Retire 275

275 Coin (2)

What Woo Irok planned to do with money that couldn’t be traced didn’t really matter.

Well, it did matter, but it wasn’t a priority. I was certain that if anyone tried to take his money, he wouldn’t just sit back and let it happen.

At worst…

“Irok is just too cute.”

“…Why are you telling me that?”

“Did you know he asked me what kind of birthday present girls would like? I think he’s planning to give one to a girlfriend.”

“Again, why are you saying that to me?”

“Come on, isn’t he just adorable?”

“……”

Kim Chae-min grinned at my sour expression. Well, as long as someone’s happy, that’s good enough….

After laughing to his heart’s content, Kim Chae-min asked,

“Did you ever go through a phase like that, Mr. Woo?”

“Me?”

“Yes. Wondering whether your girlfriend would like a black bear plushie or a white one more.”

“I did not.”

“No way. I bet you were popular… Oh! Or were you one of those types?”

“Huh?”

Kim Chae-min gave a sly smile. He was starting to remind me more and more of Hong Seok-young.

This is why a boss’s personality shapes the whole workplace. No matter how good the benefits, if your boss is a jerk, no one wants to work there.

“You kids could never handle the darkness inside me!”

“……”

“Haha, just kidding. When I was a kid, there was a guy like that.”

“You sure it wasn’t you, Mr. Kim?”

“……”

“Just kidding.”

I sighed.

“Anyway. Let’s get started.”

“Is there really anything to start?”

Unlike when he was teasing me, Kim Chae-min’s face turned indifferent. Still, when the countdown appeared on the screen, his eyes sparkled.

“Oh, it’s starting!”

The numbers hit zero, and the screen brightened. A flashing stage, a crowd gathering. A man who looked like the host stood on stage.

It was Dayeon’s annual new product launch.

“……”

“……”

Ten minutes from now, all these perfunctory company introductions would be forgotten. It had just begun, and I was already wondering if I really had to sit through all this.

Dayeon was one of the world’s leading conglomerates. Their products made with processed mana were impressive, but that alone couldn’t have brought them to this scale.

Naturally, most of the presentation time was spent introducing Dayeon’s flagship products. Neither Kim Chae-min nor I cared much about those.

“The mana-powered products always come at the end anyway. Let’s just watch the edited version later.”

I was suggesting we stop now and get on with our own work, but Kim Chae-min shook his head.

“You have to watch this stuff live!”

“Really?”

Clutching his phone tightly, Kim Chae-min said,

“The runes were pre-released, and it’s already causing a stir.”

“That was the rune. This is—”

“Yeah, the mana pen!”

That’s right. What we were waiting for was the mana pen.

There had been debate over whether to reveal the mana shield rune or the mana pen first….

But once we learned about the Prophets, we decided it didn’t really matter and chose to release them back-to-back. The rune through Daseon, the mana pen through Dayeon.

“There were rumors that something would be revealed at this Dayeon launch that could change the entire paradigm of dungeon raiding.”

“…Is that so?”

“Anyway, this is our chance to really make a name for ourselves. We have to do everything we can.”

I wasn’t sure this kind of attention-grabbing was what he meant by “everything.”

Originally, the mana pen was going to be released under Guild Mimi’s name. That hadn’t changed. With Hong Seok-young and Kim Chae-min involved, I figured just tossing it out there would be enough to stir up a frenzy among them.

Just look at the mana shield rune. Once people remembered only mages could draw runes, the uproar in the mage community died down.

But who would have thought that, in less than a week, a way to draw runes without a mage would be announced?

That’s when Hong Seok-young came up with a plan.

‘We’ll probably get a lot of flak from the mages.’

‘Of course.’

‘So we should use Dayeon as a shield.’

‘Pardon?’

‘Let’s share the blame. If it was just me, fine, but now there’s you, and the students, too. Plus, we have to protect Dr. Gamble.’

Hong Seok-young had more to protect now.

‘Dayeon was already getting criticized by the academic circles, so a little more won’t hurt them.’

‘…Is that really how you calculate it?’

‘Do you think the mages will boycott Daseon? Is that even possible?’

There’s a reason big corporations are big.

One of Dayeon’s main products, potions, are the best in the world. Any mage who values their life won’t boycott—they’ll be scrambling to stock up while they can.

‘And Dayeon’s lawyers are top-notch.’

And there were undeniable practical reasons, too.

“Still, Hunter Lee was against it right up to the end, wasn’t she?”

Kim Chae-min mentioned Imi-seon, who kept asking if this was really okay. I smiled wryly at that.

It’s not that I don’t understand Imi-seon. Unlike us, who were wary because of Association politics, she was genuinely worried about me. I doubt it was for the sake of the Association or Hong Seok-young’s protégé, Woo Hee-jae, but out of concern for the person who saved her nephew’s life.

So I didn’t want to say anything bad about Imi-seon.

