## Chapter 2422 – 2422. Eternal Eden
Jin Su-hak, the commander of the coup, became president, and I became the behind-the-scenes power, manipulating Jin Su-hak from the shadows.
The first thing I did was, of course, a purge. A new king had been born, so shouldn’t the blade of purge follow?
All those who followed Jung Woo-hyun, those who had taken key positions with bribes and were displaying their incompetence, were dismissed and handed over to the judiciary. All the evidence and data were provided by Lee Yeon-hee. It seemed Lee Yeon-hee had been waiting for this day.
“They are the ones who are eating away at Korea. If they hadn’t been there, Korea’s situation would have been a little better.”
“Well, I don’t want incompetent guys either, so it’s fine. Those who took bribes are going straight to prison. There, we’ll take out death row inmates and other serious criminals and conduct human experiments.”
Of course, we couldn’t conduct human experiments openly. We had to do it secretly, like everyone else.
Fortunately, or perhaps not, there were plenty of criminals. The whole world was a mess. There was no way Korea would be fine. It wasn’t for nothing that looters had appeared.
The next thing I did was compensation. I granted youth to Jin Su-hak and the officers who participated in the coup. The generals and high-ranking officers were all middle-aged. They received reverse aging and became younger. Their reactions to becoming younger were twofold: crying or laughing.
“Oh! Youth! Returning to my 20s, I feel so light. Is that so? Was this my body in my 20s…!”
“Thank you! Deciding to follow you was the best decision I ever made! Haha! I am also a believer of Seongjinism!”
“Haha. You’ve gained a new life.”
The generals and officers who participated in the coup became younger. I didn’t hide it. It was something that couldn’t be hidden. Now people would know that the current coup government and I were connected.
‘No, even if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be hard to guess. My conflict with Jung Woo-hyun was quite famous.’
What would the other military officers think after seeing the younger generals and officers? Naturally, they also began to pledge their allegiance to me.
They didn’t need youth?
One noble general said that, but it was just bravado. His colleagues were getting younger, while he was getting older day by day. How could he stand that? Generals from the navy and air force rushed to me and pledged their loyalty.
In return, I granted them youth.
Frankly, it was a very annoying task. But it was necessary to seize control of the Korean military.
‘The king is bestowing rewards of loyalty to his subjects. Let’s think of it that way.’
It wasn’t like they would be young forever. If they wanted to maintain their youth, they had to continue to pledge their loyalty to me.
Moreover, a once-young body was an unavoidable mark. Proof that they followed me. They might not think so, but others would see it that way.
‘I don’t use my abilities on those who are even slightly hostile to me.’
A case in point was the Ilwoo Group. The Ilwoo Group came to me with a brazen face. It wasn’t the chairman in Japan who came directly, but a director below him.
“Ms. Seong Yu-jin. I understand that our company and Ms. Seong Yu-jin have had a distant relationship. We would like to take this opportunity to put the past behind us and develop together with Ms. Seong Yu-jin. This is a gift for Ms. Seong Yu-jin.”
A house, a car, food, gold bars.
I touched the gleaming gold bars. As the global economy collapsed, the value of currency plummeted. The dollar was no exception. The only thing that maintained its value was gold. Even gold was on a downward trend.
“I see. I understand the Ilwoo Group’s intentions. I’ll think about it. I’ll accept the gift.”
None of the gifts here were real. It was the technology. They were the ones who were secretly conducting human experiments on Tsushima Island. They must have accumulated some level of biotechnology, and yet.
The director of the Ilwoo Group’s face hardened at the cold smile on my lips.
“…I hope you make a wise choice. Even though he lost his chairman, son, and grandson, he is extending a hand of reconciliation to Ms. Seong Yu-jin.”
“Let’s be clear. Your chairman is just greedy for youth, isn’t he? Go and tell your old chairman. You will never be able to obtain youth. Ah, there is one way. If you hand over everything from the Ilwoo Group to me, I will gladly show mercy.”
“…I will report everything that happened today to the chairman. Personally, it’s very regrettable.”
“I’m not particularly regretful. Ah, a tax audit is scheduled for Ilwoo Group-related companies soon, so be aware of that.”
“……”
He frowned and went outside.
Prepare for the tax audit? Let them do it if they want.
‘The important thing isn’t the tax audit. The tax audit is a message to others. A message that the Ilwoo Group is completely marked by the current government.’
Other companies in Korea would distance themselves from the Ilwoo Group for fear of getting caught in the crossfire. The Ilwoo Group would slowly become isolated.
‘As soon as a suitable justification arises, it’s straight to jail. Hehe. As soon as the Ilwoo Group guys go to prison, we’ll start the human experiments. Hehehe.’
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
“Seong-ha. It’s Jin Su-hak.”
“Come in.”
The young Jin Su-hak in his late 20s entered. I could have made him look like he was in his early 20s, but he refused. He said he wouldn’t have any dignity if he was too young.
“I just came back from unofficial talks with the United States, Russia, North Korea, China, and Japan.”
“How was the reaction?”
“They all envied my youth. And they asked me to arrange a meeting with Seong-ha.”
“If they come to Korea and pay a fair price, I will grant them youth.”
