REAPER SCANS
How to Raise Your Skeletons
[Translator – Dawn]
[Proofreader – BringTheRayn]
Chapter 192: A Bold Proposal
The World Hunter Association was composed of an information alliance of nine major countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Germany, and South Korea. This alliance formed by the hunter powerhouses remained solid and shared classified information easily among its members. Of course, many other nations participated as well, but they were merely honorary nations, not part of the official alliance.
“Thanks to that, communication with allied countries is smooth. Now where was it… Ah, here it is!”
“Hm...?” I raised an eyebrow while spinning a coffee cup in the workshop VIP room.
Association President Choi Taeseung, sitting across from me, handed over an elegant envelope.
“What’s this?”
“After your request, I dug through every piece of classified information in the Association. But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find anything about an ‘Ancient Magic Fragment.’ I was about to give up when they sent this. Take a look. You’ll understand.”
What in the world could it be?
—Shick!
When I untied the string on the envelope, a black card appeared. On the card, written in golden cursive, was the word Oxford.
“…What’s this?”
“Ah, it’s from the Magic Tower.”
“The Magic Tower, huh?”
It was the organization of the strongest mages on the planet. The Sage of Oxford led it—Sophia Silverstone, ranked 4th in the world.
“Hmm?” Curious, I scratched my cheek and flipped over the card.
The contents were simple.
“Information on ancient magic is classified as Level 1 at the Magic Tower. Stop poking around the Association. Come to the Magic Tower. We’ll talk in detail there.”
“It seems like a kind of warning to me. I must’ve been digging too deep into a subject the Tower’s sensitive about.”
“That could be the case.”
When I nodded, Choi Taeseung gave an apologetic look. “You returned the Russian citizens safely and even purged the Russian mafia… You’ve accomplished something historic, yet all I could give you was this. I feel sorry.”
“No, not at all. Haha.” I smiled faintly.
So ancient magic meant the Magic Tower, huh? A bit predictable, sure—but even so, this was something. I no longer needed to wander around endlessly. Just knowing with 100% certainty where to go would save a lot of time.
“I needed to visit at some point anyway.”
Suddenly, the image of the Tower Master came to mind.
“Your name’s Joo Donghoon, right? I’ll leave for now, but come visit the Magic Tower sometime… Yes. As much as Delilah helped you, I might be able to offer some assistance too.”
Sophia showed goodwill during the first meeting and even invited me to visit. Could she have foreseen this situation?
“Ah.” Choi Taeseung’s eyes widened. “Now that I think about it, you have a connection with the Tower Master, don’t you?”
The relationship between me and the Tower Master was already well-known. During the new world rank update, she made an official announcement and practically branded me as hers. Some speculated I was the Tower Master’s secret lover. Others insisted I was her experimental subject. They said that was the only way to explain how someone outside the top 1,000 became a high-ranker overnight.
“…” Judging by Choi Taeseung’s expression, he seemed to be thinking something along those lines.
Nah, probably not… right?
“Anyway, thank you.”
—Rustle.
I slid the card back into the envelope and stood up. Now that my destination was clear, there wasn’t much left to say.
“Oh, so it’s settled then?” Springing up, Choi Taeseung also stood.
“Yes, I should start preparing. Though, considering what I did… What I got in return is a little…”
I went through hell in Russia, but all I got was a card from the Magic Tower. That didn’t feel like a fair exchange at all.
“Ah.” Choi Taeseung clapped with a smile. “Don’t worry about that. I’m human too—did you think I’d be done with just this?”
“Right?” I smiled in return.
Yeah, that was more like it.
“If you ever need help, contact the Association anytime. I’ll help you until I’ve exhausted everything. Although I wasn’t much help this time, the World Association’s intel is vast.”
It could’ve been taken as a bit of a rude remark, but there wasn’t even a hint of discomfort from him. As expected, he was definitely impressive. That was why he held the position of head of the organization.
