"Hwi Ram! Will you come visit my house when you have the time? I have something to show you."
I did it! The item Goultan wants to show me, and the item he will gift me on the spot, is pretty obvious.
"I'm free to go there right now."
"Then let's go together."
We immediately headed over to Goultan's house. Jonnan and Batoom were with us as well.
Once we arrived, Goultan headed up to the attic to get a pretty large wooden container. It looked to be the perfect size to store a pickaxe.
As expected, there was a single pickaxe inside.
"This is the pickaxe I have treasured for my whole life."
I received the pickaxe from Goultan.
[Goo Chu's Pickaxe]
Durability: 98/98
Attack Strength: 15
Attack Speed: 10
Restriction: Strength 63
Option: 50% extra damage with a successful critical hit
Other options: Currently unavailable
"I wanted to become one of the best miners and reveal the other options with my own hands, but I ended up failing to do so."
I'm sure Goo Chu knows about the other options. Although there aren't any in Titan Valley, there are some best miners in other places.
"It is not an item I need anymore. I won't have any need to use it again."
I don't know about that. We will need to wait and see. You look like someone who will end up working in the near future. Of course, you will be well compensated for it.
"Please attempt to become one of the best miners. And then, reveal the other options with your own hands. If you can promise me that, I will gift you this pickaxe."
I planned on challenging it anyways. If I have the opportunity, I would surpass the best miners and become a legendary miner. I'm also curious about the hidden third option on Miru's pickaxe after all.
I happily nodded my head.
"I understand. Since I made it this far, I might as well challenge it."
"Thank you. Thank you very much."
Goultan clasped my hands tightly.
"But I have Miru's pickaxe. Once I get enough strength to use it, could I gift this pickaxe to someone else?"
To be specific, to my slave Jul Goo. All the minerals Jul Goo mines is mine anyways.
"It is now yours. If you see someone who deserves this pickaxe, you are free to gift it as you would like."
Batoom assigned me the best miner occupation quest. In Titan Valley, only Batoom is allowed to assign miner related occupation quests.
"I also want to thank you. My lifelong goal was having a best miner come out of Titan Valley, and it looks like you will make my dream come true."
"I will work hard to make it happen."
"This is the first quest. As a tunnel supervisor, recruit ten miners to work for you. However, they must be completely new miners who have never mined in any mine before."
In other words, use my fame to recruit miners.
This should be a pretty easy quest.
In fact, I shouldn't need to do anything. There is someone very close to me who knows quite a lot of people.
My soul's partner, Jonnan!
As soon as I received the quest, Jonnan pulled up his sleeves.
"I will take care of that."
"Is that okay?"
Batoom nodded his head yes.
"It doesn't matter. Even if someone helps you, it doesn't change the fact that there will be miners working for you."
"Then, thank you in advance, senior! If that's the case, please pick some smart and sharp people!"
"Like I said, just leave that to me."
He's not just bluffing. This is someone who has been a miner in Titan Valley for 40 years.
Then shall I make some money while he does that?
Mining is not the only way to make money in the mines.
I have the rights to the tax collected in Tunnel 99. That alone should make about as much money as I would make mining.
One more thing.
Power to designate a Tunnel Supervisor.
How could that power make me money?
Lobbying and bribes don't only exist in the real world.
Tunnel 99 is split into 6 different tunnels inside. Each of the six large holes in the hall lead to those sub-tunnels.
I assigned Bae Doochi as one of the Tunnel Supervisors.
Is it because I like Bae Doochi? No! No!
The person I really want to bring over is Gildeon, the only person who is competing with Bae Doochi to be the successor of the Batoom Mines.
In fact, the rest of the other miners felt that way too. They all wished for Gildeon to be the successor.
Gildeon was sincere and trustworthy; as a supervisor, he cared for his miners.
But why am I pushing for Bae Doochi instead of Gildeon?
That's because I saw Titan Valley's future in the game already.
In the game, Gildeon wins and becomes the next mine owner. Because of that, I was forced to go through the next part with Bae Doochi.
