Mr. Kim Strikes It Rich with Auto-Hunting [Novel] Chapter 57

Chapter 57

A good night’s sleep, and the next day.

As always, as soon as I woke up, I called the laborers right away.

Normally, morning would be free time.

Whether watching TV, training, or spacing out on the balcony.

I used to let them do whatever they felt like.

“Alright, let’s hit the 61st floor today and then rest.”

“Heading to tower?”

“Yeah. Got something to do.”

[Monitoring]

– Enables communication with the interior via walkie-talkie function.

The new feature added as a reward from the Rank A Chaos Box.

I definitely have to test it out.

I’m really looking forward to it right now.

What if the Director’s cheering works through the walkie-talkie function?

That would be totally insane.

So then.

“Let’s go right away.”

[The workers are entering the Tower of Chaos.]

[Auto-hunting begins.]

As soon as preparations were finished, the laborers entered.

[Auto-hunting in progress]

[00:00:07]

If I turn on monitoring?

SFX: Whirrr—.

A holographic screen pops up.

“So far, it’s the same.”

Then, let’s scan first.

First, our laborers are….

Found them.

I see them right away.

“Arthur, Gramps, Robin!”

Did they take their positions according to their roles as soon as they entered?

As expected of top-tier laborers.

Just looking at them makes me feel reassured.

Then, what about the enemies?

SFX: Grrrrr—!

I can’t see them, but they’re nearby.

The moment they leave the starting point, they’ll rush in.

How do I know?

[Good to see everyone! It’s Ralph Carter, the strongest man in the world! Today, we’re going to tackle the 61st floor of the Tower of Chaos!]

Because he told me.

I wondered why a ranker would upload a walkthrough video, but….

Turns out a lot of people do it.

What did they say?

To raise awareness or something.

Some say that guy Ralph just likes getting attention….

Anyway, thanks to him, I got the intel.

“Heard from Boss! Shad-? Owlf! Coming out!”

“Was it not shadow wolves?”

“Right! That One! Shad-ow owlf!”

Correct.

The 61st floor monster is the Shadow Wolf.

Bigger than a cow, yet notably fast.

On top of that, they hide in shadows and pop out out of nowhere.

SFX: Roaaar—!

Yeah.

Just like that right now.

[Since it’s impossible to block or dodge a Shadow Wolf’s pounce, I generally recommend keeping the surroundings brightly lit in the first place!]

Ralph said that, but.

Can’t block my ass.

SFX: Yelp!

A single bash from the shield sends it flying, huh?

Then again….

How could they handle them?

Our laborers.

They’re the ones who set new records all the way up to the 60th floor all by themselves.

From the wolves’ perspective, they’re just a walking calamity.

“Doggie fell down!”

“Rani, those aren’t doggies….”

“Huh? But it yelped?!”

“Right! Is doggie!”

Oh, what.

Arthur’s answering this.

Can they hear our voices?

“Arthur, can you hear me?”

“Arthur is here! Hears you!”

Kya.

No need to turn anything on separately, it applies instantly.

The quality is great too.

Since it was called a walkie-talkie function, I expected static.

Cleaner than expected.

Feels like they’re just talking right beside me.

“Haha, Director. Can you hear our voices?”

“Yes, I hear you, Lord Guan.”

“Truly marvelous.”

“Huh? Lord Guan, behind you—.”

SFX: Slice.

“What is it, Director?”

“Never mind….”

What the….

Even if I just leave them alone, they’ll clear it in a flash.

Still, I have to do what I came to do.

First, putting the safety helmet on my head.

“Heh! Suits you well!”

Of all things in my life, I get told a hard hat suits me.

That’s a compliment, right?

Next, picking up the megaphone and preparations are complete.

Now, shall we do this?

“Hears you!”

Okay.

Then here comes the cheering.

 

“Doggie get spanked—!”

The Director’s sincere cheering.

On top of that, if Rani adds her cheer too?

“Just trust Arthur!”

“Do not worry. As they say, magic is the best medicine for a rabid dog.”

[The laborers gain vitality from the Director’s cheering.]

