Ch.244244. Labor Shortage

The farm developed day by day.

Starting from the outer walls like a fortress, the interior began to take shape as well. Kim Sol-i worked so diligently that changes were visible each morning when one woke up.

“Isn’t it tiring?”

“It’s fun! Construction SSS+ is totally overpowered. But I’m starting to run low on bratrium.”

“I’ve been mining some, but we’ll need to find more help.”

Although I had sent some Black Monkeys to the Ore Vein Mountains, they were far from sufficient to supply the amount of bratrium needed.

I couldn’t send more of them to the mountains since they were needed for the ongoing farming operations.

As a temporary measure, I could send some to make up for the labor shortage, but ultimately, I needed to increase the workforce.

Initially, I had planned to enslave anyone I encountered, but the Gold Birds I met in the Ore Vein Mountains were too delicious a resource to subjugate, so I was busy capturing and melting them down.

Perhaps I should go to another biome to find a race suitable for slavery.

But that would take time.

Even if I wanted to go to any biome and say “you’re my slave now,” it wouldn’t be worth it unless they could meet the conditions for mining bratrium in the Ore Vein Mountains. And even slaves with guaranteed performance would be easy to kill but likely require various event quests to subjugate.

So I decided to use a different method.

“Why not bring some people from Earth?”

Farm employees had to be carefully selected.

By my standards, I only intended to accept people who would stay with me for life, which is why I was so carefully recruiting a small elite group one by one.

There were also limitations on the number of trips between Earth and the farm, so bringing in too many people at once would be inefficient.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t bring Earth people to the farm at all.

This wasn’t something I needed to avoid completely.

At first, I was reluctant to bring just anyone because the farm could be damaged by outsiders from Earth.

Now that the farm’s outer walls were complete, as long as I could control access and prevent them from entering the farm itself, bringing people from Earth could be allowed if necessary.

Especially for simple labor like mining in the Ore Vein Mountains, hunters were invaluable resources.

They understand instructions, are easy to control, and have good strength.

“How many should I bring?”

The bratrium mine was enormous.

Just the largest mine where the Gold Birds had been would take a year of continuous digging to exhaust.

“Maybe around 200-300 people.”

Using many people isn’t an issue.

I have more than enough money rotting away, certainly enough to hire hunters.

But the problem is the means to bring so many people and where they’ll sleep and eat once they’re here.

“That many?”

Of course, that wasn’t something I needed to worry about personally.

When I called Kim Su-jeong to discuss it, she called Kim Sol-i as well, and we had a three-way meeting.

“You’re not planning to have them sleep inside the farm, right?”

Kim Sol-i coldly brought up the topic.

Kim Su-jeong looked at me with a slightly troubled expression.

“Having them sleep inside would be a bit…”

It seemed Kim Su-jeong shared Kim Sol-i’s thoughts.

“But they’re coming to work for us. Isn’t it a bit harsh to treat them like animals?”

“No, I was thinking of building lodgings outside.”

“But outside is problematic too. To accommodate that many people, we’d need to build something like a shantytown.”

Seeing how they coldly prioritized the farm first, I felt I had chosen my employees well.

This was precisely why I had called these two.

Sure, I could just pay them a lot of money and tell them to sleep outside somehow, but that would be extremely inefficient.

Whether slaves or not, if you’re using manpower, you need to provide a minimum level of treatment.

Be it money, food, or a place to sleep.

Without rewards after repetitive labor, especially for hunters who have the better option of running dungeons, there would be no reason to toil away in a mine.

Of course, there might be ways to trick them into coming to the farm and then enslaving them with a “what can they do about it” attitude…

But why take the difficult path when I could use mere paper money from Earth to create hardworking laborers? If that’s the case, it would be better to tame monsters from other biomes with better physical abilities, even if communication is difficult.

So I needed to ensure they had proper places to sleep and eat.

But not inside the farm. Not around the farm either.

There was only one answer.

“Can you build a small village in the mountains? Something like log cabins or a place where many can sleep. We’ll need a large dining hall too.”

