WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈
Chapter 76: I’m Actually Nonreligious??
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Cheonghae Spirit Seafood Industry Cooperative.
Cheonghae Fisheries, for short.
It was the cooperative that managed the harvesting and distribution of all spirit seafood from Cheonghae.
Cheonghae Fisheries Headquarters, conference room.
"...So what was this month's total successful auction bid amount?"
The conference room was steeped in gloom.
"It's down eighty percent from before the water monster crisis."
"Haa..."
Chairman Kang Dae-ho pressed his temples.
'Eighty percent.'
Then again, how could they hold auctions with nothing to sell?
With the boats unable to set out, there was no way for goods to come in.
Most spirit seafood came from Cheonghae, but entering its waters now meant risking your life.
"What about cooperative-fee collection?"
"...It's not even thirty percent."
"..."
Of course it wasn't. How were they supposed to pay when they couldn't go out fishing?
Kang Dae-ho turned on his tablet.
He knew it would be better for his mental health not to look, but one finger kept drifting toward it anyway.
Goblin Fire, Cheonghae Fisheries tab.
[Question] Got a notice demanding my cooperative fees. Are you all paying them?
└ Nope. Are you insane?
└ I'd pay if I had money;; I've been out of work for weeks.
└ Are there still suckers paying that these days?
└ They don't do anything for us, so why the hell do they keep demanding money??
[Daily Life] I think this chairman is the most incompetent one ever
└ For real LOL
└ It wasn't this bad under the previous chairman.
└ Isn't this exactly why they collected money from us every month? Where'd it all go?
└ Yep, it was spent on cooperative dinner parties~
└ Have some shame and resign already, please~~
"..."
Thud. Thud. Thud!
"Ch-Chairman?!"
Kang Dae-ho slammed his forehead against the desk.
It was unfair.
Unfair enough to drive him insane.
What the hell were they supposed to do?!
Every one of those things was a spirit beast that rivaled at least a Grade 2.
They had gone to every famous agency and House they could find, hiring sorcerers left and right.
But there were only a handful of marine sorcerers capable of properly fighting things underwater in the first place.
And whenever those things were threatened, they immediately sprayed ink, meaning they had to risk damaging expensive Ritual Implements.
One or two would have been one thing.
There were hundreds of them.
'How is this the cooperative's fault...?'
Were they going to blame an agricultural cooperative because a typhoon ruined the crops?
This was a disaster. A disaster!
It was practically a natural disaster!
Just then.
Knock, knock.
"Chairman, someone is here to see you."
"Again?! Tell them I'm not here! Secretary Kim, have the car waiting by the back entrance!"
He assumed it was another troublesome complainant coming to protest.
"Th-That's not it. They say it's Master Do."
"...What? Who did you say?"
"Master Do of Noh Jin-hyeok Corporation!"
"......!!!"
* * *
Right. That had happened.
The repair request for the Sea Heart Stone mining machine that had been damaged during the early days of the water monster outbreak.
Someone had actually accepted the request they had posted with almost no hope.
Master Do of the Tianshan Sect... no, Master Do of No Corp.
Honestly, Kang Dae-ho had expected nothing at all.
It was an incredibly complex Ritual Implement, built over a lifetime by the previous head of Cheonghae Workshop, with circuits modeled after living organisms. He had thought it would take months just to understand its structure.
Yet only a few days later, he received word that the repairs were complete.
At first, he could not even understand what the head of Cheonghae Workshop was saying over the phone, because they were speaking through such heavy sobs.
They had even sent someone to check, just in case.
It was true.
No, apparently it performed even better than before.
And Master Do had come to the cooperative in person.
"Goodness! Things have been so chaotic that I never properly thanked you. I'm Chairman Kang Dae-ho."
"I'm Master Do."
The craftsman sat on the reception-room sofa, leisurely sipping tea.
'...Really young, just like the rumors said.'
No matter how closely Kang Dae-ho looked, the craftsman seemed barely twenty.
'But what brings Master Do here?'
They had paid the full amount long ago.
"But what brings you all the way here...?"
"I understand you've been having a difficult time with the water monster problem lately."
"Haa, yes... What can we do? They're practically a natural disaster."
"Do you have any countermeasures?"
"......"
Countermeasures.
Countermeasures, was it?