“Hunter Lee doesn’t know, does she? That no one in the Ark recognizes my face.”

Since the mana pen was coming out under Guild Mimi’s name, there was no way to avoid my name getting out. How many people are even in Guild Mimi right now?

Even if not, anyone who knows Hong Seok-young’s students would know me.

But there’s a difference between being introduced in a relatively private setting and having my name listed as the vice guild master of Guild Mimi.

That’s what Imi-seon was getting at. Hong Seok-young, that man who’s always so quick with the unnecessary things, slapped a title onto my name before I could even protest.

It doesn’t matter much to Hong Seok-young or Kim Chae-min, but it’s a little different for me. I did feel a bit sorry for Imi-seon, who firmly believed I was a poor soul who’d escaped from the Ark.

“Oh! I didn’t bring it up to make you feel gloomy.”

“No, it’s fine. There’s nothing to be done about Hunter Lee’s concerns.”

“That’s the spirit!”

Kim Chae-min deliberately brightened his tone. I did feel bad, but I still had no intention of telling Imi-seon the truth.

What can’t be helped, can’t be helped. You have to move on and forget quickly.

“From today on, I’m not leaving Yangseong High anymore. It’s a relief this whole place is private property…. With no other buildings nearby, we can see anyone coming.”

He was trying to cheer me up, so I couldn’t just sit there.

I chimed in with Kim Chae-min’s words.

“And besides, there’s your magic, Mr. Kim.”

“They’re more likely to stay away because of Mr. Hong. He doesn’t cut journalists any slack.”

“He’s even less forgiving because they’re journalists.”

My father never liked journalists. Hong Seok-young was probably no different.

Anyway, we passed the time with idle chatter. Watching the latest electronics was boring for both of us. Well, for me, anyway—Kim Chae-min did get more interested as it went on.

The product launch finally ended.

The stage lights changed. I crossed my arms and stared at the screen.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to separate these announcements? The fields are completely different. Announcing electronics and this together is a bit much.”

It was a tradition that had lasted even twenty years in the future. I’d never really watched one myself.

Usually, the mana-powered products that came at the end were reported to the Authority separately, or my father would bring home a prototype and I’d find out that way.

“They used to do them separately.”

When I grumbled, Kim Chae-min shrugged and explained.

“But you know how Dayeon’s really big in the potion business? They’ve done a lot of improvements. Potions only became available to civilians after Dayeon got into the business.”

“……”

“…You know that, right?”

“I do. I do.”

Kim Chae-min didn’t seem convinced, but he kept explaining.

“At first… I think it was some kind of campaign. After the launch, they’d donate a certain amount to children’s hospitals. Somehow, it became a tradition, and now they use it to promote potions, too.”

While he was talking, the host on stage changed. To my surprise, it was a familiar face—one of the hunters who always followed Imi-seon around.

“So now, even if it’s not potions, any product civilians can use comes at the end. Like medical equipment using potions or mana stones.”

“I get the point, but isn’t the mana pen a little different?”

“But today they’re announcing how the mana pen works, right?”

Kim Chae-min said it like it was nothing.

“Hunter Lee said Dayeon made a deluxe version of the mana pen. I bet the one you use is an early model.”

“Dayeon’s a business—they’re not going to work for free. I can’t argue with that.”

It was their development in the first place. I just snatched it up before they could. How many years ahead of schedule was that? Roughly that, I suppose.

“The mana pen prototype will probably be in the ads after this.”

“They really split it up like that?”

“They want to show it’s for the public good, not just to sell products.”

“Then they shouldn’t have made the mana pen at all.”

“Well, you can’t risk trying to use it in the dungeon every time and ending up in trouble.”

Kim Chae-min laughed brightly.

Meanwhile, the presentation moved along, step by step.

And finally—

Dayeon’s logo and Guild Mimi’s name appeared together.

I couldn’t help but sigh.

“How many people are watching this at once? Seeing it like this, it’s a bit…”

“Be proud of your guild’s name.”

Anyway, the host we knew explained the mana pen smoothly. He didn’t skip any of the important details.

Developed in Guild Mimi’s Pharos Lab. Released to the public for free to increase the survival rate of dungeon-raiding hunters, with Dayeon’s support.

“…What are the mages saying?”

I glanced at Kim Chae-min, who was grinning at his phone.

He smiled and held it out to me.

[What the hell is Dayeon doing?]
[Should’ve known from the moment Daseon announced the rune]
[Those bastards]

“…Isn’t there any moderation for swearing here?”

“Mages have filthy mouths—no one bothers. Is there anything to moderate?”

“……”

“Here, look at this. Noah Michel posted, too.”

Kim Chae-min tapped on a post and showed it to me.

When the rune was first revealed, it was met with praise; when the mana shield rune came out, things were quiet.

And as for the mana pen…

[A new era has begun]

Not a single word about what Noah Michel himself thought of this new era—just that, and nothing more.