Level Up Machine

Chapter 106 Catching the Golden Fish (4)

Inside a luxurious restaurant room.

A fat man was trembling nervously, shaking his legs anxiously.

Behind him stood five beautiful women, all with tense expressions.

“That crazy old man… To think he’d come up with such a method.”

He mumbled in a terrified voice. Park Do-hoon’s plan. Just thinking about it made his whole body tremble.

“Master. The Eclipson Guild has arrived.”

“Let them in. And you all, wait outside.”

“Yes.”

After sending the five beautiful women outside, he took a deep breath.

‘I can’t make any mistakes.’

A mistake here could lead to death. Han Jun-man desperately tried to calm his mind. He had ambitions.

He couldn’t afford to lose everything due to one mistake.

– Click.

“Ohhh! It’s been a long time, everyone! Haha. I’m so glad to see both of you!”

Han Jun-man greeted Yeong-sik and Han-seong with a wide smile. Yeong-sik nodded with a silly expression, while Han-seong frowned in displeasure.

“Hahaha. I’m glad to meet you too!”

Yeong-sik extended his hand for a handshake with a bright smile. Han Jun-man sharply looked at him and took his hand.

“But… those people from that time…”

Yeong-sik asked in a subtle voice, watching Han Jun-man’s reaction. Han Jun-man burst into a hearty laugh.

“Haha! You’re still so full of energy. Please wait a moment. We have something to settle before that.”

“Haha. Yes, that’s right.”

Yeong-sik sat down with an awkward smile. Seeing this, Han-seong looked at him incredulously. Despite knowing it was an act, Han-seong couldn’t help but clench his fists at the pitiful sight.

‘I can’t understand what he’s thinking with this act…’

Han-seong thought, unable to understand Yeong-sik’s plan, as he took his seat.

Once everyone was seated, Han Jun-man started to speak.

“The refrigerator and microwave you sent us last time were highly appreciated by our guild master.”

“Th-thank you!”

“You sent us about three of them, right?”

“Yes!”

Yeong-sik nodded enthusiastically.

Han Jun-man’s voice suddenly lowered.

“Mr. Yeong-sik, are you confident that there are no problems with the products you made?”

“What? What do you mean…”

“I heard you use batteries. Batteries are prone to exploding.”

“Ah? If it’s about that, there’s no need to worry. I’ve made quite a few machines so far, and there has never been a single internal defect.”

Yeong-sik spoke with a confident expression.

– Bang!

Suddenly, Han Jun-man raised his hand and slammed it on the table. The previously amicable atmosphere froze instantly.

“Do you really think there are no defects?”

“Yes… that, that’s correct.”

“Hah. This is ridiculous.”

Han Jun-man snorted and glared at Yeong-sik.

Sensing something ominous, Han-seong’s expression hardened. He asked in a low voice.

“What is the matter?”

“You ask what’s the matter?! This is the matter!”

Han Jun-man shouted loudly and extended his hand backward. Click. The door opened, and five women entered carrying a refrigerator.

The refrigerator was not in a normal state. The back of the refrigerator, where the external battery was located, was hideously blown out, as if it had exploded.

“Wait a moment. What is that…”

“Could it be?”

“You shameless bastards! The refrigerator you gave us exploded recently! Because of that, one of my precious slaves died!”

Yeong-sik and Han-seong’s faces were filled with shock. Han Jun-man shouted in a rough voice.

“Bring Emily’s corpse!”

Upon his command, the five women went outside. They came back carrying a coffin with a person inside. Han Jun-man approached and opened the lid of the coffin.

The stench of the corpse filled the room. Inside the coffin lay a hideously charred body, as if it had been caught in an explosion.

“That woman…”

Yeong-sik trembled as he looked at the woman’s corpse. Although it was hard to recognize due to the burnt body, he was sure it was the woman who had sat next to him.

“Why, why is that woman…”

“Why, you ask?! She got caught in the explosion caused by the refrigerator you made, Yeong-sik!”

– Slam!

“That’s bullshit!”

With a rough sound, Han-seong stood up from his seat. He glared at Han Jun-man with blazing eyes.

“You crazy bastards! Did you kill a person to pull off this ridiculous stunt?!”

He shouted in an enraged voice. Han-seong’s fist, which had slammed the table, was flushed red.

Han-seong was responsible for managing the refrigerators Yeong-sik had made with the automatic manufacturing device.

They had produced hundreds of refrigerators over several days, and not a single one had exploded.

But now, the three sample refrigerators they gave had exploded?

And because of that, a person had died?

It was an unbelievable situation.

How likely was it that such a thing could happen?

‘To think they would use such a method!’

Han-seong looked at the woman’s corpse with a distorted expression. He couldn’t have imagined that they would go so far as to kill someone to frame them.