"...Honestly, we're at our wits' end. The Occult Management Bureau keeps putting us off, saying the requirements for an Isolation Zone haven't been met. We hired agencies to subjugate them, only for them to catch nothing and send us enormous bills to repair damaged Ritual Implements..."
'...Damn it.'
He had been under so much pressure lately that excuses and complaints had spilled out at a simple greeting.
"Ahem, my apologies, Master Do. I've been so frustrated that I ended up saying all kinds of nonsense."
"It's fine. Please continue."
"...Pardon?"
The craftsman set down the teacup and leaned forward slightly.
"I was curious about the current situation."
'...?'
"...To be honest, there is no solution."
With a sigh, Kang Dae-ho revealed what he truly thought.
"It's not that we lack money. We have a substantial emergency fund collected through cooperative fees and the like for times exactly like this. But there's nowhere to spend it. Even if we offered double or triple the usual price, no one is willing to say they can definitely catch those things..."
Grin.
'...What was that? Was that a smile?'
"Chairman."
"...Yes?"
"I have a solution."
* * *
A few days later.
The peaceful, at least in theory, Goblin Fire [Cheonghae Fisheries] tab was still filled with resentment and insults as usual.
Just as a Day 32 chairman-resignation post was going up, strange catch-verification posts began appearing one by one.
[Proof] Damn, Giant Ink Squid is seriously delicious.
Posted by: FishingKingKangSea
(Photo of plump, boiled squid tentacles.jpg)
Dipping it in vinegar chili sauce makes it insanely chewy.
The more you chew, the sweeter it gets, and you can feel Spiritual Power flowing into your fingertips right away LOL.
You guys should try it too.
└ Wow, that's expensive as hell. Are you rich?
└ "You guys should try it too," they say LOL
└ Seriously, everyone else is starving here. What a jerk.
└ ? Rich my ass. Go to the cooperative now and they lend you a special fishing rod. This is already my third one this week LOL
└ ??? For real?
└ You can catch those by fishing?
[Info] No suckers here who didn't read the cooperative notice, right?
Posted by: SeaLoveLove
The cooperative is currently running a rental program for Giant Ink Squid-exclusive lures made in collaboration with Do Emperor.
Cooperative-fee payers get priority rentals, so pay your overdue fees and go borrow one now.
└ ??? Is this real?
└ Wow, I was the only one who didn't know??
└ LOL who reads cooperative notices?
└ Damn it, Do Emperor. Is it you again...
└ Even if Do Emperor made it, can a Ritual Implement really do everything? How are you supposed to catch those monsters?
└ For real. I heard their ink erases every Spell Formula it touches.
└ No, no, no, no. The one Do Emperor made zaps them before they can spray ink, so they can't do it.
└ A Grade 3 sorcerer can catch one alone, and even Grade 4 sorcerers can easily do it in pairs.
└ That's insane LOL I'm going right now!
└ Daaaaamn!! Do Emperor has blessed us again T_T!!!
Even people who had been doubtful at first began losing their minds as catch-verification posts kept appearing.
The Giant Ink Squid was a premium species originally caught only occasionally in the deep sea.
It tasted incredible, and it was exceptionally effective at increasing Spiritual Power, so it cost whatever sellers wanted to charge.
Every fisherman and harvester in the area jumped into squid fishing, hoping to strike it rich.
[Info] Giant Ink Squid benefits
- Makes your hair black.
- Good for your memory.
- Has major restorative effects and is excellent for increasing Spiritual Power.
└ Ah...
└ Ahem. Spiritual Power isn't the only thing it improves, you know?
└ ? What else is it good for, then?
└ I can't say it out loud.
└ ???
└ Ah.
[Daily Life] I'm actually nonreligious, you know?
But from now on, I've decided to worship Do Emperor LOL.
I hadn't been able to fish for weeks and didn't have money to pay my kids' tuition.
I'd even put my boat up for sale and spent every day drinking soju.
Then I heard the rumor and rushed to rent a lure. I caught one on the very first day LOL.
These days, I wake up and head out to catch ink squid.
Yesterday, I paid all my overdue cooperative fees, paid my kids' tuition, and even gave my wife a hefty allowance.
Ah, life feels worth living again.
└ If this isn't a god and a religion, what is?
└ Every night before bed, I bow toward the No Corp building where Do Emperor is.
