Chapter 205: 205

It was about what Su-hyeun had expected . He asked in a calm voice, “What kind of business?”

At Su-hyeun’s question, Geneva smiled back, as if he liked that reaction . He seemed like he had already forgotten the business about his sword . Geneva, instead, thought Su-hyeun’s calm reaction was more trustworthy .

“It’s simple,” Geneva said . “Could you be a model for my work?”

“Are you asking me to use your equipment?”

“Yes, that’s right . I’ll be your sponsor, and you’ll work as a brand model,” he said as he looked at the wooden box and the sword that he had brought . “I’m embarrassed to tell you myself, but there are tons of awakeners who want to use my work . My ordinary swords cost millions of dollars, and well-made equipment costs tens of millions of dollars . ”

“That’s good . ”

“Good? It’s more than good . Some items, the ones I did my best on, have been traded for hundreds of millions of dollars, even billions of dollars . Is this just a good thing?” Geneva asked, and Su-hyeun shook his head .

Admittedly, it could be considered more than just good . Geneva was an individual, not a corporation . His work wasn’t manufactured en mass in a factory but made just from his hands . He was an unreplaceable workforce . But still, he made a lot more money than most companies . That was why Geneva could become a global billionaire .

“But recently, the upward movement in my items’ price had been greatly reduced . In the past half-year, the prices have been dropping little by little, rather than rising . ”

“Because you’ve made enough . There’s more supply than demand . ”

“That is right . So, some experts told me to get a nice advertisement model . Someone like Gordon or yourself . ”

Kim Su-hyeun’s name had become so famous in the past couple of years . Everyone knew about him . People in the cities who were saved by Su-hyeun already called him a hero . Geneva needed that title, the world’s best awakener .

“The sword and armor used by the world’s best awakener . The best equipment for the best hero . That will keep my items being sold at a premium . ”

“Sure, that would work,” Su-hyeun said, still indifferent .

But Geneva didn’t care about Su-hyeun’s attitude . He thought he would change his tune soon .

Geneva went on, “I promise you to give my best items and 0 . 5 percent of sales for the cost of promoting my items . ”

If Bak Yun-gyu were here, his jaw would have dropped in shock . Geneva was offering his best items free of charge and 0 . 5 percent of the sales . Since Geneva earned about a trillion dollars a year, it was certainly an exceptional offer . But…

“If you don’t have anything more to say, I will leave now . I’m sorry, but I’m not interested . ”

“What?”

When Su-hyeun tried to get up from his seat, Geneva was surprised and got up as well .

“Fine . I will give you 0 . 6 percent . No, 0 . 7 . I can’t offer any higher than that—”

“It’s not about money . ” Su-hyeun shook his head .

Geneva looked at Su-hyeun’s face, and he knew . Su-hyeun wasn’t refusing his offer to increase the price .

“Then what the hell is it about?”

“Can I tell you honestly? It might hurt your feelings . ”

“That’s okay . Just tell me . ”

“First . I don’t want to board a sinking ship . ”

Geneva frowned at the word, “sinking ship . ” He became curious, rather than feeling bad . He thought Su-hyeun was talking absurdly .

“Are you saying I’m going to sink soon?” Geneva asked .

“Yes . ”

“I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about . Are you saying that dungeons or awakeners will disappear in a day?”

“You didn’t hear my second reason . ”

“…?”

“Mr . Geneva . You are too confident . You are very sure that there will never be anyone better than you, just like the frog in the well,” Su-hyeun said and sat back down on his chair . It seemed like the conversation would continue . He went on, “Do you know Gordon Rohan?”

Geneva nodded . “Of course, I know him . ”

“The world’s best awakener and the best businessman . The symbol of great success and a billionaire because of the Ether stone business . People have been praising him for years . ”

“So?”

“Mr . Gordon always dreamed of becoming the best, and he has been trying to be the best . To prove he was the best and to meet stronger people than him, he even held the Ranking Wars . ”

It was a famous story . The world’s best awakener, Gordon, had held the Ranking Wars to find an awakener stronger than himself . And he had met Su-hyeun there .

“He was afraid that he was trapped in a well . He thought he might be the best only in that well, so he held the Ranking Wars to see the world outside of the well . ”

“Why are you telling me this now?” Geneva’s tone became aggressive .

Su-hyeun shook his head and got up from his seat again . “Well, if you can’t grasp what I’m trying to say, I guess there’s nothing more I can tell you . I will go now . ”

Gnashing—

When Su-hyeun was about to leave the cafe, he heard the sound of grinding teeth . If Geneva didn’t feel diffident toward Su-hyeun, he would have smashed the table already . He was very upset, and it seemed like he was barely holding it together at the moment .

Su-hyeun thought .

