It's just been piling up at home.
I was worried that if I put it in my inventory, it might disappear after entering and exiting the Tower.
But it had piled up way too much.
At this rate, the house is going to collapse.
Seems like it's time to hand it over to the Management Authority and sell it.
First, let's get the ore appraised.
Surely it won't take as long as the leather did.
Juhyeok received the ore that Gobang gathered and brought over, putting it into his inventory.'Whew, this is a lot.'This isn't easy.
He had to pretend to pick up each ore by hand to put it in, and his arms felt like they were going to fall off.
"
I'm off. Everyone, get some rest.
"
"
Young lady, we pray for the young master's success.
"
"
Go get 'em, Summoner Bong! Bring back a good price!
"
"
I'll guard the house well.
"
"
Hwaeng!
"
When the appointed time came, Vice Director Jeon Gwangil appeared punctually in front of the apartment building, as always.
It felt awkward, like he was using the vice director as a chauffeur.
So he apologized, and Jeon said,
"
Hahaha, please don't worry. Meeting Player Bong Juhyeok is of the utmost importance. Besides, this is the safest method.
"
Well, all right then.
"
And there's something I need to tell you.
"
"
What is it?
"
"
We are currently taking reservations for the Holy Sword.
"
A reservation, huh.
"
Oh... have a lot of countries applied?
"
"
Only Norway. They need to clear the 66th floor, after all. Soon enough, the number of reserving nations will gradually increase.
"
Just one country so far.Just because you've reached the 61st floor doesn't mean you absolutely must use the Holy Sword.
With light-attribute items alone, you can get up to around the 65th floor.
That's how it was for Korea.
"
As for the Holy Sword rental and reservations, I'll leave it to the Management Authority to handle as they've done so far....
"
"
Yes, don't worry.
"
Another ten million dollars.
Still doesn't feel real.
At this rate, my sense of money is going to dull.'When the money comes in, I should buy some land or a few properties while I'm at it.'Land and buildings are the best.
I could even retire later and take up farming.
Not that I'm underestimating farming, of course.
Come to think of it, aren't my summons optimized for farm work?
Gobang is stronger than an ox, Rajix's class is literally a laborer, Yeondalrae is a shamaness who prays for bountiful harvests, and Kosak... can just be told to chase away water deer and wild boars.
"
Oh, right! The Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates has entered Korea.
"
"
Hmm, is that so?
"
But what does that have to do with me?
"
The situation at the UAE's Black Tower isn't good. Recently, a terrorist attack by Islamic extremists killed all of their nation-raised players.
"
"
How terrible!
"
That region deals with terrorism every single day.
And now even players got caught up in it.
"
There are only 20 days left until the Tower's conquest deadline. They will soon be submitting a request for temporary naturalization to Korea's Awakened Management Authority.
"
A player eligible for temporary naturalization...
"
You mean Player Nam Gaeun?
"
"
That's right.
"
What nerve.
They want to borrow the top player?
"
Currently, the UAE considers Korea to have two top players.
"
"... You don't mean Yu Cheolmin? He's Japanese, you know.
"
"
No, they mean Player Bong Juhyeok.
"
... That came out of nowhere.
"
How do they even know about me?
"
"
Of course they don't know. But it seems they believe our Management Authority knows the identity of the S++ record holder.
"
Tsk, so they really are desperate.
"
Wouldn't a neighboring country be a better option, then? There's Saudi Arabia.
"
"
Saudi Arabia does have one top player, but surely you don't think they'd lend him out. If it were their next-generation raised player, maybe—but the level gap between their top and next-generation players is over 10 levels, so that won't work.
"
Naturally.
If Plan B were solid, they might consider it.
But sending their top player?
What if something goes wrong?
"
To be honest, the relations between the two countries aren't particularly good.
"
"
They're both Arab nations. Why?
"
It's because of the Rune of Trait Enhancement.
"
Interesting.
Juhyeok showed interest.
Why was the Rune of Trait Enhancement suddenly coming up?
"
In the early days, when the Rune of Trait Enhancement first hit the market, fierce competition broke out between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, backed by their formidable oil money.
"
Oh! The big two powerhouses.
"
During that process, there were rumors that a number of runes that were supposed to be contracted to Saudi Arabia instead went to the UAE. Unconfirmed, of course.
"
Meaning the UAE might have stabbed Saudi Arabia in the back.
"
In the end, the UAE succeeded in raising a large number of nation-raised players.... So the rumor might well have been true.
