Chapter 295
Chapter 295
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 295
Chapter Title: 67. New Capital, Seoul (5)
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‘Three kill records?’
And they were all eligible for registration.
This meant records of defeating ‘legendary foes.’
Since no follow-up message appeared, Youngwoo could only make inferences.
‘One has to be the Kim Jong-un family. I broke an achievement thanks to them.’
The achievement ‘Black Legend,’ completed when he killed Kim Jong-un, required facing a legendary evil.
‘So who are the other two?’
There weren’t that many opponents worthy of being called legendary, so Youngwoo immediately recalled another one.
Beijing Giant Evil Lim Du-pyeong, the former President of China.
He had ruled China even before the Reset, and after the Reset, he blocked 300 million chunks of flesh while dreaming of continental domination once more. How could he not be legendary?
‘Then what’s the last one?’
There were a few more candidates, but nothing certain, so Youngwoo climbed back onto Negig.
Clank!
Then he said to his father.
“I’m heading to the Sajik Altar. I need to see how many Glory Points you get per kill record.”
“You’re leaving all these people and going to the Sajik Altar?”
Jeong Gu glanced back at the crowds filling Gangnam District.
The business presentation Youngwoo had announced was about to start, so the First Swords from various regions had arrived, and residents from all over were flooding in.
“Yeah. The monument’s over there, no choice. Let’s do the business presentation in front of the monument.”
“……!”
Youngwoo’s words startled not just Jeong Gu but everyone in the area.
“Th-the Sajik Altar? That’s Jongno, right?”
“You want us to go all the way to Jongno now?”
The crowd buzzed again, and Youngwoo waved his hand to calm them.
“The business presentation isn’t anything grand. You already heard most of it here. We’re setting out from Metal Seoul here to conquer the planet.”
Those already present were actually the lucky ones.
They’d been there when Youngwoo deployed the core to establish Metal Seoul.
But the residents didn’t seem satisfied with that.
“No, isn’t Gangnam your district, Youngwoo? The presentation should be in Gangnam!”
“Yeah, let’s do it in Gangnam!”
As the people clamored, Youngwoo’s brow furrowed slightly.
The presentation was meant for the regional representatives, the First Swords, so they just needed to follow.
‘But they all heard rumors it was at COEX… They put in the effort to come here, so they’d feel cheated.’
Youngwoo pondered for a moment.
These people were taxpayers paying defense levies to this side, and potential voters who could sway a future re-election.
He couldn’t ignore them.
‘Can’t just wipe my mouth clean after shoving millions in stipends down their throats.’
To solve this, Youngwoo turned his gaze to Togo’s city development module.
Jeong Gu tilted his head and approached.
“What? Looking for something else?”
“No idea. Something that’ll help right now.”
If the Victory Monument was Metal Seoul’s first structure, theoretically the second and third construction options should be somewhere in the module.
Rifling through the module’s hologram interface, Youngwoo soon spotted a promising menu.
[Basic Facilities]
“Oh, what’s this? Basic Facilities?”
He tapped it immediately, and new construction items appeared at the bottom of the menu.
[Relay Screens]
|Installs relay screens across the city, allowing the mayor to broadcast to the region. Operates only when the mayor is within city limits.
*Base Price: 20 million karma
“…Base price?”
“There’s a base price?”
Both Youngwoo and Jeong Gu reacted sharply to the ‘base price’ at the bottom of the tooltip.
Because a base price implied...
[Angle Adjustment: +10 million karma]
[Audio Addition: +10 million karma]
...additional costs for options.
“These bastards are loaded.”
Jeong Gu cursed immediately, and Youngwoo marveled at Togo’s ad recovery scheme.
Because—
Ping!
[Quest Complete - “Celestial Migration”]
[Reward Granted]
|30 million karma
The Togo quest cleared right on time.
With 30 million karma deposited, Youngwoo’s assets swelled once more.
* Available Karma: 65,212,500
* Available Defense Funds: 78,967,105
Personal wealth at 65 million karma, defense levies at 78 million.
‘Time to dip into the public treasury?’
He didn’t love that option prices matched the base, but 40 million to screen all of Seoul was practically free.
“Once installed, it’s basically permanent, right? Not a bad price in my opinion. They could’ve charged more.”
Decision-maker that he was, Youngwoo used public funds for the first time to purchase the ‘Relay Screens.’
