Chapter 267
Chapter 267
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 267
Chapter Title: 60. Highway (2)
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‘Ha.’
Youngwoo let out a deranged laugh.
Of course, he’d fully expected that if something like a ‘dangerous company list’ existed, Dogo would be on it.
But still.
‘No, with only three slots, isn’t it too much that two are already taken by a porn outfit and the Lord of the Void?’
And soon, ‘Dogo’ would join the list, putting the finishing touch on this disaster.
“…….”
His vision darkening, Youngwoo squeezed his eyes shut without realizing it.
Especially for him, who’d planned to become the planet’s sole honest taxpayer and monopolize its equity stakes, this was a massive headache.
Not a single reputable company among those tasked with developing Earth going forward.
‘Permanent development rights? No deadline listed, so yeah, that’s probably it.’
Sure, he could betray the chairman and squeeze a halfway-decent firm into the last slot.
‘But with the others already like that, could a straight-arrow company even survive in there?’
Even if Remu turned out surprisingly respectable, Mara was devil incarnate just from that title.
―Lord of the Void, Walker in the Shadows of Cosmic Law. King of Ten Thousand Demons.
And from his limited perspective, among the alien firms Youngwoo had seen, the only one that could stand up to Mara was...
‘...the chairman and his gang of thugs.’
Hadn’t he witnessed it just last night in the Batrum Dungeon casino?
Dogo’s regular employees—not even their elite ‘Geopi Express’—beating down and chasing off Mara’s minions.
So if 「Dogo」 jumped into the planetary turf war for real, they might just pressure Mara.
‘Better than the worst. Rather than hand Earth to Remu and Mara, I’ll bet on the chairman.’
The chairman and Dogo’s shareholders despised Remu as lowly scum.
Slot Dogo in as a developer, and Remu would naturally get booted.
That left only the King of Ten Thousand Demons, Mara...
‘If they couldn’t even fight Mara, they wouldn’t have pulled that stunt in the casino.’
Youngwoo decided to put his faith in the chairman, who was a ‘myth’ in his own right.
And so, without delay.
‘The company I select is Dogo.’
He decided to pour oil on the already-burning planet.
「The selected company ‘Dogo’ is a top-priority dangerous entity. Confirm selection?」
As expected, the selection system questioned his choice.
Youngwoo gave a slight nod, locking in Dogo as the final developer.
‘Yes. Earth’s third development company is Dogo.’
This moment might just be a turning point in Earth’s fate.
Fwaaah!
The instant he confirmed the last company, a ripple spread from high in the sky, sweeping across the heavens.
As if tidying up Earth’s atmosphere in one go.
‘What was that?’
Though invisible, Youngwoo instinctively sensed something had happened and looked up.
‘No way... did a layer of the barrier just peel off?’
Seemed like prep work for the selected companies’ full planetary entry.
And then.
「All development companies for Planet II42-Earth have been selected.」
The message confirmed the basic selection process was complete.
Thus, the finalized lineup from Youngwoo’s final blow:
[Selected Companies]
1-Remu
2-Mara
3-Dogo
‘Oh my god. What have I done...’
A lineup so flashy his jaw dropped.
But what’s done was done, and there were no other options anyway.
‘No backing out now. Guess we smash the other two alongside the chairman.’
Remu with their suspiciously massive cash reserves, and Mara, the King of Ten Thousand Demons whose true nature still hadn’t fully emerged.
Just how did these freaks plan to ‘develop’ Earth?
And what would Dogo’s planetary development even look like?
‘The world’s going crazier by the minute.’
Lost in planetary-scale worries, someone boldly tapped Youngwoo’s arm.
“Hey.”
“......?”
Turning his head, he saw Jeju First Sword Choi Mun-soon staring at him with steely eyes.
“What’re you doing? Right now. Those bastards are already almost on us.”
Swoosh.
With that, she pointed to the Australian continent—Megasia—cleaving through the distant sea toward them.
“Ah.”
Only then did Youngwoo realize the whole company selection process had been visible only to those three with selection authority.
Essentially a private bidding war.
But once real development kicked off, everyone on Earth would know whether they liked it or not.
That something massive was changing on the planet.
Kugugugugu...!
For now, though, the tangible threat was the rapidly approaching Australian continent, not abstract development.
“So, what now? Draw swords first?”
Mun-soon spoke with battle-ready fervor, but Youngwoo held up a hand for wait.
“No telling how they’ll react, so we should prep... but no need to go full attack mode right away.”
By his common sense, Australia wasn’t the most habitable continent.
Its land area was about 35 times that of the Korean Peninsula.
Pre-Reset population: around 26 million.
That’s half of Korea’s people spread over that vast expanse.
‘Australia’s the real apocalypse once you leave the cities.’
Reason: barren soil.
Much of the continent was desert, unfit for farming or even basic living.
Thus, major cities clustered in the southeast, with some in the southwest.
Central and northern parts were nearly uninhabited.
Darwin, the key northern city, had just 120,000 people—less than a single Seoul district.
