Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 121

121. Expansion and Farewell (3)

Aroon was briefly taken aback by Hyun-woo’s question about whether Mana Moss was all he needed.

“Most problems in the item industry can be solved with enough Mana Moss. Marketability is lost, and products fall by the wayside because of a lack of Mana Moss or because its quality is too low.”

Of course, he also needed various medicines and ability users with specialized skills. But the core, Mana Moss, was the most important factor in determining the product’s unit price.

D&W couldn’t solve that problem, so they were letting their technology stagnate even after creating it.

For an entrepreneur, saying that marketability hasn’t been secured is the same as saying, ‘It has no value at all.’

“Mr. Aroon, there’s something I’d like to show you.”

“Yes?”

Hyun-woo clenched his fist in front of Aroon and then opened it.

A lump of Mana Moss appeared as if by magic in his empty hand. Before Aroon could react, Dowonkyung rushed in.

She stared intently at the Mana Moss and exclaimed, “Where did you get this!”

“Dr. Dowonkyung, we’re in the middle of a business discussion, so please wait a moment…”

Hyun-woo led them to Jung Woo-hyun’s office to prevent the commotion from spreading. Jung Woo-hyun gladly offered his office for their use. Fortunately, there was a reception sofa and table in the president’s office.

Aroon sat on the sofa, took out the glasses he used when appraising jewels, and slowly examined the Mana Moss.

While Aroon examined it, Dowonkyung glared at Hyun-woo with fiery eyes.

“You son of a b*tch, you’ve been hiding something like this and didn’t say a word to me…”

How could her reaction be so similar to her daughter’s? It looked like a valuable lump of stone to Hyun-woo, but the scholars reacted as if they had found some kind of Holy Grail.

Then Aroon slowly placed the Mana Moss on the table.

“For manaology researchers… this is like the Holy Grail.”

It seemed they really did treat it like the Holy Grail.

“I thought you would recognize its value.”

“I never thought this level of purity would actually be possible. I thought it was only theoretically possible. And this size, too… what star-level dungeon would you have to go to to get something like this…”

Yu-min’s reaction when he first started selling Mana Moss wasn’t an overreaction, it seemed. This was also a sign of the times.

Back then, he lowered the value and sold it secretly because he thought something would happen if he sold it openly, but now he could sell it shamelessly, and no one would question him. Of course, he still had to handle it discreetly.

“By the way, how much of this do you have, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Aroon asked, his eyes gleaming. He showed his determination to get this no matter what.

Mana Moss with high purity and density is valuable in itself. This is because it makes it possible to miniaturize items.

There were many items that had to be discontinued because they grew like monsters no matter what they tried to do.

No hunter would want to wear a chest protector the size of a truck.

“As much as you need.”

Aroon could only imagine Hyun-woo’s evasive answer.

If he was going to use this to run a factory, the amount would definitely not be small. Considering the size of the factory, the amount prepared would not be small either.

But this was just a sample, and he couldn’t imagine that there would be a lot of Mana Moss of this size and purity.

‘If there is, I can’t even imagine what kind of hell that dungeon would be.’

It was probably a place where even a hunter of Kang Hyun-woo’s level would have to risk his life to go. Naturally, he wouldn’t be able to secure a large amount.

Aroon concluded that Hyun-woo might have discovered an unknown high-level dungeon and was secretly monopolizing it.

In places like Africa, ability user warlords sometimes ran dungeons in that way.

An item that he had never seen in any paper or market.

Hyun-woo must have made a big decision to show the item to D&W.

Perhaps he wouldn’t have received this offer if it wasn’t for D&W.

Aroon felt a sense of pride.

“Can you provide this item to our D&W?”

Finally, he was being cooperative. Hyun-woo smiled.

“Then can I assume that you are also positively considering the technology agreement?”

Aroon didn’t need to ask the head office. The technology that Hyun-woo was asking for had endless possibilities but was a white elephant [a valuable possession whose cost of upkeep is not in line with its usefulness] because it hadn’t secured marketability.

He didn’t know why Hyun-woo needed this technology, but if marketability could be secured through him, D&W’s name could also be promoted.

