Yuseon gave a sly smile at Seong-jun’s words.
“Haha! Is that so? Well, that changes things!”
Having confirmed that they were safe from the Ghoul Lord, Yuseon began to spam her skills once more.
Not wanting to be outdone, Chang-su joined the fray.
*Whoosh! Bang! Boom!*
*Slash! Thwack!*
Yuseon’s powerful offensive skills and Chang-su’s swift, lethal strikes rained down.
Seong-jun contributed with occasional long-range attacks.
The Ghoul Lord’s health had already fallen below 50% and was now plummeting rapidly.
Another five minutes passed.
“Chain of Light!”
Gwang-taek quickly cast the skill as soon as its cooldown ended.
*Cling-clatter!*
The Ghoul Lord, which had been pointlessly attacking the [Absolute Shield] protecting Yuseon, was dragged back in front of Gwang-taek.
“Kiii-aaaah!”
Stunned for three seconds, the monster fell into an immobilized state for another ten minutes.
“Alright! Let’s wrap this up quickly and go get dinner!”
Yuseon and Chang-su continued to unleash a barrage of powerful skills.
Unlike before, Seong-jun also began to attack in earnest to finish the hunt as fast as possible.
*Whoosh! Flash!*
*Boom! Crash! Rumble! Bang!*
Starting with [Furious Strike], they followed up with [God’s Wrath], [Sword of Light], and [Holy Attack].
Yuseon added her ultimate moves, [Spirit Magic Light Cannon] and [Wind Snipe].
The Ghoul Lord’s health plummeted toward zero at an incredible speed.
When its health dropped below 30%, it attempted an offensive skill, but since it was a single-target attack rather than an area-of-effect one, Gwang-taek’s shield blocked it easily.
Even when the immobilization wore off, Seong-jun used the [Holy Barrier] stored within Ermia Jeylin’s Divine Necklace to block the Ghoul Lord as it tried to switch targets.
[Holy Barrier] creates a massive wall of light that stops enemy advances and attacks, while allowing allies’ attacks to pass through to the enemy.
Because the barrier covered a significant area, the Ghoul Lord was stuck attacking the wall until Gwang-taek pulled it back once more with [Chain of Light].
Eventually…
“G-uuuugh…”
Unable to withstand the repeated heavy blows, the monster finally collapsed.
“We did it!”
The total hunt time for the C-rank boss, the Ghoul Lord, was roughly fifty minutes.
A boss raid that would usually take several full parties hours to complete had been finished by only four people in under an hour.
“Good job, Chang-su. This was your first time catching a dungeon boss, wasn’t it?”
There was no way an F-rank mercenary would have ever participated in a dungeon boss hunt. In fact, this was his first time even seeing one in person.
“Yes. I never imagined my first boss raid would be against a C-rank. Thank you for your hard work, brothers and sister!”
Chang-su looked incredibly excited, likely due to the success of his first raid.
“I’m exhausted because I didn’t sleep well last night. Let’s check the rewards and head out for food. I need to go to bed early today. Oh, by the way, since Chang-su has joined us, we should adjust the distribution ratio, right?”
Seong-jun asked.
Since they had a new member, the split needed to be recalculated.
Gwang-taek spoke up as if it were no big deal.
“Oh! The distribution? We already talked about it before you got here. The adjustment is finished, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
Seong-jun was taken aback.
How could they decide the distribution without consulting him?
“Huh? What do you mean? You finished adjusting it already?”
When Seong-jun asked in confusion, Yuseon replied with a smile.
“We talked about it earlier. We’re leaving your 40% share exactly as it is. Gwang-taek and I are taking 10% off our own shares to give to Chang-su.”
That meant the distribution ratio was now 4:2:2:2.
“What? You left mine alone and only adjusted yours and Brother Gwang-taek’s? Why?”
“Why? Because it’s only fair. Anyway, it’s already decided, so don’t argue and just accept it.”
Strictly speaking, it was standard for the healer, Seong-jun, and the tanker, Gwang-taek, to have equal shares, while the damage dealers, Yuseon and Chang-su, took less.
However, this party operated differently.
Everyone knew that beneath the party’s core, Seong-jun, everyone else was equal.
Furthermore, they were currently making an astronomical amount of money compared to what typical hunters earned.
Even with their shares reduced from 30% to 20%, it was still an immense profit that ordinary hunters could only dream of.
“Sigh, if that’s what you’ve decided, I suppose there’s nothing I can do. Fine. I’ll make sure to look out for you guys in other ways instead.”
Seong-jun realized that Gwang-taek and Yuseon had made this decision out of consideration for him.
Refusing their kindness and insisting on a different ratio would be disrespectful to their intentions.
He decided to accept their proposal for now and planned to compensate them in other ways later.
***
After finishing the dungeon, Seong-jun’s group left their hideout, had a lavish dinner, and parted ways.
