How a Disaster-Class Necromancer Retires – Chapter 11
A skeleton performing the national exercise movements perfectly.
I raised my thumb and said.
“You’re truly amazing.”
I was impressed by the airplane that had been shown during the interview, so I thought it was a promising candidate and immediately hired them. As expected, my judgment was right.
I gave them a week, and in just five days, Baek Sangho had completed the national exercise movements.
Baek Sangho, with dark circles under his eyes, smiled widely and said.
“Th-thank you.”
“Were there any difficulties?”
“At first, I was confused, but after getting used to it, it became easy.”
Naturally, the control console I gave Baek Sangho looked like that, but it was actually a Skeleton Mage.
Unlike a regular skeleton, it was a type of special undead that used simple magic.
I had made the console shape like a Skeleton Mage, then gave it magical abilities to make fine adjustments to its movements. The activation was possible with various buttons and levers.
“It shouldn’t be that difficult. If there was anything uncomfortable, please speak honestly. This is still in beta, so there might be a lot of things missing.”
But since it was rushed, it was obvious that it had its shortcomings.
“Actually, if there was simultaneous control of both arms, the work speed would be much faster. Since I have to control each side individually, they don’t always match well. Also, the recognition speed has a bit of an issue…”
After receiving the feedback, I nodded and said.
“We’ll upgrade the version as soon as improvements are made. Oh! Would you like to see something fun?”
“Something fun?”
“Just a moment.”
I took out ten skeletons from the pocket dimension and directed the console towards the skeleton that Baek Sangho had used to perform the national exercise, then pressed a button.
“This is copy. Now, direct it towards this skeleton and then paste it…”
I pasted the operation commands into the console and pressed the activation button.
Then, all the skeletons started performing the national exercise.
“Tada! This way, you won’t have to repeat the same task.”
“Wow…”
After modifying the settings on the console, copying, and pasting.
Since I wasn’t completely changing the command itself, but just altering the configuration values, it was possible.
I handed the console back to Baek Sangho and said.
“Anyway, personally, I have high expectations for you, Baek Sangho.”
Baek Sangho opened his eyes wide and asked.
“Expectations?”
You’re supposed to work in place of me.
I hired you to make my life easier.
“Since you’re our company’s first programmer, when junior staff come in, you’ll be the senior, right?”
“I’m the senior?!”
As the factory continues to grow, we need to keep hiring more programmers.
Of course, the training of those programmers will also fall on Baek Sangho.
“So, make sure to learn well. You don’t want to embarrass yourself when you see the juniors later, do you?”
Baek Sangho swallowed dryly and said.
“Juniors…”
“If you teach them, you’ll become a team leader, and once you’re a team leader, your salary will go up too. Well, that’s just how life works, right?”
I’ll make sure to pay you generously.
Just do your job well.
Just like you were playing a game.
Baek Sangho’s eyes lit up as he said.
“I’ll do my best not to disappoint your expectations!”
“Great attitude! Now! Let’s work hard together!”
Let’s earn my retirement fund!
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-Mr.Han! The shoe factory these days…
I responded with a tired expression.
“Yes. We’re working on it. Yes.”
-You don’t mean skeletons…?
“Yes. Yes. What’s the problem?”
-No… I mean…
“Alright, I’ll hang up now.”
After ending the call, Kim Deokbae cautiously asked.
“Who was that?”
“Oh. It’s the registration office manager. They keep contacting me whenever they get a chance. It’s annoying.”
The registration office manager, who was stumbling under a pile of orders.
But they couldn’t do anything, so they just watched idly, and now that I’m selling a large quantity of shoes at a low price from the shoe factory, they’ve come sniffing around again.
“They can’t do anything, so why bother?”
I can’t link skeletons to labor laws, nor does it violate the Awakener Act.
I’m moving completely within the bounds of the law.
I haven’t even made combat-type skeletons, so there’s no risk of accidents either.
“Just ignore it. They’re nobody.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Is Sangho doing well?”
Kim Deokbae smiled and said.
“He struggled at first and ruined quite a few shoes, but now he’s getting the hang of it.”
People don’t realize how advanced the skill is required to walk naturally.
From balancing the body to the movement of each joint, to do it manually requires moving every part of the body organically.
Naturally, I set up everything that required high-level skills like movement and sewing, and all Baek Sangho has to do is control when, how, and where the actions I’ve completed will be carried out.
Once he masters that, my work will be reduced by a fraction.
Once I make the skeletons and add the basic commands, the rest of the detailed settings can be handled by programmers like Baek Sangho.
“Then, since Baek Sangho has adapted, let’s hire another new programmer.”
“Understood. I’ll post the job opening.”
