Chapter 164

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 164: Hot Night (8)

“Man, this guy is really insane.”

Jeonggu, who had his life publicly auctioned off, was so shocked that he couldn’t even speak.

Level 6 human.

That’s right.

That was the truth.

Jeonggu himself had confirmed his internal Level and even his miserable fate through the destiny record he received on the first day of the reset.

But.

‘Level 1 supporting role…? What nonsense is this? I’ve never had such a thing….’

Jeonggu, with an expression that said it was absurd, momentarily felt something catching and jerked his body.

At that moment, Yeongwoo noticed it and questioned his father,

“See, there’s something, right? Who is my mother?”

“W… Wait. You’re out of your mind.”

Jeonggu looked at Yeongwoo as if he were annoying, but at the same time, he began to scrutinize the face of this Level 4 orphan.

“…..”

Considering the age difference between the two, when Jeong Yeongwoo was created, Kim Jeonggu’s age was between twenty-three and twenty-four.

Therefore, the woman Jeonggu met and had a relationship with at that time became Yeongwoo’s likely birth mother.

And Jeonggu thought,

‘…It couldn’t be. It doesn’t make sense.’

In his naive mid-twenties, he had experienced an unusual event.

That was precisely….

“Have you seen anything else in the destiny record? Like your grandfather’s name?”

“Grandfather?”

Yeongwoo’s eyebrows twitched at the unexpected keyword, and Jeonggu’s gaze shifted to the empty space.

“Back in the old days, I used to go to clubs.”

“Clubs?”

Yeongwoo’s mouth hung open.

He probably knew what would come next.

“I don’t think you’re going to tell me that you just met my mother and had a one-night stand through a night reservation. Right?”

“…..”

“Oh, damn it.”

Unable to say anything, Jeonggu was grabbed by the collar by Yeongwoo in anger.

Crack!

The collar grabber of the Joseon’s Strongest Sword.

With a strength that a mere Strongest Sword couldn’t match, Jeonggu barely managed to catch his breath.

“This guy is really…!”

“Is that really the best you can think of, Dad? Is that really the biggest event of your life?”

Yeongwoo, who stood over two meters tall, shouted at his father’s face, and Jeonggu shook his head vigorously in response.

“I-I mean, it wasn’t just a one-night stand.”

“Really?”

“She was a conglomerate.”

“….?”

“The other party was Jinhyeon Group’s youngest daughter.”

Jinhyeon Group.

A conglomerate that owned various subsidiaries in tourism, hotels, shipping, including Jinju Airlines, one of the top three airlines in the country.

Ranked second in the domestic business world before the reset, it was one level above Taewon, which currently dominates Gangnam.

In other words, Jeonggu was referring to a conglomerate family recognizable by name.

“What? Jinhyeon? That’s insane. No matter how much of a knight you were, does it make sense for someone from there to be involved with someone like you?”

Then, for the first time, Jeonggu showed signs of anger and opened his eyes wide.

“You think I knew? Thanks to her, I was dragged out while sleeping and almost beaten to death.”

He explained that he had been attacked by Jinhyeon’s employees after sleeping together in an inn without knowing that she was the youngest daughter of Jinhyeon.

It was the early 1990s, so the situation wasn’t entirely implausible.

“…Damn it, but it still doesn’t make sense.”

Yeongwoo found it hard to believe.

To this, Jeonggu retorted with a look of disbelief.

“See, don’t you believe me? That’s how I’ve been feeling all this time.”

And then, still not calming down, he continued,

“And I still can’t think of you as my son. No, I can’t. You know why?”

Snap.

Jeonggu clenched his fist.

“There is no way the woman who calmly got into the car after seeing me being beaten up outside gave birth to my child.”

“…..”

It was a valid point.

From the perspective of a father, or rather Jeonggu, it couldn’t be thought otherwise.

And even in Yeongwoo’s eyes, it seemed to be the case.

“But… you are my father.”

“This crazy bastard till the end!”

Crack!

This time Jeonggu grabbed Yeongwoo by the collar, causing Seok, who had been watching them, to shout in surprise.

