Chapter 293
Chapter 293
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 293
Chapter Title: 67. New Capital, Seoul (3)
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Dogo Special City, Metal Seoul.
Yeong-woo's declaration of establishing the New Seoul barely even registered with the citizens.
Shwaaazzz!
Everyone was too mesmerized by the sight of the city transforming into "Metal Seoul."
"Is... is this Seoul...?"
"Oh my god."
"No way..."
The roads and sidewalks in the area were already completely covered in steel, and now even the ordinary buildings around COEX were being reinforced with metal.
Even the roadside trees had been "metallized," their branches jutting out like razor-sharp blades.
"Um... is this really okay?"
Im Seon-ah, the rep from Taewon Group, looked at Jeong Gu with a worried expression.
Jeong Gu made a face that said he had no idea from here on out.
"This crazy bastard... I didn't think he'd take things this far."
He glanced toward his son Yeong-woo, spotting him fiddling with the module that Dogo had sent.
"Yeong-woo! You punk!"
He waved and called out, but his voice was drowned out by the constant gasps from the crowd.
"I need to go check on that idiot before something even weirder happens. Rep, you find somewhere safe to hole up."
As Jeong Gu pushed through the crowd, Seon-ah scanned her surroundings and headed toward the cluster of First Swords gathered off to the side.
Truth be told, the safest spot would be right next to Jeong Yeong-woo, but there were way too many people swarming that area.
Even Jeong Gu, a First Sword himself, was struggling to make a path.
"Come on, make way, folks."
Despite proudly holding the title of Dobong First Sword, the citizens were too fixated on the metallization of Seoul to step aside easily.
Jeong Gu had to spend several minutes covering less than twenty meters.
"I'm gonna lose my mind, seriously."
Finally drenched in sweat, he reached Yeong-woo and the module from Dogo. Only then did his son acknowledge him.
"...Why'd you come over? Wouldn't it be more comfortable hanging with the other First Swords?"
The once-in-a-generation demon born on the Korean Peninsula, Jeong Yeong-woo07.
He couldn't tear his eyes away from the module, so Jeong Gu asked.
"I wanted to know how much further you're planning to take this madness."
"What madness? Don't you want to live in a great power?"
As he spoke, faint blue strings of text reflected in Yeong-woo's pupils.
Jeong Gu found himself drawn to his son's side like he was hypnotized.
That's when he noticed the guide related to "Metal Seoul" displaying on the module Yeong-woo was operating.
◇ We warmly welcome you to this new B-grade development zone on Earth, "Seoul"!
◇ Seoul's current zone level is "1." Prior to full-scale reinforcement, foundational adjustments are underway.
"...What the hell is all this?"
Jeong Gu blinked as he read down the text, and Yeong-woo shrugged.
"Guess they have some kind of dedicated development protocol."
Seoul's current status: Foundational adjustments in progress.
In other words, the entire city was in the process of being covered in metal.
The next phase of city development probably wouldn't start until this was complete.
'Still, it has to finish within eight hours. That's when I set the business address.'
As Yeong-woo stroked his chin while staring at the module, new text appeared.
Paaat!
◇ While reinforcement work is in progress, we will proceed with basic city function settings.
"City function settings?"
"These bastards, what bullshit are they up to now!"
Jeong Gu jabbed a finger at the module in outrage, and Yeong-woo furrowed his brow.
"Ah, keep it down, would you?"
No matter how much of a royal destroyer-turned-chairman Dogo was—a cosmic thug from a prestigious lineage—Yeong-woo was the one actually out in the field handling things.
"Didn't you see earlier? Mara and Remu both declared war at the same time. It's gonna be two against one. So whatever bullshit means getting stronger, I'm pulling it all in."
Yeong-woo essentially had to fight this war as Dogo's proxy.
It'd be a lie to say he wasn't scared at all.
But he'd overcome even greater obstacles so far, so he was confident he could win this too.
Paaat!
Soon, a questionnaire of sorts appeared on the module.
◇ Please select the option closest to this city's development purpose.
[1] Commercial city construction.
[2] Trade route expansion.
[3] Shelter securing.
Then things started getting weird from [4] onward.
[4] Rebellion hub.
[5] Anti-king faction detection.
[6] Industrial facilities expansion.
"...Huh?"
"What? Why's 'anti-king faction detection' an option for city development purpose?"
"Probably reflects the chairman's trauma."
But the real kicker started at [7].
[7] City weaponization.
"Oho."
Yeong-woo finally showed a reaction to something he liked, and Jeong Gu swallowed hard.
"L-Look at the others too. There might be something normal."
But that hope was dashed.
[8] Iron-fist rule.
[9] Tyrant posture shift.
"What's the difference between 8 and 9? Aren't they basically the same?"
Jeong Gu muttered with his mouth agape, and Yeong-woo shook his head.
"You don't get it. 8 is for iron-fist rule from the start, while 9 is for when you're not a tyrant yet but wanna change your mind."
"...What? What does that have to do with the city?"
"Who knows. Maybe the oppression support functions are different."
"......!"
Oppression functions.
The bizarre term he'd never heard before made Jeong Gu's jaw drop even wider.
