Chapter 105

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 105: Times Square (2)

When he returned home, he met Chairman Kim.

“We’ve concluded talks with Dorim. We’re going to acquire some production factories, and as for the rest… How about investing in the Magic Stone battery sector, Father?”

“Magic Stone batteries? It’s indeed a necessary field as you say, but… can we compete with the United States?”

“Of course, it’s not like we’re starting from scratch. Since we’ve decided to take over Dorim’s share.”

“Hmm… What about the price?”

“We’ll need to go through the practicalities, but still, we won’t be taken for a ride.”

Chairman Kim tapped the table thoughtfully.

“Is it because of a shortage of cash?”

“No. Items are selling like hotcakes these days. We can afford it… But, what if we succeed in research? Can we handle the pressure from the Americans?”

It’s true, as Chairman Kim said, that even Ilsung alone couldn’t develop it. The pressure from the United States would be significant.

But…

If there’s the Money Talks Guild, the story changes a bit. They might not have much influence in the United States right now, but what about later?

“There’s no reason we can’t do it. Battery development isn’t something that happens overnight. We have plenty of time to prepare.”

“Well… I heard Chairman Cho poured money into it for ten years. Although he couldn’t beat the American batteries…”

“Once we develop it, we can enter the market. We’ll become a good cash cow for Ilsung.”

Chairman Kim nodded.

His son was right.

If they succeed in development, the demand will overflow.

From Magic Stone vehicles to smartphones and energy storage systems, submarines, various electronic products, and artificial satellites.

They can sweep them all.

Even if that doesn’t happen, being able to use it in Ilsung products alone is a significant advantage.

Consumers naturally prefer products with longer-lasting, faster-charging, and more durable batteries.

Currently, that’s not possible, so they were attaching American batteries to Ilsung phones.

And that costs a significant amount per unit.

‘I’m sure there’s something behind Minwoo bringing that.’

Dorim’s battery department.

It wasn’t just about the value of the deal. So Chairman Kim must have seen something in it.

But even then, there were plenty of valuable departments in Dorim. Why bring the battery division?

In the past, he might have just seen it as the behavior of an immature troublemaker.

But now, it was different.

Given everything he had shown.

Chairman Kim already had great trust in his eldest son.

He saw something.

Even if not, he felt something, and the likelihood of seizing that was high.

“Yes. Let’s give it a try.”

How long can we continue to be dragged around by the United States?

Moreover, Ilsung has EX-rank Awakener and SSS-rank Awakeners behind it.

By the time they actually develop the batteries, Ilsung might have grown to the point where even the United States won’t be able to stop it easily.

“Alright. Let’s acquire it.”

“You won’t regret it.”

“Alright. By the way, about the advertisement? Did you agree to it?”

“Yes. They both accepted.”

“Hehe. The price was a bit steep.”

Minwoo nodded his head.

Advertising for 500 billion per person.

It’s likely only top-tier among the world’s rankers could command such a fee.

Perhaps Chairman Kim was betting on the future rather than the present.

‘Not a bad deal.’

Perhap friendships can bloom between guilds during these back-and-forths in advertising?

If guild members are gradually associated with Ilsung in this manner, when they rise to fame later, Ilsung could be the first to extend a hand.

“I saw it on TV. Guild members are truly impressive.”

“Because they’re SSS-rank.”

“Do we need to worry about overseas scouts?”

“Well, not right away.”

“Alright. I trust you’ll handle it well.”

They decided to shoot the advertisement the next day.

It’s better to handle the trivial matters quickly and focus on leveling up.

After leaving the study, he met Hyungseok.

“Hey, little brother.”

“Hey, hyung. You killed it in the game today.”

“Yeah, thanks for the compliment. Anyway, I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor? What is it?”

“You have to go back in about a week, right? Can you go back a bit earlier?”

“Go back to the US first? Why?”

“Because of the skill book.”

“B-rank already? Already?”

