abcnovels
Chapter 187
Chapter 187
Chapter 187
Even the crazy ones among the hunters had ranks. Dissolute hunters who spent money like it was water were actually the easiest to deal with. Making them feel good was easy for as long as they had money. They were naturally quite expensive to maintain, but companies were good at making a profit out of hunters.
Companies were confident that they could earn more than what they were spending on the hunters. However, not all hunters wanted money.
-There’s this hamburger that I ate eighteen years ago. It was really delicious. Unfortunately, the store went out of business a year since I first ate there. Find the chef who made the hamburgers there. What? It’s impossible to cook that again because the ingredients are different from that time? Find all the ingredients, then.
-I don’t like the XX station channel. Can’t we legally ban it? Isn’t it a completely nasty piece of garbage?
-I signed a contract with a constellation who wants me to dedicate my life to eliminating all wars in the world. I ask for your cooperation.
-I heard Japan has a king. Reading mangas has made me interested in their culture. Can we have a meal together? Please ask the Japanese government to take care of it. I want to eat a plate of sushi.
… Things like that were impossible to solve with money.
Nevertheless, world peace was a bit…
“What do you mean by world peace?”
“Does that mean he wants to destroy other countries?”
“Isn’t that too much?”
“That’s dangerous. Haven’t we already seen that done once or twice by hunters who have contracted with constellations? Constellations shouldn’t be judged using our common sense.”
“I heard he is really stoic even among the first-generation hunters.”
“That just makes him more terrifying. It would have been better if he just wanted money. Don’t people like him go insane and do crazy things?”
The businessmen here liked people who were easy to understand—individuals who only wanted money, fame, development, etc.
Hunters whose goal was world peace were really… scary.
What kind of hunter could he be?
***
“Ah. Time to eat.”
“You’re thinking about eating now?”
“Of course not. I was just saying.”
“I feel so sorry for the chefs who work here. They work hard, but their food never gets touched.”
The CEOs shook their heads when they saw the dishes prepared by the chefs. It wasn’t that the food was tasteless. All the dishes were made by the most skilled chefs and with the highest quality ingredients. It was bound to be delicious.
“?”
“Is that an employee?”
One of the CEOs pointed to Choi Yeonseung out of curiosity. Not only was he dressed differently from everyone else, but he also had unusually well-developed muscles that showed through his clothes. No matter how they looked at him, he was far from the average person. Wasn’t he a hunter?
“... What are you doing over there?” Hwang Gyeongryong asked Choi Yeonseung, clearly bewildered. He had been wondering where this madman was. It turned out he had been cooking in the kitchen all this time!
“The kitchen had great facilities and ingredients, so I decided to cook.”
“I told you to come and meet the CEOs. When did I tell you to cook?!” Hwang Gyeongryong growled in the lowest possible voice to protect his dignity and reputation.
While the other CEOs were worried about the hunter who was going to take over as the new CEO, Choi Yeonseung was doing something strange.
“Then don’t eat, Hyung. I’ll just give this to my niece.”
“No, that’s not what I meant... Haven’t you noticed all the eyes on you?”
Choi Yeonseung looked around. People were staring at him with eyes that asked, ‘What are you doing?’
“Hmm. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
Choi Yeonseung happily greeted and shook hands with them.
“... I-It is a pleasure.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
“By the way, why did you cook?”
“Cooking is my hobby.”
“Ah...
“I... I see.”
The CEOs looked at Choi Yeonseung with slightly frightened eyes. In their minds, Choi Yeonseung’s madness rating had just risen to another level.
‘Maybe he really just likes to cook?’
‘His goal is world peace, but his hobby is cooking. He is definitely a strange person.’
‘We were right all along.’
“So, why am I here?”
“I invited you to this dinner because as the newly appointed CEO. I wanted to introduce you to the others. You’ll understand what I mean once you’ve gotten around to doing it, but management isn’t something you can do alone.”
The strength of Dragon Industry came from the ability of its many companies, which had outstanding technology, to cooperate with each other. The CEOs didn’t get along well. They fought whenever they ran into each other. However, they shared and helped each other whenever they needed each other’s skills. Dragon Artifact was responsible for providing the right artifacts to car companies like Dragon Motors and creating artifacts that other companies required. Without its expertise, they would stop advancing.
“Getting to know them will make it easier to ask for help if you need anything in the future.”
“I’m just helping develop artifacts. Is there anything to ask for help with?”
“While you do have a point, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions... Now, this is Goldblum, the CEO of Dragon Motors. As a craftsman in the automobile industry, he can shake up the industry with just one new car.”
Goldblum coughed. “It is a pleasure, Hunter Choi Yeonseung. I heard you’re now in charge of Dragon Artifact... if you have any thoughts on management or policies, I would like to hear about them.”
Everyone listened closely. They wanted to hear the aspirations of the new hunter.
‘What plans or strategies does he have?’
‘I’m sure he’ll say that he will do things with stability in mind and that he will do everything he can while learning from existing talents.’
