Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 173

Chapter 173

Suho immediately began negotiations with Lim Tae-Gyu. Originally, his plan was to buy back at a low price the dungeon raid licenses that the Reaper Guild, struggling with a lack of manpower, couldn’t handle. However, there was a significant obstacle: their financial situation was much worse than Suho had anticipated. Lim Tae-Gyu had already sold off all the licenses his guild possessed.

“…So you’re saying there really aren’t any left?”

“Yes.”

“Not even one?”

“I told you so.” Lim Tae-Gyu explained the situation with an embarrassed expression.

“Our guild decided to operate as a small mercenary group for a while. Most of the money from selling the raid licenses went into equipment.”

“…”

Suho flinched slightly at this part. The A-rank weapon Lim Tae-Gyu had lent him before going to the Glacier dungeon, the ‘Reaper’s Bow (Replica),’ had been taken by Sirka, the Ice Elf who left with his mother, and there was no way to return it.

Fortunately, Lim Tae-Gyu had no intention of asking for the bow back. He had lent it to Suho in the first place because his son was a member of Woojin Guild, and he wanted to ensure his safety, even if only slightly. He had been willing to keep lending it as long as Lim Dogyoon was in the guild.

“Well, this works out well. Now that you’re a guild master too, let me give you a brief explanation of guild management. Dogyoon, you’re the vice president, so listen carefully too.” Lim Tae-Gyu gave them some very practical advice. The main point he emphasized was, of course, ‘money.’

“Monopolizing an entire dungeon requires a significant amount of investment. The biggest expense is, without a doubt, the raid license.” In other words, to win the fierce bidding wars between guilds, the more funds they had, the better.

“But buying the raid license isn’t the end. You have to recoup your investment from that dungeon, right? And that requires even more money.”

“Labor costs?”

“Yes. You catch on quickly. It seems you’re no longer a newbie.” Lim Tae-Gyu nodded and continued his explanation.

Labor costs. Or in other words, the cost of hiring external contractors like mining and collection teams was also quite significant. Of course, most of those people were E-rank or D-rank, so their fees weren’t high. But there weren’t just one or two of them, and more importantly…

“You have to pay those people their daily wages in cash when they finish their work. But if the guild’s funds are tight because of buying the dungeon raid license, you might not be able to afford hiring contractors.”

No matter how great a hunter was, cash didn’t just magically appear as soon as they entered a dungeon. Only after selling the monster corpses, magic stones, and minerals obtained from the raid would the money be deposited into their account. But even after mining the materials, they couldn’t sell them right away. It took at least two days for everything to go through, and sometimes several more.

“From here on, it’s the realm of real business, completely separate from monster hunting.”

His explanation was entirely correct. But Suho didn’t need to worry about such things. From now on, his uncle, Yoo Jinho would handle such miscellaneous tasks.

“But.” There was a reason why Lim Tae-Gyu was bothering to explain all this.

“…It seems you don’t need to hire contractors like the other guilds.” While wearing a deeply dejected expression his gaze turned to Suho’s Shadow Soldiers, who were mining frantically.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Kuang! Kuang! Kuang! Kuang! Kuang! Kuang! Kuang!

[Second group! I can see your slacking! If we fall behind the first group in quantity, I’ll kill you myself!]

[Kieeek! How dare the eternal second-in-command try to stand up to me!] Said Beru with a bewildered expression.

[Keuk! That damn second-in-command!] Que and Beru were supervising the Shadow Miners, engaging in a mining competition.

Lim Tae-Gyu couldn’t hide his dejected expression at the intense and impressive scene.

“…I knew you were a summoner, but I never imagined your skills were this impressive.”

While his own guild was failing in real-time, the sight of this one flourishing was simply disheartening. But it was a complicated feeling, a mix of jealousy and pride, since his own son was Woojin’s vice president. Of course, if he found out that Que, who was mining enthusiastically in front of him, was the one who ruined him, he might cough up blood on the spot. Sometimes, ignorance was bliss…

‘Hmm. But could Suho conjure this many summons before?’ He couldn’t help but wonder…

‘Could he have been hiding his power back then? He had no reason to, though.’ Lim Tae-Gyu hadn’t yet reached the realization that Suho was a special hunter who grew stronger through leveling up. Such a thing was far beyond the realm of his imagination.

Suho nodded and asked: “So you’re saying you really don’t have any raid licenses left. Then, could you do me another favor?”

“What kind of favor?”

“Woojin Guild currently has 1 billion won in funds. Since we’re already in Busan, could we buy a dungeon from the Knights Guild with this money?”

