The first to notice how dramatically mission rewards had changed were the top-ranked hunters.
Those with enough skill to easily achieve Perfect clears.
But they couldn’t monopolize that information forever.
Gradually, the number of hunters achieving Perfect clears increased, and before long, rumors spread that the special rewards were incredible.
-I got a skill upgrade from a special reward this time!
It was originally a single strike, but now I can do two!
-I got an offensive item, and its power is insane.
I can pick my nose during training and still handle the mission!
Skills and items.
Those were the special rewards most hunters received.
Fewer people than expected got material items as rewards.
That was only natural, because if the hunter themselves grew stronger, such things would follow.
Since the hunter industry had a strong winner-takes-all structure, lower-ranked hunters were always desperate to become stronger.
The eyes of the hunters who heard this news changed.
“I have to do the missions anyway. I absolutely have to aim for Perfect.”
“It’ll be tough at first, but once you start getting Perfects, it’ll snowball. You’ll get stronger fast and the missions will get easier!”
And that was exactly right.
If you risked your life to achieve Perfect, you’d gain rewards so valuable that subsequent missions would become manageable.
They obtained the powerful strength they had dreamed of, even in their sleep.
Of course, there were limits.
-I definitely got stronger, but I almost died in this mission again.
-Dammit.
If I can’t finish a mission early, survival gets hard from the middle onward.
Hunters who obtained special rewards gained enhanced skills and items.
But they couldn’t be used recklessly.
These things only worked if backed by a strong body and sufficient mana, and they lacked that foundation.
No matter how powerful a skill, if it was like a cake in a painting, it was useless.
“Elixirs! We need more elixirs!”
That was the conclusion reached by many guilds and hunters who had experienced missions.
The special rewards were only strong skills, offensive items, and occasionally some currency.
There were no other items—even if they wanted elixirs that increased mana, such rewards never appeared.
Foreign guilds were hitting that wall and racking their brains, but Korean guilds were a bit different.
“Is Taesung Guild not releasing new elixirs?”
“I overheard from the ranking mission that better elixirs would be out soon…”
“Better? The last elixir was already incredibly effective. Can they actually make something better?”
Lee Tae-sung had previously informed some rankers about mass production of lower-grade elixirs for future customers.
Rankers who remembered that sent inquiries to Taesung Guild, asking if they could sell elixirs.
“But I heard the guild leader there is so busy it’s hard to get in touch. It’s a new guild with few members.”
“That’s old news. I heard they hired a lot of new staff. Contact shouldn’t be a problem now.”
“Good.”
After a while, a reply came. [Hello, this is Taesung Guild. Preparation for the sale of new elixirs is almost complete. We are currently producing prototypes and will begin with prototype sales to select guilds.]
“……”
“……”
The guild leaders gathered to discuss countermeasures fell silent the moment they saw the reply, then glared at each other with flickering eyes.
*‘The prototypes are mine, you bastards.’*
*‘Don’t you know the Taesung Guild leader smiled and greeted me last time? You think the chance will go to you? Wake up!’*
*‘If I ambush these guys right now, can I stop them from buying elixirs?’*
The cooperative atmosphere from moments before vanished.
Everyone here was just a competitor!
That’s why he had planned to visit both places while he was at it.
When he delivered that news, Abeson was deeply impressed.
It was also for that reason he was throwing himself into the lower-grade elixir production plant as if it were his own project.
Things were going smoothly, but…
Abeson had one complaint.
Abeson muttered, looking displeased.
He was a Death Spirit attached to Lee Tae-sung, and he used to often come outside to be with him.
But from the moment the Ascendants appeared, that became impossible.
A Death Spirit could normally make itself invisible to others, but such trickery wouldn’t work on Ascendants.
He had no idea what the manifested Flame Emperor would do to him if he saw him, so he stayed hidden, even holding his breath quietly.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ll talk to my master later. So we can coexist.”
When he’d spoken with the Flame Emperor via communication, he got excited hearing that his son was the Flame Emperor’s former comrade and spewed all kinds of things.
From what Abeson remembered, the Flame Emperor was narrow-minded and held grudges, so he wasn’t sure it would work.
After that, the factory kept running and began producing the second batch of prototypes.
From this point on, production would continue day and night.
Lee Tae-sung was looking around the entire factory for a while.
Then a familiar voice came from behind.
“In the name of the Revelation Society, I welcome Mr. Lee Tae-sung’s decision.”
He turned around, and the first thing he saw was a badly bruised and swollen face.
It was Alex Caesar.
He gave a slight smile.
