Chapter 758: The Path to Becoming a Guild Master (1)

The original ‘Ice Lord’s Snowy Mountain’ B-class dungeon, which I received from Do Yehee, was decided to be stored for the time being on one of the islands owned by the Dokyung Group in Southeast Asia.

It seemed like an uninhabited island would be the best place if I could store the dungeon original. Not only could the gate be stored safely, but even if a monster wave occurred, the damage could be minimized.

Actually, at first, I was overwhelmed thinking about where to store it after taking it. The only land I owned was the former Chuncheon City downtown area, corresponding to Abandoned Village Zone C, and if I installed the dungeon gate original there, it was obvious problems would arise later on.

My plan to create a nationwide guild centered around Chuncheon City itself had a high chance of falling apart, so just then, Do Yehee introduced me to a place to store the dungeon.

“Where will you install the original dungeon gate?”

“……”

“…Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it yet?”

“I thought securing it was the priority. For a while, I’ll install it in a corner of the old abandoned village and move it when I get the chance.”

“…I can already hear the Chuncheon City land prices plummeting. As a businesswoman, that’s an unacceptable story, so I’ll make you a counter-offer.”

With those words came the proposal to install a warp gate on one of the Dokyung Group-owned uninhabited islands that Do Yehee mentioned.

As expected of Dokyung Group, whose main business is construction, they were a family that owned many ownerless islands in various places around the world.

I heard that the very island where Sihee and I went on vacation just last year was originally planned to be used as a tourist destination, not as Dokyung Group’s private villa. Being too far from the mainland, they ended up using it only for private purposes, or so I heard.

They had acquired it, but due to poor business potential, they had many islands they were neglecting, so their offer was to help make one of them available for gate storage.

“If you have the means to move this massive dungeon gate from Tioman Island to South Korea, wouldn’t moving it to an island in Southeast Asia be much better for you than going all the way to Korea? Don’t you think?”

“Distance isn’t really an issue, but if I can store it on one of your uninhabited islands as you say, that would be great for me too.”

“Then I’m relieved. I’m also very interested in the development of the former Chuncheon City area, so I was worried about what might happen if the land prices dropped.”

“Huh?”

Following that statement began Do Yehee’s business plan presentation regarding the redevelopment of Chuncheon City.

Just the night before, we’d been tangled up in bed naked, but from the morning, she presented her business plan with a serious expression that was quite bewildering. Anyway, it seemed to be a very important matter for her.

I didn’t particularly find fault with that and showed appropriate respect. After all, I was quite interested in the proposal she was making.

“The plan is to build a large-scale apartment complex in the abandoned village that was formerly downtown Chuncheon. Ever since the news broke early this year that Chuncheon City’s monster wave had been cleared, the surrounding land prices have been skyrocketing. As a businesswoman, that’s unbearable.”

“That’s true.”

“That’s why I’m making this proposal to you. First, regarding the land for the apartment complex and the projected profit per unit….”

Whether it was housing pre-sale prices or profitability, Do Yehee enthusiastically explained the details to me, but as someone with no background in the construction industry, there was no way I could properly understand it all. All I understood after our long conversation was that Do Yehee wanted to buy some of the land I owned in the abandoned village to build ten apartment buildings, in exchange for letting me use one of the uninhabited islands in Southeast Asia.

“I appreciate the offer of a place to store the warp gate, but even so, trading land for a massive apartment complex for an uninhabited island seems a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

“…You didn’t listen to my business plan, did you?”

“I heard it. That you want to build a ten-building apartment complex on the land in Abandoned Village Zone C. …Except for that part, I couldn’t understand the rest, so I kind of zoned out.”

“I clearly explained! Lending you an island owned by Dokyung Group is simply my favor, and I will definitely purchase the land corresponding to former Chuncheon City at its proper price! All I want is your promise to sell me the land so I can build apartments on it?!”

“Ah, so that’s what you meant…”

Do Yehee realized her 30-minute business plan presentation had been rendered meaningless and flushed with anger.

What could I do? I’m not exactly in the construction business, nor am I a government official here to audit redevelopment projects. She should have just explained it simply from the start.