“Ha! Are you trying to accuse us of being fraudsters?! Do you have any evidence to prove otherwise?”

“Well…”

Han-seong’s voice trailed off with a bewildered expression.

Checkmate.

It was a checkmate with no way out. The possibility of an explosion occurring was extremely low.

However, because that ‘extremely low’ possibility existed, they couldn’t do anything. It was impossible to prove that the explosion didn’t happen.

‘Damn it!’

Han-seong looked at Yeong-sik with an anxious expression. Whether it was acting or genuine fear, Yeong-sik also had a pale face as he trembled while looking at the corpse.

‘This is bad.’

If rumors spread that there were casualties due to an explosion, the business Yeong-sik was planning would quickly fall apart. On the other hand, if they did nothing, they couldn’t even imagine the unreasonable conditions the Goldrun Guild might impose.

As he watched Han-seong’s panic, Han Jun-man smiled triumphantly.

“As expected, you have no rebuttal.”

“Mr. Yeong-sik.”

“Y-yes!”

Yeong-sik replied in a tense voice. Han Jun-man glared at him sharply.

“Do you have nothing to say?”

“Well, that is… I’m, I’m sorry.”

“Hm. So you’re admitting the explosion then.”

“But there has never been anything like this before…”

“Are you saying that because it has never happened before, it means it can never happen?”

“Well, that’s not quite…”

Yeong-sik stuttered, unable to speak properly. Watching him, Han Jun-man continued in a low voice.

“It may sound strange, but despite this incident, we want to make a contract with you, Mr. Yeong-sik.”

“What?”

“From my perspective, having lost a cherished slave, I want to cause trouble for your guild right away, but our guild master has a different opinion.”

He leaned toward Yeong-sik, speaking in a growling voice.

“You should consider yourself very lucky to have such abilities. Otherwise, your guild would have disappeared without a trace.”

“Hi-hik! I-I’m sorry!”

Yeong-sik trembled with a terrified expression.

“But we can’t contract the products that caused such an incident under the same conditions as before.”

“So, what then…”

“The ratio is 90 to 10. Surely you know where the 90 goes, don’t you?”

“This is outrageous!”

Yeong-sik and Han-seong looked at Han Jun-man with incredulous expressions. A 90 to 10 ratio? Wasn’t this outright robbery?

Such a ratio made it impossible to even recover the principal. It meant they would have to manufacture at a loss.

“Oh, we’ll sell you the necessary materials cheaply. You won’t incur any losses.”

He wasn’t offering to provide the materials; he was offering to sell them. Han-seong’s face reddened, ready to explode at Han Jun-man’s shamelessness.

“And one more thing.”

“What more could there be…”

“Every item made by Mr. Yeong-sik will be sold under the Goldrun name.”

– Slam! Crack!

“You crazy bastard!”

Han-seong finally couldn’t hold back and exploded. The luxurious wooden table was shattered under his fist.

Even as a healer class, he was an 80-level summoner. His basic physical specs were on a different level compared to ordinary people.

“This is no different from saying you want to swallow our guild whole!”

Han-seong shouted with an enraged expression. The idea of all items made by Yeong-sik being sold under the ‘Goldrun’ name. The meaning was simple. It meant to completely block any increase in Yeong-sik’s influence on the continent.

The name attached to the product was a brand in itself. Even looking at the history of Earth, it wasn’t hard to realize the immense value of a ‘brand.’

“Are you refusing to sign the contract? If so… be prepared for the consequences.”

Han-seong swallowed hard. Despite the blatant threat, he couldn’t utter any rebuttal. His eyes flashed sharply.

‘At this point…’

Han-seong thought he would have to attack the Goldrun Guild’s Elnote branch with the help of the guild members. He couldn’t think of any other way than solving it with force.

‘It’s okay. We have the guild master, Mr. Yeong-sik, Ms. Yu-na, and Mr. Yoo Jin.’

The current power of the Salvator Guild was enough to easily sweep through most of the six major guilds. Except for the critical weakness of being low in numbers, each guild member was exceptionally strong.

There was no way a mere merchant guild like Goldrun could have the strength to stop them.

‘But if it comes to that…’

All of Yeong-sik’s plans would be ruined. His identity could also be revealed during the battle.

Han-seong looked at Yeong-sik with a frustrated expression.

“All right. We’ll sign the contract.”

“Mr. Yeong-sik!”

“Hahaha. A wise decision. Here is the contract.”

Yeong-sik took the contract with a hardened expression. It specified the amount for which the refrigerators and microwaves had to be supplied.

As he reviewed the contract, Yeong-sik’s eyes momentarily flashed sharply.

“Now, please sign the contract quickly.”

Han Jun-man urged Yeong-sik. With a trembling expression, Yeong-sik signed the contract.

A thick smile spread across Han Jun-man’s face.