“I look a mess, don’t I?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Mr. Tae-sung. This is my own karma.”
It was Alex who had first used force to pressure Lee Tae-sung.
He’d been soundly beaten by the Flame Emperor, so it hurt a lot, but he didn’t resent him.
He merely realized he had done wrong and keenly felt his lack of power.
*‘Mr. Alex is a strong hunter with good regeneration, but if he’s still in that state… maybe my master’s blow had something special.’*
It might have an effect that suppressed regeneration.
A few days hadn’t even passed, but the changed missions were already stirring up the hunter world.
In that situation, Lee Tae-sung’s move to expand the elixir factory was a stroke of genius.
“I’m not giving them away for free. I’m selling them.”
“That’s the same thing. Price won’t matter much to hunters who can afford to buy this.”
Some might even give their entire fortune if they could buy it.
That was how precious elixirs had become now.
What if he advertised that he’d only give elixirs to those who joined his guild?
All kinds of hunters would flock to Taesung Guild, and he could wield that gathered force like an army.
If he wanted, he could conquer a country and become a dictator.
But Lee Tae-sung said he would sell these elixirs to hunters all over the world.
Alex had come to see Lee Tae-sung again, and upon hearing his decision, he was impressed.
*‘Although he hasn’t received a revelation, isn’t he perfect to join the Revelation Society?’*
Both skill and character were a pass.
A hunter who acts for Earth and humanity.
Alex had been waiting for a hunter like this.
Lee Tae-sung found Alex’s gaze burdensome.
*‘It’s all for making money, you know.’*
Of course, it wasn’t purely for money.
Since he was gradually rising into the wealthy class, Lee Tae-sung liked Korea’s system.
He’d gotten a new house and had plenty of money.
He could live quite satisfactorily—he just hoped the world wouldn’t be destroyed by an invasion from Outer Gods or something.
To that end, he needed to strengthen the overall quality of hunters, which was why he was trying to supply elixirs as quickly as possible.
“Ah, and Mr. Alex, take some elixirs too.”
Lee Tae-sung handed Alex one bottle each of the lowest-grade elixir and lower-grade elixir.
“Thank you.”
“It’s not free, though.”
“Of course, I have to pay.”
“Can you pay with something other than money?”
“Certainly. What do you need?”
Lee Tae-sung pointed with his finger at the pouch hanging from Alex’s waist.
“I saw it last time. It looked really good.”
An extradimensional pouch.
He didn’t know its capacity, but it was big enough to hold a large picture frame despite its small size.
With that, carrying luggage or elixirs would be very convenient from now on.
But Alex looked a bit troubled.
“Ah… no matter how good my crafting skill is, this is hard for me to make too…”
“The elixirs are expensive.”
“I know, but…”
“Should I call my master again?”
“……”
Alex quickly unbuttoned the pouch and handed it to Lee Tae-sung.
***
Cheonoecheon was a boring world.
It was a place where Ascendants lived with the duty of preventing outside invasions, but in practice, the sane ones among them were extremely bored.
Most were monk-like people who enjoyed silence, but those like the Flame Emperor, who ascended through strength rather than training, found it hard to endure the tedium.
That’s why he wanted to see Earth, which had newly appeared, and just then, an opportunity arose.
Since he had collected many tickets through multiple missions, he summoned the Flame Emperor and Goeseung to repay them and gave them tickets.
Six 10-minute summon tickets each.
They were given a total of one hour of free time.
-You must not cause trouble.
No harassing, killing, terrorizing people…
Absolutely nothing, okay?
If you cause trouble, I will never summon you again.
Having heard that terrifying warning, the two Ascendants vowed several times not to cause trouble.
“Let’s see what’s fun around here.”
“How about visiting a nearby temple first? I heard they enshrine Buddha here. I’m curious if it’s well maintained.”
“You go to boring places like that on your own, baldy.”
The Flame Emperor snapped at Goeseung and headed toward Gangnam.
Tall buildings, cars clogging the roads, and at least several thousand people moving through the streets.
The Flame Emperor took a deep breath.
“Kuuh. This is it. The smell of humans, completely different from the dirt of Cheonoecheon.”
“The air isn’t that good, though.”
“That’s inevitable when there are so many humans. I missed this hazy air.”
The Flame Emperor was thinking about what to do first for fun.
-KWAAANG!
Just then, an explosion occurred in one of the buildings on Gangnam-daero.
Goeseung was startled and looked at the Flame Emperor.
The Flame Emperor was even more startled and shook his head desperately.
“I, I didn’t do anything!”
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