The Kingdom's Walls Are My Flesh

Kim Hwang-je pinched his cheek hard. It hurt. He walked to the sink, shoved aside the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pile of dirty dishes, and turned on the cold water. He scrubbed his face vigorously. His skin stung.

“Alright. This is real.”

He slapped himself with a loud smack and picked up the heavy gold coin that didn’t even fit in one hand. He wasn’t sure, but each coin seemed to weigh at least five grams.

Kim Hwang-je didn’t know it, but the gold coins used in Britain around 1900 weighed seven grams and boasted 91% purity.

And in today’s dangerous world, gold was worth a staggering 100,000 won per gram.

Even at that rate, how much would this be worth? Clutching ten coins in both hands, Kim Hwang-je grinned like an idiot.

“Ugh… Aaaargh!”

Once again, the sensation of his insides tearing apart hit him. It felt like he could hear something cracking.

He quickly reopened The World Observed and saw a massive boar-like creature ramming its head violently into the castle wall.

In that moment, Kim Hwang-je was certain. The cracking castle wall he saw was the direct cause of his pain.

“Aaaargh!”

While reading the description, a surge of abdominal pain sent Kim Hwang-je rolling across the floor. He didn’t know who wrote these messages, but he wanted to punch whoever delivered such painful news in such a cheerful tone.

Maybe that was why the king had smacked the wizard in the head earlier.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as before. The king and the wizard had climbed directly onto the wall. The king barked orders while the wizard unleashed a storm of lightning. The wild boar that had cracked several sections of the wall couldn’t hold out and died.

With them personally commanding from atop the wall after taking headache medicine, it seemed they might be able to hold the line.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I thought I wouldn’t care if I died when I had no money at all.

Now that he had ten gold coins in his fist, his attitude had completely changed. Humans really were reeds in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the wind.

Kim Hwang-je gripped the sink and barely managed to stand, letting out a groan.

The walls. I need to reinforce the castle walls immediately.

He urgently called a taxi through the app. It was convenient that he didn’t even have to speak. Soon the app notified him that a taxi had been secured. He put on warm clothes and stepped out into the street.

It was the height of early winter—an brutally cold day. There was no one on the streets, only a hazy layer of snow covering the ground. It was 3 a.m., when the boundaries of the world seemed to blur. The hour when the most awakeners were born.

“You’re heading to the Nokdu Apartment reconstruction site, right?”

“Mister, I’m in a hurry. Please drive as fast as you can.”

“Got it~ But why are you going to a construction site in the middle of the night?”

The driver seemed full of questions. Kim Hwang-je took a deep breath. He fiddled with the gold coins in his pocket as he answered.

“Because I work there.”

His tone made it very clear he didn’t want to be asked anything else. The driver stayed silent the entire way and dropped him off at the site.

“Ugh…”

Even then, the pain in his stomach kept getting worse. Thankfully, there were still people working the night shift when he arrived.

Among them, Kim Hwang-je hurried over to the construction foreman.

Park Jo-woon was a well-respected construction foreman. Kim Hwang-je had always been close with him, calling him “Mister” in private.

“Mister Park!”

“Whoa! Your Imperial Majesty, what brings you here at this hour?”

“I told you not to call me that—ugh.”

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

When Kim Hwang-je suddenly dropped to his knees, Park Jo-woon rushed over. He draped Kim Hwang-je’s arm around his neck and helped him up. A wave of scorching heat radiated from Kim Hwang-je’s body.

“Kid, you’re burning up. Is it a cold? Or did you drink?”

“Hoo… It’s urgent, Mister. Do you have any cement—”

“What are you even saying? Come inside first.”

Park Jo-woon quickly sat Kim Hwang-je down in the site office. Seeing how hot his forehead was, he reached for the first-aid kit to grab fever reducers or painkillers.

“That won’t help. I already took medicine.”

“What the hell is going on? Why would someone who should be at the hospital come here?”

“It’s urgent, Mister. Can I borrow some cement? I’ll pay whatever you ask.”

There wasn’t much money in his bank account, but he had gold coins in his pocket. If he sold them during the day, he could easily cover the cost of the cement. But Mister Park just stared blankly for a long time before his shoulders began to tremble.

“You little—! I can let a lot of things slide, but how the hell am I supposed to sneak you cement? Are you testing me right now?!”

The older man exploded in anger.

He was right.

After the monster outbreak, reconstruction projects had little to do with improving residents’ wealth or quality of life.

Under the excuse of wartime conditions, concrete was poured twenty-four hours a day, and foremen even had authority over ready-mix trucks. But that didn’t mean oversight was lax.

After all, monsters literally came to destroy buildings.

So how well a structure could serve as a “physical barrier against monsters” was one of the main criteria for evaluating construction companies.

Construction materials were therefore a very sensitive issue.

