Chapter 507

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Chapter 507: Earthling (4)

“…Oh.”

Seeing Yeongwoo chug the water in one go, Herisa’s eyes widened.

Then, just as Yeongwoo emptied the glass, he took a deep breath and spoke with a sharp gaze.

“We’ve only just come out into space, so we’re in desperate need of money.”

“I understand that very well.”

Herisa gave a friendly smile, as if she truly meant it.

After all, she must’ve had a time in her life similar to Yeongwoo’s.

In fact, in Herisa’s past, she likely didn’t even have access to a space station.

So how had she managed to survive in this harsh universe?

“……”

As Yeongwoo stared intently at Herisa—who could very well be the greatest human output in space history—she raised her prosthetic arm and pointed to the now-empty water glass.

“The contract has already been signed.”

“…?”

Startled, Yeongwoo quickly looked at the bottom of the glass, only to find the Bate family crest glowing brightly.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Earlier, Herisa had told him that drinking the water would indicate acceptance of the deal—and that turned out to be the actual method of contract formation.

“You’re quite naive. Still have much to learn.”

Herisa burst out laughing, then waved her prosthetic arm through the air.

Whoosh.

A holographic star system map appeared on the table, showing a section of space.

“The place you’ll need to visit for our contract is a planet called Rijibi.”

“Rijibi?”

As Yeongwoo repeated the name, coordinates appeared beneath the floating map.

Flash!

〔||ll-Rijibi-044-135-4672-83〕

“You’ll go there and find someone named Ketu, an enforcer. Once you’ve located him, just read him the letter I gave you.”

“I doubt he’ll be alone at that coordinate. How am I supposed to recognize him?”

“Don’t worry. It’ll be very obvious who he is.”

With that cryptic comment, Herisa pointed again to the crimson letter.

“It’s not long, but Ketu will get furious even before you finish reading it. So, I’d recommend having a solid escape plan ready.”

“Oh… so I don’t need to kill him? Just read the letter and that’s it?”

“Exactly. The challenge is simply staying alive long enough to finish reading it.”

“Well, that part’s my specialty.”

“Of course, if you can kill Ketu, that would be even better.”

“…I’ll handle it my way.”

That concluded the contract-related discussion.

‘You saw those coordinates too, right?’

Yeongwoo spoke internally to Earth, and the entity replied at once.

○ Herisa’s two steps ahead of you. She sent those coordinates before you even drank the water.

‘What? Then why didn’t you tell me?’

○ I was curious if you'd actually accept the deal.

‘…Damn. Not a single ally in this insane universe, huh.’

Yeongwoo sighed inwardly and turned back to Herisa with one last question.

“Madam Chancellor, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask.”

“Yes, Yeongwoo. Go ahead.”

“I heard you're involved in charity work?”

According to Administrator Kubu, Chancellor Herisa led several charitable organizations, including the Blue Relief Foundation and the Hand of Life.

Herisa chuckled and nodded.

“Well, technically, yes.”

“…Technically?”

“In a way, Yeongwoo, aren’t you also in the charity business?”

“Ah.”

At those words, Yeongwoo immediately understood.

She was another fake philanthropist—just like him.

“You’re a ‘fake’ too, then.”

“I prefer the term humanitarian business.”

Fair enough—both their families, originating from different Earths, were conveniently running cover charities.

Calling it “humanitarian” wasn’t inaccurate.

“So, where are you headed next, Yeongwoo?”

Herisa casually inquired about Earthship’s next destination.

But Yeongwoo didn’t give a clear answer.

“Who knows? If I’ll be risking my life just by reading a letter on Rijibi, I’d better be well-prepared before going.”

“Sounds like you’ll be taking care of other business first.”

“Yes. But I won’t delay for long. Not many things out there can earn 5 billion in a short time.”

Yeongwoo’s current plan was to meet Koatu, the arms dealer who was the first target on Doatel’s collection list.

If he could secure a donation from Koatu and earn a commission, he could use it to upgrade Earthship—greatly increasing his chances of surviving Herisa’s job.

‘Is our thruster upgrade complete?’

Yeongwoo asked Earth through their shared consciousness, and soon felt a massive response.

○ Of course. The final work was done right around the time you were drinking water.

‘Then it’s time to get moving.’

Upon hearing the upgrade was complete, Yeongwoo slowly rose from his seat.

“You must be busy too, Chancellor. I won’t take any more of your time.”

“Looks like it’s time for you to go.”

Clack.

Herisa also stood, gazing out the window at the vastness of space.

“If you come back safely after this job, I’ll have more work for you—if you’re interested, that is.”

“If it pays, I’ll do just about anything.”

“Then take care, Jeong Yeongwoo07.”

With those words, Herisa pointed to the stack of bonds on the table, as if to remind him not to forget them.

Yeongwoo quickly gathered the bonds and pressed the return stone hidden in his coat.

Click.

Immediately, a loud activation sound rang out, and Yeongwoo’s entire body was engulfed in holographic light.

