Mr. Kim Strikes It Rich with Auto-Hunting [Novel] Chapter 8

The first day of serious tower climbing.

And Yoon Hajun’s daily routine?

Just like usual.

Wake up in the morning, head out to work.

“Hey, Kim, hold this here for a second.”

“Got it.”

Clang, bang, hammer, pound.

Work.

“Good job today.”

“You too, hyung-nim! See you tomorrow!”

Clock out.

And at night?

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Dungeon

Start auto-hunting.

Up to here was his original daily routine.

Starting today?

One more thing was added.

[Summon Fixed Team]

– Arthur (High-Grade)

“Ar-thur, is here!”

Aah.

Arthur was in the house!

Now Arthur could be summoned once a day,

and Robin once a week,

guaranteed.

In that case?

The tower had to be climbed, of course.

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Tower

“Boss? Ar-thur, going now! Keep waiting!”

Waiting for what, honestly…

You’re going to turn right back around the second you leave anyway.

“Ar-thur, is back!”

See that?

Back in the blink of an eye.

[Tower of Chaos Floor 4 Conquered!]

[Level has increased.]

[Clear Reward – 50 Low-Grade Magic Stones]

[Clear Time – 00:01:33]

[New World Record Set!]

[Bonus Reward – Chaos Key Fragment]

The result was naturally a new record.

The next day was no different.

[Tower of Chaos Floor 5 Conquered!]

[Level has increased.]

[Clear Reward – 60 Low-Grade Magic Stones]

[Clear Time – 00:02:30]

[New World Record Set!]

[Bonus Reward – Chaos Key Fragment]

Another world record.

Easy.

He could just keep doing this going forward, couldn’t he?

*

Then the next day.

“Arthur, ready?”

“Rea-dy! Go, Tower!”

He called Arthur out as usual.

Just as Hajun went to send him into the tower, he paused.

“Wait, no. Should we try doing things a little differently starting today?”

“Dif-fer? Ent? Ar-thur, don’t know?”

“It’s fine.”

Yoon Hajun was a Korean obsessed with efficiency.

Wasted motion?

Unacceptable.

Why send someone to only one place at a time?

Couldn’t two run simultaneously?

Curious, he immediately gave it a shot.

“Huh?”

First, Arthur was good to go.

Next?

“Summon Laborers.”

[Summoning laborers!]

[Grade – Bronze]

[Summoning Range: All targets from High-Grade to Low-Grade]

Flash!

“Grrr.“

Standing hyenas?

― ― ― ― ― ― ―

Laborer Resume

Name: Gnoll Pack (4) / Low-Grade

Specialty: None

Daily Wage: 2 Low-Grade Magic Stones

― ― ― ― ― ― ―

Ah.

So they were called gnolls.

All right, good so far.

Next was…

“This is the important part.”

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Tower

– Dungeon

There were two options.

Every time before, he had opened only one.

Could both open at the same time?

Tap, tap.

He pressed them.

“Oh, it worked.”

Two portals.

The left led to the tower, the right to the dungeon.

Time to get moving, then.

Clap, clap!

“All right, assemble!”

Arthur was the leader this time as well.

When Arthur clapped his hands together with a sharp clap, clap!

“Bark!“

“Woof!“

The gnolls scurried together in a hurry.

Assembly done, next came warm-up exercises.

“One! Two! Three!”

“Woof! Bark!“

“Boss? Boss does it too!”

“I’m good without it. I already did plenty this morning.”

Too exhausted…

He just wanted to rest.

“Safe-ty! Good! Good! Good!”

“Awoo!“

Right after wrapping up their chant with tight discipline, each party entered its respective portal.

Arthur headed into the tower alone.

The pack of gnolls trotted amicably into the dungeon together.

Left behind by himself, Yoon Hajun?

Click.

He opened the thermos he had brought along in advance.

After waiting just a brief moment—

“Ar-thur, gives coffee!”

The unmistakable Coffee Fiend returned after barely a minute.

The result this time was another world record.

Since Arthur had worked hard—

“Here, have a cup of coffee.”

“Thank! Boss!”

For the record, it was not Kopi Luwak.

Arthur had tasted it once and claimed it was so bitter he couldn’t drink it, or whatever.

And that stuff was so expensive, too!

Granted, Yoon Hajun found it too bitter to drink as well.

“Instant mix really is king when it comes to coffee, isn’t it?”

“Two-two-three! Good!”

That’s not two-two-three, you lunatic.

Regardless, all was peaceful.

Always an enjoyable coffee break.

Normally he would just call it a day and head home after this.

Yet today, for whatever reason, Arthur showed no intention of leaving.

“Boss? Watch, them.”

Ah.

Monitoring?

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Was he bored?

Then again, sipping coffee while watching a screen was surprisingly delightful.

Arthur certainly had good taste.

[Monitoring]

Tap.

He touched the prompt.

Hummm —

The pack of gnolls appeared on the screen.

Grrr!

