LIGHTNOVELSTORY chapter 31
31
Minhyuk’s declaration that he would recapture the fortress within two days was not merely a boast.
The entire schedule would be disrupted if they failed to retake it.
In any case, the most urgent task at hand was to establish a campsite.
That way, they could give the soldiers some much-needed rest.
Any location outside the realm of protection was teeming with monsters.
As such, camping in an open field was tantamount to throwing their lives away.
There was a rocky mountain near Fort Tamryn.
Using that as their campsite had been part of the plan ever since before they set out on the expedition.
One side of the rocky mountain summit was a sheer cliff, allowing them to establish a defensive line with a small force.
They would have the soldiers take turns resting there.
“The entire army, follow me!”
Minhyuk led the expeditionary force up the rocky mountain.
Upon reaching the summit, they found themselves face to face with hundreds of beasts the size of oxen.
They were ＜Crimson-furred Hyenas＞.
Unlike the runty ＜Forest Hyenas＞, killing one of these would earn them 30 seconds of return time.
Swoosh-thwack-thwack-thwack-
The soldiers began firing crossbow bolts at the hyenas.
The killing power of the crossbow bolts fired by thousands of men was immense.
The hyenas were turned into pincushions in an instant.
＜Crimson-furred Hyena slain. 30 seconds of return time credited as reward.＞
＜Crimson-furred Hyena slain. 30 seconds of return time credited as reward.＞
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Despite piercing their tough hides, the arrowheads made of astral metal remained undamaged.
The soldiers retrieved the crossbow bolts from the hyena carcasses and reused them.
Whoosh-
Alpha hyenas appeared and breathed fire at the soldiers.
However, the soldiers were wearing ponchos made of lizard leather.
Unfazed by the flames, they fired their crossbows at the beasts.
The alpha hyenas were also slaughtered mercilessly.
＜Crimson-furred Hyena (Boss) slain. 1 minute of return time credited as reward.＞
＜Crimson-furred Hyena (Boss) slain. 1 minute of return time credited as reward.＞
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Minhyuk extracted the magic beads from the bodies of the alpha hyenas.
He used them to charge his magic armor and went on a rampage.
Not long after, the red-maned hyenas were all wiped out.
＜Remaining return time: 20 hours, 35 minutes, 15 seconds＞
The return time that had dwindled while procuring supplies was now fully replenished.
I could finally set foot into the long-awaited Monday, leaving Sunday behind.
Then I realized something I had overlooked.
‘What about my company?’
Normally, I would have had to go to work on Monday.
But now, things were different.
I couldn’t waste the precious return time going to work and assembling machinery.
‘Absolutely not!’
Of course, I had to quit my job.
But it wouldn’t be right to just up and leave a place where I had worked for five years.
‘I have to show my face at least once.’
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On the rocky mountain peak, I deployed the defensive line and put the soldiers on shift.
This place seemed safe, yet it was also dangerous.
There was no escape route because there was a precipice at the back.
So I had to quickly defeat the goblins and retake Tamrin Fortress.
Minhyuk gathered his staff and held a strategy meeting to discuss the goblin subjugation.
Professor Lehman explained the goblins’ habits.
“Goblin ecology is quite unique.”
They had many strange habits, but the most bizarre was their reproductive method.
“They don’t have separate s*xes. However, they only have male genitalia and no uterus.”
Goblins use the wombs of other races to reproduce.
They emit fertilized embryos, not sperm, through their genitals.
Therefore, when they rape human women and impregnate them, the fetus is not a human-goblin hybrid but a pure goblin.
“They capture females of other species and keep them in their lairs to use as reproductive tools. Their primary targets are elves.”
There are no elves inside Asdel Fortress.
However, there were elves living outside the territory of the Guardians.
Elves had a different attitude towards the Cataclysm than humans.
They did not consider it a disaster to be overcome, but a destiny to be lived with.
So they lived outside the territory of the Guardians, mixed with other beasts.
Since most humans had migrated inside the territory of the Guardians, the goblins mainly kidnapped elf women and used them as reproductive tools.
It was a gruesome story that made my face contort just hearing it.
Professor Lehman, who had been observing Minhyuk’s expression, moved on to the main topic.
“I have a way to easily wipe out those goblins!”
Lehman took a wide blade of grass out of his bag.
The princess asked him,
“What’s that?”
“Tobacco leaves. I happened to find them in the forest earlier!”
Information about them popped up in front of Minhyuk’s eyes.
＜Tomari tobacco leaves＞
– Top-quality tobacco leaves with a refreshing yet savory scent.
– Acts as a hallucinogenic drug for certain species.
Raymon continued his explanation.
“They’re ordinary tobacco leaves to humans, but they have a hallucinogenic effect on goblins.”
Goblins enjoyed smoking Tomari tobacco leaves and getting high on the fumes.
However, these tobacco leaves were extremely rare.
“Before the Cataclysm, farmers used to cultivate Tomari tobacco leaves. It’s just a dream now.”
Due to the Cataclysm, land became scarce, and there wasn’t enough farmland even for staple crops like wheat and rice.
Cultivating luxury goods like tobacco had become a thing of the past.
In any case, obtaining a large quantity of Tomari tobacco leaves was even more difficult than gathering Pookari berries.
Raymon handed the tobacco leaves to Minhyuk and said,
“If the commander could increase the quantity of tobacco leaves to around 3,000, it would make things a lot easier. We could burn it and lure the bastards in, then wipe them out.”
Raymon had already figured out Minhyuk’s abilities to some extent.
Not just Raymon, but the princess and General Drake had also noticed.
