BXBX NOVEL Chapter 83
Kang Hyeon got up from his seat after taking a beer can out of the refrigerator.
“Where are you going?”
“To meet Team Leader Shin Tae-gil. I’m going alone, so you don’t need to come out.”
“Understood.”
Kang Hyeon left the office, stopping Shin Seong-a who tried to follow him.
“Ah, nice weather.”
The new year had dawned.
It had already been a year since the tutorial started and the world changed.
Last year at this time, Kang Hyeon would have been shivering in the cold, but now it’s different.
The chilly weather of early January had no effect on Kang Hyeon.
“Ahh!”
Kang Hyeon exclaimed after taking a swig of the cold beer.
The sharp taste and cool sensation as it went down his throat.
The moderate carbonation always puts him in a good mood.
“Hey, you’re here?”
Kang Hyeon casually raised his hand to greet the black sedan.
As the window rolled down, Shin Tae-gil could be seen at the wheel.
“Drinking in broad daylight?”
“It’s not like I’m driving, so what does it matter?”
“Sigh, never mind. Let’s go.”
Kang Hyeon grinned at Shin Tae-gil’s sigh and got into the passenger seat.
“As I mentioned before, this is a hard-won appointment.”
“Yes.”
“You absolutely must not cause any trouble.”
“Come on. When have I ever caused trouble…”
As Kang Hyeon spoke, various incidents and accidents flashed through his mind.
“Well. I guess I have been involved in a few incidents.”
“I’m glad you’re aware.”
“But in the end, it was always a happy ending, right?”
“I don’t think you understand what a happy ending means.”
“Tsk. Let’s just move on.”
After staring blankly out the window for a while, Kang Hyeon suddenly spoke up.
“Mr. Shin Tae-gil.”
“Yes.”
“I just remembered, what happened to the weapon you were supposed to give me?”
“I brought it.”
“Oh.”
During the recent Choi Min-jun incident, Kang Hyeon broke Bilgein’s longsword.
And he had asked Shin Tae-gil to repair the sword and provide a temporary weapon.
“What about the accessories and resistance abilities?”
“I brought everything, so don’t worry.”
“Oh! You said it was hard to get, but you managed it. Haha!”
Shin Tae-gil’s expression hardened as he heard Kang Hyeon’s laughter.
-Where am I supposed to get that kind of budget?!
-I’m sorry… But investing in Kang Hyeon will definitely be worth it.
Items that grant abilities and skills are expensive. And those related to resistance are even more expensive.
Kang Hyeon had no idea of the astronomical effort Shin Tae-gil had put in to secure that budget.
Of course, he wasn’t curious about it either.
“But there’s a condition.”
“A condition?”
“Yes. Just grant me one favor.”
Kang Hyeon frowned at Shin Tae-gil’s sudden words.
“What kind of favor?”
Usually, as a member of the Special Ability Management Team, Kang Hyeon had been stepping up to solve most problems.
Although he moved because the incidents were related to him, he thought that no one had worked as hard as he did, results-wise.
“It’s not confirmed yet. I’ll tell you soon.”
“Tch, how boring. Fine. I’ll do whatever I can.”
Just the item for acquiring resistance ability costs over 10 billion won.
Moreover, it’s not something you can get just because you have the money.
The demand far outweighed the supply.
Even the usually shameless Kang Hyeon thought that after receiving such a rare item, it was only right to do whatever was asked without complaint.
“And there’s one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“On the condition of bringing cheap skill books, we agreed to dispatch you when needed.”
“What?!”
Kang Hyeon’s eyes widened at the sudden news of overseas dispatch.
“There are also many other countries that were affected during this incident.”
“And?”
“If they request ability user support from Korea, we agreed to dispatch.”
“So?”
“Where else in our country do we have ability users capable of being dispatched?”
“…”
“It looks like our team will be providing support.”
“Umm, Mr. Shin Tae-gil.”
“Yes.”
After hearing everything, Kang Hyeon sighed.
“I think I’ll just quit the Special Ability Management Team.”
“Kang Hyeon. Are you an ‘intsu’?”
