Ten days of gathering ore.
I’d just been piling them up at home.
I was worried they might disappear if I put them in my inventory then entered and exited the tower.
But now there’s way too many.
At this rate, my house might collapse.
It seems like it’s time to hand them over to the Management Office to sell.
Let me get the ores appraised first.
Surely it won’t take as long as the leather did.
Juhyeok took the ores that Gobang picked up and handed to him, placing them into his inventory.
Whew, there’s so many of them.
This isn’t easy.
Since I had to pretend to pick up the ores with my hands and put them in for them to enter the inventory, I thought my arms were going to fall off.
“I’ll be back. Get some rest while I’m gone.”
“Young lady, I pray for the young master’s success.”
“Fighting, Summoner Bong! Sell them for a high price!”
“I’ll keep the house safe.”
“Hoeng!”
When the appointed time came, Deputy Chief Jeon Kwang-il appeared punctually in front of the apartment.
It feels burdensome to use the Deputy Chief as a chauffeur.
So I apologized, but he said, “Hahaha, don’t worry about it. Meeting Player Bong Juhyeok is incredibly important. And this is the safest method.”
Well, if that’s the case.
“And I have something to tell you as well.”
“What is it?”
“We’re currently taking reservations for the Holy Sword, but…”
Reservations, huh.
“Um… Have many countries applied?”
“Just Norway so far. They need to conquer the 66th floor too. Soon, the number of countries making reservations will gradually increase.”
Only one place for now.
Just because you’ve reached the 61st floor doesn’t mean you absolutely need to use the Holy Sword.
With just light attribute items, you can climb up to around the 65th floor.
Korea did that too.
“As for renting or reserving the Holy Sword, if the Management Office could handle it as they’ve done so far…”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
Another ten million dollars.
It still doesn’t feel real.
At this rate, I’ll lose my sense of money.
When the money comes in, maybe I should buy some land.
Land or buildings are the best.
I could even farm after I retire.
Of course, I’m not taking farming lightly.
Maybe our team is actually optimized for farming?
Gobang, who’s stronger than an ox; Razix, whose class itself is a worker; Gyeon Dallae, a priestess who prays for good harvests; and Kozak… well, he could chase away roe deer or wild boars.
“Oh! The Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates has entered Korea.”
“Hmm, I see.”
But what does that have to do with anything?
“The UAE’s Black Tower situation isn’t good. Not long ago, Islamic extremists carried out a terrorist attack, and all their state-fostered players died.”
“That’s terrible!”
That region has terrorist attacks every day.
To think even players would get caught up in it.
“There are only 20 days left before the tower conquest deadline. They’re planning to request temporary naturalization to the Korean Awakening Management Office soon.”
If they’re looking for a player who can temporarily change citizenship…
“Are they asking for Player Nam Ga-eun?”
“That’s right.”
That’s quite bold.
They want to borrow our top player?
“Currently, the UAE side believes that Korea has two top players.”
“…Could they mean Yoo Cheol-min? But he’s Japanese.”
“No, they’re referring to Player Bong Juhyeok.”
…That’s random.
“How do they even know about me?”
“Of course they don’t. But they seem to think our Management Office would know the identity of the S++ conquest record holder.”
Tsk, they must be quite desperate.
“Wouldn’t a neighboring country be better? Saudi Arabia is right there.”
“Saudi Arabia does have one top player, but would they ever lend them out? Maybe if it was their next foster player, but the level difference between their top and next player is over 10 levels, so it won’t work.”
That makes sense.
If they had a solid Plan B, they might consider it.
But sending their top player?
What if something goes wrong?
“In fact, the relationship between the two countries isn’t particularly good.”
“Why not? They’re both Arab countries.”
“It’s because of the Characteristic Enhancement Rune.”
Intriguing.
Juhyeok shows interest.
The Characteristic Enhancement Rune suddenly coming up in conversation.
“When the Characteristic Enhancement Runes were initially released on the market, there was fierce competition between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, based on their powerful oil money.”
Oh! A battle between two powerful forces.
“In the process, there were rumors that many runes that were supposed to be contracted to Saudi Arabia ended up going to the UAE instead. It wasn’t confirmed, though.”
Meaning the UAE might have stabbed Saudi Arabia in the back.
“As a result, the UAE successfully nurtured multiple state-fostered players… so those rumors might be true.”
