Chapter 11: A merchant…shook this king’s hand?
Doojeong Group was one of South Korea’s most prominent conglomerates.
From instant noodles to missiles, it has dabbled in every industry in South Korea, and while some have failed and others have succeeded, Doojeong influence in South Korea and the world is not insignificant.
The business that has been most affected by the gate is the food industry.
Countless granaries in China’s Huabei Plain, Egypt’s Nile Delta, and elsewhere have been abandoned due to miasma contamination from dungeon breaks.
Thirty years ago, there were no reagents to decontaminate miasma contamination, so this contamination caused permanent damage and, of course, food shortages on a global scale.
Governments had to find alternative sources of food for the abandoned grain fields and heavily supported domestic companies in this regard.
Doojeong Future Food is a large company that has come to account for a third of the domestic food industry thanks to the government’s full support.
Park Jong Chan, the managing director of such a company, is a person who can carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and he has never been looked down upon by anyone.
“A merchant….shook this king’s hand?”
For a moment, he thought he’d misheard.
In the modern world, businessmen are the most respected members of society. They control vast amounts of capital, move power, and even change laws.
If you’re the managing director of a major company like Doojeong Group, you can’t be messed with by any high-ranking hunter or congressman.
What was this look and tone of voice that belittles and demeans such a person and the business itself?
Even the association’s female staff is staring in disbelief at this shocking statement.
Park Jong Chan doesn’t let his expression crumble, and he smiles a business smile.
“Haha, Survivor Leon, you seem to be unfamiliar with modern Earth civilization. In modern times, being an entrepreneur is very different from being a merchant in the old days…….”
“How dare you, a lowly merchant, speak ill of royalty. This king has never authorized you to speak.”
What, is he crazy?
Park Jong Chan had met a few survivors on business, but he’d never been looked at with such disdain.
“I, Your Majesty… In our world, businessmen are a highly respected profession…….”
Leon’s voice trailed off in disbelief.
“Businessmen are essentially crooks who sell their dignity and self-respect for profit. They exploit loopholes in the law and are proud of it.”
There was no denying it: Doojeong Future Foods was immediately criticized for tax evasion, illegal unionization, and excessive profit-seeking but other businessmen were no different.
“Even if the world is different, it won’t change the nature and fundamentals of business. How can those with lowly tongues and lowly natures stand face to face with noble royalty?”
“Hmmm…….”
“I have nothing more to hear.”
After delivering the last of his insults and disrespect, Leon strode nonchalantly past Park Jong Chan and Ha-ri followed closely behind as Park Jong Chan was stunned and speechless as he watched.
“What, what…….?”
* * * *
“This is where Your Majesty will be staying.”
“Well, it’s nice.”
In the modern world, a 50-square-foot office apartment is more than enough for a single person, but for Leon, it was nothing compared to his royal palace.
Still, he wasn’t in the mood to argue, given his Earthly origins and the fact that he was used to sleeping on the streets.
“This place is provided to you by the Association for a year. You don’t have to worry about rent or maintenance, the association will take care of that.”
Ha-ri explains to Leon, who nods. She adds that there is also room service and a cleaning service that is paid for by the Association.
‘Huh… That’s good.’
It was fortunate for Ha-ri, who is a member of the Hunter Association, that Leon passed by Jong Chan Park, the executive director of Future Foods.
Information about survivors is usually classified and like North Korean defectors, those from remote societies are kept in quarantine for three months for training.
But in a completely different world, the gap must be enormous. Normally, they would have to be quarantined and trained gradually, but if they wanted to quarantine Leon right away, there would be an uproar.
“But what is the matter that brings him to Your Majesty?”
“Where would merchants go? He must be after profit.”
Profit? What kind of profit would the executive director of Doojeong Group want from Leon…Ha-ri slapped her knee.
“It’s the rice, isn’t it? That blessed rice from the Hunan plains…….”
The situation was so urgent that there was no information control and an internet broadcaster had filmed it.
“It must be Mr. Park, the farmer…?”
She searched on YouTube and found a video of Mr. Park. Apparently, the Association had taken the video down and issued a warning…
“What? He posted again?!”
* * * *
Mr. Park, a farmer, was depressed because his latest video had been taken down.
The shocking scene was filmed in real time in front of the Hunan Plains and the land that was obviously contaminated with miasma was cleaned in an instant.
“Did you see that, brothers, the rice… the rice… the rice… it grew like a bang?!”
-What? What?
-Magic?
-Was he a mage from the Tower? Did he use some kind of rapid growth spell?
-But even magic can grow plants on miasma-contaminated ground?
-Maybe it’s a new technology we don’t know about.
Mr. Park, a farmer, knew all too well how amazing it was to see crops grow on contaminated ground.
Even after the advent of miasma purification technology in the Magic Tower, it took a year or two of expensive reagents to purify the miasma -contaminated land.
Thinking of his neighbor, Mr. Jung, who went bankrupt because he couldn’t afford the reagents, Park swallowed hard at the miracle before him.
-But the crops grown with magic are inedible anyway.
-It’s enchanted, so it’s poisonous to normal people.
-Even the Hunters would need a stomach wash after a few bites.
But soon, an amazing sight was witnessed. The Association’s employees were threshing rice and cooking it themselves!
“Hey! What are you doing?”
When he tried to get closer to see if they were really eating rice, he was chased away by the association staff, but later that evening he found the owner of the field, Mr. Kim.
“Mr. Kim! Mr. Kim, did you get what I asked for?
“Of course. The guys at the root Association said I shouldn’t take it out at all…….”
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“What kind of law is that? Aren’t you the owner of the field?”
“That’s right…….”
