Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 216
Chapter Title: 50. Unexpectedness (1)
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‘It’s finally here.’
The most terrifying entity in the current universe: taxes.
The penalty for failing to pay taxes was death, plain and simple—no room for negotiation.
‘Forging official documents might at least land you in jail first, giving you a shot at survival.’
But fail to pay taxes, and you were erased on the spot.
‘Even I had to bust my ass just to scrape together enough for acquisition taxes… How the hell does someone like the Chairman manage it?’
Young-woo pictured the Chairman hustling up a sweat to gather his tax money.
But the image wouldn’t quite form in his mind. Instead…
“…Huh.”
Something the size of a fist had dropped where Myeong-ui had been standing moments ago.
It was none other than.
「Jeong Young-woo07’s Heart」 - Narrative Amulet
【Fate Roll】
【Stubborn Luck】
【Dimensional Material】
It was the heart Young-woo had held before.
Just as promised, Myeong-ui had processed his heart into an amulet and left it behind.
“Huh? My heart!”
Young-woo yelped in surprise and scooped it up, bringing a detailed tooltip into his view.
【Fate Roll】
|At every fateful crossroads, the lowest-probability outcome is applied at 3x multiplier.
【Stubborn Luck】
|All challenges increase in difficulty. All surprises intensify.
【Dimensional Material】
|Effects greatly amplify when forged into a dimensional entity.
“W-What the hell is this?”
His head was spinning already.
His own heart turning into an item was shocking enough, but the tooltip was downright cryptic.
‘At every fateful crossroads…? What kind of nonsense is that?’
As someone from Earth who’d only connected to the universe after the Reset, it was impossible not to feel uneasy.
One of the Reset’s key changes was the initialization of fate itself.
‘But crossroads of fate? Wasn’t it all just straight from the Reset onward?’
Of course, the bit about the lowest-probability outcome suggested it wasn’t barreling toward a fixed end like pre-Reset.
Still, it meant gear that influenced fate existed.
And that implied…
‘Someone could arbitrarily manipulate fate.’
Whoosh.
Young-woo found himself staring up at the sky without realizing it.
And right on cue…
Shwaaaaa!
Two streaks of pure white light suddenly shot down from above, slamming into Young-woo and Jeong-gu’s heads.
Bang!
“Eek?”
“Gah!”
As Young-woo flinched reflexively, Jeong-gu was already ducked behind the sofa.
“…….”
Talk about survival instincts.
But what had just happened wasn’t some attack.
“…Huh? Dad, get up and look.”
“What?”
Peeking over the sofa at Young-woo’s words, Jeong-gu’s eyes went wide.
“What’s that?”
A glowing mark hovered above Young-woo’s head.
Two overlapping circles, like a Venn diagram—the same mark floated above Jeong-gu’s head too.
“Yours too, Dad.”
The moment Young-woo pointed it out, a system message appeared in their visions.
―《Universal Direct Lineage Certificate》 verification complete.
“Oh.”
“What?”
So that mark proved they were blood-related.
“Told you. I’m your son.”
“No way… This can’t be real.”
Jeong-gu’s legs gave out, and he slumped to the floor.
He’d half-expected it, but the confirmation hit like a truck.
A son he’d never known existed his whole life—actually real.
And showing up now, in his creepy thirties, no less.
“Ugh… Fuck.”
As Jeong-gu grimaced like he was trapped in a nightmare, his son’s dark shadow fell over him.
“Time to face it. I’m your flesh-and-blood son… and your karma.”
To be precise, the embodiment of Kim Jeong-gu’s evil deeds.
“So my real family name was Kim. No clue on the given name, though.”
As Young-woo muttered, Jeong-gu looked up at his son.
“Who knows. Maybe your mom named you.”
A solid guess.
Jeong-gu hadn’t known about his son, so naming him was out of the question. But his birth mother, who’d carried him…
‘My real name…’
It made his mind reel.
But before Young-woo could get lost in sentiment, the next event snapped him back.
―Tax collection commencing at this time.
Right on schedule—10 p.m., when collections began.
‘Ah, that explains it. Why confirm paternity out of nowhere?’
Pop, pop!
Sounds of taxes being collected echoed from the bedroom one by one. When Young-woo’s turn came…
Swoosh.
The air in front of him tore open, revealing Kubu, his dedicated tax accountant and trade broker.
―An honor to meet you again, Master of the Illegitimate Child, Dragon Slayer, Jeong Young-woo07!
“Oh, Kubu.”
Young-woo greeted the taxman with a casual wave. Kubu blinked its massive eyes and issued the bill.
