Chapter 186: Chapter 186

‘Amazing!’

Choi Yeonseung’s smooth, flowing movements caught the experienced chefs by surprise. He was quick as well, stopping not even for a moment.

“!”

Letitia was amazed by Choi Yeonseung’s skill. Having heard that an A-grade hunter had come here to cook, she thought, ‘Are the hunters doing weird things again?’

However, Choi Yeonseung’s skills evidenced that he hadn’t just done this once or twice.

“Wow. That’s really amazing. If you are an A-grade hunter, does that make you an A-grade chef as well?”

“The hunters weren’t lying when they said there is nothing more delicious than the food that Hunter Choi Yeonseung made on the raid. I thought they just said that because they were starving.” n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I thought I told you not to talk!”

“I’m sorry!”

When Letitia became angry, the chefs came to their senses. They normally would’ve been focused on cooking, but Choi Yeonseung was so amazing. How could a hunter be so good at cooking?

‘What is he cooking?’

‘Seems like Korean soup to me.’

Chef Letitia was a master of nouvelle cuisine and inherited the lineage of French formal cuisine. Despite dealing with authentic French cuisine, she had the ingenuity of adding cuisines from other countries without hesitation.

… However, that was it. She didn’t do Korean food in earnest like Choi Yeonseung was making now.

“Uh... What are you making?”

“I’m making spicy beef soup.”

Choi Yeonseung took out a knife and cut the vegetables into appropriate sizes. The blade of the orichalcum cleaver boasted an amazing effect. Even normal food ingredients were infused with magic power every time the blade touched them, making them several times fresher. The all-purpose adamantium pot further bettered it.

Oil was poured into the adamantium pot, which had been transformed into a large Chinese wok, and the fried green onions quickly changed color. Everything proceeded smoothly and swiftly. He?added the high-quality?cut monster meat, sprinkled it with red pepper flakes, stir-fried it again, added water, and boiled it...

“Tastes good,” Choi Yeonseung said upon tasting the soup.

Some of the people here probably didn’t like spicy food, so he added just a bit of kick to it. It tasted just right.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is looking forward to it.]

‘Don’t worry, I’ll give you a bowl later.’

“Woah. Isn’t this really good? I think this is perfect for a hangover.”

“What part of the beef did you use? It tastes really good, and it’s refreshing.”

“It’s a bit spicy, so how come it makes me feel relaxed? Is it because of my mood?”

The chefs chattered excitedly as they gathered in front of the pot of spicy beef soup. When else would they get the chance to eat the food that an A-grade hunter had prepared?

‘That being said… Aren’t we serving fusion courses?’?The new chef who had the lowest rank suddenly wondered.

Would it suit the dinner?

***

The CEO of Dragon Solutions, a trendsetter company and an industry leader in the development of advanced magic materials using monster materials and minerals found in the Abyss.

The CEO of Dragon Battery, known as the gangster of the market for rapidly occupying the mana battery market, the demand within each had rapidly increased due to the energy evolution brought forth by monster cores.

The CEO of Dragon Medicine, a company rumored to be able to ‘revive the dead.’ It challenged various incurable diseases through reinvented methods like gene therapy and stem cell therapy with newfound magic.

The CEO of Dragon Motors, a company that led the artifact-type car market with various improved car systems and artificial intelligence.

All of them were powerful figures in the business world and were the faces of big corporations. They had different nationalities, ages, and genders. People like them normally wouldn’t show their faces except for US hearings. The very fact Hwang Gyeongryong could gather them in one place served as proof of his ability!

There was a reason why he was one of the richest people in the world!

“First of all, I would like to congratulate you, Chairman,” Goldblum, the oldest among them and the CEO of Dragon Motors, said. His hair had turned gray due to age. He was so much older than Hwang Gyeongryong that people could mistake them as father and son.

“Congratulations on the successful Abyss Gate raid. This will be a huge opportunity. In the next twenty years, Dragon Industry will be dominating the world.”

“Thank you,” Hwang Gyeongryong replied with delight. At this age, he liked hearing compliments. The feat was certainly worthy of praise in the first place. This was the first time humanity had cleared an Abyss Gate dungeon, and it was one that many others had failed to raid before, no less.

Dragon Industry led that victory. Honor aside, they also gained enormous benefits from it.

“Do you know who recruited the hunter who led the expedition? Ah. I think he’s trying to brag about that.”

“... The chairman did. He also brought him here. I heard they are old friends.”

“That’s right. That friend of mine has always been immensely capable, but he never seized opportunities. I believe he would do well, given the chance. He returned from the Abyss a lot more powerful, yet he still asked to fight under me. I said that he didn’t have to, but he begged me so desperately that I eventually accepted…”

“As expected!”

The people in the room had different expressions. Some people genuinely admired him, while some seemed to have slight suspicions. They all had respect for Hwang Gyeongryong, but deep down, they harbored different emotions. Some of them completely admired him. Others saw his personality as a bit rough.

“... Where was I? That is why I...”

“Cough. In any case, this is a great opportunity, Chairman. A new city in the Abyss. Let’s talk about building that city.”

