Chapter 79

TIFER-2

As soon as I started working as a Guild Master, I did eliminate all regular meetings that I had to preside over. Therefore, most of the guild operations reports were made digitally or were carried out through Secretary Kim.

“Guild Master, this is Secretary Kim.”

“Oh, the call will be over soon, so please come in.”

The office door opened. Secretary Kim was now in charge of the position of executive secretary and direct chief of staff under the Guild Master. I was on the phone with the Hunter Management, so Secretary Kim sat on the chair and waited for a while. When the call was finally over, I saw his mouth twitching strangely.

“Do you still like it that much?”

He replied with a bright smile, “Yes, every day is new and exciting!”

Whenever he saw me sitting in the chair of the Guild Master, he looked so happy. He seemed so pleased and proud.

“Why don’t you stay in the office a little longer, too, Guild Master? That would help boost guild morale.”

About once a week, I stopped by my office in the office building. I knew what Secretary Kim wanted, but I shook my head.

“Boost of morale is not done by the boss showing his face often but by treating them well. Anyway, what about this week’s report?”

Secretary Kim launched a hologram. Each department in the guild prepared regular reports. They reported how they had progressed with my long-term decisions rather than those that required urgent decision-making.

“First of all, the internal announcement of the final draft of the reorganization was sent out, as you see.” As instructed, the number of mining team members was reduced, and the number of Clear team members was increased instead.

“What’s the reaction of hunters below Class C?”

According to the formation of a mining team that hunted monsters and collected cores in dungeons that were already Cleared, hunters of C-Rank or lower accounted for the majority.

“There’s been a commotion. They’ve been working in mining for a long time, so they have some psychological inertia.”

It was a natural response because Clear is of higher risk.

“Please keep reminding them that we’ve increased the hazard pay for the Clear team significantly, as we mentioned before, and that we’ve increased the level of item supplies compared to the previous times,” I couldn’t help it if they left complaining, even if the conditions were set high, “Any other reactions? I know Secretary Kim reads the atmosphere well.”

He tilted his head and said, “In fact, we have a lot of questions about the decision to reduce core mining because it is the most stable source of guild income. Especially in the back office where the non-Awakened are concentrated.”

All the cores mined in such a way must be sold within a limited price range to the country. After the energy revolution caused by Core, Mana core indeed became a necessity to run the society. Still, Celestial Dragon did not have to be in charge of supplying the demand. Other guilds could take the place where Celestial Dragon had stepped down and would work hard for a low-profit margin. The method of generating income was enough and overflowing even if not for the Mana core.

‘From now on, Celestial Dragon’s personnel will focus on finding undiscovered gates and Clearing those dungeons.’

I asked Secretary Kim, “But the finance team doesn’t say much, do they?”

“Yes, that was indeed interesting. A reduction in supplying the Core means that cash flows will be affected immediately, but the finance team leader has no complaints.”

The non-Awakened finance team leader was now screaming with joy as he tried to figure out how to manage the tremendous amount of cash pouring into the guild through several investment companies. There would be no reason, or time, to complain about my management principles. If they found the origin of money, they would reach the auction including [Vital Flame].

“And, as you said, we’ve made a massive announcement at a domestic and international level to recruit support type hunters,” Secretary Kim floated the next slide in the air, “Through the head-hunter, we’ve mentioned that the treatment would be of a level that would completely shakedown industry standards.”

I nodded, “As soon as they gather, we need to reinforce the gate search team.”

“Okay.”

Undiscovered gate search was one of the state projects led by the country. Even in places with low population density, CCTVs were installed, and regular search flights were carried out with drones, but still, we missed gates now and then.

Meanwhile, the four major guilds also ran gate search teams, but that was more for bragging rights than anything else. At least, the Celestial Dragon search team, led by Hunters directly under Han-Seol, had achieved the most so far.

‘It must be action based on reading the future with [Prophecy].’

What I was trying to do, from that moment on, was to induce the Celestial Dragon to find the gate that would eventually lead to an accident they couldn’t find in the future that I already experienced.

‘Of course, I’ll do the selection of the search area myself.’

