How a Disaster-Class Necromancer Retires – Chapter 12
The manager sighed deeply as he came out of the meeting.
“We’ve been hit again.”
The employees also sighed and asked in unison,
“What happened?”
“What do you think? We got hit because of low sales.”
The employees, frustrated, responded,
“Come on, with only five stores, how much do they expect the sales to be? And on top of that, the brand awareness in Korea is still at rock bottom.”
The company they worked for was Roco, a sports brand that had started gaining recognition in the U.S. Among the younger generation, Roco had built its name domestically and ambitiously declared global expansion, establishing subsidiaries in various countries. The company they worked for was Roco Korea, one of those subsidiaries.
However, unlike the U.S., Roco’s recognition in Asia was almost non-existent.
Naturally, the performance of most of Roco’s Asian subsidiaries, including Roco Korea, had been underwhelming.
“At least they could give us a big advertising budget.”
The manager shook his head.
“We’re just the underdogs. I heard Europe is throwing out huge advertising budgets.”
“Ugh. I was so excited to work for a foreign company… but… Do you think they’re going to withdraw the Korea branch?”
The employee’s words, pointing out their greatest fear, caused a hush to fall over the group.
“Come on, don’t say that.”
“They wouldn’t do that.”
With the mood now sinking, the manager clapped his hands to cheer them up.
“Alright, alright. Let’s do our best next time so we don’t get hit again! Maybe we could try collaborating with YouTubers too.”
“That takes money, though.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll suggest it to the higher-ups.”
Then, the manager suddenly remembered something with a look of realization.
“Oh, right. There was another issue.”
“Another issue?”
“It’s not really our concern, but did you hear about the coup in that Southeast Asian country?”
“I saw.”
“It looks like there was an Roco OEM factory there. The factory is temporarily shut down now. They said to urgently find another factory to supply the products…”
The manager shrugged his shoulders.
“Most likely, they’ll just find a factory in China or Southeast Asia. Let’s not worry about it.”
Shoes go through a complex distribution process, from wholesalers to retailers, and on top of that, enormous marketing costs are involved. As a result, the actual profit margin a maker takes home from the sales is only around 10%.
Naturally, from the maker’s perspective, even a small difference in profit margin cannot be overlooked, which is why shoe makers are constantly on the move, looking for countries with cheaper labor costs.
In reality, with Korea’s labor costs reaching advanced country levels, there’s no incentive for manufacturers to set up shop here.
And then…
“Huh?”
An employee seemed to have an idea and spoke up.
“They’re looking for a factory, huh?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Well… there’s a place that comes to mind…”
“What is it?”
“Hold on a second.”
The employee fumbled with his phone and showed the manager a video.
“Take a look at this.”
“Huh?”
The manager’s face showed shock after watching the video.
“A skeleton!?”
“It’s a skeleton. I heard it’s a shoe factory set up by that Awakener who summoned hundreds of creatures.”
“So this whole thing is run by summoned creatures? Wait, are you saying they’ve set up a shoe factory with summoned creatures?”
The skeletons were working orderly and efficiently, creating shoes as if they were machines.
The manager stared blankly.
“Wow. Is this real? Is this some kind of fake footage?”
“It’s not fake. I heard it’s possible to tour the factory, too.”
“A tour? Well, this is definitely strange, but… what’s the catch?”
“Well, apparently, they’ve been making shoes at an incredibly low price and supplying them. They’re using skeletons as employees, so there’s practically no labor cost.”
“Labor cost… almost none?”
“I’ve only heard rumors, but the people who visited said they were even selling souvenir shoes for 6,000 won, and the quality was pretty good.”
“6,000 won?”
The manager’s eyes sparkled.
“Should we look into this? After all, we’re probably going to be hit no matter what. At least doing something might lessen the complaints.”
“True.”
“Get an estimate. Tell them the design draft and materials, and ask how much it would cost.”
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“Here’s the sample.”
Roco.
A sports brand that ranks within the top 20 in the United States. Finally, a real maker—this was the company I had been waiting for.
In other words, a big catch.
So, as soon as I received the quote request, I immediately went with the lowest possible price.
The manager from Roco Korea, who took the bait right away, requested a sample based on the design, and the shoes we completed were the ones shown here.
“Wow.”
The manager said with an astonished expression.
“Looks clean.”
“Is it good enough?”
“Yes. This quality is more than enough.”
Hearing that, Kim Deok-bae, with a confident smile, said,
“Didn’t I tell you? We never lose.”
I grinned and replied,
“Yeah, our guys do great work.”
“They’re upgraded now, and they actually work better than humans. Skeletons don’t make mistakes.”
The skeletons’ position is perfectly balanced between humans and machines, making this possible.
The manager nodded and said,
“The delivery price is unbelievably cheap, but the quality isn’t bad. Good. I’ll propose it to the higher-ups.”
“Do you think it will go well?”
“Well…”
The manager hesitated for a moment and then said,
“I’m not sure. Honestly, the delivery price is ridiculously low. The skeletons are fascinating. But that might make them more cautious. The sample is fine, but mass production is a different story.”
The issue was brand image. Even if the delivery price was cheap, they couldn’t just give the contract to any company.
“Verification…”
This is the ongoing problem.
It seems like just getting the first deal started would be enough, but actually starting it is the difficult part.
I paused for a moment, then asked,
“Do you know the contract terms?”
“Contract terms?”
“We need to be prepared, too.”
“Well, honestly, right now, they’re looking for a temporary solution, so the contract terms aren’t great.”