Even as they spoke, that city was growing around the expedition teams’ bases. As people gathered materials that could only be found in the Abyss, the hunters tried to kill the monsters that appeared in the area. Meanwhile, some tried to gather information regarding the next location they would explore. All sorts of people wandered through the newly opened Abyss wasteland.

“That’s right! At times like this, talented people are needed. On that note, why is the one who messed up profits last quarter here? Even if you were invited to the dinner, shouldn’t you have chosen to work instead?” Ducoms, the relatively young, nervous-looking Canadian CEO of Dragon Battery, commented.

“We did a good job,” Monali Gupta, the CEO of Dragon Solutions, sneered upon being called out. “Why don’t you shoot yourself in the head for creating that failure of a new battery instead? Chairman, would you like to take this opportunity to create some rules?”

“The results haven’t come out yet! No, it hasn’t even been that long! New products are bound to lose the market share—”

“If hunters and other companies don’t use it, then it’s useless. Should I lend you a pistol?”

The young CEOs fiercely fought with each other. Meanwhile, the older CEOs just amicably chatted and offered each other drinks, regardless of whether they really felt that way or not.

“I’m looking forward to the new car model. I can’t believe it has four built-in artifacts.”

“Haha. I’m also looking forward to the new drug. I have been touching cars all my life, but for an elderly person like me, I couldn’t be happier to have a new drug...”

Hwang Gyeongryong sighed deeply as he watched the CEOs enter their own little worlds and become increasingly more disorganized. One of the reasons he picked them was that they could express their opinions even in front of him, but...

‘Their arguments are a bit...’

Because of how they behaved, he couldn’t tell them what he needed to tell them.

“By the way, Chairman...”

Hwang Gyeongryong was delighted when Goldblum spoke to him.

“Now, now! CEO Goldblum is about to speak! Let’s stop fighting and listen!”

“I heard that Dragon Artifact has a new CEO. Hunter Choi Yeonseung, was it? Not only is he the co-CEO, but he is also actively participating in development and management...”

Hwang Gyeongryong was satisfied. Goldblum had brought up the topic he wanted to talk about.

“Yes. You heard right.”

“......”

“......”

“......”

Silence engulfed the dinner. All the CEOs present showed mixed emotions, none of which were good.

“He’s the A-grade hunter who raided the Abyss Gate. Do you all have any idea how expensive and rare A-grade hunters are? That man could have gone independent, but our friendship moved him.”

“I’m really glad that your friendship with that A-grade hunter has made him work with the company instead of setting up an independent clan. However, Chairman...”

“I’ve never seen a hunter do well in management...”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

If Hwang Gyeongryong had said, ‘Everyone should take a few percent of the sales from your respective companies so that the A-grade hunter can waste his time in casinos,’ the CEOs would’ve understood and just thought, ‘Hmm, I don’t like this, but it can’t be helped. He’s an A-grade hunter, after all.’

Getting an A-grade hunter with that amount of money was already a bargain. However, letting an A-grade hunter join the management of a company was an entirely different story.

“Chairman, we don’t just develop ordinary artifacts over at Dragon Artifact. It also develops special artifacts that other companies need. It is hard to entrust a hunter to be the CEO of such an important place...”

“If Dragon Artifact stumbles, the other companies will be affected as well.”

“CEO Nguyen Bao didn’t do anything wrong, so why are you doing this?”

The CEOs spoke nonstop. Hwang Gyeongryong flinched. They were so good at talking that he couldn’t beat them with words.

‘Why isn’t that jerk here?’

Choi Yeonseung should come here and have some conversations with the CEOs, trying to persuade them that he wasn’t like other hunters...

“He will be here soon, so see for yourself and think about it.”

“He’s not here yet? Chairman, he is a hunter. It’s rare for people like him to succeed in management.”

“I succeeded.”

“Chairman, you are an exception. Hunters usually find it difficult. If he does things with a sense of superiority, there will be problems.”

“I’m not denying the value of an A-grade hunter. We can compensate him in other ways.”

“Wasn’t there a famous incident recently? An investment company set up by a B+ grade hunter made a big mistake with a Ponzi scheme and got away with it.”

“Half of the hunters take drugs on their days off and the other half take drugs on their work days. How can they work properly in management?”

“It isn’t that bad! He’s diligent, and he’s just like me!”

“...... ”

“? ”

The CEOs were a bit taken aback. They were similar, but he was diligent?

‘What does he mean? Is he serious or not?’

‘Messy relations can pose problems with management.’

“... Why is everyone rolling their eyes?” Hwang Gyeongryong’s voice sank.

Everyone quickly replied, “No reason.”

“There seems to be a misunderstanding.”

They had upright and straightforward personalities, but even they weren’t rude enough to talk about Hwang Gyeongryong’s sad marriages.

“He isn’t the debauched man that you are imagining. So just meet him, talk to him, and think about it.”

“What does Hunter Choi Yeonseung want? If his goal isn’t to have fun, then what is it?”

“What is his purpose?”

“Yes.”

“Uh... World peace, I suppose.”

“......”

“......”

The CEOs had a hunch. They didn’t know what type of person Hunter Choi Yeonseung was, but Hwang Gyeongryong was a seriously eccentric man.

‘This is serious. He could be crazier than I initially thought.’