The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith - Chapter 65

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈

Chapter 65: Did I Get a Job?

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"......"

Noh Jin-hyeok, a special-grade sorcerer.

The man known as the Emperor sat across from me on the sofa, legs crossed.

He had to be wearing a Suppression Talisman too.

But setting Spiritual Power aside, the sheer sense of danger radiating from his very existence was no joke.

How should I put it? It felt like I'd accidentally wandered into a predator's cage.

Rustle. Rustle.

That same man was leafing through the documents Ji-an had handed him with an indifferent gaze.

The very documents that made the House envoys' hands tremble whenever they saw them.

'Putting that aside... does Ji-an know him?'

That greeting earlier definitely hadn't been between strangers.

Well, this wasn't the place to pry. I'd ask Ji-an later.

Once he reached the final page...

Thud.

He practically tossed the documents onto the table.

"Fine. I accept."

'...What?'

Just like that?

"I'll get straight to the point. Come work for my company, Master."

A company... From what I'd seen on Goblin Fire, I thought Noh Jin-hyeok himself was the only sorcerer affiliated with it.

Like a one-person agency founded by a celebrity.

"Secretary, please explain."

"Yes."

The suited secretary sitting beside Noh Jin-hyeok rose with a tablet in hand.

"Our CEO plans to establish an independent sorcery organization made up of non-House practitioners."

To summarize the explanation that followed, it went like this.

Korea's current Occult World was firmly controlled by the Twelve Great Houses and several other prominent Houses.

Since most of the forces mobilized whenever an Isolation Zone appeared belonged to the Houses, even the Occult Management Bureau couldn't interfere with them carelessly.

Recently, though, more and more people outside House bloodlines had been awakening Spirit Sight and showing talent, whether anyone realized it or not.

So if non-House practitioners banded together and built up comparable strength, perhaps they could earn the Bureau's recognition just like the Houses had.

That would give them enough deterrent power that even the Four Great Houses couldn't touch them carelessly.

In other words, Noh Jin-hyeok was gathering non-House practitioners to establish a new force that wouldn't be pushed around by the Houses.

He had already recruited a fair number of members and planned to announce it publicly soon.

"But I still need a master craftsman."

Noh Jin-hyeok leaned back against the sofa.

That made sense.

Sorcerers could be gathered and taught somehow, but craftsmen were trained through a strict apprenticeship system.

Not only were non-House craftsmen impossible to find, even if they brought in a talented kid, there was no one to teach them Spell Formula inscription.

'Is that why he'd been buying up Ritual Implements?'

Publicly, it was known as nothing more than a collector's obsession.

"Even buying them has its limits."

Of course it did.

For now, he was an out-of-spec Irregular who mostly operated overseas.

Since his interests didn't overlap much with the Houses', they had probably been happy to sell to him.

Once he started openly building his own power base, though, the Houses would make life difficult for him.

It would become harder to acquire Ritual Implements.

Repairs would be harder too.

In short, just as he was thinking it would be perfect if he only had a master craftsman...

A super-rare talent like me had appeared.

Apparently, the moment he tried on that necklace, he got the feeling.

"That you're exactly the talent we need."

"Though honestly, I thought you were really from the Tianshan Sect."

My profile had Tianshan Sect written right there, so there was no way he could poach me.

He had even gone all the way to the Tianshan Sect's main headquarters to negotiate.

"But for some reason, they flatly denied having anyone like you."

'...!'

Of course they did!

I didn't actually exist!

How absurd must it have been from the Tianshan Sect's perspective?

The Emperor had stormed into their headquarters asking to meet someone who didn't exist.

Anyway, poaching a master craftsman from abroad was nearly impossible from the start.

Craftsmen were directly tied to the strength of a country's Occult World.

Every country apparently did everything it could at a national level to prevent its craftsmen from leaving.

So it seemed he had planned to negotiate for me to take on work exclusively for his side under the table if I was going to operate in Korea anyway.

In summary...

Master, if you join us, we're good to go!

That was the situation?

"I've decided to call it Noh Jin-hyeok Corporation. What do you think? Cool, right?"

"......"

'Honestly, it's pretty lame.'

Ahem. It seemed his naming sense was lacking a little.

Nobody could be perfect, after all.

"And I heard you really hate being interfered with?"

Noh Jin-hyeok tapped the terms sheet with his fingertips.

"Then register something like a venture company under ours. Manage the finances separately and run everything independently. We'll also help procure materials as much as we can."

'...Wait a second.'

So outwardly, it would look like I belonged to Noh Jin-hyeok Corporation.

But I could run my workshop however I wanted?

This was the jackpot...?

"There's only one condition. Take on at least one commission per quarter. Of course, we'll pay you properly for it."

"......"

"What do you think? I don't think this would be a bad deal for you."

A bad deal?

