Novel Lived
Chapter 282
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 282: Karma (3)
3:16 AM.
When Yeongwoo returned to the room, Jeonggu, who had been sleeping in the living room, greeted him.
“What the... what time is it?”
Jeonggu groggily half-opened his eyes and looked around, while Yeongwoo brought the Golden Goblin and Pofu Tenta inside and closed the door.
Thud.
“It’s a little past three. Is the bedroom empty?”
“Yeah. Madam and the kids were watching TV but moved to a separate room.”
“Oh, I see.”
Yeongwoo nodded at Jeonggu’s words, then took off his cloak, ‘Cosmic Etiquette,’ and placed it on the living room table.
This revealed the new armor, ‘Legitimacy,’ that had been hidden underneath.
“Huh? What’s this now?”
Jeonggu’s eyes widened in surprise.
His son, who used to walk around without any clothes on, now appeared wrapped head to toe in armor, so it was only natural that Jeonggu was taken aback.
“What did you get yourself into this time?”
“…Dungeon reward.”
“A dungeon reward looks like this?”
Jeonggu asked with a tone suggesting he wanted more explanation, but Yeongwoo didn’t feel the need to elaborate.
How could he possibly explain everything—like how he learned the backstory of their main sponsor, 「Dogo」 and how this armor was closely related to that backstory—all from a dungeon he had explored during the night?
“I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow will probably be another crazy day.”
Yeongwoo ended the conversation and headed to the bedroom.
Clank, clank.
Because ‘Legitimacy’ covered him from head to toe, his every step sounded like the clanking of metal, almost like that of a creature in armor.
‘Anyone who sees me might mistake me for a monster. Good thing I don’t have a helmet.’
Finally reaching the bedside, Yeongwoo drew his sword and stood it next to the bed, then lay down on the sheets, still in his armor.
Sigh.
As the bed sank under his weight, Yeongwoo’s consciousness began to fade.
‘Tomorrow will be another busy day.’
The oath with the Red-footed Orcs, the high-speed transport routes spreading like spider webs across Earth, and the upcoming battle over Earth’s development rights...
As Yeongwoo recalled the previous day's events, his consciousness dimmed a little more with each thought.
Until finally.
As if a switch had been flipped, his consciousness completely turned off.
...
...
Ring... Ring!
...
Riiing!
...
An irritating sound broke through.
‘...Damn it.’
Yeongwoo cursed in his mind.
It was the morning call from the room, signaling that morning had already come.
By now, he was experienced enough with resets that this doomed world’s morning calls no longer felt strange to him.
But instead.
‘I seriously don’t remember getting any sleep?’
A sense of injustice washed over him.
It was like the feeling of waking up on a Monday morning.
Yeongwoo had no choice but to open his eyes.
Pop!
Instantly, updated notifications about his gear appeared in his vision.
「Strength has permanently increased by 100 due to the Furious Goblin.」
「The usage count of the Whistle has been recharged.」
Then, as the irritating morning call threatened to assault his eardrums again, Yeongwoo quickly picked up the receiver.
Click.
Normally, what followed would be a chilling voice announcing the time remaining until checkout, but this time.
Flash!
《Dogo informs you that you have 1 hour and 59 minutes remaining until checkout.》
“Huh?”
A voice Yeongwoo had never heard before echoed in his ears.
And it was a very clear voice at that.
“Dogo is informing me?”
As far as Yeongwoo knew, morning calls were within the realm of the reset system.
The morning call itself was part of the lodging system, and lodging in residences was one of the basic services introduced at the time of the reset.
So the fact that ‘Dogo’ could now intervene in such morning calls...
‘What is this? Does it have something to do with the planetary development rights?’
Of course, it could be that this new feature applied only to him, their direct model.
But regardless of who it applied to, the fact that Dogo could now alter morning calls in a world undergoing a reset hinted at something significant.
‘So planetary development isn’t just about laying down roads and such, huh?’
Yeongwoo placed the receiver back down and then tried to check his wristwatch.