The search team of Celestial Dragon, which operated like that, would produce unprecedented results. Our secret was that we hired many detection type hunters with exceptional treatment.

‘Still, the rumor will spread. Speculation that there is something special in Celestial Dragon to find the gate. That’s enough.’

That was the short-term plan.

‘And the detection type hunters will be the asset to prepare for the future.’

One of Celestial Dragon’s major weaknesses was the lack of support types in the composition of personnel. Meaning, talents to overcome the dungeon’s increasingly complex structure, were largely ignored in the latter part of the tutorial. Just as Nicole Thompson played a great role in the Siheung 8 Dungeon, they would use their ability in many ways in the future.

Beep, beep!

There was a ringing on my terminal. Secretary Kim, who just finished the report, bowed his head and stepped out, with a slight skip in his step.

When he’d gone, I checked who was on the other side.

‘Edward Danton.’

When I tapped the device lightly, a hologram came up. The Senator, who buried himself deep in a leather sofa, was staring at me.

“What’s going on? That you would rather contact me directly without going through director Yoo Jin-Hwa?”

He replied with a grin, “I think I’ll have to tell you the news myself.”

“The prototype, it’s done.”

I was impressed. ‘Oh, already?’ Was it because I set up the table, and he just had to lay his spoon on it? It was much faster than it was in the previous life.

“Look,” the Senator gestured, and another video came up under the video call window as it seemed that his subordinates had prepared it beforehand. There, a Hunter was seen holding a sword and concentrating his mind. The light fluttered on the blade of the sword with a buzzing sound. The ‘blade energy’, created by the formed Mana’s combustion, was also seen on a manmade video recording device.

“Okay!” I clapped my hands, “You have succeeded!”

“Yes, it is the first sustainable weapon type artifact made by human technology.”

There was a bomb that utilized Mana core among the manufactured artifacts, but they were disposable. Most of the Hunters’ artifacts were picked up in dungeons or received as additional compensation after Clearing them. Among them, weapons had always lacked supply compared to demand, but the game had to change completely from now on.

The Senator added a few words, “No, I’m a little suspicious that this is exactly the technology of mankind.”

I replied, pushing up the corners of my mouth, “It doesn’t matter. Now that human hands create it, shouldn’t we call it the technology of the Earth?”

People of this era didn’t have to know about the fight for technology between my previous life dimensions. The production of the artifact was made real thanks to the blueprint I handed over. The joint venture, in which Danton Corporation and Celestial Dragon Guild co-invested, involved the planning of research and development and production as well.

“But the guy who was reporting on this said something funny,” the three-dimensional image unfolded the artifact’s blueprint, and the Senator said, pointing out a part of it, “Although it was hard to understand the words of the excited engineers, as they were loud, I roughly interpreted it like this. I heard that this part here is related to some kind of Missing Link?”

I smiled satisfactorily. It was intentionally arranged so that it could be recognized, and the geniuses representing humanity of this era noticed it as well.

“They say that it doesn’t affect the performance of the artifact, but it’s an indispensable part. And, I heard it seems like something’s missing. It is expected that the performance of the weapon will increase significantly once it is completed. Still, with the knowledge gained through the current blueprint, it is impossible to reverse-engineer the identity of the missing link.”

He grinned and said, “The reason why you left this was…to threaten me to not think of any funny business?”

Not only was he a fast thinker, but it was also impressive that he had the balls to be so outspoken.

I nodded my head, “It is the minimum amount of safety.”

I was warning him lightly that if he were to steal the technology that I handed over to him to act independently, it would yield the same result as slicing open a duck that lays golden eggs. A hint that there was information at a level higher than that artifact in my head. It was a message suggesting that if they were to betray me, I would find another partner right away to pour out superior products than what they are producing.

“Don’t worry. I made sure that those who will make such a stupid decision could not even get near this project. “

Even the Senator himself didn’t think that I doubted him. This was a warning not to the Senator but rather to those who worked for him.

“Greed easily blinds.”

“That is true.”

“When will mass production be possible?”