‘Buy with both add-ons included.’
Public funds dropped by about 38 million, but in exchange, massive screens appeared in the skies over Gangnam and all of Seoul.
Pop pop pop!
“Huh?”
“What? In the sky…”
As eyes widened, Youngwoo’s image appeared on the ‘Relay Screens.’
Some citizens caught on screen with him hurriedly covered their faces, and Jeong Gu grimaced up at the sky.
“No portrait rights or anything?”
“You’re the Togo Special Mayor, Dad. Basically a public figure. Give it up.”
Youngwoo’s gaze showed the ‘Burden of the Mayor.’
「Public funds of 40 million karma spent on relay screens from vendor ‘Togo.’」
「This will be permanently recorded in the ledger and subject to voter evaluation.」
A notice that public spending was tracked and logged.
‘Too much piling up. Gotta get Kubu to handle some work.’
Anyway, with the announcement channel secured, all that remained was heading to the Victory Monument to offer up the legendary foes.
Flash!
A palm-sized orb with a tiny lens embedded appeared by his head.
“Ah.”
The 10-million-karma angle adjustment device—a camera of sorts.
Youngwoo cleared his throat, facing it.
“Citizens, hello. I’m Togo Special Mayor… Jeong Youngwoo. Greeting you via screen.”
He’d streamed games before the Reset, but a citywide state broadcast was new, so nerves hit.
“Uh… The screen you’re seeing is the first facility bought with your defense levies, and…”
He scrolled down the module’s [Basic Facilities], revealing more below ‘Relay Screens.’
[Surveillance Network]
<Guillotine>
<Prison>
“……!”
Just the top lines looked ominous, but thankfully not on camera.
“…Yes, many fine facilities for citizen welfare are prepared. Look forward to them.”
Flash!
Youngwoo closed the module screen and turned the camera north.
“Now, let’s see how close we are to elevating this planet’s status.”
* * *
Sajik Altar.
Once a place to offer sacrifices to gods of earth and grain, praying for national prosperity, it was as vital to the dynasty as the royal ancestral shrine.
In that agrarian society, a nation’s wealth was directly tied to each year’s harvest.
Thus.
‘How fitting. This monster shouting rich nation, strong army heads to the Sajik Altar to check Glory Points.’
Riding in Negig’s back seat, Jeong Gu couldn’t help the odd feeling.
Even so, Youngwoo kept explaining diligently for Seoul’s other citizens who’d missed the Gangnam briefing.
“We’ll definitely collect planetary tributes going forward…”
How Seoul had metalized by chance, how they’d war with the other two planetary developers, etc.
He didn’t skip reporting achievements from racing around Earth and beyond.
“As I mentioned briefly, our bonds alone total 280 million…”
Finally, the Victory Monument rose above the Sajik Altar’s center.
“Can you see it? That’s the Victory Monument! Why we must keep facing powerful foes.”
Youngwoo turned the camera to the monument ahead.
Whoosh.
The Victory Monument consisted of two iron towers slanting up from opposite ends of the Sajik Altar, their tips meeting.
“Isn’t that a bit irreverent? Building right over the Sajik Altar?”
Jeong Gu said worriedly, but Youngwoo didn’t care.
“Isn’t it an honor?”
“…What?”
“The cosmic construction system recognized the Sajik Altar’s significance and recommended it as the build site. It could’ve ignored it.”
“R-really…?”
The persuasive argument left Jeong Gu scratching his cheek.
Meanwhile, Youngwoo parked Negig before the Sajik Altar and leaped toward the Victory Monument.
Thud!
A chance to show how his slain foes contributed to planetary status elevation—he had to broadcast this to all of Seoul.
That way, the violent business ahead would get voter support.
‘That’s why politics hinges on results.’
Crack!
Seoul’s first post-Reset mayor—no, Togo Special Mayor Jeong Youngwoo stood before the Victory Monument.
A vortex swirled between the towers, displaying system text.
「Three kill records eligible for Victory Monument registration. Confirm?」
Youngwoo nodded silently, and the process started automatically.
[Baektu Bloodline]
|At the Reset, Kim Jong-un met his father and grandfather unexpectedly.
The two ancestors, pulled from the void, fought desperately to preserve the bloodline, but blocking the planetary strike laser proved too much…
“What? The end feels so wistful…?”
