< Howard Industries (2) >
The appearance of other-worldly transmissions and returnees was a major turning point in human history.
The existence of all sorts of mysteries and supernatural beings that had been previously considered fantasies was enough to shake up the paradigm of the time, and humanity, swept up in that great upheaval, had to somehow adapt to it in order to minimize the damage.
Each country’s power management agency, the World Returnees Association, guardians who work in the open to maintain order, and villains who hide in the shadows to prioritize personal desires…
The Earth began to change rapidly amidst global chaos, and at the center of this change were not only the returnees, but also the new civilizations that came over from other worlds through them.
Various organizations, including countries and corporations, studied the abilities of the Awakened, offering money in exchange or even using threats.
He analyzed the ingredients of potions and elixirs that had all sorts of magical effects, and disassembled mysterious magical tools to uncover their principles.
Not only was astronomical capital invested, but top scholars were also racking their brains to solve this difficult problem.
but.
Even after so many years, I still got nothing.
All they knew was that no mystery could be reproduced on this Earth.
Of course, there were some who did not give up and devoted themselves to research until the end, but the mainstream opinion had already been solidified in that direction for a long time, and no theory has emerged since then that can overturn it.
In the end, the vested interests had no choice but to acknowledge the inevitable situation and change their course to accommodate it as much as possible.
Twenty years like that.
Those who have adapted to some degree to change have become accustomed to the present.
Even through indirect influence alone, overall technological capabilities have rapidly developed, clashes between Guardians and Villains in the city have become a daily occurrence, and artifacts from other worlds have become the most luxurious of luxury items that are difficult to purchase with money alone.
In particular, since magic tools were both rare and practical, they were not exclusive to the Awakened but rather a symbol of wealth that represented the wealthy.
“Oh my? What is that? It’s a bracelet I’ve never seen before.”
“Ah— this? It’s a magical tool that creates a protective shield when in danger. My dad bought it for me because he was worried about me.”
“Wow… Where on earth did you get that? I heard it’s really hard to get.”
“Hey, I’d rather buy you a subspace handbag. How often do you need to use something like that?”
“This is a thing for emergencies, but it’s better if you don’t have any use for it. I should tell my dad about it too.”
“Should I ask my dad where he bought it? He might have some for sale.”
“Oh my, really? Then I should be the one thanking you!”
Rising value due to overwhelming demand and limited supply.
The blood alliance led by ‘Heterosis’, a group of followers of Heinz II, took advantage of this situation to rapidly expand its power.
He gave precious magical tools as gifts to the families of the privileged class, and also secretly bribed the guardians, with whom he was bound to have frequent conflicts.
He gave potions to those with sick family members as a charity, and with his huge amount of money, he employed even ordinary people and expanded his roots throughout Korea.
In a capitalist society where money is abundant, finding ‘voluntary blood donors’ is a piece of cake.
Direct blood sucking based on a price, not indirect blood sucking using a blood pack.
This soon led to an increase in the size and quality of the organization, and also to loyalty to Heinz, who had brought about such a miracle.
And now.
The blood alliance was about to make another leap forward.
From shade to sun.
From Korea to the world.
No one could stop their advance, for they had already laid a solid foundation.
***
“···Howard Industries?”
Yoon Ji-yoon, the head of the Korean Repatriates Association branch, frowned and checked the documents in front of her again.
But no matter how much I looked, nothing changed.
“What is this?”
Finally, she turned her gaze to the secretary who had brought the documents.
In fact, all the information the association had found was contained in it, but I couldn’t bear to not ask questions like that.
“As you can see, this is the current course of action taken by the Blood Alliance. It seems that they intend to bring the trade in magic tools that has been conducted secretly into the open and increase its scale. They have already completed the establishment of the corporation···.”
“No, no. I know that because I saw it too···.”
She cut off the secretary’s long speech and looked down at the papers again as if she found it absurd.
The actions of the Blood Alliance up to now have been quite surprising.
He was so resourceful that even those who should have put the brakes on his expansion of power just kept their mouths shut and watched.
Even among the Guardians under her command, there were quite a few who were not only reluctant to clash with the vampires of the Blood Pact, but were even on personal terms with them.
‘But now, this isn’t at that level, is it?’
A company specializing in selling otherworldly magic tools.
