Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 294

Chapter 294: New Capital, Seoul (4)

“Huh…?”

As soon as the words “Earth’s upgrade evaluation” were mentioned, Jeonggu made a bewildered expression, and Yeongwoo, excited, continued speaking.

“See? I was right, wasn’t I?”

Of course, even Yeongwoo himself didn’t know that a planetary status existed.

Up until now, the only statuses he’d encountered were the ranks assigned to different roles on the planet and the existence ranks according to universal law.

‘Well, I wouldn’t have known about this since nothing has ever been done on a planetary scale before.’

But things are different now.

The purpose of developing Metal Seoul, the special city established on the Korean Peninsula, is to elevate Earth’s status.

And now that Earth has begun serious planetary development, everything seemed to align perfectly.

‘And since it will eventually become my planet, the higher its rank, the better.’

Especially now, when connections with the “universe” were increasing, it was clear that both the planet’s and its residents’ statuses must be as high as possible.

The glimpse he’d had of the universe so far revealed it to be a society of survival of the fittest, strictly governed by a rigid caste system.

Even the universal law enforcers, who enforce the laws of the universe, couldn’t do anything about the tyranny of Chairman Dogo, who had a third-grade status under universal law. Lower-class beings aren’t even allowed to mention the names of those ranked second-class or higher.

So what would happen if Earth, a lower-class planet where the basic resident rank is 12th class, were to connect with that universe officially?

“Being invaded by other Earthlings is bad enough, but to be looked down upon by aliens…? That’s something I won’t allow to happen in my time.”

Jeong Yeongwoo07, a prodigy born out of a reset, uttered words filled with a surprising sense of humanism, prompting Jeonggu to look at his son with an unexpected expression.

“Oh… I didn’t know you could think like that. That’s surprising. What rank did you say you were now?”

“Seventh class, according to universal law.”

“From twelfth to seventh…”

Jeonggu nodded as if he finally understood.

He figured his son might have developed some sense of duty, perhaps as the first Earthling to achieve the seventh class.

Maybe it was a sense of duty to ensure that humanity would no longer suffer universal hardships.

‘Well, children from poor families tend to mature faster. Considering that he’s risen quite high for someone from a lower-class planet, it’s possible his perspective has broadened…’

But contrary to Jeonggu’s thoughts, Yeongwoo had a very different, more ambitious plan.

“One day, I want to beat up a government official.”

“What? Why would you beat up a government official? Those people work hard. You’ll seriously be punished if you do that.”

Of course, the government officials of the universe weren’t human to begin with.

“To be exact, I want to reach a position where I can do that.”

As he said this, Yeongwoo habitually looked up at the sky, and Jeonggu followed his gaze.

“Do you know what it means to beat up a government official in the universe?”

“……”

“It means you’ve become someone who, in most situations, won’t be in danger. At least, that’s what I’ve learned.”

Beating a government official.

It meant that you had become someone who could challenge the laws of the universe and still survive.

Though, of course, not even someone like that would dare to skip paying taxes.

“Who on earth taught you this?”

Although Jeonggu asked this question, he had a pretty good idea of who the teacher was.

‘That Dogo bastard has completely messed up my son.’

After all, in Yeongwoo’s timeline, Dogo existed before his father did.

“But to become such a powerful being, I still have a long way to go. First of all, I’ll need an enormous amount of money…”

“And what else?”

“I’m not sure. But I have a feeling that one’s origins are important too.”

This intuition stemmed from the life story of his actual role model, Chairman Dogo.

Dogo’s origins lay in the royal family of Vesedel, where he was the first prince.

In contrast, Yeongwoo himself was just an ordinary resident from the lower-class planet Earth.

The only similarity he shared with the chairman was that they were both illegitimate children.

“So, you’re saying that to fulfill your dream of beating up government officials, you want to raise Earth’s rank?”

Jeonggu couldn’t help but feel absurd as he said this.

There wasn’t a single logical connection in that sentence.

But Yeongwoo was serious.

“It’s about raising my origin and the status of my people for my future.”

There was a saying that all roads lead to Seoul.

Since the conclusion was optimistic, Jeonggu decided to drop the matter.

“…Alright. But seriously, don’t actually beat up any government officials.”

As the two of them were having this cosmic conversation, the foundational work for Metal Seoul was finally completed.

◇ The foundational work for “Dogo Special City Metal Seoul” has been completed.

“Oh? They say the work is finished.”

Yeongwoo, with a delighted expression, stood before the module as the next message appeared.

◇ The current settings of this city are as follows:

[Dogo Special City Metal Seoul]

| Level: 1

| Location: |l||I-Earth

| Mayor: Jeong Yeongwoo07

| Purpose: Status elevation

“What?”

“Huh? You’re the mayor?”

Both Yeongwoo and Jeonggu stared at the city settings window with wide eyes.

“Well, if someone had to be listed as mayor, I guess it would be you.”

