abcnovels
Chapter 210
Chapter 210
Chapter 210
The goddess of sloth was troubled because she didn’t know what to say. Of course, she knew that. Sometimes a bard was more effective than a good warrior.
...Even so, in the eyes of the goddess of sloth, Choi Yeonseung wasn’t suited to be an actor. No matter how she thought about it, he was a natural warrior. The only role he could’ve pulled off as an actor was that of a muscular villain.
-Successor, I don’t think that’s possible.
-...I was just kidding, but isn’t it too harsh to say that?
Choi Yeonseung was slightly hurt, although he didn’t really want to be a movie star. This time, he dealt with this company-related product because it was Hwang Gyeongryong’s job. Above all, it was mainly about production. He thought it was an excellent opportunity to learn from the cat constellation and evolve!
-I was joking about being an actor, but... It’s also pretty satisfying to know that you can gain this much power of existence through this business.
-Sometimes, a merchant is a warrior.
The goddess of sloth nodded in agreement. Such things would also happen in the Abyss from time to time. A constellation with a great treasure would use it to exchange things with other constellations. It wasn’t a common occurrence, but it certainly happened.
‘Yes, as far as the general public goes, a company’s name must’ve attracted more attention than a hunter’s name.’
It was said that in modern society, there was no job as glamorous and as sought after as that of a hunter… Thinking about it, a hunter’s name either became famous or fell into obscurity at the end of a big raid. However, Choi Yeonseung would only hear the names of hunters when strong monsters appeared in the city center or when dungeons with a difficult rating appeared in key areas, which wasn’t as often as one would’ve expected. The famous hunters were the ones who were active in other fields besides raids.
-Then how about a household member with good fertility? We could use a household member like that.
-Do you want me to get married and then get divorced within three months?
Choi Yeonseung said that with disgust. Hwang Gyeongryong would’ve been hurt if he had heard that, but Choi Yeonseung really didn’t want to get married.
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says it is enough right now.]
The cat constellation cheered for Choi Yeonseung.
-Right?
-Well, that’s not wrong either.
To some extent, the goddess of sloth felt reassured. This time, it was quite admirable that her successor managed to do business on Earth. He wasn’t only a craftsman that made good items, but one that could make people buy them using his connections! The wandering merchant constellation would’ve been impressed with Choi Yeonseung’s business abilities if he’d seen all of that.
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says you will become the best craftsperson on Earth if you continue like this. It is excited for you to make an even better item next time!]
-No... People usually take a year off after releasing a new product.
He felt sorry for the cat constellation, but usually when a new product came out, it would keep being produced and sold for around a year. The item released this time was especially successful, so it would be more than just one year.
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is shocked.]
The cat constellation was surprised by the way humans worked. It was hard to believe they kept making the same thing without thinking about making a new item. This wasn’t blacksmith work… It was business, right?
[???! ???! ???!]
The cat constellation started to cry with loud cat sounds instead of speech. Choi Yeonseung pretended not to hear.
“Master!”
“?”
Choi Yeonseung was stunned when Odaigon rushed over.
“Did something happen?”
“Yes!”
When seeing Odaigon shout like that, many possibilities passed through Choi Yeonseung’s mind. A factory bombing, a defect found somewhere, an accident resulting in casualties…
Choi Yeonseung’s expression suddenly turned grim.
“What?”
“I... I have greatly increased my fortune!”
“......”
For a moment, Choi Yeonseung wondered if Odaigon had gone crazy.
***
Fortunately, Odaigon wasn’t crazy.
Jerry Kuber was the president of Pask Food. Odaigon was originally supposed to work as Jerry Kuber’s bodyguard and earn a salary. Considering Odaigon’s ranking, he still earned quite a lot of money even if he worked as an escort. However, given that the company’s management had taken a turn for the worse, Jerry Kuber found himself committing the three most severe financial crimes, so he didn’t have the means to pay Odaigon.
-Hunter Odaigon. Do you know about stock options? I’m offering this to you because I acknowledge you...
Instead, Jerry Kuber started acting devious. He had cheated by saying he would pay Odaigon his annual salary in company shares, not cash. Of course, that wasn’t a scam in itself. The company stocks were valuable, and they would become even more valuable when the company increased its profits. It was a market where stocks could jump from a few hundreds of dollars to tens of millions.
...However, that would typically apply to decent companies. The company that Jerry Kuber was running was all over the place, given that its investments had been stolen by him, and it also got involved in unreliable things, like Bitcoin. If the company went bankrupt, its stocks would be as valuable as toilet paper. To put things blunt, it was like selling himself for free. In fact, Odaigon knew that Jerry Kuber was cheating him out of his money. Despite not knowing about the human stock market, Odaigon was a wise goblin king. He was able to tell what Jerry Kuber was planning
‘It must be a terrible thing.’
Even so, Odaigon ignored it. His orders were to protect Jerry Kuber. He had already received plenty of human money from the Icarus clan. That was enough for Odaigon to just focus on the mobile game he enjoyed. Then one day, things changed.
-I did it! I did it! I did it!! Those of you who didn’t believe in me, look! This is Jerry Kuber’s intuition! I knew I would rise to the top!!!
-Oh. What’s going on?