“Okay! Let’s sign the contract right away.”

Aroon smiled and held out his hand. But Hyun-woo didn’t take it.

“Mr. Kang Hyun-woo?”

“Aroon, you haven’t heard all of our conditions yet.”

The smile hanging on Aroon’s lips fell off awkwardly.

“In exchange for providing that much Mana Moss every month as agreed, I request the provision of five additional technologies in addition to the technology I initially proposed, the dispatch of personnel to assist in factory construction, and a waiver of patent fees. In addition, I request a 5% guarantee of the sales price of items using Mana Moss.”

Aroon’s expression hardened. The conditions were much more demanding than before. He had heard from Dowonkyung what technology Hyun-woo wanted and was deep in thought.

Compared to the technology he had initially requested, it was nothing, but it was still one of the solid sources of income that fed D&W.

But he couldn’t give up Hyun-woo’s Mana Moss. This was an item that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

With this alone, he could make groundbreaking progress in all kinds of sluggish research.

“Wait, wait, let me talk to the head office for a moment.”

Aroon went out into the hallway and talked to someone for a long time. He got angry, begged, and even appealed with tears until he finally succeeded in persuading them. Aroon came in with a beaming expression.

“How much can you provide?”

“Um, about… 10kg a month?”

Aroon’s expression hardened.

‘Did I ask for too little?’

He was about to say it was a joke and ask for 100kg again because he liked it so much, but Aroon spoke first.

“You have that… you have that much?”

Hyun-woo quickly swallowed the words 100kg back down his throat.

D&W is a new technology development company. There was no need for mass production, so the Mana Moss only needed to be enough for research.

“Well, I have enough. That’s why I’m trying to run a factory. If that’s okay with you, we’ll start with 10kg a month from the day the technology agreement is reached and the factory is running, and I’ll give you 50kg in advance as soon as you sign the contract.”

The corners of Aroon’s mouth went up.

Dowonkyung was staring at Hyun-woo with a ghoul-like expression next to him. She looked like she would devour him if he didn’t give her some right away.

To divert Dowonkyung’s attention, Hyun-woo completely handed over the Mana Moss he had taken out to her.

***

After completing the deal in high spirits, Aroon left to catch a flight back home.

He said he was originally planning to stay for a few more days, but he seemed to want to return to the lab as soon as possible after obtaining a valuable item.

“Hyun-woo, I know you’ll take care of everything.”

In the car on the way back, Dowonkyung said, half-lying down in the back seat of Hyun-woo’s car, looking at the Mana Moss. She had been looking at it for hours and didn’t seem to get tired of it.

“You… really shouldn’t release this on the market carelessly. There are some crazy maniacs in the academic world who are trying to make slightly crazy equipment. If it gets into the hands of those guys, some really crazy stuff could come out.”

“There is?”

“Being small and efficient are very important factors. Well, the technology you asked D&W for is one of those crazy things… Ha, you should have told me about this right away. Then I would have already made one amazing thing!”

“Dr. Dowonkyung, do you know that you sounded a bit like that crazy maniac you just mentioned?”

“If I had this when I was at the Sejong Research Institute, I would have already made an exoskeleton that even ordinary people could wear!”

Hyun-woo was slightly horrified by Dowonkyung’s words. If the performance of the exoskeleton is improved, it can make ordinary people half-ability users.

They wouldn’t have skills, but the increase in stats and the ability to strike monsters would be a great help.

“I’m handling it carefully. What are you going to do with about 10kg of Mana Moss?”

Hyun-woo was suddenly worried about the 1 ton of Mana Moss he had sold through Park Hwi-so.

According to Park Hwi-so, it seemed to have only been used to increase the rank of ability users, but there was no guarantee that they had used it all.

Hyun-woo thought it would be best to cut off the supply of Mana Moss to the Alliance as much as possible.

***

“You’re going to reduce the sales of Mana Moss?”

“Yes. Starting this week, by half.”

Night. Hyun-woo and Park Hwi-so were sitting on a bench in the parking lot. The fierce winter wind of the Han River Park swept past.