The next day, the group headed to their meeting spot to see Choe Gyu-taek.
It was a spacious, abandoned factory.
“Haha, welcome, Gwang-taek. Welcome, Hunter Kim Seong-jun.”
Choe Gyu-taek, who had arrived first, greeted them.
Seong-jun looked at him and spoke.
“Ah, yes. By the way, please speak comfortably with me. You’re Gwang-taek’s friend, after all.”
Since Choe Gyu-taek was handling the black-market trade of the monster corpses and mana stones, they were bound to see each other often.
While he wasn’t going out on hunts with them, he was effectively part of the team since he shared their secrets.
Seong-jun felt it was time to be a bit more informal.
Gyu-taek smiled at the suggestion.
“If you treat me comfortably, Seong-jun, then I’ll do the same.”
Seong-jun had been calling him “President Choe” until now.
Gyu-taek was suggesting that if Seong-jun treated him like an older brother—the way he treated Gwang-taek—then Gyu-taek would speak casually in return.
Seong-jun chuckled.
“Should we do that, then? I’ll call you Brother Gyu-taek from now on.”
Gyu-taek nodded and switched to a more casual tone.
“Honestly, I’d love for you to drop the formalities entirely like Gwang-taek does, but I suppose that’s a bit premature, isn’t it? Fine. I’m satisfied with this for now, so I’ll start speaking casually.”
He then slid open the factory door.
*Rumble!*
As the large door moved aside, the wide interior was revealed.
“This is where we’ll trade the monster corpses and mana stones from now on. I heard clearing one dungeon results in over 2,000 monsters? A space this size could easily hold over 3,000 medium-sized monsters. Though it would be a different story if they were large-scale ones.”
The interior of the factory was neatly organized, and the floor was clean.
It was ready for the corpses and stones to be laid out immediately.
“It’s great. It’s spacious, and the secluded location is perfect for avoiding prying eyes. But is the security reliable?”
The factory was perfect in terms of size and geography.
However, since the goods would be stored here for about a day, security was paramount.
“You don’t have to worry about that. Unless a group of hunters raids the place, we can easily fend off any common thugs.”
Technically, if villainous hunters attacked, the place would fall unless they stationed hunters of their own.
However, setting aside such extreme scenarios, he had deployed enough manpower to stop any ordinary gangsters.
Besides, the place was so well-disguised that it would be difficult for anyone to even realize that monster corpses were being traded here.
“That’s good enough. So, which buyer did you decide on?”
“We’re dealing with the Mirae Research Institute. Of course, the direct trade is with the lab, but the Mirae Group is likely behind it. The amount of money involved is a bit much for a single lab to handle.”
The Mirae Research Institute was a complex medical research facility involved in everything from pharmaceuticals to biotechnology and advanced medical devices.
While they were flush with cash, spending enough to buy thousands of monster corpses and mana stones at once was a significant move.
It was safe to assume the Mirae Group had authorized the deal.
“The Mirae Group. Well, they’re a stable partner, so that’s fine. As long as the secret is kept.”
“Do you know how many monster corpses the Mirae Group buys in a year? It’s staggering. And all of those trades currently go through the Association. The moment they start trading with us, they can save the massive middleman margin they usually pay to the Association. They have no reason to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.”
The Mirae Group had constantly tried to bypass the Association and trade directly with hunters.
The Association’s cut was so large that cutting them out would save the group a fortune.
However, because the guilds were in league with the Association, direct trade was virtually impossible.
Over 90% of hunters belonged to guilds, and those guilds handled the disposal of loot—always handing it over to the Association.
But a deal that broke that tradition was about to happen.
Although it was a secret transaction, the volume was significant enough that the group would surely want to maintain a long-term relationship to save on costs.
“Well, since we’ve decided to leave it to you, Brother Gyu-taek, we won’t interfere. We just want the same amount we’d get from the Association. You can handle the rest. We don’t care how much of a cut you take in the middle.”
Seong-jun was satisfied as long as they received the standard Association rate.
Getting that full amount through a private trade was already a benefit.
The rest depended on Gyu-taek’s skill.
How much he profited as the middleman was his business.
“Haha, they say greed leads to ruin. I’ll make sure to take a reasonable amount, so don’t worry. But where are the corpses and mana stones?”
Gyu-taek asked, looking around in confusion since he didn’t see thousands of monsters anywhere.
Seong-jun slowly walked into the center of the factory.
“Right here.”
He opened his [Subspace] and began to pull out the monster corpses.
*Fwaaaaah!*
In an instant, the factory was two-thirds full of monster remains.
“Whoa! Where did all that come from all of a sudden…?”
Gyu-taek, who knew nothing of the [Subspace], was naturally shocked.
“I’ll put the mana stones over here.”
Ignoring the shock, Seong-jun piled the mana stones in another corner.
*Clatter!*
A massive pile of stones rose on one side of the factory.
