Chapter 177
Chapter 177
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 177
Chapter Title: 40. Master of the Myth (3)
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"Laser?"
"Laser...?"
"Laser, you say?"
The communication with the 'friends' through the television was being heard by everyone in the cabin, so the room instantly grew noisy.
"What are you talking about? Laser? Why is there a laser there?"
At Jeong Gu's follow-up remark, Young-woo waved his hand in the air.
"Ugh, you're all giving me a headache—quiet down, everyone."
Then he asked Young-tae on the TV screen again.
"You sure? Laser strike...?"
Young-tae shoved the menu board toward the invisible camera in the air.
—Look, it's written right here.
"Ha."
It really was.
About midway down the large menu board Young-tae was holding up, the words 'Laser Strike' were clearly printed.
However.
"What's that above the laser strike? Blank space?"
When Young-woo pointed out the empty space at the top of the menu board, Young-tae shook his head.
—There's something there, but it's covered up right now. Like it's locked or something.
Young-tae said this while sniffing the air like he did back when he was a mutant.
—And besides this, there's a bunch of other stuff. High-definition TVs, generators... Huh?
Young-tae, who had been checking the prices of other items, suddenly widened his eyes.
"What? What is it?"
Young-woo tilted his head and asked, but this time General Kim Young-heum snatched the menu board from Young-tae's hands.
Snap!
—What the hell? No price on the laser strike?
"Pardon?"
Did that mean it was free?
It sure didn't look like something that should be free, judging by the name alone.
"Sir, what do you mean?"
The moment Young-woo tried to ask about the strike's price again.
—Whoa! General!
—B-Be careful!
With Young-tae and Tae-jun freaking out, General Kim Young-heum selected 'Laser Strike' on the menu board.
Seeing no price tag, he went ahead and purchased it immediately.
Then.
Fwaaash!
In an instant, the returnees' room on the TV screen lit up blindingly white.
"Gasp."
"...What the hell is that?"
Even the people in the bedroom jumped in surprise at whatever had piled up in the returnees' room like a mountain.
It was none other than.
—You crazy bastards.
The components of a laser strike launcher.
Thousands of parts that, if properly assembled, would form a massive machine.
"...My God."
Young-woo, peering into the returnees' room via the TV, soon pressed a hand to his forehead.
He now had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
'So that's why the returnees' room is endlessly spacious?'
The assumption that the returnees' room was essentially a prison was starting to make perfect sense.
Why else would they sell a laser strike by dumping countless parts in raw form?
They had all the time in the world anyway, so might as well have them assemble it—like prison labor.
'Well... better than endlessly playing chess. At least it's somewhat productive.'
Real prisons even made inmates produce soap and razors under the guise of correctional labor.
So this was basically the same thing.
Of course, it was nearly impossible for three guys with no engineering background to assemble that many parts correctly.
And sure enough, a system message appeared to both the 'friends' and Young-woo.
「Television purchase has enabled conditional two-way communication.」
「Accordingly, some equipment co-developed by weapons manufacturer Toma has been added to the list of activatable products.」
'Weapons manufacturer Toma?'
It wasn't written in that transcendent language, so he couldn't grasp the exact meaning, but Young-woo figured it was one of those galaxy-spanning arms conglomerates like Dogu.
Pop!
Then the returnees' room flashed again, and a hefty holographic book materialized before the three inmates.
"W-What's that?"
Young-woo, more curious than the people involved themselves by now.
The three on the TV screen hurriedly opened the book in question.
Soon enough, General Kim Young-heum began stumbling through the opening lines.
—Toma... thanks you for purchasing our product. This equipment provides strike support on a planetary system scale. If you require strikes on a... galactic scale... please contact headquarters...
"Crazy."
In short, the holographic book the three had received was a product manual.
The preamble Kim Young-heum had just read meant this activated laser strike supported planetary system-level barrages.
And for galactic-scale ultra-long-range strikes, they'd need to buy a separate product from Toma HQ.
—Thought it was a ballistic missile since I saw what looked like a barrel, but it's something else entirely.
After skimming the manual, Kim Young-heum said this, and Young-woo quickly shot back.
"Sir, so what is it then?"
—Orbital strike.
"Pardon...?"
—Once we finish the launcher here and fire the laser, they catch it up there somewhere and redirect it to the target for us.
"I-Is that even possible?"
—Apparently this Toma outfit can make it happen. It's like... mediated orbital strike? Never seen anything like it.
Laser. In other words, you shoot energy upward, and Toma intercepts it to carry out the attack instead... It didn't sound completely implausible at first glance.
"Then what about the target coordinates? If all you do is fire the laser upward, how do you specify the strike point?"
Kim Young-heum, who had been flipping through the holographic book again, belatedly flinched and looked up toward the camera.
—You really planning to use this thing?
Sensing something ominous, he momentarily addressed Young-woo with distant formality.
"What else? If you can assemble it."
—It'll take time, but we can assemble it. The rest of this is all assembly instructions.
With that, Young-heum finally found the coordinates input section in the manual.
But.
—Ah.
