?

Come to think of it, that orc had shown up twice too…

Could it be that there were barely any laborers in the pool?

Tilting his head, he casually inquired.

“Ahtoor gave away stone. Magic stone.”

“Huh?”

Gave away?

To whom?

“Nother guy got picked. So, gave him. Magic stone.”

Uh…

In other words.

“Another laborer got drawn, but you gave him magic stones to take his shift?”

“Subb-stitoot…? Yeah, das right.”

Stop butchering the word, man.

Still.

Swapping shifts like that actually worked?

Fascinating…

“How many magic stones did you give him?”

“Magic stone? Maybe four? Gave four.”

“Four whole stones?”

Wait.

Four stones was your entire daily wage.

You gave up that much just to come work?

“Why? Are you a workaholic, Arthur?”

“Bawss gives me coffee. Lots of two-two-three.”

It was such a typical Arthur response that Hajun was left speechless.

This crazy coffee fiend…

“What about the stuff I packed for you when you left yesterday? Did you drink all of that already?”

“Bawss gave Ahtoor coffee. Go back? Poof, gone. From now on, drink all two-two-three before leaving.”

Aha.

Items taken back from here vanished.

Good to know.

“So? Give coffee again. Two-two-three.”

“You want coffee?”

“Want!”

Coffee?

He could give him as much as he wanted.

How much could that even cost?

However.

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Tower

First, go handle the Tower.

*

Q: How do you get Arthur moving?

A: Lure him with coffee.

A golden tip figured out after just two encounters.

The effect was undeniable.

“Ahtoor goes!”

Arthur, who had been clamoring for coffee without a pause, sprang up in an instant.

“One! Two! Three!”

He launched into warm-ups.

After lightly loosening up, what came next?

Safety chants, of course.

“Bawss do it too! Safety, great! Great! Great!”

Why did I have to do it, though?

“Great! Great! Great!”

Ugh…

Why did my body just react on its own?

Regardless.

Finishing his preparations in a flash, Arthur shouted.

“Bawss, I go work now! Give lots and lots of coffee!”

And into the Tower he went.

[Worker enters the Tower of Chaos.]

[Auto-hunting commences.]

With a laborer inside, auto-hunting naturally switched on.

What now?

What else?

“Time to check out the new feature.”

——-

[Rewards]

– Unique skill EXP

– New feature unlocked: Monitoring

– 1-Time High-Grade Laborer Trial Voucher

——-

Three rewards for completing the quest.

EXP went up.

The higher-grade trial voucher drew Arthur.

As for the last one, Monitoring?

[Auto-Hunting in Progress]

[00:00:23]

“Ah, found it.”

Scanning the display, he spotted a brand-new tab.

[Monitoring]

That had to be it.

Tapping it lightly—

Bzzzt —

A holographic screen materialized.

What was on it?

“Oh.”

He could see it.

Just like a CCTV feed.

A man stood atop a wall about the height of an average person.

“There’s Arthur.”

And the enemies?

Oink! Grooowl!

Charging in from a distance was a herd of wild boars.

Roughly twenty to thirty of them?

“That looks brutal…”

Did other hunters actually hunt those by hand?

Me?

Ugh, not in a million years.

Arthur would take care of it in his place, though.

“Oh, he’s moving.”

A guide video for the second floor.

He had watched it on the internet before going to sleep.

The strategy?

[Those guys don’t jump and just circle around, so take your time and pick them off safely.]

Just eliminate them one by one from atop the wall, and you were done.

Since it was a lower floor, there was zero danger.

It merely took time.

So what about our Arthur?

“Huh?”

What was he doing?

Why was he coming down?

He was supposed to stay up on the wall and take them out safely one by one…

While Hajun tilted his head in confusion—

Schwing.

Arthur drew his sword.

Then, the moment he calmly slashed horizontally through the air—

Squeeeal! Grrrk!

The boars were cleaved in two.

From the very front of the herd to the very back.

Every single one of them.

“……?”

Insane.

Was that a bug?

