Chapter 83 – Research Institute (1)
“Alright. Shall we get going?”
Kang Hyeon got up from his seat after taking a beer can out of the refrigerator.
“Where are you going?”
“To meet Team Leader Shin Tae-gil. I’m going alone, so you don’t need to come out.”
“Understood.”
Kang Hyeon left the office, stopping Shin Seong-a who tried to follow him.
“Ah, nice weather.”
The new year had dawned.
It had already been a year since the tutorial started and the world changed.
Last year at this time, Kang Hyeon would have been shivering in the cold, but now it’s different.
The chilly weather of early January had no effect on Kang Hyeon.
“Ahh!”
Kang Hyeon exclaimed after taking a swig of the cold beer.
The sharp taste and cool sensation as it went down his throat.
The moderate carbonation always puts him in a good mood.
“Hey, you’re here?”
Kang Hyeon casually raised his hand to greet the black sedan.
As the window rolled down, Shin Tae-gil could be seen at the wheel.
“Drinking in broad daylight?”
“It’s not like I’m driving, so what does it matter?”
“Sigh, never mind. Let’s go.”
Kang Hyeon grinned at Shin Tae-gil’s sigh and got into the passenger seat.
“As I mentioned before, this is a hard-won appointment.”
“Yes.”
“You absolutely must not cause any trouble.”
“Come on. When have I ever caused trouble...”
As Kang Hyeon spoke, various incidents and accidents flashed through his mind.
“Well. I guess I have been involved in a few incidents.”
“I’m glad you’re aware.”
“But in the end, it was always a happy ending, right?”
“I don’t think you understand what a happy ending means.”
“Tsk. Let’s just move on.”
After staring blankly out the window for a while, Kang Hyeon suddenly spoke up.
“Mr. Shin Tae-gil.”
“Yes.”
“I just remembered, what happened to the weapon you were supposed to give me?”
“I brought it.”
“Oh.”
During the recent Choi Min-jun incident, Kang Hyeon broke Bilgein’s longsword.
And he had asked Shin Tae-gil to repair the sword and provide a temporary weapon.
“What about the accessories and resistance abilities?”
“I brought everything, so don’t worry.”
“Oh! You said it was hard to get, but you managed it. Haha!”
Shin Tae-gil’s expression hardened as he heard Kang Hyeon’s laughter.
-Where am I supposed to get that kind of budget?!
-I’m sorry... But investing in Kang Hyeon will definitely be worth it.
Items that grant abilities and skills are expensive. And those related to resistance are even more expensive.
Kang Hyeon had no idea of the astronomical effort Shin Tae-gil had put in to secure that budget.
Of course, he wasn’t curious about it either.
“But there’s a condition.”
“A condition?”
“Yes. Just grant me one favor.”
Kang Hyeon frowned at Shin Tae-gil’s sudden words.
“What kind of favor?”
Usually, as a member of the Special Ability Management Team, Kang Hyeon had been stepping up to solve most problems.
Although he moved because the incidents were related to him, he thought that no one had worked as hard as he did, results-wise.
“It’s not confirmed yet. I’ll tell you soon.”
“Tch, how boring. Fine. I’ll do whatever I can.”
Just the item for acquiring resistance ability costs over 10 billion won.
Moreover, it’s not something you can get just because you have the money.
The demand far outweighed the supply.
Even the usually shameless Kang Hyeon thought that after receiving such a rare item, it was only right to do whatever was asked without complaint.
“And there’s one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“On the condition of bringing cheap skill books, we agreed to dispatch you when needed.”
“What?!”
Kang Hyeon’s eyes widened at the sudden news of overseas dispatch.
“There are also many other countries that were affected during this incident.”
“And?”
“If they request ability user support from Korea, we agreed to dispatch.”
“So?”
“Where else in our country do we have ability users capable of being dispatched?”
“...”
“It looks like our team will be providing support.”
“Umm, Mr. Shin Tae-gil.”
“There’s still more to do.”
“...?”
“In a way, we’re just getting to the main point now.”
Kang Hyeon tilted his head at Shin Tae-gil’s sudden words.
