Chapter 5
“Did you bring him?”
“Yes.”
The porters who followed Kim Yonggi looked at each other in surprise and said:
“Was it Kim Jonghyuk’s team?”
Kim Jonghyuk, an E-rank Awakener, had formed a team that was somewhat respected in the lower-level gates around here.
And that team was backing Kim Yonggi.
“If it’s Kim Jonghyuk’s team, handling one summon-type Awakener is nothing.”
“Right.”
As the porters murmured, Kim Jonghyuk stepped forward and spoke.
“You probably guessed it, but today, we’re going to deal with that guy. Honestly, I’ve used it myself… It’s so cheap and convenient, I wonder why a porter is even needed.”
The porters stood in silent contemplation.
“But my situation is a little different, right?”
Kim Jonghyuk placed a hand on Kim Yonggi’s shoulder and continued:
“This guy here makes me quite a bit of money, so I need to step in and protect the rights of porters. Don’t you agree?”
The porters nodded vigorously.
“That’s right!”
“We’ve got to make a living too!”
Kim Jonghyuk smiled with satisfaction.
“Good. Now, let me explain the plan. In a little while, that guy will head home. His quitting time is pretty sharp. Anyway, you guys need to follow him and protest at that time. Make it blatant, enough that he can’t stand it. When he’s provoked and tries to act, we’ll take a photo of the evidence and step in to handle things.”
The porters cheered enthusiastically.
“Awesome!”
“If he acts first, it won’t be a problem for us, right?”
Kim Jonghyuk smirked.
“But, in return, we’re going to have to raise our cut. I’m increasing the commission from the usual 15% to 25%.”
Kim Yonggi, who had been silent until then, looked surprised and said:
“Wait a second. That wasn’t part of the deal…”
But Kim Yonggi’s protest was cut short when Kim Jonghyuk coldly tapped him on the cheek.
“You thought we’d deal with this for free?”
“Uh… that’s…”
“If you’re about to lose all your work to that guy, you can either quietly pay the 25% and keep getting more work, or you can go find another gate. Your choice.”
Though it was presented as a choice, the outcome of refusing was obvious.
In the end, Kim Yonggi lowered his head quietly and said:
“… Please, I beg you.”
“Good. It’s nice to work with someone who understands. Let’s meet up later.”
After Kim Jonghyuk’s team left, the porters, who had been quietly watching, spoke up.
“Is it true? He’s really taking 25%?”
“After taxes and the 25%, how are we supposed to make a living?”
Kim Yonggi suddenly yelled:
“Shut up!”
Panting, Kim Yonggi glared at Jihyuk, who was lying on a recliner in the distance, playing a game.
“It’s all because of that guy. If it weren’t for him, our income wouldn’t have dropped, and we wouldn’t have to be asking for favors like this!”
“But…”
“If you don’t like it here, why don’t you just go to another region? They won’t have this kind of competition!”
In the end, the porters said nothing, quietly closing their mouths.
After calming them down, Kim Yonggi glared at Jihyuk with bloodshot eyes and said:
“Now that we’re at this point, let’s finish it properly. We’ve got to protect our meal tickets!”
*
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As the sky gradually darkened and evening fell, Jihyuk summoned a few skeletons to start organizing his things.
Watching this, Kim Yonggi’s eyes gleamed and he said:
“Get ready!”
The porters, nervously waiting for Kim Yonggi’s orders, were on edge.
“Wait! Wait!”
Suddenly, Kang Chansu appeared in front of them.
Kim Yonggi frowned and said:
“What is it?”
“Calm down, everyone. This is not the answer!”
“What’s the answer then?”
Chansu smiled brightly and said:
“I’ve already met with him!”
At that, Kim Yonggi jumped up and shouted:
“What? You’ve already gone and spilled everything to him!? You traitor!”
“No! I didn’t say anything! I just asked for a favor! I asked him to help us out with making a living, and he said he’d find a way!”
The porters who had come with Chansu started to visibly waver.
Seeing this, Chansu spoke with renewed confidence:
“I’m sure there’s a way to move forward together! No matter how many summons he has, he’s still alone! Even machines need someone to manage them!”
At that moment, one of the porters asked:
“What’s the plan?”
Chansu hesitated and then said:
“I… I can’t tell you yet.”
Kim Yonggi scoffed and said:
“Are you serious? You expect us to stop and believe that? How can we trust you?”
“… It’s true that I can’t say much right now. But that person wasn’t bad. He was someone we could definitely solve things with through communication!”
Chansu looked at the wavering porters and said:
“If you really don’t trust him, then trust me, and let’s stick with it. I’m Kang Chansu, you know me!”
The porters hesitated but then spoke:
“We can trust Chansu.”
“He was the one who lent me money when I was struggling…”
As some of the porters wavered, Kim Yonggi shouted angrily:
“Do you really think you can trust him!? Do you want to die!?”
Despite Kim Yonggi’s threats, some of the porters who had been with Chansu moved over to his side and said:
“Yeah. If Chansu says so, I’ll trust him.”
