Chapter 413

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Chapter 413: Collection (5)

A vassal’s salary.

It was something he had never considered before, but now he understood.

‘Right, vassals must receive a salary too.’

Moreover, Kubu was someone with a rather deep connection to him.

The fact that he had explicitly requested his salary meant it was an extremely important matter.

‘Well… vassals need money from their lord to survive.’

Yeongwoo stared at Kubu for a moment.

Then, he carefully opened his mouth.

“Um… salary…”

The first-ever salary negotiation of the Renaissance was about to take place.

Seeing this, Jiseon quickly intervened.

—Kubu, you’re a tax accountant, right?

—My main profession is as a trade broker, but I also handle taxation.

Strictly speaking, he was managing Yeongwoo’s taxes under Dogo’s pressure.

—So, you’re primarily a trade broker?

—That’s correct."

Hearing Kubu’s response, Jiseon crossed her arms.

—Then, can we determine the median income of trade brokers and tax accountants? It’d be good if we could see them separately.

—I’ll prepare the data.

With that, Kubu’s eyes flipped upward, and in the meantime, Yeongwoo asked his mother,

“Median income? To set a benchmark?”

—Of course. You need to know the market rate before naming a price. You’re carrying too much cash right now—it’s dangerous.

She was implying that he might end up paying an unnecessarily high salary due to his large cash reserves.

—I don’t know how much you want to keep this guy, but once you see the median income, you’ll have a clearer idea.

Median income.

It refers to the middle value in an income distribution.

For example, if they were to check the median income of tax accountants, they would line up all the tax accountants in the universe by income and pick the one in the exact middle.

Unlike the ‘average,’ which considers all data points, the median was a useful reference in situations without any baseline.

And finally—

—The data has arrived.

Kubu’s pupils returned to normal as he revealed the median incomes.

—I’ll state them based on weekly earnings on Earth.

Then, he rolled his eyes once before continuing.

—The median income of a trade broker is 40 million Karma per week.

“40 million? Per week?”

—Yes.

“Huh.”

At the beginning of the reset, Yeongwoo would have considered that a huge sum.

But now, it seemed absurdly low.

After all, they were talking about the median income on a universal scale.

‘Well, their earnings are based on transaction fees alone. Earning 40 million per week might actually be impressive.’

Also, he couldn’t ignore how much the median could differ from the average.

Some high-level brokers in major leagues could be making billions every week.

‘But Kubu came all the way to Earth to find deals—he must be a small-scale broker. His initial rank was Grade 9, too.’

Meeting Yeongwoo had undoubtedly catapulted Kubu onto the path of success.

Thanks to that, he even secured a connection with the corporate giant Dogo.

—What about tax accountants?

Jiseon asked next.

Kubu blinked rapidly.

—The median income of a tax accountant is 70 million Karma per week.

—Tax accountants are high-value professionals in space too, huh?

It made sense.

The demand for tax services in space likely started with individuals earning hundreds of millions in short periods.

In contrast, trade brokers dealt with goods in the tens or hundreds of thousands.

Naturally, tax accountants would earn more.

“Even in space, life isn’t easy, huh?”

Yeongwoo sighed, and Kubu blinked again.

—It’s not.

“But…”

—……?

“The moment you met me, your future changed.”

—……!

Kubu’s eyes widened at Yeongwoo’s words.

And then, Yeongwoo made his first salary offer.

“Kubu! I’ll buy your loyalty for 150 million Karma per week!”

Thud!

Yeongwoo slammed his palm onto the ground.

150 million per week.

Almost four times the median income of a trade broker.

What? 150 million?

As expected, Jiseon was shocked and gaped in disbelief.

Even Jeonggu cautiously voiced his concern.

“W-Weekly pay, Yeongwoo. And there might be more than one vassal.”

If things went south, they could end up bankrupt just from vassal salaries.

—Knowing this world, there’s probably some ridiculous law ensuring vassals get paid too. If you keep throwing money around like this, you’ll be in trouble.

Jiseon gave him a very realistic warning.

She was, after all, a former businesswoman.

But Yeongwoo had his own reasons for offering such a salary.

“Kubu has been with me since the beginning of the reset. He’s practically a fated companion the universe brought me.”

And that wasn’t all.

Yeongwoo genuinely liked the way Kubu worked.

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The fact that Kubu had taken on tax duties because Yeongwoo needed it, and more importantly—

‘This wedding hall itself was Kubu’s doing. I said I needed an execution-themed wedding venue, and he connected me with a prison design firm.’

His methods might have been unusual, but his problem-solving skills were above average.

On top of that, they had built a meaningful bond.

So why wouldn’t he pay him four times the median income?

“Ultimately, loyalty to a company comes from salary, right? If you’re underpaid, you’ll always be thinking about switching jobs and won’t work as hard.”

Then, Kubu quickly supported Yeongwoo's words.