Anyone who wasn’t an idiot would have noticed, considering how he was able to procure rare drugs and equipment in the blink of an eye.
However, they didn’t know the details.
Minhyuk had never told them about the refrigerator.
They figured that he could ‘increase the quantity of items, but for some reason, not all items could be increased’ or something like that.
“Inventory.”
Poof-
The refrigerator appeared in front of Minhyuk’s eyes.
He put the tobacco leaves in the refrigerator.
“Return.”
Poof-
He was transported to the van’s trunk with a flash of light.
He opened the refrigerator.
‘Huh? What the heck!’
There was something inside that was unfamiliar to ordinary people but very familiar to Minhyuk.
‘This is a proximity sensor!’
Minhyuk had been working in industrial machinery assembly for the past 5 years.
Sensors were one of the most commonly used parts in machine components.
And ＜proximity sensors＞ that detected when an object was approaching were used especially often.
Most of the technology that automatically stopped dangerous equipment when someone approached it utilized proximity sensors.
Minhyuk immediately called someone.
“Team leader Choi Minhyuk? What brings you to call on a Sunday?”
Fortunately, he answered the phone even though it was Sunday.
He was an employee of an agency that supplied sensors to the company Minhyeok worked for.
If you work for an SME for five years, you’re a veteran.
Moreover, the company Minhyeok worked for had less than 20 employees.
If you work long-term at such a small company, you become a multi-talented person.
If the delivery staff is absent, you drive the delivery truck instead,
If the female accounting clerk is absent, you do the paperwork instead,
If the section chief leaves early, you create a parts order form instead and send it to the partner company.
So it wasn’t strange that Minhyeok had the phone number of the parts company agency employee in his cell phone.
“Can you get me some proximity sensors by today? The detection distance is 3㎜ and the type is NPN.”
Minhyeok explained the specifications of the sensor he needed to him.
-How many do you need?
“I need about 3,000.”
-Oh, it’s Sunday, so I can’t get that many ready… Ah, that’s right!
The agency employee remembered something and continued speaking.
-The day before yesterday, President Park called. He asked if he could return the proximity sensors. The sensor specifications were exactly the same as what you just said?
President Park was the president of the company Minhyeok worked for.
“So what did you do?”
-Of course, I told him returns aren’t allowed. It’s not like there was a problem with the product.
The product that Minhyeok needed was at the company.
‘I was going to go there anyway.’
Vroom-
Minhyeok drove his car towards the company.
***
An apartment-type factory in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul.
On the third floor of this building was a small SME that assembled industrial machinery and supplied it to large corporations.
Whew-
President Park let out a sigh as he looked at the large box in the warehouse.
The box was full of sensors the size of fingernails.
They were all dead stock.
He had purchased the parts based on a verbal order from a large corporation contact.
However, the order never came in and all the parts became dead stock.
It was a common occurrence when supplying to large corporations.
They always do that.
Once an order form goes out and preparations begin, they say they absolutely can’t meet the deadline.
So secure the parts in advance, they say.
They say the order will come in 100%.
Don’t you trust me, they say.
‘I’m the idiot for still believing you.’
No matter how much he investigated, the answer would be the same.
They’d say the plan suddenly changed.
You know this floor was originally like that, right?
They say they have it hard too.
Let’s share the pain.
But then they have this year-end party with their own attendance only and enjoy a bonus feast of several hundred percent.
‘I want to give my employees a set of Hanwoo ribs for the Lunar New Year’s Day. Not canned ham!’
That was when it happened.
Ring-ring-ring-
CEO Park’s cell phone rang.
‘What’s up, Team Leader Choi?’
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Minhyuk brought his van near the cargo-only elevator and went up to the factory.
CEO Park was sitting down when he entered the office.
He greeted him with a nod.
“Hello.”
“But what brings you here? It’s not an overtime day.”
“I heard you were going to return the proximity sensors.”
“Who told you that?”
Minhyuk spoke straightforwardly.
“Just give me 3,000 of them.”
“Give you?”
“Sell them to me.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
“I have a use for them. You were going to return them because you don’t need them anyway. Sell them to me.”
“What a strange guy. Did you start a company without me knowing?”
“No, it’s not like that. I really need them.”
After some contemplation, CEO Park nodded.
“Okay, take them.”
The sensors were products of a leading Japanese company.
The company managed the prices of all the components they produced as classified information.
You could only find out the component prices by looking at the catalog they issued to their clients every quarter.
Minhyuk opened the catalog and checked the component price.
“The price for 3,000 of them is 39,900,000 won.”
CEO Park nodded.
Minhyuk placed eight bundles of 10,000 won bills on the desk.
CEO Park looked slightly surprised and then brought a money counting machine from the accounting staff’s desk.
And he picked one bundle and counted it.
There were exactly 100 bills.
“The rest must all be correct as well.”
President Park asked Minhyuk as he handed him 100,000 won in change,
“Do you need anything like a tax invoice?”
“No, that’s okay.”
Minhyuk put the 3,000 sensors in an empty box.
Then he carried it to the freight elevator.
Then he returned to President Park and handed him an envelope.
＜Resignation Letter＞
President Park chuckled to himself as he looked at Minhyuk’s resignation letter.
‘He’s really started his own company.’
He figured that Minhyuk had started his own factory.
It was a common occurrence in this industry.
Once they’re trained up to a certain level, they all try to go independent.
But President Park didn’t say anything else to Minhyuk about it.
He just smiled and said this one thing.
“You’re the first person to submit a resignation letter on a Sunday since our company was founded.”