“That’s not difficult. How big should it be? Like a Naru tribe village?”

“That would make the village too big. Make it so people can be packed in like container boxes. About four people per house. We’ll run two shifts anyway.”

“Okay, got it.”

We’ll build a village in the Ore Vein Mountains.

Building there wouldn’t be a problem appearance-wise.

Travel between there and the farm could be done using teleportation portals.

In reality, the workers wouldn’t need to go back and forth to the farm.

After arriving once and being transported to the Ore Vein Mountains, they could be settled in the village for long-term labor with room and board for a month or two, then sent back when their contract ends.

“Su-jeong, find some cooks and people to supply ingredients. We’ll run a 24-hour cafeteria with Korean, Chinese, and Western food options in a buffet style.”

“I think we’ll need to hire quite a few people.”

“Hire many. We have plenty of money anyway.”

“Then I’ll set the daily wages roughly?”

The project to activate the mine began.

———————–

People were found quickly.

– Did you see Farming Company is recruiting people?

– The one hiring 500 people? They’re recruiting mine workers.

– Why a mine suddenly? Are there mines in Korea?

– It’s apparently a mine in Farming Company’s private farm. Room and board provided, but once you enter, you can’t leave for 90 days. 12-hour shifts, two shifts per day. One day off per week. It’s practically slavery.

– The daily wage is 100 million won? That’s 9 billion won after 90 days.

– Wow, they must be flooded with applicants.

– Yeah, but the conditions are tough. First requirement is B-rank or higher physical strength hunters, and there are three rounds of interviews.

– Hmm… at that rate, is it worth it for B-rank hunters to go in for 3 months?

– Of course! 9 billion won doesn’t just come from digging in the ground. And it’s a verified company, so the chance of it being a scam is low.

– It’s insane. 9 billion x 500 people is 4.5 trillion won… What are they mining? That must mean they can make that much profit?

Just posting the job announcement would have made it famous due to the ridiculous daily wage, but they even posted it on YouTube, resulting in over 5,000 applicants for just 500 positions.

Some people said “only that many?” but considering the requirement of B-rank or higher strength and stamina hunters, it was actually a huge number of hunters who applied.

And those who went for interviews all said the same thing:

– It’s actually a sweet deal… 12 hours of work and 12 hours of free time. Performance-based system, so if you don’t meet your daily quota, you don’t get paid. If you exceed it, your quota for the next day decreases. If you exceed your weekly quota by one day’s worth, you get an extra day off. You can’t choose your day off, and you can eat whatever you want at the 24-hour cafeteria. Sometimes you can eat Correction Cassé, and when you leave, you’ll get Farming Sugar and other Farming specialty products. During rest time, besides sleeping, there’s a bathhouse and a lounge where you can watch TV, play games, and do pretty much anything. I saw the rest area being built, and while it’s like a village in the mountains, it’s really charming inside. Like a modern village inside a dungeon? If I get accepted, I’m really going to work hard!

– But the contract terms are a bit strict… No leaving the village. No safety guarantee if you leave. No responsibility for accidents resulting from failure to follow Farming Company’s safety instructions. Penalties for causing damage to Farming Company’s assets. The wording is all quite severe. Of course, you shouldn’t do those things anyway… but being confined for 90 days is a bit worrying. So people who can’t handle that shouldn’t apply. I want to get in!

This kind of job is unprecedented.

While there are many jobs for hunters to collect resources from dungeons, this high-paying temporary job that requires working for such a long time without being able to leave would have received no applications if not for the reputation of Farming Company. It felt almost like going to sell your organs.

But because it was such a trusted company, all applicants were selected after about a week of rapid recruitment.

– They even hired chefs with five-star hotel experience for Korean, Western, Chinese, and Japanese cuisine to run the 24-hour cafeteria. Planning to feast while earning 9 billion won! I’m going in first~!

Five hundred people gathered at Farming Department Store, along with an additional 50 staff to run the cafeteria.