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Chapter 549: Crossing (3)

Dogo.

A pan-galactic military conglomerate, ruling over countless subsidiaries, a true cosmic megacorporation.

Its founder was Dogo Vesedel, nicknamed the Destroyer King—a descendant of the fallen royal house of Vesedel and, more importantly, Yeongwoo’s idol.

Yeongwoo was captivated by Dogo’s philosophy: the belief that “all problems can be solved through power.”

The man’s charisma and straightforward ruthlessness had left a deep mark on him.

On top of that—

‘The Chairman literally wrote his own myth. Objectively speaking, he’s incredible.’

The legendary magic sword “Bastard” had been named after the Chairman’s own birth status, something Yeongwoo had learned from the infamous Dogo Dungeon, The Lecture on Morality.

In short, the Chairman had been born a bastard of the royal family, risen all the way to Crown Prince, defeated a Transcendent, and built a galactic megacorp with his own hands—a living myth of success.

And yet, despite all that, his universal existence rank was merely 3rd-class.

Which begged the terrifying question: what kinds of beings occupied 2nd-class and 1st-class above him?

‘……’

An instinctive shiver ran down Yeongwoo’s spine.

Almost unconsciously, his hand reached for Bastard at his waist—

Sssh.

—but his fingers grasped at nothing.

‘…Huh?’

His waist was bare.

‘Wait—what?’

It was only then that Yeongwoo realized he was standing stark naked.

Hwoooosh—

An endless stretch of pitch-black space opened up in front of him.

Yeongwoo stood before a void darker than any he’d seen before.

‘A… dream. This must be a dream.’

Even so, fear gripped him.

His chest tightened.

Then—

Boom.

A massive vibration rose from beneath him.

Startled, Yeongwoo looked down and saw a colossal metallic construct supporting him.

It was none other than the Tombstone Ship of the Chairman.

‘Ch–Chairman!’

Flattening himself to the floor in reverence, Yeongwoo heard the Chairman’s deep, commanding voice echo around him.

―An inevitable threat draws near.

‘What? A threat, sir?’

As soon as Yeongwoo asked, something stirred in the black expanse ahead.

A colossal something.

A presence so vast he couldn’t begin to comprehend its scale.

‘Chairman, what is that thing?’

But the Chairman’s aura had already vanished.

‘…What?’

The Tombstone Ship beneath his feet had disappeared too.

And the unknown, ever-growing presence in the void was now rushing straight toward him.

‘N–No…!’

Darkness surged in from all sides, swallowing him whole.

Just before it consumed him, Yeongwoo screamed aloud—

“Uwaaaah, Chairmaaan…!”

Hhhhk!

“Huh?”

The room around him was still dark, but nothing like the void.

Rustle—

Something soft brushed his fingertips.

A white blanket, covering half his body.

He was back in the hotel suite, lying on the bed.

‘What the hell kind of crazy dream was that?’

Wiping the sweat dripping down his forehead, Yeongwoo blinked as a system message appeared.

―Taxes will be collected shortly, beginning at 10:00 PM.

“Ah.”

He turned and saw his Vesedel armor sprawled across the floor, its HUD showing the current time.

‘…9:58.’

Two minutes before taxation began.

Conveniently, he’d woken just moments before the tax notice.

‘So that huge thing I saw… was it tax?’

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Tak-tak!

A hurried knock of footsteps—and Jeonggu burst into the room.

“What happened?!”

“…Nothing. Just a weird dream.”

“What? You screamed like someone was killing you!”

“Yeah, well.”

Yeongwoo waved it off and quietly reached for Bastard at his side—safe and real this time.

“Guess I’m done sleeping. Time to pay taxes and hit the dungeon.”

This was the first time since Reset that he’d had such a nightmare.

It killed any desire to keep sleeping.

Clang.

Pulling on his armor, Yeongwoo saw the tax collection notice pop up before his eyes.

Flash!

―Commencing tax collection.

As always—

Beeeeep!

The sharp tone of collection rang in his ears.

But then, a new message appeared just for him:

「A change of occupation has been detected. Tax calculation incomplete.」

‘…What?’

「Today’s tax will be deferred and added to the next collection.」

In other words, today’s tax would be bundled with tomorrow’s.