“About one or two months seems feasible. The moment that this is revealed to the media, the hunters under C-Ranks will have their eyes flipped over in an instant!”

That artifact was rather useless for more than B-Ranks. But it would yield an explosive reaction among those who comprised the majority of the Hunter population.

As it did in the previous life.

‘No, it is released rather at the time of much faster than the previous life.’

The technology was stolen from other species. This was a time before the trade with them began, so the time had reduced significantly. In a previous life, in the fight with the alien race, humankind could not help but be placed on the losing side, initially, but if I increased the hunters’ battle force, the flow of events from then on would change.

As he turned off the experiment footage, the Senator said in an indifferent tone, as if he had just remembered something, “Oh, and, the flame has sold out.”

“Yes, I’ve confirmed.”

The trial version, which could keep the rejuvenation for a month, was sold to 50. The stock left was of a size that 50 Awakens could sustain the rejuvenation for 20 years.

My eyes widened, hearing the words that followed.

“What? With that volume, you sold it to over 1,400 people?”

“I also didn’t know there were so many potential clients.”

As the competitors rushed in a dozen times more than before, the auction prices soared exponentially. The volume that each auction participant could secure was only enough to sustain the rejuvenation for a few months. Addicted to the sweetness of having back their youth, customers who pledged loyalty increased from the previous 50 people to 1,400 people.

“The supply could be accommodated more, right?”

“Yes, as much as you need.”

“I don’t know why there are so many people asking me to sell them the rest in exchange for their entire fortune… But it is useless. They were the ones that stole the opportunity of 1,400 hunters that could have actively participated from being born. I intend to sell to the 1,400 by testing the waters until I receive all of their fortunes.”

After all, that old man was just as terrible as me.

“The supply will be handed over through Director Oh Jin-Hwa. Oh and…”

I uttered a preconceived request, “Do you happen to have collected information about someone named Adam Abrams?”

“Abrams? Of course.”

Adam Abrams. The hunter that held the fastest rate of promotion to the SS-Rank before I appeared. He was also one of the few SSS-Rank hunters on Earth. In the previous life, he went mysteriously missing some time after Angelica appeared.

‘I’ve never seen him nor found detailed information about him in the previous life.’

But since he was one of the most powerful hunters that lived in this period, the Senator must have paid attention and, of course, collected related information.

“But then what’s with Abrams now? Do you think he’s going to cause trouble soon? Did you just figure in advance with your ‘ability’?”

As I glanced at him with a silent smile, the Senator grinned, with his teeth showing, “Do I look like a fool? I suspect that you have an information type of skill. Well, if you choose to keep your silence, I’ll assume that it is right.”

“Rather than being concerned about him causing trouble… there are things that I want to know more about.”

“Anyways, I have data that have been compiled in advance so that I will forward it to you right away.”

The call ended, and I questioned the system message. After visualizing Adam Abrams in my head, I spoke to empty space, “This Awakened, what’s his current position?”

It was one of the rewards that I struggled to receive after dealing with the ministry spirit. She said that she could only provide the people’s location on the list I handed to her. And with that, I requested for it to be updated whenever I wanted in real-time. As a result, the Ministry Spirit didn’t appear every time I did. Still, the cognitive being that they watched over… in other words, the system message that most hunters encounter daily, answered my questions.

– The target’s current location is as follows.

The fact that it provided the information of Awakened means that the opponent had already finished the tutorial. Therefore, the opponent was an alien.

‘The alien that has the lowest probability would be the perpetrator of the curse among the ones remaining in the list. And the one that has been staying on Earth for an unknown reason, pretending to be human.’

After identifying his current location, I called Secretary Kim and spoke concisely, “Secretary Kim, one airline ticket for reservation, please.”

He answered right back, “Okay, where is your destination?”

“Destination is TIFER-2, one that leaves tomorrow, please.”

“I see.”

The full name of the location they’d abbreviated to TIFER-2 was Trust Territory in Far East Region-2. It was one of the select administrative regions of the Earth that appeared after the Cataclysm. Before the Cataclysm, the country that ruled over the land and what the UN now had a share of certain regions, as part of trusteeship, was…

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.