“Just hearing that makes me feel reassured. Thank you, President.” Grinning, I saw Choi Taeseung off to the first floor of the workshop.
* * *
About 30 minutes later, a message floated in the air.
[The Guide has invited you to a chat room.]
[Chat room name: Demir’s Workshop]
[Participants (5/50)]
Oh?
It was a new chat room. I’d mentioned it before, but I guess he finally made one. Since it was a guild-only channel, he probably gave it a max of 50 members. I shifted my focus and accepted the invite.
[Skeleton King has entered ‘Demir’s Workshop.’]
[Members (6/50)]
The member count increased by one.
[Kim Jinah: Wow.]
[Kim Jinah: Oh, you’re here, shop master!]
[Kim Jinah: By the way…]
[Kim Jinah: This is really amazing.]
[Kim Jinah: It types just by thinking!]
As soon as I joined, our vice shop master started firing off excited messages.
[Guide: Hoon, as I told you before, the maximum number of members can always be increased. If there’s anyone you want to add, let me know.]
[Dark Empress: ???]
[Thundercry: What is this?]
[Absolute Peerless: Hoho, now I’ve got two chatrooms going.]
There were six members in the chat room, including me.
[Kim Jinah]
[Dark Empress]
[Thundercry]
[Absolute Peerless]
[Guide]
[Skeleton King]
And since Kim Jinah didn’t have a title, her real name had to be displayed.
Nice.
The guild was still newly formed, but the executive lineup was already solid.
[Kim Jinah: I’ve hired a few staff too, but don’t invite them yet.]
[Kim Jinah: Only people we can truly trust should be in here.]
[Kim Jinah: Got it?]
[Guide: Understood, vice shop master.]
Seeing that I was the last one invited, it seemed like Kim Jinah was managing this already.
She really is impressive.
A non-ranker was controlling rankers. If it were the old me, I couldn’t have imagined it.
[Kim Jinah: Oh, and, shop master?]
[Skeleton King: Yes?]
[Kim Jinah: I need you to come to the Mulung Paradise entrance right now.]
The entrance?
[Kim Jinah: Hurry, hurry!]
What the…? Had the workshop’s executive order changed? Was she trying to control me now too?
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Dawn
Proofreader - BringTheRayn
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://discord.gg/reapercomics
* * *
Getting there was easy. After all, I could open portals myself. And I was already inside the workshop anyway.
“What’s going on… huh?” The moment I arrived, my jaw dropped.
The view at the entrance looked completely different from usual. The entrance to Mulung Paradise was on high ground, the tallest peak in the surrounding area, no less. Which meant, of course, that the scenery was spectacular. And yet, a luxurious pavilion was built on the cliff, making the already breathtaking view even more stunning.
“What’s all this? When did this happen?”
“Hehe, cool, right? I made a special request to Demir,” Kim Jinah responded, stretching to the sky with her fingers laced together. “Come here. If you stand right here, you can see the whole city Demir is building at a glance.”
She was right. The wide-open forest and vast land were refreshing just to look at. The strange rock formations along the cliff sides made me forget all worldly concerns. Without exaggeration, there was no place on Earth with a natural view as beautiful as this.
“This place will become our workshop’s VIP room. Customers who place orders or guests visiting the workshop will be overwhelmed just by the view alone. Some may even feel a little intimidated.”
“…It’s impressive, for sure.”
This place would now become my home—a permanent home and community that I could visit from any region, anytime. I didn’t know why, but… even though I’d been to this place multiple times already, just standing here made my chest swell with pride.
“Oh, right. Shop master.”
“Yes?”
“That Bong Jaeyoung guy. I heard he used to be a thug among rankers. How did you manage to win him over?”
“Hm?”
Bong Jaeyoung? I completely forgot about that guy. Did something happen?
“He recently applied to join the workshop, asking to be accepted.”
“Bong Jaeyoung did?”
“Yeah, Bong Jaeyoung the Steel Fist. He’s notoriously thug-like in this field, so I’ve been holding off for now, but he seems desperate. He’s already submitted the paperwork three times.”