[Tower of Chaos 2nd floor clear complete.]

[Auto-hunting terminated.]

Nope.

Not a chance.

Not when the system message popped up right on cue.

And the record?

[Tower of Chaos 2nd Floor Cleared!]

[You have leveled up.]

[Clear Reward – 30 Low-Grade Magic Stones]

[Clear Time – 00:01:17]

[New World Record!]

[Bonus Reward – Chaos Key Fragment]

A new world record, without question.

This time, it was even in the one-minute range.

“Bawss? Ahtoor came back!”

Yoon Hajun, age twenty-three.

A few years working on construction sites had taught him one vital truth.

What was that?

When someone was amazing at their job, quietly ride their coattails.

“Bawss?”

On top of that, Arthur?

He was rather simple-minded.

It felt like a cup of coffee could solve just about anything with him.

Okay.

Decision made.

[Manage Fixed Team]

Not sure how many slots were available, but for now, Ppoggulrom, you’re slot number one.

“Coffee, two-two-three incoming?”

Man.

Was two-two-three even an issue?

He’d gladly order delivery cafe drinks for him if needed.

So.

Let’s head downstairs first.

Time for a serious chat.

*

The work was done.

Which meant?

Coffee time.

Sssss—!

Quickly boiling water in the electric kettle, he tore open a stick of instant mix with a clean snap and emptied it into a paper cup.

A few brisk stirs with the torn packet wrapper, and—

Done.

“Yummy! Delicious! Two-two-three!”

Naturally.

Of course it was delicious!

Even brother Min-uk, with thirty years of labor site experience, had acknowledged his coffee skills!

Granted, this wasn’t the golden two-two-three ratio.

Just ordinary instant mix…

Still, whatever.

“As long as it tastes good, that’s what counts.”

Should I have a cup too?

Sip.

“Phew…”

A cozy aroma that warmed the heart.

This was what coffee tasted like after hard work.

“Bawss, more?”

“More? Sure. Drink to your heart’s content. I’ll make you as many cups as you want.”

“Oh?! Really? Ahtoor gets lots and lots!”

Great.

Time to ask.

Casually, gently.

“Arthur, do you know what a fixed team is?”

“…….”

Uh-oh.

Did that come in a little too direct, right at his chest?

Well, what can you do.

Beating around the bush was for people who knew how to do it…

No choice.

Having thrown the pitch, he threw another strike, sliding a cup of coffee over.

“You know about the fixed team, right? What does it do?”

“Mmm… fixed team. Know it. If regis-turd? Can call.”

Ha!

As expected.

His gut had been dead-on.

So why had he pretended not to hear at first?

“…….”

Silence even after being asked.

Sliding another cup of coffee his way, an answer finally spilled out.

He was practically a vending machine at this point.

“Fixed team? Bawss calls, must go, every day.”

That made sense…

Laborer summons were random.

A fixed team?

Guaranteed.

In construction terms, it felt like being forced to report to work every single day, weekends included.

Ugh.

I’d hate that too.

However, what if there was an irresistible bait?

“If you join the fixed team, I’ll let you drink Kopi Luwak.”

“Loo-wahk? What is dat?”

Uh…

Honestly, Hajun didn’t know much about it either.

Just that an older guy had told him about it once.

Said it was an expensive, exquisite coffee.

Roughly speaking:

“It’s a rare coffee. The kind only rich folks and nobles drink.”

“Oh? Loo-wahk, tastes good?”

No idea.

Never tried it.

Even so, with utter confidence:

“Of course. Absolutely. Once you drink that, you won’t even think about two-two-three mix. Deal?”

“Hmm… Bawss gives magic stone good. Coffee good too. Give Loo-wahk, Ahtoor thinks about it? Maybe yes.”

Whoa.

This actually worked?

Seriously, just how much did he love coffee?

Well…

From the standpoint of someone sweet-talking him, this was a total jackpot.

In other words:

“Long live coffee.”

*

“Great work today as well. See you next time.”

“Bawss, Loo-wahk coffee! Promise!”

