NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9 - Creating Materials
“All we’ve learned is how to easily kill pigs and how to butcher them properly, so it’s too late to talk about getting a job now.
Besides, there aren’t many jobs better than this one.”
As the rogue casually dismissed the idea, the warrior began a lengthy rebuttal.
“There are three of us, and we make almost 20 million won in monthly revenue.
Even after weapon maintenance costs and taxes, we still have over 12 million won left.
Working at a convenience store pays about 2 million a month, so 4 million each is more than enough.”
“That’s true. But people who’ve reached 3-Star probably earn much more, right?”
“Hey. If we keep hunting, we’ll reach 3-Star in no time.
Effort and perseverance! Grinding never betrays a person, that’s what I’m saying!”
The party leader, a warrior, launched into an ear-splitting lecture about perseverance.
In response, the Taoist beside him sighed, saying “here we go again.”
Then he continued:
“But if you think about it, we’re earning this much only because of the quest that suddenly appeared. What if it disappears?”
“We’ve been receiving it daily for a year. Why would it disappear now?”
The quest they were referring to was ‘White Pig Elimination.’
Due to the decreasing number of players, it was directly commissioned by the vigilante corps and served as their source of income.
“If we just kill 100 pigs a day, that’s 3,000 in a month.
Converted to rewards, that’s a whopping 10 million won. We really hit the jackpot.”
The warrior once again began his tedious sermon about white pigs being the ultimate solution.
“Yes, yes. I get it. Let’s go. Kill them quickly so we can rest.”
Finally, the rogue urged the warrior to shut up.
Soon after, they arrived at the entrance of the Pig’s Den and approached the gatekeeper as usual.
“Hello.”
“Oh, you folks are here?”
The Pig’s Den gatekeeper greeted them familiarly.
“We’re here to eliminate white pigs again today.”
“I thought as much.
But unfortunately, we’ve decided to stop giving elimination rewards.”
“What!? Why so suddenly!”
“Recently, some excellent weapons came to our superiors, so we no longer need to entrust foreigners with elimination missions.”
[The quest ‘White Pig Elimination’ has disappeared.]
[You can no longer receive the ‘White Pig Elimination’ quest from the gatekeeper.]
“Noooooooo!!!”
It was the moment when an entire party instantly became unemployed.
If they want to blame someone, they should blame Han-wol.
“By the way, are you folks interested in something called a ‘magic handgun’?
In a way, the disappearance of the elimination mission is all because of this.”
Or buy Han-wol’s weapons.
x x x
Ding!
[The Pig Claw Handgun (Magic) consigned to Seoul Village West Vigilante Corps has been sold.]
[The Pig Claw Handgun (Magic) consigned to Seoul Village West Vigilante Corps has been sold.]
[The Pig Claw Handgun (Magic) consigned to Seoul Village West Vigilante Corps has been sold.]
[Current total sales in Seoul Village West area: 15 gold.]
“Oh. Three sold at once.”
At 5 gold each, he had earned a total of 1.5 million won.
Of course, 10% of that would go to the vigilante corps as commission.
One might think that taking 10% just for selling items on someone’s behalf is a bit much.
After all, if Han-wol made sales of 100 million won, they would take 10 million won.
‘But honestly, 10% is really generous.’
However, from Han-wol’s perspective as someone who had managed a business, there couldn’t be a better sales channel.
It’s like with cabbage.
It’s extremely expensive when bought at a supermarket, but at a farm, you can buy a whole head for just a few hundred won.
‘I originally planned to start with a low offer and gradually negotiate upward.
I didn’t expect them to accept 10% right away.’
He wondered if this was the power of favorability.
‘I must make good use of NPCs.’
In many ways, NPCs were truly excellent entities.
They were also beings that the influence of governments and corporations didn’t easily reach, and relationships were easily gauged by high or low favorability.
In any case, Han-wol felt a small joy that his magic handguns had started to sell.
‘Right now it’s just three, but later it will increase exponentially.
I should gather materials in advance.’
To gather crafting materials, he needed to hunt.
A very rewarding daily routine of leveling up, gathering materials, making money, and conducting research.
That meant hunting the pigs right in front of him.
