Chapter 13

While Namjoong was busy duplicating money, Ju Hoyeon, the guild master of Hoyeon—one of the four major guilds—was having a conversation with his secretary.

“What? The Association recruited Midas?”

“It wasn’t a recruitment. They said it was a contract under equal terms.”

“Then, does that mean we’re out of the item supply deal?”

“No, not at all. It’s not an exclusive contract, so we can still make a separate deal.”

That was a relief.

Because it meant there was still a way to procure items at a lower cost.

While it wasn’t as comprehensive as the Association, which provided benefits to every awakened individual entering the tower, the guilds also offered support.

For example, they’d pre-contract with people climbing mid- to high-level towers and provide them with decent weapons beforehand. Or support essential items needed to climb higher through intermediary arrangements with the Association.

But even that had its limits.

The number of people entering the tower was limited, and among them, those who could pass items to others were even fewer.

“That guy knows how to do business.”

There was clearly a method to tie him down through the Association or a guild contract.

And Kang Seokgu probably proposed exactly that at first.

It would’ve been an easy way to keep leverage over the guild.

But the fact that he rejected that and went independent meant that he was very aware of his own value.

“We need to act quickly. Even if it’s not an exclusive contract, he’s not going to sign deals left and right. He’s human too.”

“Yes, understood.”

No matter how ridiculously capable he was, Midas was still human. Maybe he could handle one or two contracts, but the more deals piled up, the more work it would create—and he wouldn’t want that.

No point in earning a fortune if you don’t have time to spend it.

“Haa… Kim Yooyeon… we really need to extract her somehow.”

She was an awakened that Hoyeon had heavily backed—or more accurately, had backed.

She had extraordinary talent even before awakening, and her awakened ability was top-tier.

The amount of money invested in her alone exceeded 100 billion won.

But she still hadn’t come out of the tower.

Because of her obsessive perfectionism.

“Miss Kim Yooyeon says she can’t clear the 94th floor without Kirginus’ horn!”
“She has the stats to clear it without it!”
“She says she doesn’t want to risk dying at the very end.”
“What the hell kind of crap is that? Do you know how much Kirginus’ horn costs?”

It had been five whole years since the then-17-year-old entered the high-level tower.

For the first four years, she steadily climbed and was considered fast.

She was overly cautious and made high item demands, but she always cleared with an A-rank or higher, so the return on investment wasn’t bad.

Once she cleared the tower, she’d emerge as a brand new S-rank hunter.

But things started going sideways after she entered the 95th floor.

She didn’t even attempt to climb the tower for an entire year.

Saying she doesn’t want to die, seriously?

Wanting to avoid a fatal mishap on the 95th floor was understandable.

But stalling for an entire year was a huge loss from the guild’s perspective.

They were losing out on countless sponsorships, TV programs, gate events, and revenue opportunities.

But they couldn’t pressure her to climb the tower.

Yes, she had approached the guild herself and insisted on challenging the tower, but if they were seen as pushing a parentless high school girl into the tower? The media would scream human rights abuse—just like it had four years ago.

And if they pressured her now?

The guild’s image would be ruined instantly.

Feels like I’m her damn dad or something.

He was in his late 30s, plenty old enough to be a father, but he’d never even thought about marriage due to work.

Still, for the past five years, Ju Hoyeon had felt every bit like a dad.

More accurately, it was like he’d missed his child’s cute years because of work, and now she was in puberty—demanding, moody, and full of sass.

Well, at least we can finally support her properly now.

Until now, the only way to support guild-contracted awakeners was through the Association.

It would’ve been easy to just hand a few hundred million won to an awakener and pass along the gear, but the law didn’t allow that.

You had to pay the Association, get matched with an awakener to deliver the item, pay them a few hundred million with guild money, and pay a 10% fee on top of the item cost.

Even then, Association-affiliated personnel were prioritized, so by the time they got around to non-Affiliates, the remaining few spots led to fierce bidding wars—reaching astronomical sums.

The support rights from those auctions often cost upwards of 10 billion won.

And there were plenty of times when you couldn’t even win with a 10 billion bid.

But now, that expense was no longer necessary.

Thanks to Midas, they could provide nearly unlimited support.

“Then proceed with the Midas contract ASAP, and try to make contact with V too. If the Association sent a helicopter for him, there must be some kind of connection.”

“Yes, sir.”

Until now, South Korea had felt too small for him.

For a small country, having five S-ranks was impressive—but nothing compared to China or the U.S.

Even Japan had seven S-ranks, more than Korea.

But now, the tables had turned.

With the appearance of a new S-rank, V, Japan only had one more than Korea—and with Midas in the picture, the whole world was scrambling to get to him.

Ju Hoyeon had never been so grateful that Midas was Korean.

