Mr. Kim Strikes It Rich with Auto-Hunting [Novel] Chapter 6

Highest-grade.

A grade even higher than Arthur, who was high-grade.

It actually popped up.

[※ There is a slim probability of summoning a highest-grade laborer from a ‘1-Time Higher-Grade Laborer Trial Voucher.’]

And beating those razor-thin odds, no less.

It was great, sure, but…

Why did it have to be right now?

“I need to put Arthur on the fixed team.”

I muttered with a twinge of regret, then froze.

Wait.

Does this mean I can put a highest-grade on the fixed team?

An incredible thought flashed through my mind.

Someone screaming about two-two-three flickered across my thoughts.

Ah, whatever.

If he had a problem with it, he should’ve shown up himself!

Not my fault.

Even so, just to be sure, I brought up the screen to check.

[Manage Fixed Team]

– You may register laborers within the range that can be called via Summon Laborers.

Hm.

Right now, my Summon Laborers grade was Bronze.

The summonable range?

High-grade, intermediate-grade, low-grade.

What about highest-grade?

Out of range.

In other words…

“That means I can’t.”

Aha.

“Bummer.”

No.

This is actually better.

A man’s gotta stick to the plan he set in the first place, right?

First slot goes to Arthur!

Yep…

By the way, when is the highest-grade going to come out—

Huh?

“What the?”

Over in a corner of the rooftop.

There stood someone.

When did they appear?

And…

Why so filthy?

Even when our eyes met—

“…….”

Silence.

The moment I saw that face, I got a bad feeling.

This one wasn’t going to be easy either.

No.

Maybe this was the type waiting for the other person to say hello first.

So, extending a hand:

“Hello. I’m Yoon Hajun.”

“…….”

Guess not.

The figure just stared blankly.

“…Robin.”

Phew.

Glad they at least gave a name.

Huh.

Right away, Robin turned away to look somewhere else.

“Is there something over there?”

I sidled closer and tried asking, but…

“…….”

Ah, I miss Arthur.

At least with him, there was never awkward silence!

Still.

Seeing this newcomer up close, the grubbiness stood out even more.

Actually, no.

This went beyond just being grubby…

Robin was practically a beggar.

Hair hanging to the waist, completely disheveled.

Clothes riddled with gaping holes.

To top it off, even the safety helmet was dented out of shape.

No, seriously.

Is this right?

You’re supposed to be highest-grade!

“Hmm…”

Honestly, I’d gotten my hopes up.

The low-grade orcs cleared an F-grade dungeon in thirteen minutes flat.

Arthur, a high-grade, blitzed through the Tower in the blink of an eye.

So I wondered what a highest-grade would look like.

I imagined some kind of monster that could take down enemies with a flick of a finger, or just a glare…

Yeah, right.

Did the summon even work properly?

Suspicious, I took a peek.

——-

Laborer Resume

Name: Robin / Highest-grade

Specialty: Bow

Daily Wage: 30 low-grade magic stones

——-

Hm.

Definitely highest-grade.

Wait.

A daily wage of thirty?

Excuse me?

Let’s do the math.

Arthur’s daily wage was four.

The orcs were two each.

And this highest-grade is thirty…

Which means.

“7.5 Arthurs, 15 orcs…”

That would hire Arthur for a whole week with two low-grade magic stones left over.

This tramp costs that much?

“…….”

Robin was still just staring blankly!

Phew.

No.

Only novices judge a book by its cover.

Back on the construction sites, there were often older guys who looked like this.

How was their work?

Unbelievably good.

Maybe this summon was the same?

Unreliable as the exterior seemed, this was still a highest-grade.

Things might be totally different out in the field.

Let’s test it out.

[Manual Mode] → [Auto Mode]

“…What a drag.”

Ah.

Dammit.

I miss Arthur so much.

A sudden thought struck me.

Could it be that none of these laborers are normal…?

This was definitely an incredible Awakening!

Why did every single person who showed up have to be like this?

However.

Yoon Hajun, age twenty-three.

Defining trait:

Soul steeped in manual labor.

What do site workers want?

One look is all it takes to know.

For Arthur, it was coffee.

What about Robin, the highest-grade?

Resting, first and foremost.

“So, you gotta go. Deal?”

“…Fine.”

A dramatic compromise reached once again.

How did I pull it off?

Nothing to it.

If you don’t work, you can’t go back.