And crucially.
‘The part bumping into us is Australia’s north.’
Just a slice of the north, but population was key.
“Even if war breaks out with Australia right now, it wouldn’t be that threatening. Unless they’ve got some freak weapons.”
“Why?”
“Almost no one lives along the border touching us.”
“But what about Sydney and those cities...?”
“Sydney to northern continent? Thousands of kilometers. Even if they mobilized the second Pangea was announced, they’re not here yet.”
Even Youngwoo on Negig would struggle.
So probability of another freak like that in Australia: near zero.
“Uh... so this is no big deal?”
No full-scale war? Choi Mun-soon looked oddly disappointed.
Then she eyed Jeju’s swordmasters glaring tensely at the coast.
“Still, you never know, right?”
“Yeah. Can’t let our guard down. They’re probably on high alert too.”
But avoid needless bloodshed if possible.
On the big picture, weren’t they Earth taxpayers too?
GWP contributors—global workforce.
“Should be visible to the naked eye soon.”
With the horizon darkening, Youngwoo activated ‘Clairvoyance’ to zoom in.
Fwaaah!
The northern Australian edge, a thick line to the naked eye, sharpened into focus.
And.
“Uh...?”
A bewildered mutter escaped Youngwoo.
“What? What’d you see?”
Jeju First Sword Choi Mun-soon’s eyes widened impatiently, and Youngwoo replied cautiously.
“Something... a bit off.”
‘Cause.
‘What the hell...?’
Strange weapons lined the northern Australian coast—weapons he’d never seen.
Spear-like.
That many screamed mass-produced gear, but he hadn’t seen them at ‘Mountain of Swords’ on Reset Day One.
Plus.
‘No way those are war machines.’
Among the ranks of spears stood tall flags, exuding an ominous vibe.
Faded red banners stamped with white ink—something that looked like.
‘F-feet...?’
Feet.
Yeah.
The banners bore some kind of foot.
Problem was.
‘Feet...? If they dipped feet in ink and stamped, how’s it visible from here?’
The feet were HUGE.
Sure, could be hand-drawn.
‘Nah... you can tell. That rough texture only comes from direct stamping.’
So, conclusion: something in Australia with feet at least ten times human size.
‘Then... not human?’
The moment Youngwoo realized.
“......!”
A massive silhouette appeared on the northern coast in his 5x view.
“Wha-what?”
“What is it? Tell me! Hey, First Sword!”
Even as Choi Mun-soon shook his shoulder wildly, Youngwoo couldn’t look away.
He was staring at a hulking orc at least 5-6 meters tall.
“No way. What the fuck’s up with Australia?”
In disbelief, eyes bulging, the orc yanked a spear from the coast.
“Ah.”
Youngwoo sensed a lot from that.
Hadn’t he encountered them in Mun Kyung, Gyeongbuk?
Orc legions that knew ‘tactics.’
And one of their favorite moves:
‘Javelin barrage.’
Seemed all orc-types loved throwing spears.
This brute had red skin.
Then finally.
“It’s coming...!”
“Wh-what is?”
In Youngwoo’s zoomed view, the massive red orc hurled the hefty spear.
Straight at them.
Swaaaaaang!
A monstrous whoosh crossed the South Sea, and even Jeju First Sword realized the insane spear inbound.
“Fuck!”
Startled, she gripped her greatsword—but.
Kkkkkring!
A bowstring drew taut right beside her.
“...Huh?”
In that instant, the ‘First Sword’ had drawn a massive bow and nocked.
“Looks like you’d better gear up for war.”
With that, Youngwoo released.
Pyuuiiiing!
Dogo’s custom arrow sliced the air.
Then soon.
Boom!
It intercepted the orc spear hurtling toward Jeju’s coast.
“What... THAAD?”
The spear had been too fast to track visually.
Yet the First Sword shot it down with an arrow—Choi Mun-soon’s eyes shifted.
Realizing this kid wasn’t Korea’s proxy for nothing.
Meanwhile, Youngwoo checked Australia’s reaction across the sea.
Swoosh.
Distances had closed, revealing what lurked behind the spear-thrower orc.
It was.
“No......”
A black—no, blood-red—horde of red-skinned orcs.
Averages around 3 meters tall, thousands strong, with hulks like that one per company.
They’d come for war.
“Where’d they all come from?”
Stunned, Youngwoo soon spotted their source.
From the impeccably aligned orc infantry emerged one in flashy garb.
And above its head:
『Red Foot Orc Warlord』
≡Northern Australia Invader≡
A new title format, but same basic style as First Swords.
So, contextually, that orc was probably.
“Damn......”
Before Youngwoo could speak, the orc warlord raised a horn to its lips.
Then boomed across the sea.
―I am Bangtu Bangtung, chieftain of the ‘Red Feet’! As of yesterday, Australia is the Orc Autonomous Territory!
―Humans, guarantee orc survival rights! Or it’s war!
A monster had become Australia’s First Sword.