The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 144

143

The ending was anticlimactic.

Yesterday afternoon, a parliamentary inspection of GT Dungeon was held, and an investigation into their unfair subcontracting practices began.

Unexpected issues, such as dungeon price manipulation and sales forgery, were revealed one after another.

Eventually, before any official announcement could be made, Vice President Ko Taek-soo was dismissed.

The president of GT Dungeon took responsibility and voluntarily resigned.

Afterward, GT Dungeon hurriedly promised a sincere apology and compensation to the byproduct processing facilities, but…

‘Their true intentions are obvious.’

They’re just trying to beg us to continue the contract with them, as they’re about to lose their entire subjugation business.

Of course, it’s a futile effort.

Unsurprisingly, no facility agreed to renew their contract with GT Dungeon.

Having lost all avenues to handle byproducts, GT Dungeon eventually withdrew from the subjugation business.

Still, being a large corporation, they quickly changed their strategy to dispatching operation teams and barely managed to maintain their structure.

Of course, it will be difficult to exert as much influence as before without support projects.

‘If they were going to back down this quickly, they shouldn’t have bothered in the first place…’

In the end, things turned out as I wanted, but considering all the hardships I’ve been through, I also felt a bit resentful.

“Then… I look forward to working with you in the future.”

Karma Corporation’s reception room.

I organized the contracts on the table and shook hands with CEO Kwak and Team Leader Choi in turn.

“We are the ones who look forward to working with you, CEO.”

CEO Kwak bowed deeply.

They visited to renew the contract.

Until now, they had been commissioning work on a weekly basis because they didn’t know how the situation would turn out, but now that the troublemakers were gone, there was no need to do so.

With this opportunity, they signed a 10-year contract with Kangan Logistics.

‘Well… I won’t even be around in 10 years.’

It’s also a hassle to renew it every now and then.

It’s better for everyone if we go big from the start.

Of course, it’s not just Kangan Logistics.

Starting with them, we proposed the same contract terms to 42 facilities nationwide, and fortunately, they signed the contract without hesitation.

In the meantime, the research institute, which was under construction, was completed.

Currently, we own about 80% of the dungeon shares nationwide.

In addition to the priority supply contract with all facilities nationwide.

Most of all, we have the world’s largest item manufacturing research institute.

Everything we need is gathered.

Soon, Karma Corporation will grow into the largest subjugation company in Korea… no, one that won’t be inferior to any in the world.

‘Heh heh heh…’

Above all, now that we have virtually monopolized the subjugation market, no one can stop us.

No matter how unreasonable the demands, no matter how much pressure we put on them, all subcontracting companies and all subjugation-related companies won’t be able to say a word.

Because there is no other option besides us.

They seem to be under the illusion that things will be easier now that GT Dungeon is gone… what a foolish thought.

Unfortunately, in the end, they are all the same.

From now on, we plan to use them thoroughly, so they better be prepared…

“Thank you, CEO.”

“……?”

At that moment, Team Leader Choi bowed his head with an incomprehensible sound.

“Honestly, I thought all corporations were the same. After all, they are organizations that aim for profit. I didn’t think they would ever help subcontractors like us, but…”

He looked straight at me and continued.

“I realized that there are people like you, CEO. Thank you so much for your help.”

“……”

What is he talking about?

When did I ever take their side?

I just moved to exclude GT Dungeon from the byproduct supply battle.

“Then we’ll be on our way.”

“…Yes, take care.”

As I saw them off with a somewhat disgruntled face, Director Lee Ah-young immediately entered the office.

“It seems like the conversation went well.”

“They just said what they wanted to say.”

“Well, from what I heard, it was true.”

“……?”

What are they talking about?

“Anyway, what brings you here?”

“This is the national subjugation status for this month. Please review it and approve the planning for next month.”

I slowly looked through the documents that Director Lee Ah-young handed me.

‘Ooh-yah…’

And I almost gaped without realizing it.

The total number of dungeons subjugated by our company this month was 2,342.

The subjugation sales amounted to a whopping 120 billion won [approximately $90 million USD].

‘I expected it to some extent…’

It was truly an enormous figure to see in person.

“Well, we have to spend a lot this time since we earned a lot. We have to pay back the money we borrowed from Hanbyul Trading last time, and we have to pay the contract fee for Hanbyul Construction.”

“It seems like we’ll have quite a bit left even after paying all that.”

“Do you think that’s all? Now that the research institute is completed, we have to prepare equipment and fill it with personnel. It’s difficult to find specialized personnel in Korea, so we have to scout all the core researchers from overseas.”

“……”

“And then there’s the contract fee for 42 byproduct processing facilities, the operation team care costs, and the cleaning team equipment replacement costs…”

“So, how much does it all add up to?”

“Approximately… 200 billion won [approximately $150 million USD].”

“……”

Damn it.

We’re still 80 billion won [approximately $60 million USD] in the red even after doing all this?

This is so frustrating.

I shook my head at the truly bleak feeling.

“Well, the expected profits are enormous in the future. We just have to work hard from now on.”

“…That’s comforting.”

I answered with a sullen face, but Director Lee Ah-young shrugged as if she had no worries.

But soon, she opened her mouth cautiously with a serious face.

“Now the preparation is really over.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, the preparation to take over the International Association.”

“……”

That’s right.

Once the personnel and equipment are all prepared, it’s time to launch a full-scale war against the current International Association, spearheaded by the best subjugation system.

And if we win that fight…

‘I can finally go back.’

I smiled.

But for some reason, the joyful feeling didn’t last long.

‘……’

I silently scanned the office.

After slowly examining each item placed here, my gaze finally stopped at Director Lee Ah-young.