Competition between countries to climb the unexplored upper floors of the Black Tower.
Juhyeok doesn’t care much about national competition, but something caught his attention.
“By the way, do you think the UAE still possesses Characteristic Enhancement Runes?”
“The possibility is very high. They probably didn’t use them all at once but kept some in reserve.”
“What if we pursue temporary naturalization in exchange for those?”
“Well… they’ll probably be reluctant to give them up. They’d rather resolve it with money.”
“I see.”
If they won’t give them up, then I’m not interested.
They’ll figure it out themselves.
I already have a Multinational Tower Usage Ticket anyway.
If Characteristic Enhancement Runes were offered in exchange, I’d burn myself out for it.
Tsk, I should climb slowly.
As they were talking, they already arrived at the Management Office’s tower material warehouse.
Juhyeok and Jeon Kwang-il got out of the car, put on long padded jackets, and went inside.
They said they kept the temperature very low to preserve the leather.
“The leather is being stored safely. As soon as the processing facilities are completed, we’ll process it immediately.”
Ah,
It’s still there.
What’s the point of getting a large sum of money later?
I need it now.
Let’s get to the business at hand first.
“I brought more materials today. Not leather though.”
“Ah! Yes, yes.”
Jeon Kwang-il was filled with anticipation.
Not leather.
Then what?
It definitely won’t be ordinary items.
Actually, there is something he’s hoping for…
The metal ingots that players receive as rewards, in the shape of rectangular blocks.
I hope they’re ingots.
Juhyeok began to take out the ores that Razix had mined from his inventory.
Jeon Kwang-il was somewhat disappointed.
He didn’t show it, but.
They weren’t ingots.
Just ordinary-looking stones.
“…Rocks, I see.”
“Something like that.”
Definitely rocks. No matter how you look at them, they’re rocks.
No, that’s not right.
These are rocks that go into the tower-exclusive inventory.
Looking closely, they seem to be sparkling a bit.
So he picked one up.
Jeon Kwang-il flinched in surprise!
It’s quite heavy.
Not the weight he had imagined.
Almost like iron ore…
Hmm?
Iron ore, iron ore… iron ore?
Could it be.
“Are, are these ores?”
“Yes.”
Fuck! I feel so stupid.
Why didn’t I realize it just now?
That the tower materials brought by Player Bong Juhyeok were different from what other players received as rewards.
It was the same with the leather, and with the herbs too.
Wait, he’s bringing ores too?
What can’t he bring out of there?
“…This is adamantite ore.”
“I also have orichalcum and sectonium. Not as much as adamantite, but still.”
Jeon Kwang-il was speechless for a while.
Player Bong did what Player Bong does…
Haha…
It’s always beyond expectations.
To the extent that his imagination can’t keep up.
“Since they’re ores and not ingots, it might be a bit troublesome to use them.”
“N-not at all! How could it be troublesome?”
Not ingots, but ores.
If you smelt ores, you can obtain metal.
Would that work with tower ores too?
Of course it would.
All metals melt in fire.
Tower reward ingots do too.
That’s why weapons and equipment can be crafted.
“Ah, then, I’ll take everything out.”
“…There’s more?”
“I have quite a lot, so I’ll need something to put them in.”
“J-just a moment, please.”
Juhyeok continued to take ores out of his inventory.
Jeon Kwang-il, who had brought several baskets, slowly began to gape.
Ores came out.
More came out.
Just when you thought that must be all, more came out.
Juhyeok was now sweating profusely and even took off his padded jacket.
This is incredibly hard work.
And there’s so much of it.
Roughly around 600 pieces of ore in total.
Even when taking them out of the inventory, I have to hold them in my hand and put them down somewhere.
They were light to carry inside the tower,
But this is outside.
I could just sit back and steadily collect Holy Sword rental fees.
This is unnecessary trouble.
How much money am I trying to make?
Or I could wait for the leather products to sell.
But I couldn’t ignore Razix’s expectant gaze.
The heart that wants to help by mining ores.
Jeon Kwang-il didn’t just stand there either.
He received the ores that Juhyeok took out and sorted them by type, placing them in baskets.
Adamantite, orichalcum, sectonium, each in separate baskets, distinguishable by their colors.
Finally,
“Whew, that’s all of it.”
“I-is that it?”
“Yes, I thought my arms were going to fall off.”
“Hahaha…”
Just how many baskets were there?