Ruff!

F-grade dungeon, the Small Spider Burrow.

Or rather…

should it be called a gnoll burrow now?

Spiders were popping everywhere, bursting into pieces…

“They’re doing well.”

Understandable, really.

They shared the same grade as the orcs.

An F-grade dungeon would naturally be a breeze for them.

“Don’t you think?”

Huh.

Apparently not.

Arthur’s expression was…

“Those bastards weak.”

Why was Arthur’s pronunciation so crisp only when swearing?

Besides.

“Can you really blame them? You’re high-grade and they’re low-grade.”

They belonged to completely different tiers.

A massive gap was only natural.

It wasn’t like those creatures had any way to get stronger, either.

“Boss? From to-morrow? Call Ar-thur. Fast.”

Call him out early starting tomorrow?

At this rate, Hajun felt like he could earn a doctorate in Human-Arthur speak.

He caught the gist of almost anything the summon uttered now.

Even so…

“Huh? I can call you early, but why?”

“Ar-thur, raise. Weak bastards.”

Excuse me?

*

If Arthur asked to be summoned, Hajun had to summon him.

The next day, as soon as he clocked out of work, Hajun started with Arthur.

[Summon Fixed Team]

– Arthur (High-Grade)

“Boss. Call, weak bastards?”

All right, message received.

First, a quick glance around.

He scanned his surroundings.

It would be troublesome if anyone spotted this.

Phew, empty.

“Summon Laborers.”

The reason Arthur wanted to be called out early:

to train the weaklings.

Who would be the first batter up?

“Kiek!“

Oh, boy.

Goblins.

“Kie! Kie-eek!“

They had met before.

Recognizing Hajun, they let out cheerful kieks in his direction — until Arthur fell dead silent.

“Be! Quiet! Came here, to play?!”

Wait.

Where did Arthur even get that red cap?

Tweet! Twee-eet!

Now he was even blowing a whistle.

This was completely…

“Boss! Trust, Ar-thur! These bastards! Make, hu-man!”

They weren’t human to begin with…

Actually, never mind.

Judging by that look in Arthur’s eyes, speaking up would probably drag Hajun right into the training regimen too.

Better stay quiet.

Time to keep watch and make sure nobody walked up.

Tweet! Twee-eet!

“Do it! Pro-per!”

“Kiek!“

Hajun had wondered what kind of training Arthur had in mind,

but it was far more normal than expected.

Deeming basic physical stamina the most important foundation, was it just calisthenics?

Still, would that really accomplish anything…?

Feeling half in doubt, Hajun dispatched them to the dungeon.

[F-Grade Dungeon Conquered!]

[Clear Time – 00:08:37]

[Clear Reward – 20 Low-Grade Magic Stones]

“Kiek!“

Crazy.

That actually worked?

“Wait, not just worked — the time plummeted!”

Goblins were the weakest of the weak, even among low-grades.

Their usual record?

Around fifteen minutes for an F-grade.

And today…

[Clear Time – 00:08:37]

Not even ten minutes, but down to the eight-minute mark.

A brief workout produced this much of a difference?

Was it truly because of the training?

If so, would it work on Arthur or Robin too?

He asked Arthur.

“Ar-thur, don’t know?”

Right…

Thought so.

No matter.

Asking Robin, the walking fountain of information, would probably yield an answer.

That aside.

“It’d probably be good to keep training like this, right?”

“Boss words, cor-rect!”

“Hmm.”

Doing this on the rooftop every time would get them caught eventually.

A thought crossed his mind.

If his place were spacious enough, couldn’t they do that much indoors?

Maybe he should move…

Did he have enough money?

Plenty.

Just the intermediate-grade magic stone alone was worth 50 million won.

On top of that, low-grade magic stones were piled everywhere.

“How many did I have again?”

637 of them.

At 20,000 won apiece,

that came out to 12.74 million won from the low-grade stones alone.

More than enough to secure a comfortable two-room rental deposit with room to spare.

“Boss, has money?”

“I don’t have cash right now.”

He had to sell the magic stones first.

The problem was…

“To sell magic stones, I’ll need to report my awakening to the Awakening Management Bureau…”

He needed to look into it.

*

“Nothing to it, really.”

The procedure for reporting an awakening?

Simple.

Show up at the Awakening Management Bureau, declare I’ve awakened!, and submit an application.

Next,

use skills in person to have abilities measured.

Finally, receive a grade assignment, and you were done.

Supposedly, it took an hour at most.

Except…

“Now is a pretty awkward time to do it.”

The registration itself wasn’t the issue.

The issue was this.

― ― ― ― ― ― ―

Status of the Monthly Boss Raid lololol

Everyone knows the Five Great Guilds control the Monthly Boss and hoard it for themselves even if you’re not a hunter, right?

They claim they run it fairly, but hmm…

Anyway, someone came out and snatched it away this time lololololol

– Wow, just hearing about it feels so cathartic

– But how did they steal it? Those Five Great Guilds hit so hard, taking 1st place in contribution should be impossible…

– Rumor has it someone dumped insane burst damage in just a few seconds.

