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Chapter 303: The Successor (2)

Touring Seoul.

With Master Bang seated in the back seat, Yeongwoo sped down the elevated highway, built by his brothers, like a beam of light.

Whoosh!

Their destination was Seoul... or rather, the Special City of Metal Seoul.

"Is this your first time in Seoul?"

Yeongwoo asked, glancing back.

Master Bang, who had been watching the receding continent of Australia, replied:

- This is the first time I’ve left the Autonomous Territory.

The red-footed orcs had been too preoccupied with occupying northern Australia.

After the Pangea Incident, when the continents merged, Master Bang had immediately encountered the demon Yeongwoo.

Thus, the Australian wasteland was the only place they\'d seen on Earth.

Of course, the brothers who had built the transport routes might have seen other parts of the planet from the sky, but...

‘Since they’ve already become stars, they can\'t share their impressions of this world.’

Yeongwoo’s gaze dropped to the landscape below, revealing the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.

As Master Bang followed his gaze, he asked cautiously:

- Little Foot.

“Yes?”

- How many humans are there?

"…That\'s a tough question,"

Yeongwoo said, rubbing his chin.

"Before the Reset, the population was around 8 billion..."

- 8 billion?

Master Bang’s eyes widened in disbelief at the number.

“Yes, but that was before the Reset. The number has probably decreased significantly by now.”

Many people had either been wiped out or mutated in the Extermination Vote, which judged the world\'s \'imbalance,\' but Yeongwoo knew that, in reality, only a small fraction of the population had been affected.

The real decimation had likely come from the \'Individual Filtration\'—a process that had pitted the masses against each other in deadly combat.

Half of Earth’s population must have perished during that phase.

And with it, the planet’s ability to resist the Reset had also been halved.

Starting the Reset with only half the original population meant that the karma intended for Earth had been cut in half as well.

Fewer people also meant fewer chances for extraordinary heroes, villains, or demons to emerge.

“The population probably dropped by half when the Reset began. And that diminished population, unprepared, faced monsters and mutants…”

As Yeongwoo explained how Earth’s population was halved again, Master Bang tilted his head.

- I still don’t quite understand the concept of \'mutants.\'

“…?”

This implied that he understood other concepts, which made Yeongwoo curious.

“Does that mean you understand the Reset and the monsters?”

- It\'s hard to believe that humans would so recklessly judge their own kind. But...

Master Bang trailed off, looking silently at Yeongwoo.

- But I can see how it could be possible.

He went on to explain that his home planet, where the red-footed orcs originated, had experienced something similar to the Reset, though the process had been slightly different.

- One day, we were told that our planet’s destiny had reached its final chapter.

"The final chapter of destiny...?"

Yeongwoo couldn’t help but perk up his ears.

This was the first time he was hearing about the history of Master Bang and his brothers.

- We were told that to continue our existence, we had to prove our worth through battle. For us, battle is life itself, so accepting it wasn’t difficult.

But Master Bang added that the challenges had been unimaginably tough.

- We also had a vote.

“What kind of vote?”

- We could choose our opponent for the trial.

“…Ah.”

Yeongwoo finally understood.

It was a Reset tailored to the red-footed orcs.

\'Does each planet or species have a different trial?\'

Perhaps the Reset was just one of many tests, and it was Earth’s humans who had summoned it.

“So, you chose Mara as your opponent?”

- The words used to describe him were the most sinister. I cast my vote for Mara, confident that everyone else would do the same.

“….”

It was a way of thinking that was distinctly red-footed orc.

If they had to fight someone, they would unite against the most evil-looking candidate.

But the price they paid...

‘They became cosmic refugees, forced to infiltrate another species\' planet as monsters.’

Yeongwoo couldn’t help but wonder if the other monsters he had fought, like the red-footed orcs, had been the inhabitants of other planets.

‘Probably.’

The heavily armed goblins from the first day of the Reset, the wyverns—all of them were likely refugees from their home planets, seeking new homes.

“If a species successfully passes its trial, what happens?”

Yeongwoo asked vaguely.

Master Bang shook his head.

- We are those who have lost our home. How could we know?

Then, gathering his blunt fingers, Master Bang placed his hand on Yeongwoo’s shoulder.

Thud.

- But now Aratubank is in your hands. It’s a holy relic we preserved through failure, so you won’t fail.

“…Master Bang.”

- Perhaps it was fate that brought us to a land where there are still those who haven\'t failed.

Grip.

With these words, Master Bang gripped Yeongwoo\'s shoulder tightly.

“...”

The emotions conveyed through his hand were overwhelming, so Yeongwoo couldn’t turn back to look at him.

- Protect this planet, Little Foot! If you don’t fail, we can rebuild a new great city in Darwin.

In other words, the red-footed orcs\' new home had to be Earth.

If Earth failed, they would lose their future too.

“I guess I have no choice. I’ll have to see for myself what happens if we pass the Reset.”

As Yeongwoo spoke, the landscape beneath them became heavy and imposing.

-...!

They had entered the section of the journey that led to Metal Seoul, the proud iron city of the Korean Peninsula.

- Little Foot! Turn around! I think we’ve taken the wrong road!

Seeing the steel-covered city, Master Bang shouted in alarm.

Yeongwoo responded with an evil grin.

“Hah! Master Bang, that’s Seoul, the future capital of Earth.”

- Wh-what? That demonic place...?

The sinister nest of Little Foot, Seoul.