Swish.
But instead of the wristwatch that had definitely been there yesterday, holographic numbers floated above his armor.
[08:02]
The current time was 8:02 AM.
Soon, a tooltip for the equipment also appeared.
「Gauge」 - Relic Tool
【Displays the time on the planet where you are currently located.】
◇ Dogo: Interacts with head office products
◇ Dogo: Multi-display
《Congratulations on surviving the 7th day.》
So, this was...
“A watch?”
To be exact, it was a special watch that worked even outside of space and had been specially modified by the company.
Since he didn’t have such equipment before going to sleep, it was clear that it had been provided along with the morning call.
And judging by the additional note at the bottom of the tooltip:
《Congratulations on surviving the 7th day.》
‘So, it’s a commemorative watch for surviving seven days of reset.’
Given the use of honorific language, it felt less like a gift from the chairman and more like something from the company staff.
‘Is surviving for seven days really something worth celebrating...? Ah, I guess so.’
Yeongwoo tilted his head in confusion for a moment but soon understood.
He also realized something new:
Even Dogo didn’t know how long their contracted models would survive.
They might not have thought much of the contract in the early stages, but at some point, the company must have watched Earth’s reset progress with growing anxiety.
《Congratulations on surviving the 7th day.》
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have left a congratulatory note celebrating survival.
‘Well, anyway, I need to finish today’s tasks.’
After inspecting the watch for a while, Yeongwoo stood up abruptly and grabbed his sword.
He then headed to the still-quiet living room.
“......”
It seemed like Seok and the kids in the separate room were still lost in dreamland, and Jeonggu had slipped off the living room sofa and was lying on the floor.
Yeongwoo slowly walked over to the sofa and nudged his father with his foot.
“Father, wake up.”
Jeonggu, who had been sleeping like the dead, slowly opened his eyes.
“...What did you say?”
“I said, wake up.”
“Oh.”
Seeing the sunlight streaming in through the curtains, Jeonggu frowned.
He, too, had barely slept, just like Yeongwoo.
“What time is it?”
“It’s a little past 8.”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“Then I can sleep a bit more. Checkout isn’t until 10.”
Jeonggu muttered this as he tried to go back to sleep on the living room floor, but Yeongwoo nudged his thigh again with his foot.
“Hey, how dare you kick your own father?”
“Someone might come later. Since I’ll likely be out of Seoul then, you’ll have to greet them.”
“What?”
At the mention that a guest of Yeongwoo, the Absolute Demon, might come to Seoul, Jeonggu shot up from the floor.
“Is this guest even human?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, really?”
Hearing that a human would be visiting, Jeonggu’s expression relaxed a bit, and Yeongwoo, standing at the door, added some final words.
“One of my former colleagues will be bringing money from Busan. It should be about 8.6 million.”
“A colleague? You have human colleagues?”
“......”
As Jeonggu kept pestering him with questions, Yeongwoo squeezed Bastard in annoyance.
Squeak.
Seeing this, Jeonggu waved his hands, signaling he’d stop.
“Okay, I get it. So, what should I do with the money?”
“Just keep it somewhere safe. You’ll need to hand it to me when I get back. Also, don’t forget to pick up money from Incheon this evening.”
Yeongwoo meticulously laid out his father’s tasks for the day, prompting Jeonggu to ask one last crucial question.
“What’s this guest’s name?”
“Kang Yechan.”
“Kang Yechan?”
“Yes. He’s pretty strong, so stay close to him if anything happens.”
* * *
8:11 AM.
After leaving the hotel, Yeongwoo headed straight for the ‘Tower’ that had been erected in Gangnam the night before.
‘I need to hurry.’
As Jeonggu had mentioned, he could safely rest in the room until the checkout time of 10 AM.
However, there was only one reason why Yeongwoo was rushing to start his day.
‘By now, the Standing Committee members from Beijing would have visited all the nearby cities.’
Therefore, for Yeongwoo, whose business model involved offering "less tribute than usual," now was the time to start his operations.