“What’s that?”
“Trash personality.”
“What?!”
The car shook violently as Kang Hyeon shouted and thrashed about.
“Sigh, let’s talk about that later.”
After a while, Kang Hyeon finally calmed down and sighed.
“Just tell me where we’re going today.”
“It’s an item research institute located in Yongin City.”
“An item research institute…”
“It was originally an institute invested in by the Hanseok Group, but due to succession issues in the group, it’s on the verge of closing.”
“Is that so?”
Hanseok Group.
The name sounded familiar for some reason.
“Anyway, can they fix the sword there?”
“Yes. We’re going because we recently got in touch with the institute’s director, Jeong Seo-bin.”
“Isn’t there anywhere else that can fix the sword?”
“As of now, this place is probably the only one. The Hanseok Group has been passionate about item research from the beginning, so it’s the most successful place.”
***
Ippotranslation
***
“Nice to meet you. I’m Team Leader Shin Tae-gil.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jeong Seo-bin.”
“I’m Kang Hyeon.”
“Yes. I’ve seen you a lot on TV.”
“I am quite famous.”
Jeong Seo-bin was a young woman in her mid-30s.
When Kang Hyeon heard ‘Institute Director’, he naturally imagined an elderly man, so he was impressed by the unexpected appearance of a beautiful woman.
“You must be very capable.”
“Is it strange that a young woman is the director?”
“It’s a bit awkward, I guess.”
Jeong Seo-bin laughed at Kang Hyeon’s honest words.
“These days, it’s an era of meritocracy. Just look at ability users like yourself, Kang Hyeon.”
“Hmm…”
“Ability users don’t care about age, gender, race, nationality. They just crush dungeons and achieve victory with their skills alone.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
Kang Hyeon nodded in agreement with her explanation.
“So that means you’re also very capable, Ms. Jeong Seo-bin?”
“Yes.”
Jeong Seo-bin smiled and answered Kang Hyeon’s question.
“Let’s stop the small talk here and get to the main point. Shall we look at the weapon first?”
At Jeong Seo-bin’s words, Kang Hyeon took out Bilgein’s longsword.
“A B-grade weapon. It even has durability enhancement.”
Jeong Seo-bin recognized the weapon’s characteristics without any explanation.
“Were you an ability user?”
“To research magic stones and items, it’s inevitable.”
Jeong Seo-bin picked up Bilgein’s longsword and lightly tapped it against the wall.
“It wouldn’t be easy to break even if you tried. You must have handled it quite roughly.”
“Well, just… Haha…”
Kang Hyeon, at a loss for words, laughed awkwardly.
“So, can it be repaired?”
“We need multiple magic stones. And at least one B-grade or higher magic stone. The higher, the better.”
“Hmm…”
“And the repair cost will be quite high. Our efficiency isn’t that great yet.”
Kang Hyeon’s expression turned serious at the mention of cost.
‘The guild’s funds have just turned profitable…’
As a result of Kang Hyeon pouring money in until now, the guild’s net profit had just turned positive.
Even that would take a long time to recover the initial investment.
“How much would it cost?”
“At least 500 million won?”
“Damn…”
“If you wait a few months, we could repair it at a much cheaper price.”
“Never mind. Please do it right away…”
Kang Hyeon said with a gloomy expression.
“But during the repair, depending on the circumstances, we can slightly improve its performance.”
“That’s good.”
Kang Hyeon’s expression brightened again at the mention of performance improvement.
“Is there anything specific you want?”
“Make it as hard and heavy as possible. It’s okay to add options, but the current options must be maintained.”
“Hmm… Alright.”
Jeong Seo-bin nodded, thinking it was quite possible.
“Is that all?”
After entrusting the weapon and finishing the business quicker than expected, Kang Hyeon looked disappointed.
“If this was all, Mr. Shin Tae-gil could have come alone.”
“There’s still more to do.”
“…?”
“In a way, we’re just getting to the main point now.”
Kang Hyeon tilted his head at Shin Tae-gil’s sudden words.
“What is it?”
