Kang Min sat on the white leather sofa in his apartnt. He held his smartphone in his left hand. In front of his face, the blue holographic System Window was open. He looked back and forth between the two screens. The toddler was asleep in the other room. The apartnt was quiet.
He looked at the balance in his Tower Account. The number of Coins was very high. He had earned these by clearing difficult trials on the lower floors. He had also received many "Special Achievent" rewards. These rewards were given to him because he cleared floors faster than any other player in history.
"I have enough capital," Kang Min said to himself.
He opened the Bnet app on his phone. He looked at the statistics from his recent live stream. The donations were listed in a separate column. High-ranking constellations and wealthy viewers had sent him "Stars." Each Star was worth a large amount of currency. The total amount from the Floor 11 broadcast was enough to buy several buildings in the city.
But Kang Min had not bought a building yet. He did not have a physical office for Kang Company. He did not think it was necessary at this stage.
"The company exists where the players are," he whispered. "And the players are online."
He swiped his finger across the System Window. He opened a website called **Kangpany**. He had created this site using a team of freelance developers he hired through an encrypted board. He had paid them in Coins.
Kangpany was a digital marketplace. It was a place where players could buy and sell items they found in the Tower. Most players did not like the high fees of the official Hunter Association auction house. Kangpany had lower fees. It also had a special section for "Abyss Items." These were the relics Kang Min found in the sinkholes.
He looked at the live data for the site. There were over fifty thousand active users. People were listing swords, armor, and mana potions. The site was doing very well. Every transaction gave Kang Company a small percentage of the profit.
"The personnel are all remote," Kang Min said.
He had hired twenty people to manage the site. He had never t them in person. They were based online. He used a marketplace for professional labor to find them. He hired moderators, item appraisers, and accountants. They worked from their own hos. This ant Kang Min had no monthly rent for an office. He had no electricity bills for a staff room.
He looked at a folder on his phone. It was labeled "White Stars."
White Stars Entertainnt was already a partner. They provided the cara drones and the streaming platform. But they wanted more. They wanted a full partnership with Kangpany. They wanted to use the site to sell official rchandise and gear to their viewers.
"The eting is next week," Kang Min said. "After that, the partnership will be full. They will handle the marketing. I will handle the items."
He leaned back. He looked at a different screen on the System Window. It was a list of potential investors. Many wealthy families and investnt firms had sent him ssages. They wanted to buy shares in Kang Company. They saw the value in his "God Vision" and his ability to clear sinkholes.
The numbers on the screen showed that the value of Kang Company was increasing every hour. It was not just a small business anymore. It was becoming a major player in the hunter economy.
"Who would’ve thought I would be a businessman?" Kang Min asked himself.
He rembered his life in the old world. He had only focused on survival. He had only focused on killing monsters and getting stronger. He had never thought about bank accounts or personnel managent. He had lived from one fight to the next.
Now, he was managing a digital empire. He was looking at market trends and investor relations.
"At this point, I am on my way to becoming a chaebol," he said.
He knew what a chaebol was. It was a person who owned a massive business conglorate in Korea. They had power that was equal to the governnt. They lived in palaces and controlled the lives of thousands of people.
Kang Min looked at his hands. They were the hands of a warrior. But the phone in his palm was a tool for a different kind of power. He was building a foundation that could not be destroyed by a monster. He was building financial strength.
He looked at the latest comnt on the Kangpany ssage board. A player was thanking the site for selling him a shield that saved his life on Floor 13.
Kang Min closed the System Window. He put his phone on the coffee table.
---
[Next Day]
The sun had barely risen over the Seoul skyline when Kang Min’s phone vibrated on the nightstand. He reached out and answered it without checking the ID.
"She’s leaving," Woonhee’s voice ca through the speaker. She sounded out of breath. "Sasha Kim is at Incheon International Airport. Her flight for Russia departs in exactly one hour. If you want to talk to her, you have to move now."
Kang Min sat up imdiately. He looked at the toddler sleeping in the middle of the large bed. Her grey ponytails were ssy, and she was hugging a mana-infused plush toy.
"I’m going," Kang Min said. "But I can’t leave her alone. Get here as fast as you can. Use the employee bypass for the elevator."
"I’m already in the lobby," Woonhee replied.
Five minutes later, Woonhee entered the apartnt. She was wearing a simple tracksuit and carrying a bag of snacks. Kang Min was already dressed in a black hoodie and jeans. He didn’t have ti for a suit.
"She’s in the bedroom," Kang Min said, pointing toward the door. "If she wakes up, give her a mana shard. Do not let her eat the furniture. I’ll be back soon."
"Good luck," Woonhee said, looking nervous.
Kang Min ran out of the apartnt. He didn’t take his own car. Instead, he headed to the basent level. The building owner provided a fleet of private taxis for the high-ranking residents. It was a service for the wealthy and the powerful. He stepped into a sleek, black sedan with tinted windows.
"Incheon Airport. Departures. Fast," Kang Min commanded.
The driver recognized him and nodded. The car sped out of the garage.
The trip took forty minutes. During the drive, Kang Min watched the clock. He checked his phone. The news was already reporting that the Russian "Ice Queen" was returning ho after the failed expedition. There were no details about why she was leaving so suddenly.
When the car pulled up to the curb at the airport, the chaos began.
The mont Kang Min stepped out of the vehicle, soone scread.
"It’s Singularity!"
"Kang Min is here!"
Within seconds, a crowd began to form. Journalists who were waiting for other flights turned their caras toward him. Civilians stopped walking and held up their phones. People started crowding him, blocking his path to the entrance.
"Mr. Kang, are you here to see soone off?"
"What about the second announcent?"
"Is your daughter with you?"
Kang Min did not answer. He moved through the crowd. He used his physical strength to push forward. He didn’t use mana, but his body was dense and powerful. People bounced off his shoulders. He felt like a boulder moving through a stream of water.
"Out of the way," he said. His voice was not loud, but it had a weight that made the people directly in front of him move back.
He ignored the flashing lights. He ignored the microphones being shoved toward his face. He checked the terminal information on the overhead screens. International Flights. Gate 42.
He ran.
He reached the long corridor leading to the boarding area. This part of the airport was famous for its architecture. It had a massive, vertical glass window that stretched from the floor to the high ceiling.
In the middle of the corridor, a woman was walking. She was rolling a small, silver suitcase across the polished floor. The sound of the wheels echoed in the quiet space. She was wearing a long white coat.
"Sasha Kim!" Kang Min shouted.
The sound of the wheels stopped.
The woman paused. Her orange hair swayed as she slowly turned her body. She moved with a grace that did not belong to a normal human. Her green eyes shifted, landing on Kang Min. She stood thirty feet away from him.
Kang Min stopped running. He stood there, breathing heavily. The two of them looked at each other at a distance. Between them, through the long glass window, the silhouette of the Tower could be seen.
A small, thin smile touched her lips.
"You finally decided to approach your long-ti friend...
huh...
"Is that not it... abandoner?"
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