“I was so desperate for money, so I must have put something on it. I’m sorry, Chansu.”
Chansu smiled brightly at their words:
“Great! You’ve made the right choice! Let’s go, everyone! Come on?”
At this point, Kim Yonggi, unable to contain his frustration, finally spoke:
“Fine, you’re backing out? I’ll give you that. But remember this: once we deal with that guy, there won’t be any jobs left for you here. I’ll make sure of it.”
The porters who had hesitated now remained silent, their heads down.
Kim Yonggi, calming himself, pointed at Chansu and said:
“You, you little… are you still going to keep standing in my way?”
“You’re the one who’s been stepping on other porters.”
“Damn it.”
Chansu hadn’t revealed the plan yet, but Kim Yonggi, who couldn’t fully trust him, started to consider his options.
Just then:
“He’s moving!”
Jihyuk, having finished organizing his things, began descending the mountain.
Seeing this, Kim Yonggi, growing anxious, said:
“If we don’t wrap this up today, he’ll just ask for more and make unreasonable demands…”
Kim Yonggi pointed at a few porters and said:
“You and you! Keep an eye on him. Let me know immediately if he touches his phone.”
Then, raising his fist at Chansu, he added:
“If you tell him our plan, the next target will be you.”
Chansu, with a confident expression, replied:
“I’m not like you, lying to others.”
Though he didn’t like Kim Yonggi, this was precisely why he trusted Chansu.
Chansu, at least, wasn’t a liar.
“Let’s go!”
As Kim Yonggi led a few of his people toward Jihyuk, a porter who had switched sides asked with a worried expression:
“Aren’t we supposed to warn him? He said he’d find a solution. What if something goes wrong…”
“The person you should be worried about right now isn’t him.”
“What?”
“Sigh. I told you, you should have just listened to me.”
Chansu spoke with a worried expression:
“I just hope things don’t get too rough…”
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“Hmm~. Hmm~. Hmm~.”
I hummed a tune as I descended the mountain.
“Should I order some jogbal (pig’s feet)?”
Games, movies, and eating are my only joys.
“Yeah, today’s jogbal with soju. Ah, this is the real deal.”
Just as I was happily making my way down the mountain…
“Wait.”
A group of porters blocked my path.
“Hmm?”
I said with a surprised expression.
“Wait, are these porters here to protest to me?”
At my words, Kim Yonggi frowned and said:
“Kang Chansu, that bastard… He really told them everything!”
“Huh? Why is he involved? He only asked me for a favor, and I said I’d hire him as a part-timer.”
Kim Yonggi, momentarily taken aback, said:
“A part-timer?”
He seemed confused by the situation, struggling to understand.
“Hmm…”
Originally, I planned to tease them a bit by playing along, but since they were already here, I decided to handle it quickly.
I raised my hand and said:
“Binding.”
At my command, the porters froze as if something invisible had grabbed them.
I had purposely made the skeletons appear weaker and kept my strength hidden to avoid unwanted attention, but if someone came at me with hostility, it would be far easier and simpler to deal with them directly and make them too scared to speak.
“Come here.”
Then, not the porters but a team of Awakeners who had been hiding in the forest with cameras appeared, all still in their frozen stances, floating gently in front of me.
I tapped the frozen Awakeners’ heads and said:
“You’re starting to realize, right? That you messed with the wrong person.”
The Awakeners and the porters tried to say something, but with their mouths dry, all they could do was roll their eyes, unable to speak.
“You should’ve backed off when Chansu warned you. I gave you a chance, and you refused.”
I grinned and said:
“Now, shall we have some fun?”
*
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The next day…
“Th-thank you!”
The porters who had been convinced by Kang Chansu and agreed to the part-time job kept thanking me repeatedly.
“It’s nothing. I was already in need of some help.”
At my words, the porters suddenly started looking at me cautiously.
“Hmm?”
What’s this about?
Why are they acting like this when I’m offering them a job?
At that moment, Kang Chansu stepped forward cautiously and said:
“Umm… What exactly did you do to them?”
“I persuaded them, told them not to have bad thoughts again.”
Of course, persuasion was a combination of physical and magical methods.
Since they had chosen a secluded spot, I didn’t need to worry about being watched, so I used some of the bones I had prepared earlier to create skeletons infused with my magic and gave them a good beating.
On top of that, I used a bit of illusion magic, so I’m sure they only remember being surrounded by a large undead army and getting beaten for hours.
I even used healing magic out of consideration for them, and in the end, I calmed them down and sent them off, didn’t I?
“When I asked them about it yesterday, they were so scared they couldn’t say a word…”
Seems like my calming worked.
“I guess the persuasion really worked. Anyway, is that important now? Are you here to work, or are you just curious about how the part-time jobs are going?”
I decided to just brush it off.
It was too much effort to keep explaining.
“Well, I understand now.”
“Good.”
“Let’s get to the point. The hourly wage is slightly lower than before at 25,000 won.”
The porters didn’t show it, but their disappointment was obvious.
