The Hero Returns

It was about what Su-hyeun had expected. He asked in a calm voice, "What kind of business?"

At Su-hyeun's question, Geneva smiled back, as if he liked that reaction. He seemed like he had already forgotten the business about his sword. Geneva, instead, thought Su-hyeun's calm reaction was more trustworthy.

"It's simple," Geneva said. "Could you be a model for my work?"

"Are you asking me to use your equipment?"

"Yes, that's right. I'll be your sponsor, and you'll work as a brand model," he said as he looked at the wooden box and the sword that he had brought. "I'm embarrassed to tell you myself, but there are tons of awakeners who want to use my work. My ordinary swords cost millions of dollars, and well-made equipment costs tens of millions of dollars."

"That's good."

"Good? It's more than good. Some items, the ones I did my best on, have been traded for hundreds of millions of dollars, even billions of dollars. Is this just a good thing?" Geneva asked, and Su-hyeun shook his head.

Admittedly, it could be considered more than just good. Geneva was an individual, not a corporation. His work wasn't manufactured en mass in a factory but made just from his hands. He was an unreplaceable workforce. But still, he made a lot more money than most companies. That was why Geneva could become a global billionaire.

"But recently, the upward movement in my items' price had been greatly reduced. In the past half-year, the prices have been dropping little by little, rather than rising."

"Because you've made enough. There's more supply than demand."

"That is right. So, some experts told me to get a nice advertisement model. Someone like Gordon or yourself."

Kim Su-hyeun's name had become so famous in the past couple of years. Everyone knew about him. People in the cities who were saved by Su-hyeun already called him a hero. Geneva needed that title, the world's best awakener.

"The sword and armor used by the world's best awakener. The best equipment for the best hero. That will keep my items being sold at a premium."

"Sure, that would work," Su-hyeun said, still indifferent.

But Geneva didn't care about Su-hyeun's attitude. He thought he would change his tune soon.

Geneva went on, "I promise you to give my best items and 0.5 percent of sales for the cost of promoting my items."

If Bak Yun-gyu were here, his jaw would have dropped in shock. Geneva was offering his best items free of charge and 0.5 percent of the sales. Since Geneva earned about a trillion dollars a year, it was certainly an exceptional offer. But…

"If you don't have anything more to say, I will leave now. I'm sorry, but I'm not interested."

"What?"

When Su-hyeun tried to get up from his seat, Geneva was surprised and got up as well.

"Fine. I will give you 0.6 percent. No, 0.7. I can't offer any higher than that—"

"It's not about money." Su-hyeun shook his head.

Geneva looked at Su-hyeun's face, and he knew. Su-hyeun wasn't refusing his offer to increase the price.

"Then what the hell is it about?"

"Can I tell you honestly? It might hurt your feelings."

"That's okay. Just tell me."

"First. I don't want to board a sinking ship."

Geneva frowned at the word, "sinking ship." He became curious, rather than feeling bad. He thought Su-hyeun was talking absurdly.

"Are you saying I'm going to sink soon?" Geneva asked.

"Yes."

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. Are you saying that dungeons or awakeners will disappear in a day?"

"You didn't hear my second reason."

"…?"

"Mr. Geneva. You are too confident. You are very sure that there will never be anyone better than you, just like the frog in the well," Su-hyeun said and sat back down on his chair. It seemed like the conversation would continue. He went on, "Do you know Gordon Rohan?"

Geneva nodded. "Of course, I know him."

"The world's best awakener and the best businessman. The symbol of great success and a billionaire because of the Ether stone business. People have been praising him for years."

"So?"

"Mr. Gordon always dreamed of becoming the best, and he has been trying to be the best. To prove he was the best and to meet stronger people than him, he even held the Ranking Wars."

It was a famous story. The world's best awakener, Gordon, had held the Ranking Wars to find an awakener stronger than himself. And he had met Su-hyeun there.

"He was afraid that he was trapped in a well. He thought he might be the best only in that well, so he held the Ranking Wars to see the world outside of the well."

"Why are you telling me this now?" Geneva's tone became aggressive.

Su-hyeun shook his head and got up from his seat again. "Well, if you can't grasp what I'm trying to say, I guess there's nothing more I can tell you. I will go now."

Gnashing—

When Su-hyeun was about to leave the cafe, he heard the sound of grinding teeth. If Geneva didn't feel diffident toward Su-hyeun, he would have smashed the table already. He was very upset, and it seemed like he was barely holding it together at the moment.

<<He's very different from Mr. Gordon,>> Su-hyeun thought.

Gordon and Geneva had a lot in common. Both were at the top of their fields. They pursued a higher place and couldn't bear to settle for second best. But the difference between the two was obvious.