Wheeeeeee—!

“I’ll see you again with good news, Chancellor!”

“Earthship’s return system is quite outdated. You won’t be able to linger long on Rijibi with that setup.”

Herisa advised that it would be better to consider an alternative return method.

“Then I guess we have no choice but to kill that Ketu guy or whatever his name is.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

At that moment, the return stone’s hologram extended over Yeongwoo’s crown, and he was transported back to the Earthship.

Tsuahh!

As Yeongwoo returned to the cockpit holding a bundle of bonds in his hand, Jiseon immediately approached.

—How did it go? What kind of person is this Herisa?

“She’s human.”

—Human?

“She’s from Earth.”

—...What?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Jiseon’s expression now was exactly the same as Yeongwoo’s when he first met Herisa.

“There are apparently multiple Earths in the universe. And the real problem is, the people living there are just like us.”

—What are you talking about? So there are other humans outside our universe?

“For the details, ask Earth.”

Having said that, Yeongwoo placed the multicolored bundle of bonds on the navigation console at the center of the cockpit.

Thunk!

“These are bonds worth 5 billion I got from Chancellor Herisa. In return, I agreed to do a job.”

This time, even Taeyang Moro showed interest.

『A job?』

“Uh… it's just delivering a letter and reading it somewhere.”

To explain the entire situation to those who didn’t know the background would probably take until the night dungeon opened.

So once again, Yeongwoo deferred the explanation to Earth.

“He’ll tell you the details.”

Yeongwoo pointed to Earth with the end of the bond stack and then checked the time on his wrist.

Beep!

Current time: 8:11 PM.

“Oh man, the room notice must’ve gone out already.”

As Yeongwoo muttered while looking at his wrist, Administrator Kubu opened his eyes behind him.

Srrrk.

—Tax collection is scheduled at 10 PM Earth time.

“I know. How much will it be this time?”

—It is estimated to be between 1.5 billion and 2 billion Karma.

“What? I spent most of what I earned upgrading the Earthship, and I’m still being taxed that much?”

—You haven’t done any ‘tax avoidance’ yet… so expenditures like cannon purchases have not been recognized as deductible costs.

“Dear god.”

Yeongwoo hurriedly checked his current balance.

Available Karma: 12,964,270,016

Available Defense Budget: 150,322,545

His personal assets amounted to about 12.9 billion Karma, while the national defense fund—or the public treasury—had about 150 million left.

‘Well, it’s not the worst. Even after taxes, I should still have around 10 billion left.’

Of course, the problem was that he had to survive on that 10 billion until the next income arrived.

But Earth’s following statement immediately swept away his worries.

『You’re the planetary representative now.』

“That’s right?”

『So starting tomorrow, the defense tax will be applied to the entire planet.』

“What? You mean I’ll be able to remotely collect taxes from all the countries?”

『As long as you don’t starve your people to death… pretty much, yeah.』

“But you said mutation drops are going to stop starting tomorrow. Won’t that mean most of the daily quests will also stop functioning?”

If so, it wouldn’t just be a drop in basic income for the residents—it might cease entirely.

And since the defense tax is calculated only from surplus income after essential living expenses are deducted, if the residents couldn’t even cover their basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing, there would be no tax revenue.

“……”

Thinking this far, Yeongwoo soon reached his own conclusion.

“So that’s why I was given the Golden Nebula.”

『Well… we don’t know if it was deliberately designed that way, but in the end, the Golden Nebula is basically the countermeasure against the reset.』

The Golden Nebula.

One of the universe’s “wonders” that allows golden rain to fall on other planets, and each time that happens, the owner can also summon golden rain on their own planet.

Since Yeongwoo had completed the golden achievement all the way to the end, only he could now sustain a post-mutation Earth.

“So going to other planets to make golden rain isn’t just optional—it’s essentially a mandatory mission now.”

『Exactly. You’ll need to make golden rain at least once every two days to maintain your people’s livelihood.』

“And that’s also how we’ll be able to collect sufficient defense taxes.”

It was a virtuous cycle, in the best light.

But looking at it another way, it was no different from living a day-to-day, do-or-die life.

“Going to other planets to make golden rain… the real question is, what exactly does that mean?”

It was still a mystery to Yeongwoo.

According to the tooltip of the Golden Nebula decree, on planets not undergoing a reset, he had to create a golden orb.

【Golden Journey】

| You can create a golden orb even on ineligible planets.

Odds were, planets undergoing a different kind of planetary trial than reset would also count as “ineligible.”

“You don’t know anything about golden orbs on other planets either, right?”

『I don’t even know about the Golden Nebula itself.』

Earth shrugged.

Then, with a surprisingly serious expression, he raised a finger.

『But I do know one thing for sure.』

“What’s that?”

Yeongwoo asked back, and surprisingly, Kubu answered in Earth’s stead.

—A corrupt official from the National Tax Service is waiting for a call with you, my lord. You need to negotiate the size of the bribe.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]