Chapter 401

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Chapter 401: Gift Breakthrough (5)

Rohm's Bottom.

Using a brutal martial art, they tackled opponents swinging swords, severing heads with an elbow strike.

As suggested by the tooltip that mentioned "fighting like a prisoner," Rohm's Bottom granted its users an advantage by enabling unpredictable combat techniques.

This was precisely why Yeongwoo had survived thus far.

‘There were quite a few moments that would’ve been hard to overcome without Rohm's Bottom. I’ve always wanted to express my gratitude someday...’

Now, coincidentally meeting the prisoners again felt like fate—or perhaps a stroke of fortune.

And wasn’t this a crucial moment when allies were desperately needed to overcome the wedding offering challenge?

‘Dear prisoners—or rather, mentors! Please help me get through this situation…!’

As Yeongwoo looked to the sky and shouted inwardly, Kubu closed his eyes to deliver Yeongwoo’s message.

Swish.

He teleported to the outer edge of the planet, where the escaped convicts were waiting.

Watching this unfold, Aldo, seated on his iron throne, approached.

—Hey, Yeongwoo.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

—What… what are you saying? Escaped convicts? Who’s coming this time...?

Already overwhelmed by the malice in the wedding venue, Aldo was understandably terrified at this news.

Escaped convicts from space?

How far would this wedding ceremony go?

“They’re just called escaped convicts. They’re actually good people.”

Yeongwoo pointed to the sky as he said this, causing Aldo’s head to twist in confusion.

“By the way, Your Highness.”

—...What?

“You can help us break through the wedding offering, can’t you?”

—Me?

It seemed Aldo hadn’t anticipated being asked to participate.

Yeongwoo’s gaze turned fierce.

“Are you planning to leave my parents alone amidst those insane villains?”

Even as he said this, Yeongwoo couldn’t bring himself to point at Mara with his finger.

He still had a second round of congratulatory money to receive from him.

“As you’ve seen, this venue is full of bad karma. Everyone here is trying to accumulate even more bad karma by preventing the wedding offering from being completed.”

If they succeeded in interfering with the offering, the guests would get their congratulatory money back.

“Getting the money they offered in good faith as a blessing for the wedding returned? That’s an atrocious sin. It’s clear this would tip the balance of this wedding venue greatly.”

Hearing this, Aldo couldn’t bring himself to deny it.

His head twisted even further in frustration.

—Y-You’re right.

As a guest, one had to choose between helping or hindering the offering challenge.

And for Aldo, born with extreme virtue, there was only one real option.

He couldn’t possibly bring himself to torment the wedding couple for a refund.

—I brought royal knights with me... We can calm the guests.

Aldo glanced at the knights standing behind him as he spoke, and Yeongwoo clenched his fist.

“We have no idea how they’ll try to interfere with the wedding offering. If worst comes to worst, we may have to pacify the guests by force.”

—W-What?

“There are no rules preventing guests from attacking each other during the wedding offering, only that they can’t harm the couple, right?”

—Is that... true?

It was.

The family court’s wedding offering regulations didn’t specify any rules for guest behavior toward one another.

While Aldo naturally considered peaceful means, Yeongwoo, steeped in dark karma, had immediately thought of “beating up the other guests for support.”

“Of course we can fight the guests. Were you planning to preach to them? This is why the virtuous always lose! It’s clear that balancing the universe has been hard because of virtuous people like you.”

—T-That’s absurd…!

Aldo bristled at Yeongwoo’s malicious reasoning.

Yet he couldn’t immediately refute it.

Yeongwoo was not someone Aldo’s innocent mind could easily argue against.

“Of course, this discussion might be pointless. There’s a good chance you won’t even make it to the wedding offering.”

—...What do you mean by that?

“If Mara takes first place in the second round of wedding offerings, won’t you be expelled?”

This wasn’t even an exaggeration—it was a clear fact.

