Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

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Chapter 287: The Student Surpasses the Master (3)

"Hoo, Mr. Jeong,"

Yeongwoo muttered, rereading the letter sent by Im Dupyeong with an intrigued expression. Although there wasn't much content in it, the term "Skyscraper" caught his eye.

'If it’s Skyscraper... could it mean the path that the brothers have paved to the sky?'

As Yeongwoo looked up at the sky while holding the letter, Huang Seongli approached and asked,

"What's that? What did you just read?"

"Im Dupyeong wants to meet."

"...What?"

Huang Seongli, in disbelief, took the letter and soon opened her mouth.

"Is this guy really shameless?"

She was referring to the fact that Im Dupyeong had used honorifics in the letter.

"It's not that he's shameless; he might just be very good at reading the trends of the times."

Yeongwoo was as taken aback as Huang Seongli but was also somewhat impressed.

After all, for a former head of state, a person who came from an ordinary background, and a foreigner at that, to request a meeting was no easy task.

Whether it was a trap or not, it was clear that Im Dupyeong was no ordinary man.

"You're not seriously going to befriend that guy, right?"

Huang Seongli, who had already grasped the temperament of the "Strongest Sword," glared at Yeongwoo, who scratched his nose with his index finger.

"Well, I’m not sure. Im Dupyeong also needs China's money, so I don't know if coexistence is possible. We might be forced to cooperate, but..."

"You said you could definitely beat Im Dupyeong, right? Then there's no reason for an alliance."

"Yes, that's true, but..."

But was there really anything absolute in this world?

The world was unpredictable, especially in this post-reset world.

"Anyway, Im Dupyeong will most likely die, and no matter what happens, Tongliao will never fall under the control of the Chinese government again,"

Yeongwoo left his promise at that and sent the Golden Goblin to retrieve the ten million karma prepared by the citizens.

"Now, you all need to prepare the remaining forty million and the fifty million you're supposed to give me daily, making it ninety million karma by tomorrow."

"Ninety million...?"

Upon hearing the amount directly, Tongliao's First and Third Swords rushed over in a panic.

"Hey! No, Master!"

"Ninety million? Isn’t that too harsh?"

Preparing ninety million karma by tomorrow. Of course, if Tongliao's Three Swords actively rained down gold coins, it wasn't an unattainable amount.

"Think of it as the price of success..."

Just as Yeongwoo was about to explain that it was the retribution for Tongliao's Three Swords’s karma, the citizens surrounding them suddenly fell to their knees and looked up at Yeongwoo.

"Master!"

"Master! Please have mercy..."

"This is too harsh!"

Yeongwoo looked at the citizens in surprise.

'Ah, I see. You don't have to move people's hearts to be called Master.'

As long as you move them somehow, they will call you that.

"Ah... everyone."

Yeongwoo put on an expression as if he was deeply moved.

Then, facing the tearful citizens who were overwhelmed by the harshness, he spread his hands.

"Well, it can't be helped. The owner of the country is the people, after all. Although China isn't my country, I can't take your wishes lightly."

Then, he held up four fingers and continued,

"From tomorrow, Tongliao's daily tribute will be forty million. However, you must still pay today's original amount, so prepare eighty million by tomorrow."

"T-that's..."

First Sword Zheng Chosan tried to protest, but Huang Seongli grabbed him, stopping him. She had a hunch that provoking this demon any further might lead to paying a hundred million instead of eighty million.

"Alright, we'll figure out how to raise forty million,"

Huang Seongli nodded, and Yeongwoo pointed upwards with his finger.

"If a mutant appears, lure it to the most Populated area and choose the thirty thousand karma supply after dealing with it. That should help with raising the tribute."

With that said, Yeongwoo called forth Negwig.

Now that everything in Tongliao was settled, it was time to meet the person who had sent the letter, Im Dupyeong.

-Screeech!

Confirming Yeongwoo's signal, Negwig pressed its iron hooves into the ground of Tongliao, and Huang Seongli hurriedly approached Yeongwoo to plead.

"Im Dupyeong shouldn't be left alive. He will become a huge problem for us in the future."

"It depends on what kind of person Im Dupyeong is and his situation. For now, I can only say that I'll try to kill him."

Yeongwoo did not give a definite answer until the end.

Everything seemed uncertain.

Although the Standing Committee members were falling like straw, was that the only reason Im Dupyeong had requested a meeting first?

'Of course, there's a good chance it's not a conversation he wants. The letter didn't say anything about chatting, after all.'

He wouldn't know whatever it was until he met the man in person.

Although the meeting was earlier than expected, it wasn’t a bad situation for Yeongwoo.

After all, there were other big events expected to happen today.

In Seoul alone, there was a high possibility that another dragon might fall today.

And among those possibilities was his mother, who would one day return as a dragon.

'It’s always something new.'

In this world filled with mutants born from the karma of earthlings and bizarre events due to the planet being opened up by the reset, it was only natural that those who stood out were mostly akin to demons.

'Now, let's take a look around Beijing.'

Finally, Yeongwoo mounted Negwig, and the citizens of Tongliao, still on their knees, rose in unison.

They were genuinely thrilled to see the departure of this demon-like man.

"Master Jeong!"

"Take care on your journey..."

"Goodbye!"

Just as Yeongwoo had bid farewell to the Chairman of Dogo, the citizens of Tongliao waved their hands in the air, bidding farewell to the greatest sword of the Korean Peninsula.

