Blood Demon of the Past Life – Chapter 105

Chapter 105: Spotlight （5）

Kang San found himself in a rather perplexing situation.

As he meticulously reviewed the text messages he had received since turning off his phone, he began to piece together the events that had transpired.

『Hyung, are you alright?』

『No, what kind of reporter is that to write such a malicious article? The fact that I’m in your party has nothing to do with Noona, but he wrote it as if there’s some kind of connection. Just you wait. I’ll lodge a complaint with Cheonsang and try to get them to issue a correction.』

『I’ll contact my dad too and see if there’s anything we can do.』

The messages were from Jo Han-byeol, Jeong Chan-woo, and Yeon Woo-bin, respectively.

They were understandably furious about the malicious article, seemingly instigated by Jo Dong-jae, that had been published after their hard-won victory with Project B team. After all, they knew the truth behind their triumph. It was a fair and square win, achieved through Kang San’s guidance, with no foul play involved.

There were also messages from Jeong Hye-mi.

Most of them were about dealing with Jo Dong-jae’s article, but as Kang San scrolled further down, he saw a different name.

『This is Kim Chun-sik. Don’t worry about this at all. I know a reporter who can handle it.』

Immediately after that.

Kim Min-yeong’s article was published.

Kang San briefly scanned the content and involuntarily rubbed his face as the article even brought up the Wangsimni incident. It felt like his face was being gilded. He wasn’t denying that he had done good deeds, but it wasn’t as grand or altruistic as Kim Min-yeong’s article portrayed it. He concluded that this situation likely arose due to Kim Chun-sik’s overreaction. He had no idea that reporter Kim Min-yeong had been tracking his actions for a while.

And finally.

『I’m contacting you regarding Master Craftsman Yu Jeong-yeong.』

『Our Flare Guild would like to offer Master Craftsman Yu Jeong-yeong an exclusive contract. Please let us know your desired terms. We will accommodate them fully.』

『Please reply once you’ve seen this message.』

Yu Jeong-yeong’s statement.

It had attracted an immense amount of attention.

People Kang San had never met were sending him dozens, even hundreds of messages, begging him to contact them. It was mind-boggling. He couldn’t figure out where the snowball had started rolling from.

One thing was certain.

More people than he had anticipated were focusing on the name “Kang San.”

It wasn’t a bad outcome.

Kang San had decided to reveal himself, and now, as if on cue, there was a movement pushing him to the surface.

‘The first thing I need to take care of is….’

He picked up his phone.

And then.

Click.

“Hello, it’s been a while.”

He called Yu Jeong-yeong.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

An hour later.

Yu Jeong-yeong arrived at the lodging where Kang San was staying.

Initially, Kang San had planned to meet at his house, but judging from the flood of messages on his phone, he decided it wasn’t a wise choice.

Yu Jeong-yeong, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.

Kang San cut straight to the chase.

“Why did you do that?”

This whole situation.

It was a glory that Yu Jeong-yeong should have shouldered entirely.

It was part of their contract anyway, so there was no reason for him to feel apologetic towards Kang San.

If Yu Jeong-yeong, representing the blacksmiths, raised his own value, Kang San would gain a greater absolute benefit without having to put in the effort himself. That’s what Kang San had hoped for. He had intended for a win-win situation, maximizing profits for both of them, but Yu Jeong-yeong had attributed a portion of the honor to Kang San.

Yu Jeong-yeong replied.

“I just wanted to.”

“…Excuse me?”

Kang San blinked.

Just because he wanted to?

The Yu Jeong-yeong that Kang San remembered wasn’t this emotional.

“When I finished my closed-door training and came out, I happened to hear about you, Kang San-nim. At first, it seemed like someone was targeting you with malicious intent, but the good deeds you had done without expecting anything in return came back to prove to the world what kind of person you are. Honestly, it was a strange feeling. People were talking about how good of a person you are just based on the truth revealed by reporter Kim Min-yeong, but haven’t I also received your help entirely? So, I acted impulsively. According to our contract, it should have seemed like I owned the rights to this technology, but I wanted you to receive better treatment because of me. There’s no other reason. That’s all.”

Yu Jeong-yeong looked at Kang San.

His gaze was unwavering.

“The change in circumstances won’t affect our contract. I will continue to earn as much money as possible in my position, and you can enjoy wealth and fame without hardship. The current outcome isn’t due to my greatness. I will never forget that I achieved this because you chose me.”

“…You’re making things difficult.”

Kang San scratched his head.

It wasn’t a bad situation, to be honest.

Since Kang San’s name was only mentioned as a sponsor, he could just step back and reap the benefits.

Yu Jeong-yeong had taken a loss even though he knew that.

If someone had sponsored him and others could claim rights to his technology, no matter how skilled Yu Jeong-yeong was, the wealth and fame he received would inevitably be diminished. But he didn’t seem to mind at all. He genuinely believed that even if he only received 10%, it would still be a gain.

Kang San said.

“Let me make it clear here and now that I didn’t choose you, Yu Jeong-yeong-nim, but rather, I had no choice but to choose you. Other blacksmiths didn’t possess the skills to perfectly implement the technology like you did. It was a mutually beneficial decision, and I look forward to working with you in the future.”