Gordon didn't care about people judging him. He wanted to consider himself the best, not be considered as such by others. Also, he wanted to see the bigger world to prove himself. But Geneva was different. He thought he was already the best in the world. And he was sure that no one would ever be better than himself.

<<It wasn't a bad offer, but…>> Su-hyeun had no choice but to turn down Geneva's offer. <<I already have Mr. Dae-ho.>>

Act 4

Contracts, estate closings, and move-in were completed with a great speed. Su-hyeun paid a premium and bought the workshop through the realtor. It was a spacious workshop located not far from the house in Nonhyeon-dong.

Sizzle, whoosh—

Clang, clang—!

Su-hyeun heard a familiar hammering sound. He knocked on the door of the workshop. Soon, Hak-joon and Thomas came to meet Su-hyeun.

"Hey, you came?"

"Yay! Su-hyeun is here!"

It looked like they had arrived with Kim Dae-ho. Kim Dae-ho had promised to make equipment for both of them. That was why they were here.

"Where's Mr. Dae-ho?"

"He's super focusing now. He's not moving at all."

"Oh, yea?"

Su-hyeun went into the house and went down the stairs right next to the door. Suddenly, the hammering sound stopped, and the loud voice of Kim Dae-ho came drifting up the stairs.

"Hey, come down. What are you doing there?"

His voice sounded quite bright. Su-hyeun thought that was he glad and quickened his pace. In the workshop filled with hot air, Kim Dae-ho was sitting on a small chair.

"Welcome to my workshop."

"You seem happier than I expected."

"Is that so?"

"How's your workshop? Do you like it?" Su-hyeun asked, looking around Kim Dae-ho's new workshop.

It was pretty similar to his old workshop. The difference between the two was this place was cleaner than the old one in Yangpyeong. Of course, it was a bit smaller, but Kim Dae-ho didn't seem to care about that.

"It's all right. I can control the heat inside well. The light comes in well, too, though the warehouse is a bit small."

"But you don't plan to store your equipment much anymore, do you?"

"Yea, you're right."

Kim Dae-ho wiped the sweat running from his forehead with a towel. He stretched his bent back and guided Su-hyeun.

"Follow me. It's hot in here. Let's get a cold drink and talk."

"I saw a cafe nearby."

"Cafe? What for? Just follow me, man."

Kim Dae-ho took Su-hyeun, Hak-joon, and Thomas to the chair that he had put in the yard. He poured frozen coffee into paper cups and handed it out to them.

"Sweet coffee is the best, isn't it?" Kim Dae-ho asked, gulping the iced coffee at once. He emptied the cup quickly since he was so hot. "God. It's so good."

"You have a lot of things to sell, right?" Su-hyeun asked.

"Sure do."

"I'll take the things to the appraiser and get them guaranteed, but it'll probably be hard to get a reasonable price from the start."

In general, there were two channels where equipment used by awakeners was sold. The first was trading through auction houses. The second was through brokerage firms. The difference between the two was whether the price of the equipment was fixed or not.

But there was also something in common. It was a matter of reliability. They confirmed who made the item, and if it was a guaranteed item, they also checked who guaranteed it.

"I asked the best appraiser in the business to check out. But still, you won't get paid as much as Geneva or other famous blacksmiths yet."

"That's not a problem for me. I just want my babies to find the right owners."

"It is important." Su-hyeun shook his head. "The price in the marketplace is the same as the value of the product. If your item is traded for a bargain, people will think it's only worth that much."

"Are you saying my babies will be ignored?"

"Yes. You don't want that, do you?"

"No, of course not."

"Also, I'm sure you don't want a price bubble."

"I'd rather go back to the mountain than do dirty business," Kim Dae-ho said firmly.

"I know you would."

Su-hyeun grinned at his answer. He really liked Kim Dae-ho.

<<If his work begins to sell in the market, that will increase the power of awakeners in general,>> he thought.

All of Kim Dae-ho's equipment was of excellent quality. The stuff that he treated as failures were still very rare items that would be called a masterpiece in the market. Weak awakeners, C or D-Rank, would raid dungeons much easier if they used Kim Dae-ho's equipment to do it. And that would lead to an increase in the power of the awakeners as a whole.

<<For that, his name has to become a famous brand.>>

Su-hyeun had already planned everything.

"The equipment you picked will probably be sold through an auction house for the first time."

Kim Dae-ho had decided to put out his work out in the world. Of course, they would be the amazing equipment that he didn't think of as failures.

"Let's surprise the world."

At Su-hyeun's comment, Kim Dae-ho, who rarely laughed, smiled big and answered, "Cool."