“You’re asking me to act as an intermediary? That won’t be a problem.” Lim Tae-Gyu readily nodded at those words.

“In fact, they might be hoping for the same.”

His prediction was accurate. Lately, there have been quite a few troublesome dungeons in Busan. That’s why even the Knights Guild was experiencing a manpower shortage severe enough to hire several mercenary groups, including the Reapers. Therefore, they would likely be able to acquire the dungeon raid license at a fairly low price.

“But are you sure about this?”

“About what?”

“All the reporters in Busan are flocking to Haeundae, wanting to interview you because of this incident. And even the Busan city government is…”

“Ah, that’s fine. It’s not a big deal.” Suho shrugged nonchalantly.

* * *

“Thank you so much!”

“…Hmm?” Park Jongsoo, the president of the Knights Guild, was shaking Lim Dogyoon’s hand with a bright smile.

“Thanks to the efforts of Woojin Guild, this incident was resolved smoothly!”

Woooooooooo-! Cheers erupted, directed mainly at him.

‘…Eh?’

“On behalf of the city of Busan, I present this plaque of appreciation to Vice President Lim Dogyoon of Woojin Guild as proof of our gratitude for resolving this incident.”

“…?” Lim Dogyoon was bewildered as he received the reward from the mayor of Busan.

Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash! Camera flashes exploded from all directions, blinding him.

‘Who am I?’ Lim Dogyoon thought to himself.

‘If someone asked, I would answer that I’m the vice president of Woojin Guild.’

‘Where am I?’ Busan City Hall. In the middle of a ceremony awarding a plaque of appreciation. The center of all the spotlight.

Haeundae, the beach in front of Busan, was one of the core areas of the city. If it collapsed, Busan could suffer economic damage in many ways. So when Woojin Guild, which had resolved that dangerous situation, said they would ‘specially’ stay and help raid more dungeons in Busan, even the mayor of Busan personally appeared to express his gratitude.

Of course, the ‘plaque of appreciation’ they received was a useless item that couldn’t even be sold in the secondhand market. But it had its own significance. Woojin Guild was now officially recognized by the mayor of Busan as a trustworthy guild and could operate freely within the city.

“It seems President Sung Suho is very busy. Since the award ceremony is over, shall we move to our office? We have the contract regarding the dungeon raids ready.”

“…Yes.”

“Ah, but I heard that Vice President Lim Dogyoon is Hunter Lim Tae-Gyu’s son? You’re quite handsome, just like your father.” Lim Dogyoon, suddenly surrounded by high-ranking officials, followed the Knights Guild master with a lifeless expression. His energy was being drained in real-time.

* * *

Meanwhile a crisis of a completely different nature was looming over Suho.

“What the…” Once he had entered the Shadow Dungeon for his daily quest, he couldn’t help but be startled.

Ammut, his ‘gym coach’, the master of the Iron Body…

[Kehehe. Can you feel the difference in power?]

…was twice as big as usual! The pyramid was bigger too! And for some reason, an ominous black beam of light was shooting up from the top. But the biggest problem was that Ammut wasn’t just bigger.

Rumble…

[Then let’s begin the training.]

“Wait a minute. The atmosphere feels a lot different from usual.”

[Ah, don’t worry about it. I already got permission from your dad.]

‘Permission from who?!’ He was worried! The state of the gravitational field pressing down on his entire body was also very ominous!

At that moment, Beru, standing at a distance, nodded with a very pleased smile. [Hardships in youth are worth seeking out. The rewards will surely be…]

‘The rewards are the same anyway!’ Suho grimaced and started doing push-ups.

Crack!

“Ugh!” And both his arms broke instantly.

Whirl! Then, bandages flew in and wrapped around his limbs, and today’s training officially began.

“Kaaaaah…!”

[Kehahahaha!]

Thus began the torture, no, training, that was twice as intense as usual.

[‘Skill: Tenacity’ has leveled up!]

[Physical Defense +140% -> +160%] The Tenacity skill, which had been silent even during the hand-to-hand combat with Javier, leveled up in an instant.

And a while later. Suho, who sprawled on the floor like a rag, limbs tattered, received his rewards.

[The following rewards are available.]

[Reward 1. Status Recovery]

[Reward 2. Stat Points +5]

[Reward 3. Random Boxes x2]

“…The rewards increased?” The daily quest, which originally gave +3 stat points, now gave +5. And there were two random boxes.

But for some reason, he wasn’t grateful at all.