“…W-What is it? Why are you suddenly looking at me like that?”

“……”

I hesitated to answer for a moment.

“It’s nothing.”

I answered with a bitter smile.

It was a strange feeling.

I came all the way here with the thought of going back, but now that I think about going back…

‘Damn it, how much money have I made so far… I have to leave all this behind?’

It was so wasteful.

No, when I think about it, aren’t I doing better than before I regressed?

I’m not a Hunter, but all my skills have been restored, and now I’m a CEO and I can control the Association as I please?

Most of all… I’m earning dozens of times more money than I did when I was a Hunter!

‘Is there any way to take even half of it with me…’

While I was thinking about whether there was any way, Director Lee Ah-young clapped her hands and opened her mouth.

“Ah, that’s right. About the performance competition this time.”

Come to think of it, we were in the middle of a performance competition.

I was so busy with other things that I had forgotten about it.

Well… of course, 1st place is out of the question, but I’ve built up a lot of things in the meantime, so I should at least be in the rankings…

“You’re in last place.”

“……?”

“You have to keep your promise for all team performance bonuses and the company dinner.”

“……”

I don’t need any of that, I just want to go back right now.

***

Korea Esoteric Dimension Management Association-affiliated Item Manufacturing Research Institute.

Commonly known as Eclipse.

The name was plausible, but it had no special meaning.

Someone just casually named it because the completion date was on the winter solstice.

The purpose of Eclipse was to manufacture and repair subjugation items and research special byproducts, but since the support team was its predecessor, Hunter management and care were also included in its duties.

The research institute’s employees were all experts in this field.

And as their leader and the director of the research institute…

“Why do they always make me do this kind of thing?!”

Director Lee Ah-young was appointed.

“The research institute’s predecessor was the support team. There is no one more suitable than Ah-young.”

Kim Min-joo tried to appease her with a forced smile, but it was no use.

“How many jobs am I doing now, and they’re making me take on this one too? If that’s the case, they should just hand over the CEO position! It’s almost like I’m a slave?!”

Director Lee Ah-young’s voice echoed loudly in the middle of the research institute, which was full of state-of-the-art equipment.

Kim Min-joo thought that if she agreed with her, it would never end, so she quickly changed the subject.

“By the way… why did you call me?”

“Well, I wanted to show you around the research institute and give you something.”

“Give me something?”

Director Lee Ah-young handed a sword to her, who was making a puzzled expression.

“Sword blade 121cm, handle 28cm. The overall size is the same as Black Wolf’s Guidance [Kim Min-joo’s current sword], and special materials are applied to the exclusive grip to prevent slipping. The sword blade is based on metal extracted from monsters of orange grade or higher, and contains all kinds of top-grade reinforcement materials, including fractal.”

“I-Is that so…?”

“What’s with that reaction? It makes the giver feel sad.”

“…Yes?”

“Take it. It’s Min-joo’s.”

Kim Min-joo accepted the sword with a dazed expression.

In fact, it was natural for her to react like this.

She had never received weapon support before.

In the first place, dedicated weapon support is not provided for C-class or lower, except for the entry-level type, and even if you become a B-class, you have to pay a considerable amount of money.

But she already had a sword inherited from her father, and she didn’t really have any desire for a better weapon, so she had just been using it…

“Thank you, Ah-young…”

“Thank you to the CEO, not me. He requested Min-joo’s weapon as the first production of the research institute.”

“…The teacher?”

“Yes. For reference, it’s SS+ grade if you rate it.”

Kim Min-joo turned her head to hide her overwhelmed face.

Seeing that, Lee Ah-young smiled without realizing it.

‘She’s like a monster when she fights… but she’s so cute at times like this.’

As if she had regained her composure, Kim Min-joo looked at Lee Ah-young again and asked.

“By the way, what’s the name of this sword?”

“There isn’t one. Well, it’s Min-joo’s now, so Min-joo can name it herself.”

“Hmm…”

Kim Min-joo gazed at the sword from top to bottom.

As Lee Ah-young said, the weight and size were the same as Black Wolf’s Guidance.

The only difference was that, unlike the black Black Wolf’s Guidance, the new sword had a shimmering red light.

She was lost in thought, captivated by the sword for a while.

“I’ll ask the teacher to name it for me.”

“…Oh, really?”

What kind of nonsense is that again?

Director Lee Ah-young shook her head, but… nevertheless, she still had a smile on her face.

Ring―.

At that time, Lee Ah-young’s cell phone rang.

It was a call from her father, Chairman Lee Doo-shik.

「It’s me. How’s the research institute?」

“It’s very good.”

「That’s good. Oh, and I’m just saying this in case… it’s strictly owned by the Association.」

“But I’m the director.”

「Hey! Don’t joke around! Once something like that gets twisted, you can’t handle it!」

“I know. I was just kidding.”

「Haa…」

Chairman Lee Doo-shik sighed once.

「Anyway, that’s not the point…」

He carefully brought up the main point.

「Do you remember that unidentified byproduct that blew up the support team last time?」

“You said it exploded because you tried this and that without knowing what it was.”

「Yes, that’s it. We’ve been investigating it on our side, and… there’s talk that it’s a Bank Item [an extremely rare and powerful artifact].」

“…Y-Yes?”

Director Lee Ah-young doubted her ears.

Another Bank Item after Time Stone and Anti-Magic Stone.

「So, I’m going to send it to the research institute now, so can you take a look at it?」

“…Of course.”

「Okay, if anything comes up, contact me right away.」

“Yes.”

As soon as Director Lee Ah-young finished the call, she immediately called another place.

“CEO.”

Of course, the recipient was CEO Kim Jun-woo.

“I think we found another Bank Item.”