136. Negotiations with the Nation (2)
Yoo Jia stepped out for a moment.
As expected.
This method is the best.
Why bother overthinking everything alone?
The country’s top experts would gather and assign a proper value on their own anyway.
'I just need to make good use of the Mind-Reading Eagle.'
That was something she had been feeling more and more lately.
There really was no scam-level summon quite like the Mind-Reading Eagle.
'Honestly, instead of just two, I wish I had five or so. . . . . .'
Since it was an A-rank rare summon, there were probably only about fifty of them in the entire world.
'Should I monopolize them in advance?'
Yeah, I should.
Lately she had so much money overflowing in that she had no idea where to invest it, and it seemed like she ought to buy up more Mind-Reading Eagles.
If they were already in the hands of some ordinary tycoon, it probably wouldn’t be easy……
Still, if 「Yoobaek」 said it wanted to buy, wouldn’t there be some people willing to hear them out?
Anyway.
Yoo Jia was not trying to lord it over the nation.
She intended to give the country plenty of benefits, and receive just as many in return.
But.
Yoo Jia was a born merchant.
She simply hated being taken for a fool.
A relationship based on mutual respect, a Win-Win relationship, was the only kind that could last a long time. A relationship where one side sacrificed for the other was bound to collapse in the end.
Time passed.
The meeting resumed, and the Prime Minister personally organized the situation for them.
“First of all, we judged the value of each technology to be at minimum 100 billion dollars. In Korean won, that is 130 trillion won. Since there are ten technologies, that would make it 1,300 trillion won. In addition, we calculated the value of 10 billion barrels of crude oil at 85 dollars per barrel, for a total of 850 billion dollars. In Korean won, that is worth 1,130 trillion won.”
Yoo Jia’s eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.
‘Hmm, Uncle Hwang Juwon said the oil would be worth around 1,300 trillion won. . . . .’
Well.
Uncle Juwon did sometimes give off the vibe of being slightly fake-smart.
And besides, she could just confirm it with the Mind-Reading Eagle anyway, so what was there to worry about?
“Thus, judged solely by the value of this championship reward, the total comes to 2,430 trillion won.”
“Huh…..”
“Hoo…..”
Exclamations burst out here and there.
Even though it was a result they themselves had reached through discussion, it was such an astonishingly massive sum that they could not help but be amazed.
‘Oh.’
Even Yoo Jia was a little surprised.
It really was enormous.
Forty times Daeseong’s annual net profit.
More than four times the nation’s total annual budget.
“On top of that, if we include the honor of bringing victory to South Korea as its representative, the value would be even greater. But as you know, the Republic of Korea does not have the means to pay such a price. Our national debt alone already exceeds 1,000 trillion won.”
“Yes, yes.”
Yoo Jia nodded.
What she had asked for in the first place was simply the value of the reward.
As long as she knew that, it was enough.
All judgment after that was entirely up to her.
‘First.’
Through the Mind-Reading Eagle, she judged whether the Prime Minister’s words were true or false.
A little time passed, and then.
‘True.’
She realized there was no lie in what he had said.
‘Then that settles it.’
In an instant, Yoo Jia’s gaze softened.
“First, let me tell you Yoobaek’s position.”
“Yes.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“Very well.”
Everyone swallowed dryly as they listened. Their tension was plain to see.
“Please enact a special law. Make the tax rate for Yoobaek, and for SKY as well, be assessed differently.”
“Are you asking us to revise the law?”
“Yes. Abolish inheritance tax and gift tax. Exempt value-added tax, and as for income tax, I’ll pay only 20% of income. Even that alone will probably make the country wealthy very quickly.”
“.......That’s true.”
Just how much income were they going to bring in from here on out?
It was not a difficult demand.
Hadn’t they already paid decades’ worth of taxes simply by handing over those technologies and oil fields?
It would require persuading the National Assembly, but it was certainly something that could be done.
“Next, hand over all national land surrounding Geomdansan to Yoobaek, lift the greenbelt restrictions, and also transfer all authority for development permits in that area to Yoobaek.”
