Chapter 252
Chapter 252
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 252
Chapter Title: 56. Great Ethnic Migration (7)
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A rich and strong nation will surely pacify the world.
Jung Yeong-woo's declaration of intent to cultivate overwhelming power, subjugate all nations on Earth, and usher in an era of great peace sent a massive shock and thrill through every resident of the Korean Peninsula.
This was because, since the founding of Joseon by King Taejo Lee Seong-gye, no conqueror-type leader had ever emerged on this land.
But things were different now.
The Reset—a catastrophe that could be called the worst in human history.
In this era where power was everything, the Korean Peninsula had coincidentally amassed tremendous military might.
With the mutants as his underlings and cosmic mines firing laser beams summoned from outer space—Jung Yeong-woo himself.
An asymmetric force that might even surpass nuclear weapons in this world!
The people's longing for this power manifested directly in the vote.
Fwaaah!
|In Favor: 76.8%
|Opposed: 23.2%
Jung Yeong-woo's approval rating had soared to a whopping 76.8%.
And soon after.
Shwaaaaa...!
Like carbonation bubbles rising in a glass, tiny letters sprouted up in droves across the sky-filling screen.
"Th-this is...?"
What Jung Yeong-woo saw with eyes wide open were the voters' 'one-liners.'
With the vote concluded, the thoughts cast by the electorate were being visualized on the screen.
—Could our country really become a superpower now?
—Joseon-style imperialism begins!
—Time for conquest...!
—If someone has to hold the knife hilt anyway, better us than them.
Of course, not every message supported or defended Jung Yeong-woo.
—So if someone's capable, even a traitor to their parents can be the national representative?
—To deal with foreign monsters, we have no choice but to send out our own monster.
—Is this really okay? Won't this make us the axis of World War III?
—At least as long as we don't become the Axis powers.
Among the screen's messages were opinions from those who voted against Jung Yeong-woo or reluctantly chose him as the lesser evil.
As a relative minority in public opinion, their words were sharply edged.
"......"
Jung Yeong-woo couldn't entirely dismiss the opposition's views.
The radical notion of crushing the other nine teams stemmed from the AI's argument, after all.
But flipping it around, that AI was...
'It's the result of learning from me, right? So maybe it's just voicing my innermost thoughts honestly.'
Still, he didn't go so far as to think war and conquest were the only answers.
But if unavoidable, they must be fought—and won without fail. He agreed on that point.
And his track record so far had proven he was the only one on the Korean Peninsula capable of that victory.
'If it's to be done, I'll do it! Pacify the world...!'
As that anonymous voter had said earlier, if someone had to seize the knife hilt anyway, wasn't it best for us to grab it first?
And so, Jung Yeong-woo gladly accepted the people's will.
"I won't forget your support, everyone!"
Shwaa!
As Jung Yeong-woo raised the Child of Saburo high and faced the screen, the Board of Directors' announcement echoed across the sky.
[Jeong Yeong-woo07 has been officially elected as the Korean Peninsula's strongest.]
[The final approval rating is 76.8%, exceeding the minimum 70% required for strongest selection. This excess will be set as the tax rate.]
"Uh...? Tax rate?"
It had definitely said tax rate.
Taxes.
'This is gonna cause a stir...?'
People had voted for someone to represent them and fight in the international arena—not someone to collect taxes.
And if the excess over 70% became the tax rate outright...
'A straight calculation from what I heard earlier comes to 6.8%.'
It would apply to the entire Korean Peninsula population, so daily collection at that rate was absurd.
'That'd mean rough daily income in the tens of billions. And if that happened, my head wouldn't stay on long.'
The voters must be just as curious about the tax rate's nature as Jung Yeong-woo.
He stood to receive money, but they had to pay it.
And soon, the Board of Directors' elaboration that everyone awaited followed.
[The tax collected by the elected Korean Peninsula strongest is called the 'Defense Tax.']
[The Defense Tax is classified as an indirect tax and is automatically levied on additional income exceeding the minimum living expenses required for survival.]
In simple terms, it meant taxpayers couldn't decide whether to pay at collection time—the system forcibly deducted it from income above the lowest subsistence level.
In other words, anyone earning beyond a certain amount would receive karma minus the Defense Tax from that point on.
'So those barely scraping by on minimum subsistence are exempt from Defense Tax. At least that's something.'
As Jung Yeong-woo waited tensely for the next explanation, the Board finally specified the Defense Tax rate.
[The current Korean Peninsula Defense Tax rate is an annual 6.8%, collected in daily installments.]
"Ah...!"
Jung Yeong-woo broke into a look of immense relief.
With minimum subsistence earners effectively exempt and the rate at just 6.8% annually, it wasn't overly harsh.
Of course, that didn't mean public opinion on the Defense Tax would be favorable.
They were still having money taken, after all.
'Receiving 6.8% annually in daily chunks... Still, it'll add up to a decent amount.'
Strictly speaking, it was like receiving 6.8% of the Korean Peninsula's GDP spread over 365 days.
A kind of salary for Jung Yeong-woo.
'So raising our GDP raises my salary too.'
Seen that way, it was a fairly reasonable system.
Unless he showed no results, in which case an angry populace might behead him.
'Can I spend the Defense Tax money however I want?'
As Jung Yeong-woo scratched his chin in thought, the Board's explanation added on cue.
[As it is also a national tax, the representative must record all Defense Tax expenditures and purposes.]
In short, he had to keep a ledger.
A new interface for that was probably coming.
