History's Strongest Manager Chapter 13

 ­There is a reason for an unconditional favour (3)

Not too long after, Kang-Joon stands right before the president of the factory in his office. The president actually comes from a business background with no practical experience in crafting. He is the one who first started the full industrialisation of hunting devices in a more systematic manner by gathering a handful of craftsmen to start with. Strictly speaking, he is no expert in the devices themselves.

As if he is offended with the fact that he himself has to meet a rookie manager in person privately in his office, the frown on his face is rather vivid. Uncomfortably, he spits his words out.

“is Miss Seol well?”

“Oh, yea, she’s way too well. It’s almost like she’s getting even younger.”

“Wouldn’t it be good for her to get even younger.”

“Exactly.”

Kang-Joon and Jin-Soo, the president of The Crescent, after a few light words, jump straight into the real talk. Kang-Joon brings up the topic.

“All this stuff. You sent us this awhile ago, right?”

“Yes. But there’s something you need to know.”

Twisting the end of his lips, he points at the Aether sword which Kang-Joon had placed on the table.

“These are not the products of our factory.”

“Sorry?”
“These are just some products which have been sitting in the warehouse. We didn’t make these devices. They are old-generation ones kept for research purposes. We just sent you the ones that we considered still usable. These things have been in so many different hands, now we don’t even know who laid their hands on them. We just serviced them a little bit and sent them…I’m sorry to hear about the explosion but…did anyone get hurt?”

“Nope. Just some scratches on a few bricks.”

“Good to hear. But, let’s get this clear. These are not the products of The Crescent.”

“Hmm…so you purposely sent products that are very possibly faulty?”

“Faulty? Our servicing is as secure and high-quality as our production. I don’t know where the trouble came from but…didn’t you use them too harshly maybe?”

Att.i.tude to turn the fault on the user. Kang-Joon, tilting his head a little bit, asks back.

“It’s made to be a weapon. Do you think it’s even possible to handle them like a baby or something? It’s meant to be treated harshly. Seems like you are saying the products made by The Crescent will all explode into pieces when used under an extreme condition. With an impact big enough to blow up ten people in a split second.”

“…Aren’t you stepping over the line a little bit? You think I’m an easy person to play with just because I’m personally meeting you like this? I told you. These are not our products.”

To the president’s words, Kang-Joon pulls out his hunter ID, plonking it onto the table. The ID clearly states that he is a B-Cla.s.s hunter. Having been in the industry for a while, the president should well know what it means to be a B-Cla.s.s pure human hunter.

Kang-Joon puts up a bright smile.

“You think I’m an easy person to play with?”

There is only one thing a B-Cla.s.s hunter ID indicates. Jin-Soo predicted the big growth of monster related industries as soon as the monster breakouts started to happen. Hence, he is very familiar with this part of the world and has been through enough scenes to have met a lot of people. For sure, he can tell that the rookie manager standing right before his eyes is not an easy person to deal with.

‘This f.u.c.ker…he’s a veteran.’

The Mutants, The Knights and even The Awakes of S-Cla.s.s take their hats off to a B-Cla.s.s pure human hunter. Skimming through the ID, Jin-Soo cannot find any traces of fabrication.

Because they tend to be more dependent on weapons and devices than anyone else, pure human hunters have better eyes when it comes to a.s.sessing the quality of them. Jin-Soo decides to switch up his att.i.tude. Uncrossing his legs, he sits up straight on the couch.

“Ah…alright. I’m sorry that I looked down on you. Still, the responsibility for this problem really has to be clarified. I’m certain that our servicing was perfect. Maybe there was the problem with the transporting process. Are you sure the rest two will have the same issue?”

“Oh, really? So there is no problem at all, huh?”

As Kang-Joon asks, picking up an Aether sword from the table, Jin-Soo nods with a stiff face.

“Our craftsmen have the best skills in the world! More of this, I will consider it as an insult to the reputation of The Crescent. We will gladly re-service the products so I hope there is nothing to…”

Kang-Joon activates the Aether sword, putting it back onto the table. With a deadly weapon right before his eyes, Jin-Soo jumps up from the couch.

“Wh,wh…wh…what the h.e.l.l are you doing?!”

“You said no problems. So there shouldn’t be any problems with leaving this thing on, right?”

“……”

Looking at Kang-Joon who is keeping his cool, Jin-Soo is about to go crazy.

“I saw this thing exploding with my own eyes, yet you don’t want to believe it. So why don’t we see together? Whether it was because we used to too harshly…”

Kang-Joon lifts his head up towards Jin-Soo only to see his face turning almost green. Kang-Joon grins.

“Or if it will just blow up by itself. Oh, don’t worry too much about it. If you put on this Armour Coat, you should be protected enough from the explosion.”

Kang-Joon stands up from his seat, putting the Armour Coat sent from The Crescent around the president’s shoulders. Of course, the protection of the Armour Coat is bad enough to be broken down by a single kick.

“You were certain it will not explode, yea?”

“……”

“Let’s see. If it’s going to blow up or not.”

“Th…this is crazy! It’s crazy to play with something that is possibly faulty like this!”

“Well, you said the servicing was perfect and there is no problem with it. Also, you said the product is not from The Crescent but…”

Jin-Soo cannot find any words to fight against Kang-Joon. Kang-Joon, grabbing the Aether Sword, shows him the bottom of the handle.

