Chapter 374

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Chapter 374: Cold But Warm (4)

「9 seconds left until the voting ends.」

‘Only 10 seconds? What the hell are they trying to pull?’

The countdown began, the remaining time rapidly ticking away.

With it, Yeongwoo’s mind started racing as well.

There were three possible candidates to vote for:

[Prince Aldo from Doatel]

[Amana, Guardian of Sacred Inquiry]

[Taru, the Last Hope of Pigot]

Strictly speaking, there were actually four.

If no one was chosen within the 10 seconds, the system would automatically cast a vote for oneself.

Essentially, the choice boiled down to one of the four.

But who would the other three teammates vote for?

‘The one with the most votes gets downgraded in their reward tier. Even worse, the chance of encountering them again is significantly reduced.’

In simpler terms, the vote was designed to single out someone to be left behind.

Despite having fought alongside one another in the promotion match, one teammate would be abandoned.

‘Logically speaking, they’re bound to vote for me, the only evildoer among us.’

But would Aldo from Doatel really cast his vote against him?

Proud Amana, who shielded others with his body when lightning spears rained down, or Taru, the one who braved the storm to protect his comrades—could they bring themselves to vote for Yeongwoo?

The more Yeongwoo thought about it, the less he could imagine them doing so.

In the brief time they had spent together, he had come to understand one thing clearly: they weren’t the type.

He had witnessed firsthand how righteous individuals operated under fundamentally different assumptions.

‘And besides, the question posed alongside the voting rights was about contributions to the promotion match. Those foolish idealists will probably base their judgments purely on that.’

Yeongwoo concluded that the three righteous individuals wouldn’t vote against him.

Instead, they would likely opt to sacrifice themselves rather than vote someone else out.

“…….”

A sharp pain welled up in his chest for some reason.

‘Foolish idiots.’

Even as he muttered inwardly, Yeongwoo continued to deliberate.

If that were the case, the decision ultimately rested with him.

Who should he choose?

‘Why does this feel so familiar?’

Unconsciously, Yeongwoo recalled the elimination vote on the first day of his reset.

Each participant had been given a certain amount of Karma Points to cast against elimination candidates.

At the time, his roommate, Im Bonghee, had been frantically voting against others, but Yeongwoo had made a different choice.

He hadn’t voted for anyone and simply let the voting period expire.

The result of that decision…

He raised his head in his mind.

While his physical body remained still, in his mind’s eye, the title "Strongest Sword" shone brightly.

『Strongest Sword』

That choice on the first day of the reset had triggered a butterfly effect, ultimately leading to his survival.

It was a result-based story, but still, the "balanced" choice had kept him alive until now.

‘…Balance, huh.’

Suddenly, Aldo’s words from the promotion match resurfaced in his mind.

Appropriate acts of virtue and vice must occur for the universe’s balance to be maintained, Aldo had said.

Maybe this was the time for Yeongwoo to contribute a virtuous act.

By choosing himself, the sole evildoer of Team 023, as the one to fall behind.

Of course, Yeongwoo, ever sly, didn’t truly believe he would end up left behind.

‘If the righteous ones all vote for themselves and I also vote for myself, each of us will have one vote. In other words…’

「The team member with the most votes will receive one tier lower rewards and will have a lower chance of being matched in similar dungeons in the future.」

There wouldn’t be any single teammate with "the most votes."

‘Conversely, the system might interpret it as everyone having the most votes. It’ll ultimately be up to the system’s judgment.’

In short, it was a gamble.

If everyone voted for themselves, theoretically, all members could either receive the highest rewards or suffer lower-tier rewards together.

But everyone voting for themselves…

‘That would be balance. If the universe truly values balance, all members will receive the highest rewards.’

「2 seconds left until the voting ends.」

With only 2 seconds remaining, Yeongwoo let the time slip away without casting a vote for any of the three teammates in front of him.

Then.

Beep!

A sharp signal marked the end of the vote, and a message appeared before them.

「The voting period has ended.」

Soon after, another message popped up before all members of Team 023.

「The voting results will now be revealed.」

‘What… They’re announcing the results immediately?’

「Evaluation Results for Team 023」

| Jeong Yeongwoo: 1

| Aldo: 1

| Amana: 1

| Taru: 1

“……!”

Yeongwoo’s eyes widened in shock.

At the same time, the frozen time within the promotion arena began to move again, and beams of light descended from the sky, piercing through to each participant’s head.

Fwoosh!

-What the?

-Hey, what’s going on?

-Save me!

Amidst the panicked cries, Yeongwoo calmly observed a beam of light heading directly toward him.

‘It’s the return procedure.’

The lack of warning from his regional swordsmanship indicated that this was indeed a "return."

Yeongwoo quickly turned to face the righteous teammates of Team 023.

Then, with his illegitimate sword sheathed, he gave them a slight bow.

“Thank you, everyone.”

-What? Ye-Yeongwoo…

A flustered Aldo tried to say something, but before he could finish, the beam of light enveloped Yeongwoo and lifted him skyward.

The same happened to the other teammates as they were escorted out of the promotion arena.

Shooo!

A sharp sound echoed as Yeongwoo shot through the air, ascending rapidly.

Carried by the beam of light, he pierced through the skies above the promotion arena in an instant.

Then, for just a fleeting moment, he saw “it.”

‘“Huh? What’s that?’

It was a massive oval-shaped structure floating above the arena, almost like a spaceship.

