The Price of Dignity
Hearing my sigh, Siwoo wiped the sweat from my brow with a towel and asked, "Is something the matter? Are you feeling unwell? Shall we go to the hospital?"
"No, I'm not sick."
Normally, even if a child says they aren't sick, parents or guardians would assume they're lying because they don't want to go to the hospital, and drag them anyway. But because I, unlike normal children, always spoke the absolute truth, Siwoo believed me. Still, perhaps because young children often don't fully understand their own physical state, she took my temperature just in case as she asked, "Is the training too difficult, then?"
"Well... it is hard, but that's not why."
"Then why are you sighing?"
Because I can't go back to my main body, that's why.
Of course, I couldn't confess the existence of my Multidimensional Avatar, so I had no way to explain it. Even if I could explain the ability, I could never reveal the actual reason I couldn't return to my main body. I mean, how could I possibly admit that I couldn't go back because there was no bathroom on the 1st floor of the Tower? It was way too embarrassing!
There was absolutely nothing on the 1st floor of the Tower. The only things present were myself and the crystal that served as a portal to the 2nd floor or back to Earth. There wasn't a single amenity to cover the basic necessities of life—food, clothing, or shelter. Of course, I was already wearing clothes, and food could be procured through my Tower avatar or my reincarnated avatar. The 1st floor had no wind or rain, and the temperature was perfectly constant, so a house wasn't strictly necessary. The problem was that as long as a human body carried out biological functions, it had to eat, and if it ate, it had to excrete.
Yes. My main body was currently facing an existential crisis. Confronted with a desperate battle where my very dignity as a human being hung in the balance, I had no choice but to flee my main body and take refuge in my reincarnated avatar. I had escaped for the moment, but this was a problem that had to be resolved. No matter how endlessly vast the 1st floor of the Tower was, there were lines a civilized human being simply could not cross.
When the crisis first reared its head, I had briefly considered burying it and marking the spot. However, one look at the unbreakable ground forced me to scrap that plan. I had struck the floor with all my might using a one-handed sword, and it hadn't left so much as a scratch. In fact, if my hand had slipped even slightly, I might have seriously injured my real body. If an avatar got hurt, I could just make another one, but my main body was irreplaceable; I had to be extremely careful. Thus, in that moment of crisis, I chose flight, and I had been agonizing over it ever since.
Hmm, should I send some plastic bags through my inventory and handle it that way? No, if I make a mistake, I won't even be able to wash myself. I have to think about the long term. I must be prudent.
"I just have something on my mind."
Seeing me lost in a dilemma that I couldn't easily resolve, Siwoo spoke up. "I do not know what is troubling you, but perhaps my humble advice might be of some assistance?"
At Siwoo's offer, I decided to describe my situation indirectly. "Siwoo, what would you do if you were stranded alone on a deserted island?"
"Pardon? Are you referring to a survival scenario?"
"Something like that."
At my reply, Siwoo pondered for a moment. "If one were to drift ashore during a voyage, would there be a survival kit available? Camping gear would be ideal, but since such items cannot be easily obtained in an emergency, one would have to rely on wilderness camping techniques using minimal tools..."
"That's it!"
I sprang to my feet. Camping gear! Didn't camping equipment include portable toilets and pop-up showers? My inventory had a weight limit, but if an item was too heavy, I could just disassemble it and send it over piece by piece to my main body. Good grief, such a simple solution existed, yet I hadn't thought of it until now! But as my excitement cooled and I gave it some rational thought, it made sense why it hadn't crossed my mind. After all, I currently had no way to acquire camping gear.
The Tower Shop didn't sell things like portable toilets, and in this world, I was a toddler who hadn't even reached two years of age. I had no money to buy camping gear. Ask Siwoo to buy it for me? Would she actually do it? As I stared at her, Siwoo blinked and spoke. "I do not know what it was, but I am glad to have been of help."
Yeah, she'd probably refuse, thinking it's too dangerous. Camping gear often included sharp blades, pointed objects, and heavy tools that were unsafe for a young child to handle. On the other hand, I couldn't just ask her to buy only a portable toilet and a pop-up shower. If she asked why on earth I needed those, I would have no way to explain. Throwing a tantrum to get my way was a double-edged sword—a demonic art, so to speak. If I overused it, it would lose its efficacy when I truly needed it. Throwing a fit for a computer was worth it because gathering information was vital, but doing it for a portable toilet felt a bit much. Ultimately, what I needed was financial autonomy. As time passed, the number of things I required would only grow, and I couldn't keep begging Siwoo every single time. In that case, I had to persuade her.
"Siwoo, where does the money we live on come from?"
At my question, Siwoo hesitated for a moment, looking slightly troubled, before replying. "Why, it is the money earned by your parents, Young Master."
"Be precise."
"..."
Siwoo hesitated to answer.
"Don't lie to me."
At my firm tone, Siwoo finally relented, as if she had no choice. "...The funds we are currently using are the inheritance bequeathed to you by your late parents."
Siwoo seemed to have hesitated because she was debating whether it was appropriate to reveal my parents' deaths to me at this age. If I were an ordinary child, she would have lied and said my parents had temporarily gone abroad. Ah, in this sci-fi world, maybe she would have said they went to another star system? But seeing how I flatly told her not to lie, she seemed to realize that I already knew the truth.
"Since when did you know?"
Since the day I was born, thanks to a loose-lipped nurse and your very first self-introduction. Of course, I couldn't say that. Who would believe that a newborn who couldn't even open his eyes properly could understand human speech? In response to Siwoo's question, I simply shrugged.