—That is absolutely correct. Especially for a retainer, since they only serve the family they belong to, salary is of utmost importance.

On the other hand, Jiseon shook her head.

—Right now, you have plenty of capital, so it's easy for you to open your wallet. But once things get tighter, your perspective will change completely.

"That’s why I have to do my best to avoid going under. I’m laying a solid foundation for that reason. Mr. Kubu will be handling our general administration and taxation."

—...Fine. But think carefully. Once you set wages, you can either freeze or increase them—you can never lower them.

A piece of advice from an experienced veteran: don't recklessly hand out high salaries before the family's scale is firmly established.

—And wages are a fixed expense. The moment you take that guy in as a retainer, you’ll be paying out 150 million karma every week, just for him breathing.

To Jiseon, her newly appointed family head son looked like a novice entrepreneur who had just received a sizable investment.

Of course, she could partially agree that key figures should be properly compensated.

"I won’t be recklessly increasing the number of retainers. Besides Mr. Kubu, the only other candidate for now is Yechan."

Currently, the Renaissance family’s capital stood at approximately 37 billion won.

Even after paying taxes on tonight’s gift money, they would have more than 25 billion left.

Based on Yeongwoo’s calculations, a fixed weekly expense of 200 to 300 million would be entirely manageable.

"Mr. Kubu, do you have any objections to your salary?"

When Yeongwoo asked for confirmation, Kubu blinked his large eyes.

—I will devote my life to this work.

"Great. From this moment on, you are a member of Renaissance."

As Yeongwoo made his offer, the mark above Kubu's head shone brightly.

Paah!

[You have recruited Kubu, the Guardian of Daro, as a retainer of Renaissance.]

The first retainer of Renaissance—the first-ever family on Earth, which also happened to be a bandit group.

Then, a new system message appeared in Yeongwoo’s vision.

[The first retainer has been registered in the 'Renaissance' family.]

[The mandatory position of 'Administrator' is currently vacant. Would you like to assign one?]

'Position?'

As Yeongwoo wondered about it, a list of positions was immediately displayed.

[Administrator] - Mandatory

|Grants full access to all administrative duties within the family. Provides rapid diagnostics of the family's status and suggests operational strategies.

‘Ah. No wonder it’s mandatory.’

For now, the family had just been established, so there wasn’t much work to do.

But once they started interstellar activities, administrative tasks would surely pile up.

Since their main business revolved around robbery and assault, they would inevitably face numerous lawsuits and legal issues.

Besides, the administrator's duties were essentially what Kubu had been handling all along.

"Mr. Kubu, I’m appointing you as the Administrator. Please make sure to earn your salary."

As Yeongwoo assigned him the role, a small silver halo appeared above Kubu's head.

Paaah!

‘Ah, so that’s the Administrator's insignia?’

It seemed that Kubu had gained access to the family system, as his eyes flickered rapidly.

—Our primary operations… are registered as robbery and assault?

"Yes… well. That’s how it turned out."

Yeongwoo scratched the back of his head as Kubu continued.

—Just now, the family court has approved the registration of 'Renaissance' as an official family.

"Oh, really?"

That was quite a surprise.

They had submitted their application listing robbery and assault as their main activities—and it still got approved?

—Yes. As a result, multiple families that registered nearby planets as their territories have been notified of Renaissance’s establishment.

In simpler terms, the neighbors had just been informed that a bandit group had moved in next door.

"...We have neighboring families? If so, they won’t be too thrilled about this news, will they?"

—I agree.

"……."

—Therefore, to prevent any unfortunate incidents, I recommend strengthening the family’s combat power.

Strengthening combat power.

Just hearing those words somehow felt exhilarating.

"Our combat power is displayed in our public profile?"

—That is correct. The estimated combat levels of the family head and its members, as well as the number of mythic-class artifacts owned, are publicly available.

"Then we’ll be listed as having two mythic-class artifacts."

Yeongwoo glanced between Bastard and Aratubank.

Yet, despite having two mythic artifacts, Kubu was still suggesting an increase in combat power.

That meant Yeongwoo, the current strongest member of the family, was relatively weak compared to the neighboring families.

Which wasn’t exactly reassuring, considering they were living openly as a ‘bandit group.’

'Well, in this brutal universe, villains need overwhelming strength to survive.'

Swoosh.

Yeongwoo’s gaze shifted to his available resources.

Available Karma: 36,951,619,405

Available Defense Funds: 82,443,375

Now, the time had finally come.

A moment when he would transcend his previous limits and become something far greater.

"Everyone, step back. I don’t know how strong I’ll become, and it terrifies me. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to kill small creatures just by looking at them, like Mara."

—Are you calling us small creatures?

Jiseon’s irritated voice shot back, but Yeongwoo didn’t respond.

Instead, he pulled a Karma coin from his pocket and brought it to his lips.

"I will now become a cosmic being. Goodbye, human life."

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