Chapter 6: Off-season Mushrooms (3)

“In this area, harvesting once a week is the most appropriate average considering labor intensity and cultivation period.”

Efficiency was crucial in labor. The production value of 50 kg per month wasn’t arbitrary. It had been refined through meticulous calculations and several trials, optimizing efficiency while factoring in work hours, quantity of songi mushrooms produced, and their quality.

“At 450,000 won per kilogram, with 50 kg per month, that’s 22,500,000 won monthly.”

Considering expenses like fuel costs for transportation and field maintenance, generously estimated?

“If I estimate a monthly income of around twenty million won and consider taxes, health insurance, national pension contributions, plus my living expenses… This won’t be enough to build a property in Cheongdam-dong. It’s just not feasible.”

Ha So-young promptly approached the Silver Ash Tree at the back of his yard, confidently rolling up his sleeves as he called out:

“Father!”

-“Ah, there you are, my son.”

“I believe I’ve grown stronger somehow. Two drops of elixir daily should suffice without any issues. Father, your wise judgment is needed. Come now, please give me more elixir!”

-“Brave lad. Your determination is commendable.”

“S-So then?”

-“My son, unfortunately, it cannot be granted. The moment one thinks they have adapted to pain is often the most dangerous. A misstep could lead to irreparable harm.”

Suddenly, one branch bent like an arm and made a motion as if it was cutting at his neck.

-One drop per day! Two drops once a week! Therefore, eight drops in total for a week! No more than this! I am saying all of this for your sake!

“No, Father. If you truly care about me, shouldn’t there be concentrated dosing to help me shed my human form sooner? Haven’t you heard about early learning, education, and overseas studies becoming popular these days?”

-In Seok-ah, taking the elixir is already enough advanced learning. Just before meeting you, I gave one drop per week to a candidate, but they went crazy within half a year. It’s been 300,000 years since then.

“Huh? What?” Did I hear wrong?

One drop per week? And they went insane before half a year passed?

“But you planned to give me one drop per day from the beginning?”

-After observing your reaction when you first consumed it, I thought giving one drop per day would be okay.

“No way, then how much pain did my predecessor endure 300,000 years ago?”

When I initially (and supposedly lastly) took the elixir, the agony was unbearable, causing me to faint for over half a day before barely regaining consciousness. Yet, despite this, he thought one drop per day would be manageable? And someone who consumed only one drop per week still lost their mind within six months?

“You…you didn’t just leave him alone, did you, crazy friend?”

-Naturally, I treated him. Despite his lack of innate qualities, he bravely demanded to become a Franchise God, being such a cute child. How could I abandon him?

“He bravely demanded it? Then he’s not my brother?”

-No, indeed. I never adopted him as my son. On Paulog Planet, I was planning for a brief thousand-year nap when I encountered a prince exiled due to a coup. Feeling sorry for him, I helped a little but didn’t adopt him.

“Why not?”

-How could I adopt someone else’s son when their mother is still alive and well? I merely acted as his guardian briefly.

Hearing his father casually refer to a thousand years as ‘a short nap’, Ha So-young realized that he truly might be a god.

-All this talk is irrelevant. Anyway, one drop per day, two drops on one day of the week, and no more than that. Understood?

‘Ah, this won’t work. With only 20 million won per month, owning a building in Cheongdam-dong is just a dream.’

The monthly rent for such buildings was ten to several dozen times higher than what he could afford. Even a kindergarten student could grasp this simple math.

“Father, then isn’t there anything else besides the elixir? To become the great Franchise God ruling over the universe, wouldn’t I need some special training or perhaps an educational curriculum?”

-Dear me, you are such a diligent child. Don’t worry. As soon as you shed your human form, the shortest full package training course will commence immediately. This father has already meticulously designed it with 398,112,089,761,335 stages.

‘Do engineering students feel this way when they see their semester lecture plans?’

-So don’t worry and focus on taking the elixir diligently. With your current mind, teaching anything would be futile; you wouldn’t grasp or understand it anyway.

“But even if it’s just an introductory course…or perhaps a general education one? Wouldn’t it help to familiarize myself beforehand rather than starting from a blank slate?”

“-Hmm, regardless of that, it would be pointless and just a waste of time given your current state.”

His tone subtly shifted. It was the intonation his father often used when he was considering something. This could be my chance!

“At least if I have some basic knowledge about why I need to become the Franchise God, I might endure the pain from consuming the elixir more cheerfully, esteemed father.”

“-Hmm… As your father, I cannot remain idle seeing your eagerness for learning. Alright. Let me ponder what would be suitable to teach you at this stage. It may take some time as I must tailor the content to your level.”

“Yes, Father. I eagerly await your guidance.”

After one week passed, Ha So-young was able to harvest approximately twelve kilograms of songi mushrooms. he carefully packed them in styrofoam boxes filled with natural cushioning material. Then he called President Jeon Sung-ryeol.

“Hey, it’s me. Anything new?”

Usually, he would start by asking how he was doing, but his first question upon answering the phone was about potential goods.

He’s quite the workaholic, isn’t he? Still, that’s preferable.

“I have twelve kilograms ready. Just finished packaging them now. When would you like to make the transaction?”

“I can do it right away if possible. Where should we meet? I could even come down to Busan.”

“There’s no need for that. I’ll bring them to your residence. How about meeting at the same parking lot as last time?”

“Understood. Should I prepare cash? Does it have to be money? Can we do a bank transfer?”

“It doesn’t matter, but cash would be appreciated.”

“I’ll bring cash.”

“Thank you.”

With his truck loaded with songi mushrooms, Ha So-young headed for Seoul. When he arrived at the parking lot of Jeon Sung-ryeol’s apartment complex, he was already waiting there with one of his employees, just like last time.

“You said twelve kilograms this time, right? Is the quality similar to before?”

“Yes, almost identical. It weighs exactly 12.25 kg, but please consider it as 12 kg.”

“But that makes a difference of 112,500 won. As a professional distributor, mistreating producers can lead to our own downfall later on. I’ll pay you precisely 5,512,500 won.”

At 4,500,000 won per kilogram, the total for 12.25 kilograms came to that amount.

Without even checking the goods, Jeon Sung-ryeol promptly handed over a thick envelope containing several more fifty-thousand-won bills than agreed upon before pushing it towards Ha So-young.

“I added an extra 37,500 won for gas money. That makes it 5,550,000 won.”

“Thank you.”

“Hey, Assistant Manager Kim! Move this box to the store and then clock out right away.”

“Yes, sir.” The employee gave a curt reply as they transferred the box from one truck to another.

Jeon Sung-ryeol turned back to Ha So-young with a question.

“So, why only twelve kilograms instead of fifty this time?”