Chapter 1782 – 1782. Fate
“Hyung, Yoo-jin! You said you had some more spirit stones, right?! Can I buy them from you?!”
Having witnessed a spirit grow stronger right before his eyes, it was understandable that he was so eager. A contracted spirit growing stronger was the same as himself growing stronger.
“Do you want some more?”
“No matter what, I can’t take them for free. I’ll buy them.”
“I have seven more. Do you even have the money?”
There were dozens of spirit stones. They were common items from random draws, so there were many piled up. But having too many could cause misunderstandings, so he reduced the number.
“Seven?”
Park Su-ho glanced at the spirit. The spirit’s eyes were sparkling, waiting for the spirit stones.
“…If Maya eats all of them, she’ll get even stronger than she is now, right?”
“You saw it, so you know. Spirit stones are like elixirs for spirits.”
The stronger a spirit becomes, the less effective spirit stones are. For the top-tier spirits of the [Academy Savior], spirit stones were just tasty snacks. It was clear that they would be a great help to Park Su-ho’s spirit right now.
“…The price must be at the elixir level too.”
“Yeah. If you’re not going to take them for free… should I lend them to you?”
“I’ve received so much from you, Hyung, so I feel bad taking more. But I don’t have enough money either…”
Park Su-ho pondered for a moment before speaking.
“Hyung, is there anything you need?”
“Not really.”
“I knew you’d say that. You don’t have much of a desire for material things.”
Park Su-ho nodded.
A lack of desire for material things? Compared to his lust, his desire for material things might be a bit lower. But he was the type to get what he wanted.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve given Park Su-ho quite a bit.’
There were a few things he had given Park Su-ho for free, making him feel indebted. From his perspective, they were nothing special, but they were things that Park Su-ho would have difficulty obtaining. In a way, it was natural that Park Su-ho had a mistaken impression of him.
“Hyung, would you like to come with me to the tattoo world? There’s a mana training ground there. It’s not enough to pay for the spirit stones… but I’ll let you use the mana training ground. The reason I was able to get stronger so quickly is because of this mana training ground.”
“There’s something like that in the tattoo world?”
“I don’t know the principle, but it’s a facility that uses mana stones. I found it in an ancient ruin.”
He was curious about what kind of training ground it was. Besides, it had been a while since he had entered the tattoo world.
“If you let me use it, I’d be grateful.”
“Let’s get out of the dungeon first and go to my place.”
• • •
Park Su-ho was still living in his rooftop room.
“If you’re a C-class hunter, don’t you make some money? You could live in a better place than a rooftop room.”
“Ah. Well, yeah… but I personally really like this place. The owners who live downstairs are also very kind. They sometimes share food.”
Just as they were about to enter the rooftop room, someone came out of the stairwell. It was a cute-faced girl in pajamas.
‘She’s too fresh to be a college student. Is she a high schooler?’
She had a face that guaranteed a bright future, but her chest was too small. An A cup, the average in Korea. From his perspective, the possibility of her chest growing was close to 0%. How unfortunate.
“Su-ho Oppa! Mom said to bring you some kimchi stew!”
“Oh, really? Su-jeong, thank you. Please tell your mother I’m grateful too.”
Park Su-ho smiled and accepted the kimchi stew pot.
“Is the person next to you a friend?”
“He’s a college senior and a close hyung.”
“I’m Sung Yoo-jin.”
“I’m Han Su-jeong. I’ll be going now.”
Han Su-jeong greeted them and went down the stairs. Before leaving, she didn’t miss looking at Park Su-ho with a hint of regret.
‘She has feelings for Park Su-ho.’
Park Su-ho, on the other hand, seemed completely uninterested.
“Does she come up often?”
“Yes. She brings food about once a week. She also talks to me often, so I’m always very grateful. I guess you could say she’s like a younger sister. Ah, would you like some of the kimchi stew too, Hyung?”
“No, thanks. I’m picky, so I wouldn’t eat much.”
After entering the room, they immediately entered the tattoo world.
It had been a while since he had entered the tattoo world. Park Su-ho’s territory, Veroprin, was much more developed than the last time he had been there. The people walking around were lively.
On the surface, it looked like an ordinary city that could be found in the Middle Ages, but upon closer inspection, there were modern elements. Sewers, glass windows, and even a truck parked in the middle of the road.
“A truck? A backhoe?”
“There’s a limit to what people can do with their own strength.”
“There are mages.”
“Most mages don’t want to do menial work. If you force them, they’ll do it, but they’ll complain. And hiring mercenary mages isn’t cost-effective… so I bought them used for cheap.”
“There must be an acquisition tax, right?”
“…This is a secret, but I got them through a good broker. It’s not like I’m going to use them on Earth anyway.”
He was surprised that the diligent Park Su-ho had committed an illegal act. It was unexpected.
‘Hmm. This guy isn’t just diligent.’
He walked with Park Su-ho, looking at the developed city.
“Are those houses made of concrete?”
“Yes. The materials are surprisingly simple, so it’s easy to make them in this world.”
“There’s a generator too. Is it a mana stone generator?”
“Yes. Having a generator is convenient in many ways. Well, since this is a world with magic, it didn’t cause a big sensation.”
There was a poster on the wall. It was a theater poster.
“Romeo and Juliet?”
“Ah. Cultural life isn’t very developed in this world. So I gathered some minstrels and taught them plays… and it became so popular that people from other cities came to see the plays. Thanks to that, the city’s revenue has increased a lot.”
“That’s strange. This city feels familiar, like I’ve seen it somewhere before. It doesn’t feel strange.”