Yeongwoo didn’t know it yet, but that was the very Promotion Examination Headquarters—the place where the Planet Evaluation Team 9 had successfully negotiated their salary adjustments.

“W-Wait! Hold on!”

And just as Yeongwoo thought he saw silhouettes resembling the members of Team 9 near the exterior of the strange structure—

Whoosh!

The beam of light carrying him suddenly turned an ashen gray, and the realm of the void opened up.

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“No, just a little longer! I want to see more!”

It was time to completely leave the promotion arena.

Swoosh!

Before he knew it, Yeongwoo’s entire body had entered the void, and its distinct acrid air began to engulf him.

‘Are they really kicking me out like this?’

He hadn’t even properly observed the peculiar structure in the sky, which he hadn’t realized was there until now, nor had he checked the reward for being ranked first in the promotion test.

‘Just wait a bit…!’

Yeongwoo frantically craned his neck downward and shouted internally, but his surroundings had already begun to change rapidly.

Whoosh!

The ashen-colored void in his vision quickly regained its original hues, revealing an all-too-familiar landscape—the ruined Gwangjin-gu.

“Ah, damn it.”

The moment he returned to Earth, Yeongwoo swore under his breath.

Nearby, his long-time companions—Negwig, the golden goblin, and Pofu Tenta—tilted their heads curiously in unison.

-Squeak.

-Kieek?

-Bap…?

Seeing his old friends again, Yeongwoo could only let out a bitter smile.

“…Thanks for waiting.”

The events at the promotion arena now felt like a fleeting dream, likely due to the abruptness of his return.

But it was no dream; soon, a follow-up message appeared in his vision.

「Jeong Yeongwoo07, who challenged Earth’s second promotion trial, has finished with a comprehensive rank of first place!」

The current time was 7:21 AM.

There were still just under 40 minutes left until the morning alarm and the cessation of abnormal weather, and the entire region bordering Gwangjin-gu remained in blackout.

Then—

Pop! Pop! Pop!

As soon as the message was displayed, lights began to illuminate the surrounding areas.

Unintentionally, Yeongwoo had just delivered a nationwide—perhaps even planetwide—wake-up call upon his return.

‘Wait, was that a global announcement?’

This meant other countries in similar time zones might have been jolted awake by the promotion test notification as well.

‘Well, I’ll need to aim for planetary shareholder status anyway, so a little name promotion doesn’t hurt.’

Another message appeared before Yeongwoo’s eyes.

「Results of Team 023 Member Evaluation」

| Jeong Yeongwoo: 1 | Aldo: 1 | Amana: 1 | Taru: 1

“……!”

It was the evaluation result he’d seen back in the promotion arena.

As Yeongwoo had suspected, none of the other team members had cast elimination votes.

As a result, each vote reverted to its caster, leaving all team members with the same vote count. The system’s determination?

「All members of Team 023 received equal votes.」

「As a result, no maximum vote count can be determined, and the penalty is removed.」

“Hell yeah! That’s right!”

Yeongwoo’s pupils dilated to their fullest.

This confirmed something important: the universe doesn’t penalize those who perform acts of virtue.

But what Yeongwoo and the three others accomplished during the team evaluation wasn’t merely an act of kindness.

The three members had, in effect, chosen not to eliminate Yeongwoo, the worst villain in the history of the promotion test.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo himself refrained from targeting others and instead chose to sacrifice himself—a decision both “cold but warm,” given the stakes of a planetary promotion trial.

‘So, there must be more, right?’

Even if the intention wasn’t pure, actions with good outcomes could still be considered virtuous.

As Yeongwoo’s greed-filled eyes eagerly awaited the next message, something indeed appeared.

Flash!

「For passing the second promotion trial with top marks, a two-tier planetary rank upgrade is guaranteed.」

「As a special reward for first place overall, the ‘Dual Design’ feature is applied to all planetary structures.」

[Dual Design]

| Restrictions on the selection of facilities and devices during construction are lifted.

| However, costs increase for constructions exceeding previous limits.

“What does that mean?”

As Yeongwoo tilted his head in confusion at the somewhat complex tooltip, more system messages began to flood his vision.

「[Victory Monument] construction is now available!」

| If registered under Earth, gains 20% additional Glory Points.

“Ah.”

「[Annihilation Stance] settings are now available!」

| Reduces the number of annihilators to ‘1.’ Enhances ship interception capabilities.

In other words, the restrictions that had previously allowed only one choice between facilities and devices were now completely lifted.

For example, Yeongwoo could now activate the annihilation stance at both Namsan and the Four Great Gates simultaneously.

‘Provided I have enough money, of course.’

Thankfully, money wasn’t an issue.

By 3:23 PM today, he’d be hosting the wedding of Jiseon and Jeonggu, raking in an enormous amount of congratulatory cash gifts.

‘This means I can install duplicates of all future facilities too, right?’

As the planetary rank rose, city levels would naturally increase, unlocking new features and structures.

‘In the universe, money truly is king.’

As Yeongwoo grinned greedily, the final reward of the promotion test appeared before him.

Beep!

It was—

[Planetary Court] “Balanced Fate”

<Mission> Reunite with the following three individuals: (0/3)

-Aldo, the second prince of Doatel

-Amana, the guardian of Sacred Sutral

-Taru, the last hope of Pigot

<Special> Must use a family-owned spaceship.

<Reward> Adjustment of karma score guaranteed by the Planetary Court.

It was a Planetary Court quest.

“……!”

Yeongwoo could only react with one thought:

“This… is basically a villain rehabilitation program, isn’t it?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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