Chapter 239

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 239: The Twin Evils of Joseon (2)

The cost that the Southern Union had to pay for calling upon the two masters to defeat the Wokou was 30 million karma.

[PR/N: Wokou/Wako means Japanese pirates, it sounds cooler this way.]

Of course, the people of the Southern Union had never agreed to this cost.

It was a figure arbitrarily set by the two scoundrels who would take the money.

In fact, strictly speaking, Yeongwoo hadn’t even fought the Wokou.

“That man didn’t even fight… So why should we pay?”

“Isn’t this basically robbery? Thirty million is no joke!”

The Strongest Swords of the Southern Union whispered among themselves, expressing their dissatisfaction.

Hearing their murmurs, Yeongwoo stepped forward and shouted,

“Thirty million!”

“…?”

“Of course, it’s a large sum. But is it larger than the lives of the citizens of Busan?”

“Well, even so, that’s just too much…”

When some still seemed unable to accept this, Yeongwoo changed his strategy.

“The thirty million you will spend is not just a one-time survival cost.”

“Excuse me?”

“What do you mean?”

Everyone tilted their heads at his unexpected claim.

Wasn’t this money the reward for Yechan stopping the thirty or so Wokou?

But Yeongwoo’s argument was entirely different.

“This money ensures that you survive twice.”

“Twice?”

“How does it become twice?”

Some wondered if he meant they would be killed if they didn’t pay, but Yeongwoo wasn’t that much of a villain.

Though he was certainly cunning enough.

“Half of the thirty million you will pay is for them.”

When Yeongwoo said “them,” pointing to the Mon-O warriors, all eyes turned to them.

-Growl.

Standing three meters tall, these red-skinned rock-like aliens were heavily armored and wielding large clubs, looking like space thugs.

“While stopping the enraged Chinese in Incheon, we realized the Japanese were invading. But as you know, the distance between Incheon and Busan is enormous.”

Thus, Yeongwoo explained, they had no choice but to borrow external, or rather extraterrestrial, help to fly over.

“Anyway, the important thing is this.”

Bam!

Yeongwoo pointed to the lift lying on the ground.

“If you don’t quickly pay and send them away, you’ll be fighting these aliens instead of the Wokou.”

“……!”

At that moment, the Mon-O warriors made threatening gestures, striking their clubs against their palms, making everyone flinch.

“Are you saying they’ll attack us?”

“Of course. Don’t you know how violent workers can get when they don’t receive their pay?”

Yeongwoo added,

“Hurry and gather at least fifteen million first. Let’s deal with them safely.”

In other words, he was asking for his share of the money.

Yechan, realizing Yeongwoo’s true intention, looked at his mentor with wide eyes.

“Ah, sir…?”

He was astonished by the seamless flow of deceit.

But even Yechan didn’t know one more fact.

Which was.

「Zargal Cross-section Token」 – One-way ticket

【You can board the Guppy Express.】

|Fee: 13 million Karma

Double deceit.

Yeongwoo had even tricked Yechan.

The fare for the Guppy Express wasn’t 15 million but 13 million.

Therefore, the remaining 2 million would go straight into Yeongwoo’s pocket.

“Alright, let’s hurry. Everyone, open your wallets. Let’s gather at least fifteen million first.”

Yeongwoo then walked among the Strongest Swords, actively collecting money.

“Uh, I only have this much right now…”

“Really? What’s in your coat pocket? Move your hand.”

While Yeongwoo, holding ‘Bastard’ in one hand, was intimidating the Strongest Swords, Yechan realized there was still something inside the lift.

“What is this?”

As Yechan approached the lift, a fairly large figure walked out from inside.

Clank, clank.

It was none other than.

-Squeak!

A metal four-legged animal with two slaves on its back.

-Snicker!

-Cough…!

“What on earth is this?”

“What on earth is this?”

Yechan, startled, barely managed to steady himself before falling on his backside.

Just then, Yeongwoo, who had been pouring the coins he collected from the Strongest Swords onto the ground, glanced at Yechan and the four-legged creature.

“Oh, it’s a gift.”

“From whom?”

“From the sponsor.”

“Sponsor…?”

Another new concept for Yechan.

However, Yeongwoo couldn’t explain in detail because collecting money was more important at the moment.

“Is this all? This is a problem.”

The money collected from all the Strongest Swords amounted to only 6.4 million karma.

This was thanks to Busan’s Strongest Sword, Kang Gyowon, who had a few high-value coins on him.

“It looks like you’ll have to collect some money from your jurisdictions.”

When Yeongwoo said this, Kang Gyowon asked cautiously,

“It will take quite some time to raise the funds. What about those guys?”

He was referring to the Mon-O warriors.

Yeongwoo shrugged as if he couldn’t help it.

“We’ll manage the remaining amount somehow. Just hurry up and collect the funds.”

“Understood!”

The faces of the Southern Union, including Busan’s Strongest Sword, brightened.

They realized that although they would ultimately lose their money, at least they could immediately get rid of those alien thugs.

“Do you have any money?”

Next, Yeongwoo began checking Yechan’s balance.

But Yechan wasn’t a businessman, so he didn’t carry large sums of cash.

“No… Usually, I don’t have money in the morning.”

This was the typical case.

After all, mutants and monsters dropped karma after 1 PM, so there was no need to carry money in the morning.

“Ah… So, I’m ending up doing charity work again.”

Although he intended to get the money back somehow, it was inconvenient for Yeongwoo to see his balance decrease because he had taxes to pay and equipment to collect.

