The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 206

“This is the sample,” Kim Ha-yeon, head of the legal team, said, placing a Piece doll on the table. Though the design was recent, a sample had been made instantly: a life-size version of Piece’s materialized form, scheduled for initial release, perfectly sized for hugging.

“It’s cute.”

“It would be better to reduce the space between the eyes a little and make the ears bigger. How about reducing the size of the horns and making the tail more abundant?”

Kim Ha-yeon spoke seriously, and I nodded obediently. What did I know? I thought it was cute as it was. Seok Si-myung, sitting apart, wore a face that said, ‘Do whatever you want.’

“In addition, Director Han, I recommend changing the conditions when you accept requests to raise Seungsu [mythical creatures],”

“Conditions?”

“Yes. Currently, I understand the exact price hasn’t been determined. Could you share the breeding cost you’re considering?”

“It’s difficult to measure precisely because there are so many monster types, so I’ll likely charge differently each time.”

Money wasn’t that important. I wasn’t particularly greedy. I planned to set conditions based on the situation. Since most high-level Seungsu clients would be large guilds, a contract usable later would be better than a lump sum.

Kim Ha-yeon nodded seriously as I briefly explained my thoughts.

“Establishing connections with large guilds worldwide through Seungsu is a good idea. But how about setting more systematic basic conditions? I mean, setting aside the main price and just setting basic things.”

Kim Ha-yeon elaborated calmly.

“I recommend setting 1 percent of the profits from dungeon raids involving Seungsu and the character copyright for Seungsu as basic conditions.”

I suspected a personal motive in the latter.

“High-level Seungsu are like S and A-class hunters, and currently, only Director Han can raise them. Simply receiving a lump sum undervalues them. Considering the stake of high-level hunters in dungeon raids, 1 percent will be easily accepted. This applies to A-class Seungsu; for S-class, you can set 3 to 5 percent as a basic condition.”

It wasn’t wrong, but 3 percent was still a lot. S-class Seungsu would mainly enter S-class dungeons, where profits could easily exceed tens of billions [of Korean won, KRW] at once. Three percent of 10 billion is 300 million [KRW, approx. $225,000 USD].

They’d probably go once a month, and with ten Seungsu, that’s 3 billion [KRW, approx. $2.25 million USD] a month. That’s the minimum, so it’ll likely exceed 10 billion [KRW, approx. $7.5 million USD]. Comet and Unicorn would soon finish growing, and with stamina potions and consistent requests, I could grow two or three a month… Did that mean even if I did nothing for a year, I’d have a monthly income of hundreds of billions [KRW]?

Wow, it felt unreal. I felt uncomfortable, like I was exploiting the kids. Of course, guilds probably wouldn’t mistreat precious high-level Seungsu. But you never know.

“Can we include Seungsu treatment as a basic condition? Like animal protection or welfare.”

“Of course, it’s possible. With the absolute monopoly, you can adjust it as Director Han wants, as long as it’s not unreasonable.”

After further discussion about the breeding contract conditions, Kim Ha-yeon said she’d organize and send a draft and left.

According to her, character copyright could be a much bigger gold mine. Animal characters active worldwide wouldn’t need a story, easily generating various profits.

While contract conditions, hunter-related laws, overseas practices, and other cases swirled in my head, Seok Si-myung produced a thick stack of papers. I wanted to stand out.

“This is the financial status report of Director Han Yu-jin.”

“You seemed very uninterested,” Seok Si-myung smiled. I was a bit uninterested. I didn’t need to buy much with my own money. Sung Hyun-jae’s or Yu-hyun’s card mainly covered payments, and Yerim recently paid off her debts, preventing me from spending money.

Moon Hyun-ah also insisted on taking care of me, and Kang So-young said, “You’re taking care of our Comet!” asking me to tell her anything I needed. Myung-woo constantly brought up how much I had been in his care, and even Noah offered to buy things, so I couldn’t resist.

‘I spent my money on Do Ha-min and Kim Min-i at least.’