Come on, man.

You drank over ten cups today.

Yet even on your way off the clock, you’re still yelling about coffee?

Crazy coffee freak.

“Shame. Would’ve been perfect if I could’ve registered him to the fixed team today.”

Nothing to be done about that.

Next time, though?

Definitely adding him.

First, let’s unlock the function.

——-

Name: Yoon Hajun (Lv. 3) / Republic of Korea

Class: Manpower Office Director

Unique Skill: Summon Laborers (Grade – Iron)

——-

Climbing one more floor of the Tower brought him to level 3.

And the unique skill’s grade?

Still Iron.

“The EXP is…”

[(3/5)]

First quest: domestic laborer.

Second: cumulative laborer summons.

[Quest Complete!]

[Challenge 1 Floor of the Tower of Chaos (1/1)]

[Rewards]

– Unique skill EXP

– 20 Low-Grade Magic Stones

Adding the third quest just completed, each contributed 1 point, bringing cumulative EXP to 3.

Theoretically, completing two more would raise the grade, but…

What was the next quest?

——-

[New Quest]

Complete Laborer Summons for 5 Consecutive Days (2/5)

——-

Meaning:

“I just need time to pass?”

Fine.

There was one summon left for today, so he’d use that up and hit it hard again starting tomorrow.

*

Three days passed after that.

Yoon Hajun’s daily life flew by in a blur.

Waking up in the morning, heading to work.

“Hey, Kim! Bring the drill battery!”

“Right away! On it!”

Clang, thud, bang, clatter.

Working.

Clocking out.

After that?

Waiting until the sun dipped below the horizon.

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Dungeon

Summoning laborers quietly up on the rooftop!

As for the Tower?

He held back.

His skill grade would be going up soon anyway.

Visiting afterward would yield far sweeter rewards.

Just like that, three days.

With five consecutive days of summons completed, the quest was done as well!

[Quest Complete!]

[Complete Laborer Summons for 5 Consecutive Days (5/5)]

[Rewards]

– Unique skill EXP +2

– Daily Laborer Summon Count Reset Voucher

– 1-Time Higher-Grade Laborer Trial Voucher

Maybe because it took so long, but the rewards were wonderfully sweet.

Huh?

Wait.

“EXP +2?”

Then that meant a grade up!

[Unique skill grade has increased.]

[Summon Laborers (Grade – Iron) → Summon Laborers (Grade – Bronze)]

Yes!

From Iron straight to Bronze!

And the details?

[Summon Laborers (Grade – Bronze)]

[Entities summonable at the current grade include all targets designated as High-Grade, Intermediate-Grade, and Low-Grade.]

Low-grade remained unchanged.

However?

The ceiling had expanded up to high-grade.

With a bit of luck, that meant he could summon Arthur through normal means.

Wasn’t that incredible?

And what mattered even more:

[New Feature Unlocked: Manage Fixed Team]

“This is what I’m talking about!”

Manage Fixed Team had unlocked.

From now on, he could summon whichever laborer he wanted.

Was there a summon limit or something?

He checked.

[Manage Fixed Team]

– Daily available summons: 1 each

“Bummer.”

There was one.

Only summonable once per day.

Even so, with this…

“I should be able to climb one floor of the Tower every day from now on.”

Should I start by calling Arthur?

Summon Laborers was great, but to be safe, let’s use the voucher first.

Tearing into the higher-grade trial voucher he’d just received—

[Using ‘1-Time Higher-Grade Laborer Trial Voucher’.]

[Summoning laborer!]

[Summon Range: All candidates from Intermediate-Grade to Highest-Grade]

The target was random.

Still, he had faith in Arthur.

He’d paid magic stones to come last time, so surely he’d show up again, right?

Besides, he hadn’t had a drop of coffee for three whole days.

Flash!

A brilliant burst of light.

Now he should be hearing that familiar cry of Bawss…

Ding!

Huh?

[Beating razor-thin odds, a Highest-Grade Laborer is summoned.]

Excuse me?