Sure enough, since being elected strongest, a crown icon had appeared in the upper left of his vision.
[All official procedures for Jeong Yeong-woo07 are now complete.]
[Korean Peninsula Strongest, 'First Sword'—the only way to change it is murder.]
The ever-chilling method to change the First Sword.
With that, the sky screens vanished at once, and the faint presence of the Board dissipated cleanly.
"Huh? You bastards!"
Jung Yeong-woo glared skyward, ready to hunt them down and kill them on the spot, but no trace of the Board remained.
Instead.
Whiiiirrr!
From somewhere in the sky, a pure white beam curved down.
Fwaaah!
It struck above Jung Yeong-woo's head, gleaming brightly.
『First Sword』
That was when his title changed to the plain 'First Sword,' without qualifiers.
"Wh-what?"
Flustered, Jung Yeong-woo blinked, then realized belatedly.
It wasn't that the title lacked qualifiers—it simply needed none.
What qualifier did the Korean Peninsula's strongest, bearer of the First Sword system, require?
For the one who reached the system's pinnacle, it was simply...
'...First Sword itself.'
As Jung Yeong-woo stared at his stark new title, a tooltip for it soon appeared in his vision.
Fwaaah!
「First Sword」 - Legendary Title
【Prestige of the First Sword】
【Voting Rights Holder】
【Collection Rights Holder】
【First Sword Method】
'Fancy.'
Confirming the tooltip, Jung Yeong-woo turned his head westward.
With the Peninsula's highest title secured, he'd accomplished everything possible here.
So his next destination was...
'They said the tribute convoy from Beijing arrives today. Better meet those guys first.'
To stably extract 20 million karma daily from Shandong Province, he had to capture China's capital, Beijing.
And to do that...
'Reducing their forces as much as possible beforehand would be smart. I still don't know how strong Im Du-pyeong is.'
How had he endured all that flesh?
Right now, China's state chairman Im Du-pyeong was the most enigmatic figure to Jung Yeong-woo.
Of course, before meeting the experts dispatched from Beijing, there was one more thing to handle here.
Namely.
"C-congratulations, First Sword sir."
Dealing with the ethnic Koreans cautiously offering greetings and the still crumpled mutant Heo Geum-hwa off to the side.
"Yes. Thank you."
Jung Yeong-woo nodded in acknowledgment, but his eyes sharply scanned the surroundings.
With their leader's head gone, they posed no major threat for now—but they were still provisional rebels.
Truth be told, he wanted to behead everyone whose inaction reached a certain level and nip it in the bud.
'But handling things that way would pile up corpses into mountains and rack up insane karma debt.'
Nor could he just let those who turned Yeongdeungpo into a wasteland walk away scot-free.
So Jung Yeong-woo ordered the goblin to fetch the karma meter.
-Kikkit!
Then, he unleashed the Prestige of the First Sword, binding every ethnic Korean's feet in place.
Hwaaaah!
"It'll be a bit uncomfortable, but endure it. Better than dying."
"......!"
"Wh-what?"
Some higher-ups among the ethnic Koreans bristled at Jung Yeong-woo's unilateral show of force but soon shut their mouths.
Their flickering eyes had caught his title: 'First Sword.'
The very title, bizarrely plain without any qualifiers.
"From now on, we'll investigate your karma levels. If your recent karma gains include killing Koreans, we can assume you're one of the Yeongdeungpo massacre culprits, right?"
Click.
Jung Yeong-woo chambered the unmistakably gun-like karma meter and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger at the ethnic Korean man before him.
Bang!
The man's basic profile appeared alongside his full karma gain history.
[Recent Karma Gain History]
| +39 for killing Kim Ju-han131.
Kim Ju-han131.
A recent victim of this man.
Not a First Sword-level survivor by ID...
'Probably a Yeongdeungpo resident. As expected, all the combat-capable ethnic Koreans took part in the massacre.'
As Jung Yeong-woo pondered with the gun still trained on him, the man—his history exposed—broke into cold sweats and barely opened his mouth.
"P-please spare me!"
"......"
Instead of replying, Jung Yeong-woo eyed the sheer number of ethnic Koreans, too many for individual checks.
So he dropped the Child of Saburo to the ground and decided to say this.
"This gun shows the names of everyone you've killed recently."
"......?"
"From now on, we'll check one by one with this gun for recent murder records."
"What does that...?"
"What do you mean?"
As expected, everyone gaped, but Jung Yeong-woo continued unperturbed.
"Anyone whose record shows recent Korean kills dies by my hand here today."
"......!"
"But those with no kill records will be spared and repatriated to China. So stay put. Anyone fleeing before verification ends will be judged a Korean killer and executed on the spot."
In other words, if you have nothing to hide, wait for verification.
And finally.
Shwaa!
Jung Yeong-woo withdrew the Prestige of the First Sword, releasing everyone.
Then.
"R-run!"
"If we all bolt every direction at once, half can make it!"
Those convinced they wouldn't survive verification scattered in all directions at once, just as someone shouted.
Tatatak!
"......"
Jung Yeong-woo watched the fugitives with calm eyes, then turned to Heo Geum-hwa, still huddled dazed on the ground.
"Miss Geum-hwa, think carefully if you could handle what's about to happen from now on."
「Huh? Wh-what do you mean...?」
As Heo Geum-hwa looked up and glanced around, Jung Yeong-woo picked up a pumpkin-colored whistle from the scattered gear.
Then.
Preeeeee!
He blew it immediately, summoning en masse those who might become Heo Geum-hwa's future coworkers.