"
The competition among nations to climb the unconquered upper floors of the Black Tower.
Juhyeok wasn't particularly interested in national rivalries, but something had caught his attention a moment ago.
"
Say, do you think the UAE still has any Runes of Trait Enhancement?
"
"
Very likely. They probably stockpiled them rather than using them all at once.
"
"
What if I pushed for the temporary naturalization with those as compensation?
"
"
Hmm. They won't readily part with them. They'd sooner settle it with money.
"
"
I see.
"
If they won't give them, forget it. I have no interest.
They'll handle it themselves.'And I do happen to have a multinational Tower access ticket.'If a Rune of Trait Enhancement were on the table as compensation, I'd be willing to burn myself out for it.
Tsk, better to climb at my own pace.
Their conversation carried on, and before he knew it, they had arrived at the Management Authority's Tower materials warehouse.
Juhyeok and Jeon Gwangil got out of the car, put on long padded coats, and headed inside.
The temperature had been set extremely low to preserve the leather.
"
The leather is being safely stored. Once the processing facility is complete, we will begin processing immediately.
"
Ah, so it's still just sitting there.
What would I do if big money came in later?
I need it now.
First, business.
"
I've brought more materials today. Not leather, though.
"
"
Ah! Yes, yes.
"
Jeon Gwangil was brimming with anticipation.
Not leather.
Then what?
It certainly wouldn't be something ordinary.
To be honest, he did have something in mind....
The cuboid metal ingots that players received as rewards,'I hope it's ingots.'Juhyeok began taking out the ores Rajix had mined, one by one, from his inventory.
Jeon Gwangil was somewhat disappointed.
Not that he showed it.
They weren't ingots.
Ordinary-looking stones.
"... So they're just rocks.
"
"
Close enough.
"
Definitely rocks. No matter how you looked at them, they were rocks.'Wait, no.'These were stones that went into the Tower-exclusive inventory.
Looking closely, they seemed to glint a little, too.
So he picked one up.
Startled, Jeon Gwangil flinched.
Pretty heavy.
Not the weight he had imagined.
More like iron ore....'Hm?'Iron ore, iron ore... iron ore?
Don't tell me.
"
Is... is this ore?
"
"
Yes.
"
Unbelievable! What an idiot.
Why didn't I realize?
That the Tower materials Player Bong Juhyeok brings in are the same things players receive as rewards.
It was that way with the leather, and with the herbs too.
No wait, he even brings ore?
Is there anything he can't bring back?
"... This is Adamant ore.
"
"
There's also Orichalcon and Sectonium. Not as much as the Adamant, though.
"
For a long moment, Jeon Gwangil was at a loss for words.
Player Bong had done it to Player Bong again....'Haha...'He always exceeded expectations.
To the point that his imagination couldn't keep up.
"
Since they're ore rather than ingots, it will be a bit troublesome to process them for use.
"
"
N-not at all! Troublesome, my foot!
"
Ore, not ingots.
If you smelt the ore, you can obtain metal.
Would Tower ore work too?
Of course it would.
All metals melt in fire.
So do the Tower's reward ingots.
Which means weapons and equipment could be crafted as well.
"
Ah, then... I'll take them all out.
"
"... There's more?
"
"
There's quite a lot, so I'll need something to put them in.
"
"
Ah, please wait just a moment.
"
Juhyeok kept pulling ore out of his inventory.
Jeon Gwangil, who had brought out several baskets, felt his mouth slowly fall open.
Ore came out.
And more came out.
Just when he thought it had to be enough, more came out.
At some point Juhyeok was sweating profusely, and had even taken off his padded coat.
This was incredibly exhausting.
And there was so much.
Roughly 600 pieces of ore by a rough count.
Even taking them out of the inventory, he had to hold each one in his hand and set it down somewhere.'Inside the Tower, they were light to carry,'but this was the outside world.
I could just sit back and collect Holy Sword rental fees at my leisure.'I'm making trouble for myself.'What was I thinking, trying to see how much money I could earn?
Or I could just wait for the leather goods to sell.
But he couldn't turn away from Rajix's expectant eyes.
The desire to be of help by mining even ore.
Jeon Gwangil didn't just stand by, either.
He received the ore Juhyeok took out, sorted it by type, and placed it into baskets.
Adamant, Orichalcon, Sectonium—separate from each other, distinguishable by color.
At last,
"
Phew, all done.
"
"
F-finished?
"
"
Yes. My arms nearly fell off.
"
"
Hahaha...
"
Just how many baskets were there?
