Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Drawn by some unseen force, Kang Jin-hyuk grasped the handle of the bat tightly.

‘So this is the detection effect.’

Not only could it detect enemies, but it also automatically defended against attacks.

Thanks to the baseball bat blocking the orc’s assault, Kang Jin-hyuk felt a sense of ease.

Without hesitation, he swung the bat at the orc retreating before him.

“Grrr!!”

The orc let out a roar as it crumpled to the ground after being struck in the shins.

Lee Jun-cheol, seeing the orc’s leg twisted like a broken joint, gaped in astonishment.

“You broke an orc’s bone in a single hit?”

The bones of an orc were tougher than titanium alloys and thicker than an adult male’s thighs, making them exceptionally resilient against ordinary strength.

Breaking them in one strike was something only A-ranked hunters could achieve.

“I thought you were a rookie…”

Kang Jin-hyuk was equally shocked.

The enchanted durability ‘S’ of the baseball bat was far greater than he had anticipated.

It was beyond simply being sturdy; it could deliver this level of impact.

“Ha!!”

Gaining confidence, Kang Jin-hyuk brought the bat down on the orc’s head, which was still sitting on the ground.

With a satisfying crack, the orc’s head spun 360 degrees.

With the skull and cervical vertebrae shattered, even an orc could scarcely cling to life.

As the orc lay dead on the ground, Kang Jin-hyuk witnessed a multitude of messages announcing his level-up.

His level surged from 15 to 27, but he had no time to rejoice.

“Uargh!!”

An orc, witnessing its comrade’s death, rolled its eyes and charged at him.

This time, Kang Jin-hyuk remained completely unperturbed.

After gaining the confidence to win, the orc’s attacks looked merely threatening and surprisingly slow.

As long as he responded calmly, he realized he could dodge easily.

“Grah!”

The orc yelled fiercely, swinging its club, but it only sliced through the air.

Kang Jin-hyuk, bending slightly forward, seized the moment to target the orc’s side.

“Eat this!”

The orc hastily tried to swing its club to block, but its movements were too sluggish to keep up with Kang Jin-hyuk.

With its hefty body lumbering slow, it was already too late.

Kang Jin-hyuk’s baseball bat struck, breaking through the orc’s flesh and shattering its ribs completely.

“Grah!!”

The orc let out a screech that resembled a pig’s death cry as it collapsed.

While the orc was momentarily dazed by the pain, Kang Jin-hyuk swung the bat towards its temples.

As the orc fell, unable to scream anymore, it breathed its last with a shattered head.

Kang Jin-hyuk checked the flood of level-up messages again and fully realized the battle had ended.

“Did I really… take down two orcs? Seriously?”

Even as he looked at the orc corpses sprawled across the parking lot, he could hardly feel the reality of it.

Just a day ago, he was a D-ranked hunter who could barely hunt goblins.

Now he had single-handedly dealt with a task that required four or more B-ranked hunters, making it hard for him to believe.

“Wow!!”

“That was insane!”

The subordinates of Lee Jun-cheol, who had been hastily fleeing, erupted in cheers.

Admiring the swift handling of the orcs, they weren’t alone in their awe.

Lee Jun-cheol felt as if he’d discovered a precious gem that no one had noted before.

“I had no idea such talent existed among the unknown hunters…”

Thought he believed he was well-acquainted with the faces of recognized hunters, he had judged Kang Jin-hyuk to be a rookie without realizing the truth of his skills.

However, he quickly became aware of his own misconception.

“Impressive skills indeed.”

Lee Jun-cheol approached Kang Jin-hyuk, clapping his hands.

“As a reward for saving my life, I’ll buy all these goblin corpses for 600 each.”

“Is that really true?”

“Yes, I have no intention of lying to my benefactor.”

Jo Hyung-il, hearing Lee Jun-cheol’s words, began to suspect the sun might rise in the west tomorrow.

With 600,000 won for purchasing these corpses, the profits for their organization would be nearly zero.

It was the first time he had seen Lee Jun-cheol offer such a proposal, a man who lived solely for profit.

‘He must have some ulterior motive or scheme…’

As predicted, Lee Jun-cheol soon made his proposal known to Kang Jin-hyuk.

“However, we would like you to sell us the orc corpses as well.”

“The orcs?”

Kang Jin-hyuk fell into contemplation.

Unlike goblins, the orcs had been hunted outside the labyrinth.

There was no problem revealing the hunting grounds, so there was no reason to sell them to these men.

Not getting an immediate answer from Kang Jin-hyuk, Lee Jun-cheol sensed he needed to entice him further.

After a moment of thought, Lee Jun-cheol spoke again.

“If you hand over the orcs, we’ll provide an additional 10% on every sale you make to us in the future.”

“Are you saying you would give 10% extra on the price suggested by the association?”

“Of course.”

Even buying at a higher price, selling monster corpses would be sufficiently profitable.

Lee Jun-cheol was willing to take a slight loss to maintain continued transactions with Kang Jin-hyuk.

If they could regularly trade, they would ensure continuous monster supplies and expand their market share.

“Make it 5% extra.”

Kang Jin-hyuk stretched out his hand, displaying all his fingers in an attempt to negotiate.

