Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Spendthrift Necromancer (104)

Times Square (1)

Crash!

Chairman Jo hurled the remote control while watching TV. The flying remote shattered the screen.

“Damn it!”

Chairman Jo clutched his head.

The Guild Battle.

The result had been far too overwhelming.

That meant public opinion supporting Kim Minwoo would grow even stronger than before.

For Dorim, already getting beaten bloody by a boycott, it was practically a fatal blow.‘What do I give him?’At this point, who was right and who was wrong no longer mattered.

What mattered was what he had to give that bastard to make him withdraw satisfied.

If this had simply been a grudge over his son's actions, Minwoo would've come running the moment compensation money was mentioned.

Or he would've ended the matter cleanly after destroying Pilwook's leg.

But Kim Minwoo hadn't.

He kept appearing in public and casually bringing up Dorim's name.

That meant he wanted something larger. Perhaps he'd demand an entire business division carved off and handed to him.

Just thinking about how much he might have to surrender made Chairman Jo's head ache.

One of Dorim's bodyguards approached and spoke carefully.

“Chairman. Mr. Kim Minwoo has arrived.”

“……

All right.”

Chairman Jo answered weakly and stood. Before long, he came face-to-face with Kim Minwoo.

“Good to see you, Chairman.”

“……

Right. I'm not exactly strangers with Chairman Kim, so I assume you don't mind if I speak casually?”

“Do as you like.”

“What do you want? What will make you stop? Are you after a heartfelt apology from me?”

Kim Minwoo snorted.

“You're joking, right?”

“……

No point dragging this out. You've already drawn up the picture. What exactly do you want?”

“Let's leave your home appliances alone. But you'll need to give us telecommunications and electronic semiconductors. Add the mana-stone battery division, construction, and shipbuilding, and we can wrap this up cleanly. There won't be any more trouble afterward.”

“You insane bastard.”

Chairman Jo had been prepared to give up his coat, and the bastard was suddenly telling him to strip off his pants and underwear too.

Hand over all of that and Dorim would collapse in no time.

Kim Minwoo dropped onto the sofa and looked at Chairman Jo.

“Then what's your offer, Chairman?”

“Pilwook's problem is a matter outside the company. You think demanding entire businesses over that is remotely reasonable?”

“Well, if that's how you see it, then I suppose there's no reason for us to keep talking.”

Kim Minwoo abruptly stood.

Grind.

Chairman Jo bit his lip.

It was an open threat.

And yet Dorim had deteriorated enough to be shaken by a threat from a young punk like this.

If negotiations collapsed here, Dorim would be the one screaming.

Simply dragging things out until the next meeting would leave them covered in wounds.

Especially now, when Ilseong's market share was rising by the day.

“……

Tell me what you really want.”

“The battery division. And I'd like a few production plants along with it.”

“…….”

Kim Minwoo spoke to the silent Chairman Jo.

“Most of your factories must have plenty of idle capacity right now. And the battery division does nothing but devour research funding while producing miserable results, doesn't it?”

Home appliances, semiconductors, telecommunications.

Dorim's core.

The same went for construction and shipbuilding.

There were countless other affiliates as well.‘Honestly, the first offer was just me opening ridiculously high.’They'd sooner tell him to cut their stomachs open than hand those over.

The government would obviously object if he squeezed too hard anyway, so wrapping things up at a reasonable point was better for both sides.

Even now, the government was poking him in the ribs and hinting that maybe it was time to stop.‘The battery division was the real target anyway.’A division researching high-efficiency batteries using mana stones.

Companies all over the world were researching the same thing.‘Dorim hits a home run with this one.’Not now.About three years from now.

Dorim, after pouring money into the research for years, finally succeeded and hit an enormous home run.

A new battery with vastly greater capacity than existing ones and overwhelmingly lower consumption rates. Once they developed it, money started pouring in.

It was also the moment Dorim, which had already been eating away at Ilseong's share little by little, overtook Ilseong's market capitalization and completely surpassed them.‘Not anymore, though.’He stared at Chairman Jo.

“We'll absorb all the related personnel too. We'll pay a reasonable acquisition price.”