“.......!”
“The state won’t lose anything from this either. If we build a landmark there, that alone will elevate the nation’s prestige, and we’re saying we’ll do it ourselves.”
“That’s certainly true.”
Something felt strange.
They had expected her to demand something enormous, but these were all things they would have no choice but to agree to.
In fact, in other countries, national team players paid no taxes whatsoever.
It was meant to prevent naturalization.
But here, she was saying she would voluntarily pay taxes.
A full 20%, no less.
And she was even declaring that she would launch a tourism project in Hanam that would draw the attention of the entire world……
Wasn’t this practically a benefit, not a price?
“........”
“........”
The conference room fell silent.
Yoo Jia, too, kept her mouth shut.
“S-surely that can’t be the end of it?”
The Prime Minister stammered as he asked again.
“Yes.”
Yoo Jia smiled and nodded.
“You all do have the ability to handle at least this much, don’t you?”
“O-of course.”
“This is so easy that it hardly even comes down to ability. . . . . .”
“Is that really all it takes?”
When the ministers asked with eyes full of emotion, Yoo Jia smiled faintly.
“Come on, what kind of person do you take me for?”
“........”
“The people already paid the price for the technologies and the oil fields. They stayed up all night watching the league, cheering for us and rejoicing with us. If we can’t even give this much in return, would that make any sense?”
“Huh.”
“Huhhh……”
Everyone seated in the conference room trembled at the lips as if overwhelmed.
For a moment, a silence full of emotion descended.
Shock!
And then, moved to the core!
‘She really is an incredible person.’
‘So she had planned to give it all from the start.’
‘As expected of the Daeseong family. They really know how to raise people.’
‘She truly is someone with the dignity to keep even that Baek Jinwoo in check.’
The mood in the conference room, which had sunk earlier, turned positive once again.
And then.
“......Thank you very much.”
The Prime Minister finally managed to say.
“I truly never imagined you would go this far. Thank you sincerely for making a decision that will be a tremendous source of strength to both our people and our nation.”
At the same time, he bowed his head with all his heart.
* * *
Kwaaaang!
Kang Geonho’s Paladin (A-rank) was bitten and brought down by An Gijeong’s Seven-Spotted Snake (B-rank).
He tried controlling it however he could to hold out, but there was no helping it.
An Gijeong’s movements were seasoned yet tenacious, and in the end the poison’s damage-over-time kept stacking until he could no longer endure it.
It collapsed.
“Victory to Brother Gijeong! Defeat for Brother Geonho!”
Damn it.
Today, of all days, Kang Jihoe’s voice felt even more irritating than usual.
“......”
Kang Geonho had been lacking strength these days.
No matter what he did, it did not feel like he was improving, nor could he find any motivation.
[Domestic Rank 8, Kang Geonhoe]
He had fallen from rank 1 to rank 8.
He had not even made it into the world rankings.
What was it?
What on earth was the problem?
Clenching his eyes shut, Kang Geonho headed to none other than where Baek Jinwoo was.
Even if he had to cast aside all his pride, he wanted to find an answer.
“So……you feel like your skills haven’t been improving lately?”
Baek Jinwoo, who had been catching his breath beside Aso for quite some time, got to his feet.
“......Yes, Guild Master.”
Kang Geonho muttered, sounding frustrated.
“I’ve been training my stamina diligently, and I’ve been trying to learn HunGyo’s teachings as much as possible, but I just don’t know what I’m supposed to change.”
“.......Change what?”
Baek Jinwoo let out a slight sigh.
“You need to change everything.”
“Excuse me…….?”
“You think you’ve been doing well, but your skills aren’t improving? No. If your skills aren’t improving, that means you improved enough up to now, but now you’re aiming for a realm far higher than that, aren’t you?”
“......That’s right.”
“Have you really been working hard?”
Kang Geonho clenched his fist tightly.
He had worked hard.
He had definitely gritted his teeth and pushed forward, and he had practiced control steadily as well.