His first word was a sigh.
"Why?"
—To properly use the laser strike, you need at least two things.
"What are they? Tell me."
At Young-woo's urging, General Kim Young-heum extended fingers one by one.
—First, a generator to keep the TV and launcher running nonstop. Guess we can't leave the TV on indefinitely.
Generator.
This was one of the items Young-tae had mentioned earlier.
Among the priced items, there was a high-definition TV and a generator.
—Second, a coordinate scanner.
"Coordinate scanner...?"
—That's what you need to get. You send us the coordinates, and we input them into the launcher.
"Ahh... Yeah, that makes sense."
Young-woo finally understood the whole process.
The three inmates in the returnees' room would assemble the laser launcher until the next summons.
Meanwhile, Young-woo on Earth would.
'Hunt down merchants for a coordinate scanner... I can ask Seoul's top swordsmen to track one down tomorrow afternoon.'
No doubt that coordinate scanner was a Toma product, Young-woo figured.
If he were Toma's CEO, that's exactly the bait he'd dangle.
—Whoa, this is wild.
Meanwhile, Young-tae, already fiddling with the launcher parts, showed them sticking and unsticking two metal pieces.
—They stick together like magnets on their own. See?
Young-woo wasn't particularly impressed.
"They made it assemblable by hand."
An outfit that supported galactic-scale strikes.
Implementing that level of convenience would be child's play for them.
Young-woo stared at the horrifying number of parts, then spoke to General Kim Young-heum again.
"Anyway, looks like you'll be busy for a while."
He skipped the pointless remark about not having time to get bored, but Kim's complaint bubbled up anyway.
—Hold on, though.
"Yes, sir."
—Why should we go through all this trouble? Isn't it enough that we fight eagerly every time you summon us?
He meant he was locked up here for the final showdown with Kim Jong-un, not to toil endlessly at some pointless labor.
Young-woo put on an utterly baffled expression as he retorted.
"You serious?"
—What?
"Laser strike prep complete! Target: Kim Jong-un...!"
Young-woo spouted something insane out of nowhere, but at least General Kim Young-heum perked up.
—Ah...!
He finally realized it.
If they finished that weapon in time, they might use the laser strike in the showdown with Kim Jong-un.
"Firing order? Nah. You can hit the button yourself."
At Young-woo's words, Kim Young-heum cleared his throat, barely containing his excitement.
—Ahem, not a bad proposal.
"And anyway, you're the ones doing the laser strike, right? So you'll rack up contribution points too."
—Oh!
—Yeah, that's true.
Young-tae and Tae-jun also brightened at the mention of contribution points, nodding along.
This meant they could earn points even when not summoned.
The menu board still had plenty of unpurchased leisure items.
—By the way, besides the laser strike, there were quite a few locked items up top... What could those be?
CEO Kim Tae-jun muttered while checking the menu board again.
—Yeah. The first product was a laser launcher. So the second one's gotta be even bigger.
General Kim Young-heum agreed with Tae-jun.
"Something ridiculous, probably."
Young-woo was curious about the other products too, but had no way of knowing right now.
Maybe the chairman knew?
As an arms dealer like Toma, he'd be in the loop.
'Could be competitors.'
No point dwelling on it.
Young-woo decided to wrap up the laser business here.
"Anyway, put in a lot of effort. The sooner you assemble it, the sooner we can use it in combat."
Maybe this afternoon, or tomorrow... Kim Jong-un would show up in the North someday.
They needed to prepare as fast as possible.
—Yes, sir! We'll hustle!
—No point sitting around here anyway.
—Better than watching the hourglass.
With the agreement sealed with the three inmates, Young-woo felt all tension drain away at once, replaced by fatigue.
The lasers and such had apparently taken a bigger mental toll than expected.
'This insane world... how far does it go?'
He needed sleep, so he unconsciously headed for the living room sofa.
Ssslit.
The air in the living room ahead of him split open.
"Urk...!"
What now?
As Young-woo reflexively dropped into a fighting stance, a familiar voice burst from the rift.
—What an honor to meet Jeong Young-woo07, the strongest in Gyeongbuk, Gangnam, and North of the Han River on Earth!
"...Ah. Kubu."
—I am Kubu, master of the Tenta clan and guardian of Daro, whose legal grade has just been upgraded to 8th class!
Kubu's cosmic legal grade upgrade.
Probably from taking on Young-woo's tax affairs, elevating his status.
"Oh, congrats. Here on Chairman Dogu's orders?"
Young-woo approached with a bright smile, and Kubu raised his head from the rift, eyes gleaming.
—Yes! Thanks to you mentioning my name, Young-woo! For someone like me who spent half a lifetime at 9th class, this is...!
Kubu spoke with genuine感動, so Young-woo cautiously scratched his chin and broached the topic.
"So, got anything prepared?"
—So grateful... Huh? Y-Yes...?
Caught off guard, Kubu even forgot to blink as he stared at Young-woo.
—W-What do you mean by that?
"Earth has this time-honored tradition called backroom deals. If you're not familiar, I can explain it right now."