However…
I smirked and said:
“In return, the problem isn’t a lack of work, it’s that there’s too much of it, and you won’t have time to take on more work.”
The reason I gathered people was simple.
Every time I rented out the transport skeletons, I had to register their voices. The only one who could do this was me.
But what if, instead of registering new voices, I combined someone’s registered voice with a skeleton and rented them out together?
A person whose voice was already registered could act as a mediator between the Awakener team and the skeleton.
But if that was all, there wouldn’t be any reason to hire an expensive porter.
I pulled out the subspace and revealed my fourth creation.
“Ta-da! Introducing the 6-Legged Walking Transport Skeleton MK.4! The latest skeleton with human-riding functionality.”
I grinned and said:
“From now on, the part-timers will use this to go to other gates and work.”
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“Hear the rumors? The skeletons in the neighboring town are apparently really good?”
“They say so. But thanks to that, a lot of people have gathered, so the money they make there probably isn’t much different from here.”
“Really? I’m curious now. I want to try it.”
“I’ve heard they can make quite a few, do you know? Maybe they’ll even expand to this area.”
As the Awakeners were talking, one of them spotted a 6-legged transport skeleton in the distance and said, surprised:
“Isn’t that the skeleton?”
“Wait, it is! Are they expanding here too?”
“But… something’s different from what I heard.”
I was told it had 3 pairs of legs, but the basket had a small seat attached to the back, and there was a man riding in it.
Then, the man in the basket pointed at the Awakener team and walked toward them.
When the skeleton reached the Awakener team, the man riding it said:
“Did you need a porter?”
“Uh… we haven’t hired anyone yet…”
The man smiled brightly and said:
“Then, would you like to try our group? We’re made up of me, the team leader, and two transport skeletons. The price for everything is 120,000 won per hour. You can rent two skeletons, each capable of carrying the load of three porters, for the same cost as hiring four porters.”
One Awakener, looking intrigued, said:
“The price isn’t bad, but I’ve never heard of having a person in the mix. Can’t we just rent the skeletons?”
The man shook his head and said:
“I’m sorry, but our group is only available for rent as a team.”
“Oh, I see.”
The Awakener team discussed the offer for a moment.
“The price isn’t bad, but do we really need to pay extra for a person? It feels like we’re getting ripped off.”
“Still, it might be worth it for the experience. Aren’t you curious?”
“That’s true.”
After deciding, the Awakener team said:
“Then let’s do it.”
The man smiled brightly and said:
“I promise you won’t regret it!”
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The Awakener team, curious about trying out the skeletons, decided to rent them, treating the person as a non-factor.
But once they entered the gate and started hunting seriously, their opinion quickly changed.
“Ha!”
After the hunt, the leader of the skeleton group got out of the basket and began loading the monster carcasses onto the first skeleton.
After loading all the carcasses, the leader placed his legs into two holes at the back of the first skeleton’s basket, sat down, and drew a dagger.
“You can head out right away. You can organize the loot while on the move.”
Normally, Awakeners wait for the porters to finish organizing the monster carcasses after hunting.
The idea is to reduce the load so that they can carry more valuable parts back by sorting out the useful ones.
That’s why the transport skeletons were so well-received.
Their carrying capacity was far superior to that of human porters, so they didn’t need to waste time organizing and could simply load the entire carcass.
But with the addition of a human, the already efficient transport skeletons became even more efficient.
Swish. Swipe.
Even while moving, it felt like the transport skeletons were equipped with suspension systems, gliding smoothly while the porter organized the monster carcasses.
The leader then discarded the unnecessary internal parts along the way and split the valuable parts and cheaper ones into the second skeleton.
Afterward, he immediately moved on to the next monster carcass.
One of the Awakeners, with a satisfied expression, said:
“This is great.”
Porters are hired not just for carrying, but also to reduce the time spent organizing the loot.
When many work together, it’s faster to finish and head out to hunt the next monster.
But with the organization happening while on the move, there was no need to wait, and the leader was leisurely completing several porters’ worth of work all on his own.
It was truly the most efficient skeleton crew, showing no wasted time.
Just then, an Awakener spotted another monster.
“Monster!”
As the leader of the skeleton group was organizing, he spoke in a relaxed voice:
“Monster sighting. Cover.”
At the command, the first skeleton sat down, and the cover instantly enveloped the basket and the leader, ensuring his safety.
The Awakener team leisurely finished hunting, and once the hunt was over, the leader removed the cover and stepped out, saying:
“I’ll load it right away.”
“What about the work you were doing earlier?”
“It’s all done while you were fighting.”
Protected under the cover, the leader completed the last monster’s organization efficiently, showing an impeccable path with no wasted seconds.
The Awakener team, giving a thumbs up, said:
“Excellent.”
“Right?”
“We’ve got to hunt again tomorrow. Can we make a reservation in advance?”
“Of course! You’re always welcome!”
Thus, the new skeleton crew, combining humans and skeletons, slowly began to take over the monster by-product industry with its overwhelming efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
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