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“Team Leader Kim! I heard you hit the jackpot again this time. Congratulations!”

“It’s amazing. How do you keep landing such huge deals every time?”

With the news that Demir’s Workshop could produce S-rank weapons, Kim Jinah’s loan contract with him had turned her into the talk of the office once again.

“Haha, well, I was just lucky,” she said, returning their congratulations with a faint smile.

Though it was a moment of celebration, her mind was filled with complex thoughts.

He could create S-rank weapons all this time?

She was still reeling from the shock.

Joo Donghoon…

He had lived as an E-rank Hunter for a long time despite having the skills of a B-rank. From this, she could quickly determine that he didn’t like revealing himself too much. That was one of the reasons she liked him.

Truly exceptional people didn’t flaunt their talents—just like historical figures like Pang Tong during the late Han Dynasty or Zhuge Liang, whom Liu Bei sought out thrice.

But him…

She had thought he was a brave hiker, ready to challenge the mountain called the Ohsung Group, a giant in the industry. She’d considered him a wolf willing to fight the regional panther, which was impressive enough. But it turned out that…

He’s no mere wolf.

Joo Donghoon wasn’t overestimating himself. He indeed had the potential to stand against the Ohsung Group. He was a young tiger—the future king of the mountain, capable of becoming the top predator.

In retrospect, it made sense. His gaze had never been fixed on the Ohsung Group. Even during his interview with the media, he hadn’t bothered to mention the roadblocking incident—because it wasn’t worth his time. Just as a tiger would ignore a praying mantis.

He’s so cool!

Jinah’s mind raced as her natural insight painted a clear picture of the future. What would happen if she followed him? How far could he rise, he who seemed to have a fair amount of ambition?

Suddenly, she caught herself. Had she ever had thoughts like this before? She had met countless people—tycoons, renowned businessmen, even rankers—but she had never wanted to follow someone voluntarily.

It’s a hunch.

Her gut feeling, which had never been wrong, told her that Joo Donghoon’s potential was limitless. And if she were to serve anyone, finding somebody better than him would be hard.

She wasn’t too worried about whether he would accept her or not. She had observed him for several weeks, and there didn’t seem to be many people around him. The fact that he was just getting started was also appealing to her.

Growth stocks are always better than blue chips.

She preferred aggressive investments anyway. And she was confident in the chances that Demir’s Workshop would grow. She determined it was 99.99%. There was no way she would lose out.

Hmm… Alright, I’ve made up my mind.

In that brief moment, she decided.

I have to go all in, even if I fail.

Even if it didn’t work out, she wouldn’t regret it because this was her choice.

“Wow, Team Leader Kim! I knew I could count on you! I just got a call from the bank president! He’s considering raising your position and even giving you a bonus for this! Hahaha, thanks to you, our branch is number one again!”

“Ah, Branch Manager!” As the branch manager approached her, Kim Jinah stood up abruptly. “Thank you for your kind words, but I have something urgent to discuss.”

“Huh? What is it? You don’t like the bonus? Don’t worry, this time it will be a big one from the president himself…”

“No, the bonus is fine.”

“Huh?” The branch manager tilted his head in confusion. “Team Leader Kim, refusing money?”

Kim Jinah retrieved a paper she had prepared long ago from her drawer and handed it to him.

“What’s this?” His eyes widened as he looked at the paper.

[Letter of Resignation]

“What is this?!”

“Honestly, I’ve been preparing this for a while now. Please don’t take it too harshly. I’ve worked hard and brought in a lot of money for the bank, right?”

“But Team Leader Kim! This is way too sudden…” The branch manager stopped speaking and let out a deep sigh.

Of course, he had always known Kim Jinah was far too talented to remain at Hunter Bank forever.

“So, the time has finally come?”

“Yes, my life is finally about to get interesting.”

She smiled—a bright smile the branch manager had never seen before.

Looking at her now, he could only shake his head in disbelief.

“Hmm.”

—Clang!

In the workshop located in the corner of the second floor, Demir swung his hammer diligently. Though his body was nothing but bones, the power behind each strike made it seem like his frame was brimming with muscle.

—Clang! Clang!

After some time…

“It’s done.”

—Thud!

“Finally, I can fulfill my duty as a dwarf once more!” Demir set down his hammer with a satisfied grunt.

“You’ve worked hard,” I encouraged him.

Because…

[Name: Demir]

[Energy: 200/200]

[Unique Ability: Great Skeleton]

[Class: Blacksmith]

[Rank: B]

[Strength: 42] [Dexterity: 41] [Constitution: 38] [Magic Power: 40] [Technique: 52]

[Skills]

– Advanced Smelting (Lv.1)

– Intermediate Weaving (Lv.7)

– Advanced Item Crafting (Lv.1)

– Advanced Alchemy (Lv.1)

– Summon Skeleton (Lv. MaX)

Three of Demir’s skills had already reached the Advanced level. This was the result of relentless hammering ever since his awakening.

“I can now craft A-rank blueprints and handle high-rank ores like adamantium and mithril. Haha, Master, do you see the fruits of my labor?” Demir chuckled with satisfaction.

“You’re not the only one who’s been working hard, Demir.”