Yeongwoo raised his hand in response, then leaped into the tower of the brothers with Negwig.

Whoosh!

As before, a bright light enveloped the tower inside, and soon it launched Yeongwoo towards the place where the path of light was.

* * *

Beijing.

The capital of China and the problematic city where Im Dupyeong had made his base after the Reset.

Before the Reset, the population was around 21.4 million, making it the most Populous "capital" on Earth.

This highlighted the sheer size of China's Population, which in turn indicated the enormous potential economic power of this land.

Even without daily quests, the income generated per person per day could easily exceed 30,000 Karma.

‘But that requires each city to have at least one strong person capable of dealing with mutants.’

This was why Yeongwoo tried not to kill the city's warriors whenever possible.

‘But that's not enough.’

From the top of the tower, Yeongwoo pondered as he displayed the routes of the high-speed transit paths.

‘Is there no way I can legally monopolize the money of this land?’

For example, like the defense tax he wa collecting under the elected authority of the Korean Peninsula.

The defense tax had no delivery issues and no risk of late payments.

So if he could also extract defense taxes from China...

"Hmm."

Yeongwoo gazed at Beijing, prominently marked on the western part of the route.

The city was about 640 kilometers away from his current location in Tongliao.

In the past, he wouldn’t have dared to visit Beijing at this point in time.

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If he had gone, he would have had to leave Seoul unguarded for an entire day, as no mutants had appeared in Seoul yet.

But now, things were different.

‘Once the roads are all laid out, there will be no place on this planet I can't reach.’

One of the reasons the Mongol cavalry was so notorious in the past was their mobility.

During the early 1200s, under the reign of Genghis Khan, the Mongol cavalry swept through areas from the Jin dynasty to Eastern Europe.

Their greatest weapons were their speed and supply lines.

Their advance was faster than the enemy could mobilize forces, and they sustained themselves through looting, making it impossible for their targets to defend against them.

Moreover, the Mongol army's combat skills were honed to perfection through the Mongol unification wars, making the Mongol army itself a great calamity for humanity at that time.

Much like the meticulously prepared and unpredictable actions of Jeong Yeongwoo, the demonic human of the Korean Peninsula.

"Let's go! To Beijing!"

As Yeongwoo forcefully tapped on Beijing on the route map, the outer wall at the top of the tower opened, revealing the sky hundreds of meters above, and a shining path through that sky.

- Screeeeech!

Recognizing the significance of the path, Negwig raised its front paws high and let out a long howl.

Gripping the reins of his iron steed, Yeongwoo shouted towards the sky.

"We'll have lunch in Beijing today...!"

And then he leaped into the sky along with Negwig.

Taaah!

The high-speed transit path swiftly absorbed Yeongwoo, Negwig, the Golden Goblin, and even Pofu Tenta, and sent them hurtling toward the next station.

Fwoooosh!

Then, another high-speed leap to the next destination.

It was a truly revolutionary form of mobility.

‘Already near Beijing? This is unreal.’

As they neared their destination, an alert appeared to even Yeongwoo, who was in a state of high-density energy.

The route reappeared, emphasizing Yeongwoo's current location and the final destination, Beijing.

And soon after...

Fwoooosh!

The surroundings, which had appeared as a continuous blur, gradually began to regain their original shape.

‘Almost there.’

As they approached the destination, Yeongwoo's speed gradually decreased.

As a result, the entire area of Beijing was clearly visible below.

Whoooosh...

Looking down from about 800 meters in the air, Beijing resembled a massive electronic circuit board.

"Uh... now where do I go?"

Yeongwoo expanded his field of vision with clairvoyance and scanned the cityscape of Beijing, turning his head in various directions.

The first thing that caught his eye was a crowd gathered at the base of a tower over there.

"...?"

Upon closer inspection, he saw workers striking the tower's surface with all sorts of metal tools.

Despite the difficulty, they were persistently attempting to dismantle the tower.

‘Actually, that's a good thing. It means there's no myths in Beijing yet.’

So, where would Im Dupyeong, the self-proclaimed ruler of Beijing, be?

Due to the territorial mark stuck in this area, the man must have known that a dangerous guest had already arrived in Beijing's airspace.

"I guess I’ll just have to go down and find out."

As Yeongwoo sighed and was about to enter the station built in Beijing...

Bzzzz!

A strange sound came from somewhere below.

Whoosh!

With a chilling noise, a laser beam struck the overpass.

To be precise, it hit Yeongwoo, who was halfway merged with the road during transit.

Boom!

"Huh?"

Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, Yeongwoo's eyes widened in surprise, but that wasn’t the real problem.

The real issue was that the impact had knocked him off the road.

- Babat!

- Keeek?

From up above, where the road had already moved on, Yeongwoo heard the surprised cries of Pofu Tenta and the Golden Goblin.

Then that sound rang out again.

Bzzzz!

"Im Dupyeong!"

This time, Yeongwoo accurately pinpointed the origin of the sound and, even as he was falling, turned his head to look at the problem area.

And then...

Whoooosh!

A red laser beam was shooting out from somewhere within the Forbidden City.

‘Uh?’

More precisely, it was coming from a structure that had been reinforced with some kind of metal.

"...A metal Forbidden City?"

As soon as Yeongwoo uttered those nonsensical words, the red laser engulfed him.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]