Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: 27. Supreme Sword Gathering (3)
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“…Ah.”
Jo Sang-ik let out a deep sigh right away.
He at least understood what Yeong-woo’s response—promising to divide the binary choice reward completely fairly—meant.
“Yeong-woo, we’ve already had enough unpleasantness today… Let’s just let this slide nicely.”
As Jo Sang-ik cautiously approached the golden orb while speaking, the other First Swords realized something was going terribly wrong.
“Vice Minister, what’s that supposed to mean right now?”
“What’s good and what’s bad about this?”
“What’s so bad that could happen… here of all places…?”
They all harbored doubts, yet not a single one dared imagine it.
That the new First Sword before them might have consistently chosen “Distribute 30,000 karma to all residents.”
≪Choice Reward≫
[3 million karma]
or
[Distribute 30,000 karma to all residents in the district]
Everyone except Yeong-woo and Jo Sang-ik had naturally assumed the mutant extermination reward would be the 3 million karma.
Everyone here had always done it that way, so it was just common sense.
However.
“When I first faced the binary choice, you know. A friend who was with me said this.”
“……?”
As Yeong-woo abruptly started an unrelated story, the First Swords staring at him all looked blankly confused for a moment.
“…What’d he say?”
The only one to respond was Songpa First Sword Oh Yeon-hee.
Yeong-woo placed his hand gently on the golden orb and leaned Dragon’s Legacy against the ground.
A silent warning not to interfere with what he was about to do.
“He told me to pick the 3 million for sure. He didn’t want to give money even to villains, and he wanted to get strong himself first to personally crush evil.”
The First Swords nodded with awkward expressions.
“Y-yeah, that’s right.”
“Whoever it was, they said the right thing.”
They too had once faced their first binary choice, and they’d all picked the 3 million monopoly with similar thoughts back then.
“So? What did you do, First Sword?”
Finally, Jo Sang-ik, hooked by the conversation, chimed in for the first time.
Naturally, all eyes turned back to Yeong-woo, who scratched his forehead right on cue.
“I picked the 30,000.”
“Pardon……?”
“What?”
“Why would you?”
The First Swords went beyond surprise, showing something close to displeasure.
Yeong-woo’s words just now essentially denied everything they stood for.
Fighting mutants was a life-on-the-line act.
Any First Sword who succeeded in slaying one naturally had a survival instinct-driven desire for reward, which inevitably led to monopolizing the 3 million in the binary choice.
In other words, whether it was a thug like Jang Jeong-ho or a celebrity like Oh Yeon-hee, they all had their own justifications for the 3 million monopoly.
“No, why pick 30,000? You killed the mutant yourself, right? You deserve that reward for it. No need to pretend to be a good guy.”
Seongbuk First Sword Lee Yu-bin spoke in a slightly irritated tone.
Of course, Yeong-woo hadn’t brought it up just to provoke them, so he quickly waved it off.
“No, I’m not saying anyone’s good or bad. I agonized over the 3 million monopoly plenty back then too.”
“Then why bring it up now of all times…….”
This time, Dongjak First Sword Lee Han-uk grumbled.
Only then did Yeong-woo get to the point.
“I just wanted to ask for your understanding. Because from now on, I’m going to choose the 30,000 karma distribution right here in front of you all.”
“……!”
As expected, the First Swords recoiled in shock, but Yeong-woo pressed on without pause.
“Before, yeah, there was a high chance bad people would get the 30,000 karma too. But now?”
“……?”
“Now, thanks to all of you, order’s been restored, hasn’t it? Sure, criminals still exist, but way fewer than before. And the need for money’s only grown.”
Yeong-woo coaxed the superhumans gathered from all over, as if soothing children.
Of course, everyone knew the courtesy staff, vehicles, and such for the First Swords all cost money.
“You all know you should pick the 30,000 karma from now on too. 3 million karma isn’t a small amount by any means. But…….”
Yeong-woo paused there, counting heads in the room with his finger.
“There’s nine of us here, including me. Divide 3 million karma among us—what do you get?”
It wasn’t complicated math. Roughly 330,000 karma each.
“Today at least, it’s not giving up that much money. If each of us yields about 300,000, we can give the district residents several times their daily income.”
“Are you saying we should volunteer in this day and age? Ha, we’re not UNICEF.”
Sure enough, the infamous thug Jang Jeong-ho scowled and muttered right away.
But someone had been swayed by Yeong-woo’s speech just now, and it was none other than—
“Um… so if the First Sword picks the 30,000 distribution, which district does that money go to?”
Yongsan First Sword Kim Do-hwa.
The mutant had come from Gangdong District, but it died here in Yongsan District, so he asked just in case.
If the 30,000 karma went to Yongsan District, he had no reason to oppose this choice.
“That’s…….”
Yeong-woo hesitated.
He’d never caught a mutant that strayed from his own district.
Which was exactly why he had to pick the 30,000 karma.
He needed to gather this data whenever the chance arose.
“To be honest, I don’t know. This is my first time luring and killing a mutant from another district.”
“Ah…….”
Yeong-woo’s brutally honest answer left even Yongsan First Sword unable to back him up anymore.