After Youngwoo read the record, the Glory Points assigned to the Baektu Bloodline appeared below.
[Baektu Bloodline is a legendary evil! Registering on this monument grants 100 Glory Points.]
‘Ah… Base is 100 points.’
Youngwoo stroked his chin, then moved to the next.
Flash!
The face and voice still vivid.
[Beijing Giant Evil]
|Karma from the past world became a massive boon in the Reset world. Facing raining flesh, Lim Du-pyeong chose a second chance over massive debt.
But he never dreamed a greater evil would come…
‘These guys are subtly shading me?’
[Beijing Giant Evil is a legendary evil! Registering on this monument grants 100 Glory Points.]
By now, Youngwoo could infer his own Glory Points assignment.
‘But I haven’t been judged yet.’
Youngwoo boldly opened the next record.
Flash!
[Kmonis’s Giant God]
|Traitor Gameta fled Besedel royalty’s pursuit, joining the temple keeper’s ledger.
But he couldn’t escape karma’s chains.
Found dead in the temple, beaten brutally with clear Besedel blade marks…
‘Ah, Gameta.’
The final legendary foe was Giant God Gameta.
[Kmonis’s Giant God is a legendary traitor! Registering on this monument grants 165 Glory Points.]
“Huh? 165?”
An oddly mismatched score.
The previous two were exactly 100. Why?
“Ah.”
Blinking, Youngwoo figured it out.
‘Base 150, plus 10% from Sajik Altar bonus.’
[Sajik Altar]
|If registered foe is not Earth-affiliated, gain 10% extra Glory Points.
That explained giving less bonus to off-world entities.
‘Cosmic beings have different base scores to start.’
So, registering all three kill records would yield.
“365 points. For our Seoul’s Glory Score.”
Youngwoo alternated glances at the camera and his father. Jeong Gu’s eyes lit up.
“Oh, really? How many more for that promotion exam?”
Youngwoo gazed back at the monument and registered all three.
“Let’s see.”
Swoooosh!
The monument accepted the records, blazed white, and shot a pillar of light skyward.
Kwaaaa…!
Then, a Seoul-wide announcement.
—Mayor Jeong Youngwoo07 has registered three legendary kill records.
—Current Glory Score of Togo Special City Metal Seoul: 365 points.
“And?”
As Youngwoo awaited the next line, the system delivered.
—Glory Points needed for this planet’s promotion exam: 635 points.
“What?”
“Huh? They want a thousand?”
Youngwoo and Jeong Gu gaped identically.
Despite all Youngwoo’s rampaging, he’d barely hit half the required score.
Moreover.
“…….”
The announcement reached all of Metal Seoul.
Meaning most Korean voters had seen this result.
Prioritizing status elevation over civil war prep for city development—and failing.
With enough time, he could fill the gap eventually, but public backlash was obvious.
“B-big trouble?”
Jeong Gu wasn’t clueless; he subtly nudged the camera aside and whispered.
Then.
“…….”
Youngwoo blinked rapidly, scanning visible system messages faster than ever.
Until.
*Monuments allow registration of foes not judged in the city’s name within 48 hours of construction.
[Time Remaining – 47:51:37]
His eyes hit the grace period for retroactive kill records.
‘Foes not judged in the city’s name can also be registered…’
Youngwoo just blinked silently until impatient Jeong Gu spoke first.
“Turn off the broadcast for now and…”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“The business presentation isn’t done yet.”
“…What are you talking about? We’re already metal…”
Jeong Gu blankly surveyed metalized Seoul as Youngwoo grabbed the camera.
Whoosh.
He angled it at the timer on the Victory Monument.
“Announcing Metal Seoul’s new venture now. Name: Legendary Invitation Tournament!”
“……?”
Had he panicked into nonsense?
Jeong Gu thought to stop his son before disaster, but Youngwoo’s eyes were crystal clear.
“For the next 47 hours, we’ll gather the world’s top fighters and line them up before the monument!”
“What?”
“At least some will have legendary kill records. I’ll rack up a couple more meanwhile.”
In short, he’d collect kill records for submission.
The method, though, was essentially…
“Y-Youngwoo. Isn’t this basically kidnapping, blackmail, and assault? If you actually do this…”
No need to say he’d become an irredeemable villain.
Jeong Youngwoo was already piercing the heavens like a demon king.
“Are we the villains? We’re…!”