I simply explained that basic truth.

Regardless, persuasion was complete.

Now, should I dispatch the laborer?

I need to taste what thirty stones a day buys me.

I’m wringing out every last drop of value.

A dungeon won’t cut it.

The Tower.

Has to be the Tower.

With that in mind, I opened the menu—

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Tower

– Dungeon

– Monthly Boss (New!)

Huh.

A new tab appeared.

Monthly Boss?

What’s this?

Curious, I looked it up on my phone, and results popped up.

Once every month.

In each nation, the country’s hunters gather to take down a powerful foe in the ‘Monthly Boss Raid.’

Who gets to participate?

Naturally, all hunters of that country.

…Or so they say, but not everyone can join.

Every nation established a system so only personnel screened ‘for safety’ could participate.

And who handled that screening?

The top guilds of each country.

……

…

Summarizing the core points of the post online:

“Basically, it’s a boss so strong that people have to swarm together to beat it.”

The rewards?

Naturally amazing.

Distributed differentially by rank according to damage dealt.

“Just placing within the top ten gives a high probability of better rewards than clearing the upper floors of the Tower…”

It’s an absolute goldmine.

Honestly, who wouldn’t drool over that?

That’s why the screening system was born.

The top guilds control access right in front of the portal.

“Which means I can still go, right?”

A goldmine right in front of my eyes?

How could I pass this up?

I wouldn’t be going in person, of course.

Still, I had to send someone no matter what.

Ah.

Since rewards scaled with damage, would more hands make light work?

“Summon Laborers.”

I thought even orcs might be helpful, but then—

Flash!

“Boss?”

Huh?

Out popped Arthur.

A highest-grade from the trial voucher, and now high-grade Arthur from a regular summon!

Is today my birthday…?

Whatever the reason, absolute jackpot.

“Boss! Nuwak! Give? Promised—”

What a memory on our resident coffee fiend.

The second he stepped out, he launched right back into begging for coffee.

Then he caught sight of Robin and flinched.

Huh?

Now he was completely stiffening up.

What is he, a broken robot?

“Do you two know each other?”

I asked, and—

“Arthur, heard…”

Arthur was thoroughly intimidated, glancing nervously as if he had some idea of who Robin was.

And Robin?

“…….”

Right.

Zero interest.

Whatever.

I’ll just deal with Arthur.

“Ah, the Monthly Boss opened up. I was thinking of sending you and Robin together.”

“Arthur, work hard! Boss, give two-two-three!”

Aha!

That’s the kind of enthusiasm I like to see.

Arthur’s on board.

As for Robin…

“…Which floor.”

“Pardon?”

Where did floors suddenly come from?

“Arthur knows! Korea Tower? How far go, climbed?”

“Is that what Robin means?”

“…….”

A nod.

Oh.

Is it because they’re both laborers?

They actually understand each other.

“Floor 58, was it? That’s what I heard.”

“…No.”

No to what?

“…Weak.”

Again.

What is weak?

Frustrated, I glanced over at Arthur.

“Boss, weak. Alone? Enough. Arthur, rest.”

Another nod.

Spot on again.

How on earth did he decipher that?

Anyway.

Robin was saying going alone was enough.

Well, I’ll trust the summon for now.

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Monthly Boss

“…What a drag.”

[The worker is entering the Monthly Boss Raid.]

[Beginning auto-hunting.]

The moment the door opened, Robin walked straight through.

Leaving behind words fitting right to the end.

Then what about Arthur?

“Boss. Arthur, go Tower. Work.”

No.

Hang on a second.

[Monitoring]

Let’s watch this show first.

*

Monthly Boss Raid Zone.

“Alright, melee step back for a sec! Ranged, unleash burst damage!”

“Melee, fall back!”

“You heard him! Pour on the damage!”

This month’s boss was the Giant Armored Turtle.

True to its steel-clad exterior, its trademark was sturdily tanking the skills of hundreds of hunters.

If they failed to kill it?

The thing would burst right into downtown Seoul.

Naturally, a catastrophe would follow.

Except no one was worried.

Not once had a Monthly Boss Raid ended in failure.

Right now was no different.

“Remaining health confirmed at 31%!”

“Enrage triggers below 30%, so everyone get ready!”

“It’s the exact same turtle as last month, so nobody mess up like an idiot, got it?”

“Alright, let’s take it slow and wrap this up.”

