Chapter 59

I tried to stay calm.

A deep breath helped settle my chest.

‘At times like this…’

There’s nothing better than talking to someone.

[Activating skill: “Summon Great Skeletons” (Rank B)]

[Consumes 30 energy.]

[‘Sunny has appeared.]

[‘Eldrin’ has appeared.]

[‘Dmir’ has appeared.]

I swung my staff and summoned the skeletons.

This was one of the perks of being able to talk to them now.

“My liege.”

Being able to talk, to get their opinions—

It meant I never had to feel alone again.

“To not only ransack your quarters but then demand your personal presence… This Shin Jongoh must be insane!”

Sunyy’s energy flared violently as he raised his spear.

“I will sever this Shin Jongoh’s head immediately. Just give the word!”

Typical Sunny…

If I gave the order, he looked ready to charge off and rip Shin Jongoh apart.

‘Should I let him?’

The thought honestly tempted me.

After all, even if Sunny lost, it’d only cost me 10 energy.

I had nothing to lose.

A cheap price to teach that bastard a very expensive lesson.

“Hoo.”

Of course, I didn’t intend to go that far.

This world was still crawling with hunters stronger than me.

Bluster was fine for inside dungeons.

Who knows? What if I got there and ran into a Ranker?

“Hmm.”

Next to me, Eldrin looked around curiously.

“Is this the world our master lives in?”

Her eyes clearly brimmed with wonder at the new world.

“Well, if it’s where our master resides, then it must be a new domain.”

Dmir appeared beside her.

Three of them in total.

The ones I summoned immediately upon arriving.

The ones I could hold a conversation with.

Dmir looked around briefly, then shook his head.

“But for a master’s home, it needs some serious fixing. I, Dmir, will never accept my master living in a place like this.”

“Oh! Are you starting your hammering already? Do you think I could perform a ritual to assist?”

“Hmm, we’ll build a palace. One so tall it looks down on every being in the world!”

“Sounds great! I’ll look into protective warding. Let’s leave a mark of our tribe in this world.”

“Wait, wait!”

I hurriedly stopped them.

If I didn’t, they really would start hammering away right here and now.

That can’t happen…

This isn’t even my place.

I’m just renting it…

More importantly, the issue wasn’t the house—it’s Shin Jongoh.

“I appreciate both of you, but stop.”

“Yes, of course.”

Eldrin smiled brightly.

“Still, judging by the ominous mood… is there a great dragon-like being in this world as well?”

“First, I need to figure out who Shin Jongoh is. I’ve never heard of him, so he can’t be a Ranker.”

I pulled out my smartphone.

He might be running a small hunter group, but maybe he’d show up in a search.

Sure enough—

“Shin Jongoh, C-rank Hunter and heir to one of Korea’s top ten conglomerates, the Osung Group… Hah, a chaebol? No wonder he was throwing money around like it meant nothing.”

“Chaebol? What’s that, Master? Is it something impressive?”

“Yeah, pretty much. It means someone with a lot of money.”

“Money, huh…”

“In our world, money is power. Think of it like being the Chairman’s son.”

I kept scrolling through the search results.

So he’s a chaebol, huh.

But why’s he picking a fight with me?

Of course, online info could only tell me so much.

“Master.”

Dmir spoke up.

“Hmm?”

“If money equals being the Chairman’s son, are you saying this world runs on wealth?”

“More or less. Things are changing a bit lately, but at the end of the day, money moves power.”

Because you could even buy a Ranker with money.

“Interesting. Well, one shouldn’t judge a world by their own standards. Now then, Master, how much money do you have?”

“Huh? My money…? All of a sudden?”

“I’d like to understand your standing in this world.”

“Alright…”

I opened my bank app to check my balance.

[Account Details]

[Account Holder: Joo Donghoon]

[Hunter Preferred Account – Grade E]

[Total: ₩5,805,000]

That’s what I had in the bank.

Counting the cash lying around, it was maybe ten million won?

Which, for a Hunter, was basically nothing.

“Yeah, you could say I’ve got almost nothing.”

Sure, if I sold the Flame Dragon Staff I gave to Bone Five or unloaded my bag full of materials, things would change.

But for now, I was broke.

“I see.”

Dmir paused briefly, then called out again.

“Master.”

“Yeah?”

“In that case, why don’t we make some money?”

“Make money?”

I turned to Dmir.

Sunny and Eldrin also turned to him.

“You sealed a great dragon. A being of such stature having no power in this world? I, Dmir, simply refuse to accept that.”

“…Wow, you really hit me in the bones there.”

“Think simply. If this world runs on wealth, then we just need to become richer than anyone else. Problem solved, no?”

“…”

Was that a typical dwarf’s simplistic thinking? Still, it wasn’t wrong.

Also—

If I were to stick to my principle of ‘an eye for an eye’…

Then if someone throws money around, I should throw it back in spades.

“That so?”

Was he right?

For a second, I considered asking Ki Soyul.

A Ranker’s help could easily solve everything.

But I didn’t want to.

Like Dmir said, I’m the one who sealed a great dragon.

Maybe I could finally stand on my own now.

I couldn’t keep living under someone’s protection forever.

‘Plus.’

In this world, there are endless reasons to make money.

Training materials cost money. Protecting myself from dangerous Rankers costs money.