"... You're buying these, right?
"
"
Absolutely, we're buying them.
"
What a relief that they'll take them.
Now it came down to the price.
"
May we weigh them first?
"
"
Of course.
"
Jeon Gwangil dragged over a large scale from the corner of the warehouse.
After zeroing the scale, he began placing the sorted baskets onto it.
He carefully recorded the weight of each basket.
Weighing complete.
The trembling hands of Jeon Gwangil as he tapped on his smartphone calculator.
Partly because lifting the baskets had been tiring, but the quantity was simply staggering.
"
Player Bong.
"
"
Yes?
"
"
Players occasionally receive metal in ingot form as a conquest reward.
"
"
I know that.
"
"
The Player Shop purchases Adamant ingots at 5 million won per kilogram. Orichalcon is 10 million per kilogram, and Sectonium is 20 million per kilogram. Those are the international standard prices.
"
Metal is an even more precious material for Tower climbing than leather.
Leather is only used for armor, but metal is used everywhere—weapons, armor, everything.
The chance of receiving equipment items as Tower conquest rewards is extremely slim.
Most players must equip weapons and armor crafted domestically by each nation before attempting conquests.
In a word, they're strategic resources for Tower climbing.
That's why the standard price was set so as not to be excessively high.'The purchase price for metal is better than I expected?'Well, a small hand shield made of metal had cost 40 million won.
And that was at cost, quite a bargain at that.
This might turn into a good result. It would definitely exceed a billion won.
Jeon Gwangil held up a single piece of ore and continued.
"
Normally, iron ore contains about 50% or more iron. This seems similar to iron ore, so...
"
Half the ingot price,"
We're thinking of purchasing Adamant ore at 2.5 million won per kilogram, Orichalcon ore at 5 million, and Sectonium ore at 10 million—these are standard prices. Would that be acceptable?
"
Juhyeok nodded.
If there's a standard price, there's no need to haggle.
So what was the total?
"
Adamant: 3,742,500,000 won. Orichalcon: 2,680,000,000 won. Sectonium: 3,005,000,000 won. All together, 9,427,500,000 won.
"
With that, he carefully gauged Juhyeok's reaction and asked,
"
How is it? Are you satisfied?
"
Juhyeok didn't move an inch. He'd heard the amount, but....
"
How much did you say?
"
"
9,427,500,000 won.
"
"
Not 940 million?
"
"
It's 9.4 billion, at the standard price.
"
He faltered.9.4 billion.
Is this for real?
How does this make sense?
"... Uh, a-are you sure you haven't miscalculated?
"
"
Impossible. The total weight of the ore, rounded to the nearest decimal, is 2,342 kilograms—of which 1,497 kilograms are Adamant ore, 536 kilograms Orichalcon, and 309 kilograms Sectonium.
"
So the ore was 2.3 tons.
"
If less ingot is extracted than estimated, I will add the difference to the amount later.
"
"... And if less is extracted?
"
"
Well, that would be my mistake, so nothing to be done about it.
"
Even Jeon Gwangil couldn't believe it.
Such an enormous quantity. At 50%, the total metal ingots would exceed one ton. Even if only 30% smelted successfully, that would be 700 kilograms.
700 kilograms is slightly more than the amount of metal the Player Shop purchased in an entire year.
He was ashamed of himself for having worried about mere leather-crafting tools.
We could now supply the players with high-quality equipment to their hearts' content.
For melee players, we could even dress them in plate armor."
Thank you for selling to us."
I'm the one who should be thanking you?
I wanted to say that, but my heart was pounding too hard for the words to come out.
Lately, every deal we've made has been in the tens of billions.
Holy swords, penthouses, ore.
This was serious. Amounts in the single billions didn't even feel like money anymore.
Thanks to Rajix, my net worth was about to grow even bigger.***Joo Hyuk's penthouse.
Kosak was rolling around on the living room floor, munching on snacks.
Crunch, crunch. Every time he pulled a snack from the bag, crumbs rained down. The living room floor got dirtier—but no need to worry.
Rumble, rumble. From far away, a ball of fur came rolling in—Rajix.
"Hoeng!"
Whoosh! Swish! One wipe with a rag and it was done.
"Thank you, Rajix."
"Hoeeee."
Rajix vanished once more. Gyeon Dallae shook her head.
Kosak, dirtying the living room without a shred of guilt.
Rajix, the servant who came bounding over the moment there was a mess to clean.
