Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 134

Why do we have to work?
To sustain our livelihood? To buy what we want? To raise a family and children? Even without listing various reasons, we already know.
Everyone engages in economic activities.
Especially if you were born in South Korea, you must stake your life on economic activities.
You sacrifice your youth to get into a prestigious university, and you sacrifice your college life to get a good job.
Even after employment, continuous self-improvement is necessary. Only then can you switch to a better job, meet a good spouse, and increase your chances of building a good family.
With your body, mind, and life all worn out, you barely find the strength to endure another day by watching your children grow up.
Of course, there are other choices.
If you don’t want to sacrifice your life for economic activities, you can live a laid-back life.
Graduate from a regional four-year university, get a job at a small or medium-sized company, and enjoy your hobbies in your free time.
Living diligently versus living leisurely.
Economic success versus lack thereof. The choice is free, but the outcomes are stark.
If you ask someone on the street which life they would prefer, anyone would want the former.
[You have become weary of everything.]
[You seek an excuse to be lazy.]
But is living leisurely really wrong?
Striving for economic success might be against human nature.
Losing the leisure of life, continuing labor while suppressing extreme stress, living a life of repeated work and overtime, even as our bodies and minds deteriorate.
Perhaps the low birth rate in South Korea, where I lived as office worker Lee Geon-han, was due to the human instinct to work moderately.
Without a family and children, working leisurely wouldn’t affect your livelihood.
In that sense, maybe I can take another day off today.
Thud.
“These are the approval documents. I’ve gathered only the important ones.”
A stack of documents was placed on my desk.
I felt like leaving work as soon as I arrived.
‘How tedious.’
It seemed my laziness had intensified compared to before.
It might be because I had become physically and economically comfortable.
The assurance that no one on Earth could harm me, the abundance of wealth from selling just a portion of the materials in my inventory.
My body had lost the reason to live diligently.
This must be why deprivation is important. Just like how visiting a PC room during exam periods was so much fun, perhaps even the bored Isaac needed some form of deprivation.
“Oh my, Sir. You look like a dead fish today. Is something wrong?”
“It feels like a rut.”
I wouldn’t have said this normally. It seemed there was a problem with my hormonal system.
I had just resolved to live as a hero, and here I was already.
“Gasp! Could it be PTSD? Heroes often have a few mental disorders. Should you get a check-up?”
A psychological test. I wondered if there was a teacher in this world who could counsel the worries of someone with a terminal possession. It would be fortunate if I wasn’t treated like a lunatic.
‘Come to think of it.’
It was a wonder I hadn’t gone insane yet. Maybe I had a stronger heart than I thought.
Perhaps it was because I knew how to rest well. Managing stress with everyday skills must have played a significant role.
‘I want to live an easy life.’
Haven’t I suffered enough? The survival ordeal on the ancient ship was the pinnacle of my hardships.
Seeing Secretary Hwang’s neat office look, I suddenly had a question.
“It’s not that bad. Secretary Hwang, how do you deal with not wanting to work?”
“Deal with it? Can you even deal with that? You have to work if you want to get paid, right?”
“Is your family situation tough?”
“No.”
“Do you need money for something specific?”
“I need to save up to buy a house and cover living expenses.”
“If you won a 10 billion won lottery today, would you still continue working here?”
“Why are you asking such a tricky question? Of course, I’d quit, but how can I say that in front of you, Captain?”
Her answer made me tilt my head. I couldn’t tell if she was being honest, stupid, or playing a high-level word game.
Anyway, I found a hint in Secretary Hwang’s answer.
‘Set a bigger goal.’
I should set my next goal to be equipment or elixirs that I can’t obtain with my current resources.
That way, this lazy body of mine might at least pretend to move.
Buzz―.
After sending Secretary Hwang out and regaining my focus, I used my memory technique to memorize the contents of the documents.
Each one was a significant matter.
This year, the Stove League would start in mid-April, and for two months, contracts, recruitments, releases, and trades of heroes and coaches would take place.
I had successfully renewed three-year contracts with my cherished members: Hwang Man-deuk, Seo Eun-ha, Gil-seong, and Yeo Jin-soo.
In Claw Hero, as long as stress and favorability management weren’t at their worst, heroes never left, but this was reality, and anything could happen.
The contract fee was 1 billion won each. The settlement ratio remained at 50:50. The cost of elixirs and equipment provided for free was significantly higher than the settlement money, so there was no room for complaints.
I signed the documents with a happy heart.
“1 billion won is nothing.”
A total of 4 billion won. It was pocket change for me.
The document right below was a report from the finance team showing a net profit of 300 billion won.
Selling byproducts obtained from Emperor-class monsters and a few magic stones had put billions in my wallet.
