Chapter 456
‘So this is why connections are important, huh?’
Choi Yeonseung finally felt that treating the household members well had paid off. Thanks to his good treatment, the constellations believed him without any doubts.
[The ‘Warrior With a Hammer’ tells the ‘Rider of Thirst and Famine’ that if he has a secret for controlling monsters, he should be more careful.]
[The ‘Arrogant Light Elf’ asks how a constellation like the ‘Rider of Thirst and Famine’ has managed to attain such a power.]
[The ‘Warrior With a Hammer’ says that anything is possible in the Abyss. Regardless of whether the ‘Rider of Thirst and Famine’ picked up a forgotten power or not, the important thing is to kill him.]
[The ‘Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place’ proposes a constellation battle!]
[The constellations agree!]
‘Looks good.’
Even if Choi Yeonseung didn’t do it himself, he was proud to see the constellations running over and preparing a severe punishment.
No matter what the ‘Rider of Thirst and Famine’ was preparing, he would be in a lot of trouble if the constellations repeatedly challenged him to constellation battles and beat him.
[The ‘River of Mercy’ wants your opinion on what type of constellation battle would be good.]
“...?”
Choi Yeonseung was taken aback.
‘Why ask me?’
He was grateful that the constellations believed him right away, but he hadn’t expected them to consult with him like this.
To them, he was just a household member, so instead of asking him, they should think about it themselves...
‘Eh, but I’m also a constellation.’
Choi Yeonseung reflected on himself. On second thoughts, it was only natural for the others to ask for his input, given how capable he was.
***
“Hunter Choi Yeonseung is a hero!”
"Thank you.”
Choi Yeonseung had already guessed that the civilians would go crazy, since his power of existence had skyrocketed after slaying the amabie with one single blow.
And sure enough, he and the household members were met with a cascade of applause and cheers after returning from the sea.
‘Uh... But is it okay for the prime minister to act like this?’
Even though Choi Yeonseung wasn’t an expert in politics, he knew that any politician was bound to become snobbish and self-important after becoming the head of a country.
However, Tawada, the newly elected prime minister, was currently making a scene despite the numerous cameras around them.
“I can’t believe you took out an S-grade monster in one blow like that! You’re leagues above the other A-grade hunters! I hope our hunters can learn from watching you, Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”
“P-Prime Minister!”
The attendants in the back were startled by what Tawada was saying and signaled to him to stop talking, but Tawada didn’t care.
The expressions of the reporters in front of him were tinged with bewilderment and a hint of excitement. The new prime minister seemed to have a screw loose, but at least they wouldn’t run out of articles to write about him!
-Breaking news... The new prime minister seems insane...
-No matter how bad it is, how can a country’s prime minister criticize his country’s hunters in an official setting like this?
Naturally, the Japanese people watching the broadcast were shocked. Everyone knew that Choi Yeonseung, Korea’s A-grade hunter, had achieved many great things in this raid, but to say on camera that the Japanese hunters couldn’t hold a candle to him...
Could he do this?
-Woah! As expected, the new prime minister is different.
-Well, isn’t the prime minister’s job to say what needs to be said? I already like him more than the previous prime minister. What did the previous prime minister do? Didn’t he just hinder the constellations and incur their wrath? Japan has suffered a lot because of him.
-As expected, a young prime minister is different!
-No matter what, this is too much...
-Those who support the former prime minister are trying to slander Prime Minister Tawada!
-Let’s protect Prime Minister Tawada together!
-No! You really don’t think this is strange?!
Surprisingly, there were many people who supported Tawada. It was only natural, given that the previous prime minister hadn’t been popular at all.
No matter what he had tried, the previous prime minister had ultimately failed to deal with the raid and only embarrassed himself and the whole of Japan...
In contrast, Tawada was being genuine in front of everyone, making him a refreshing surprise for the Japanese people.
Of course, Choi Yeonseung wasn’t fooled by this.