"For a while now. There hasn't been even the slightest attempt to contact me. In an era where interplanetary video calls are possible within the same star system, it's strange that there isn't even a single recorded video message."
"...I see."
Siwoo seemed convinced by my explanation. It was probably easy for her to accept, given how un-childlike I usually behaved. Even in the 50th century, what kind of toddler lay on the sofa watching documentaries and spent his free time skillfully surfing the internet?
"Who is managing the inheritance I received?"
"It is being managed by a professional asset manager under the Cheon Clan."
"Can they be trusted?"
At my question, Siwoo nodded. "Until you reach adulthood, even the asset manager cannot move funds above a certain threshold without the consent of myself, as your proxy, and Lord Cheon Gyeong-ho, your legal guardian. Thus, they cannot embezzle the money. Even if they attempted to do so, they would be hunted down by the Cheon Clan, meaning they would never be able to survive within the territories of the Orthodox Murim."
"But that also means the asset manager is probably just maintaining the wealth to prevent it from depreciating, rather than making any aggressive investments."
"That is correct."
Then the returns are likely just from fixed-term deposits or low-risk mutual funds.
"And naturally, I won't be able to move any large sums of money until I come of age either."
"That is correct."
Well, it wasn't like I needed massive sums of money right away, so that wasn't a problem.
"Can I see the assets?"
"Of course. You may view the transaction history and asset details transparently at any time."
Siwoo turned on the computer in the living room and pulled up the details of my inherited assets.
"The assets you have inherited are broadly divided into three categories: cash assets, real estate, and investment assets."
The numbers displayed on the account statement were quite large. The problem was that I didn't know the local cost of living yet, so I couldn't tell if this was a fortune or pocket change. If someone offered you a choice between one hundred trillion Zimbabwe dollars and one hundred US dollars, who in their right mind would choose the former? Since I had had no reason to spend money, researching the local economy had never crossed my mind.
"What can one nyang buy?"
The nyang was the currency unit of the Galaxy International Currency Alliance. To put it simply, it was much like the Euro in the Eurozone. While it was universally accepted across the territories of the Orthodox sects, it was unclear whether it could be used in the domains of the Unorthodox Sapa or the Demonic Cult. I recalled that the Demonic Cult used its own singular currency, while the Unorthodox factions, lacking a unified currency alliance, relied on independent currencies issued by the great sects ruling each star system, or the currency of the Unorthodox Coalition as their reserve currency. Still, the nyang was likely accepted or exchangeable even in those lawless regions.
"You would not be able to buy anything with that, Young Master. These days, even the snacks you enjoy require at least one thousand nyang."
So, should I think of one nyang as roughly equivalent to one Korean won? No, the snacks I eat look reasonably premium, so maybe the ratio is closer to one nyang to six won? Actually, that's too tedious. Let's just think of it as a one-to-one ratio. In the first place, the gap in productivity and technological advancement between my original world and this futuristic Galaxy Murim was so vast that simple price comparisons were utterly meaningless. It would be even more absurd than comparing the price of rice in the Joseon Dynasty to that of the 21st century.
"One, ten, hundred, thousand... Whoa, I'm rich?"
With this kind of money, I could probably live comfortably off the interest alone for the rest of my life.
"Was my father really that good at making money?"
"As a member of the Cheon Clan's combat unit, he certainly earned a handsome income. However, he was also a big spender, so I understand he was unable to grow his personal wealth significantly."
"Then where did all this money come from?"
"It is the inheritance your father received from your grandmother, Young Master."
My grandfather, Cheon Gyeong-ho, had lived for over five hundred years and had married a total of twenty-seven women. Of course, there was no polygamy... but he reportedly had a history of getting caught cheating and divorcing during about half of those marriages. Naturally, he had also made the news a few times for having several illegitimate children. At any rate, through his twenty-seven wives and an untold number of mistresses, Cheon Gyeong-ho had fathered sixty-three children. My father was born as the youngest of one son and two daughters to his twenty-fourth wife.
My father was seventy-six years old when he died. He had just reached the Transformation Realm when he was killed in action while executing a mission in a combat zone. Since my father was seventy-six, my grandmother was naturally much older. Having failed to reach the Transformation Realm, she had passed away from old age about five years ago, and her estate was divided among her biological children.
My grandmother had been one of the heiresses to a massive conglomerate, and she had received an astronomical alimony settlement when she divorced the unfaithful Cheon Gyeong-ho. Rumor had it that the alimony she wrung out of Cheon Gyeong-ho was several times larger than the inheritance she had received as a member of her wealthy family. During her lifetime, she had spared no expense, investing that colossal fortune into helping her children advance their martial realms. Even Siwoo, as it turned out, was a training android my grandmother had purchased for my father.
According to Siwoo, my father, unlike Cheon Gyeong-ho, was surprisingly a deeply devoted husband. Because of this, Siwoo had spent far more time caring for his young wife, Seo Kyung-ae, than acting as his training partner.
Returning to the inheritance, after my grandmother's passing, her estate was split equally into three parts. My father, however, had barely touched his share, choosing to live solely on the money he earned himself. As a result, that untouched inheritance had passed down in its entirety to me, his only child. Well, not *entirely* in its entirety, of course, given the inheritance taxes.
Siwoo added, as an afterthought, "The cash assets make up only about one-fifth of your total wealth. The vast majority of it is tied up in real estate."
(To be continued in the next chapter)