The Budget Multiplies Itself

The area in front of the main gate of the 80th Infantry Division barracks was bustling with construction vehicles.

While massive cement mixers rumbled and military personnel maintained the safety perimeter, lines of trucks carrying new construction materials streamed inside.

Inside the outdated barracks, windows and mattresses were being replaced, and individual desks were being installed next to the soldiers' beds.

The communal showers were remodeled into private booths, and the entire HVAC system in the mess hall was being replaced.

The gym was expanded to accommodate eleven new workout machines, and a new book-cafe-style lounge was built, complete with coffee makers, sofas, and coffee tables.

At the indoor firing range, new insulation and soundproof panels were being installed on the concrete exterior walls.

This was the specific area where City Hall had requested extra attention.

Sound-absorbing corrugated aluminum panels, high-elasticity acoustic materials, double-layered soundproof walls, and even non-shielding electromagnetic wave absorbers were utilized to suppress even the slightest vibrations.

Around the outdoor training grounds, a double-layered, three-meter-high dust-control earthen levee was erected, topped with an additional soundproof curtain membrane structure.

The annex building, located on the outskirts of the base about 400 meters away, was remodeled into an exhibition and experience center.

The access routes for civilian visitors and soldiers were completely separated, with additional barbed wire fencing, CCTV cameras, and security checkpoints installed.

The lobby of the experience center was designed like a museum.

Models of state-of-the-art military equipment were displayed inside translucent acrylic boxes, alongside explanations of their technical principles.

The red lettering stamped here and there, rather than feeling unfriendly, added a sense of realism and stimulated the imagination.

Other features included an indoor flight experience zone for supply drones actually used by soldiers, a computer lab equipped with infrared cameras and AI analysis programs, a decryption practice server and basic forensics equipment experience zone, a tactical simulation room, and tablet-based study rooms.

"Just as I'm about to get discharged, they build all this cool stuff."

Sergeant Hwang Byeong-min, who was on his final stretch of service, grumbled slightly while shooting the breeze with Corporal Kim Se-jin.

"If you sign on for another term, Sergeant Hwang, you can enjoy all of this, sir."

"Yeah, right. You go ahead and do that."

"Aren't you in the education department, Sergeant? Teaching kids here wouldn't be any different from teaching them at a school, sir."

"Don't say such horrifying things."

Hwang Byeong-min brushed his junior off, but in truth, he was a bit curious to see the students.

They'd probably be cute.

If he ever met them, he was confident he would treat them well.

However, with so much construction still left to do, the students would likely only start visiting long after he had been discharged.

Inside a snack shop in Baekryeong-dong, five seniors from Baekseo High School were sitting together.

"It'll probably be after we graduate."

Kim Su-ji, a female senior, said.

"I heard the construction will take at least half a year."

"Yeah."

"So we won't really benefit from it for our college admissions."

"That's a shame."

"Lee Yun-hyeok should have become mayor sooner."

"Seriously, that's the real pity."

"Don't we get to vote in the local elections next year? Let's vote for Lee Yun-hyeok."

"We don't even know what office he'll run for."

"I'll vote for him no matter what he runs for."

The group of five, a mix of boys and girls, had stopped by to grab a quick dinner before heading to the study hall.

As plates of tteokbokki, gimbap, and ramyun were served in quick succession—

"Hello."

Another customer entered the shop to grab a bite.

It was a soldier out on his final leave.

The students suddenly lowered their voices and began to whisper.

"Hey, look."

"It's a soldier..."

"I think he's from the infantry division."

"Maybe not."

"Must be."

The students had no knowledge of military unit insignia, but Sergeant Hwang Byeong-min recognized them instantly by their uniforms.

They're from Baekseo High.

Though they had never met before, the recent series of events involving Baekseo Middle School, Baekseo High School, and the 80th Infantry Division had been such a massive issue that they couldn't help but be conscious of each other.

If Lee Yun-hyeok's project had started just one year earlier, they might have crossed paths in the experience center.

"..."

A strangely humorous sense of mutual familiarity bloomed between them. Even though it was their first time seeing each other, they felt an odd, warm connection.

The construction would take another half a year, but the hearts of the people could change much faster.

"Should we..."

Kim Su-ji mustered up her courage and whispered to her friends.

"Let's buy his meal!"

It was a common heartwarming trope on the internet—stories of citizens secretly paying for a soldier's meal while they were out on leave.