“…Will you purchase these?”
“We’ll absolutely purchase them.”
It’s a relief that they’ll buy them.
All that’s left is the price.
“May I weigh them first?”
“Sure.”
Jeon Kwang-il brought a large scale from the corner of the warehouse.
After zeroing the scale, he began to place the sorted baskets on it.
He meticulously recorded the weight of each basket.
Weight measurement complete.
Jeon Kwang-il’s hands trembled as he touched the calculator on his smartphone.
Partly due to the effort of lifting the baskets, but also because the quantity was enormous.
“Player Bong.”
“Yes.”
“Ordinary players occasionally receive metals in ingot form as conquest rewards.”
“I know that.”
“The player shop purchases adamantite ingots at 5 million won per kilogram. Orichalcum is 10 million won per kilo, sectonium is 20 million won per kilo. That’s the international standard price.”
Metals are even more precious materials than leather for tower climbing.
While leather is only used for armor, metals are used for everything – weapons, armor, everything.
The probability of receiving equipment items as tower conquest rewards is very slim.
Most players have to use weapons and armor directly manufactured by their respective countries when undertaking conquests.
In short, they’re strategic materials for tower climbing.
That’s why they set a standard price that’s not too expensive.
The purchase price for metals is better than I thought?
Well, a small hand shield made of metal plate cost 40 million won.
And that was at cost, quite cheap.
This might yield good results.
It will definitely exceed 1 billion won.
Jeon Kwang-il held up one of the ores and continued speaking.
“Typically, iron ore contains about 50% or more iron. This seems similar to iron ore, so…”
At half the price of ingots,
“I’m thinking of purchasing adamantite ore at 2.5 million won per kilogram, orichalcum ore at 5 million won, and sectonium ore at 10 million won, if that’s acceptable. These would be standard prices.”
Juhyeok nodded.
If there’s a standard price, there’s no need to haggle.
So what’s the total?
“Adamantite: 3.74 billion 25 million won; orichalcum: 2.68 billion won; sectonium: 3 billion 5 million won. All together, that’s 9.427 billion won.”
Then, watching Juhyeok’s reaction, he cautiously asked,
“What do you think? Are you satisfied?”
Juhyeok didn’t move a muscle. He heard the amount, but…
“How much did you say?”
“9.427 billion won.”
“Not 940 million?”
“It’s 9.4 billion, at standard prices.”
Twitch,
9.4 billion.
Is this for real?
Is this even possible?
“…U-um, are you sure you didn’t miscalculate?”
“Not at all. The total weight of the ore, rounding to the nearest decimal, is 2,342kg. Of that, adamantite ore is 1,497kg, orichalcum is 536kg, and sectonium is 309kg.”
So the ore weighed 2.3 tons.
“If more ingots are extracted later, I’ll add that amount accordingly.”
“…And if less is extracted?”
“Well, that would be my mistake, so there’s nothing to be done.”
Jeon Kwang-il couldn’t believe it either.
Such an enormous quantity.
At 50%, the total metal ingots would exceed 1 ton.
Even if only 30% of the smelting is successful, that’s 700kg.
700kg is slightly more than the amount of metal the player shop has purchased in a year.
He felt ashamed for having worried about things like leather crafting tools.
Now they could amply supply quality equipment to players.
Enough plate armor for close-combat players,
“Thank you for selling these to us.”
I should be the one thanking you.
That’s what he wanted to say, but his heart was pounding so hard the words wouldn’t come out.
These days, every transaction seems to be in the hundreds of billions.
The Holy Sword, the penthouse, the ores.
This is a big deal.
Even billions don’t seem like real money anymore.
Thanks to Razix, my guts will grow even bigger.
***
Juhyeok’s penthouse.
Kozak was rolling around on the floor, munching on snacks.
Rustle, rustle,
Every time he took snacks out of the bag, crumbs fell,
The living room floor got dirty, but there was no need to worry.
Roll roll roll, from far away comes the ball of fur that is Razix,
“Hoeng!”
Swoosh! Wipe! One wipe with a rag and it’s clean,
“Thank you, Mr. Razix.”
“Hoeeee.”
Razix disappears again,
Gyeon Dallae shook her head.
Kozak dirtying the living room without any guilt.
Servant Razix rushing over happily whenever there’s cleaning to be done.
The one who trashes and the one who cleans. Their fantastic chemistry.