– Does that even make sense lol

– It’s for real;;; That’s why Hwarang is out hunting down whoever took the boss

― ― ― ― ― ― ―

Everything else was fine.

Rumors floating around online were par for the course in this day and age…

He had already experienced something like this once before, after all.

“No, but seriously. Who does Hwarang think they are, coming after me?”

A quick search brought it right up.

Hwarang.

The guild founded by the 2nd-ranked hunter, Baek Hwarang.

With the 1st-ranked hunter affiliated with the bureau, Hwarang was practically number one in terms of collective guild power…

Hmm.

They were searching for him?

“Why?”

He tilted his head, then felt a sharp pang of guilt.

Ahem.

Claiming ignorance would be completely shameless.

The turtle’s shell fragments and core snatched back then were sitting right in his possession!

At this rate…

“If I go to the Awakening Management Bureau and report my awakening, word will spread in a flash.”

Yoon Hajun, twenty-three years old.

Old enough to know how the world worked.

How organizations of that scale cooperated with each other?

Painfully obvious without even looking.

Still, he desperately wanted to report his awakening…

He needed that done so he could sell his magic stones!

“Isn’t there any other way…?”

*

In an era where dungeons sprouted across the nation and hunters operated everywhere,

the Awakening Management Bureau was swamped with work.

Truly swamped, and yet…

“What? A six-minute clear today? I’m going to lose my mind! Why does it keep getting faster?!”

“Because their level went up?”

“No, even so, this is ridiculous! Yesterday it was eight minutes!”

Lately, they were so busy they couldn’t get anything done.

The reason?

A mysterious, unidentified hunter.

Setting a new tower record once every day.

Clearing out dungeons scattered all over the place.

And on top of that, how insanely fast were the clear times?

From journalists to the higher-ups above,

people constantly called to ask about that hunter, to the point where bureau staff lived with their phones turned off.

Amidst all that chaos…

“Calls keep pouring in from Hwarang’s Guild Master too. Asking us to please share any information we have.”

“They’re not the only ones. Baekhodan, Magic Tower, Cheolhyeolmun, Sangun. Every single one of them sent inquiries.”

“It’s absolute madness.”

The motive?

Didn’t even need to be asked.

What else could it be?

They obviously wanted to recruit that hunter into their own guilds.

“Sigh… As if we would know. If we knew, we would’ve snatched them up before any of those guilds could.”

Even so, the bureau held an advantage over private guilds.

“They haven’t registered yet, right?”

“Undoubtedly. Among the hunters registered so far, not a single class had this kind of potential.”

To make a living as a hunter, registration was mandatory.

Putting various benefits and intelligence aside,

anyone who wasn’t a hunter couldn’t even sell magic stones.

Moreover, that mystery hunter?

Must have accumulated heaps of magic stones by now.

They would be coming to register soon.

Once that hunter arrived, the bureau would find out who it was.

When that happened, they would recruit that person as a bureau-affiliated hunter without fail.

No matter what.

*

Robin, the trusty fountain of information.

The moment Robin was summoned after a week had passed, the summon delivered.

“So if I put low-grade laborers like an orc or a goblin into the fixed team and then report my awakening, I can hide my identity, is that right?”

“…Yes.”

“Man, that’s seriously great.”

The method Robin provided to conceal his identity:

Place a low-grade laborer like an orc into the fixed team.

What would happen then?

To outside eyes, his awakened class would simply look like someone who summoned orcs.

The assigned grade would likely end up around C or D.

“…Fine…?”

“A low grade? Well, I don’t really care about that.”

As long as he had hunter credentials, that was plenty.

Next time, instead of pork belly, he would treat Robin to beef.

Hajun also asked another question.

“The low-grade laborers got stronger after Arthur trained them. I was wondering if that works on you or Arthur too?”

“……”

Quiet after quite a while.

“…Grade.”

Ah, grade?

“Too low?”

A nod.

Did that mean Robin couldn’t tell him because the grade was too low?

That meant a method did exist, then.

He would look into it later.

With the questions mostly settled,

“Since you’re already here, how about clearing the tower once, having some meat, and calling it a day?”

Another nod.

Time to open the portal, then.

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Tower

Since Arthur had cleared up to the 9th floor yesterday,

this time was Floor 10.

[Tower of Chaos Floor 10 Conquered!]

[Level has increased.]

[Clear Reward – 110 Low-Grade Magic Stones]

[Clear Time – 00:00:37]

[New World Record Set!]

[Bonus Reward – Chaos Key Fragment]

Insane.

Clearing that and stepping out in just thirty seconds…

“…Meat.”

Ah, right.

Of course, right away.

First, let’s just stow this key fragment away.

Ten fragments were already gathered…

Huh?

Wait, they were fusing?

Ding!

[‘Chaos Key’ is now complete.]