“Both of you, shut up!”

Seok, the representative of the Moi Cultural Foundation, which loves artists, scolded them with a dignified tone.

At her command, the two Strongest Sword involuntarily stopped their quarrel and widened their eyes.

“….!”

Then, Seok, who had regained her composure, continued speaking with a calm breath.

“No, is this really happening? We came here to see my husband, not to watch you two fight. Of course, Yeongwoo, I appreciate your concern, but you should control yourself.”

Then she looked at Kim Taejoon, the representative on the screen, with a pitiful gaze.

“And strictly speaking, isn’t Yeongwoo using us as a cover to work my husband for free?”

“Madam, that, that’s….”

When Yeongwoo, at a loss for words, began to sweat, Seok shot him a sharp glare.

“I’m not asking for anything grand, just show some basic manners. Don’t argue in front of the kids.”

“…I apologize, Madam.”

Yeongwoo raised his head, addressing Seok with a more respectful title, realizing that this wasn’t a good scene for children’s education.

“And…”

Seok hesitated for a moment, unlike before, seeming to be trying to say something different.

Then she cautiously spoke up.

“She might have just given birth. It couldn’t be helped.”

“…What?”

“W-What do you mean?”

When both men asked in confusion, Seok repeated herself.

“That woman might have given birth involuntarily. She might not have had the courage to kill the child.”

“Ah.”

Since it was the opinion of a current mother, neither Yeongwoo nor Jeonggu could say anything.

So in the end,

“Father, let’s talk about this separately later.”

“….”

At this point, Jeonggu couldn’t argue further.

“…Alright. Let’s settle this in a quieter place later.”

Eventually, the conversation ended with Jeonggu feeling his privacy violated, and soon a notice appeared indicating that the night was progressing.

―Tax will be collected from 10:00 PM onwards.

―The basic tax amount is 1,000 karma, and tax defaulters will be instantly extinguished at the time of collection.

“Ah.”

“Is it already this late….”

It was time for tax payment.

“Are the children’s taxes all prepared?”

Yeongwoo asked Seok just in case, and she nodded.

“Yes. A while ago, someone named Lim Suna handed me some coins.”

“I see.”

Indeed, she was acting like a true secretary of a conglomerate.

Then what remained was,

“Is there anyone here who doesn’t have enough cash to pay the taxes on the spot?”

Yeongwoo looked around the room and everyone nodded.

Jeonggu, as the Dobong Strongest Sword, had enough cash, and Jongsu and Taeyoung had financial flexibility as they were part of Taewon Group’s job placement, which played a significant role in the monster business.

“Good.”

Yeongwoo checked his wristwatch.

It was almost 10:00 PM.

And shortly after.

Beep.

An alarm rang from Yeongwoo’s wristwatch, indicating that it was 10:00 PM, and a system message appeared.

―Tax will now be collected.

Then the hands of those holding coins began to move simultaneously.

Clank, clank!

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

And for Yeongwoo,

Swish…!

A feeling as if a wind passed through his whole body accompanied the appearance of a tax notice.

|Basic tax amount: 1,000

|Deduction item: Single household

|Final tax amount: 500

‘It’s the same as last time.’

Yeongwoo blinked as he looked at the notice.

But this was his misconception.

Thud!

Immediately, another message appeared in his view.

「Your business classification has been changed to ‘individual business-advertising agency.’」

‘Huh…?’

「As a result, your tax status has been changed from ‘simple taxation’ to ‘general taxation,’ and there will be changes to the basic tax amount starting from tomorrow, June 14, 2025.」

‘What does this mean? Taxes are going up starting tomorrow?’

In fact, it meant that they would charge more taxes by considering Yeongwoo as a businessman who started earning a lot of money through the contract with Dogo.

‘How much… how much will the taxes increase?’

It was a fact that he had earned a considerable amount in a decidedly unconventional manner on Earth, so there was no dispute about having to pay the corresponding taxes.

It felt a bit unfair, but that was the reality.

‘But still, shouldn’t they at least tell us the estimated tax amount? So that we can prepare for it.’