“Well, it’s clearly engraved in there. ‘The Crescent’…”

The mark is indeed the original and unique brand mark of The Crescent and Jin-Soo knows that it is real for sure.

“Th, this can’t be real!”

Kang-Joon puts the sword back onto the table. As soon as it’s placed there, it starts to vibrate vigorously. Jin-Soo’s face goes dead. Kang-Joon pulls him back from reaching to the table.

“That will not be turned off until you admit that it has a full potential to explode.”

“Turn it off! Off! Off! Off right now! It’s going to blow up! Blow up! That will blow up for sure you crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

“What’s the matter? You are wearing your Armour Coat, I can activate my Armour Field. We will be safe from such an explosion, won’t we?”

“No! Not at all! This place will get blown to h.e.l.l! Let go! Call the cops! Right now!”

Right at that moment, the vibration from the sword suddenly stops. Kang-Joon sees Jin-Soo’s face turning even more dead. Then, he cuts off the recording on his phone.

“Mr. President! Are you alright?!”

The worker who rushes into the room because of all the sound recognises there is a problem as he sees Kang-Joon and his boss awkwardly standing. The president can surely call the cops on Kang-Joon right now.

Yet, it is obvious that some dirty things will be revealed during the investigation. In many aspects, businessmen do not tend to be very fond of the police. With the things that will rise to the surface in the investigation, president himself is more likely to be arrested rather than Kang-Joon.

“Uhm, no. There’s no problem. It’s fine. Leave us for a while. Thank you.”

Obviously, the scene certainly looks problematic. But still, the employee does a little bow and hurries out of the room.

Kang-Joon turns off the Aether sword then hands it over. Looking closely at the handle of the sword, Jin-Soo seems to be rather troubled.

“Thi,this is real….”

“You said it was made by some other company, but clearly it isn’t.”

Of course, the sword itself actually is a clean ready-made product of The Crescent which has nothing to do with the faulty ones Kang-Joon received, he had only got his hands on the sword yesterday and the vibration was from a vibrating part taken off of an alarm clock. Kang-Joon, though he may have a lot of guts, is still a logical person. He would not risk his life for this negotiation.

“So, I demand you to do something about this!”

Slamming on the table, he slides his hands under it to take the vibrating block back. Although it was only a bit louder than a normal phone vibration, the president still got fooled big time.

In fact, the three swords sent to Hero Management could not be identified of their manufacturer. By purposely getting rid of the brand mark, The Crescent attempted to avoid the responsibility.

Completely unaware of that the device he is holding actually has no problem at all, Jin-Soo is troubled by the fact that their own product showed serious signs of explosion. Regardless of the voice recording, if he fails at persuading Kang-Joon, The Crescent would have to go down for sure.

“…Yes. I admit that there was a mistake during the servicing process. I still cannot even believe that such a product is really made by us.”

Jin-Soo is a man with quick calculation. He quickly comes to admit the fact that he is driven into a corner. Yet, he goes on to clarify that it is all an unfortunate accident. However, Kang-Joon does not stop there.

“Why did you do this?”
“Wh, what?”
“Why did you give us faulty stuff on purpose?”
“Y, you…What kind of a conspiracy are you speaking? Are you really saying that we gave you faulty products on purpose? You really must not be scared of all the possible charges you could face for saying such a thing!”

“The one who should face charges is you. You gave us a grenade with a pin unplugged as a weapon for us to trust.”

“Enough of that! If faulty products is your problem, we will replace them with brand new C-Cla.s.s products. So get out! You keep speaking that gibberish, I will call the security on you!”
“I still don’t think you understand the situation. This is nothing short of homicide.”

As Kang-Joon fights back, Jin-Soo’s face tenses up even more. He can obviously tell there is a ma.s.sive internal panic going on with Jin-Soo right now.

“Giving away faulty equipment to the hunters of Hero Management and letting them die from the accidents yet the products cannot be identified….Don’t you really think this is way too black hearted? No matter how hard I look at it, this is a trap set by you guys and you have established all the escape routes from this. But how pitiful…one of the swords just had to be…”

Kang-Joon s.n.a.t.c.hes the sword from the president.

“From The Crescent.”

Kang-Joon grins. Jin-Soo avoids Kang-Joon’s stare. Though he may be smiling, Kang-Joon’s eyes are piercing into the president’s mind like a set of cold daggers.

“Your claim that it was intentional, that is a misunderstanding for sure.”

The moment he admits to that claim, The Crescent will have to close with all the related persons arrested. Kang-Joon does not even want to know why they set up such a plot.

Instead, he is about to rip them off as much as he can.

“Armour Coats, Aether swords, all A-Cla.s.s. Three sets.”

“Wh….at?”

“Also, C-Cla.s.s Shield Bracelets, three of them. The warranty will have to come with all of them. With no doubt.”

“What?”

“If you can make that replacement, we’ll put this ‘accident’ behind us.”

That means that without the replacement, the situation will no longer be an unfortunate accident but a controversial case about intentional modification on the equipment. Jin-Soo is smart enough to understand what Kang-Joon is implying here.

“B,bulls.h.i.t! Are you out of your mind?! Those products will add up to 800 grand at market price! Anything but the bracelets…”

“Well, if you really would like to see how fast Korean police and the prosecution can move…”

“Are you threatening me?”
“Threat? That’s a little harsh.”

Tapping on the sword of The Crescent, Kang-Joon continues.

“This is a negotiation.”

To risk the whole factory or to giveaway the best products of the company for free and put this situation behind.