135. Negotiations with the Nation (1)
Yoobaek City’s training ground was noisy from early morning.
“One, two! One, two!”
The guild members were already deeply immersed in physical training from the crack of dawn!
“Run! Don’t just run around spacing out. Keep your head up, stick your chest out, and run with focus! It’s hard? Of course it is! The greater the hardship, the stronger you become. That is an immutable truth proven throughout long history! Understood?”
HunGyo was also encouraging them and firing them up.
‘As expected, I guess HunGyo really likes this sort of thing.’
At this point, nobody even has to tell him to do it. If he’s doing that of his own accord now—
“Yesssss, sir!”
“Let’s gooooo!”
“Let’s runnnnn!”
And then.
The intensity of the guild members’ training had actually become even harsher than before.
Wasn’t it said that only those who can bear the weight of the crown are worthy of wearing it?
Now that they had risen to the level of world rankers, they had to train even harder to maintain that position.
“Shall we get ready too?”
Baek Jinwoo slowly started loosening up as well.
—Yes! Jinwoo!
—Yes, Lord Jinwoo!
Lamba and Explosive Dragon moved to their respective spots.
—Mmm.
—Gwoooo...
Jaggeo and Dampir also headed off to do the basic training HunGyo had set up.
And then.
—Dad.
Aso was looking at Baek Jinwoo with a blank expression.
“Yeah, Aso.”
He had talked with her all night long.
Aso, who still retained all her memories from before being isolated during 「Battle of Summoners」, found this world incredibly fascinating.
She also fully remembered the martial arts she had learned before.
However.
Aso had not actually learned that much from HunGyo.
About a month, maybe?
After that, HunGyo had disappeared because of a balance patch.
‘That was the insane part.’
With just one month of training, Aso had grown tremendously, overwhelmed every summon, and crushed them all.
After one year, she had single-handedly destroyed an S-rank summon.
After two years, she had raced alone through the upper floors of the Tower of Trials.
And right there—the balance patch came in.
‘I had kind of expected it then.’
Was it the boss of the 60th floor?
The demon, Asmodeus.
When she cut off that horrific bastard’s head in thirty seconds, I remember thinking, Huh? Is this really right?
The very next day, she was isolated, and Aso had to lose her father.
‘And I lost a precious summon.’
You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but even now, whenever I think back to that time, rage rises all the way to the top of my head.
‘Those sons of bitches.’
Whoever they were, they deserved to suffer the same thing.
Do they know how maddening it is for something you spent so long carefully raising to disappear in a single day?
Creak.
As Baek Jinwoo ground his teeth again at the memory,
—Dad, Dad!
Aso grabbed his collar and shook it.
—The things I learned before—can I just relearn them from the beginning exactly the same way?
She was probably talking about the martial arts HunGyo had taught her: the Heavenly Demon’s, Zhang Sanfeng’s, and Bodhidharma’s.
Amazingly, Aso had developed that jumbled mess of martial arts on her own and had even managed to combine them.
“No, wait.”
Baek Jinwoo shook his head.
HunGyo from back then and HunGyo now were definitely different.
He had said it himself.
This time, he was going to teach her a different kind of martial art than before.
“HunGyo!”
—Yes, my lord!
At Baek Jinwoo’s call, HunGyo stopped encouraging the others and ran over at once.
—You called for me!
“Starting today, prioritize Aso above all else and focus on her.”
—Understood, my lord.
HunGyo’s eyes sparkled brightly.
Teaching someone with talent—that was his greatest joy.
—Aso, and my lord. From this moment on, I will focus only on the two of you.
Huh?
‘Me too? Why me all of a sudden?’
Baek Jinwoo tilted his head.
* * *
—First, Aso.
—Yes!
—Forget everything you have learned so far. The martial art I will now teach you exists on an entirely different dimension from those.
HunGyo’s eyes sank low.
Back then, he had not known.
But now that he had risen to EX-rank, he had the skills, martial arts, and underlying principles of most beings engraved in his mind.
And.
There was one being he knew who had reached the most profound realm of all.
A true peerless master of all ages who had reached a level far beyond the Heavenly Demon, Zhang Sanfeng, and Bodhidharma—figures known as founding patriarchs.
Mugeuk Seonin.
The man whose realm had no limits, who had transcended mere martial arts and become nature itself—HunGyo clearly had the martial art connected to such a figure organized in his mind.
—First, sit in the same posture my lord is using. The breathing method you must now learn is the Clear Heaven Heart Technique.
“Huh?”
Baek Jinwoo opened his eyes in surprise.
“That’s the martial art I’m learning, though?”
—That is correct, my lord. In truth, I did not mention it because I thought it might burden you, but the Clear Heaven Heart Technique is the exclusive martial art of a being called Mugeuk Seonin. It is a martial art that clears the mind and governs one’s energy in stillness. So long as the mind does not waver, it becomes an absolute martial art that can render any external threat meaningless.
“...Huh.”
An absolute martial art.
Judging by the meaning of the phrase itself, it referred to a supreme martial art that could progress no further.
—From now on, you and Aso will learn the same martial art. Through that process, you will help each other and grow together.
“And you?”
Come to think of it, wasn’t HunGyo not learning it?
If he was capable of teaching it, shouldn’t he be capable of learning it too?
—Regrettably, I do not have the talent for it. Even in teaching it, I can do no more than pass on the methodology. The rest, my lord and Aso, must experience and feel for yourselves.
Hmm.
Was it a system issue?
—I like it!
Aso smiled brightly.
—I really like learning it together with Daddy.
Aso.
As for this dad of yours, well...