No wonder working felt like a chore.
The annual revenue from heroes’ missions was far less than the profit I made from a single trip to the hidden world.
I needed to expand the clan quickly. Only then would making money feel rewarding.
“Next.”
There were five A-rank heroes, eighty B-rank heroes, and 1,100 rookie heroes hoping to transfer to the Harmony Clan.
I could filter and accept them as needed. After all, I had plenty of money.
We would soon move to a remodeled building, and I would hire a large number of staff.
The staff would handle all the practical work, and I would just attend meetings occasionally and approve documents like this.
I quickly reviewed advertising model contracts, investment proposals, and finally checked the mission schedules of the affiliated heroes, wrapping up my morning tasks.
Swoosh.
I reclined my chair and lay back. Then I summoned Gunggi and placed it on my stomach, fiddling with it continuously.
“Purr~ Purr~”
The texture and sound were excellent.
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***
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A black fortress nestled beneath a deep mountain stream.
The structure, far removed from the eyes of the world, was surrounded by high black stone walls, with dark clouds above obscuring even the bright sun.
Clank!
Inside the black fortress.
Under the damp air, iron chains emitting an orange magical pulse hung long and heavy.
These chains connected to two chairs, each holding a figure with silver and blonde hair, seemingly unconscious and bound.
Their faces were stained with blood, as if they had undergone severe torture.
Silver chains wrapped around their necks, wrists, and ankles, constantly emitting magical waves.
The room they were confined in was surrounded by thick titanium, with surveillance cameras and radar systems placed in every corner.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The eyes of the duty officer monitoring hundreds of screens in the central control room gleamed with professional rigor.
“Hmm?”
His eyes suddenly flashed sharply. The officer zoomed in on Camera 8 and scrutinized it closely. For a while, he found no abnormal phenomena.
However, just as he was about to switch the screen, he saw a faint figure appear and disappear at the end of the corridor.
The officer immediately tried to press the emergency button.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
But black smoke strangled his neck faster. His body was lifted high by an unknown force, and he soon lost consciousness, his arms dangling.
Thud.
Ssshh.
Leaving the officer on the floor, the black smoke vanished, only to reappear inside the titanium prison.
As the black smoke wavered, a chilling whisper seemed to echo.
The sound was so faint that it was impossible to discern what was being murmured, but the silver-haired boy reacted to the faint voice, lifting his head.
His eyes were swollen and burst, no longer capable of functioning as eyes.
Swoosh―.
The black smoke, like a devil’s whisper, stimulated the silver-haired boy. He shook his head violently, drooling and breathing heavily as if he were about to die.
“Gasp… Gasp…!”
A dark red aura began to rise from the crown of the silver-haired boy’s head. At the same time, tiny cracks appeared in the silver chains and orange iron chains that bound him.
Clang!
Crash.
Before long, the restraints shattered as if they had exploded. The black mist swirled around the staggering silver-haired boy. He convulsed and shook his head wildly.
“No. No. No. No!”
Rumble…!
The boy, who had been shaking his head, suddenly stopped moving. He then limped over to the blonde youth, who was still unconscious and bound.
Crack!
The boy strangled the blonde youth. The black mist swirled violently. Ominous alien words flowed from the black mist.
―Kill! Kill your brother! Give me your despair!
“Ugh! Ugh.”
The blonde youth opened his eyes. Unlike the boy, his eyes were intact. Tears streamed down the blonde youth’s face in disbelief.
His pupils began to roll back.
Whoooosh!
Just before the blonde youth’s breath stopped, a fierce dark energy erupted from the silver-haired boy’s entire body.
“Aaaaah!”
At the boy’s scream, the restraints binding the blonde youth shattered, and even the titanium walls that confined them melted away like lava.
Whoosh.
The black mist wavered irregularly. In an instant, it took shape, forming a grotesque figure with horns on its head.
―L-Lord…? F-Forgive me!
The figure made of mist trembled violently, then prostrated itself before the silver-haired boy.
The face of the silver-haired boy, whose eyes had been swollen and burst, was now completely healed.
He lifted the unconscious blonde youth into his arms. Looking down at the youth, the silver-haired boy’s eyes were filled with deep regret and sorrow.
The silver-haired boy spoke, his crimson eyes wide open.
“Guide me.”
Ssshh.
The figure made of black mist, which had been worshiping the silver-haired boy, dispersed into the air, then tightly surrounded the silver-haired boy holding the blonde youth.
Whoosh.
As the black mist swirled like a storm, their figures vanished without a trace.
Beeeeeeep!
Soon, a sharp emergency alarm echoed throughout the black fortress, and guards rushed to the scene, but the blonde youth and the silver-haired boy they were looking for had already disappeared.