Granted, it wasn't anything expensive here—just a bowl of ramyun and a roll of gimbap.

"Let's pay for him."

"That's a bit much."

"I'm down."

"If you pay, I'll transfer you the money tomorrow. I'm broke right now."

Opinions split among the students.

Kim Su-ji stood up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠abruptly and took a deep breath.

And then, gathering her courage, she walked over to the sergeant.

"Um, excuse me..."

Approaching a stranger felt incredibly awkward. Her friends watching from the table couldn't hold back their giggles.

"Would it be okay if we bought your meal?"

"Pardon...?"

Sergeant Hwang Byeong-min was taken aback, and Kim Su-ji, equally flustered, began to stammer.

"I-I mean, since you're a soldier..."

"Hey, kids."

Suddenly, the owner of the snack shop chimed in.

"You kids don't have money to spare. I'll just let him eat on the house."

"No, it's fine! Really, I can pay."

Startled, Hwang Byeong-min quickly pulled out his wallet.

"No, no. Put that away."

The owner waved her hand.

"To be honest, my son goes to Baekseo Middle School, so I filed a few complaints myself back then..."

She patted the sergeant's shoulder warmly.

"I'm sorry."

"..."

"You're working so hard at such a young age. It's not that we didn't appreciate it, but things just ended up that way back then. I'm sorry."

"Stay healthy and finish your service safely."

"...Thank you."

The owner then turned to Kim Su-ji, who was still standing there awkwardly.

"Go on back and eat, dear. I'll give you your ramyun for free, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too."

Then she pointed at the rest of the giggling students.

"But you guys still have to pay."

"Aww, man!"

The energetic high schoolers finished their meals in a flash. As they paid and headed out, they called out to Hwang Byeong-min.

"Thank you, mister!"

"We're seniors, so we won't get to go on the tour, but thank you anyway!"

"We're heading out! Enjoy your meal!"

"Bro!"

One of the boys, who seemed to be the class clown of the group, even threw him a salute.

"Loyalty!"

His form was terrible, though.

Hwang Byeong-min waved back at the unfamiliar kids.

Once I graduate from the education department and pass the teacher certification exam, I hope I get assigned to Baekseo High.

He found himself thinking.

Mir City's public-private-military cooperation model sent shockwaves through various military towns across Gyeonggi Province, prompting neighboring municipalities to roll up their sleeves and scramble to replicate it.

But it was no easy task.

In Mir City's case, the military base already required internal construction due to noise complaints. Furthermore, because it was the very first case of its kind and had garnered massive media attention, securing cooperation from the Provincial Office of Education, the Provincial Government, and the Ministry of National Defense had been relatively straightforward.

Latecomers, however, did not enjoy the same favorable conditions. Consequently—

Municipalities like Pocheon, Dongducheon, and Yangju requested consulting services to study Mir City's mutually beneficial model in greater depth.

While it was common for local governments to exchange this kind of consulting, it came with a price tag.

Tens of millions of won per case.

Some might call it petty for public institutions to charge one another, but it was only natural.

After all, providing consultation required deploying actual working-level staff, which drained Mir City's administrative resources.

A just society is one where labor is fairly compensated. Public offices were no exception.

And for that very ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reason—

"Why isn't our budget going down?"

Deputy Mayor Kim Min-cheol was utterly bewildered.

"Why does our budget keep multiplying like this?"

The directors reviewing the budget at the Monday administrative meeting shared his confusion.

"At this rate, we're going to recoup the entire five percent of the project costs invested by Mir City solely through consulting fees."

Kim Min-cheol said.

"On top of that, we received technical support compensation as Mir Childcare 365 was adopted by Suwon, Seongnam, Yongin, Goyang, Hwaseong, and Anyang."

The Director of the Administrative Support Headquarters added.

And the crowning jewel of this budget surge was—

"We also received eight billion won in subsidies from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups..."

Yun-hyeok had previously met with Ahn Jae-gyeong, the Minister of SMEs and Startups, to propose a new policy.

Instead of blindly distributing subsidies to local cities, the government should calculate the national tax contributions generated by each municipality and award performance-sharing incentives in the form of subsidies.

Only then would local governments find the motivation to foster businesses despite their meager local tax revenues.

"But now, Durim-myeon alone has secured ten billion won in drone supply contracts, a massive twenty-billion-won project is underway to build the Smart Farm Innovation Valley, and Mir Childcare 365 goes without saying..."

