novelraw Chapter 34 : Chapter 34
Chapter 34 : Chapter 34
Chapter 34. Turmoil (3)
The amount of Magic Stones that would take another miner two or three hours to dig up.
That was piled up high next to Riman.
He knew.
That it had only been about an hour since Riman had started pickaxing.
But he had dug this much?
“…Let me check something for a moment.”
He began to rummage through Riman's pile of Magic Stones.
It was just in case.
He might have mixed in regular stones with the Magic Stones to inflate the amount.
But upon checking, that was not the case.
They were all Magic Stones.
And very clean and neatly extracted Magic Stones at that.
“…You dug all this by yourself?”
“Yes.”
Looking around, it seemed to be true.
Because Riman was pickaxing alone in an isolated spot.
‘No way…….’
It was an unbelievable amount.
Even a skilled worker who had been digging for over ten years couldn't dig this fast and this much.
“…But why did you pile the Magic Stones on the floor? You should have been given a sack.”
“It's full.”
“Ah.”
Indeed, there was a sack in the corner, completely filled with Magic Stones.
To the foreman, who was momentarily speechless in surprise, Riman said.
“Then, can I start working again?”
“No.”
“Yes?”
“Take it easy, take it easy.”
The foreman was trying hard to suppress his rising smile.
He had only seen Riman for the first time today, but he was so proud of him he could have burst.
The structure here was such that the more the miners below dug, the bigger the foreman's profit.
It was only natural that he would be fond of Riman, who boasted transcendent work efficiency.
So, the foreman patted Riman's shoulder as a silent encouragement and left.
And—
“Hey you, you bastard!! Who told you to slack off, huh?!”
As soon as the foreman went to another area, he began to spew curses.
Riman looked at his back and thought.
‘…Those curses were almost directed at me.’
Thinking so, Riman casually placed his palm on the rock wall.
And he activated his magic.
[Detection]
Whoom-
The detection magic spread across the surface of the rock wall.
As it scanned the surface of the wall, there were points where the vibration of mana was felt slightly stronger than in other parts.
That was the point where the vein of Magic Stones was passing through.
Clang!
Riman struck that part with his pickaxe without hesitation.
After digging a little like that, the chunks of Magic Stones began to reveal themselves.
By pinpointing the location of the Magic Stones with [Detection] and digging only that part.
This way, he didn't have to waste energy digging in useless places.
He could mine a large amount of Magic Stones even while digging leisurely.
In effect, he was the only one mining with an X-ray on.
This was how Riman was able to mine a large amount of Magic Stones by himself.
On the other hand, other people had no way to know in advance where the Magic Stones would come out.
First of all, the inside of the Spider Den was an area where electronic devices malfunctioned.
Therefore, they couldn't use detection equipment.
And even Superhumans with mana detection abilities were powerless here.
The mana density in the air was so high that it paradoxically made mana detection impossible.
Just like it was almost impossible to detect a specific liquid in water.
Of course, if the precision of one's senses was at an extreme level like Riman's, it was possible to detect Magic Stones.
But there was no way a mana user with that level of ability would come here as a miner.
Therefore, this kind of mining was only possible for Riman.
“Whew.”
After working for a while longer.
Riman took a short breath and looked around.
The foreman was barely paying any attention to Riman now.
Riman sensed that it was time to move.
‘Shall I go?’
It was time to put down the pickaxe and return from a miner to a magician.
Riman quickly recalled the images in his mind.
‘The curtain of midnight, the rising falling water.’
[Silence]
Whoooosh-
The air around Riman sank heavily.
[Silence], a magic that forcibly fixed the vibrations of the surrounding atmosphere to prevent sound from leaking out.
After completely erasing his footsteps and presence like that, Riman began to move cautiously.
‘It would be best if I could use [Stealth]…….’
[Stealth] was a magic that refracted the surrounding light to make oneself transparent.
There was no better magic than this when he had to move secretly like now.
But since it was a Brilliance system magic, Riman couldn't use it.
‘There are a lot of people here.’
In addition to [Silence], Riman activated one more magic.
[Detection]
Whoom-
Using [Detection], he calculated the gazes and movements of the people around him and moved along the blind spots their gazes couldn't reach.
In this way, Riman moved secretly through the inside of the Spider Den without being caught by anyone.
In fact, this was something he could do because he was inside the Spider Den.
This was a place where electronic devices malfunctioned.
Therefore, instead of light bulbs, they were using luminous stones embedded in the walls as a light source.
Because of that, the light was weaker than in a typical indoor space.
So there were quite a few dark spots, making this kind of secret movement possible.
‘What should I do, should I sneak all the way to the queen spider's room like this?’
It was the simplest and most certain method.
And it was the original plan.
But if he did this, getting in wouldn't be a problem, but getting out would be.
Because Jeoksong Company would definitely find out that Riman had disappeared in the middle.
‘Of course, I can just break through when I come out, but…….’
If that happened, the aftermath would be a problem.
Because it was highly likely that Jeoksong Company would retaliate against Riman.
Of course, he had come here knowing that, but…….
‘If there's a better way than this, it's right to take that path.’
To find that way, Riman was currently looking around the situation here.
While wandering around like that.
Riman had come near the temporary office without realizing it.
A large tent set up on one side of a cavity inside the cave.
That was the temporary office of Jeoksong Company, which oversaw the situation here.
Riman was planning to just look around that area and then move on to another place.
But……
‘Aren't the executives of Jeoksong in that tent?’
Come to think of it, the place where the most information related to this Spider Den was exchanged was that very tent.
If he wanted to know the current situation here, he had to gather information from that tent as well.
‘Alright.’
