Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: 17. Nuisance Supreme Sword (3)
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“Ad… what?”
How many people could instantly connect the word “sponsor” to a situation like this?
Byung-chul, failing to grasp Young-woo’s words right away, gripped his pistol even tighter and asked again.
“What the hell are you talking about? Explain yourself properly!”
“Sponsor. They came to see me to sign an advertising contract.”
Young-woo nodded slightly toward the grotesque lifeform on the other side.
Of course, this was an advertiser from outer space.
And the other man already knew that without needing any explanation.
“Ad… vertiser…?”
The moment Byung-chul finally understood Young-woo’s line clearly, his expression grew even more complicated.
―Uh……!
By then, the “sponsor” that had nearly descended fully, wrapped around the pillar of light, began to make sounds.
―Ooh……!
The first few were just incomprehensible monster noises, devoid of meaning.
―Young……!
But as time passed, it became impossible not to think that it was struggling to pronounce something.
At least for Young-woo.
‘…No way.’
A chill ran down his spine.
And right then, the sponsor completed its fateful line.
―Young-woo……!
Young-woo!
The pronunciation was so clear that even someone who didn’t know the name Jeong Young-woo could picture the characters in their mind.
The monster had been practicing human speech all this time.
“…What?”
Byung-chul, realizing this late, turned around as if entranced.
And then.
―Young-woo……!
It shouted “Young-woo” once more.
As if seeking confirmation that it had pronounced it correctly.
“…Fuck, shit.”
Finally, cold sweat began to bead on Byung-chul’s forehead too.
The fact that this monster—with dozens of heads strung together like prayer beads—had learned human speech filled him with a disgusting terror.
But the unpleasant experience didn’t end there.
―Jeong… Young-woo!
Having perfectly mastered the two syllables “Young-woo,” the sponsor nailed the final character “Jeong” in one go.
―Jeong Young-woo!
It must have finally grasped how to produce human sounds. Like a radio spewing static that had at last tuned into the right frequency.
“Jeong Young-woo…?”
Byung-chul instinctively realized the monster’s practice sounds had been a person’s name, and he shifted his gaze back to the golden-skinned extraterrestrial.
“Didn’t you just say that thing came to see you? So you’re…”
His trembling voice matched the shaking barrel of his gun.
Young-woo stared at the gun and slowly opened his mouth.
“Yes. I’m Jeong Young-woo.”
The extraterrestrial’s name was finally revealed.
And at the same moment, the sponsor bellowed with a thunderous voice.
―Jeong Young-woo……! For the contract! We… have, come!
The intonation was a mess, but the sentence it pronounced was remarkably intact.
It had mastered the planet’s language in less than a few minutes since arriving on Earth.
‘Come to think of it, no intermediary…’
Young-woo realized this being was on a whole different level from the extraterrestrials he’d met before.
Even those who came as merchants could only communicate through intermediaries.
The most they could send directly was heat, noise, or breaths.
But this sponsor.
―Jeong Young-woo! For the contract… We, have come!
Not only had it arranged this meeting without an intermediary, it was even correcting its awkward accent on its own.
“We…?”
Byung-chul, who had been listening to the monster’s sounds, whipped around with a startled look.
He then raised his gun and aimed at the grotesque lifeform wrapped around the pillar of light.
He judged that this monster from the sky was more dangerous than Jeong Young-woo, who was at least the same species.
‘Yeah, it’s not alone.’
Young-woo also took in the sponsor’s form carefully at the word “we.”
Crunch.
This massive creature, tightly coiled around the dark red pillar of light, consisted of dozens of heads strung together with rainbow lights.
Each head was so different that it was hard to believe they were even from the same species, let alone the same planet.
There was a rock-like head rippling with a filmy membrane, something fish-like but with three or four times as many eyeballs, and even one mimicking an Earth beast but creepily eyeless.
“W-what the hell is that thing…?”
Byung-chul, spotting one among the varied heads that closely resembled a human, let out a sound like he was about to cry.
The head in question— with prominent cheekbones, a large nose, and sharply protruding bandit-style whiskers—was rolling its overly bulging eyes downward.
‘So there were other races similar to humans.’
Young-woo soon noticed the bandit head too, but unlike Byung-chul, he wasn’t shocked.
He’d already met a merchant who resembled a human.
The hulking wandering merchants from the auction who had shared their “breaths.”
‘So right now, dozens of sponsors are bound together?’
As Young-woo stepped forward for a closer look, Byung-chul—gun trained on the sky—shrieked.
“W-what are you doing?”
“We need to send it back first.”
To do that, he’d have to proceed with the advertising contract.
“…….”
Young-woo glanced at the young cop still writhing on the ground, then walked past Byung-chul toward the sponsor.
Clank, clank.
As Young-woo advanced toward the pillar of light with metallic sounds, the dozens of heads—which had been looking in different directions—snapped their gazes toward him all at once.