“……

If I hand over only that, you'll definitely stop?”

“A deal is a deal.”

The battery division.

Even if they absorbed all the personnel attached to the factories and everything else, the total would be two or three trillion won at most.

There would be a reasonable discount included.

For a company Ilseong's size, that was entirely affordable.

“Do you agree?”

“……

Fine.”

Chairman Jo nodded.

The mana-stone battery business.

American battery companies held an overwhelming lead in the field. Naturally, American-made batteries had dominated the entire world for years.

Companies kept pouring research money in hopes of reducing that dominance.

Yet despite nearly ten years of investment, there still hadn't been any meaningful results.

Dorim wasn't alone. Leading corporations across the world were charging into battery development with bloodshot eyes.

The problem was that nobody had created anything better than the American products.

That made the battery division something of a white elephant.

They kept pouring money into it hoping to win the lottery, but America was the only place where anyone had actually hit the jackpot.‘It hurts to give it up…….’Still, it wasn't a fatal wound.

He had to give something if he wanted Minwoo to stop, and if that was unavoidable, better to hand over a money-devouring division than one that actually made money. That was why he could let it go with at least some peace of mind.

You think you're going to succeed where the world's leading companies failed?

Fine. Go ahead and try.

That was roughly Chairman Jo's mindset.

“I'll send the working-level team tomorrow. Then I'll be going.”

Kim Minwoo stood and left Chairman Jo's house.‘Got everything I wanted.’The battery market was rather enormous. In this world, the age of electric vehicles had already given way to mana-stone cars, and the market had long since exceeded one quadrillion won.

He had obtained the key capable of controlling that market. Chairman Jo might end up pounding the ground in regret later.‘Not my problem.’Minwoo only needed to sit back and enjoy the rewards.* * *He arrived at the jeon restaurant where the others had gathered.

When he entered the reserved room, Park Siwoo's face was already half red.

“Hyung! Over here!”

The bastard kept smacking the empty seat beside him, so Minwoo sat down.

“Bottoms up!”

A bowl was filled to the brim with makgeolli.

“……

How much has he had?”

“About that much.”

Where Seo Yerim pointed, more than seven empty bottles were sitting.‘He drank a lot.’Being an Awakened was the only reason he wasn't more drunk. An ordinary person would've been completely gone by now.Even if those seven bottles had been split between two people.

After drinking one bowl.

Minwoo picked up a piece of pajeon, dipped it deeply in soy sauce, and put it in his mouth.

Greasy with a sharp tang.‘Good.’The sensory synchronization rate in virtual reality games maxed out at around 50%. Back then, taste had also been limited to only half its true intensity.

Compared to that, this pajeon delivered a pure 100% taste identical to reality.

Moments like this made it difficult to tell whether he was truly inside a game or in reality.

He watched Park Siwoo giggle while endlessly devouring pajeon and makgeolli.

Since they were having an after-party anyway, he might as well fulfill some of his duties as Guild Master.

“Siwoo, you having any problems?”

“Problems?”

Siwoo tilted his head, then shook it vigorously.

“Come on. What problems would I have? I've got a nice house now, and my salary's huge.”

“That's only natural for someone with your skill. Anything else?”

“Hmm…… maybe just wanting to get a lot stronger? Honestly, when I look at you and Noona, I get kind of nervous. Feels like the gap keeps getting wider no matter how hard I work…….”

He scratched his head as he spoke.

It wasn't difficult to understand.

Guilds worked that way.

If you looked like you were falling behind, getting kicked from the first team to the second was simply an ordinary part of life.

That was probably what he was worried about…….

“Just keep doing what you're doing. Ms. Yerim is higher-Level, so obviously there's a gap. As for me…… don't make me your goal. Aim for Cedric instead.”

Saying that if he worked hard he could definitely catch up would honestly be pretty deceptive.‘And there are four Legion Commanders.’Better to be truthful at times like this.

“……

Tsk. Honestly, I don't think I can beat him either. I'd probably need Sanctuary just to hold out…….”

“That's actually normal. His world is on a completely different level from Earth.”

“How different?”

“If one of the dragons that ran wild over there came to Earth, it'd be world-ending?”