Take White Boar for example.

Sure, he’s a Ranker. But even higher Rankers avoid messing with him—because of his wealth.

‘And also.’

I was a B-rank Hunter now. Still living in a basement studio.

I had the right to live like a real human being, didn’t I?

“Alright.”

I nodded.

“Might as well. I can train and earn money at the same time.”

While training—

I’d use my free time to earn.

Shin Jongoh?

No need to dance to the tune of a small fry like him.

If anything, I was fired up.

‘Osung Group, was it?’

Since the grandson’s a problem, why not go after the main body?

‘And I have…’

I took off my backpack and caressed it.

Inside was a fortune in raw materials waiting to be processed.

I had the perfect business idea to make it happen.

—

“Jeez, who opens a workshop these days?”

“I think I saw some skeletons—he’s a necromancer, isn’t he?”

“Right? Why not just dungeon dive? These days, even workshops are dying out thanks to the big corps. It’s a dying field, tsk tsk.”

“Still, I gotta admit—he’s good. Faster and more accurate than regular workers.”

Express Bus Terminal Underground Mall, GoTo Mall.

The shop owners were wide-eyed.

Seven skeletons carrying rebar and hammering away diligently.

Not something you see every day.

“Wow, to think skeletons could be used like this. Amazing.”

Word spread fast.

Even an article was published: “The Necromancer of GoTo Mall.”

Naturally, the nearby shopkeepers grew curious.

Especially the middle-aged lady next door, who started bringing me snacks, saying I reminded her of her son.

“Hey, kiddo. I heard skeletons are dumb and hard to control. Is that true?”

“Maybe I just have a special ability.”

I shrugged it off, and she giggled behind her hand.

“How curious. Honestly though, this is great. Young people these days always rush into danger the moment they get powers. It’s nice to see someone using their abilities to contribute to society in a different way.”

“That’s true.”

“You’re a good kid. Anyway, we’re neighbors now, so let’s get along.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

I decided to invest all ten million won I had.

Rented a premium spot in GoTo Mall.

Bought materials for interior work.

[Dmir’s Workshop]

That was the name on the sign.

Since I’d be leaning heavily on Dmir, I named it after him.

“Haha, Master! You’ve got a knack for names!”

Dmir was delighted.

Thanks to that, the renovation sped up even more.

‘Bang!’ ‘Bang!’

[Production-related skills can be used without surrounding equipment.]

With Dmir’s cheat-level hammer, I didn’t need to buy any expensive tools.

Just swinging the hammer turned raw minerals into ingots, and ingots into rebar.

[Using skill: Intermediate Forging]

[Producing ‘Iron Ingot.’]

[Producing ‘Iron Ingot.’]

[Proficiency +1]

Skill experience was a nice bonus.

“Master, I’ll begin a ritual now.”

Eldrin wasn’t idle either.

“A ritual?”

“The air here is terribly impure. It makes my throat scratchy and clogs my nose just standing still.”

“Oh? And?”

“I’m going to perform a purification ritual. It’ll make the air here as clean and fresh as a forest. But I’m still low-level, so it costs 100 iron ingots. Will that be okay?”

“100 ingots, huh.”

With the amount of ore I had, I could build a mountain.

100 ingots for air purification? Worth it.

Skeletons might not breathe, but I still needed clean air for training in the Supreme Azure Mind Method.

“Go ahead.”

“It’ll take some time, so please wait.”

Eldrin built a small altar and began the ritual.

Watching everything slowly come together filled me with satisfaction.

“Alright, everyone—keep up the good work.”

Leaving the busy skeletons behind, I headed toward the center of GoTo Mall.

The underground mall sprawled beneath all of Gangnam.

From my workshop, it took about ten minutes on foot to reach the center—just to show how massive it was.

At the center was a small auction house.

Since I was starting a workshop, I needed to generate buzz.

[Item: Dmir’s Standard-Issue Sword]

[Rank: B]

[Type: Sword]

[Description: A weapon quickly forged by blacksmith Dmir. Performs impressively for its grade.]

[Effect 1: All stats +10]

[Effect 2: Energy +20]

[Effect 3: Skill power +30%]

I put up a sword I’d forged in a rush.

It was the best I could make at my current level.

Sure, I could go all-in like before, but for business, sustainable production was key.

“Oh, that’s quite a decent blade.”

The appraiser at the auction house looked intrigued.

“You really plan to sell this?”

“Yes. Made at Dmir’s Workshop.”

“Huh. This is practically on par with big-name suppliers.”

“I just want to see how the market reacts. Just selling this one for now.”

“Hmm.”

The appraiser inspected the sword closely.

“With the shortage of items lately, this is perfect timing. Starting price could be ₩1 million. With luck, you might hit ₩10 million.”

Ten million—about average for a B-rank weapon.

But I wasn’t here to profit.

I was here to build the workshop’s reputation.

I nodded readily.

“Then I’ll leave it in your hands.”

Business prep—done.

Time to train.

I left Bone Six behind to watch the shop and headed to the nearby open lot.

‘I must not lose sight of my goal.’

Making money was just part of the path to becoming a Ranker—not the goal itself.

My ultimate objective: becoming a Ranker.

To reach it, I couldn’t skip training.

One rabbit for money.

One rabbit for power.

I was going to catch them both.