“I’ll explain that. Follow me.”
Kang Hyeon nodded and moved at Jeong Seo-bin’s words.
After following her for a while, they came to a large hall.
“Hmm…?”
Kang Hyeon felt confused as he looked around the hall.
“Longswords, cameras, food, even radios… What kind of place is this?”
“Why don’t you check for yourself?”
At Jeong Seo-bin’s words, Kang Hyeon picked up a hamburger placed nearby.
Name: Tasteless Hamburger
Grade: F
Durability: 1 / 1
Description: A hamburger made with F-grade magic stones. It tastes quite bad. When consumed, it restores a small amount of magic.
“What is this…?”
Kang Hyeon looked dazed as he saw the description that appeared when he picked up the hamburger.
“Food has become an item…?”
“That’s right.”
“Is this possible?!”
Kang Hyeon wore an expression of disbelief.
“It took numerous trials and clinical experiments. Handle it carefully. That hamburger costs over a million won.”
“Huh… This is revolutionary in many ways.”
Ordinary food becoming an item.
The implications of this were simple.
“Now we don’t have to worry about starving to death in dungeons. And our luggage will be lighter too.”
“That’s right. Until now, the items that could go into an ability user’s inventory were limited.”
“…”
“Items like weapons and armor. Everything else had to be packed in bags, making for heavy luggage to carry around.”
As Jeong Seo-bin said, an ability user’s inventory is limited.
It couldn’t hold anything that wasn’t recognized as an item.
And those items were mostly limited to equipment that came out of dungeons.
“Don’t tell me everything here is…?”
“Yes. They’re all items.”
Hearing Jeong Seo-bin’s words, Kang Hyeon touched a camera.
Name: Test Camera 7
Grade: F
Durability: 20 / 20
Description: A test camera made by Jeong Seo-bin. It’s a collaboration of magic and science, operating on magic stones as fuel.
“Be careful. We’ve poured tens of billions into making just one of those.”
Kang Hyeon quickly put the camera back in its place.
“This is amazing. To think we can use electronic devices in dungeons.”
“Our current goal is to develop a device that can communicate inside dungeons.”
“Wow…”
A completely new world was opening up.
Kang Hyeon had heard about such things being developed abroad, but seeing it in person was truly astonishing.
“So. Why did you bring me here?”
It was good to encounter unexpected new technologies. But Kang Hyeon was curious about the intention behind showing him these things.
“How much do you think it cost to develop all of this so far?”
“A lot, I guess.”
“It’s close to a trillion won.”
Kang Hyeon’s eyes widened at the answer, having responded indifferently before.
“But we haven’t made any profit from this yet. Some are already at the completion stage, even though they’re still in testing.”
“Why?”
“Because the production cost doesn’t match up.”
Kang Hyeon immediately understood Jeong Seo-bin’s words.
“I guess it’s better to just pack a backpack than to pay hundreds of thousands of won for a hamburger.”
There are over 100,000 actively working ability users in Korea alone.
And all of these ability users earn more money than average office workers.
But even high-earning ability users don’t want to spend that much money just to conquer one dungeon.
“They’d rather save that money and get better equipment instead.”
“That’s right. It’s a problematic situation in many ways.”
Jeong Seo-bin looked at the items with a loving expression.
“I’m a pure researcher and scientist. But the world is entangled in numerous interests. This huge research institute doesn’t operate for free. Everything moves with astronomical amounts of money.”
“It seems so.”
“But with our current achievements, it’s hard to gain recognition from investors. While others doing similar research are flourishing, the Hanseok Group, our biggest investor, has pulled out. At this rate, the institute will close within a month at most.”
“Hmm…”
Kang Hyeon stroked his chin, deep in thought at Jeong Seo-bin’s words.
“I don’t understand why you’re telling me this. I do have quite a bit of money, but I’m not rich enough to fund a research institute like this.”
“I know. The only way for the institute to survive now is to find new investors.”
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“Kang Hyeon.”
Jeong Seo-bin looked straight at Kang Hyeon.
“Would you like to form a partnership with our institute?”