‘Come to think of it, the president of France is also a bit of a madman.’
Choi Yeonseung recalled President Montand. He still couldn’t believe that a man who encouraged his supporters to destroy the buildings of the companies he didn’t like was still president.
However, Choi Yeonseung had to admit that in the ten thousand years he had been wandering in the Abyss, Earth must’ve changed so much that such an individual could actually become president.
‘Yeah, I have to assume that this guy is similar to Montand.’
It seemed that the world didn’t run out of crazy people, but Choi Yeonseung decided to accept it.
“Prime Minister! It has been pointed out that Choi Yeonseung and the household members are receiving too many artifacts and cores. What’s your stance on this?”
A reporter jumped out with a provocative remark, startling the attendants behind the prime minister. Of course, the negotiations with the constellations had been carried out in secrecy, but information would inevitably leak when moving a large number of artifacts and cores.
Nevertheless, it was very audacious of this reporter to ask something like that so openly!
“We won’t take questions...”
“The former prime minister did that. It’s not my fault,” explained Tawada.
“...”
“...”
Choi Yeonseung was also speechless as he looked at Prime Minister Tawada.
‘It’s not like he said something extreme, but how come he thought of that by himself?!’
“Furthermore, Hunter Choi Yeonseung here is one of the greatest heroes in the world. It’s only natural to repay him properly!”
“U-uh, but won’t Japan be plunged into chaos if there’s a shortage of artifacts and cores? What will you do if it truly comes to that?”
The monster core was the mainstay of the high-tech industry.
Most of the energy that fueled civilization was obtained from monster cores, so it was more important than anything else for a country to maintain a stable supply of cores.
Thus, how could they confidently give away so many cores to a foreign hunter and a bunch of household members?
However, Tawada responded in a powerful voice, “I will do my best!”
“No, but how...”
“I will do my best! Please believe in me!”
Clap clap clap!
“!?”
A few reporters were impressed by Tawada’s refreshing attitude and started clapping.
The one who had asked him the provocative question was taken aback, but the atmosphere around him meant that the matter was already over.
Choi Yeonseung thought to himself, ‘I still don’t know if it’s going to be okay...’
***
The fierce battle was more or less over, but there was still some activity around Seoul, some places still being struck by all sorts of destructive magic.
However, the orcs were plowing the ground and sowing seeds.
“The more I look at it, the more I can’t get used to it!”
The Korean hunters were surprised to see the orcs farming. Normally, orcs were the kind of monsters hunters would sometimes come across in dungeons, but these ones were farming peacefully as though they were in the countryside.
“What are they doing?”
“Growing the Abyss’ crops to make dungeon food,” explained a senior hunter.
At that, the other hunters started whispering to each other.
Of course, food was important, especially when it came to conducting raids. After all, one didn’t find many things to enjoy in isolated dungeons.
Hunters were also picky about which dungeon rations were good, but...
‘Is there a reason to build a new farm like this?’
Of course, having good quality rice in dishes was great, but wasn’t this too much? The hunters certainly thought so.
‘Still... They’re doing this at the order of Hunter Choi Yeonseung...”
“That’s right. Besides, it’d be great to have some tasty food available for raids.”
The hunters didn’t fully understand it but decided to just go along with it. They wondered if Hunter Choi Yeonseung had some sort of plan with this.
It wasn’t cost-effective, but it didn’t hurt to eat delicious food...
“Hunter Choi Yeonseung is back!”
“You’re finally here!”
The awaiting hunters were ready to receive the good news.
Choi Yeonseung had finally returned with the household members after helping out in Japan.
His reputation was so high at the moment that no one dared to speak against him, but naturally, some people couldn’t help voicing their skepticism.
-I can’t believe he’s going to another country at a time like this. Japan, out of all places...
-Well, wouldn’t it be worse to let the evil god constellations take control of Japan?