“Umm. I haven’t thought about it too deeply, but I am thinking about making the artifact to be released this time the number one in the industry.”
“......”
“......”
“......”
The CEOs froze.
‘This is a big deal. He is crazier than I thought.’
‘How can we stop this?’
‘I think Dragon Artifact will be lost for a while. Should I connect a line to another artifact development company? No, the chairman will tear me apart if he learns about that, won’t he?’
Even the most ambitious and temperamental young people among the CEOs here were very cautious when they first took action. There was a saying that went around this raid-related technology industry.
-It’s harder to survive in this industry than in the Abyss.
Competition was tens of times fiercer here than in the IT and financial circles. In this industry, new magic and technologies could be released in the blink of an eye, pushing out and blowing away even the most solid companies! If they weren’t humble enough, their words could grab at their ankles.
Moreover, artifact development was a field countries around the world struggled in just to be competitive. It had the fastest consumption rate and was the most competitive of all the industries...
“Can you elaborate?”
“... I think you’ve chosen a goal that’s too lofty.”
“Really? Nguyen said that we can be number one.”
“......”
The CEOs hit their heads in frustration.
‘Nguyen Bao, you crazy bastard!’
‘You have to word things properly. Aiming for the top is great and all, but you have to be real with him too…’
This was no different from giving an oblivious hunter too much confidence. Who would take responsibility if this hunter did something unreasonable? Hwang Gyeongryong received a text message from one of the CEOs.
-Chairman, I want to be honest with you, but I can’t speak freely in front of an A-grade hunter. So please make the A-grade hunter leave for a moment.
“......”
Hwang Gyeongryong thought, ‘How can they be so collected even in this situation?’
They were all clearly experienced talents in the industry. No matter how much they hated the hunter, they didn’t treat the hunter rudely. They never knew what could happen on the road at night.
“Of course, I know what everyone is worried about.”
Choi Yeonseung looked around as he laughed. The other hunters, who were trying to send texts, flinched. Did he catch onto them?
“You’re probably worried because I, a hunter who has never run a business, suddenly wants to run a company.”
"That isn’t necessarily the case.”
“Right. As a hunter, your magical abilities are a huge asset to the company.”
“... Hunter Choi Yeonseung is a martial artist...”
“Ah, right.”
Choi Yeonseung continued, “It isn’t that I don’t understand your concern. First of all, the chairman is responsible for this. He basically forced me to do this.”
“......”
“......”
‘Hey, you son of a...!’
The CEOs glared at Hwang Gyeongryong, their eyes seemingly shooting out lasers. They seemed to be asking how this happened.
“If things don’t work out, I won’t hesitate to step down as CEO. In fact, as a hunter, fighting in the field suits my personality more.”
Choi Yeonseung’s words made the CEOs sigh with relief. They thought he was a madman due to how powerful his presence was, but after talking to him, they learned he was actually surprisingly rational. They could easily communicate with him. This incident obviously stemmed from Dragon Hwang’s eccentricity.
‘That’s right. He probably got caught up in something strange again.’
‘He feels so bad whenever he fails.’
Hwang Gyeongryong had many successes, but he also had many failures. He had made spur-of-the-moment decisions that brought them the jackpot, but he couldn’t always avoid failure.
‘This hunter doesn’t seem like the type to change everything or do strange things.’
‘He will probably step down if the artifact he releases fails.’
With everyone seemingly satisfied, Choi Yeonseung said, “Now that we seemed to have come to an understanding, let’s eat.”
Choi Yeonseung scooped up rice and some spicy beef soup. On the other hand, none of the CEOs moved.
“Why aren’t any of you eating?”
“Ah. I don’t have an appetite.”
“Oh, have you already eaten?”
Ducoms, the CEO of Dragon Battery, was flustered. He was known for his dirty temper and arrogance, but he wasn’t stupid enough to show that in front of an A-grade hunter. The average person would just grab him by the collar, but that alone could lead to his neck breaking if done by an A-grade hunter.
“No. I didn’t eat before coming here.”
“What’s wrong, then? Why don’t you have an appetite? Wait, let me check your pulse.”
Choi Yeonseung grabbed Ducoms by the wrist and released internal energy. Doing this with magic was difficult, but it was easy to do with internal energy. Choi Yeonseung couldn’t just completely control internal energy. He could also freely transform its nature.
“I think you’ve only slept for three or four hours. You have insomnia.”
“How do you know that?”
“There is a cloud of energy around your head, so you probably have a headache as well.”
“How…?”
“You’ve been taking a lot of medicine, but that’s just making your condition worse.”
“No, how do you know all that?!”
Ducoms was shocked. Even hunters who had medical backgrounds couldn’t figure out what was wrong with his health that quickly and easily. Not even Hwang Gyeongryong could do such a feat.
“I... What should I do?”
“Let’s eat first.”’
“No... Forget eating. What should I do about this insomnia...?”
“If you really want to know, then eat first. Do you want me to force-feed you?”