However, there were no follow-up messages.

It ended with just telling them that they would have to pay more taxes in the future.

‘I can’t believe these guys.’

There was no point in grumbling to thin air, but Yeongwoo quickly changed his mind.

‘Anyway, since I have to call the chairman after finishing the dungeon tonight, I’ll just ask him directly. Usually, for a personal business of this scale, they should give an estimate of how much the taxes would be.’

And maybe Dogo would introduce him to a tax consultant for advertising models.

Anyway, what mattered now was…

‘Tonight, I’ll take Father to the dungeon and survive.’

* * *

10:52 PM.

About 8 minutes left until he would bring Father into the heart of the storm.

Yeongwoo was now in the living room, talking with Jeonggu.

“Anyway, there’s no doubt that I was right. The fact that it finds the target we want has already been verified once.”

「Wanted Poster」 – Epic

【Find what you want.】

|Father

Previously, Yeongwoo had used this fountain pen to find Kim Taejoon’s family.

So logically, Jeonggu, whom he found in the same way, had to be Yeongwoo’s father.

“Right. Let’s assume for the sake of argument that I’m your father. What happens next? Are you going to kill me? What crime have I committed?”

“While the world is falling apart, and your son has come to you in difficult times, you’re worried about your own life? What kind of father are you? I’ve seen fathers in movies, they weren’t like that.”

“That’s because it’s a movie…!”

Whispering and shouting, Jeonggu glanced toward the bedroom.

“Of course, you may really be my son. But aren’t you trying to kill your father?”

“You’ve never had a son who looked at me at first sight, so it’s understandable, isn’t it?”

When Yeongwoo said this, Jeonggu pointed to the “Wanted Poster.”

“That.”

“…?”

“How can you be sure it didn’t make a mistake? It could have malfunctioned temporarily.”

“Hah.”

Yeongwoo chuckled, displaying extreme tolerance.

He hadn’t double-checked the tracking mark, as Jeonggu suggested.

“Fine. Then let’s change the target and try to find Father again.”

“O-Okay.”

Jeonggu hesitated at Yeongwoo’s words.

“Uncle passed away, right? To the Strongest Sword of Uijeongbu.”

“What else are you trying to do?”

“I’m going to input ‘Uncle’ here. So, at least the search target will change or reset.”

And if the “Wanted Poster” displayed an arrow when “Uncle” was entered, it would mean that the wanted poster was also making a mistake.

After all, there was no way to find someone who was already dead.

Quickly.

As Yeongwoo lifted the Epic fountain pen to re-enter the search target, Jeonggu tensed up.

Tap!

|Uncle

Soon, a new search target appeared on the wanted poster, and shortly after…

Tswat!

A new tracking mark appeared in Yeongwoo’s field of vision.

“Huh?”

“What’s… what’s going on? Why is that?”

It was none other than…

「X」

“I see an X. It’s a new mark I’ve never seen before. It seems to appear when searching for someone who’s dead.”

Of course, there could be other possibilities.

“Maybe it just shows up uniformly when searching for non-existent targets.”

So Yeongwoo changed the search target once more.

Tap!

|Elder Brother

A target that might not have even been born in this world to begin with.

Then, the mark in his field of vision disappeared completely, and an alert message appeared.

「Non-existent target.」

‘Ah.’

Now it was clear.

The wanted poster distinguished between targets that never existed and those that did exist but were no longer alive.

‘Then if I search for Mother, I’ll get the same X mark.’

Because of the achievement of being a “Complete Orphan,” which implied his mother’s death, Yeongwoo had never inputted her into the wanted poster before.

‘So, should I give it a try?’

He immediately entered Mother as a new search target.

Pop!

|Mother

Then, once again, a tracking mark appeared in his field of vision, but its shape was…

“…Huh?”

「△」

“A triangle?”

As Yeongwoo voiced his confusion, his wristwatch sounded an alarm.

Beep!

11:00 PM.

Then, a system message appeared in everyone’s field of vision.

「An [Abnormal Weather] Ember Typhoon is forming as of now.」

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]