“……”
Gyu-taek was speechless.
Seong-jun continued.
“These are corpses of the Dark-attribute C-rank monster, the Ghoul. There are 2,516 regular ghouls, one Elite Ghoul, and the boss, the Ghoul Lord. For the stones, there are 2,516 regular C-rank stones, one Elite stone, and one boss stone.”
Gyu-taek swallowed hard.
*Gulp!*
Looking at the sheer volume filling two-thirds of the factory, he wondered how much it was worth in cold hard cash.
But even more surprising was that Seong-jun possessed a [Subspace] with enough capacity to hold this many tons of cargo.
“You… you have a Subspace?”
“Yes. I’ll be using it to move the corpses and stones here from now on. But you know this is a secret, right? Only you can know, Brother Gyu-taek. Don’t tell a soul.”
Seong-jun had brought Gyu-taek into this because his [Deep Analysis] had judged him to be trustworthy.
He had no choice but to reveal the [Subspace] to facilitate the trade, but he emphasized the need for total secrecy.
“Don’t worry about that. Even if someone held a knife to my throat, I’d keep my mouth shut.”
Gyu-taek prided himself on being tight-lipped.
Even in a life-threatening situation, he intended to protect Seong-jun’s group.
“The trade is tomorrow, right? As you know, everything about us is a secret. Since you’re the face of this trade, we won’t interfere, but that also means if a problem arises, you have to handle it on your own. We’ll help as much as we can, but I’m telling you now: if our identity is at risk of being exposed, we might have to back out.”
It sounded cold, but Seong-jun had to be clear about the boundaries.
Gyu-taek nodded.
“Of course. I already prepared myself for that when I decided to take this on. I’ll be careful so that things don’t go wrong, and even if they do, I won’t let it splash back onto you.”
Seong-jun smiled.
“If your life is in danger, you can just tell them. No matter how important a secret is, it’s not more important than your life.”
He meant it.
Even if the existence of the [Dungeon Creation Device] became public, it would be annoying, but not necessarily illegal or life-ending for him.
He didn’t want someone to die for his secret.
Gyu-taek smiled back.
“Haha, I doubt it’ll come to that, but I’ll keep that in mind just in case.”
After discussing a few more details, Seong-jun’s group left.
Gyu-taek closed the factory door and activated the security system.
***
In the Chairman’s office of the Mirae Group.
The Chief of Staff entered and reported to Chairman Lee Seong-taek.
“Chairman, the Mirae Research Institute called. The trade date is set for tomorrow.”
The Chairman’s expression turned pensive.
“Hmm, tomorrow? What are the ranks and quantities? As you know, F or E-rank corpses aren’t very useful. We need at least D-rank or higher, and the quantity needs to be at least 300. Can they meet that?”
Since the research lab was handling the specifics of the black market trade, he hadn’t received a detailed report yet.
The Chief of Staff quickly relayed the information he had just received.
“According to the report, the goods are C-rank Ghoul corpses and mana stones. The quantity is 2,516 regular corpses and stones, one Elite, and one Boss.”
Lee Seong-taek looked stunned.
“What? C-rank and over 2,000 of them? That means they took out an entire dungeon. How? How could they siphon off that much quantity without the Association noticing?”
The Chief of Staff answered.
“We agreed not to ask about the source, so I don’t have details. However, the manager on-site confirmed the rank and quantity personally. The trade will happen secretly at 4:00 AM tomorrow. We agreed on a price that is 40% cheaper than the Association’s buying price.”
When the Association sells corpses and stones to corporations, they add a 50% margin.
For example, if the Association buys a corpse from a hunter for one million won, they sell it to a company for 1.5 million won.
With the rank of the monsters and the quantity involved, buying these materials through official channels would cost tens of billions of won.
The issue was that Mirae Group bought about 10,000 monster corpses every quarter, including B-ranks.
Annually, they spent trillions of won on these materials.
“Forty percent… that would save us a fortune. Is this a one-time deal?”
“No, sir. They promised a steady supply. In fact, they said the next batch would be B-rank corpses. The quantity should be similar to this one, including Elites and Bosses.”
Chairman Lee Seong-taek was shocked once again.
“B-rank? And on a regular basis? To do that, the source would have to be one of the top ten guilds in the country. Could one of the top ten be behind this?”
Only the top ten guilds had the power to regularly clear entire B-rank dungeons and supply that much loot.
It was a natural question to ask.
“I’m not sure. Should I have the intelligence team look into it?”
After a moment of thought, Lee Seong-taek shook his head.
“Hmm, no. Leave it be. If they sense something and the trade falls through, it’ll be our loss. We can figure out who’s behind it slowly over time.”
Considering the capital required for monster materials, this trade was a massive win for the Mirae Group.
Furthermore, it gave them an advantage over other companies by securing an additional supply line.
Lee Seong-taek viewed this transaction as vital.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.