“What will you do? The fare is 15 million, right? So, you still need…”

8.6 million karma.

Although it was actually 6.6 million, it was still a large amount.

“I’ll cover the shortfall for now, so get the money from them and come up to Seoul.”

“Seoul? Where should I go?”

Called to Seoul, his master Jeong Yeongwoo’s base, Yechan felt his heart race without realizing it.

Having lived a natural life fighting mutants in Gyeongbuk, he was finally heading to Seoul.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

“Come to Gangnam in Seoul. There’s a hotel called the Parnas Hotel near Samseong Station. Bring the money bag there, and the staff will guide you.”

“You live in a hotel in Gangnam, giving orders to the staff?”

“Uh…?”

Yeongwoo scratched his chin at this unexpected comment.

Now that he thought about it, it wasn’t wrong.

Moreover, by the time Yechan arrived in Gangnam, Strongest Swords from all over Seoul would also be bringing their money bags to the hotel.

“If you time your visit right, you’ll see something interesting.”

After saying this, Yeongwoo had the golden goblin take out 6.6 million karma.

The goblin opened a spatial pouch and poured out countless crimson coins.

-Squeak!

Clink!

With the 6.4 million karma collected from the Southern Union’s Strongest Swords and Yeongwoo’s personal contribution of 6.6 million karma, a total of 13 million karma was handed over to the Mon-O warriors running the Guppy Express.

“Please give my regards to the owner of the Guppy Express.”

When Yeongwoo greeted the Mon-O warriors collecting the coins, one of the large aliens nodded.

-Growl.

And at the same time,

Pop!

* Available Karma: 16,938,500

Yeongwoo’s balance dropped sharply.

“Don’t forget. Bring back 8.6 million karma.”

Yeongwoo reiterated, and Yechan, looking toward the Japanese land connected to Cheongsapo, said,

“It won’t take long to collect the money, but do you have somewhere else to go in the meantime?”

After all, Yeongwoo had mentioned earlier that he was in Incheon and had hurriedly flown here.

But now he said his base was in Seoul… Yechan couldn’t figure out his master’s routine.

“Me? I have to go to Seoul now. The mutants there are quite formidable. So I need to be there.”

And more importantly, with dragons starting to appear, he needed to be in Seoul at 1 PM to await his mother and uncle’s appearance.

“Then I…”

“You must have your jurisdiction too, right? Sort things out there and come to Busan to get the money, then head to Seoul.”

With these words, Yeongwoo looked above Yechan’s head.

“Huh, there’s no title?”

“No. I’ve never directly killed a Strongest Sword.”

The only titles he held were those of Japanese sword emperors and masters, and those they had killed, including Gijang and Dong-gu Strongest Swords.

In other words, Yechan was a pure figure who had never killed a fellow countryman.

“Even now, I keep getting notifications to choose a title.”

“That’s amazing. So, what about swordsmanship? You’ve never used regional sword techniques, right?”

“Right. That’s why I’ve been buying martial arts from merchants to use.”

“My goodness, what an incredible world this is.”

Yeongwoo couldn’t help but be impressed.

Although it was an incredibly unlikely scenario, Yechan was living proof that one could become strong even with the title of “Unknown.”

This exemplified the initial guidance that one could transcend their innate rank.

-Growl!

The Mon-O warriors, having confirmed that the fare was properly paid, lined up and extended their fists toward Yeongwoo.

“…?”

Yeongwoo, puzzled, instinctively extended his fist.

Then,

Tap.

He bumped his fist against the large fists of the Mon-O warriors as a greeting.

One by one, the Mon-O warriors who bumped fists with Yeongwoo began boarding the elevator.

The fist bump was a form of farewell gesture.

-Growl!

Once all the Mon-O warriors had boarded the elevator, a huge chain descended from the sky, much like what Yeongwoo had seen in the dungeon the previous night, and grasped the elevator.

Clank, clank!

Yeongwoo waved to the Guppy Express employees.

“See you again, Guppy Express!”

-Growl!

The Mon-O warriors responded to Yeongwoo’s farewell with a thumbs-up, just like Guppy would.

Then,

Whoosh!

Following the rapidly retracting chain, they disappeared beyond the sky.

“This is unbelievable.”

Standing in the middle of the now-deserted Cheongsapo, Yechan stared blankly at the spot in the sky where the Guppy Express had disappeared.

Just then, Yeongwoo quickly mounted Negwig and looked around Cheongsapo.

“Alright, it’s all over now, right? I’m heading to Seoul first. I barely have enough time if I hurry.”

Though he had come with the Guppy Express and hadn’t even had a proper sword fight with the Japanese raiders, he had unexpectedly met Yechan and connected with the Strongest Swords of the South, so it wasn’t a loss.

‘And I’ll get my money back anyway.’

While Yeongwoo checked his balance again, Yechan glanced at the spot where the elevator had been.

The bodies of the Japanese raiders were so mangled that they were unrecognizable.

“Mister, do you happen to have any ability to burn things?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Yechan pointed to the scattered corpses.

“I was wondering if I should burn these or drag them into the sea.”

“Oh, really? When will you ever move all these bodies? Just erase them.”

“Erase them?”

“Wait and see.”

From atop Negwig, Yeongwoo looked up at the sky again.

Then he shouted loudly,

“General, are you ready?”

“General…?”

The eyes of everyone, including Yechan, filled with fear again.

And soon,

“Earth! 063, 152…!”

Yeongwoo began to recite the coordinates of Busan.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]