I suffered a lot as a result.
I wanted to change that future.
Of course, it was kind of a dangerous move. My small change could be the butterfly effect that completely changes the future that I know.
However, I was not scared.
No, I did not want to scared. I guess I hated myself for being scared too much?
If I look back in my life, I always lived in fear. That's because I was always the weak one being trampled on.
It wasn't just in the real world. It was the same in the game. My stats, dexterity and combo was really high, but I was still only a level 9 noob.
Until I became the strongest character, I suffered under other users, as well as NPCs like Bae Doochi.
You're telling me I need to stay strong and experience those same sufferings again?
I just need to hold it in until I become the overlord?"
Would that change anything?
I might have been an overlord, but I was just an existence with a strong attack strength. If I met someone with a strong influence, I was still a weakling who would need to bend the knee or quietly avoid them!
I didn't want to follow that same path again.
Nor did I have a reason to do so.
If I put in a bit of effort, I could change the dangers headed my way to make them become opportunities. Those changes might negatively affect my future, however, it could also make it much better.
No, I'm sure that'll be the case. Instead of just a strong person, I can become an omnipotent existence.
I want to challenge to reach that omnipotence.
In order for that to happen, I cannot be afraid of change. Rather, I need to have the courage to make those changes happen myself.
The rights to assigning Tunnel Supervisors is the start of that change.
Maybe this ability to create change will be the greatest gain from clearing Tunnel 99.
Of course, that doesn't mean I need to give up the gains in front of my eyes right now.
The smartest thing to do right now was pretend to push Bae Doochi while making sure to increase my gains to the highest level.
"Pick the tunnel you like."
"I want to select the tunnel with the most titanium."
"Then go to 99-5. That one has the most titanium."
"How do you know that?"
"The monster gave me some information as it died. If you don't like the amount of titanium you find and want to switch tunnels, I am more than happy to let you switch."
Bae Doochi had a wide smile on his face. There could be no better deal.
"Fine. How much will it cost?"
The rights to a tunnel supervisor position were usually traded at a couple million to the tens of million wons. I heard that Batoom also received around that much when he was splitting up the tunnels.
However, I showed a little more greed.
Something at a different level.
"Just give me 1,000,000,000 won."
Bae Doochi's jaws dropped immediately.
"Wha…what? 1,000,000,000 won? Are you crazy?"
I did exaggerate a bit. No matter how good a position was, there would be no chance of getting a bribe of 1,000,000,000 won for the rights to select a tunnel.
But Bae Doochi will need to accept it. This isn't just the rights to a tunnel. It will be the means for him to become the owner of the mines.
Plus, if you think about it, 1,000,000,000 won isn't that much.
Unlike in the real world, in Royal Roader, people respect miners quite a bit. If you have about 10 years of experience, you should be able to make 5,000,000 won in a month working only five to six hours a day. If you work hard, you could easily make 10,000,000 won a month.
The tunnel supervisors make even more money. An experienced supervisor like Bae Doochi should make about 30,000,000 won a month on a normal basis. If he becomes the owner, he could make much much more than that as well.
So it shouldn't have been hard for him to make at least 100,000,000 won in a year, and since he has 20 years of experience, he should have plenty enough to pay 1,000,000,000 won.
Do you know much I had to plot to get this much out of him?
I might as well stick the straw in pretty deep while I can. Bae Doochi had no choice but to be sucked dry.
"Why are you so surprised? In return you can change tunnels as you please. Then don't you have the competition in the bag? You'll be able to make that 1,000,000,000 won back easily."
"But what kind of person asks for 1,000,000,000 won? It's like I have an arrow in my head."
Bae Doochi had a stiff expression on his face.
I didn't want to carry this conversation on much longer. I really didn't like him anyways.
A single arrow to his head will be enough!
"Then Bae Doochi-nim, I guess we will need to discuss it again in the future. I can take this offer to Gildeon-nim."
"What? Gi, Gildeon?"
Translator : Miraclerifle
Proofreader : Miraclerifle