“Don\'t worry, the laser cannons haven’t been installed yet, so we won’t get shot down.”

As Yeongwoo sped towards the tower in Jongno District, where the Victory Monument stood, Master Bang, his pupils still wide with shock, muttered:

- Are there really humans living in this place?

"Of course. They must be quite surprised too..."

As Yeongwoo arrived at the station in Jongno-gu, the top of the tower, which had been open, closed again.

“There’s a saying on Earth: If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.”

Then, as Yeongwoo operated the descent mechanism of the tower, he said to Master Bang:

“Let’s go far together. Invest all the settlement records you have in this planet.”

* * *

Sajik-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

In front of the victory monument built on Korea\'s ancient cultural heritage, the Sajikdan, people continued to gather.

So when Korea\'s Strongest Sword, Jeong Yeongwoo, appeared with the Orc Lord, Bantubangtong, riding the Negwig, everyone gasped in disbelief.

“O-Orc!”

“He really brought an Orc…?”

Though Yeongwoo had mentioned the Orc Autonomous Territory of Australia during a ‘business presentation,’ no one had ever expected him to bring one directly to Seoul.

- There are so many humans here.

In Australia, only a tiny fraction of the thousands of orcs were human, but here in Seoul, Bantubangtong was the only orc amidst a sea of humans.

No matter how much of a warrior Master Bang was, he couldn’t help but feel intimidated, and Yeongwoo, aware of this, deliberately dismounted from the Negwig first, extending his hand to his companion.

“Take my hand. If they see that I respect you, they won’t dare act carelessly.”

Master Bang cleared his throat, grabbed Yeongwoo’s outstretched hand, and leapt off the Negwig.

Clang!

When his iron boots touched the ground of Seoul for the first time, the crowd surrounding them quickly stepped back.

“W-what…”

“He’s huge…”

Now that Master Bang stood on his two feet, people could finally comprehend his size, which was larger than Yeongwoo’s.

Yeongwoo then addressed the crowd.

“This is Lord Bantubangtong from the Red Foot Autonomous Territory of Australia. He will donate victory points to the monument in honor of Seoul\'s and Earth’s rise in status.”

With that, Yeongwoo extended his left arm, gesturing toward the monument, and Master Bang reluctantly followed.

- He seems to act properly here.

“It\'s a kind of domestic mode. These people are not only my kin but also from the same country.”

- Same country?

Master Bang looked confused.

For the Red Foot Orcs, who considered all their kin to be ‘brothers,’ the concept of being more attached to those from the same country didn’t exist.

So Yeongwoo gave another example.

“I\'m a Red Foot too, but not a ‘true’ Red Foot, right? As the Aratubank incident revealed. It’s the same here on Earth. Even among humans, there’s a difference between who’s really on your side and who’s not.”

- Complicated.

“If you don\'t get it, just put the victory points in.”

When Yeongwoo pointed to the monument they had now reached, Master Bang looked up at the two towering pillars.

- How do you use this?

As he touched the surface of the monument, his pupils immediately began to glow.

He had connected to the interface of the victory monument.

“You’ve figured out how to use it now. How many records can you register?”

Although Yeongwoo asked, Master Bang remained silent.

“Don’t tell me… you don’t have any?”

It was possible.

The legendary settlement records depended on the status of the defeated opponent.

The system only recognized ‘legendary beings,’ meaning the enemy had to be historically significant on the planet or of a void-dwelling dragon level or higher.

So it wouldn’t be surprising if Master Bang, who had lost his homeland to Mara, didn’t have any grand achievements to his name...

- How many do you need?

“Huh?”

The sudden question made Yeongwoo pause and stare at Master Bang.

“What did you say?”

- The settlement records you mentioned. How many do you need in total?

“Oh, that.”

The current number of victory points required for Earth’s rank-up was 635.

So they needed either seven settlement records from Earth or four from beyond Earth.

‘I already have two off-planet records, so I only need two more off-world records.’

Just as Yeongwoo was about to say ‘two,’ he stopped himself at the last second.

‘Wait.’

The thought occurred to him that Master Bang might have an unexpectedly large number of records.

He blinked quickly and stared at Master Bang.

“Master Bang, I’m not sure. You’d have to try putting them in to know for sure... How many records do you have?”

Then, with a serious expression, the Red Foot Orc Lord, Bantubangtong, spoke.

- Small Foot, here you go again.

“…!”

Then, just as Yeongwoo had done in front of the Negwig earlier, Bantubangtong extended his hand.

Swoosh.

- As you said, respect me. Respect us. Why do you insist on being a trickster?

“…Ah.”

Yeongwoo felt embarrassed.

- Speak the truth, from the heart. I have always spoken the truth.

Yeongwoo clasped Master Bang’s outstretched hand with both of his and spoke:

“Master Bang! I was going to lie and say I only needed two! But the truth is, I need much more! Could you donate… all the records you have?”

[PR/N: This mf ]

- …?

This was not just a curveball but a magical pitch of sorts.

Even Master Bang, who always spoke the truth, was momentarily taken aback, and Yeongwoo, sensing this, clasped his hand even tighter.

Squeeze!

“Master Bang, now you can speak. How many records do you have? Surely you’ll speak the truth, right? As you always have!”

- ….

Master Bang swallowed hard and looked up at the sky.

Not at the monument towering above, but at his home planet, somewhere beyond.

- Fourteen.

“…What?”

- I have fourteen settlement records. These are the records of our great ancestors.