Chapter 146
Chapter 146
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Iron Fortress 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A year had passed since then, and South Korea was savoring a long-overdue quiet peace.
The Blue Dragon Guild and Olympus Guild, who had joined hands with Scavengers to form cartels, were staying silent as they hunted down rival Scavengers. Even Yoo Seongwon, the human nuclear bomb who caused massive incidents every time he stirred up trouble, was now keeping a low profile, busy with public works projects and throwing money around everywhere.
And just like that, it had been one year since he awakened.
Yoo Seongwon sat in a restaurant, eating his meal while gazing at the bustling interior.
It was all thanks to the new business he had started around the end of last year. To reshape his image, he had rescued children from the hellish facilities in the southern three provinces that barely qualified as protection centers, and gathered people from all over to care for them. That was why the place was so lively now.
‘Whew~ Already one year since I awakened? If I told last year’s me, he’d never believe it.’
From a mere Academia employee, Yoo Seongwon had somehow become the top of a massive organization with thousands of members. He still couldn’t quite believe the sight of himself like this.
Until recently, they had struggled with a severe staff shortage, but thanks to Baek Gayeon’s connections and public recruitment drives, they had bolstered their staff. With the Association and government providing plenty of conveniences, things were running smoothly now.
His original goal had been something else entirely, but since he had started this, he felt obligated to take responsibility. In the process of expanding everything, it had grown into what it was today.
‘Once I start taking care of them, I have to do it right! Just saving their lives isn’t enough. At the very least, I need to give them a chance, right? First, set up education facilities matching elementary, middle, and high school levels! Teach them skills too! Build playgrounds! Everything they need, we provide! And hire the people for it…!’
Of course, it was somewhat convincing, so he had played along and gone along with it all, but his true purpose lay elsewhere. Still, it felt like things had veered off into the mountains.
But compared to being forced to hunt monsters for pay, this was fulfilling work. Surprisingly, it even seemed to be healing the wounds in his heart, so he let it slide.
After all, he really was doing good deeds.
“Hmm…….”
“Why are you spacing out in the middle of eating? Coming through—I'll sit next to you. Mom, here!”
“Excuse me.”
As he got lost in thought mid-meal, Shin Somi and her daughter, who had just finished work, approached and sat down beside Yoo Seongwon.
The two, who had even broken their constellation contracts and taken demerits, were now stronger than before.
“Oh, right. An official notice came from the Association today. We both passed the promotion exam from last time.”
“That’s great.”
“It’s not just ‘great.’ I don’t mind being A-rank, but Mom’s S-rank now. S-rank ranged DPS Hunter! Shouldn’t you be happier about it?”
From Korea’s perspective, it was good news since they had lost two S-ranks before, and now one was added back. But to Yoo Seongwon, who had an inflation of S-rank powerhouses including his knights, it wasn’t that impressive.
He himself was SSS-rank, one of the greatest in human history, after all.
“You’re right. It’s not common at all. I’m just desensitized because I’m in an S-rank den. Sorry about that. Congratulations, noona, Ayoung.”
“Thanks. But you look pretty worn out. Is something wrong?”
“No. It’s just that today marks one year since I awakened, so I was getting a bit sentimental.”
“Already one year…… Yeah, I get it. Your life changed on the level of heaven and earth shifting.”
Shin Somi nodded, understanding Yoo Seongwon’s feelings.
It wasn’t unreasonable for him to feel that way after such a massive, sudden transformation.
“Still, you’re doing great. Running an organization isn’t easy. Especially with kids involved—it’s even harder.”
“That’s all thanks to the knights, basically.”
The knights Yoo Seongwon had summoned were all top-notch fighters with soldier roots, so they excelled at controlling the kids and even handled construction like all-rounders.
‘Knights really can do anything well,’ Yoo Seongwon felt this deeply whenever he saw them.
“The scariest ones are Yucheong and Jinseok. Since we didn’t appoint a quartermaster, they went digging on the internet, learned everything themselves, and now they’re dragging the kids into practical training. It’s terrifying.”
“…Ah, so that’s what the job training outside was about.”
“Yeah. The database has pretty much every resource you could need… They just buy materials and go. If you don’t notice, suddenly there’s a new building up, and it’s chaos. Especially Jinseok—he’s something else…….”
‘You kids are incredibly lucky. You were saved by our merciful and kind Majesty. However! That’s merely temporary fortune! You’re still chicks who can’t forge your own destinies! But you’re very, very lucky! For I, the Knight Commander of the Heavenly Sword Army, Jinseok, will look after you!’
Usually, Jinseok left most tasks to Yucheong and just followed orders, but this time he stepped up, asking to take charge himself.
He personally handled the kids’ education, drilling middle and high schoolers with astonishing skill in training and lessons—enough to surprise even Yoo Seongwon.
‘First, the body must recover for the mind to grow accordingly. Stamina first! Stamina above all. Even His Majesty struggled in the Goblin Empire due to a lack of it, right?’
“…At first, I thought he was just a musclehead.”
It started with physical recovery training under the guise of PE and evacuation drills. If they got hurt or tired, he used potions for recovery—no expense spared in pushing them hard.
Normally, one would worry about costs, but as an S-rank-equivalent himself, and with Yucheong approving, they invested without complaint.