“We don’t need actual programming skills, so hire people who are good at games, like Baek Sangho.”
“Yes.”
After directing the hiring of a new programmer, I looked around the factory and said.
“By the way, we’re running out of stock.”
While training Baek Sangho, I acquired one more factory, bringing the total to five, but the order volume was insufficient, so we couldn’t run the factory 24 hours a day, only about 14 hours.
“Honestly, it’s not that we’re out of stock. Word of mouth is spreading, and orders are increasing. When I was running the place, I remember the boom so big that we couldn’t even handle all the orders. The problem is…”
“The problem?”
“Right now, the speed at which we’re expanding the factories is faster than the speed at which the rumors are spreading, so it feels like we’re running out of stock.”
Kim Deokbae shook his head in disbelief and said.
“I can’t believe it. Orders are overflowing, but production is increasing even faster… Anyway, things are still going very smoothly. It couldn’t be better.”
He still doesn’t understand me well.
“I’m not satisfied with this level.”
“Yes?”
I need to make money quickly so I can retire fast.
How long will it take to make billions with just this?
“When can we start making shoes under famous brands, OEM?”
“Of course, that depends on whether they accept us.”
“So how big do we need to get for them to accept us?”
“Excuse me? Well… Boss, it’s only been a little over a month since we acquired our first shoe factory…”
“I’m just impatient.”
Kim Deokbae looked flustered and said.
“Well, I’ll put in a business proposal, but it’s unlikely that such a small company like ours will be accepted easily.”
“Why? Who else can make shoes cheaper than us? We’ll keep growing in size, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Because they’re a brand. For those brands, the price is important, but quality and trust are also prioritized, and we’re not there yet… What I meant back then is that it might be possible, but it doesn’t mean we can do it right away.”
He’s trying to say that even though the price is cheap, no factory will easily accept us, right?
After thinking for a moment, I said.
“Mr. Kim.”
“Yes.”
“Is our production ability really that lacking that we can’t make shoes for a famous brand?”
Kim Deokbae snapped back, looking offended.
“That’s not the case! It’s true that our skeletons’ sewing skills were lacking at first, but thanks to continuous updates, they’re now sewing as accurately as machines. We’re just using cheap materials to make affordable shoes, but if given the chance, we can do it! I guarantee that as someone who has run a shoe factory for my whole life!”
“So, we have the skill and cost-effectiveness, and what we’re lacking is trust and the chance to be verified. The size doesn’t matter, we just need to keep growing. Right?”
“Right.”
“Then, shall we try advertising properly?”
“Advertising?”
“I may not look it, but I’m quite a prominent figure. If we lack fame, we can make ourselves famous. Once we get noticed, even if we’re not the top brands, we’ll still get contacted by the second or third-tier companies, right?”
I smiled and said.
“If there’s no road, we’ll just make one. Let’s reveal the entire process of how the skeletons make the shoes.”
The manager probably already caught on, but I’ve decided to live freely as long as it doesn’t harm anyone.
“Shoes made by skeletons? This should be enough to create a buzz.”
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The skeletons tirelessly work at the sewing machines, stitching away.
Da-da-da-da-da.
Then the people watching them couldn’t hide their excitement as they said.
“Wow!”
“Is it really a skeleton sewing?”
“This is amazing.”
While some people are just touring the factory, most of the workers here are skeletons. There was definitely enough to grab people’s attention.
At that moment, one person approached a display stand set up in a corner of the factory and looked at the shoes displayed there, saying,
“Huh? What’s this?”
The shoes with a rough design and skull-shaped decorations.
As the person approached, the staff in charge of the display politely said,
“They’re souvenir shoes.”
Upon hearing “souvenir,” the man touched one of the shoes and said,
“It’s not bad.”
This man, clearly quite serious about shoes, quickly noticed the good stitching and, more importantly, the high-quality material used.
“The price…”
After checking the price, the man made a face as if he had just realized something.
“60,000 won? That’s too expensive.”
Although the shoes were well-made and used high-quality materials, they had a skull decoration, and the design wasn’t anything special. Moreover, for a non-branded souvenir shoe, 60,000 won was way too high.
“Thank you for checking.”
Just as the man was about to put the shoe back, he heard.
“It’s not 60,000 won.”
“Huh?”
“Please check the price tag carefully.”
When the man checked the price tag again, his eyes widened as he said,
“6,000?”
The price of the souvenir skull shoes was actually 6,000 won.
“Yes, 6,000 won.”
“Crazy. This material is only 6,000 won?”
In a world where even a single pair of slippers can cost thousands, how could a sneaker like this cost only 6,000 won?
“Made in China? Oh? No, it’s not.”
“Our skeletons here at the factory made these shoes directly.”