―Today’s assessed tax: 1.87 million. Including acquisition tax: 18.81 million karma.
It then displayed the breakdown in Young-woo’s view.
|Assessed Tax: 3.4 million
-Acquisition Tax: 30.8 million
|Deduction Items: Single-Parent Household, Dependent Family
|Final Tax: 1.87 million
-Acquisition Tax: 16.94 million
*Acquisition Tax Deadline: 23 hours 59 minutes
“Single-parent deduction applied. The certificate checked out?”
―Correct. Universal Direct Lineage Certificate verified, applying 30% deduction rate. Plus 15% for dependent family recognition—total 45% deduction.
45%.
A massive break, but Young-woo’s bill was enormous too.
Without deductions, he’d be out 34 million karma.
―‘Illegitimate Child’ acquisition tax due tomorrow, so paying just the base today avoids penalties.
Penalties.
Meaning erasure.
“So I can pay early? Tomorrow’s the weapon codex acquisition tax too, right?”
―Yes.
“Better pay it all now for safety.”
Defense taxes loomed tomorrow too, but nothing was 100% certain.
―Understood. Process full payment of 18.81 million karma, including acquisition tax?
Kubu double-checked. Young-woo nodded.
“Yeah. Let’s clear it all.”
His karma balance plummeted instantly.
Flash!
* Available Karma: 18,538,500
A whopping 18.81 million paid in one go.
―Payment processed. Then I’ll be…
Kubu blinked as if clocking out. Young-woo hurriedly held out his heart amulet.
“Any idea what this tooltip means? You handle trades, so you probably know more than me.”
Kubu’s huge eye fixed on 「Jeong Young-woo07’s Heart」.
Then it gave an unexpected reaction.
―What… is this?
“Pardon…?”
―You’ve forged gear that interferes with the Divine Slate. First time seeing debt-forged gear like this.
Kubu’s eyelid quivered.
Young-woo couldn’t help asking.
“…Debt-forged gear?”
―Gear unique to one’s existential value. Prime example: ‘Mythics.’
“Ah.”
Mythics. Perfect illustration.
Young-woo got it immediately.
‘So my current existential value rates at Narrative grade?’
The heart amulet forged from it was Narrative-tier, so it fit.
Pop!
[Accessory Codex]
〔28〕
Amid this, his codex progress ticked up.
It classified the heart amulet as an accessory.
‘All good news. The amulet’s effects should help me too, right? Or… not?’
This tooltip was open to interpretation—hard to call good or bad.
【Fate Roll】
|At every fateful crossroads, the lowest-probability outcome is applied at 3x multiplier.
【Stubborn Luck】
|All challenges increase in difficulty. All surprises intensify.
Lowest-probability outcome at 3x.
All surprises ramped up.
Not necessarily good, right?
For example.
‘Before heart surgery, lowest-prob outcome is a medical mishap.’
On the flip side: surviving an 84% fatality prison, or stumbling into a major sponsor.
‘Gotta test the amulet effect for a while.’
Young-woo wrapped up his thoughts and bid farewell to Kubu, still waiting.
“Anyway, thanks for the hard work. Head home.”
Kubu blinked its huge eye in return.
―Thank you. Hope to bring good news next time!
Swoosh.
With Kubu gone, the scar from Young-woo’s heart surgery vanished cleanly.
“Cleared a big hurdle.”
“Cleared? You’ve never come down from the peak once, far as I can see.”
Jeong-gu grumbled, face sour, then glanced out the window belatedly.
“Dungeon next?”
But with the room lights back on after Myeong-ui left, the window reflected the two men instead of the outside.
“Yeah. But no outings for you today, Dad.”
“…What? Why?”
“No climate gear to lend you.”
Today’s anomaly: metal dust.
Young-woo planned to use bleed immunity gear, but nothing for Jeong-gu.
“You’re going solo?”
“Land connects tomorrow. Better hit it once more before national tensions spike.”
Young-woo gripped the whistle around his neck.
Checking summons left—for this.
‘One summon remaining.’
Time: 10:11 p.m.
49 minutes until street time.
“Just 40 minutes rest, then…”
As he sank into the sofa—
“Y-Young-woo?”
Seo-ok’s voice from the bedroom.
He instantly sensed something had gone down in the Returner’s room while she watched.
Because—
—Rumble rumble rumble!
Right after her call, a deafening friction roared from the TV.
And soon.
—Jeong Young-woo!
The General’s excited voice calling him.
Young-woo snapped alert and jumped up.
“New weapon!”