“But it turned out he was right. Once they sweated it out and their bodies activated, their confidence grew, and they started keeping up with lessons… Of course, talents vary—some excel at studies, others at skills… Anyway, those two handle everything, so I get it easy.”
‘To build confidence, nothing beats making something yourself. There’s no better education than hands-on practice. Your Majesty, how far does our territory extend around “Iron Fortress”? We’ll build the kids’ houses ourselves! While educating them!’
“I thought it was insane at first… but it was the right call.”
Skills vary, but nothing gave satisfaction like creating and completing something.
Plus, Jinseong casually said, “While learning modern construction methods here,” bought building materials, formed teams with the kids, and started constructing houses on their private land around Iron Fortress.
It was a brute-force approach, but it worked—the kids loved it.
Once progress was made, he didn’t stop at farming lessons; he taught swordsmanship, spearmanship, and even firearms training.
“At first, I wondered what the heck he was doing… But the kids enjoy it, and it’s practical life skills, so I couldn’t complain.”
“Ah… So that’s why the shooting range and all that popped up outside. Ayoung and I were busy leveling up with Elder Baek later, so we were out a lot.”
Determined to be useful to Yoo Seongwon somehow, Shin Somi and Shin Ayoung had repeatedly dungeoned.
They trained in D-rank dungeons, then farmed exp in B-ranks with him, but later switched to Baek Gayeon for a simple reason.
Yoo Seongwon was too strong; they couldn’t grow properly with him.
He stayed behind for internal duties, while they grinded dungeons Spartan-style with Baek Gayeon, achieving rapid promotions in short time.
“Yeah. You saw it, so you know. One day, Elder Baek was so shocked she nearly fought him… What he said was wild.”
‘These kids are almost adults. By our standards, they already are… But we follow local laws, so anyway—to survive, they need basic skills: ‘farming,’ ‘construction,’ ‘fighting.’ With these three, they can survive anywhere. Individual studies or aptitudes come later! Or do them together.’
“His mindset… It’s like someone from a war-torn era. Though in today’s world, it’s not entirely wrong.”
“But it’s effective. The kids aren’t lost about what to do, and since it’s useful skills, they love it. Anyway… With a big incident coming soon, it’s better they learn those.”
He hadn’t planned this business with 100% goodwill from the start.
It was just a setup to screw over the Korean government and Association. Since he didn’t know their futures, passing on such skills seemed better.
Especially since trouble was bound to erupt.
“No, Mom too, and Uncle…… Why do we always talk work when we meet? Can’t we have normal conversations? How will we ever be family like this? Neglect of duty. Mom’s age is almost…… Mmph!”
“Kids these days say the wildest things.”
“Well, I’ve got a ton to say about that too… But I’ll excuse it since a big event’s coming soon.”
“A big event?”
“Yeah. That’s why I’ve been suffering for months, right? Getting dragged to Association events, sending visiting congressmen back alive, and all that.”
The number of kids under protection now reached tens of thousands, with thousands more about to gain voting rights as adults in a few years.
Population equaled power, making Yoo Seongwon a key figure for congressmen before long.
Elections were won or lost by single votes…… That’s why they schmoozed citizen groups and early-morning soccer clubs.
To maintain his positive image, entertaining those repulsive crowds without snapping was torture for Yoo Seongwon.
“Ugh, their scheming faces grinning slyly—it’s so disgusting. Haaaah~”
He endured only thinking of the big blow he’d land. Otherwise, he’d have gone on strike, holed up watching TV.
“Good thing there are no external factors. Blue Dragon’s just bickering with Olympus these days.”
“They’re behaving because they know you’d intervene if anything happened.”
“Anyway, starting today, we’ll include that in meetings too. All done eating? I’ll head up first. And Ayoung, no sneaking carrots aside—eat them all.”
“Eek! You saw everything while pretending not to!”
Yoo Seongwon headed to the central control room and immediately spotted Yucheong and Jinseok deep in discussion about training and education menus.
He flinched at the sight of them—lately, they kept summoning the quartermaster ‘Jung-han’ whenever they saw him.
He couldn’t fathom what legendary knight that quartermaster was to make them act like that.
“I’m back from eating. What are you two doing? What’s with the blueprints? Another building for the kids?”
“An arena, Your Majesty.”
“…….”
“A gladiator arena, Your Majesty.”
“…I got that. Why the hell are you building that? To have the kids kill each other?”
“For training.”
“If it’s for training, just say survival arena. Sigh~”
Yoo Seongwon bickered with his knights over yet another absurd idea.
To sum up Yucheong’s explanation: This was a place where people lived, so kids had disputes that could turn violent. The knights had brainstormed this.
“Don’t do it! Even if, this crosses the line. Anyway, we’ve got an important main meeting now… You two, come to the conference room.”
“Hmm, we’ll think of alternatives. Understood.”
“Ugh~ I thought it was a good idea.”
Leaving the disappointed Jinseok and Yucheong behind, Yoo Seongwon entered the conference room first.
He gathered Baek Gayeon, Shin Somi, and all the other scattered knights and staff.
Without beating around the bush, he announced the next plan—the true purpose behind all the image-building so far.
“So… Some of you, like Elder or me, might’ve heard bits, but this is the official announcement. The time’s ripe, so we can proceed for real now—but keep it from leaking outside. On the surface, it’ll proceed under the name ‘North Korean Territory Integration Operation’: the ‘Iron Fortress 2 Construction’ plan.