Infinite Evolution Hunter [NOVEL] - chapter 32
“Hey, Manager Park, why are you saying you can only pay this price?” President Yang pointed at the ogre hide on the purchasing officer’s desk.
“Sir, I told you last time, didn’t I? Look, there’s a scratch here. Of course the price drops.”
The man called Manager Park pointed at a tiny scratch you’d need a magnifying glass to see.
“Once it’s processed, blemishes like this don’t matter, do they?”
“I don’t know about that. It says in the contract that damaged pieces are half price. If you don’t like it, go somewhere else. Why waste my time?”
Manager Park turned his body away behind the desk.
“So you’re saying other suppliers deliver hides without even this level of marks? Let me see one.”
“Why would you look at someone else’s goods?”
“You’re openly squeezing us.”
“I said if you don’t like it, leave. I’m powerless here.”
Watching quietly, I could see he was brazenly throwing his weight around.
“Sir, let’s go.”
I took the president’s arm as his face reddened from arguing with the purchasing officer.
“But we need to sell this to get cash flow…”
“It’s fine.”
I calmed him down and led him outside.
“Is it just that guy doing this?”
“No. I contacted higher-ups above him, and it seems orders came down from the top to pressure a few collection firms. They even seem to have colluded with others, so we couldn’t start new accounts anywhere.”
If it were just that officer trying to extort money, I would’ve leaned on him, but this wasn’t that kind of situation.
“What do we do… the warehouse is already full. I think we’ll start missing payroll soon.”
His face went grim.
“If they won’t buy our goods, we’ll use them ourselves.”
“Sorry?”
“You know Jae-in, the maker who works with me? We’ll use the materials we’ve collected to manufacture items ourselves and sell them to hunters.”
“Until that’s up and running, the funds will be tied up.”
“I’ll cover it with my own money for now. And the money you owe me—don’t pay it until the business is on track.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Let’s just try it first.”
Without wasting time, we went to buy a building. A warehouse-type factory had come up not far from my house, so I purchased it.
“Wait, you buy a place this big without even thinking it over? Are you sure about this?”
Watching me buy a multi-billion-won factory like a household item made the president fidgety.
“It’s fine. It’s fine.”
We completed the business registration too. I named the company “Regen,” thinking of my regenerated life. Even then, President Yang’s face couldn’t shake the anxiety.
“Then please call all the staff over here. And move all the stockpiled materials you couldn’t sell over here too.”
“Sigh… alright.”
People and materials came into the empty factory, and I called in Jae-in as well.
“Jae-in, we want to mass-produce items usable by rookie hunters with these materials. If anything’s lacking, I’ll get more. Just say the word.”
“Uh… boss, how am I supposed to craft this much by myself? That’s years of work.”
Seeing the mountain of materials, Jae-in sounded incredulous.
“You’ll supervise and handle only essential processes. We’ll hire people for the rest.”
Artisans usually hate letting others into their workshop—trade secrets and quality control and all that. But if we split tasks strictly, the techniques won’t leak, and since these are not luxury pieces but standard gear, perfection isn’t critical.
“Boss, you have a habit of making impossible things sound easy.”
“I don’t nag deadlines, do I? Just give it a try. Ask for anything you need.”
“Got it.”
He scanned the materials, opened his laptop, and started planning. Leaving him to work, the president and I discussed staffing up.
“We have the most ogre hide, so we’ll make high-demand armor for beginners and intermediates. Please get what’s on this list. We’ll also need about thirty workers.”
About an hour later, he handed over a list of required supplies.
“I’ll start product design and process planning. Sigh. Guess I’m pulling another late one.”
He scratched his head with his pen and checked various parts of the factory.
“Sang-heon, do some market research on where new hunters buy gear and at what prices.”
“Got it.”
A few days later, the requested equipment arrived. Some machines weighed several tons.
“Boss, I’ve drawn a factory floor plan—please move the equipment according to this.”
Following his directions, I hefted the machines and set them in place.
“You’re better than the machinery, boss. This cuts prep time a lot.”
As he said, the factory took shape in just a few hours.
“More or less… ready. Rushing like this must’ve cost a lot, right?”
Everything had been rush-ordered, so the prices were high.
“It’s fine. We’ll earn it back.”
The investment had already sailed past ten billion won; everyone but me was worried. President Yang grew more anxious with every outlay, but starting was what mattered.
Under Jae-in’s direction, the Hwagok collection staff learned to run the machines and craft, and they turned out prototypes.
“At this level, the armor should grade D or E. It’ll stop goblin daggers and arrows, and even the teeth of earth-bred hellhounds.”
I tapped the armor he handed me; I could feel the hardness of the hardened ogre hide.