Though 5% wasn’t a small amount, Lee Jun-cheol nodded without hesitation.

He had just witnessed the ‘power’ Kang Jin-hyuk possessed.

“Alright. Let’s settle for 15%.”

Lee Jun-cheol stepped forward and offered a handshake.

“Looking forward to working with you moving forward.”

* * *

After the trade was finalized, Kang Jin-hyuk’s circumstances took a complete turn.

Yesterday, he was worrying about rent.

Now, his bank account was overflowing with over 200 million won.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“600 for each goblin means a total of 9 million. With the orcs added in…”

Confirming the amount was accurate, Kang Jin-hyuk clenched his fist and reveled in the exhilarating feeling of success.

“All this time, the big guilds have hoarded all this money, huh?”

The more he thought about it, the more he scorned those bastards.

Everyone knew money was essential for survival, but greediness to that extent was simply immoral.

How much profit did they need to survive without even yielding small monsters?

Just looking at the articles that had hit the internet today revealed the ongoing injustices.

Commenters on articles praising the big guilds were filled with grievances and anger from low-ranking hunters robbed of their hunting rights.

“Just you wait.”

By hunting orcs, he had already surpassed level 30.

With sufficient funds now, Kang Jin-hyuk decided to prepare some good equipment and challenge the dungeon.

“Those items from the dwarf looked good…”

While dwarven gear was the best in quality, purchasing it wasn’t that simple.

The currency here was unlikely to carry any value to dwarves, so he needed to offer something else as trade.

“…Should I haul in a bunch of aluminum cans?”

If dwarves treasured aluminum as orihalcum, it could serve as bargaining material.

After all, the goblins had drunk all the beer left in the attic, so on his way to restock on drinks, he decided to stop at the mart.

Kang Jin-hyuk filled his bag with beer and soju and headed straight to the forge.

As he approached, following the familiar path, he saw the dwarf swinging a hammer against the anvil loudly.

Even on a hot summer day, the dwarf did not break a sweat as he worked.

After a considerable time hammering, the dwarf picked up a glowing ingot with tongs and plunged it into quenching water.

When steam shot up and the loud hissing sound resonated, Kang Jin-hyuk made eye contact with the dwarf.

“What’s up? When did you arrive?”

“I just got here.”

“What’s with that bag? What are you carrying?”

Just as Kang Jin-hyuk anticipated, the dwarf took an interest in the bag holding drinks.

“Care for a drink?”

Kang Jin-hyuk pulled out a beer can and handed it to the dwarf.

The dwarf’s eyes went wide open as he grasped the can.

“What’s this? Isn’t this orihalcum too?!”

“There’s alcohol in it too.”

“You’re saying you made the goblet out of orihalcum? This must be the chalice of the gods!”

What seemed like a common aluminum can outside was considered a luxury that neither priests nor emperors had dared to dream of in the dwarf’s world.

Kang Jin-hyuk was convinced the dwarf would no longer consider him to be an ordinary person.

Bringing such items in large quantities surely meant he must be a hero or something.

“Go ahead, take a sip.”

As Kang Jin-hyuk opened the can and handed it back, the dwarf gulped it down and immediately coughed it out.

“Damn! Who poured urine in this?!”

“Urine?!”

“Yeah! I’ve never had something so disgusting in my life! What the hell is this?”

“It’s beer.”

“…Beer? You call this alcohol?”

“Yep.”

“What kind of humans call this alcohol?!”

The dwarf’s face twisted in disbelief at the bland and tasteless drink.

He found humans drinking such an insipid drink pitiful.

“Could that green bottle be of the same kind?”

“This is called soju, and it’s a bit different.”

“Let me see. I need to understand what you grasp in your life.”

Snatching the soju bottle from Kang Jin-hyuk, the dwarf unscrewed the cap and inhaled the aroma.

“Damn it! No fruit scent, just raw alcohol!”

Just from smelling it, the dwarf could predict the taste, but he had to try it for himself.

Hoping for even a hint of fruitiness, the dwarf took a swig of the soju bottle.

Unlike the beer, the dwarf took a few more sips and released a short sigh as he expressed his thoughts.

“The taste is trash, but I suspect adding something might improve it.”

“Adding something? Like what?”

“Just a second. Something just came to mind.”

The dwarf pondered for a moment, then returned with a large wooden barrel and poured all the soju into it.

He then promptly turned to Kang Jin-hyuk and said, “Go mine some mithril for me.”

Mithril was a mysterious metal that naturally contained mana.

The dwarf was convinced that combining mithril’s mana with his skills would greatly enhance the drink’s flavor.

“Haha! Who knows, maybe we can create flavors like never seen before!”

Thanks to the alcohol Kang Jin-hyuk brought, the dwarf’s smithing spirit had suddenly reignited.

“What are you standing around for? Hurry up and go mine some mithril!”

“Do you even know where I can mine it?”

“Below here, there’s a cave with mithril clearly visible!”

As the dwarf continued speaking, he grabbed the pickaxe hanging by the wall and handed it to Kang Jin-hyuk.

“I’ll even make some equipment for you as you provide the mithril, so don’t take issue with me.”

“If you can do that, sure…”

Since he had been intending to ask the dwarf for equipment, Kang Jin-hyuk readily accepted the conditions.