“If we can sign Midas and recruit V…”

Then the guild would be a world-class force with Kim Yooyeon, Ju Hoyeon, and V—all S-rank hunters.

Ju Hoyeon smiled with gleaming hope.

* * *

“Damn, look at all this money.”

My system window now showed a massive 50,000 points.

Equivalent to 500 million won.

That’s all money—cold, hard money.

At first, it didn’t feel real since they were just points. But now that I had a contract to cash it out, it hit differently.

“Why work a job? Why trade crypto? Why invest in stocks? When just selling ramen prints money!”

With 500 million won, you could buy 83,000 cups of ramen, 12.5 Hyundai Grandeurs, and… well, not quite a Seoul apartment.

Still, not bad. It’s not like I worked hard for it.

I earned it with ramen, beer, and some Korean beef.

Investment? Maybe 300,000 won total?

That’s nearly a 1,666x return.

What was NVIDIA’s 10-year ROI again? Like 170x?

Why wait 10 years when ramen gives me 1,666x instantly?

“Time to upload some new goods.”

I came here not just to check points but to post more items.

I’d bought a tablet on the way back from meeting the Association president. A brand-new 2TB Pro.

And yes, I made sure it came preloaded with the latest videos.

“They even sell tablets preloaded with videos now?”

Convenient and nice.

It didn’t feel quite like using a brand-new device, but it was way better than downloading videos one by one.

Sure, it cost me an extra 300,000 won.

Back in the day, I’d have nervously downloaded everything myself, but not anymore.

One cup of ramen earns me 5 million won now. That time’s better spent selling ramen.

Ah… so this is why rich people don’t pinch pennies. You can buy time with money.

“Alright, uploaded. Tablet done.”

I had my own rules for selling stuff.

Never upload the same item repeatedly. Keep the catalog varied.

Simple reason: supply and demand.

Keep flooding the same thing and it loses rarity—price drops.

Here’s an example:

[Sell item: PlayStation x1 – list for auction?]

Another buy from the electronics store.

If someone loves videos, someone else loves games.

And games don’t care about language—people all over the world enjoy them.

So demand was guaranteed.

Starting bid… 10,000 points—so, 100 million won.

I considered selling a magic power generator, but most awakeners learn how to make one before entering the tower, so I scrapped that.

“And next is…”

[Sell item: Baskin Robbins 31 Ice Cream x1 – list for auction?]

Can’t forget food.

Out of clothing, shelter, and food—the most essential is food.

And food also gives the highest profit margins.

I stocked up earlier while eating dessert with Lee Woojae.

Stored it in a Styrofoam box with dry ice, but once it melts, it tastes like crap—so I’ll set a 1-hour time limit.

“That should do for now.”

I wasn’t in urgent need of money.

I already had plenty of cash.

Bought a penthouse already. With the current 500 million won, I could eat like royalty for years.

Supercar? No driver’s license. Never planned to get one.

“Still gotta save up.”

Having money is never a bad thing.

Besides, I need tower points to climb and get stronger.

Earn money, gather points, and later buy gear—that’s the plan.

Slowly stack those points.

“Another fulfilling day of work.”

Ungh… maybe I slept too long. My body was stiff, so I stretched.

Wonder how much I’ll make from these new listings?

Well, I’ll just wait and see.

I was about to head out when—

–Ding.

A notification rang.

Probably another buyer trying to make a request.

I ignored it.

Those kinds of requests were pouring in by the truckload.

Even fulfilling just a few would break me.

But then—

–Ding.
–Ding.
–Ding.
–Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding.
–Ding.

“What the hell?”

I had system alerts turned off, so messages shouldn’t be coming in like this.

Which meant they were paying to send them.

Each message was being sent with 1 point.

And sure enough, when I checked, the buyer was spamming my private messages.

Normal buyers don’t trigger notifications unless they attach a point.

[Mister Midas.]
[Mister Midas.]
[Sir.]
[Sir.]
[Sir.]
[Mister, please answer me.]
[I even bought the ice cream, please.]
[Oh, you saw it.]

“What’s this? Who is this person?”

The nickname was Kim Yooyeon.

Huh? That name sounded familiar.

Wait, she already bought the ice cream?

I checked—and sure enough, while the auction hadn’t ended yet, there was a bid for 5,000 points under the name Kim Yooyeon.

I mean, who the hell would spend 50 million won on an 8,000 won ice cream…?

She basically bought it.

“Well, might as well reply.”

It’s not like I have anything else to do right now.

And definitely not because I was annoyed at being called ajusshi (old man).

[What is it?]
[Please… help me.]
[With what?]
[Anything. I’ll do anything. Just help me.]

What’s this?

A new… VIP customer?