Although they weren’t suitable for heavy use, they were perfect for quick trips to the convenience store or for casual exercise.
“If only the skull decoration wasn’t there…”
“You can easily remove the skull decoration. It’s just an ornament.”
“Really?”
The man’s eyes sparkled as he said,
“Then I’ll take four pairs. I can give a few to my friends as fun gifts.”
However, the staff bowed their head and said,
“Sorry, we limit sales to two pairs per person.”
“Oh, I see? That explains why it was so cheap.”
The man probably figured that the factory was selling at a loss for promotional purposes, celebrating the factory opening.
“Then I’ll take two pairs.”
Thus, the skeleton-made Seron shoes slowly began to make their name known to the world.
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I considered calling a reporter, but I knew that if a reporter came, they would only focus on the number of summoned creatures rather than the shoes, and if they wrote the article carelessly, it would be troublesome. So, I chose to first reveal it to the public.
I uploaded a video to a video-sharing site titled “Skeletons Making Shoes!”
As expected, the video gained significant views.
There were even many English comments, and it drew considerable attention from overseas.
After all, who wouldn’t find it interesting to see skeletons sitting in factory chairs and sewing shoes like humans?
Anyway, after creating a buzz, I decided to open the factory to the public.
Come and see for yourself.
Our skeletons’ skills.
At the same time, I distributed shoes made with high-quality materials as souvenirs at a low price.
Of course, these souvenir shoes weren’t primarily for sale to the general public but were samples to show industry professionals that we were capable of producing this level of quality.
Kim Deokbae grinned widely and said,
“We’re getting a lot of inquiries!”
Thanks to that, calls from all around were coming in.
At least this method proved that it had a clear effect in generating buzz.
“We rejected all domestic inquiries, right?”
“Of course.”
There’s no need to mess around with the domestic shoe market and get criticized.
My goal is still to capture the overseas market.
And for that, I’m aiming for OEM deals, where we just make what we’re told and sit back comfortably.
“Have any makers contacted us?”
“Well, not yet…”
Tsk.
They’re being a little too difficult.
But still, the advertising effect was good, so let’s keep going.
“Let’s keep giving it out at the lowest price. The margin… I’ll just take 500 won like before.”
We’ll maintain a strategy of selling large volumes at a low price to grow the business.
Until the size of Seron grows and everyone is drooling over its overwhelming cost-effectiveness.
And while it may seem shocking to others, I can still make a profit even with just 500 won per pair.
Typically, small shoe factories would make a margin of around 1,000 to 1,500 won per pair after accounting for labor and other costs.
But this margin is based on human labor.
Compared to an average worker who works 8 hours a day, the efficiency of skeletons working 24/7 without rest is naturally over three times greater.
In other words, even with just a 500-won margin, as long as there are enough orders to keep the factory running 24/7, the profit margin will actually be higher than a typical shoe factory.
No labor costs and even a smaller margin?
I can confidently say that there is no company in the world that can produce low-cost light industrial products like Seron.
It’s the undead that allow for this ultra-low-cost production.
“Understood.”
“If we keep going, eventually, we’ll catch someone.”
Kim Deokbae fell silent for a moment and then said,
“I know I’ve mentioned this before, but you don’t need to obsess too much over makers. While their orders are important, the scale of the shoe export market is enormous even without them.”
Did I seem a bit impatient to Kim Deokbae?
But I can’t help it.
I want to make money quickly and retire.
By the way, how enormous are we talking about?
“How much are we talking?”
“Putting everything else aside, China alone exports tens of billions of shoes a year, worth tens of trillions of won. Half of those are shoes made for brands.”
Oh, wow!
Just China alone, and in the shoe manufacturing industry, it’s that much?
If half of that is for brands, then the other half is for non-branded products, like slippers or cheap sneakers like ours?
“Heh!”
I’m glad I entered the light industry.
Even if I only capture a fraction of that market, I’m set for retirement.
But even so, I’m not giving up on brands.
“We will definitely break into the brand market.”
I heard that brands often place orders for tens of thousands of pairs of a single model, right?
Then, I just copy the skeleton model settings and spread them out, and money will start rolling in. How can I ignore such a golden opportunity?
The design and sales are handled by the brand, while the programmers and skeletons do all the work.
How convenient is that?
If I’m going to eat, I might as well eat the tastiest things.
Kim Deokbae nodded and said,
“You’re right. The amount of work from a brand shows the capability of the factory. I just wanted to remind you not to stress too much.”
He might have misunderstood my point a little, but… it’s fine.
I leaned back in my chair and said,
“Alright. Anyone take one.”
I’ll show them what low-cost and high-quality really looks like.
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