Jerry Kuber was crying and running around, so Odaigon asked what happened. Then, Jerry Kuber spoke at a rapid pace with an enthusiastic voice. There was a lot of complicated jargon that Odaigon didn’t grasp, but in the end he understood the gist of it.
-So you took money from the storehouse of the king you served, gambled with it and won the jackpot?
-A bit of a weird metaphor, but that’s basically what happened!
-I see. Congratulations. You’re lucky. I thought you were done for.
-Bah. What does a hunter know about finances? You need to have the brains for that…
Jerry Kuber suddenly went silent. Come to think of it, he had given Odaigon company shares for his annual salary. Those were the shares that Jerry Kuber should’ve owned! He thought they were useless when the company looked like it was going to collapse, but he suddenly changed his mind when he made enough money to fix everything. Wouldn’t the stock price go up dramatically? Besides that, if Chairman Alex Parker found out that Jerry Kuber had given away the shares, he would break his neck.
-H-Hunter Odaigon. Do you still have the shares I gave you last time?
-I have them.
-Now that I think about it, I was being too harsh on you. I want to buy it again for double the price...
-If you really are sorry, why are you offering me only double the price?
-Yes, perhaps that’s too little! What about three times the initial price?
-I decline.
***
“No… It actually worked?”
Choi Yeonseung was surprised.
Aine, who had stopped by to congratulate Choi Yeonseung, asked in a puzzled manner, "What are you talking about?”
“So Odaigon here...”
Three minutes later.
“That crazy bastard?!”
Aine was surprised as well. Of course, she had always seen in the news people who gambled with company investments, but she hadn’t expected something like that to happen so close to her.
“It’s great if you have the shares. Never give them back.”
“Bah. Of course, I have no intention of doing so.” Odaigon snorted.
No matter how much Jerry Kuber whined about the shares, Odaigon wasn’t going to budge.
“What percentage of the shares did you get?” Aine asked curiously. She thought it was about 2-3% at most.
A hunter’s salary was quite high. Pask Food had hit many bumps recently, but it was still a fairly successful company. Moreover, there was no way a president like Jerry Kuber had more than 10-20% of the shares.
In the case of a large company, even 5% of the shares was enough for a person to be considered a major shareholder. Unlike shareholders who owned a small percentage of shares, they would have a say in how the company was managed, and they could also interfere in work.
“I’ve heard it’s about 15%.”
“...?!?!?”
Aine was even more shocked when she heard that. Had Jerry Kuber handed over all of his shares?
“D... Don’t tell me. No… Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”
“I checked and it’s correct.”
“...Wait. Wait.”
Aine kept blinking in order to calm down. That was too much information to handle at once. She was getting dizzy.
“If you really have around 15%... Can’t you just take the entire company?”
“With 15%?”
“What am I going to do with a company like that? If I had to take a company, I would like the one that created this mobile game.”
Aine ignored Odaigon’s words and explained it to Choi Yeonseung.
“15% is a lot. I don’t think there are any shareholders at Pask Food that have over 15%.”
Pask Food was different from companies like the one owned by Hwang Gyeongryong. Such companies received no outside investments and didn’t go public. They used the money they earned and weren’t subject to attacks from the outside.
However, companies that went public and sold their shares could lose control of their management if others started buying the shares. Alex Parker never would’ve expected Jerry Kuber to hand over the shares like blood to another hunter just because he was broke.
“Still, I think Odaigon has a surprisingly good point. What is he going to do with that company? How is he going to manage it?”
“What do you mean? You should take the company if you have the chance to do so!”
Aine couldn’t believe them.
“Why do you want to be stronger?”
“Why do I want to be stronger... I’m just trying to be strong.”
“Yes! That’s right.”
“???”
“There will be benefits to having a company like that. You can sell the shares at a high price or sell the company’s property. And even if it doesn’t work out, I think it would be pretty amusing to just go to Parker Group and make fun of them.”
‘She really is Gyeongryong’s daughter.’
“The last one was a joke.”
Perhaps she got the message from Choi Yeonseung’s gaze, but Aine quickly tried to brush it off as a joke. Of course, it didn’t really sound like a joke. There was a good chance that she actually meant it.
***
“Put it here.”
“Yes.”
Ducoms, the CEO of Dragon Battery, stopped the car in front of the Dragon Artifact building. He was already quite famous, so the guards in front of him immediately recognized him and bowed their heads. The staff members working inside the building did the same.
Of course, Ducoms didn’t mind their reaction in the slightest, but he came there for one reason only.
“Did you say that Hunter Choi Yeonseung is inside?”
“Yes.”
Ducoms coughed and adjusted his clothes. Usually, Ducoms would be indifferent toward other CEOs. However, strangely enough, it was hard to do that when facing Choi Yeonseung. It wasn’t that he was scared of A-grade hunters. Ducoms would be indifferent even towards hunters.
‘Does the chairman really know how to look at the future?’
He thought he understood now. In Ducoms mind, he instinctively acknowledged Choi Yeonseung’s ability.
‘Heh. I’m also very...’
“That’s why I’ve prepared a large amount of monster meat...”
“...You. Maybe it’s better to just sell the stocks and make a profit.”
“???”
There was an unexpected conversation going on inside. What was this conversation about?