Along with the message.

A subtle energy gently surrounds the laborers.

Kya….

This is it.

Buff applied via walkie-talkie.

I wondered if it would work, but it really does?

“Crazy, pure jackpot….”

Then naturally skills should work too, right?

Curious, so I’ll use it immediately.

“Leaving work on time today.”

SFX: Pew, pew!

“Pew pew!”

Ah, so that’s why she called it pew pew?

Definitely an expression typical of Rani.

Now that I hear it, it kind of does sound like pew pew.

This sound.

Yesterday in the Maze of Chaos, it drew ultimate aggro.

To the point where the monsters lost their minds and targeted only me.

What about now, listening through the walkie-talkie?

SFX: Grrr—?

Still, looks like they hear it.

Seeing a few wolves poking their heads out of the shadows and tilting their heads.

Look around all you want.

How are you going to find me outside the tower?

Meanwhile, the skill ended.

[Leaving work early is the strongest driving force in the world!]

[Laborers’ stats temporarily skyrocket.]

Naturally, the buff worked too.

This is what I’m talking about.

Now then, shall we go beat them up?

“Rani said she’s making something with Arthur’s scabbard. Before jumping into that crafting, how about we finish this quickly so we can all eat something delicious together?”

“Chwiik! Meat?!”

“Arthur likes sushi too!”

“Haha, this wizard found malatang? That suited my palate quite well.”

Everyone’s tastes are varied.

After ordering and trying various things, our options diversified.

What’s especially fascinating is Lord Guan.

The older guys I saw on construction sites hated malatang.

Surprisingly, Lord Guan liked it a lot.

“I’ll order whatever you want, so just come out safely.”

“Kya!”

Adding one last word.

Laborers’ morale fully charged.

Now then, time to really get going, right?

SFX: Grrrrr—!

What’s with the grrr.

Shut your traps and get ready to be beaten, you bastards.

* * *

[Successfully cleared the 61st floor of the Tower of Chaos!]

[Level has increased.]

“Arthur is back!”

“Give meat, meat! Chwiik!”

Whew.

Gathering everyone together definitely makes it noisy.

Then again, it’s not just one or two.

“First, everyone calm down and let’s do a review.”

“Ree-view? What is that?”

“It means let’s talk about how the clear just went, Laborer Arthur.”

“Aha? Saw Boss, knows. Was easy.”

Yeah.

I know that.

But.

“Since we went to test it, we need to know how much the buff applied. Whether it was similar to yesterday, things like that.”

“As far as this wizard could tell, it seemed similar to yesterday.”

Then that means it applies the exact same way.

Nice.

A level similar to yesterday.

Around 1.3 to 1.5 times, they said.

If I can keep using it consistently going forward….

“For the time being, our tower clears won’t get blocked.”

“That is correct. Once we go above the 70th floor, that may be another story, but until then, it seems it will be easy.”

Hmm.

Talking about the 70th floor again.

Clearly, there’s something different above that.

Still, well….

We can think about above the 70th floor when we get there.

In the first place, our laborers will keep growing while climbing the tower anyway.

“Right, Rani?”

“Yep! Rani will make lots of pretty things to make us stronger! Will make this and give it to Arthur too!”

“Right! Said will give to Arthur! What kind is it?”

“You know, that thing. The One we got from the UK Rank S dungeon recently.”

[Scabbard Fragment of the Holy Sword Excalibur]

This.

Since it was a scabbard, I thought it wouldn’t be much, but lo and behold.

The moment Rani saw it, she was jumping up and down.

Saying this is great.

“They say once it’s finished, Arthur, you’ll get even stronger?”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Kya! Great! Long live lucky charm!”

“Heh-! Love it! Rani flies every day lately!”

Naturally she flies every day.

The kids all know now.

That Rani absolutely loves being called a lucky charm and being tossed in the air.

“…Jealous.”

Robin sighs deeply alone.

Her expression is complicated too.

Well, I understand.

She was originally much stronger than Arthur.

Before she knew it, he caught up to her….