Han-wol immediately extended his hand and aimed his gun forward.
[The effect of the title ‘Pig Slaughterer’ activates.]
[The white pig in front of you feels indescribable fear.]
“Kwee-eo!?”
The white pig started to flee as soon as it saw Han-wol.
“Damn it, again!”
Han-wol immediately pulled the trigger before the white pig could escape his range.
Bang!
“Kwee-eek!”
The white pig’s sturdy buttocks burst red, splattering flesh on the ground.
But it wasn’t dead yet.
The distance was too far.
The white pig struggled until the end, trying to escape from Han-wol.
Han-wol pulled the trigger once more, not wanting to lose it.
The second bullet lodged deep into the pig’s body, and soon the sounds quieted down.
“What a waste of bullets.”
After firing a few more shots to turn it into a pulp, the corpse disappeared, leaving only materials.
Han-wol quickly collected the materials and moved on.
Morning had passed, and it was now time for lunch.
However, Han-wol hadn’t killed as many as he expected.
A major factor was that the population had drastically decreased because he had killed so many recently.
But there was an even bigger problem…
[The effect of the title ‘Pig Slaughterer’ activates.]
[White pigs feel indescribable fear toward you.]
[White pigs flee with all their might.]
“Oh come on!”
…because monsters would immediately flee as soon as they saw Han-wol.
Of course, he only lost track of fleeing creatures the first time.
However, since he could no longer herd hunt like before, the loss was considerable.
In the time he would have previously killed 1,000 pigs, Han-wol had now only killed 100.
Still, Han-wol hadn’t killed few.
He had killed 100 by himself in the time it would take other parties all day to reach that number, so it was actually a lot.
‘This damn title… let’s just eat.’
But Han-wol’s standards couldn’t possibly be the same as theirs.
To prepare lunch, Han-wol took out a magic stone.
He gripped it tightly and began to mutter inwardly.
‘The main component of wood is cellulose.
It’s a structure where the polymer C6H10O5 is repeatedly linked through glycosidic bonds.
And another component is…’
Han-wol easily recalled content he had read in a book during elementary school.
Then he began to visualize the complex 3D structure of molecules in his mind.
He captured the concretized image in magic power and began to channel it into the magic stone in his hand.
[Using the principle of ‘Material Conversion’ skill to synthesize a new substance.]
The magic stone in Han-wol’s hand flashed brightly.
The magic stone soon lost its form and changed into a pure white mass of light, neither solid nor liquid.
‘Shape: cylinder. Property to imbue: combustion.’
[Creating artificial firewood.]
As Han-wol muttered that inwardly, the white light surrounding the magic stone dispersed with a ping!
From the scattered light emerged a brown cylinder with the color of wood.
It looked like firewood but lacked the texture of wood.
Next, he channeled the remaining magic power containing the code for combustion.
Then, the artificial firewood he created began to burn vigorously.
“Fire preparation complete.”
Han-wol hummed to himself.
And just like before, he again held a magic stone in his hand.
[Using the principle of ‘Material Conversion’ skill to synthesize a new substance.]
‘This time it’s iron. There’s no simpler bond than metallic bonding.’
[Creating artificial iron.]
Han-wol used magic stones to create iron, making scissors, tongs, and a grill for cooking meat.
It was a sight that would shock anyone who saw it.
Even master craftsmen couldn’t perform such techniques.
They only knew how to use materials to create objects, never dreaming of synthesizing the materials themselves.
‘Before the regression, I needed all sorts of equipment to do this, but since players can directly manipulate magic power, it’s a piece of cake.
Ah, I’m hungry.’
Whether Han-wol knew this or not, he only seemed happy at the thought of eating.
After completing all preparations, he took out the most important ingredient.
It was white pig samgyeopsal (pork belly).
Having just been killed, it was still warm.
Han-wol placed the samgyeopsal on the grill without hesitation.
The sizzling sound of meat cooking stimulated all five senses.
Smelling the rich aroma of samgyeopsal, his earlier irritation seemed to subside a bit.
It had been several days since he started eating only samgyeopsal for every meal.
Some might strongly question whether he ever got tired of it.
‘Pork is the kind of meat you don’t easily get tired of, no matter how much you eat.’