Gordon and Geneva had a lot in common . Both were at the top of their fields . They pursued a higher place and couldn’t bear to settle for second best . But the difference between the two was obvious .

Gordon didn’t care about people judging him . He wanted to consider himself the best, not be considered as such by others . Also, he wanted to see the bigger world to prove himself . But Geneva was different . He thought he was already the best in the world . And he was sure that no one would ever be better than himself .

Su-hyeun had no choice but to turn down Geneva’s offer .

Act 4

Contracts, estate closings, and move-in were completed with a great speed . Su-hyeun paid a premium and bought the workshop through the realtor . It was a spacious workshop located not far from the house in Nonhyeon-dong .

Sizzle, whoosh—

Clang, clang—!

Su-hyeun heard a familiar hammering sound . He knocked on the door of the workshop . Soon, Hak-joon and Thomas came to meet Su-hyeun .

“Hey, you came?”

“Yay! Su-hyeun is here!”

It looked like they had arrived with Kim Dae-ho . Kim Dae-ho had promised to make equipment for both of them . That was why they were here .

“Where’s Mr . Dae-ho?”

“He’s super focusing now . He’s not moving at all . ”

“Oh, yea?”

Su-hyeun went into the house and went down the stairs right next to the door . Suddenly, the hammering sound stopped, and the loud voice of Kim Dae-ho came drifting up the stairs .

“Hey, come down . What are you doing there?”

His voice sounded quite bright . Su-hyeun thought that was he glad and quickened his pace . In the workshop filled with hot air, Kim Dae-ho was sitting on a small chair .

“Welcome to my workshop . ”

“You seem happier than I expected . ”

“Is that so?”

“How’s your workshop? Do you like it?” Su-hyeun asked, looking around Kim Dae-ho’s new workshop .

It was pretty similar to his old workshop . The difference between the two was this place was cleaner than the old one in Yangpyeong . Of course, it was a bit smaller, but Kim Dae-ho didn’t seem to care about that .

“It’s all right . I can control the heat inside well . The light comes in well, too, though the warehouse is a bit small . ”

“But you don’t plan to store your equipment much anymore, do you?”

“Yea, you’re right . ”

Kim Dae-ho wiped the sweat running from his forehead with a towel . He stretched his bent back and guided Su-hyeun .

“Follow me . It’s hot in here . Let’s get a cold drink and talk . ”

“I saw a cafe nearby . ”

“Cafe? What for? Just follow me, man . ”

Kim Dae-ho took Su-hyeun, Hak-joon, and Thomas to the chair that he had put in the yard . He poured frozen coffee into paper cups and handed it out to them .

“Sweet coffee is the best, isn’t it?” Kim Dae-ho asked, gulping the iced coffee at once . He emptied the cup quickly since he was so hot . “God . It’s so good . ”

“You have a lot of things to sell, right?” Su-hyeun asked .

“Sure do . ”

“I’ll take the things to the appraiser and get them guaranteed, but it’ll probably be hard to get a reasonable price from the start . ”

In general, there were two channels where equipment used by awakeners was sold . The first was trading through auction houses . The second was through brokerage firms . The difference between the two was whether the price of the equipment was fixed or not .

But there was also something in common . It was a matter of reliability . They confirmed who made the item, and if it was a guaranteed item, they also checked who guaranteed it .

“I asked the best appraiser in the business to check out . But still, you won’t get paid as much as Geneva or other famous blacksmiths yet . ”

“That’s not a problem for me . I just want my babies to find the right owners . ”

“It is important . ” Su-hyeun shook his head . “The price in the marketplace is the same as the value of the product . If your item is traded for a bargain, people will think it’s only worth that much . ”

“Are you saying my babies will be ignored?”

“Yes . You don’t want that, do you?”

“No, of course not . ”

“Also, I’m sure you don’t want a price bubble . ”

“I’d rather go back to the mountain than do dirty business,” Kim Dae-ho said firmly .

“I know you would . ”

Su-hyeun grinned at his answer . He really liked Kim Dae-ho .

he thought .

All of Kim Dae-ho’s equipment was of excellent quality . The stuff that he treated as failures were still very rare items that would be called a masterpiece in the market . Weak awakeners, C or D-Rank, would raid dungeons much easier if they used Kim Dae-ho’s equipment to do it . And that would lead to an increase in the power of the awakeners as a whole .

Su-hyeun had already planned everything .

“The equipment you picked will probably be sold through an auction house for the first time . ”

Kim Dae-ho had decided to put out his work out in the world . Of course, they would be the amazing equipment that he didn’t think of as failures .

“Let’s surprise the world . ”

At Su-hyeun’s comment, Kim Dae-ho, who rarely laughed, smiled big and answered, “Cool . ”