In fact, there were still quite a few companies that were ‘intermediaries’ and ‘distributors’ who procured other-worldly artifacts and sold them elsewhere.
But, since it was a market with a severe shortage of supply to begin with, it was closer to the concept of premium service through a small number of brokers···.
“···Is this the right scale? Opening stores nationwide? No, even opening branches overseas? Have you already finished discussions with the European side?”
The scale of this now has already surpassed the limits of what can be accepted in that way.
This was a plan that could never have been attempted through conventional brokerage transactions.
Even if someone came to Earth with a bunch of magical tools, it wouldn’t be possible because eventually the bottom would be exposed.
“No matter how I look at it, I can’t help but think there’s a producer. No, it’s not just at that level···.”
Mass production system on Earth.
It was certain that a vampire organization growing in the shadows of Korea had acquired what even the world’s powers and mega-corporations had given up on.
‘How? Even if you could arrange for the craftsman, how did you get the materials? And in such large quantities…’
Her mind became complicated.
Until now, we had been enjoying an unprecedentedly peaceful time thanks to the cooperation of Hahoe Mask, Phantom, and the Blood Alliance, but it felt like a huge storm was approaching from far away.
“Oh, no. The headache is that the association president will coordinate with the government first, so I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Hmm, I’m just a branch manager.”
After all, it was the best choice to settle down and be content with a suitable position.
She praised herself inwardly and went back to looking through the documents with a much more relaxed mind.
“But Howard Industries… Howard, not Heinz?”
“The Intelligence Department suspects that a certain Howard is a key figure in the creation of magical tools. However, since obtaining information through heterosis is nearly impossible, no significant clues have been obtained.”
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“···The unity there is famous. The ability to subjugate all vampires regardless of origin is Phantom’s exclusive property.”
Unlike Hahoetal, who moved alone, Phantom Hines was a big shot who not only led the blood alliance but also vampire clans overseas.
In some ways, it could be seen as a greater potential threat than the Hahoe mask from the country’s perspective.
Because of that, entry bans had already been implemented in each country, but of course, that meant nothing to him.
‘Should I contact you again after such a long time?’
Yoon Ji-yoon, who has some ties to him, thanks to his cooperation in the Buncheonhoe.
Perhaps this plan was pushed forward with the thought that it would help with that as well, but the scale of the plan was so large that it ended up causing problems here as well.
‘He’s a man who’s so busy running around doing nothing that it’s hard to have a conversation with him. But I guess I’ll just tell the spokesperson for Heterosis.’
She sighed again and her gaze turned to a few pictures on the last page of the document.
From banners placed in various places on a background that looks like a captured Internet screen, to neat posters that look like they were carefully crafted by a professional.
“···What is this?”
“Oh, this is promotional material for Howard Industries. They must have really planned it, because they’re pouring out advertisements on various media, including the Internet, even though they haven’t even officially opened yet. They’ve already created a website and even social media.”
“Ugh.”
Her hands, which were flipping through the paper with a sigh, stopped.
“···You’re looking for an elixir? No, more than that, you’re custom-making a top-tier magic tool? You had no intention of hiding this from the beginning, right?”
I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh in frustration, but when I thought about it again, it made sense.
Howard Industries’ Phantom Heinz, the master of the Blood Pact, is a top-class transcendentaler who has proven himself by defeating a handful of level 9 vampires in the world one after another.
Especially since it is certain that even the ‘Duke’, once considered the strongest in Europe, has fallen into his hands, there will not be many crazy people who would dare to go against his will.
‘If it weren’t for that, no matter how much the blood alliance oiled it, there would have been a limit to how big it could become. Because the greedy pigs wouldn’t have been satisfied with what they received and would have rushed in to eat more.’
A force of some size is already aware of his activities in Europe.
If you don’t want to end up a mummy with your blood sucked by a stranger who broke in in the middle of the night without anyone noticing, you should have protected yourself.
“I’m curious. How confident do you have to be to advertise like this so blatantly?”
Yoon Ji-yoon put the documents down on the desk and quietly stroked her chin.
There were two main issues contained in the publicity.
Mass supply of magical tools that cannot be produced on Earth and custom manufacturing of top-quality special products.
Among them, I already knew the level of magic tools they handled.