Forget a bad deal. This was the kind of deal where the CEO had gone crazy and was giving everything away.

Noh Jin-hyeok's grand ambitions honestly had little to do with me.

Still, there wasn't a single downside for me.

Noh Jin-hyeok was someone even the Four Great Houses couldn't touch carelessly.

There was no better shield.

On top of that, there would be no interference, the only condition was one commission per quarter, and I'd be paid properly...

Could there be a better choice than this?

Damn...!

Was this why people needed to learn a trade?

They said that when start-ups courted their early members, they gave away shares and everything else.

Having one skill meant I was getting treated like a founding member!

"Sounds good. Why not? I'm in."

"Now that's a refreshing answer. Good."

Noh Jin-hyeok grinned and held out his hand.

And just like that, I got a job.

* * *

After finishing the negotiations, I rode in a car toward Noh Jin-hyeok Corporation.

Since the iron was hot, I decided to move into the company right away.

My workshop's location had never been exposed, so I decided to leave it where it was just in case.

Before we left the room at Pungnyu Pavilion, the secretary handed over two tokens.

"Keep one on your person and hang the other in the car. It would be troublesome if anyone noticed you on the way there."

That was what the secretary said.

Sure enough, even after loosening my Suppression Talisman slightly and opening my senses, I couldn't detect anyone following us.

They seemed to be Ritual Implements inscribed with Perception-Obscuring Spell Formulas, and they worked ridiculously well.

As expected of the Emperor. Everything was on a different scale.

Putting that aside...

"So... Ji-an, you used to work at Noh Jin-hyeok's company?"

"Yes! A long time ago."

I'd been wondering since earlier, but the answer was more ordinary than I expected.

Apparently, Ji-an used to work there, then left to strike out on their own once there was nothing more to learn.

In short, Noh Jin-hyeok had been Ji-an's former boss.

"That explains it..."

No wonder Ji-an had seemed strangely relaxed even when it looked like their exclusive craftsman was about to get poached by a House.

Ji-an had had a plan from the start?

As I muttered while sinking into the passenger seat, Ji-an glanced at me from behind the wheel.

"Why?"

"What if I'd actually gone and joined another House?"

"Um... I didn't think that fit your personality, Do-hyeon."

Ji-an seemed to consider it for a moment, then smiled brightly.

"Well, that would've been a little disappointing! I'm not exactly fond of the Houses either... Still, if you really decided to go, I probably would've followed you in. I had to take responsibility for you until the end."

"Haha..."

...That was kind of touching.

"Of course, I could've introduced you to Noh Jin-hyeok from the beginning. It probably would've been the fastest option."

"But then, you never would've known what choices were out there for you, right?"

"This concerns your future, Do-hyeon! You had to see every possible offer for yourself and choose the one you liked best!"

True. That audition had raised my value like crazy!

Noh Jin-hyeok must have known the price the Four Great Houses had set for me and bid even higher.

A shield like this, the best terms possible, and I got to be the president of a venture company?

They were even setting up workshop facilities for me.

It was hard to imagine conditions better than these.

Ji-an's master plan was insane!

* * *

The next morning.

"Yaaawn..."

I woke beneath an unfamiliar ceiling and stretched.

Noh Jin-hyeok Corporation's headquarters.

More specifically, a top-class suite reserved for VIPs.

I'd arrived late last night and collapsed into bed.

Wow, this room was something else.

The living room alone was larger than my entire workshop, and one wall was a full aquarium.

As I watched the colorful fish glide through the water, I felt a fresh wave of emotion.

I mean, until recently, I'd been living in a cramped studio apartment.

Damn... I never thought I'd live somewhere like this.

You never know where life will take you.

I wandered over to the living room window.

Whoosh.

The moment I drew back the curtains, morning sunlight and a city panorama poured in through the floor-to-ceiling glass.

Seeing cars the size of ants crawling along below made me realize just how high up I was.

'This view is insane...'

Still, was it okay for the windows to be this exposed? What if someone tried to snipe me?

As expected.

When I placed my hand against the glass, I found layers upon layers of Spell Formulas inscribed across the entire window. Perception obscuring, even protective Barriers.

'The Emperor's home really is different.'

Since I was already here, I made myself a cup of coffee and sank into the sofa.

Ahh. Was this the boss life?

'Let's see. Did anything fun happen overnight?'

Out of habit, I opened Goblin Fire.

[HOT] Breaking!!! Do Emperor's new affiliation decided, holy crap holy crap holy crap holy crap

└ Where?? Cheonhwa Hall? House Jujak?

└ Do Emperor is joining Noh Jin-hyeok's company? That's insane.

└ ??????

└ The Emperor and Do Emperor met??? This is crazy lol

└ Wait? There are... two Emperors?

└ Holy shit, the non-House alliance is insane lol The Four Great Houses must be clutching their necks and dropping like flies right now