“No, Mister. Why are you getting so angry? I’m asking because I need it.”

When the sweating patient protested, Mister Park’s heart softened a little.

“Fine, but why the hell do you need it?”

“Mister, you’ll keep this a secret, right?”

“You little punk. Don’t you remember that I’ve been feeding you since you graduated high school?”

“Ugh. You’re right. But I earned that money from working.”

Still, he had only received pay for work done. It wasn’t like the man had fed him for free.

“Sick as you are and you still won’t shut up. Alright, Your Imperial Majesty. Why do you need it?”

“I awakened.”

At those words, the cup in Mister Park’s hand slipped and fell.

Fortunately it was plastic and didn’t break, but the water inside splashed all over the floor.

He didn’t even think about picking it up. His lips moved silently for a moment before he spoke with great resolve.

“Use the cement.”

“What?”

“I said take the cement. You’re not the type to lie, and cement can always be replaced with money. Do you need to take the whole truck? Did you bury a monster somewhere? Need to encase it in concrete?”

Mister Park shouted without hesitation. Kim Hwang-je shook his head.

Encasing monsters in cement. In the old days, he would have called that nonsense.

Normally, cement took a full month to fully cure. Even the Hoover Dam, built in 1936, still had concrete in its depths that hadn’t fully hardened.

But after the monster crisis, the existing slow-curing concrete was urgently improved. The new anti-monster construction concrete mixed plastic instead of water. And it hardened completely in just ten minutes.

“That’s right. It’s because of a monster. I’ll send you the bill later.”

He wasn’t lying. Not at all. Even now, the The World Observed window that Mister Park couldn’t see was displaying a fierce siege battle right beside him. Mister Park swallowed hard.

“I trust you, kid.”

“Of course. Here’s proof.”

Kim Hwang-je pulled a gold coin from his pocket and placed it on the table. Had the man ever seen gold under LED lights before?

It shone more brilliantly than anything else in everyday life. Since it had just been minted, it was even cleaner and more radiant.

“Huk—”

The sight of gold made his eyes spin. Mister Park swallowed again.

“Is… is this for me? Whoa, this is real gold?”

“Think of it as a down payment for the cement. I’ll probably be coming back often.”

Before he could even reply, the man bit down on the coin. Kim Hwang-je was stunned.

But when he saw the tooth marks left on the coin that had been in the man’s mouth, Kim Hwang-je’s own eyes widened.

It was nearly pure gold! Pure gold!

“Take it and use it. Just return the mixer truck.”

Still dazed, the man grabbed one of the car keys hanging nearby and tossed it to Kim Hwang-je.

“I’ll be back!”

“Uh, yeah…”

The man was completely fixated on the gold coin. Kim Hwang-je ran to the truck, started the engine, and the concrete mixer roared to life.

He drove it into a dark alley. He wasn’t in any condition to go far. If he got into an accident while in this much pain, it would be a disaster. He simply parked the truck in a back alley.

In that secluded spot, he activated Tribute Trade.

Fees or whatever, I need to survive first!

Kim Hwang-je glared and firmly selected the fast-curing cement.

He selected the King. At that very moment, the King was busy slicing apart lunatics climbing the castle wall with his sword. The King scratched his head, then drove his blade into the eye of another bull-like monster that was climbing up. Its wide-open mouth looked exactly like the male character on a smartphone game app icon.

His mind was racing. A monstrous beetle-like insect the size of a house had embedded its front legs into the castle wall, sending vibrations through his body like someone was hammering inside him. The King roared like thunder and pointed at the giant insect.

Ughhhhh…

There was nothing to see. The place was utterly desolate. What kind of tribute could a kingdom ravaged by war possibly offer? Once again, Kim Hwang-je pressed the Appropriate Price button.

When Kim Hwang-je examined the window more closely, he noticed an “Installment Trade” option. He set it to receive 1,000 gold in coins upfront, with the remainder paid slowly in installments.

Soon, a large scroll appeared once again before the King’s eyes, and the Archmage teleported to his side.

They stared at each other in front of the majestic scroll like a scene from a movie.

Finally, with a determined expression, the King pressed the trade button.

Meanwhile, Kim Hwang-je couldn’t even read the status window. He was too busy getting buried under a cascade of gold coins pouring into the driver’s seat.

“Pffft—!”

A gold coin had gone into his mouth!

He quickly spat it out and shoved the growing pile of coins from in front of him onto the passenger seat.

Even then, he made sure to close the windows so none would fall outside. Every single one was his property.

“Hoo!”

Thankfully, it wasn’t that heavy. A thousand gold coins only weighed about five kilograms.

“Use it! Hurry!”

Kim Hwang-je shouted while watching the video. The King, who couldn’t possibly hear his voice, hesitated until the Archmage’s urging finally made him open the cement box.

The box sprayed out white cement like a water gun.