Now if Arthur gets even stronger here?

She might reasonably think she’ll fall behind.

“Haha, all of you are mighty generals, so you need only focus on training.”

Kya….

As expected of Lord Guan.

Noticing the mood right away and comforting her.

“If you do so, will the day not come when you, too, can use great magic like this wizard?”

Mmm….

Yes.

“…….”

Hey, Robin.

You should answer, man.

Well….

Anyway.

“You worry too much. Clearing other Rank S dungeons will probably drop things for you and Lord Guan too. Like Lord Guan said, you’re strong right now, so don’t be too impatient.”

“…Okay.”

She nods, but there’s no way she’s convinced.

As expected.

She quietly walks over to one side of the training ground and begins shooting arrows.

“Alright, might as well train.”

That’s the way.

If it could be solved with a single word?

That feeling of regret wouldn’t have arisen in the first place.

Arthur was like that in the past too.

In the end, there’s only one solution.

Train hard and accumulate experience.

Eventually, something will come back in return.

“Hang in there.”

No.

Honestly, it feels like the problem isn’t Robin, but me….

With the laborers working so hard.

As the so-called Job Center Director, I shouldn’t just sit idly by.

I should make some effort too.

For example, upgrading unique skills…?

To do that, I’d need to raise experience points.

This is really not easy.

“Still, I’ve raised quite a bit of experience….”

[(10/20)]

Exactly halfway, so not bad.

The problem is.

[Mission List]

1. Complete 5 Requests (3/5)

2. Clear Rank S Dungeons 5 Times Cumulatively (4/5)

The first mission is easy.

Since tower clears will only be done with top-tier laborers anyway.

I can just run requests with the orcs and be done with it.

“However, the Rank S dungeon is….”

Argh.

Yeah, that.

That second mission that’s been camping out on the mission list for quite a while now.

Because of that, I hoped for a request from the sub-skill enhancement.

No.

Thanks to that, I can reap benefits from enhanced monitoring, so I’m satisfied for now.

Still….

“I need to clear that quickly or something.”

With this difficulty, it feels like it’d give quite a bit of experience.

Maybe it’ll go up by more than 5 at once.

“Phew….”

Yeah.

Just let one pop up.

Then I’ll rush over and clear it right away.

* * *

[Breaking News) Anonymous Korean Hunter Clears 61st Floor!]

[The identity of the new Rank 1? As expected, the Job Center Director?]

[Non-stop new world record up to the 61st floor, just where does his limit lie?]

……

…

Hot off the press.

Korea’s Tower of Chaos 61st floor clear.

As always.

The Awakened Management Bureau was in utter chaos once again.

“What…? He cleared the 61st floor too?”

“Yes. And it’s a new world record this time as well.”

“Good grief…. Does that monster have no brakes?”

“If he did, he would’ve stopped long ago, wouldn’t he?”

“What’s the situation right now?”

“Need I even say? Calls are pouring in from all over the place in an instant, it’s total madness. Asking who on earth the Job Center Director is. Demanding to meet him.”

“Ha…….”

I knew it.

No….

We don’t know either.

Why are they looking for the Job Center Director here?

“Since the 61st floor is tough, I thought he’d pause for a while….”

“Tell me about it.”

Whoever he is, an ignorant guy.

Take a break or something.

Why sprint at full speed like that….

“What a headache.”

Up to the 61st floor?

There wasn’t much of a problem.

It wasn’t confirmed that the Job Center Director was the anonymous hunter in the first place….

Feigning ignorance was all it took.

The problem is.

“Now that he’s become Rank 1, if we just say we don’t know who he is, we’ll look undeniably incompetent.”

“How about attempting to contact the Job Center Director’s side….”

“And say what? Ask him to tell us who he is?”

Would he tell us?

If he was going to make it public, he would have long ago.

Well, unless he needs something.

My head throbs.

SFX: Ring-ring-ring—!

Ugh.

On top of everything, the phone rings again.

Who is it now.

Frowning, he picked up—.

“Pardon? North Korea requested support? To send hunters?”

No.

What in the world Is this now….