“What do you mean by not great?”
Can they offer a price cheaper than this?
At that moment, Kim Deok-bae leaned in and said,
“It means the contract period and guaranteed quantities won’t be substantial.”
“Guaranteed quantities? What’s that?”
“We’ve been working on one-off contracts so far, right? But when it comes to makers and large manufacturers, because of their scale, they sign long-term contracts. The guaranteed quantities are the minimum they agree to supply each month. They might promise a minimum of tens of thousands of units per month. It’s a kind of carrot they give to the manufacturer.”
“So, the maker guarantees a certain quantity of shoes to the manufacturer to ensure a minimum sales volume?”
“Yes. In return, the maker is guaranteed a steady supply of shoes during the contract period. Of course…”
Kim Deok-bae whispered in my ear,
“Sometimes manufacturers use guaranteed quantities as bait to negotiate a lower delivery price, but this won’t apply here, so don’t worry about it.”
Sounds like a win-win situation?
The maker can get a large quantity of shoes at a low price, and the manufacturer gets a guaranteed minimum sales volume, which ensures stability.
Now I understand why shoe factories are so eager to work with makers.
“Anyway, normally, that’s how it goes, but right now, they’re urgently looking for a temporary solution, so the contract period is short, and the guaranteed quantities won’t be much.”
The manager nodded and added,
“Right. If they promised too much guaranteed quantity and the local factory resumes operations early, it could end up overloading the headquarters with excess stock.”
“Oh.”
The deeper I go into this industry, the more interesting it becomes.
“Then, what’s the maximum they can offer?”
“Well, I heard the contract period will be 3 months, and the guaranteed quantity depends on the factory size, but I heard the maximum for a month is 40,000 units or less. Of course, the guaranteed quantity is just that—a guarantee. Depending on the situation, they might place more orders.”
I turned to Kim Deok-bae and asked,
“What level are we talking about?”
Kim Deok-bae glanced at the manager and whispered in my ear,
“Honestly, large manufacturers wouldn’t even consider this level. If it were a small company like ours looking to land a contract with Roco, we might get a chance, but this isn’t something big manufacturers would look at.”
“Hmm.”
Sounds like vague contract terms.
Thanks to the buzz, we managed to get Roco Korea’s staff to visit, but we’re still a step away from success.
If the manager were from the Roco headquarters, he’d probably show off the skeletons making shoes right in front of them, but since he’s just relaying the information, it’s not enough to secure the deal yet.
In other words, unless we prove ourselves, simply relying on price won’t get us anywhere. We might not even pass the document review, let alone sign the contract.
I looked at the manager and asked,
“Is there a factory already in place for the backup contract?”
“The headquarters has been sending offers around, but as far as I know, no contracts have been finalized.”
The offers are at a level that large manufacturers wouldn’t even look at.
But maybe that’s actually an opportunity.
“Let’s do this.”
I said with a sly smile,
“Why stick with a 3-month contract? If the other factory resumes operations, Roco will be in trouble. Let’s just go with 1 month, and if both sides agree, we’ll automatically extend it every month.”
I hit the nail on the part Roco is most concerned about.
“Also, we won’t take any guaranteed quantities. No need for down payments or anything.”
For Roco, urgently in need of a backup factory, this was the perfect deal with zero risk.
“Keep the same delivery price as before. Also, if there’s a drop in quality or defects, we’ll compensate twice the cost of the shoes as a penalty. How about that?”
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“Why are you intentionally making the terms worse…?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
“If we agree to that contract, even if they never place an order with us, Roco won’t lose anything.”
“That’s exactly what I’m aiming for.”
“Huh?”
“Did you know? Tasting is always free. That way, people can try it without feeling burdened.”
The problem is that Seron hasn’t been properly verified so far, because we’ve only been making cheap products.
So, we need to offer it for free, at least to get them to try it.
By offering contract terms that others would shy away from, I’m presenting conditions so favorable to Roco that they have nothing to lose—even if the quality drops or defects arise, we’ll still pay double the cost.
For Roco, it’s a no-lose situation.
They’re getting the best deal possible. Once they’ve tried it, they’ll know they made the right choice.
But once they try it, the situation will change.
“Is there any company out there that can offer a lower delivery price than us?”
With minimum margins and zero labor costs, no manufacturer on Earth can beat us.
Even if they use slaves, they’ll still need time to sleep and pay for food.
“…No.”
“Doesn’t trust ultimately come from consistent quality? Skeletons are the embodiment of that consistent quality.”
“Exactly.”
“And do you know any company that can adjust production quantities as freely as we can?”
Unlike other manufacturers who face the burden of hiring and firing staff to adjust production, I just need to move the skeletons in and out of the pocket dimension as needed.
“They don’t exist.”
In other words, Seron is the best equipped to fill Roco’s unexpected gap in a flexible, cheap, and seamless way.
They just haven’t realized it yet.
“What we’re missing right now is verification. So, let’s give them a taste for free and let them know.”
I said with a sly grin,
“Then next time, they’ll buy it.”
This was the same with Seron in the past.
People trembled at the thought of the undead army, refusing them, but once someone fought alongside them, they hated them, but still wanted to be with them.
Low labor costs, cheap delivery prices?
This is just one of the advantages the undead have.
“Just wait a little longer. Once the contract ends, they’ll be begging us to make shoes, not the other way around.”
Let them have a taste first.
We’ll show them what the undead experience is all about.
Other manufacturers won’t be able to compete with the body we create.
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