And then.
―Ah……!
They let out exclamations in unison.
As if he perfectly matched the model they’d been hoping for.
―Jeong Young-woo!
The sponsors called out Young-woo’s name again.
As if confirming that the one standing before them was indeed Jeong Young-woo.
So Young-woo.
“Yes. I’m Jeong Young-woo07, Earth human, Gyeongbuk’s Greatest Swordsman.”
He recited the exact line the intermediary Kubu had once used to refer to him.
Since it was probably some kind of cosmic greeting.
He then thumped his left chest to display his title, proving his identity.
Flash!
『Gyeongbuk’s Greatest Swordsman』
The title interface granted by whatever system oversaw the Reset.
The extraterrestrial sponsors would surely trust the Reset system too, right?
‘Alright, what’s next?’
As Young-woo scanned the dozens of heads one by one, waiting for a reaction, the ones with eyes soon rolled their eyeballs dramatically.
―Pleased to meet you. Earth human, Gyeongbuk’s Greatest Swordsman, Jeong Young-woo07!
Their accent had already become much more natural.
―We are 「Dogo」……! We answered 「Saetbyeol」’s call first.
He felt intangible waves ripple through the air when “Dogo” and “Saetbyeol” were pronounced, and each time, Young-woo clearly understood their meanings.
Just like on the first day of the Reset, when approaching the exchange had automatically filled his mind with information about it.
‘Dogo…….’
It was a proper noun he’d never heard before, but Young-woo grasped its meaning as if recalling a long-forgotten fact.
‘So Dogo wasn’t one person’s name.’
Dogo.
A galaxy-spanning war weapons brand, a corporation with shares divided among multiple stakeholders.
In other words, Young-woo was now standing before the shareholders of a massive arms manufacturing company.
‘So, I’m supposed to be the ad model for a munitions conglomerate?’
Young-woo’s mouth fell open at the unexpected identity of his sponsor.
But why…?
Why would a galaxy-wide arms company skip other planets and advertise on Earth?
Just as doubt welled up in Young-woo, “Dogo” began reciting bizarre lines.
―Chaos! Civil war erupts on Earth!
―Will 「Dogo」 bring destruction to this world too?
“What……?”
―We investigate together with the fringe lord of Earth, Jeong Young-woo07!
“My God.”
Young-woo unconsciously pressed his forehead.
Putting the lines together, this was clearly…
“…an ad concept.”
* * *
Promoting the galaxy-spanning arms company 「Dogo」 by supporting a fringe lord on a planet torn by civil war…
Having understood that much, another question arose for Young-woo.
Advertising contracts came with conditions, right?
Like only using weapons supplied by Dogo, or announcing the brand name at key moments.
“Uh… okay, I get that this is a brand ad. So what exactly am I supposed to do?”
As Young-woo asked, Dogo’s shareholders flashed brightly for a moment.
Flash!
And at the same time, a system message appeared in Young-woo’s vision.
「Dogo requests data access permissions for Jeong Young-woo07. Approve?」
[Requested Data]
|Unique Code
|Language Used
|Quest Slots
“Ah.”
It was similar to when he’d first traded with intermediary Kubu.
The difference was that Kubu had only asked for unique code and language data, while Dogo added quest slots.
“…….”
Young-woo pondered briefly before approving the data access.
Then, Dogo’s contract proposal arrived via system message.
「Contract: Dogo-49523-IIIII_II-2Tier」
(Required) [Grade 2 Ad Space Usage]
-Company logo will be printed on weapon trails.
-Prior to major battles, must vocally announce that you are fighting with Dogo’s support.
(Required) [Grade 3 Exclusive Quest]
-Receive bonuses upon completing exclusive quests.
(Optional) [Grade 2 Exclusive Quest]
-Advertising fees paid in installments only upon completing exclusive quests.
-Total ad budget execution increases by approximately 40x.
#Base Ad Fee: Estimated 10 million karma per week.
#Base Contract Period: 4 weeks.
“…Insane.”
As expected of an ad contract from the cosmos.
The “ad space usage” was reasonable by Earth standards, but the payment method and scale were beyond imagination.
‘Base fee of 10 million karma per week, and up to 40 times that…?’
Of course, you’d have to complete Dogo’s quests to get paid, so it might be a poison pill clause.
But 40 times over.
In karma, that was 400 million.
And that was weekly.
‘Even if the quests are so hard I can only complete one in ten, it’s still 4x the base. Worth a shot.’
Plus, from Dogo’s perspective, wouldn’t they want their model to survive as long as possible for maximum promotion?
So he doubted they’d screw him with impossible quests.
‘Let’s do it. Worst case, I break even.’
At worst, he’d just go around announcing Dogo’s support for free for about a month.
Young-woo blinked hard twice, then shouted loudly toward Dogo’s shareholders.
“I’ll sign! Including the Grade 2 quest……!”