“Because rice grew on the miasma contaminated land the Association members ate a bowl of rice each.”
“That’s right…….”
Mr. Park was curious enough to become a YouTuber, filming all kinds of wildlife in the countryside.
The land contaminated with miasma was cleaned up, and the crops grew in no time. How could he pass this on?
He wanted to post a video on YouTube but first he wanted to do a little experiment.
“Let’s cook some rice and feed it to the neighborhood pig first.”
“Hmmm…good idea.”
To test the waters, the two cooked up a small batch of rice.
The glossy, shiny rice was tempting to eat with torn kimchi, but they decided to test it on animals first, just in case.
-Bam!
That’s when it happened. The rice was barely done cooking when an old dog came to the door.
“Isn’t this Mr. Chen’s old dog?”
“Yes, it is. Why is he here?”
Dolshun was a twelve years old dog. As is often the case with old animals, he suffered from arthritis, which led to lack of exercise and obesity.
Why is he here when he usually stays at home?
-Thump! Thump!
“No, Dolshun, why don’t you go home?”
It was then. Dolshun, who was looking at them from the doorway, suddenly stuck his head into the rice.
“What the hell!”
“Is Dolshun crazy?!”
The two men were furious, but soon became amused by Dolshun’s behavior.
“You bastard, you can’t eat that!”
“Why is he eating it all of a sudden?”
It was a big deal because Dolshun was a dog that Mr. Chen pampered and raised and he would be sad if he died from eating rice.
“Spit it out! Spit it out!”
Mr. Park tried to open Dolshun’s mouth to spit out the rice, but Dolshun swallowed the rice as if his life depended on it.
-Kung, kung, kung!
Dolshun jumped up and down with a thunderous sound. After scurrying around like a grasshopper, Dolshun immediately ran towards Mr. Chen’s house.
“What?”
“What the…….”
It was an old dog with arthritis that had trouble walking and only last week they saw Mr. Chen crying as he held Dolshun but what does that mean? It was as if he was getting healthy.
“…….”
“…….”
Mr. Park and Mr. Kim looked at each other, thinking the same thing as they immediately started making a new meal.
“Ugh, chronic scoliosis?!”
“It’s like my stuffy chest has been opened up!”
The miracles that happened there quickly spread throughout the village.
Meanwhile, a similar phenomenon was taking place in the Doojeong Future Food Lab, where the Firebird Guild had set out to determine the identity of the rice.
“What the hell am I looking at?”
“How can such a dense energy be contained in a single grain of rice?”
The ‘Blessed Rice’ that had been sneaked through the Firebird Guild was cross-checked by the appraisers and found to be rare grade one by one.
[Blessed Rice]
Grade: Rare
Description: This rice is blessed with the divine power of Goddess Demera, the goddess of life and fertility.
It alleviates grade 3 diseases and if consumed continuously, there is a high chance of being cured.
“Blessed rice? What the hell is it blessed with?”
“Isn’t it magic? From what religion is Goddess Demera?”
“If it’s a grade 3 disease, what does that mean?”
“Something like early colon cancer.”
“Damn it! Can you prove this? Test it on lab rats!”
The results of the experiment showed that the healing powers of the Blessed Rice were real as the mice that were dying from the constant consumption of the experimental crops were cured.
“Yi, hurry up! We need to report to the top, and tell them to get as many seeds as possible!”
The report of the lab’s findings was sent to the upper management of Doojeong Future Food, and the managing director, Park Jong Chan, was immediately dispatched.
It wasn’t hard to find Leon, as Doojeong had planted eyes and ears in the Hunter Association.
“A merchant….shook this king’s hand?”
But Leon ignored them, and Director Park Jong Chan returned with a grimace.
“You arrogant savage!”
Mr. Park’s anger erupted like an active volcano as the researchers who had come to report to him squinted at the plaque he threw at them, but he didn’t care about them.
“Hey. Those rice crops. Are you sure they’re effective?”
“Yes, yes…! Yes, they are.”
“You haven’t even done any clinical trials. If it works on rats, what guarantee do you have that it’ll work on humans?”
“Well, it’s…….”
The secretary stepped in.
“We went to the owner of that field to get as much of the seed as possible. But there──”
The secretary relayed what Mr. Park and Mr. Kim had experienced.
A dog that was dying came back to life and after eating the rice and their chronic inflammation and rhinitis were cured. After that the whole village was cured of minor to major illnesses thanks to the rice.
“We don’t have the clinical trial data… but it’s as good as proven.”
“That’s a good thing.”
Mr. Park’s eyes lit up with greed. If he hadn’t trusted the appraisal in the first place, he wouldn’t have stepped forward.
The rice is a hot commodity that could change the world.
“If only he wasn’t a crazy asshole.”
The problem was the survivor who held the secret to the rice.
The anachronistic barbarian survivor looked down on the director of the world-class Doojeong Group as a lowly businessman.
“Mr. Director…we must have it, it has infinite power.”
“I know.”
The rice that is said to cure cancer just by eating it would revolutionize not only food but also the medical world.
“We’ll see… we’ll see.”
Since he’s so demanding, I’ll have to ask for a meeting through the Association. I made a surprise visit before the Association restrained me, but it all went awry.
“You don’t know anything about business in this country, do you?”
He was determined to punch this barbarian in the nose.
So many survivors of a stupid, foolish, barbaric civilization thought they were the best but when they saw the overwhelming scientific and productive power of modern civilization, they finally admitted that they were behind.
“I see you’re making a big deal out of a little rice…I’ll represent Earth and show you the power of science.”
Park smiled triumphantly.
‘I’m going to overwhelm him with a culture shock.’