-Well, that’s Japan’s problem, isn’t it? Why should we be the ones to help? Besides, they won’t even treat Hunter Choi Yeonseung properly!
-Hunter Choi Yeonseung isn’t an idiot. Would he go there without some guarantee? It’s all agreed upon, surely. That’s why he’s going!
-So Hunter Choi Yeonseung made the wrong decision?
-Th-that’s not it...
It was true that some disgruntled politicians had been caught talking badly about Choi Yeonseung and had been forced to post an apology, but overall, everyone had been rather anxious about his involvement in Japan.
Thus, it was only natural that the hunters were happy to see Choi Yeonseung return unharmed.
“I’m glad you guys are here,” said Choi Yeonseung.
“?!?!?”
The hunters who had rushed at him to hear the news were astonished by the mountain of cores. Where had he gotten all of these from...?!
Of course, given the scale of the raid, they had expected quite a lot of rewards, but certainly not to this extent.
These were the rewards from the raid plus the compensation from the Japanese government, so it was only natural.
However, the surprises didn’t stop there.
“!!!!”
There was an equally large pile of artifacts.
Choi Yeonseung addressed the clan leaders.
“Make and submit a list of hunters who currently don’t have any artifacts. I will lend them artifacts to use.”
“Oh, really??” asked one of the clan leaders, their eyes wide. It was hard to believe that he was giving them artifacts just like that.
Artificial artifacts were expensive enough already, so natural artifacts were twice as valuable. On that note, it was ridiculous to just lend them to the hunters. If they lost an artifact or damaged it...
“You think I’d joke about this?”
“No, of course not! We’re grateful!”
‘I need to give them a certain amount of carrots to be able to use the whip on them.’
There was only one reason Choi Yeonseung was being this generous to them. The hunters had followed his orders without complaints because the situation had been very tense. However, as time passed, there was bound to be some discontent among the hunters.
-Why do we have to fight like this?
-I usually just get cursed at for being a tax thief!
Thus, it was better to give them a few extra carrots in advance so they wouldn’t start going against him.
“We’ve managed to extinguish the big fire, but we don’t know when and where other incidents will break out, starting with constellation battles. We need to be more prepared.”
Choi Yeonseung intended not only to install magic facilities but also give all the hunters extra training. The overall objective was to turn South Korea into an impenetrable fortress, to the point where the evil god constellations wouldn’t even attempt to occupy the country because it would be too much of a hassle.
Giving the hunters all these rewards was one part of that plan. Of course, the clan leaders at the scene couldn’t tell what Choi Yeonseung’s true intentions were.
To them, it seemed like Choi Yeonseung was just being incredibly generous. They couldn’t believe a hunter of his caliber was being so selfless as to give away so many artifacts and cores.
[Your power of existence has increased greatly!]
‘As expected, the best way to invest is with kindness.’
Choi Yeonseung nodded in satisfaction as he felt the surge in power of existence after giving the hunters generous rewards.
As expected, people liked to receive and give goods directly.
It was the most effective way to gather faith!
‘After all of this is over, I might just give them money directly if I get a chance and see how it goes.’
If he could use money to increase his power of existence, he would maintain that business for as long as possible.
After all, money was just a tool for Choi Yeonseung. Hwang Gyeongryong would certainly be impressed with Choi Yeonseung if he spent money that way.
-Is that so? I don’t know...
-Goddess, I want you to tell me about the undead technique. We have to start soon.
Choi Yeonseung was switching his focus to his kingdom in the Abyss.
Now that the whole world was struggling under the attacks of the evil god constellations, many factories had come to a standstill.
However, production couldn’t come to a halt. Choi Yeonseung was going to build spare factories on available land in his kingdom and run them himself.
His workers would be an army of immortal undead!
‘Well, I was the one who came up with the idea, but I didn’t expect it to be misused like this...’
The goddess of sloth felt a sense of responsibility as the one who gave him the magic. After all, she had heard that great power came with great responsibility...
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