He could see the talent for tyranny in his son.
"Hey, you're building a great power, not tormenting people, right?"
"That'd be tough. My bad karma would pile up insanely fast."
Yeong-woo answered as he shifted his gaze to the last two options at the bottom.
[10] Civil war preparation.
[11] Status elevation.
Jeong Gu followed his son's eyes to the final two, then quickly pointed at 10.
"Yeong-woo, this one! Civil war preparation!"
Civil war preparation.
It fit Earth's current situation perfectly.
Especially if this New Seoul was truly going to become Earth's official capital, then the current three-way war was basically a civil war on the planet.
"10 seems solid. Nothing else worth seeing."
Jeong Gu looked at his son as he said it.
But the demon's gaze was fixed a bit lower than option 10.
"What the hell are you...?"
Jeong Gu followed Yeong-woo's eyes back to the module.
[11] Status elevation.
"Why this one?"
Jeong Gu asked in genuine confusion, and Yeong-woo blinked rapidly.
"How can a city's development purpose be status elevation?"
"Exactly? So we're going with 10..."
"No."
"Huh?"
"Don't you wonder what status it elevates, enough to remodel a whole city for it?"
"...."
Jeong Gu had nothing left to say.
He just thought this kid's mindset was fundamentally different from normal people.
"So? What status do you think it elevates?"
"Can't say for sure. But..."
Yeong-woo looked up at the sky.
More precisely, out into the vast cosmos beyond the atmosphere.
"This module came from space. So everything it says is on a cosmic scale."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah. So this 'status elevation' is probably, with high likelihood..."
"Cosmic status...?"
Jeong Gu prompted, and Yeong-woo nodded.
"Yeah. A status that means something on a universal level."
But that wasn't the only reason Yeong-woo was interested in 11.
"Whose status, then?"
"Huh? Yours, obviously?"
"Yeah. Even just mine would be a win. If it's a cosmic-level status."
"Then? What else is there besides yours?"
Yeong-woo turned to look at the crowds filling Gangnam.
Jeong Gu waved it off.
"Nah, no way."
The glance Yeong-woo had just given meant the entire citizenry of the city.
Seoul citizens—and maybe even all Earthlings at a higher level.
"Dad, do you know what grade our planet's residents rate as in the cosmos?"
"...No clue. You do?"
"I do."
"What?"
As the "hot stock" of the advertising world who'd experienced a historic cosmic status upgrade, Yeong-woo knew full well.
His own universal legal grade had jumped from 12 to a whopping 7.
So flipping that around...
"Everyone from our planet is a grade 12 by cosmic standards."
"Grade 12?"
"Yeah. You might not feel it, but it's extremely low."
The proof was the tattoo merchant "Potter of Pegyua," who'd once posed as a "Trader." Her cosmic legal grade was 11.
Yet Earthlings entering reset were grade 12.
Most people on this planet didn't even qualify for a name that worked in space.
"No... even so, you'd pivot city development to status elevation for that? Isn't that way too vague a policy?"
Jeong Gu, uncharacteristically rational, made his case.
This "development purpose" choice was obviously a major decision.
The next development phase after foundational adjustments would likely align with whatever they picked now.
So focusing on civil war prep made sense.
"Playing it safe is a death sentence. Why fight it? Just go civil war prep."
Jeong Gu grabbed Yeong-woo's shoulder with fatherly advice, but the Korean Peninsula demon's eyes were already half-rolled back.
"No? Something's nagging at me."
"What now."
"Every merchant we've met has had a low cosmic grade. Meanwhile, the ones swaggering around beating on people? High grades."
"Obviously high grade means they live well and can beat on others..."
"Exactly!"
"What are you even trying to say?"
"In this universe, high status lets you beat on others! That's the point!"
"......?"
Realizing the conversation had veered off again, Jeong Gu tried to catch up, but Yeong-woo was already touching the module.
"Dad! I'm getting déjà vu here, and it's not a mistake! I've been through something similar!"
"What're you talking about?"
It was natural Jeong Gu wouldn't get it.
He hadn't been there for Yeong-woo's first quantum choice.
Back when he'd ignored Yechan's pleas and chosen mass karma distribution of 30,000 over monopolizing 3 million.
"I'm looking further into the future!"
"You idiot, win the civil war first to have a future!"
But Yeong-woo's thinking was definitely different.
"What kind of future?"
"...What?"
"A future as lowly cosmic species? I can't waste this chance on that crap."
With that, Yeong-woo selected 11, Status Elevation.
Paaat!
"You gotta have hope to fight harder! Secure a good future first, then worry about the civil war!"
"No, you punk, the status stuff is all just your...!"
...guess, he was about to say, but a massive roar swallowed his words.
Kwaaaaa!
The moment Yeong-woo chose the development purpose, enormous energy surged from the module.
System text then appeared across the entire Korean Peninsula.
―The development purpose of "Dogo Special City Metal Seoul" has been set to Status Elevation.
"You little shit, for real!"
Jeong Gu, fuming, nearly lunged at his son but wanted to kick the module instead. Then the next message appeared, stopping him cold.
―This city's current level is 1. Please raise the city level to undergo Earth's status upgrade review.