“……

Seriously?”

“Yeah. He said it himself today. A count's knight order would be enough to wipe a Korean first team. I think so too.”

Minwoo had seen a fair number of knights at the Academy.

On average, it was true that the skill level in that world was much higher.

“Didn't the Holy Sword tell you?”

“This thing can't hold long conversations. Its memories are really incomplete too. Sometimes it seriously feels like talking to an old man with dementia.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. It's way better than it was at Level 1, but even accounting for that, having a normal conversation is difficult.”

“Guess it improves as its Level rises.”

“Seems like that's how it works. Anyway…… Sir Cedric is amazing, sure, but he's still only one summon, right? Making him my goal feels kind of…….”

“Cedric is the same rank as you.”

“……

Seriously?”

“Yeah. Merhen too. So there isn't really a better or worse between you.”

Not only Park Siwoo, but Seo Yerim, who had been listening quietly, widened her eyes in surprise.

They knew Kim Minwoo's Achievement rank was high, but they hadn't imagined even his summons were that high!

“Whoa…… for real? Then you're walking around with SSS-rank summons, Hyung? And your own Achievement rank is even higher than theirs?”

“Yeah.”

“……

That's fucking insane.”

“I am pretty insane. So stop comparing yourself to me and falling into heart demons for no reason. There are plenty of ways to get stronger. Just look at Sword Immortal.”

“True…… I saw that Mind Sword thing once, and it really was incredible. I couldn't even put up a fight before I got thrown around.”

Seo Yerim nodded in agreement.

“Ms. Yerim, do you have any problems?”

“Me? Pretty much the same as Siwoo. I want to become stronger. Most Awakened have that kind of worry, don't they?”

Minwoo nodded.

Maybe not when they had first Awakened and were still struggling.

But once they established a foundation and satisfied their material desires, most Awakened began worrying about the same thing.

I want to become stronger.

I don't want to stop here.

Nine times out of ten, that was the main concern.

“I'll think about that part too. It's not like there are no methods.”

There were roughly four major ways for an Awakened to become stronger.

Elixirs, equipment, fortuitous encounters, enlightenment.

Enlightenment wasn't something he could simply provide.‘But maybe I can look for fortuitous encounters.’Obtaining a certificate in a Heavenly City and giving it to them would count as a kind of fortuitous encounter too.With the stage expanded enormously because of Stage 6, there shouldn't be only one or two opportunities like that.

He could probably find useful equipment for both of them at the Sky Auction House.

As for elixirs…….

Park Siwoo's Level was still far too low.

Seo Yerim could consume Highest-Grade Elixirs, but she couldn't obtain any.‘I need to feed them to these two too.’Six hundred total stat points.

Far too much to leave behind.

The problem was that even Minwoo wasn't confident he could obtain enough for himself right now.‘Maybe something useful will come out of the Rookie Selection Tournament?’He had no idea what kind of rewards this unfamiliar tournament would offer.

Given its scale, he hoped something worthwhile would appear.

Then.

His phone rang.

“Yes, Father. Yes. The discussion went well. You can send the acquisition team tomorrow. Oh, the investment went through? Yes. Yes. Ah, really? They're all here right now, so I'll ask. How much? Ah, that isn't bad. Understood.”

Kim Minwoo ended the call and looked at the two.

“We got an advertising offer. Want to do it?”

“……

Advertising?”

“Yes. Ilseong wants to shoot a commercial with our guild for their upcoming phone. Apparently it'll run worldwide, starting with Times Square in New York. The rate's pretty high.”

Seo Yerim's ears visibly perked up.

“……

How much?”

“Five hundred billion won each. Cash. Lump sum.”

Seo Yerim and Park Siwoo's mouths fell open.

“……Five hundred billion? Each?”

“Looks like they want to knock Apple Phone down a peg this time. So, interested?”

“……

Obviously?”

“Hyung! M-Me too!”

Kim Minwoo nodded.

An advertisement distributed worldwide.

Naturally, his own fame would rise quickly as well.

And on top of that, the sixty-trillion-won investment.

Perhaps he would receive an invitation to the Sky Auction House much sooner than expected.