Mara had already suffered the humiliation of losing his throne because of Aldo’s 5 billion congratulatory offering.

It was obvious he harbored a grudge and would seek revenge.

—Oh.

Realizing the second round of offerings was being prepared in the main hall, Aldo turned his head.

There, Mara and Dogo were entering.

They intended to correct the offering rankings before the wedding ceremony began.

—Wait, wait!

Alarmed, Aldo flew toward the main hall on his throne, while a rift opened behind Yeongwoo.

Ssssh.

It was none other than the tax officer, Kubu.

“Oh, Kubu. What happened?”

Yeongwoo beamed and looked between Kubu and the sky. Kubu’s eyes spun once.

—They said there’s no problem.

“Oh, as expected.”

The convicts were surely thrilled to be invited to cause havoc at a wedding venue.

‘So now the offering supporters are Prince Aldo, my brothers, and...’

Yeongwoo’s gaze landed on Lord Bang, who was glaring at Mara from afar.

Lord Bang would certainly help with the wedding offering.

—Shall I grant entry permission?

Kubu asked about letting the convicts in.

Yeongwoo nodded, and Kubu blinked.

—Planetary entry permission has been granted to “Rohm’s convicts.”

A strange sound, like a clogged drain being cleared, echoed from somewhere above.

Gurrrk, guk guk!

“…What’s that?”

Yeongwoo and several guests in the lobby looked toward the source of the noise.

Suddenly—

CRASH!

A dark crack formed in the middle of Mara’s void material in the sky, and black sludge began oozing out.

“What…?”

Sensing that something was about to happen, Yeongwoo’s eyes widened.

Sure enough, the cracked spot exploded, pouring down a waterfall of black goo.

WHOOSH!

Eerie laughter echoed through the lobby.

—Hehe!

—Kyaa…!

—Kekeke!

‘Oh no. This seems worse than expected.’

Realizing from their giddy laughter that the “mentors” were in an excited state, Yeongwoo’s face grew tense.

The black goo pooled in an empty space near the lobby, boiling like hot oil as it began to change form.

Even Jiseon, who thought she couldn’t be more shocked, widened her eyes and asked Yeongwoo,

—What… what is this? Who did you summon this time?

“…My mother’s bodyguards.”

—What?

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No sooner had Yeongwoo finished speaking than a glossy black hand burst from the bubbling goo.

Splat!

—Good heavens.

Jiseon took a step back, while Yeongwoo walked toward the lobby’s entrance to greet the new guests.

Clink, clink.

But what should he call his opponent?

‘Prisoners…? That sounds weird.’

While Yeongwoo was struggling with this dilemma, another arm extended from the gelatinous mass.

Swish!

Then, with two arms planted on the ground, the creature acted as if it were trying to rise.

Crunch!

A massive body emerged from the viscous mass, casting a colossal shadow over Yeongwoo.

‘Fuck...What the hell are these guys?’

Yeongwoo instinctively lifted his head.

The figure standing up from the slime towered over him, about nine meters tall.

—Ah, you must be Jeong Yeongwoo 07! The one who’s been using our martial skills so well!

One of the prisoners from the mass was the first to speak, expressing admiration.

This being, standing nine meters tall, had a smooth, black body, long limbs, and absurdly broad shoulders.

What stood out was that it had no head; instead, the upper torso between the shoulders curved gently.

Its limbs were sleek, like blades of grass, and its black, flesh-like texture evoked an eerie feeling.

“Ah… welcome. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Yeongwoo tried to play along, pretending to be familiar.

Another prisoner emerged from the goo and laughed in a rough voice.

—Ah! Yes. We’ve met before.

The first to appear elaborated.

—We are fugitives. We don’t remember small events very well.

—But even while on the run, we heard of Jeong Yeongwoo 07’s reputation!

—So, this isn’t a small matter anymore.

“That’s… a good thing, right?”

Now there were three fugitives, and their collective shadow darkened the entire lobby.