Hyungseok asked with wide eyes. The level limit for B-rank skill books was 251.

That meant Kim Minwoo’s level was already close to that.

To reach that level in just three months after awakening. He knew he was doing well, but this was beyond imagination.

“Yeah. I’ve been going to the auction house whenever I can, but the supply is limited. It’s not nearly enough.”

Korea, being a small awakening country, fundamentally lacked high-ranking awakeners.

Naturally, there’s also a shortage of high-rank skill book listings.

But it’s different in the US.

The strongest awakening country.

There are many awakeners of B-rank or higher.

Just by collecting skill books in the US, with luck, it’s possible to achieve a B-rank 9th level enhancement.

“You want me to go and bid for you?”

“Yeah. This isn’t a small amount. If I entrust it to someone unknown, they might just close their eyes and run off.”

“That’s true.”

He nodded in agreement.

A B-rank 9th level enhancement.

It’s clearly a significant sum of money.

Even if it’s entrusted with billions, it’s still unsettling. A sum in the billions?

It wouldn’t be surprising if someone just took the money and vanished. That’s why he came to his younger brother Hyungseok.

He’s the perfect proxy.

As someone inheriting the company, there’s no way he would run off with the money.

“And on top of that, they’re family.”

“If you can’t trust him, who else in the world can you trust?”

Coincidentally, the place to return to is also the United States, right?

It’s beautiful to go there first, keep collecting skill books, and hand them over. It’ll be a waste of time to wait for listings while doing nothing.

“Sounds good. Just need to get it up to 9th level?”

“Yeah. I’ve already got it up to 4th level. Here.”

“Wow. If you learn this Dullahan summon, how much stronger will you be?”

“Probably a lot stronger. Oh, and while you’re at it, could you also collect some elemental items?”

“Elemental items? Oh, you said that bird eats items, right?”

“Yeah. I’ll deposit some money, so buy as many as you can afford.”

With the investment executed, it’s time to raise Whitey’s attributes.

In the United States, where there are many high-ranking awakeners, there should be quite a few decent elemental items.

“Got it. If it’s for this, I’ll go first. But are you going to the US yourself? No, I’ll just buy everything, and I’ll visit Korea once more.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. Time is money for someone like you. I’m just a college student who needs to make time.”

“Alright, thanks.”

Thanks to him, acquiring the skill books should be easy.

The next morning, they headed to the advertising set.

They had heard about the concept vaguely.

“Awakener performance, right?”

The concept was about performing using skills late at night.

But the extras…

“Half are human, and half are skeletons.”

It was something like that.

Well, it didn’t seem like there would be much of a problem with censorship.

It’s not like Necromancers have been on mainstream television only once or twice.

Even if they’re a niche profession, they’ve been shown on TV a lot.

The same goes for the Western side.

It might be a problem if something like maggots crawling or ghouls showed up, but skeletons were fine.

In fact, even if zombies or ghouls showed up, it would be a bit uncomfortable while eating.

From that perspective, it was almost a rule to mosaic out such offensive undead.

There should be some cute aspect like a cute taste of skeletons.

‘They’ll even be wearing clothes.’

They heard that the concept was to dress skeletons like real people in everyday clothes and have them shake their phones like participating audience members at a concert.

‘I wonder if it’ll work?’

For now, it was fresh.

There had to be a company that attempted to advertise by summoning Necromancer’s summons.

Usually, they choose successful and good-looking awakeners for neat advertisements.

That method might not lead to a big success, but it won’t result in a big failure either.

On the other hand, this method?

It’s so fresh that it’s either a big success or a big failure.

Suddenly, he remembered what Chairman Kim said a few months ago.

—Once you become famous, even if you poop, people will clap for you.

It was something like that.

‘I guess it could really go either way.’

His NewTube subscribers had been steadily increasing.

Since yesterday’s guild battle, he had reached a peak.

He surpassed 70 million subscribers.

Most of the comments were eagerly looking for Cedric and Merhen. By the way, they’re also going to be the main characters in the advertisement.