“Have you played Macho Soul?”
“Ah! It’s a carbon copy of the city in Macho Soul!”
“Yes. I was attacked at my mansion before, and the mansion and part of the city were half-destroyed, so I completely rebuilt the city.”
“That must have cost a lot of money and time.”
“The nobles were behind the attackers. It was an attack sent to keep me in check. Instead of filing a lawsuit with the Public Trial Court, I settled with money. It was more profitable for me. After the city was completed, my physical abilities became stronger.”
Park Su-ho, excited, boasted as if he was showing off. He had great pride in the city. It wasn’t something he couldn’t understand. He knew the fun of growing a small village into a proper city.
‘It reminds me of the old days. My city in the Baekhwan world also grew so quickly.’
He saw citizens walking around with smiles. They all looked happy. They bowed their heads when they saw Park Su-ho.
Kyahahahaha! He heard the sound of kids laughing from somewhere. How could those brats laugh so frivolously when their lord was making his rounds? It was unimaginable in his city in the [Baekhwan] world.
‘Park Su-ho. This guy seems a bit stupid.’
There were many beautiful women in the city. If it were him, he would secretly call these beauties, or threaten them with taxes, and then sleep with them and get them pregnant. He would be happy, the beauties would be happy, and the city’s population would increase, a win-win-win situation.
Over there, in the tavern, he could see dwarves laughing and chatting.
Good heavens. Dwarves drinking alcohol in broad daylight? Those top-tier slave races should be worked at least 16 hours a day to get their money’s worth. Alcohol should be given after work, or occasionally when he was in a good mood.
‘As a veteran of territory management, I should give him some advice.’
He couldn’t say it outright. Advice was annoying, and given Park Su-ho’s personality, he would dislike his methods.
But seeing the messy territory, it was hard to hold back his advice.
“Su-ho, what’s the tax rate here?”
“Tax rate? It used to be 40%, but now it’s 20%.”
“20%? Ah! The other 80% is the tax, right?”
“Haha. Hyung, if it was 80%, people would have fled the city.”
“…You mean it’s really 20%, not 80%? How does the city run on that?”
Park Su-ho. Was he crazy? How could he run a city on a 20% tax rate? Just buying beautiful slave women would make 40% of the budget disappear.
“Of course, it runs. Well, there’s not much to gain by immediately reinvesting it into the city.”
“Hoo. It’s good to have a lot of money. Should I teach you how to make money?”
“Oh. What is it?”
“Casinos. Open a casino.”
Gambling.
And naturally, the following high-interest loan business. It was a way to suck the marrow out of the pigs. He had quite a bit of fun with it.
Park Su-ho wasn’t stupid, so he would immediately think of the high-interest loan business. The reason why Jews had so much money was because they were moneylenders.
“What? Ah. A casino like in Las Vegas? If we build a luxurious hotel, we could rip off the nobles… It’s not a bad idea. The problem is the budget, so we can’t build a casino right now.”
He takes back what he said about him being smart. This guy seemed quite lacking. Even when he gave him the best business idea, that was all he could think of…
“Those dwarves over there. Isn’t it a bit much for them to be drinking in broad daylight?”
“Dwarves use alcohol as fuel. Fuel. They work better when they drink.”
Was he an idiot? How could alcohol be fuel?
If you were talking about fuel for slaves, it was obviously whipping. If whipping wasn’t enough, solitary confinement was also good. If you put them in solitary confinement for about three days, they would beg to be put to work. Work efficiency would increase by 50%. And you had to make the dwarves mate from time to time to get them pregnant. That way, the number of dwarf slaves would increase. It was also good to give them pig aphrodisiacs regularly.
Just then, a group of elves passed by. It seemed that the common knowledge that elves were beautiful existed here as well, as they were all exceptionally beautiful.
“Elves. They have good bodies, both men and women.”
“That’s right. They’re stronger than humans from birth. They also have good ears, so elves are naturally excellent hunters.”
Was he a moron? Elves were natural hunters? That was another novel piece of nonsense. Elves were natural prostitutes.
‘Female elves are my personal concubines, male elves are male prostitutes.’
You could make money by using elves as male prostitutes. The Middle Ages were fundamentally male-dominated, so there were many gays. If gay acts weren’t prohibited for religious reasons, you could make a lot of money.
‘Ugh, you moron. If I were you, Veroprin would have already become a metropolis.’
Soon, they arrived at Park Su-ho’s mansion.
When he saw the mansion, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“This is a mansion?”
“Yes. It’s amazing, right?”
“Y-yeah, yeah. It’s p-practical and good.”
A three-story mansion. In terms of square footage, it was probably around 200 pyeong.
‘With a tiny mansion like this, the territory’s people would look down on him. Did Park Su-ho build a tiny mansion because he’s a tiny man?’
The lord’s authority was highly questionable. If other nobles saw this mansion, they would openly ignore him.
‘…Is he deliberately trying to get them to ignore him? To rip off the nobles?’
Then he noticed that there were no walls surrounding the mansion.
“Aren’t you going to build walls?”
“There’s a fence. Isn’t it pretty?”
What would he do if the pigs rebelled? You had to build high, sturdy walls to clearly define the boundaries between the pigs and the nobles to establish authority…
“The guards are just those five people over there?”
“No. The building next to the mansion is where the soldiers stay. Soldiers and knights gather there. If something happens, the nobles will move.”
“Hoo. I’m experiencing culture shock here. You’re a really amazing lord.”
“Haha. I’ve been hearing that a lot lately as a joke… but hearing it from you, Hyung, it feels new.”