The same boss as last month.

They’d killed it before, so they already had the strategy down.

No variables.

Zero reason to fret.

That was the mindset of the rank-and-file hunters.

What about the elite hunters?

“It’s Hwarang’s turn this month, right?”

“Yeah. Good rewards haven’t dropped lately, so hopefully we get something decent.”

“Seriously. It’s ridiculous how people curse at us for monopolizing everything when we barely get anything good ourselves.”

“If they’re so upset, they can come hunt it themselves.”

“Like we’d ever let them in?”

“Of course not.”

“Haha!”

The honey pot known as the Monthly Boss.

Too sweet to share fairly, too heavy to swallow alone.

So they formed a coalition.

The top five guilds: a raid-exclusive alliance.

——-

Monthly Boss Raid

1. Hwarang 19.82%

2. Baekhodan 14.17%

3. Magic Tower 11.56%

4. Cheolhyeolmun 9.22%

5. Sangun 8.42%

……

…

——-

Five guilds that had coordinated raid after raid.

Their teamwork was flawless once again.

Their combined damage so far sat at 63.19%.

What about the leftover smaller guilds and individuals?

6.04% at best.

With around 31% of the boss’s health remaining, keeping up this pace would easily secure first place in contribution for Hwarang.

The underlings serving as stepping stones probably had no idea.

No idea why the five guilds rotated taking the top reward every month.

Well, not that it mattered if they did.

What could they possibly do about it anyway?

Without our permission, those losers couldn’t even set foot in here.

Just then!

“Portal confirmed in the rear!”

“What? Why would a portal suddenly open?!”

“Could be a boss skill! Everyone on guard!”

A sudden portal in the rear?

The gate leading to the Monthly Boss Zone opened only once, at a designated location and time.

Once it closed, it wouldn’t reopen until the boss was slain.

So why now, out of nowhere?

Naturally, every eye turned toward it.

And someone emerged from the portal.

“A foreign homeless person?”

Someone blurted out.

Every spectator nodded.

Could there be a more accurate description?

The real issue, however:

“How the hell does a homeless person get in here?! Get your heads on straight!”

Forget homeless people, even hunters couldn’t enter right now.

The entrance had already closed.

Then what in the world was that?

Creak—!

Huh?

The figure suddenly drew a bow.

And then—

Twang!

Fired.

At who?

At the boss monster, the Giant Armored Turtle!

“What in the world…”

“Someone talk to that tramp.”

“You do it. I can’t even tell if that thing’s a person or a ghost…”

An arrow shot by an out-of-nowhere beggar.

Not a single soul thought it would make any difference.

Until it slammed into the Giant Armored Turtle.

BOOOOM!

“Uh…?”

A thunderous roar.

Followed by a shattered shell.

All from a single arrow?

And the damage…?

——-

Monthly Boss Raid

1. Hwarang 19.82%

2. Baekhodan 14.17%

3. Individual 12.07%

4. Magic Tower 11.56%

5. Cheolhyeolmun 9.22%

6. Sangun 8.42%

……

…

——-

Huh?

12% in a single hit?

What in the…

The elite guild hunters.

Their brains locked up for an instant.

Then they screamed in unison.

“Crazy bastard! Stop them!”

“Grab that beggar!”

“Fuck! Just kill them!”

Stop that person by any means.

Even if it takes killing.

Could they stop it, though?

Everyone watched.

Creak—! Snap!

“Hah.”

“Dumbasses…”

Already too late.

While the guild members charged forward, the archer had loosed one shot, and immediately loosed another.

No.

Not over yet.

What if it misses?

If it misses…

In that split second, a message flashed before my eyes.

*

Robin’s raid.

I watched it in real time.

My reaction?

“Insane.”

Who was complaining about thirty low-grade magic stones being a waste again?

At that level, even three hundred would be…

Ah, maybe not that far.

Anyway.

[The Monthly Boss Raid has ended.]

[Auto-hunting has concluded.]

“…Done.”

Robin returned.

Speaking in that same indifferent tone as ever.

And at the exact same moment, the results popped up.

Ding!

[Monthly Boss Raid Successful!]

[Contribution Ranking]

1. Individual 30.77%

2. Hwarang 19.82%

3. Baekhodan 14.17%

4. Magic Tower 11.56%

……

…

[1st Place in Monthly Boss Contribution]

[Individual rewards will be distributed.]