They arrived at the stadium not long after.

It’s a more modest venue than the Sangam Awakener Stadium.

Filling a place like Sangam with skeletons was out of the question. Instead, they rented a suitable stadium. Seo Yerim and Park Siwoo were already waiting inside. They were seen reading the given script continuously.

‘Seo Yerim will do fine on her own.’

She’s a fairly famous awakener.

She’s done a few advertisements before.

The problem is Park Siwoo.

‘Well, he doesn’t have many lines anyway.’

The performance content was simple. It’s not like dancing or singing. They just need to fill the stage as spectacularly as possible with their skills.

Then, they just need to shout “This is Ilsung” while holding up their phones.

“Mr. Kim Minwoo! Have you come?”

The director came out as the first assistant and greeted them. He’s a famous director in Korea known for his high fees.

“My summons and I are doing our first ad, so please be gentle.”

“Oh my! Of course! Everyone has a first time! I understand completely. Haha. We can try dozens, no, hundreds of retakes, so don’t worry too much.”

…Hundreds of retakes?

Well, surely it won’t take that many.

He summoned the skeletons.

“Go put on some clothes.”

While thousands of skeletons were busy moving around, Cedric also put on his outfit.

It was a stern suit.

Merhen remained in her dress costume.

Then, the skeletons received a brief education.

There was nothing difficult about it.

All they had to do was shake their phones at the same speed as the person next to them.

“Alright, let’s start shooting! Mr. Minwoo! Stick the skeletons next to the audience!”

That way, half of the people and half of the skeletons filled the stands amicably.

“Then, let’s start shooting!”

Following that, the shooting began as planned. It was a dark night.

Bright lights exploded on stage. The first to appear was the appearance of Dolsae. Park Siwoo was sitting on the giant bone golem’s shoulders.

Then, he ran towards the empty space and summoned the holy sword. A pure white sword was left in the air as it swung down.

Along with the sword swing, the Ilsung logo appeared brightly.

In response, people cheered, and the skeletons began shaking their Ilsung phones like fluorescent lights.

Flawless movements.

This time, it was Seo Yerim’s turn.

Summoning the divine bow, she unleashed a rapid barrage of arrows into the sky.

As hundreds of arrows flew into the air, they formed a gigantic figure.

It was the appearance of the Ilsung Phone.

Through the screen of the phone drawn by the arrows, a massive dragon appeared.

It was the magic that Merhen had unveiled this time.

Awakeners related to pyrokinetics are an essential presence in advertisements like this. It’s easier to shoot in situations like these.

The same applied to shooting on the ground. Even from the ground, the skeletons and spectators were frantically filming the two undead riding the dragon in the air with their phones.

When Merhen and Cedric descended, Park Siwoo was the first to speak, holding up his phone.

“Ilsung.”

Seo Yerim raised her phone.

“Ilsung.”

This time, Cedric raised his phone.

—Ilsung.

With a smile, Kim Minwoo raised his phone and said, “My pleasure, Ilsung.”

Then,

“Cut! Excellent, absolutely wonderful!”

“Is it over?”

“It was very, very perfect! It would be great to take just one more shot for comparison, wouldn’t it? Just take a break for 2 minutes and reshoot once. How about that?”

“…Okay.”

“As expected, you’re so refreshing! Great! Just one more time!”

A brief break.

Park Siwoo approached with a cheerful face.

“It’s my first time doing an advertisement, and it doesn’t seem too difficult. Will this be over soon?”

“Will it really be that easy?”

“What? Why? The director seemed very happy.”

“Let me show you something.”

Kim Minwoo pointed to where the director was sitting. Near the director, there were dozens of top-rank mana potions stacked up.

“What… is that?”

“Isn’t that the mana we’ll need today?”

Park Siwoo’s face turned pale at his words.

Indeed.

He should’ve kept his mouth shut.

The hellish night of overnight shooting continued.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]