The offer to lend the uninhabited island was a simple favor, and she reiterated that the land would be purchased after calculating both the official assessed value and the actual transaction price at the time of the deal. The land in Abandoned Village Zone C, which was currently frozen due to a transaction freeze, would be sold if I just promised to sell it when the transaction freeze was lifted.

The uninhabited island she had offered to lend so I could store the dungeon gate was merely a proposal to curry favor with me.

Anyway, since she was willing to pay a fair price for the excessively large plot of land I owned, I had no particular reason to refuse. After all, in the process, I could obtain the dungeon gate storage I needed most right now.

In the end, Dokyung Group received the construction rights to build ten apartment buildings in the former Chuncheon City area and the land purchase rights for the area. It was settled. As this involved a significant amount of money, quite a few contracts were exchanged.

“The transaction freeze in that area will likely be lifted around the end of this year. Once that happens, we’ll proceed with the land transaction according to this contract, and as a bonus, we’ll begin the remodeling of the former Chuncheon City Hall, which you plan to use as your new guild headquarters.”

“Alright, then.”

-Knock, knock, knock.

“Master, the warp gate technician is scheduled to arrive soon. Please get ready.”

“Got it, Seolhwa. Sung Taekyung-ssi and I will get ready quickly and head out.”

Just then, upon hearing that the warp gate technician had arrived, Do Yehee and I prepared to leave. After that, we went out with Do Yehee in front of the dungeon gate to assist the technician installing the warp gate. After confirming the warp gate was installed, connecting the inside and outside of ‘Ice Lord’s Snowy Mountain’, both the dungeon gate and the access warp gate, whose installation was completed, were stored in my spatial pocket.

Even if the access warp gate was small, the dungeon gate was quite large, being a considerably large item, taking up more than half the capacity of my spatial pocket, which had considerable space. However, if it was going to be stored on another nearby island in Southeast Asia anyway, there was no major problem.

“……”

“……”

“……”

As soon as I touched it, the dungeon gate disappeared into my spatial pocket, drawing dumbfounded stares from Yehee and Seolhwa, along with the gate developer’s gaze.

A full week had passed since I heard Do Yehee had found a dungeon and went to Tioman Island.

Using my spatial pocket to swallow the entire dungeon gate whole made the situation a bit awkward, but it was an ability I had to show eventually anyway. I had to show that I had the ability to reliably retrieve dungeon gates so that Do Yehee would continue to introduce profitable dungeons to me in the future.

Thanks to that, during the process of moving to the uninhabited island Do Yehee introduced from Tioman Island, I was able to build a rapport with the female warp gate technician. As she was a warp gate technician, she likely had a special connection to dungeon gates, and probably knew of many more dungeons that were profitable but couldn’t be retrieved due to circumstances. In addition, installing a warp gate and making it usable for the guild was a bonus. It was a reasonably good connection.

Thus, the dungeon gate I obtained that day is currently installed on an island in Southeast Asia. Thanks to my storage method, which effectively changes volume and weight to zero, moving it wasn’t difficult at all.

And the warp gate leading into that dungeon is currently stored in my spatial pocket. With this, the minimum requirements for establishing a guild have somehow been met.

Headquarters, Hunters, and a Dungeon – the three essential elements have all been secured, albeit crudely.

‘For now, I’ve secured the people who will be listed as founding members in name, and secured one dungeon to use as an initial revenue stream. The remodeling of the headquarters building Do Yehee mentioned starts in November this year, so around early next year, it should be officially launched.’

By around December, if I secure one or two more dungeons to round things out, I too will become the guild master of a proper guild. …Of course, before that, there’s still the final paperwork required to establish the guild.

The five letters of recommendation that must be submitted along with the guild approval permit. These aren’t just any letters of recommendation. To establish a Hunter guild in South Korea, all five letters of recommendation must be written by an S-class or higher Hunter.

Since I am an S-class Hunter, I can substitute for one, but the remaining four mean I have no choice but to go around and get them one by one.

‘In the current situation, even if I gather everyone I know, I think three is the limit.’

Where to get the last one I’ll think about that later. For now, I need to secure what I can get my hands on first, one by one.

Eunyoung Noona, Hwayoung Sunbae, and President Seo Ok-hee.

Who to approach first among the three I had already decided in my mind.

…Since I have to get them from all three anyway, it’s better to persuade the most difficult person first.