Of course, Team Seok Ha-yan spent the most. They used millions of won [KRW] worth of mana stones daily to extract field test records. This was a small amount compared to before.

…Could my bank account be empty? After Hae-yeon offered to handle tax management, I passed it on. But if I had a deficit, she would have told me.

“Currently, Director Han has 130.3 billion won [KRW, approx. $97.7 million USD] in cash. Units below are excluded.”

Wow, that’s a lot. I didn’t really feel it. It was the money from entrusting Seungsu to Hae-yeon, Se-sung, and Breaker. They said they’d give it to me, but I thought it would be about 10 billion won [KRW, approx. $7.5 million USD] since I also received a building. They are generous.

Team Seok Ha-yan spent a lot, but otherwise, there were almost no expenses compared to the cash on hand.

“And you’ve made stock investments. It’s not a very big company, but it’s on the verge of closing down due to various problems.”

“…Yes?”

Stocks… Ah, that hair loss medicine company! It’s been over three months, but there’s been no news. Originally, there should have been a fuss a month ago, but instead of hitting the jackpot, it’s on the verge of closing down.

“…Didn’t they develop any new products?”

“I heard they were developing medicine using dungeon by-products, receiving support from MKC. Development stopped as MKC became cautious due to Director Han’s kidnapping and then collapsed altogether.”

“Ah… Yes, ah……”

Ah ah… That, ah, what to say… I have nothing to say. That’s what happened. Of all things, MKC… I wondered if the other jackpot stocks I remembered would also fail. Since the awakening center was delayed, domestic and foreign stocks related to S-class hunters that would come out after that have also become uncertain. This is a long way off, but still.

Other dungeon and guild-related stocks may also change. I don’t really need to make money from stocks anymore, though.

“It’s not a large amount, but I recommend not touching stocks as much as possible.”

“…Yes. I should.”

I nodded, but the stock that hit the bottom due to guilt didn’t leave my head. Other things aside, the hair loss treatment… MKC’s failure isn’t my fault, but it still has an impact. It stopped because they couldn’t receive dungeon by-product support.

‘…Can’t I just support them?’

I have plenty of money, and it won’t be difficult to get the rights to whatever dungeon it is. Yes, I can’t just leave it like this.

“Would you like to go out with me for a while?”

I’m embarrassed to say this after hearing the stock failed, but there is a good investment product.

D&L Bio. The company building in Gyeonggi-do, outside Seoul, was surprisingly large. Experiments related to dungeon by-products required distance from houses, safety facilities, and hired hunters. In other words, it costs a lot of money.

“The hired hunter is a D-class, though.”

B-class hunter Seok Si-myung, with an A-class bodyguard, said. Well, Noah came with me.

The president of D&L Bio was fairly young. The employees I saw were also young.

President Jo Sung-soo asked why we had come.

“I came to ask about the product you’re developing. I heard you were in a cooperative relationship with the MKC Guild.”

“Ah, yes.”

Jo Sung-soo nodded with a dark face. His explanation of becoming separated from its vine as MKC failed was similar to what I heard from Seok Si-myung. There was no need to drag out the story. I simply stated my business.

“I will help you instead of MKC. I will provide the dungeon by-products needed for development and also invest in the development costs.”

It’s a company on the verge of success if it has the materials and development costs. There’s no reason to hesitate. Jo Sung-soo’s face brightened.

“Thank you! You will never regret it! It was really in a finished state.”

I quickly signed a contract with Jo Sung-soo, who asked me to believe him. The dungeon where the necessary by-products came from was B-class and under MKC’s management, so it was currently under the temporary Hunter Association. It shouldn’t be difficult to buy since it’s still an ordinary dungeon.

Then, Jo Sung-soo led me to the laboratory. The person in charge was Jo Sung-soo’s wife.

“To be exact, it is a plant that mimics the hair of a living organism.”

Song Eun-jin explained.