“What is it?”
“I’ll explain that. Follow me.”
Kang Hyeon nodded and moved at Jeong Seo-bin’s words.
After following her for a while, they came to a large hall.
“Hmm...?”
Kang Hyeon felt confused as he looked around the hall.
“Longswords, cameras, food, even radios... What kind of place is this?”
“Why don’t you check for yourself?”
At Jeong Seo-bin’s words, Kang Hyeon picked up a hamburger placed nearby.
Name: Tasteless Hamburger
Grade: F
Durability: 1 / 1
Description: A hamburger made with F-grade magic stones. It tastes quite bad. When consumed, it restores a small amount of magic.
“What is this...?”
Kang Hyeon looked dazed as he saw the description that appeared when he picked up the hamburger.
“Food has become an item...?”
“That’s right.”
“Is this possible?!”
Kang Hyeon wore an expression of disbelief.
“It took numerous trials and clinical experiments. Handle it carefully. That hamburger costs over a million won.”
“Huh... This is revolutionary in many ways.”
Ordinary food becoming an item.
The implications of this were simple.
“Now we don’t have to worry about starving to death in dungeons. And our luggage will be lighter too.”
“That’s right. Until now, the items that could go into an ability user’s inventory were limited.”
“...”
“Items like weapons and armor. Everything else had to be packed in bags, making for heavy luggage to carry around.”
As Jeong Seo-bin said, an ability user’s inventory is limited.
It couldn’t hold anything that wasn’t recognized as an item.
And those items were mostly limited to equipment that came out of dungeons.
“Don’t tell me everything here is...?”
“Yes. They’re all items.”
Hearing Jeong Seo-bin’s words, Kang Hyeon touched a camera.
Name: Test Camera 7
Grade: F
Durability: 20 / 20
Description: A test camera made by Jeong Seo-bin. It’s a collaboration of magic and science, operating on magic stones as fuel.
“Be careful. We’ve poured tens of billions into making just one of those.”
Kang Hyeon quickly put the camera back in its place.
“This is amazing. To think we can use electronic devices in dungeons.”
“Our current goal is to develop a device that can communicate inside dungeons.”
“Wow...”
A completely new world was opening up.
Kang Hyeon had heard about such things being developed abroad, but seeing it in person was truly astonishing.
“So. Why did you bring me here?”
It was good to encounter unexpected new technologies. But Kang Hyeon was curious about the intention behind showing him these things.
“How much do you think it cost to develop all of this so far?”
“A lot, I guess.”
“It’s close to a trillion won.”
Kang Hyeon’s eyes widened at the answer, having responded indifferently before.
“But we haven’t made any profit from this yet. Some are already at the completion stage, even though they’re still in testing.”
“Why?”
“Because the production cost doesn’t match up.”
Kang Hyeon immediately understood Jeong Seo-bin’s words.
“I guess it’s better to just pack a backpack than to pay hundreds of thousands of won for a hamburger.”
There are over 100,000 actively working ability users in Korea alone.
And all of these ability users earn more money than average office workers.
But even high-earning ability users don’t want to spend that much money just to conquer one dungeon.
“They’d rather save that money and get better equipment instead.”
“That’s right. It’s a problematic situation in many ways.”
Jeong Seo-bin looked at the items with a loving expression.
“I’m a pure researcher and scientist. But the world is entangled in numerous interests. This huge research institute doesn’t operate for free. Everything moves with astronomical amounts of money.”
“It seems so.”
“But with our current achievements, it’s hard to gain recognition from investors. While others doing similar research are flourishing, the Hanseok Group, our biggest investor, has pulled out. At this rate, the institute will close within a month at most.”
“Hmm...”
Kang Hyeon stroked his chin, deep in thought at Jeong Seo-bin’s words.
“I don’t understand why you’re telling me this. I do have quite a bit of money, but I’m not rich enough to fund a research institute like this.”
“I know. The only way for the institute to survive now is to find new investors.”
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“Kang Hyeon.”
Jeong Seo-bin looked straight at Kang Hyeon.
“Would you like to form a partnership with our institute?”