But talent.
A lack of talent……
Though then again, Brother Juwon was doing just fine too, wasn’t he?
“From what I can see, no, you haven’t.”
Baek Jinwoo said firmly.
“Well, maybe you did well enough up to this point. But your goal now is to become a world-ranked player, right? Then you can’t keep doing things the way you are now.”
“.......!”
“The routine, habits, training, and everything else you used when you were number one in Korea. If you’re still clinging to those now, then you’re just staying in the same place. Of course everything has to change. If you’re not coming out at dawn—”
Whenever he couldn’t sleep, Baek Jinwoo trained his breathing method on the rooftop at dawn.
And every time, he saw it.
Hwang Juwon secretly putting in blood-and-sweat effort to reach the standard HunGyo had laid out.
And Hong Ari, Oh Sunyoung, Gi Jaehyuk, and Kang Jihoe as well. . . . .
“The world is fair, Mr. Geonho.”
“.......”
“And like I said before, we’ll be selecting the second generation soon. The qualifier will be held within SKY. If you get overtaken there too…… There’s nothing we can do. You’ll be dropped from next year’s national team.”
Baek Jinwoo held no ill feelings toward Kang Geonho.
If anything, he thought fairly well of him.
They were guildmates, after all.
But?
Not so much that it would make up for a lack of skill, and a Guild Master had to be fair.
If he was going to run the guild based on personal affection, then it would be better to just make it a casual club.
“I understand.”
Bow.
Kang Geonho lowered his head and bit his lip hard.
It was blunt, but it was a clear answer.
You do not improve because you are not doing enough.
‘Had I fallen into a rut?’
He got up out of habit and only did the exercises he was already used to.
He did not move proactively to fix his shortcomings.
At first, he had not realized it.
After all, he had been number one in the domestic rankings for a full three years.
He had thought Hong Ari, Oh Sunyoung, Gi Jaehyuk, and Kang Jihoe were doing so well because they were getting private lessons from Baek Jinwoo.
But.
That was not it.
It was simply a lack of effort.
A lack of self-directed learning.
He had been caught because he had not done as much as they had.
‘Again.’
Let’s do it again.
I cannot give up here.
From behind, Song Yeonhee and Hwang Jiwoo were charging up fast and fiercely.
“Thank you, Guild Master.”
Having steeled his resolve, Kang Geonho turned around and headed toward the training grounds.
* * *
England, Player Zone.
“Unni.”
Olivia Abernathy looked at Rachel with worried eyes.
“Are you really going right away? This is your first time. You’ve never gone in immediately without preparing like this before.”
“What do you mean, unprepared? I’ve done everything.”
She was currently standing in front of the main gate of the Tower of Trials.
Now it was time to challenge the 51st floor!
The first in the world.
“Liar.”
Olivia Abernathy pouted.
“You’re doing this because of Baek Jinwoo, aren’t you? Because you think he’ll really catch up next year?”
“No?”
Rachel looked at her like she had just said something ridiculous.
“He already caught up, so what are you talking about?”
“Oh, come on, we don’t think that way. In our hearts, you’ll always be number one, Unni.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Even if you think that, the number one in my heart will always be God Ji-nu.”
“.......”
Olivia’s lips pushed out even more.
No.
Did she really like God Ji-nu that much?
Ever since <Yeah, Go Back>, just thinking about God Ji-nu made her sick to the stomach.
“Olivia, put those lips away. What are you, a seahorse?”
“Unni!”
“Anyway, I’m going up.”
She would go up first and work toward conquering the 100th floor.
That was Rachel’s current goal.
For humanity.
To uncover what lay behind this suspicious system that was throwing the world into chaos.
“The boss of the 60th floor is Asmodeus. I already have the entire strategy in my head. It’s enough, so don’t worry.”
Step.
Rachel started walking.
“You all just keep training hard and wait.”
Her golden hair, tied back in a long ponytail, swayed softly in the wind.
Swish.
Olivia could only watch anxiously as Rachel strode confidently through the main gate.
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