‘The fact that I have to keep pace with a ridiculous genius like you is honestly a huge burden.’
My self-esteem is going to take a serious hit, you know?
—Naturally, Aso will be the first to surge ahead. But my lord, you are not learning this martial art in order to become stronger anyway, are you?
“.......”
—Please trust me. My lord, you can certainly do it. Even if you may not achieve great mastery, if you can at least reach the level of Three Stars, you will be able to read the movements of most summons.
“Whew, really?”
Baek Jinwoo let out a long breath.
So the Clear Heaven Heart Technique was such an incredible martial art.
Fine.
When it came to training, there was no one better than HunGyo anyway.
If you were talking about instructors, he was top-tier.
Even among top-tier instructors, he was the one at the very top—the legend.
So if someone like that was recommending it so strongly, what reason was there not to do it?
“Alright.”
If I’m doing this—
“Then starting today, let’s really give it everything we’ve got.”
* * *
Afternoon.
When physical training time ended, it was time for summon sparring.
Each guild member paired off as if in a league, fought once, and then had a group feedback session.
However.
For the time being, Hong Ari had decided not to participate.
It was for Vermilion Bird’s level-up.
She had transferred every rune that had been equipped to Phoenix over to Vermilion Bird, and had entered a nearby normal dungeon.
'Haa, Vermilion Bird.'
Hong Ari trembled all over.
Even now, just thinking about that moment made her excited.
S-rank!
A full-on S-rank!
“Vermilion Bird, come out.”
Fwoooosh!
At first, a firebird about the size of an average adult appeared, flapping its wings.
Every time it moved, flames spread all around and burned everything, but those flames did not feel hot to Hong Ari.
-Kkirururu.... .!
Because it protected its master.
Kyaak, kyaaaak!
A grim orc legion began charging in from all directions.
A fairly difficult place, even among normal dungeons.
'All right.'
Hong Ari rolled her wrist.
'Then shall I try power-leveling for real?'
Fwoooooosh!
Under her control, the dungeon gradually began to go up in flames.
* * *
Yoo Jia submitted the proposal to headquarters, and the director immediately reported it to the President.
Upon receiving the report, the President immediately established the “National Competitiveness Enhancement Committee”.
The committee included major figures such as the Prime Minister, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Minister of Science and ICT, along with famous university professors and the heads of national research institutes.
“Haha.”
The Prime Minister laughed heartily.
“An oil field, you say. And 10 billion barrels at that. That’s truly tremendous, isn’t it?”
“......The technology is insane too.”
They had already torn open all 10 Random Skill Summoning Scrolls.
To briefly summarize the technologies in question:
[Medical Nanorobot Technology]
[Nuclear Fusion Energy]
[Brain-Computer Interface]
[Gene Editing Technology for Disease Treatment]
[Quantum Computing for Climate Forecasting]
[Automobile 3D Printing Technology]
[AI Autonomous Driving Technology for Electric Vehicles]
[Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology]
[Flying Taxi Design]
[Deep-Sea Communication System Construction Technology]
“None of these are just castles in the air. Every single one of them carries enormous informational value. Just announcing them would practically guarantee a Nobel Prize.”
The Science Ministry Minister’s voice trembled.
“To be honest, if we were to pay full price for all of this.... it would drain the national treasury dry. We’re already buried under a mountain of debt we still have to repay.”
Then he let out a quiet sigh.
Every single one was desirable.
If even just one of the technologies here were properly absorbed, it would greatly contribute to improving human life and industrial development.
And there were ten of them....
Still, they could hardly start talking about patriotism and demand the technology.
More than one country had suffered international humiliation after trying that with a capable player.
“Prime Minister. We need to secure this no matter what conditions we have to accept. No matter what.”
Listening nearby, Yoo Jia smiled faintly.
Good.
So you’re coming in properly humbled.
“So.”
This time, the Prime Minister looked at Yoo Jia.
“I suppose we should first hear again exactly what Yoobaek wants.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Yoo Jia.
She was young, but no one here disregarded her.
She was also a person of Daeseong, and more than anything, the only person capable of controlling Baek Jinwoo.
“Mmm.”
Yoo Jia narrowed her eyes.
In truth, she was the one holding all the cards here.
This was a situation where she could comfortably state whatever she wanted.
“You don’t necessarily have to pay full price. We’re citizens of the Republic of Korea too, so if this can help the country, that would be a good thing. Didn’t the nation also boldly put forth the enormous sum of 11 trillion won for our sake?”
“Haha, truly?”
“That’s right, yes. Hahaha.”
“If that is Yoobaek’s intention, then that is wonderful news.”
Just as the atmosphere was about to grow warm and friendly in an instant—
“However.”
Yoo Jia spoke firmly.
“First of all, before negotiating, I believe we should first assess the value of the oil field and the technologies.”
“Of course.”
“That makes sense too!”
Only after knowing the value could they decide how much of a discount to give.
But.
Technology had no fixed form.
Its value could vary depending on the person and the country.
'Should we just name a reasonable number?'
'I think we could shave the price down a bit....'
There was no way Yoo Jia did not see through that greed.
She merely smiled and pointed to the bird on her shoulder.
“You see the bird on my shoulder, right? As you know, it’s called a Mind-Reading Eagle. It may not be able to do much else, but it’s exceptionally good at telling whether someone is lying.”
“.......”
“If even a single lie comes out, then there will be no negotiation. I’ll give you exactly one hour. Since all the so-called top national experts are gathered here.... try deriving the value. Ah. Very honestly.”
Her voice was sharp and crystal clear!
“......”
The faces of the committee members went blank in a daze.
This.
Was not going to be easy.
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