‘Occupation change… That damn bribed official really is at work!’

The corrupt tax officer had flagged his income as “pending donations.”

‘So taxes can actually be postponed? Didn’t know that.’

He had just dodged death, in a sense.

Legally, at that.

‘Guess there really is no end to what you can learn.’

When he stepped outside, armor fully strapped on, Jiseon cocked her head from behind Jeonggu.

―What kind of dream makes you scream like that?

“I told you, it’s nothing.”

―So what was it?

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“I saw this massive, black universe.”

―…The universe is black by default.

“Poetic expression.”

―Idiot.

Despite her mockery, Jiseon understood well enough.

Even with Earth’s starship launched, space remained a terrifying unknown.

Who wouldn’t feel fear before such vastness?

―For someone who goes on about a hundred million years of growth, you sure got spooked, huh?

“Please. The only things I fear are the Chairman and taxes.”

―But even above the Chairman, there’s something greater… aren’t you scared of them?

She struck the heart of the matter.

The great Dogo was only 3rd-class.

Which meant untold 2nd- and 1st-class beings still roamed the universe.

Of course he was afraid.

―Look, fear isn’t weakness. It’s natural. You’re human. Only by fearing can you prepare ways to overcome.

That was Jiseon’s version of comfort.

Yeongwoo grimaced.

“…Why are you lecturing me over a dumb dream?”

―Because I think you’re under more pressure than you admit.

“I said I’m not.”

―Then wipe that sweat dripping down your cheek before you deny it.

“……!”

Startled, Yeongwoo touched his right cheek with his prosthetic.

Nothing.

“……?”

Jiseon raised her own left hand.

―Try the other hand.

He reached up with his real left hand.

Sure enough, there it was—the half-dried streaks of sweat.

“Eh?”

―You should probably keep at least one real hand, don’t you think?

* * *

10:58 PM.

Yeongwoo left the hotel and moved to an empty lot in Gwangjin-gu.

Sitting cross-legged, he waited for 11:00.

Beside him stood the golden Goblin and Negwig.

“Wonder what tonight’s dungeon will be.”

Riding mounts two nights in a row was impossible.

No way they’d allow it again.

―Kiik!

The goblin rummaged through its subspace pouch, pulling out a golden sphere.

Tap.

It nudged Yeongwoo with its tiny hand, holding up two fingers.

“…Two?”

―Kiii!

It pointed at the pouch with both fingers.

“Two left inside? So three in total, counting this one?”

―Kek!

The goblin nodded.

Three golden spheres left.

A serious problem.

No more Mutants spawning meant no more natural resupply.

Without them, no more golden rain would fall on Earth.

Humanity’s income would collapse.

“Sure, there’s always the Golden Pilgrimage…”

【Golden Journey】

Even on ineligible planets, you may create golden spheres.

A mysterious feature.

It suggested they could forge spheres outside Reset planets.

But the method remained unclear.

“Starting tomorrow, the drought begins. I need to fix this rain problem somehow.”

Facing the camera, Yeongwoo’s expression turned grim.

And then—

「[Extreme Climate] Blue Frost has been generated.」

11:00 PM.

A new nightly calamity.

Crkkk—

The air itself froze blue.

“So, tonight’s a freezer death, huh.”

His limbs numbed instantly, but the Vesedel armor’s environmental adaptation countered with heat.

The goblin wasn’t so lucky.

―Kieeeek!

Squealing, it hurled the sphere to the ground and burrowed under Negwig’s warm belly.

“Rough night for you, buddy.”

Yeongwoo approached the now jet-black sphere lying on the frostbitten ground.

He picked it up.

Thrum.

Ashen waves pulsed out, shaking the earth.

Rumble—

The 10th night’s dungeon was forming.

Kwaaang!

The ground split open before him, raising a massive circular platform.

“What the…?”

Plain, featureless.

Which somehow made it worse.

Usually such monuments hinted at dungeon rules.

But this one gave nothing.

Fshhh—

A portal appeared atop the disk, alongside the dungeon’s info.

[The Aesthetics of the Circle]

| Dungeon Rank: Artifact

| Difficulty: B

| Minimum Party Size: 8

| Recommended Party Size: 32

*If you yield just a little, everyone can live.

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