“…”
“And take a look at this.” She came over and held out her smartphone.
Several news articles that Kim Jinah had compiled were displayed on the screen. I tapped on one.
“Newly entered high-ranker, Rank 99, the Steel Fist: ‘This isn’t my real rank, it’ll be updated properly at the start of the month.’”
Bong Jaeyoung was currently ranked 99th in the world. He used to be 101st, but he moved up after Andrei and Zima died. The ranking board only updated instantly when someone died. Otherwise, skill-based reassessments happened at the beginning of each month. In other words, even though he was ranked 99 now, he could drop down once rankings were recalculated next month.
He will definitely drop.
Because of the venomous insect, he had used up a significant portion of his life force. That power wasn’t something that could be replenished—it was completely burned away.
I’d guess he’ll fall somewhere between ranks 500 and 800.
I scrolled through other articles.
“Steel Fist apologizes for past wrongdoings: ‘If anyone was hurt, it’s my fault. I will live with humility and remorse.’”
“Regarding the Russia incident, Bong Jaeyoung says: ‘Skeleton King saved my life.’”
“The once-arrogant Steel Fist: ‘Skeleton King is a god. He’s the real deal.’ Overwhelming praises from him.”
“…What is this?” My jaw fell open.
This guy… What the hell had he been doing behind my back?
“I should be the one asking that.” Kim Jinah looked at me sulkily, then sighed, “Haah, I knew from the start… But really… just how much are you hiding from me…?”
Ah, right. She was still upset about me not telling her about Delilah’s Trial, wasn’t she?
“And aside from that, the Druid and Asura also applied to join.”
“Those two?”
“Yes, apparently they were moved by your kind heart…? So I’m thinking of accepting all three. That’s fine, right? I mean, the more rankers in the guild, the better, right?”
I nodded. “Well… Personnel decisions fall under the vice shop master’s authority, after all.”
As I said before, I was stepping away from workshop management. My only goal was to become Rank 1. Even just focusing on that alone, there was too much to do.
“Whew, as expected of our shop master. So cool and clean-cut, it’s great.”
As Kim Jinah laughed and gave a thumbs-up, someone appeared at the entrance.
—Ssshk! Step.
“Yo, vice shop master. Why’d you call us?”
“I’m here too.”
Floa and Gi Soyul walked up together.
“Hoho, the view here really is to die for.”
“I came since I was called too.”
Maximilian and Capu followed. Now all six chat members were gathered.
Why all of a sudden? Why did Kim Jinah summon everyone?
Seeing my confused expression, she confidently clapped twice.
—Clap, clap!
“Now that the shop master is here and the execs are all together, I wanted to say something.”
“Something to say?”
“Do you remember what I said when I first joined this workshop, shop master?”
“If you mean the day you suddenly showed up and boldly asked to be accepted… of course I remember.” I shrugged.
Back then, Kim Jinah had said…
“I’m talking about the Demir's Workshop that you’re building. Let’s grow it together! I’ll help turn it into a massive enterprise, no, something even bigger than a guild!”
She made a declaration of ambition to grow the workshop into a massive guild.
“Yes, that’s right. That’s my dream and goal. And I’m not aiming to build just another large guild.” Kim Jinah met our eyes. Her voice carried a natural, strong determination. “At least something on the level of the Demon King’s Army in America, Oxford in the UK, or the Cult of the Heavenly Demon in our country…”
She named the organizations considered more powerful than many nations—Earth’s strongest guilds.
“I want to create an organization on the same level—no, something that surpasses them.”
She wanted this guild to stand against—or above—them.
“And so…” She straightened her sleeve.
Come to think of it, I couldn’t help but wonder if she had planned this. Kim Jinah was dressed in a crisp, formal suit.
“With all the attention we’ve gotten from the Russia expedition… What do you say we drop the name ‘Demir’ and relaunch under a new organization? Huh, shop master?”
As usual, she made a bold proposal.
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