Because of the weather, there were few people walking around on the promenade, which was only lit by streetlights.

Park Hwi-so was silent for a long time before opening his mouth.

“I see. I understand.”

“You don’t seem surprised, old man?”

“I expected it. You ignored my request to tell me how to raise my rank, and there was that incident last time. Since they didn’t recognize Mr. Kang Hyun-woo’s value, I think it’s only right.”

“But you like them quite a bit, don’t you, old man?”

“Liking them and feeling like they deserve it are different.”

He didn’t deny that he liked them. But he still seemed to have not lost his respect for the teacher there.

Then Park Hwi-so muttered like a sigh.

“I might have to leave the Alliance.”

“Yes? Why? You don’t have to.”

Hyun-woo didn’t want the connection with the Alliance to be completely severed either. Since he had no idea what their identity was, he wanted to keep Park Hwi-so as a connection.

But Park Hwi-so shook his head.

“The excuse for me being with Mr. Kang Hyun-woo was largely Mana Moss. Before that, it was because of Lee Ji-tae. If the Mana Moss transaction is stopped, the Alliance will definitely force me to cut off my relationship with Mr. Kang Hyun-woo. And they’ll probably assign someone else.”

“Is the person called Teacher that cold-hearted?”

“The Teacher has been silent for a long time. He only occasionally sends messages through an agent.”

“He must be a great person.”

Even though he only showed his face occasionally, his organizational control was so thorough.

Even Park Hwi-so, who had been brought in as a subordinate, openly expressed his respect.

Of course, Park Hwi-so could do anything as long as the other person wasn’t the Teacher.

“Anyway, the supply of Mana Moss will gradually be cut off regardless of the price, so tell them to prepare. Tell them that I’m notifying them in advance in consideration of the relationship we’ve had so far. And please convey my thanks for loving Kang Hyun-woo’s Mana Moss so far.”

“I’ll convey it appropriately.”

“Oh, and.”

Hyun-woo took out a key from his pocket and handed it over.

It was Park Hwi-so’s car key.

When Park Hwi-so looked surprised, Hyun-woo smiled and handed it to him.

“I said I was borrowing it. I’m used to driving now, and it’s not like I don’t have the money to buy a car, so I’m going to return it. I borrowed it as bait for the Mana Moss deal in the first place, so I have to return it now that the deal is over.”

“Did you say you borrowed it just now?”

“That’s what I mean, that’s what I mean. Oh, never mind if you don’t want it.”

When Hyun-woo tried to take it back, Park Hwi-so quickly snatched the key. When he pressed the button, he saw his car responding with beeps from one side of the parking lot.

“Then what are you going to ride, Mr. Kang Hyun-woo? Should I give you the car you came in?”

Hyun-woo took out another car key. When he pressed the button, a new Bugatti model parked next to Park Hwi-so’s car flashed.

Park Hwi-so chuckled.

“Now that I think about it, I’m embarrassed to drive around with the old man’s taste.”

“You don’t know the serious taste yet because you’re still young.”

“Well, I can enjoy the serious taste when I’m at a serious age.”

Park Hwi-so burst out laughing at Hyun-woo’s answer.

It was the first time Hyun-woo had seen Park Hwi-so laugh so loudly. It seemed he liked age jokes.

“That’s right. Then I should enjoy a drive in my car for the first time in a while.”

“That’s why I called you to the Han River Park on purpose.”

Park Hwi-so waved his hand and got into the car. Watching him drive away, Hyun-woo also prepared to leave.

It would take time for the things he had started in the present to settle down.

In the meantime, Hyun-woo decided to go to hell to prepare for the next quest.

It was absurd to say that he didn’t have enough time to train himself because he had too many things to do in the present.

Just as he was about to grab the Return Stone and head to Difficulty: Hell,

A loud explosion echoed over the Gangbyeonbuk-ro [major highway in Seoul].

The moment Hyun-woo turned his head, he saw a pillar of fire and fragments of a vehicle scattering.

It was dark, but he could tell at a glance.

It was Park Hwi-so’s car.