To use the reverse aging ability, I shouldn’t be too stingy. I gave youth relatively easily to those with money and power. That way, they would become my shield.
“Yes. I said as we had planned. But it won’t be an easy decision for them. The world is already different from before.”
The already dangerous sea routes were becoming even more dangerous. The mutation of marine life was much faster than that of terrestrial life. There were also many variants. There was only so much humans could do in the sea. Even warships were being destroyed by getting caught by the wrong variant. Recently, the navy had been spending more time at sea than on land.
The sky was also becoming more difficult. Bird variants and mutants were appearing, blocking the sky routes. It was now difficult to even trade using airplanes.
‘For Korea, which lives off trade, it’s practically a death sentence.’
Korea didn’t have any underground resources like oil, did it?
“How was Japan’s reaction?”
“They congratulated me on becoming president. They spoke with a smiling face, without mentioning anything about Jung Woo-hyun. And they said they wanted to invite Seong-ha to Japan.”
“Even if I’m crazy, I won’t go to Japan. What about the bionics they took from Korea?”
“Carlo. They said it was his choice. They didn’t seem to have any intention of returning Carlo.”
“…What about North Korea? What was North Korea’s reaction?”
“They congratulated me. They said they wanted to meet soon through an official summit. And they mentioned Seong-ha.”
“They must be greedy for youth.”
I looked at the world map on the desk.
On the large map, Korea was only the size of a thumb. It was surrounded and isolated by China, Russia, North Korea, and Japan.
‘The moment the Japanese archipelago attaches to the Korean peninsula, war is certain.’
Japan was thoroughly preparing, waiting for that day. That was Japan’s last hope.
What about Korea?
For Korea to survive… it had to unify with North Korea. Only then could it expand towards the continent. There was oil and gas in Siberia, above North Korea. Once unified, we could at least worry less about oil. Even if Russia and China were a problem.
“Nuclear weapons are a problem. How long would it take for Korea to make nuclear weapons?”
“We already have nuclear weapons. When the disaster started, Jung Woo-hyun ordered nuclear armament. We currently have 40 nuclear weapons. Korea has had the technology to make nuclear weapons from the beginning. It was just being mindful of the world’s eyes.”
“Since there’s no need to be mindful of the world’s eyes anymore, they made nuclear weapons.”
I regretted the nuclear weapon technology I received from Kim Jae-ji.
“Japan must have nuclear weapons too, right?”
“Of course. Japan’s technological prowess is not much lower than Korea’s. If anything, they probably have more than Korea.”
“A nuclear missile defense system is the most urgent thing. I need to ask Dr. Na in that direction.”
“Then will you proceed with the fortification of Seoul as originally planned?”
“Proceed slowly, without the general public knowing.”
Seoul was where I would reside, so it had to be the safest place.
“Once the nuclear defense system is somewhat complete, we’ll attack North Korea. It might be a good idea to assassinate Kim Jae-ji at the summit and occupy North Korea, don’t you think?”
“It depends on how North Korea reacts. If we’re lucky… we might be able to unify peacefully.”
“Okay. Go out.”
Jin Su-hak left.
I felt drained. There were so many things I had to do but couldn’t, it made my head hurt.
‘Should I stop here for now?’
[The game is terminated.]
[Experience calculation begins.]
[Na Chae-young’s affinity level is 7.]
[Choi Hye-jin’s affinity level is 6.]
[Irina’s affinity level is 5.]
[Lee Yeon-hee’s affinity level is 5.]
[Yoo Seo-jung’s affinity level is 3.]
[Kim Ji-hee’s affinity level is 4.]
[Jin Su-hak’s affinity level is 2.]
[Jung Woo-hyun’s affinity level is 1.]
…….
• • •
Back in reality, I quickly checked the affinity level logs accumulated in the game life app.
It was a bit unexpected that Kim Ji-hee’s affinity level was higher than Yoo Seo-jung’s. I hadn’t even planned the mother-daughter double yet because my work was still high.
‘So, how many points have I accumulated?’
[Seong Yu-jin
Level: 94
Strength: 140 Stamina: 140 Agility: 140 Intelligence: 140 Stamina: 150 Mana: 140]
[Available points: 19,705]
Compared to the time I spent in the game world, I had accumulated quite a lot of points.
‘In the case of Eternal Eden, there are a lot of penalties attached.’
And it felt like the amount of points I got increased as my level went up. This was just my brain’s speculation, though, I couldn’t be sure.
I stared at my level. Since reaching level 90, my level hadn’t been going up. It felt like the experience needed had become incredibly high.
‘I haven’t thought much about it until now… is level 100 the max level?’
Honestly, I hadn’t been interested because there weren’t many benefits to leveling up.
‘I got a reward every time I reached a multiple of 10. If I reach level 100, I’ll get a reward.’
There was a way.
[Level Up Ticket
You can level up!
Price: 10,000 points
※Caution
Only usable below level 99.]
I narrowed my eyes at the Level Up Ticket.
10,000 points. It felt like a waste when I was about to buy it.
‘It’s on hold. But maybe there’s something at 95. Even if it’s not a multiple of 10… it’s strangely slow to level up.’
I bought the Level Up Ticket and used it immediately.
[Acquired Pet Cage for reaching level 95.]