To borrow the chairman's words, it was time to launch a massive campaign of "violence beyond limits."
"Today, I’m going to need you to work hard. We need to head to China via the overpass and return here before 1 o'clock."
As Yeongwoo spoke encouragingly to Negwig, it lifted its head slightly and responded with a brief sound.
-Squeeeak!
Was it just his imagination, or did Negwig seem unusually excited?
Crash, crash!
Soon, the "Tower" built by the Red-footed Orcs filled Yeongwoo and Negwig's field of vision.
Already, a crowd of nearby residents had gathered around it, chattering excitedly.
A few brave souls were even touching the surface of the tower.
‘Everywhere the roads have been laid will probably look like this.’
Yeongwoo didn't know how far his brothers had extended the road construction, but whether it was China, Russia, or Mongolia, there was no way people would just stand by and watch the sudden appearance of the tower.
Most likely, crowds were gathering to observe it everywhere, just like here, or they were already attempting to demolish it.
"Don't worry! This is ours!"
As Yeongwoo shouted this and headed straight for the tower, its surface began to glow brightly, forming an arched entrance just for him.
Sssss!
"Huh?"
"What... what's going on?"
"A door just appeared...?"
The residents, still fearful of the mysterious tower, watched with their mouths agape as Yeongwoo entered it.
Day 7 of the reset.
No matter how adaptable humans were, it wasn't easy to accept alien structures as their own in just a week.
On the other hand, as Yeongwoo stepped into the tower—
Piiiii!
His entire field of vision was suddenly filled with light, and he felt his body being lifted hundreds of meters into the air.
“......”
His brothers, who had personally built the tower and the overpass, must have also risen into the sky like this.
Swoosh!
Soon, Yeongwoo completed his ascent and arrived in a circular space with a diameter of 20 meters.
'This is only my second visit, but every time I come here, it stirs something in my heart.’
This was the very top of the tower.
The user could use the round table device in the center of this space to check the status of the high-speed transit routes or decide whether to expand the roads.
It was a choice between following the already built roads or becoming the road himself.
"Let's see how much work my brothers have done."
As Yeongwoo placed his hand on the round table, a holographic globe of Earth appeared.
Flash!
He marked the current location, Seoul, with a wedge-shaped icon.
This indicated that the user was currently here.
Then—
Whooosh!
From Seoul, silver lines representing the high-speed transit routes began to spread out in all directions.
"......?"
The merciless employer, Jeong Yeongwoo07, widened his eyes in amazement.
"Wha... did they do all this in just one night?"
What Yeongwoo had originally ordered were roads leading to various parts of China.
The very reason he had assigned this construction to his brothers was to pave the way for revenge against ‘Mara.’
Even Yeongwoo’s only basis for this was his strong suspicion that Mara might be hiding behind China.
Perhaps that was why his brothers seemed to have anticipated the possibility that Mara might not be behind China after all.
The roads were already being built across Japan, Australia, and even toward the Philippines.
'Do they really plan to cover the entire world with roads?'
While Yeongwoo did intend to make them build more roads somehow, he hadn't expected his brothers to take the initiative and expand this crazily on their own.
This was nothing short of...
'...madness.'
Well, how deep must the desire for revenge be against the one who killed countless kin and stole their homeland?
Yeongwoo gazed at the routes already covering Eastern China with a newfound sense of reverence.
He then pointed to the city of ‘Tongliao,’ a place he couldn't visit yesterday due to the physical distance.
Even riding Negwig at full speed would have taken half a day to reach that city, but now he could invade it within a matter of minutes.
After Yeongwoo pounded his fist on the round table, the interior lit up momentarily, and one of the walls opened up, revealing a high-speed road resembling the Milky Way.
A path of light, built by migrant workers from beyond our galaxy.
Now, by setting foot on it, he could travel to the next tower at near-light speed.
Swoosh.
Yeongwoo mounted Negwig again, then pointed his sword into the vast void beyond and shouted:
"Let's go! My brothers have lit the way!"
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]