“Looks good.”
“Here, watch this.”
He slashed the mannequin’s armor with a dagger; it left only a faint mark, no major damage.
“Nice.”
“Uh… hold on. Are we selling it like this?”
Watching beside us, Na-young asked.
“Why?”
Jae-in sounded puzzled.
“Could we tweak the design a bit?”
His version looked very crude—clearly not much thought given to aesthetics.
“I’ll sketch something. Like this… and this… and cleaner colors.”
She sketched quickly. Even I, tone-deaf to design, thought it looked better than Jae-in’s.
“Oh… definitely better. I’ll try making it like this.”
We adjusted design and process to match her concept; the new armor kept the practicality and looked good too. Price and performance sell to most hunters, but nice looks help sales even more.
With the factory mostly set up, we brought in day-laborer Awakeners and F-rank hunters.
“Today you won’t be going into a gate. You’ll handle materials and craft items per Plant Manager Park Jae-in’s instructions.”
The president and Jae-in explained the tasks to the newcomers. The work was safer, less strenuous, and paid the same daily rate, so they started without complaint.
Awakeners are expensive for simple repetitive tasks, but their strong grip, fine control, and stamina made them much more useful than ordinary workers.
The work was productive enough to justify the pay.
Even on day one, we produced dozens of prototypes. We could ramp up output gradually.
“Thank you for coming today, everyone. Anyone want to stay on as a full-time employee?”
After paying the day laborers, I asked. Most looked uninterested and headed for the exit.
“Starting salary at least 70 million won. Full social insurance. Guaranteed vacation.”
Feet froze mid-step.
“Have a seat and hear me out?”
“Ahem…”
Many people reluctantly sat down again, and most converted to full-time.
We also got a list from Section Chief Baek of the Bureau of Awakeners of people who had awakened but wanted normal employment, and we started calling them.
Some had high agility but extremely low strength and stamina—unsuitable for combat or even portering. They were perfect where quick hands were needed. Sitting work meant low stamina was fine, and strength wasn’t critical.
A timid mage who hadn’t finished the academy started as an apprentice under Jae-in.
We found talent and slotted them where they fit.
As a result, my savings visibly shrank.
“I’ll just earn more.”
I ran gates like a madman solo, collecting mana stones and byproducts. We processed only some byproducts and stacked the rest in the warehouse, but mana stones had plenty of buyers. My level rose nicely too.
“This is good enough to sell.”
After QA on the factory output, Jae-in gave the go-ahead.
Since we sourced materials ourselves and produced in-house, even with healthy margins our price was half the market. It showed just how much profit distributors and big manufacturing workshops had been taking.
“Alright—launch sales!”
Sang-heon, in charge of marketing, posted promotions on hunter communities.
Regen’s promo site and photos were made by Na-young. As with the armor design, she had a knack for this.
“But with no sales record, will it sell even if it’s cheap?”
President Yang worried. We’d kept things going for a month with my investment and proceeds from mana stones, but if this failed, that money was gone; he couldn’t help worrying.
As feared, nothing sold at first. When your life’s on the line in a gate, you don’t want to buy a half-price product from an unknown brand. If we waited, a few would try it and word would spread, but the longer we waited, the more cash burned. We needed a move.
“Alright, shoot.”
Wearing the armor, I stood behind the factory. I had an employee who could shoot a bow, and told him to shoot me.
“Boss, really? What if I miss?”
He was understandably nervous.
“I won’t die from an arrow like that. Just shoot.”
With a “to hell with it” look, he loosed the taut bowstring.
Thwack
It should’ve hit the armor, but it came for my head; I snatched it out of the air.
The archer turned pale.
“Again~ a bit lower.”
After that, he kept missing far from me; only after dozens of shots did we finally capture footage of an arrow striking the armor.
As promised, the arrow stuck but didn’t penetrate. If armor could stop that level of arrow, beginner hunters’ survival rates would soar.
We also filmed clips proving durability by stabbing with a dagger. Na-young edited and uploaded the safety-proof videos, and we sold dozens of suits.
A few days later, hunters posted reviews on the community; once word spread, all inventory sold out. Within weeks, production couldn’t keep up, and the waitlist grew.
“Ji-seok… amazing. Really. I didn’t think it would do this well.”
We were still far from recouping the investment, but margins were huge, so it wouldn’t take long. President Yang had to admit it.
“Also, please take fewer field jobs and serve as president here too.”
“Me?”
“I’m always out. Do it alongside Hwagok Collection.”
“I’ve never done anything like this…”
“The salary would be… this much.”
I whispered the number in his ear.
“Mr. Chairman. I’ll give it my all.”