“The pleasure is all mine.”

“By the way, how are things going right now? Judging from the calls I’m getting, they must be sending you quite a few offers as well.”

“Well, that’s…”

Yu Jeong-yeong gave an awkward laugh.

His actions.

The results he had shown to the world had caused quite a stir.

“Things have gotten a bit bigger than expected.”

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Kang San received the documents.

They were a compilation of the offers Yu Jeong-yeong had received, and there were quite a few, easily exceeding several hundred pages at a glance.

“Take a look.”

Flip.

He reviewed the contents.

From the very beginning, eye-catching conditions were listed.

『Flare Guild would like to offer Master Craftsman Yu Jeong-yeong an exclusive contract. We will provide a signing bonus of 10 billion won as a lump sum, and as for detailed terms, we will evaluate the market value of the items you craft and pay you 1.5 times that amount. Furthermore, Flare Guild will guarantee your safety, Master Craftsman Yu Jeong-yeong.』

It was impressive from the start.

A signing bonus of 10 billion won.

Since it wasn’t an upfront payment clause, it meant that Flare Guild was willing to spend 10 billion won just to recruit Yu Jeong-yeong.

Considering Flare’s reputation, it wasn’t an impossible offer.

If Cheonsang was the best in Korea in the management world, Flare was among the top 1 or 2 guilds. They immediately recognized Yu Jeong-yeong’s value. If they could monopolize Yu Jeong-yeong and enhance the stats of items, the resulting effects would be astronomical.

And that wasn’t all.

『Hunter Management Bureau contacting you.』

『Cheonsang contacting you.』

『Daeyang contacting you.』

The Hunter Management Bureau, various management agencies.

Offers that were enough to make one’s eyes pop out kept pouring in.

And then.

『The US government highly values your skills, Mr. Yu Jeong-yeong. If you are even slightly interested in our offer, we are prepared to do anything for you, including granting you citizenship, in exchange for your services. The US government does not lie. As the world’s leading superpower, we will treat you accordingly.』

The US government.

Even they had reached out.

It was just a single demonstration, but everyone understood the implications of the results Yu Jeong-yeong had shown.

Yu Jeong-yeong said.

“The conditions are all good. Whether it’s the place you choose, Kang San-nim, or a different direction, I will fully respect your decision.”

Kang San carefully examined the conditions.

10 billion won, citizenship, and so on.

They were all tempting offers, but Kang San knew there was no need to accept them.

‘Their offers are all based on exclusivity. While we can secure a lot of profit in the short term, being tied to one place in the long term means limiting our value.’

Kang San said.

“There’s no need to limit our options with an exclusive contract. Let’s exclude the offers from those with unclear identities and proceed with the rest as individual contracts.”

“Individual contracts?”

“Yes.”

His future plans.

Kang San would increase his own value.

In that case, individual contracts would become a crucial weapon, elevating Kang San’s worth with each new deal.

“If we proceed with individual contracts, I can assure you that the competition among those who want us will bring us even better deals.”

✦✦✦✦✦✦

What’s the worst-case scenario when working in management?

It’s when someone suddenly snatches away the target you’ve meticulously worked on.

Cheonsang’s 3rd team.

Jeong Hye-mi suppressed her displeasure as she listened to her team member’s explanation.

“…As of now, we cannot assess Kang San’s value conventionally. As a Hunter alone, he possesses a value exceeding C-rank, but he has also demonstrated potential as a leader by teaching Project B team. And the problem is Master Craftsman Yu Jeong-yeong. Because of him, Kang San has gained intangible value. Recruiting Kang San means gaining an absolute advantage in dealings with Master Craftsman Yu Jeong-yeong, so if we factor that in, we cannot guarantee his recruitment even with A-rank contract conditions.”

“Sigh…”

Jeong Hye-mi held her head.

She felt a wave of dizziness and a surge of irritation.

Kang San.

She had spent months trying to recruit him.

Back then, he was just a D-rank Hunter that no one paid attention to, but recent events had caused his value to skyrocket. His potential to stop the Werewolf Lord, his achievements in training Project B team, and finally, Yu Jeong-yeong’s statement that was like the icing on the cake – she couldn’t even begin to imagine how to recruit him now.

Furthermore.

His image was good too.

A Hunter’s marketability was also important, and Kim Min-yeong, the reporter famous for creating heroes, had attached herself to Kang San.

‘If only all this had happened a little later. It would have been perfect for me.’

All these issues.

If they had emerged after she had recruited Kang San, Jeong Hye-mi would have ridden on his back to climb to the top of Cheonsang. No matter how much she regretted it, nothing would change. The only silver lining was that, unlike others who had to build a relationship with Kang San from scratch, she had already established some rapport with him.

An advantageous situation.

It was still too early to give up.

Just then.

One of her team members entered the meeting room.

“Team Leader, we’ve confirmed Kang San’s whereabouts!”

“Really? Where is he?”

She shot up from her seat.

She intended to go find Kang San immediately.

Seeing Jeong Hye-mi’s reaction, the team member said with a slightly complicated expression.

“But there’s a problem. Kang San is currently at the Promotion Test Center.”

“What?”

The Promotion Test Center?

Jeong Hye-mi’s eyes widened in surprise at this unexpected development.