“You can adjust various colors, and transplantation is also very simple. It is harmless to the human body because it simply adheres and grows on the skin, and you can maintain natural fullness by lightly washing it once every two days and giving it a certain amount of photosynthesis. However, there is a limit to the length, so it is impossible to have hair longer than a bob.”

…I thought it was a treatment, but it was a plant transplant. According to Song Eun-jin, it is impossible to revive lost hair even with healing skills. However, she explained that if you get a transplant, it will perfectly perform the functions of the hair as well as the appearance.

“If you invest enough, you can create various results in the future. The possibilities of dungeon by-products and items are endless.”

Something suddenly came to mind at Song Eun-jin’s words, who was shining her eyes.

“Then, how about something like this? An item that can be filmed inside the dungeon.”

“Filming inside the dungeon? But we are in the bio field……”

“It uses a type of plant. It’s a fairly common type.”

It was said to be a plant that stores the surrounding scenery and sounds as electrical signals? Radio waves? If you take the plant that stores the information out and safely transfer it to a machine, you can get a video of the inside of the dungeon.

Originally, it was a method developed overseas. I didn’t know the details of the technology, but I saw the general content on TV. Song Eun-jin smiled brightly at my explanation.

“That’s an amazing plant. But it seems like it would be insufficient with just our lab. I don’t know much about video machines.”

“Isn’t it okay to find people? I will support you as you wish.”

As filming inside the dungeon became possible, various related programs were created and many things changed. The attention to hunters also increased positively. In addition, it helped prevent crime. Because it became possible to leave evidence of crimes in the dungeon.

…Of course, it was someone else’s business for low-level hunters who were burdened by the price of filming items. If it is developed in Korea, you can also sell affordable filming items for low-level hunters. I can give some support to low-level hunters.

“Someday, I will have a chance to know more about Han Yu-jin.”

Seok Si-myung said as he left D&L Bio.

“Like the Guild Leader or some other people.”

He seemed to have noticed that Yu-hyun and some people around me knew how I found out suspicious information. I only told Sung Hyun-jae, who still doesn’t remember the regression, but he properly pointed out the unfilial children.

“…Someday, that might happen.”

I think I get along quite well with Seok Si-myung, but since I’m also human, I’m not completely free from reservations. Seok Si-myung hasn’t done anything to me now. So, I buried it, but it was a bit difficult to treat him with a clean heart as if nothing had really happened. It’s still hard to open up completely.

If more time passes, it will get better than now.

“I trust Team Leader Seok. I just think it’s too early.”

“Thank you for thinking that way.”

The smiling face was so gentle that I felt a little sorry.

* * *

Fruits from the dungeon were hung in a row on the large window on the first floor of Myung-woo’s smithy. I wondered if it was okay to do this in someone else’s workshop, but I couldn’t help it. That’s because Sorok liked dried fruit the most here.

“I have no face to show Ismuar, really.”

This window is the perfect place, keeping a proper distance from the kiln where Ismuar resides. Dried fruit boasts a perfect taste in this place where the heat of the fire spirit subtly touches it. Enough to make the lazy fawn move.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like you’re ordering anything separately.”

Myung-woo said, handing me a basket of well-dried fruit. He even went further.

“Shall we dry monster meat here too? Other baby monsters might like it more.”

“I think it would look bad and smell bad if you hang raw meat, even if it’s fruit.”

“Ismuar can swallow the smell.”

…I thought the fire in the kiln shook a little roughly just now. Is it really okay?

“Be nice to Ismuar.”

“I’m being nice. He likes me making items the most.”

So he said that he comes to the smithy almost every day and does even simple work.

I left the smithy with a basket of dried fruit and headed to the breeding center. With the power of fruit, I succeeded in applying keywords to Sorok. It would be nice if he followed the training well, but he just slumps down when he’s full. I guess it’s impossible to raise him as quickly as the other kids.

As I entered the breeding center building, my phone rang. It was a call from Seok Si-myung.

“Yes? Already?”

It was news that Yu-hyun and Piece had finished raiding the dungeon. No, it’s only been four days?