Jeonggu scratched his cheek with a somewhat disapproving expression.

“But the city name is already confirmed as Dogo Special City Metal Seoul? These guys are hilarious.”

Jeonggu let out a chuckle, as if he couldn’t believe it.

Just then, the city’s module in Dogo displayed a new notification.

◇ Due to the internal function of the city’s power source, the ‘Steel Core,’ the city can initiate ‘Guardian Dragon’ and ‘Annihilation Mode’ settings.

◇ Due to the city’s development purpose of ‘Social Ascension,’ the highest priority construction is recommended. *Victory Monument.

The city’s development plans were grimly serious, despite the comical name.

“They’re recommending the first construction to be a Victory Monument.”

“This is completely insane. Where exactly is that supposed to be built?”

At Jeonggu’s question, Yeongwoo tapped on the notification recommending the Victory Monument.

Pop.

A large holographic box appeared on the module, and the construction interface spread out.

Ping!

[Victory Monument]

| Register the legendary enemies who met their end before the city’s name and gain Glory Points.

| Once the city’s Glory reaches a certain level, bonus points will be awarded during planetary status reviews.

*Within 48 hours of constructing the monument, enemies not defeated in the city’s name can also be registered.

“Wow.”

After reading the description of the Victory Monument, Yeongwoo was speechless.

It was exactly the construction he had wanted.

If this was built, wouldn’t it give more justification for his use of violence?

‘This is an essential building for the violence business. I have to build this.’

As Yeongwoo finished reading the description and looked down, the construction module displayed the recommended locations for the Victory Monument.

◇ Two suitable sites for constructing the Victory Monument have been found.

[Jongmyo]

| 20% additional Glory Points if the registered enemies are affiliated with Earth.

[Sajikdan]

| 10% additional Glory Points if the registered enemies are not affiliated with Earth.

“Uh…”

Yeongwoo hesitated for a moment as he looked at the construction site options.

Both were cultural heritage sites of Korea, and the special effects were conflicting.

‘If I forgo the special effects, I could build it anywhere, not necessarily on heritage sites, but the effects are too good to pass up.’

The remaining issue was whether to build the monument at Jongmyo or Sajikdan.

“What do you think, Father?”

“…You’re going to choose whatever you want anyway, so why bother asking?”

“Well, I need to hear someone else’s opinion first so I can confirm that I’m right. It’s like a verification process.”

“You crazy kid.”

Though Jeonggu shuddered, he pointed to ‘Jongmyo’ with his hand.

“Isn’t Jongmyo better? The additional score difference is double, and most of the enemies you can register now will likely be affiliated with Earth, right?”

“That’s true. Kim Jong-un can definitely be registered, and probably Im Dupyeong too…”

“Exactly. You already have two. Legendary enemies aren’t that common anyway.”

Yeongwoo nodded at Jeonggu’s words.

“Right. I’d get 40% more points as soon as it’s built.”

“Exactly. And you’ll probably have to fight a civil war for a while, so there will be more enemies to put into the monument.”

“Then I could get around 60% to 100% additional points.”

“Y-yeah.”

Jeonggu sensed something was wrong when his son readily agreed with him.

And sure enough.

“But if I build the monument at Sajikdan, I could probably get several hundred percent more points, don’t you think?”

“What?”

“If there are so many legendary enemies on Earth, imagine how many there must be in the universe.”

As Yeongwoo looked up at the sky again, an angry Jeonggu exploded in frustration.

“You idiot! If you’re going to do that, just do whatever you want and stop asking me! And stop looking up at the sky all the time!”

At that moment, the Strongest Swords, who had been watching from afar, started to approach, curious about what was happening.

By then, Yeongwoo had already confirmed Sajikdan as the construction site for the monument.

“I’m going with Sajikdan. We have to think about the future.”

As Yeongwoo touched the holographic text on the module, a city-wide announcement was immediately issued.

— The Mayor of Dogo Metropolitan City, Jeong Yeongwoo07, has approved the construction of [Victory Monument] at the key location ‘Sajikdan.’

“What?”

“…Huh? Build what?”

“He’s already the mayor…?”

The residents of Metal Seoul and even the Strongest Swords were surprised by the first construction permit issued by the mayor.

But what happened next was even more shocking.

Fiiiaaaat!

A sharp sound echoed from the far-off sky, and then metal chunks began to rain down from the northern sky.

“Ugh!”

“What the heck?”

The sight reminded people of the first day of the Reset, when the ‘Mountain of Swords’ appeared, and they were filled with fear.

But Yeongwoo…

‘Wow, they’re building it insanely fast.’

He instinctively knew that this was the construction scene for the Victory Monument.

Unlike normal construction on Earth, construction in a B-grade development zone happened in the blink of an eye.

Soon, a system message appeared in Yeongwoo’s view.

「Victory Monument construction is complete.」

「There are 3 execution records available for registration on the Victory Monument.」

———