It has been quite some time since the Blood Alliance expanded its power by spreading it, and more than anything, in the process of cooperating with the Bancheonhoe, I personally used the items I received as gifts.
“Top grade… It’s not as good as special grade, but even top grade isn’t that common. You can custom order something like that?”
The highest grade, which is higher than that, is only given to items that are worthless, such as the ‘Holy Sword’ of the recently famous Saint Heinrich, so in reality, the highest grade is the best magical tool that the Awakened can handle.
‘Even the things I used to use were only intermediate-level on Earth.’
As it was her equipment that was called a hero, it was of the highest quality there, but the world itself strongly emphasized the individual’s abilities, so the technology for making magical tools was not very developed.
Instead, they had quite advanced technology when it came to elixirs···.
“Hmm, should I just say something?”
She muttered softly, recalling the various elixirs she had brought with her just in case.
But I thought that since we had a connection, he wouldn’t scam me.
The first day of promotion before the official opening.
The Howard Industries project was going smoothly.
***
‘It was worth laying the foundation in advance.’
The complicated preparations, including incorporation of the corporation and opening of the store, proceeded quickly as if with the wind in their sails.
Perhaps because the plan had been well-oiled, no one came forward to oppose it, and thanks to the assistance from many places, the plan began to gain momentum.
-Howard Industries? I heard they specialize in magic tools. Does anyone know?
└A specialist in other world magic tools? Where is that? Isn’t that a scam?
└No, if it was a scam, it would be advertised on a small site. This is even on the main portal?
└It was also reported in the news of major newspapers. No, not only major newspapers, but all newspapers were covered in it. Is this a subsidiary of a large corporation? How much money did they spend?
└Why is this happening;;
Promotion was also progressing smoothly.
We were preparing to open stores across the country, but we had no intention of focusing only on offline stores.
‘The Internet is the best when it comes to accessibility. Whether it’s for getting information or purchasing items.’
Of course, since it was such an expensive item that it would make my jaw drop, I had no intention of using a regular shipping service.
When purchasing an item, you should show some sincerity by going to the location the customer wants and conducting the transaction directly.
‘The vampires of the Blood Pact are coming forward, so no one will dare to do anything against us.’
From security management to store security and product delivery.
It was so convenient to get work done because we had a workforce that could be used in all weathers.
‘As most of the vampires of the Blood Pact have become heterosis, their resistance to the sun has also become stronger.’
Heterosis was initially just a faction within the Blood Alliance, the Korean vampire alliance.
However, as their activities began to gain attention, many people began to join them even though they were not forced to do so.
They also learned from watching that the benefits of being in a dependent relationship far outweigh the inconveniences it brings.
‘Because I’ve never used my subordinate position to force him to do anything unreasonable.’
Isn’t there a command system based on a superior-subordinate relationship everywhere anyway?
Heterosis, which had been gradually expanding in size, now accounts for more than 90 percent of the entire blood alliance.
At this point, it would be safe to say that ‘blood alliance = heterosis’.
“Of course, that doesn’t mean it will be possible to achieve the goal in a short period of time.”
Although Howard Industries had been distributing magic tools in the shadows of Korea for quite some time, to the outside world, it was just a new company.
No matter how much you promote it, there are bound to be people who question its reliability.
Since there is no answer other than time, there is no benefit in rushing.
‘But we can shorten that period. If we hire a famous celebrity model and start selling potions at the same time…’
Magic tools weren’t the only thing precious on Earth.
Potions that may seem like a panacea are also treated as expensive.
Rather, since it is a product directly related to health, a more dramatic effect could be expected.
‘Hubert Trading Company’s potion production plant was just about ready. It took some time though, since we had to hire a lot of alchemists.’
The funds that went in there were made by distributing various spices from the Earth and various items that could only be found here.
My goal was mutual growth through exchanges between both sides, not a relationship where one side unilaterally gives.
“There are other promotional events that need to be held as well, but… well, I guess the smart people will take care of that.”
If you achieve results, you will be rewarded accordingly.
That alone would be enough to fulfill your role as an employer.
There are many seasoned elites in that field, so there was no need for an amateur like me to interfere.
‘I should just worry about supplying the goods. Let’s see, for now, let’s go with the top-tier magic tools for promotion and show-off purposes…’
Was it because I was so at ease?
The response to ‘Howard Industries’ began to explode much sooner than I expected.