Riman narrowed the range of [Detection] to that tent.
And he detected the trembling of the tent's surface with [Detection].
It was eavesdropping.
Because if the people inside the tent said something, the air would tremble, and that trembling would also make the surface of the tent tremble.
The moment Riman was listening to the sounds happening inside the tent.
“What kind of nonsense is that!!”
He detected someone shouting angrily inside the tent.
The owner of this voice was the CEO of Jeoksong Company, Lee Jeok-seo.
Judging by the tone of his voice, it was clear that a serious conversation was taking place.
Riman listened in on the conversation inside the tent.
“Please lower your voice, CEO. It's not like our Parakel is being unreasonable.”
Parakel Company.
One of the large corporations that had grown based on the pharmaceutical industry.
It seemed the CEO was talking to someone from Parakel Company.
“Not unreasonable? How is coming out of the blue and telling us to terminate the contract and leave not unreasonable?!”
“Your words are strange, CEO. The mining rights to this Spider Den are strictly the property of our Parakel. Your Jeoksong is just acting as a subcontractor, carrying out the work. We are now exercising our rights as the main contractor.”
“So you're saying that telling us to leave like this without any notice is the right of a main contractor!!”
“That's right. You guys violated the contract terms first.”
The employee from Parakel took out a few photos and held them out.
“Look. The workers here have violated the Industrial Safety and Health Act, it's all captured here.”
Lee Jeok-seo, who saw the photos, said in a tone of disbelief.
“…What's the problem with this photo?”
“They're not wearing their safety helmets.”
“Hey, this is break time! What's the problem with taking off your safety helmet during a break, not while working?!”
“If you have a complaint, take it to court.”
“Yes?”
The meaning of going to court was simple.
It didn't matter whether they won or lost.
We will drag this trial out and dry you out to death.
Lee Jeok-seo knew this intention precisely.
“You son of a……!”
“In any case, we at Parakel cannot collaborate with a company that does not comply with the law. Clear out by this time tomorrow.”
Just as he was about to leave, the Parakel employee stopped and said.
“Oh, and you have to leave all the equipment and Magic Stones behind. It won't be fun if you destroy or take them with you.”
The employee from Parakel then left the tent and walked out of the Spider Den.
The CEO of Jeoksong, Lee Jeok-seo, sank into his chair.
‘…Where did it go wrong?’
He had no idea why Parakel was acting like this.
No matter how much he racked his brain, he hadn't done anything to get on their bad side.
‘Why? Why??’
Lee Jeok-seo tore at his hair.
If he was forced to terminate the contract and leave here, Jeoksong would go bankrupt.
Jeoksong had been in charge of everything from the development of this Spider Den to the installation of the mining equipment.
Naturally, he had invested a huge amount of money in the process.
And he was just about to see a profit.
But he had suddenly been notified of contract termination and eviction.
It was inevitable that he would have to bear a huge loss.
After hearing all of this conversation, Riman thought.
‘He must be feeling wronged.’
By the way, I knew these Parakel guys were ruthless in business, but I didn't know it was this bad.
‘Wait a minute, but if things are going this way… it might be easier than I thought?’
Just as he was thinking hard.
“Hey, what are you doing here?!”
Someone roughly placed a hand on Riman's shoulder from behind.
It was the foreman in charge of Riman's section.
“You bastard, I was being nice to you, and you're slacking off here……”
Riman didn't answer.
He answered with magic instead of words.
[Discharge]
Zap!
“Keoheok!”
The foreman collapsed to the floor.
Of course, he wasn't dead, it was a simple faint.
After clearing the obstacle like that, Riman thought.
‘…If I use Jeoksong Company's current situation, things will be solved more easily than I thought.’
A moment of thought, consideration, and judgment.
Riman made a decision.
‘Alright, I'm changing the plan.’
Riman approached the tent.
And—
Flap!
He abruptly flung open the tent and entered.
Inside, besides CEO Lee Jeok-seo, there was also a man who seemed to be his close associate.
Lee Jeok-seo was startled and shouted.
“Wh-who are you?!”
“I heard everything from outside. You're in a bit of a difficult situation.”
“So who the hell are you?!”
“I'm a miner.”
At these words, Lee Jeok-seo had a blank expression.
The associate next to him shouted angrily.
“What's a miner doing here! Get out!!”
“I don't think this is the time to be worrying about your dignity or rank. You guys are about to go bankrupt.”
“That……!”
Just then, Lee Jeok-seo said to Riman.
“Just state your business.”
“I know a way for you to not go bankrupt.”
“……!”
Lee Jeok-seo's eyes wavered.
His mind was so weakened that it was shaken by a single absurd word from a stranger.
“…Is there a way to reverse the contract termination?”
“Hmm? There's nothing like that. But there is a way to minimize your losses.”
“What is it?”
“We're going to raid the boss room. We're going to subjugate the queen spider's room.”
Lee Jeok-seo's expression went blank once more.
The associate said in frustration.
“Hyung! Don't listen to that bastard! Subjugating the boss, my ass……”
It seemed they were brothers, not just close associates.
But Riman didn't pay any attention and continued.
“There are a lot of expensive things in the boss room. Not to mention the Magic Stone in the queen spider's body, the Magic Stones embedded in that room are all top-grade. Wouldn't that be enough to prevent the company from going bankrupt?”
“But earlier, the Parakel side said that the removal of Magic Stones was not allowed……”
“Weren't you planning to smuggle out as many Magic Stones as you could anyway?”
“……”
“So if you're going to smuggle them out, you might as well smuggle out the most expensive ones……”
“Wait, let me ask you one thing.”
Lee Jeok-seo cut in and asked.
“Are you in your right mind right now?”