From the third floor, Eldrin descended with a bow in hand. It seemed she had just finished her training.

“I’ve also strengthened my magic rituals, and my archery skills are no longer an embarrassment to the name of the Forest Tribe.”

“Still, it’s undeniable that my lord has been favoring Demir recently.” Sunny, the other awakened skeleton, also came down with a spear.

The three skeletons, now fully awakened, had begun to speak informally to one another. They apparently agreed to treat each other as equals, like old friends, given that they were all under my command now.

“Hey, Sunny, saying I’m favoring Demir is a bit of a harsh misunderstanding, don’t you think…?”

Even as I said it, I felt a bit guilty. I had to admit that I’d been paying more attention to Demir lately.

Eldrin smiled gently as she watched. “No, Master, it’s fine.”

Despite being a skeleton, Eldrin exuded a sense of grace.

“Now is the time for you to focus on what’s most important. And for now, Demir is certainly the one who’s the most helpful to your future.”

“Right?”

Of course. Eldrin always knew what was on my mind.

—Clap, clap!

“Anyway.” I clapped my hands to get their attention. “It’s time to make a weapon. This is a big moment. With all the media attention on Demir’s Workshop, we need to make a big splash.”

“Right, Master. So we’ll be working together again?”

“Of course.”

“Haha, another collaboration! I’m excited! So what kind of weapon are we making this time?”

“Well, we’ll have to decide after seeing who wins the auction. The type of weapon depends on the client, after all.”

I poured out the stack of bid submissions onto the floor. These were the bids people had submitted over the past two days.

Honestly, I’m not expecting any rankers.

I wasn’t expecting much. It wasn’t like we were the only place in the world capable of producing S-rank weapons. Rankers probably had their own weapons from dungeons or at least good connections. The only weapon I’d revealed so far was a single dagger.

Even if it did have a very high performance.

There was no guarantee we could produce another weapon of that caliber, so I figured no one would want to invest too much for now…

“Master. Here’s one for 10 billion won from the Jinju Group.”

“My lord, there’s a 12 billion won bid from an elder of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon.”

“Ahem, Master, here’s a bid for 13 billion. Is that a lot?”

What…?

I stared, my mouth hanging open.

The Jinju Group was another of the top 10 companies alongside Ohsung, and the Cult of the Heavenly Demon was the number one guild in Korea.

And here they were, bidding 10 billion or more.

“Seriously?”

I started rifling through the bid sheets in a daze. Many people had written bids in the 1 to 10 billion won range, but several had made much larger bids.

“It is real.”

This meant I could pay off my entire bank loan in one shot.

Either there were more rich people in the world than I thought, or I was attracting more attention than I had realized.

Then, at that moment…

“This one seems to be the highest. 30 billion won.*”

≈ $23 million USD

Eldrin handed me a bid.

“What? 30 billion?”

I took the bid and looked at it, completely stunned. The text read:

[Bid: 30 billion won]

[Haha, long time no see, brother. If you could make S-rank weapons, you should have told me sooner. Man, I’m disappointed in you! But hey, as your big bro, I have to go all in to help your business thrive. If this is the highest bid, then make me something good! Just know that if it turns out to be trash, you’ll regret it. Haha.]

[Jang Daewoong, the Berserker]

“…This is insane.”

Even in writing, he was as friendly and insane as ever. What kind of lunatic would write “haha” and actually sound like he was laughing on paper? No wonder he earned the nickname “Berserker.”

And on top of that…

If the weapon turned out to be trash, I’d have to prepare for the consequences. Berserker or not, Jang Daewoong was ranked 20th in the world—a walking natural disaster.

“Damn.”

Now, I was forced to make an outstanding weapon. Forget Demir’s brand value—this was about my own survival.

* * *

“Damn it all!”

—Crash!

—Bang!

Shin Jongoh was screaming at the top of his lungs, smashing everything around him.

“Director, please calm down!”

“Calm down? Do I look like I can calm down? What the hell is going on with everyone around here?!”

Shin Jongoh was fuming with rage.

“Spending all that money didn’t work, blocking the street didn’t work, and now what? He’s creating S-rank weapons?”

This was just nonsense. It felt like the world was conspiring against him. How could the person he’d marked as his victim turn out to be a genius blacksmith? What kind of miracle was this?

And to think he gave that expensive thing to Gi Soyul for free?

Of course, it made sense now. That cold woman wouldn’t follow anyone unless they were useful to her. The Gi Soyul he knew was someone who would do anything to become stronger.

But more than that…

Shin Jongoh’s eyes turned icy.

Joo Donghoon. You’ve insulted my pride.

—Bang!

He kicked the fallen desk and looked at his secretary.

“There’s no turning back now. Bring me the contact list for the company’s hired rankers.”

“Director, surely you’re not…”

“Surely not what? The war’s already begun.”

“But even so… Director, you can’t just order rankers around!”

It was true. Even if Ohsung employed them, rankers were still rankers. It wasn’t as though they would just follow Shin Jongoh’s every command.

“That’s why we need to negotiate.”

“Negotiate?”

“Just bring me the list.”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

At Shin Jongoh’s order, the secretary rushed out of the room.