‘He’s got a way with words, I thought… but he’s still young and weak at politics.’
Jo Sang-ik, listening quietly with perked ears, thought as much inwardly, but Yeong-woo’s refusal to lie wasn’t from social ineptitude.
“Okay, that’s explanation enough, right? If it goes to our host district of Yongsan, I’d be thrilled, but Gangdong’s joining the alliance soon too, yeah? No big loss.”
It was because he fundamentally held power.
The kind of power that could turn dissenters into corpses, like Jeong Hyeon-sik.
“Then I’ll assume no objections and proceed.”
As Yeong-woo spoke and manipulated the golden orb, the other First Swords just opened and closed their mouths.
‘Dizzying.’
His actions felt eerily like the late Jeong Hyeon-sik reborn.
Of course, Jeong Hyeon-sik never would’ve gathered Seoul’s top superhumans just to distribute 30,000 karma.
Fwaaash!
Meanwhile, heedless of their bulging eyes, Yeong-woo ordered the 30,000 karma distribution from the orb.
Then.
Kwaaa!
The orb spun rapidly.
Pew!
And suddenly shot up into the sky.
Tracing a golden trail through the air.
“Huh?”
“Wha……!”
Every First Sword in Seoul except Jo Sang-ik reeled from the orb’s “malfunction,” something they’d never seen before.
Their usual “3 million karma monopoly” choice ended with the orb simply vanishing in place—that was the full aftermath.
Shuuuuaaaa!
By then, the golden orb had soared to the distant sky.
Boom boom boom!
And right before the First Swords’ eyes, it burst in a golden explosion.
“Whoa!”
“My god.”
“It’s like fireworks.”
Dongdaemun, Mapo, Seongbuk, Songpa, Yongsan, Dongjak, Gwanak, Seocho.
Seoul’s eight superhumans momentarily forgot their gloom, watching the sky dye gold.
Then.
“Huh?”
The golden lights painting the sky.
Shwaaaa……!
Began falling to the ground like rain.
Clang.
Some First Swords even dropped their weapons, struck by awe beyond mere surprise.
It was a sight too wondrous for any mere human to comprehend.
“…They call this the golden rain.”
Jo Sang-ik extended his palm amid the golden downpour as he spoke.
And this was also a political remark, subtly hinting that he’d once witnessed the golden rain alongside the new First Sword.
“Ah, golden rain.”
“Golden rain…….”
“Heh.”
Regardless of Jo Sang-ik’s intent, the dazed First Swords repeated “golden rain” like babies learning a new word.
And finally.
《Gyeongbuk First Sword ‘Jeong Yeong-woo07’ has given up the 3 million karma monopoly and gifted 30,000 karma to all Yongsan residents.》
《Commemorative coins worth 30,000 karma will be distributed shortly. Prepare yourselves.》
The golden rain show’s finale: the commemorative coins were issued.
“Commemorative coins?”
The universal reaction.
As someone murmured it, Jo Sang-ik played know-it-all once more.
“They appear in the blink of an eye, so watch closely and grab ’em.”
And sure enough, with a clink right above everyone’s heads, three golden coins materialized.
“Whoa!”
“Wow, what’s this now.”
The First Swords had stood with innocent expressions until then, but they snatched the sudden coins with ghostly speed.
Snap, snap, snap!
Then, after closely inspecting the coins in their hands, they all turned to Yeong-woo as if by prior agreement.
His face—Gyeongbuk First Sword Jeong Yeong-woo’s—was engraved on the coins.
Yeong-woo glanced at his own commemorative coin and said flatly.
“You can get your faces on coins too if you distribute 30,000 karma.”
These symbolic coins doubled perfectly as political propaganda.
But everyone here knew no one would dare try it easily.
Even before the hassle of reclaiming some distributed coins, it was a matter of goals.
Once you started distributing 30,000 karma and reclaiming coins, you’d obviously gain massive public power from that point.
Just like politicians groveling before the masses come election season.
‘And you have to collect them every day.’
Seoul’s First Swords immediately felt averse.
Whereas with the 3 million monopoly.
‘I get it easy.’
‘And only I get stronger.’
That, in a way, was the fundamental reason the First Swords had always picked the 3 million without hesitation.
They wanted to get stronger alone, if possible.
They might not reach the absolute top, but they craved lording over their districts as unchallenged rulers—and that desire led to karma monopolies.
So to them, Yeong-woo—who’d picked 30,000 distribution from his very first choice—could only seem utterly bizarre.
And Yeong-woo too.
‘If things keep going like this, I figure they’ll all be wiped out in days. Mutants are powering up way too fast.’
Just now, Gangdong couldn’t handle its mutant alone.
Same for Gwanak.
Why couldn’t these people—who’d monopolized 3 million karma daily—do their jobs?
Simple.
The survival game called “mutant descent” was ramping up difficulty faster than any First Sword’s growth.
So what was the solution?
As Yeong-woo’s brow furrowed at the grim outlook, a uniformed officer came dashing toward the First Swords.
Tatat!
“Uh… breaking news!”
“……?”
What now?
The First Swords stood blankly where the golden rain had ended, pondering what bad tidings the officer brought.