—We are escapees.

—We cause trouble and don’t take responsibility.

‘…What?’

—So we can do anything.

—You are now our ‘big deal.’

—So say the word!

This basically meant that, since they were always on the run, they had no problem causing massive incidents.

‘What the hell are these lunatics talking about? These guys are real villains.’

Yeongwoo found them pure evil, to the extent that even he was speechless.

Still, no allies could match their ability to disrupt the wedding gifts of galactic villains.

“Masters… no, teachers. What I ask of you is quite simple.”

Yeongwoo turned to look at the wedding hall.

The three escapees shifted their massive torsos to follow his gaze.

“My parents will soon try to overcome the wedding gift threshold there. Many guests will likely interfere…”

Yeongwoo clenched his fist.

“So I ask that you beat up my guests thoroughly, without causing permanent injury or death.”

—Ah…!

—Thoroughly!

—Understood.

Though it wasn’t clear if they fully grasped the concept, the conversation flowed without a hitch.

The prisoners bumped their fists together and headed toward the wedding hall.

Boom, boom!

Their massive footsteps shook the lobby.

Eventually, they hesitated as they reached the gift stand, guided by Kobu.

“…You can’t enter the ceremony without a wedding gift.”

—Ah.

—Gifts!

—There’s no escaping this one.

The three fugitives lined up before the gift stand.

The stand began to glow and projected something onto the exterior wall of the wedding hall.

Fwoosh!

But it wasn’t their gifts that activated the stand.

No, the gift stand had been triggered by none other than—

<Architect, Lemu>

「Wedding gift payment complete!」

「What?」

Lemu’s second contribution.

A second gift ceremony had begun inside the hall, led by none other than the daring machine, Chairman Lemu.

「I deliver this gift in celebration of the marriage of Jeong Yeongwoo’s parents, Kim Jeonggu and Song Jiseon.」

Lemu’s private gift.

Though the amount was undisclosed, the rankings made it obvious how much he had contributed.

Ping!

The updated rankings revealed something shocking.

[1st Place] Lemu, 「Private」

[2nd Place] Aldo, 「5 Billion」

[3rd Place] Mara, Ominous Eye「Private」

[4th Place] Dogo, 「3 Billion」

[5th Place] Kwaya’s Hammer, Private

‘First place? Insane!’

Truly, cash king Lemu.

This was also a strategic move.

If the machine claimed first place, Chairman Dogo would stop at nothing to reclaim his throne.

Once Dogo retook first, Lemu would be pushed to second.

Furious, Mara would likely enter the fray, dropping Lemu to third.

Lemu’s true goal was to secure third place.

But—

Fwoosh!

The gift stand lit up again.

‘Who could react this quickly?’

Sensing something, Yeongwoo sprinted toward the wedding hall.

Thud, thud!

He saw the prince, Aldo, standing before the second gift stand, feet firmly planted on the hall floor.

“...!”

And he wasn’t alone.

He was side-by-side with Daouk, the head of Osaek Credit.

“What? Prince, did you… take a loan?”

As Yeongwoo gawked, Aldo’s head morphed into a sharp cone.

‘This guy… he’s furious!’

The next thing Yeongwoo heard was Aldo slamming the gift stand with his fist, shouting:

—All villains! Bow before the balance of the universe!

<Shelbir’s Second Son, Aldo>

「Wedding gift payment complete!」

The gift stand glowed gold for the first time.

Fwooosh!

—...!

Mara scratched his chin, trying to feign indifference, while Chairman Dogo turned to watch Aldo’s back.

Both powerhouses were shaken.

Finally, Aldo’s gift amount was revealed.

「I deliver this gift in celebration of the marriage of Jeong Yeongwoo’s parents, Kim Jeonggu and Song Jiseon—100 billion karma received」

—Ah.

Someone in the crowd let out a near-sigh.

100 billion karma.

Aldo had crossed the line.

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