The one who scattered and the one who cleaned up. What a perfect match between the two. "Haah, this is ridiculous." Kosak rolled around on the freshly cleaned floor again and said,
"Gobang, stop agonizing and just say whatever comes to mind."
"I can't think of anything."
"Fine, I'll go first. Five hundred million."
At that, Gyeon Dallae said,
"Only that much? To so belittle Rajix's hard work... Fine then. I'll say one billion."
"Princess, no take-backs. You clearly said one billion?"
"I am not Kosak. I never go back on my word."
"Hmph! Being a princess won't get you any mercy."
"I'm not asking for any."
Kosak, Gobang, and Gyeon Dallae were in the middle of a betting game, guessing how much the ore would sell for.
The penalty: the winner gets to smack the loser on the back of the head.
"Gobang, if you don't tell us by the end..."
"Fine, I will."
"How much?"
"Ten billion."
Kosak sprang to his feet and sneered.
"Kahkahkah! The ore is worth ten billion? You've got zero sense of reality. This whole apartment is worth twenty billion."
"Is... is that so?"
"No take-backs for you either. Get ready to take your smack, you punk! And don't transform when it lands."
"...Fine."
And with that, he rolled around on the living room floor again.
Snack crumbs scattering across the floor all the while.
Rumble, rumble.
Swish!
Rumble, rumble—
"Hoeng!"
Then it happened. Perk!
Kosak's ears twitched.
Whoosh! In an instant, Kosak was gone.
Spot! "What's gotten into him?" The moment Gyeon Dallae tilted her head—
Click!
The front door opened.
"I'm home."
It was Joo Hyuk.
"Welcome home, Young Master."
"Summoner, I've been waiting."
Kosak, reappearing out of nowhere with a cordless vacuum in hand.
Vrooooom!
Cleaning the living room with a shameless expression, he said,
"Oh? When did you get here? Chump! Kosak, the right hand of Bong the Summoner, was just cleaning. I was helping Rajix."
"Goodness, thank you for your hard work. There's truly no one like you, Kosak. Hahahaha."
"Hehehehe."
"Hoe?"
Gyeon Dallae stared at the scene, dumbfounded. "My, what a cunning..."
A born schemer, through and through.
A great traitor who could throw a nation into chaos.
She wanted to throw him straight to the Mad Demon.
Joo Hyuk took off his shoes and sat down on the living room sofa.
Everyone looked at him with curious eyes.
Just how valuable was the ore?
Joo Hyuk's mouth slowly opened.
"Nine billion, four hundred twenty-seven million, five hundred thousand won."
"...Yes?"
"What do you mean, 9.4 billion?"
"That's what we made selling the ore today."
"...Yes?"
The summoneds all wore bewildered expressions.
"Could you... say that again?"
Joo Hyuk smiled and repeated himself.
"Nine billion, four hundred twenty-seven million, five hundred thousand won. We sold the ore. That's the money Rajix earned all by himself."
Kosak's eyes rattled uncontrollably.
"Heek?"
Gobang wore a satisfied smile.
"Mm."
Gyeon Dallae fluttered over like a butterfly and bowed deeply.
"Young Master Bong, congratulations."
Rajix still seemed dazed.
"Ho, hoeng?"
Suddenly! Shouts erupted!
"Woooaaah!"
"Hooray! Long live Rajix!"
"Truly the head servant of the great house!"
At the same time, a white ball of fur shot up into the sky.
Rajix chair-lift time.
"Hoeng, hoeeee!"
Rajix was enjoying this moment too.
He felt proud, proud of himself.
Even rising that high, he wasn't scared at all.
But then Kosak, mid-chair-lift, seemed to remember something, and sidled up with a deathly pale face to whisper to Joo Hyuk.
"B-Bong Summoner."
"What is it? Hmm, you don't look well. Is something the matter?"
"I'm not feeling well. Could you, um, release my summon right now?"
"Huh?"
You, not feeling well? As if.
"We're going out for a company dinner first."
"No, I— that's not it... Release my summon right now, please!"
"Uh-uh."
"Qui, quickly! Or I'll di— I'll die!"
Right at that moment!
Grab!
An enormous hand seized Kosak by the collar.
"Come here!"
"Eek?"
"An assassin keeps his promises."
"W-wait, just let me explain—"
Whack!
BOOM!
An impact loud enough to rattle the living room windows.
Kosak's head snapped backward as if it might break off.
Kosak, limp and swaying, still held by the collar in Gobang's grip.
Gyeon Dallae's satisfied smile.
"..."
Some smack, that was.
Surely he wasn't dead... right?