Sigh, it’s ridiculous.
Kozak, rolling around on the now-clean living room floor, said,
“Gobang, don’t overthink it, just say whatever comes to mind.”
“I can’t think of anything.”
“Alright. I’ll go first. I say 500 million.”
Then Gyeon Dallae,
“Is that all? To belittle Razix’s hard work like that, fine. I’ll say 1 billion.”
“Princess, no backing out. You definitely said 1 billion, right?”
“I’m not Mr. Kozak. I never go back on my word.”
“Heng! I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a princess.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
Kozak, Gobang, and Gyeon Dallae were betting on how much the ores would sell for.
The punishment: the winner gets to flick the loser’s forehead.
“Gobang, if you’re not going to speak up till the end…”
“I will.”
“How much?”
“10 billion.”
Kozak jumped up and mocked him.
“Kyahaha, did you say ores for 10 billion? You really have no sense of reality. This house costs 20 billion.”
“I-is that so?”
“There’s no going back for you either. Get ready for a forehead flick, you punk! And don’t transform when you get hit.”
“…Understood.”
Then he started rolling around on the living room floor again.
As always, snack crumbs scattered across the floor.
Roll roll roll.
Swipe!
Roll roll roll.
“Hoeng!”
Just then! His ears perked up!
Kozak’s ears twitched.
Whoosh! In an instant, Kozak vanished.
Spot!
What’s up with him?
As Gyeon Dallae tilted her head in confusion.
Click!
The front door opened.
“I’m back.”
It was Juhyeok.
“Welcome home, young master.”
“Summoner, I’ve been waiting.”
Kozak suddenly reappeared, holding a cordless vacuum cleaner.
Whirrrrr!
With a shameless expression, he cleaned the living room,
“Oh? When did you get here? Chung! Kozak, the right-hand man of Summoner Bong, was just cleaning. Was helping Razix.”
“My, you’re working hard. As expected, no one but Mr. Kozak. Hahaha.”
“Hehehe.”
“Hoe?”
Gyeon Dallae watched with an incredulous expression.
What a cunning…
A true schemer.
A great villain who would disrupt state affairs.
She felt like throwing him to Gwangma.
Juhyeok took off his shoes and sat on the living room sofa.
Everyone gave him curious looks.
Just how much were the ores worth?
Juhyeok’s mouth slowly opened.
“9.4275 billion won.”
“…Pardon?”
What’s 9.4 billion?
“That’s how much money we made from selling the ores today.”
“…Pardon?”
The summonees looked bewildered.
“I’m not sure I understand…”
Juhyeok smiled and said again.
“9.4275 billion won. I sold the ores. It’s money that Mr. Razix earned all by himself.”
Kozak’s eyes trembled uncontrollably.
“Heek?”
Gobang had a satisfied smile.
“Hmm.”
Gyeon Dallae flew over like a butterfly and performed a deep bow.
“Master Bong, congratulations.”
Razix still seemed dazed.
“Ho, hoeng?”
Suddenly! A shout erupted!
“Waaaah!”
“Hooray! Long live Razix!”
“As expected of a servant from a noble house.”
Simultaneously, a white ball of fur soared high.
Time for Razix’s victory lift.
“Hoeng, hoeeeee,”
Razix enjoyed this moment too.
Feeling proud and pleased with himself.
He wasn’t scared at all, even when lifted high.
But as Kozak was giving the lift, he seemed to remember something. With a pale face, he sidled up to Juhyeok and whispered.
“S-Summoner Bong.”
“What is it? Hmm, you don’t look well. Is something wrong?”
“I’m not feeling well, could you cancel my summoning right now?”
“Huh?”
What nonsense is this about not feeling well.
“We need to have a celebratory dinner first.”
“No, th-that’s not it… cancel my summoning right now, please!”
“Um.”
“Q-quickly! Or else I’ll d-die.”
Just then!
Grab!
A giant hand grasped Kozak’s collar.
“Give it here!”
“Heek?”
“Assassin, a promise is a promise.”
“W-wait, let me explain…”
SMACK!
BANG!
The living room window shook from the explosive sound.
Kozak’s head bent back so far it looked like it might break.
Kozak hung limp in Gobang’s grasp, swaying back and forth.
Gyeon Dallae’s contented smile.
“…”
What kind of forehead flick was that?
Surely he’s not dead, right?