└ For real LOL
└ Damn it, it's Do Emperor again. I have no choice but to convert...
And naturally, public opinion of the chairman made a complete turnaround.
[Daily Life] I think this chairman is the most competent one ever
└ For real, he totally gets it LOL
└ How did he even think of collaborating with Do Emperor?
└ Agreed, agreed. He handled this so cleanly.
└ This would've been unimaginable under the previous chairman LOL
Eventually, people even began sharing recipes.
[Sharing] Collection of ink squid recipes (click to go)
- Squid rice bowl
- Fried squid
- Spicy raw squid salad
- Stir-fried squid in red pepper paste
- Salted ink squid
...
└ Personally, I think it's best grilled on a maifan stone.
└ No, no, no, no. Fried is the most delicious.
While the entire tab was buzzing with ink squid fever, there was also one small incident.
[Cooking] Tonight's dinner is stir-fried Giant Ink Squid ^^
(Photo of spicy stir-fried squid)
└ Ah, just looking at it makes me crave soju. ^^
└ I already put the kids to bed and cracked open some soju with the wife.
└ Fried squid tastes better, so you should try making it...
└ Dude;;; Wrong tab. Delete this now, hurry!!!
└ ???? Are you all insanely rich? You're eating that as a side dish??
└ Isn't Giant Ink Squid ultra-rare spirit seafood?
└ Isn't it normally worth millions of won because it's so hard to catch?;
└ Come on, it's obviously fake LOL. You can tell you're a fisherman from the effort you put into this fishing post~
That was how it began spreading beyond the [Cheonghae Fisheries] tab and into the general tab.
[General] What's happening in Cheonghae right now.jpg
There might still be people who don't know.
Cheonghae was in total chaos because of water monsters until recently.
What are water monsters? Man-eating squid.
These monsters filled the Cheonghae Sea so thoroughly that boats couldn't set out, and fishermen and restaurants alike were on the verge of shutting down!!
Just when the cooperative and every famous agency had thrown up their hands!!
Didn't Do Emperor suddenly show up??
And Do Emperor made a Ritual Implement for catching water monsters!!
So apparently, you can go to the cooperative and rent one now?
(Screenshots of Giant Ink Squid catch-verification posts)
└ ...? Do Emperor again?
└ Crazy, crazy, crazy.
└ ??? Isn't Giant Ink Squid an ultra-rare species? I heard it's hard to catch and crazy expensive.
└ They lend you a fishing rod that catches those things if you go there?
└ Ahhh, I want to become a fisherman too~~~
└ Crazy. I haven't had any work lately either, so I'm heading down right now. Ink squid, just you wait.
[Question] I came all the way to Cheonghae after seeing the update post. Where do I rent a fishing rod?
└ Rentals prioritize cooperative-fee payers. Pay your fees first and go.
The rumors gradually spread beyond Cheonghae.
Outsiders who had packed their bags after seeing the update post began knocking on the cooperative's doors one by one.
Boats left the harbor with every tide.
Their returning decks were loaded with pitch-black ink squid.
The cooperative auction, which had reopened for the first time in weeks, was packed day after day.
Even though the flood of supply had cut prices in half, Giant Ink Squid sold like hotcakes in arcades across the country.
* * *
And then.
Cheonghae Fisheries Headquarters, chairman's office.
"Chairman! This week's cooperative-fee collection rate has exceeded ninety percent! New membership inquiries are still pouring in as well!"
"...I see."
Of course they were.
Naturally, they had paid Do Emperor a tremendous price.
When Kang Dae-ho first saw the contract terms, he had nearly gone lightheaded.
But.
Cooperative fees ultimately came from what the members earned.
The ink squid brought in money, which increased the membership. The increased membership brought in fees, and as auctions opened, commissions rolled in.
The entire dying market had grown several times over.
Do Emperor's share was hardly small, but the money accumulating in the cooperative treasury was far from insignificant as well!
The chairman's approval rating, which had hit rock bottom, soared higher every day.
'At this rate... the next election is in the bag!'
Thud. Thud. Thud.
"Ch-Chairman?!"
Kang Dae-ho slammed his forehead into the desk again.
Then.
He sprang to his feet!
"Kuahaha! Do Emperor is the best!!!! Do Emperor is the best!!!"
Footnotes:
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