Minister Ahn Jae-gyeong had conducted the selection process with utmost objectivity and transparency. Even so, the small and medium enterprises of Mir City had their potential highly valued.

Thanks to that, a staggering amount of subsidies had poured in.

"Why on earth does our budget keep growing the more administrative work we do...!"

"Since we've made so much money, why don't we invest some of it into welfare?"

A portion of the revenue would be reinvested into Durim-myeon, Doma-myeon, Hawol-myeon, and Jungang-dong.

And another portion would be funneled into welfare.

"We still have some budget left for our low birth rate countermeasures, right?"

"Yes, that is correct."

The Director of the Welfare Policy Bureau replied.

"We spent some of it on building the infrastructure for remote medical consultations with pediatricians, but we still have over two billion won remaining."

"What part of childcare do you think costs the most money?"

Deputy Mayor Kim Min-cheol asked.

At his question, the directors began throwing out their opinions one after another.

"It has to be daycare centers."

"But isn't daycare tuition subsidized by the government?"

"Even so, there are snack fees, activity fees, field trip fees, and all sorts of miscellaneous expenses that add up."

"Isn't the postpartum care center the biggest lump sum expense?"

"Formula and diapers."

Amidst the flurry of opinions, Yun-hyeok spoke up.

"Formula and diapers are indeed the most prominent recurring expenses. But aside from those, there are countless minor expenses. These days, newlyweds have air conditioners in their homes, but they still buy a separate gentle fan for the baby's room. Starting from that, you have cooling mattress pads, mobiles, baby gyms, car seats, infant car seats, strollers, bottle sterilizers, diaper changing tables, high chairs, cribs, baby carriers, nursing pillows, anti-reflux cushions, clothes that must be constantly replaced as the baby grows, lotions, wet wipes, bottles, and nipples."

"..."

The directors stared at Yun-hyeok with bewildered expressions.

"Have you... raised a child before?"

I've raised five, actually.

Though he hadn't even married yet in this life.

"Ah, I know! The Mayor has a young niece!"

Kim Min-cheol exclaimed, completely missing the mark.

"But regarding the items I just mentioned,"

Yun-hyeok continued.

"Most of them are things you stop using after a very short period. That's why citizens find it burdensome to buy them brand new."

"That's true."

"However, trying to source all those baby items through private secondhand transactions is no easy feat either. You run the risk of no-shows or scams, and meeting in person requires coordinating schedules, which is a hassle. Plus, sellers won't just give things away for pennies, so even secondhand prices can add up."

"Wouldn't it be great if the city rented these out?"

In fact, City Hall and local community centers were already doing something similar.

Namely—

Breast pump rentals!

Ta-da!

Wow. What an incredible welfare system, right? Renting out breast pumps, of all things!

"W-we also agreed that we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠needed to expand our welfare services,"

the Director of the Welfare Policy Bureau said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"A breast pump alone is far from enough. But we have to consider the budget to purchase everything, the lack of storage space to keep so many items, the shortage of staff to handle the crucial hygiene management, and the issue of item return rates..."

"Indeed. There are many predictable obstacles."

Yun-hyeok nodded.

"But I believe these are all problems we can solve as long as we have the budget and the will."

To reiterate, raising a child is expensive. The financial burden, which is heavy enough to strain even the middle class, is one of the core causes of the low birth rate.

To solve the low birth rate crisis, the cost of childcare must be drastically reduced.

To achieve that—

"Let's have City Hall purchase every single category of infant and toddler childcare products and rent them out to our citizens free of charge."

"Every single category?"

"Yes. We need to set our target high enough to say, 'As long as you give birth, you won't have to spend a single penny on childcare supplies.' Only then will we achieve a meaningful result."

Yun-hyeok said.

"We can purchase hygienically sensitive items brand new, while things like strollers or baby gyms can be sourced secondhand."

In truth, many local governments had attempted similar initiatives before—setting up exhibition-style welfare centers to collect donated childcare supplies from citizens and distribute them to vulnerable social groups.

However, because they relied on donations rather than direct purchasing, securing a steady supply was nearly impossible. Inventory remained low, online infrastructure was virtually non-existent, and as a result, it rarely provided any real help to those who actually needed it.

"But we have the budget now. And we also have Mir Childcare 365."

If they could use Mir Childcare 365 to display the real-time inventory of childcare supplies held by the city, allowing citizens to apply, reserve, and receive them all in one place, wouldn't that make for an incredibly effective policy?