Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 412: Collection (4)

‘Seriously? I have to choose from these?’

Yeongwoo's jaw dropped.

All the suggested options were practically criminal activities.

[1] Smuggling

[2] Kidnapping

[3] Robbery & Assault

[4] Loan Sharking

[5] Illegal Contracting

‘Didn’t they say balance is important in the universe? Don’t they need a virtuous family too?’

Well, even if they weren’t creating a virtuous family, was there really a need to establish yet another criminal one?

‘…Is this because of me?’

Of course, since the head of the family was a notorious wrongdoer, it might have made sense that the system was simply recommending a fitting profession.

But still, having not a single decent option among them was…

‘Wasn’t it the court that gave me the balance quest in the first place? Shouldn’t the Family Court be on the same page?’

Yeongwoo had every reason to feel wronged.

After all, every official task assigned to him was related to “rehabilitation.”

[Planetary Court] “Balanced Fate”

<Mission> Reunite with the following three individuals: (0/3)

-Aldo, the second prince of Doatel

-Amana, the guardian of Sacred Sutral

-Taru, the last hope of Pigot

<Special> Must use a family-owned spaceship.

<Reward> Adjustment of karma score guaranteed by the Planetary Court.

The Planetary Court had issued this quest after witnessing Yeongwoo’s absurd path to promotion, and the new achievements followed the same logic.

[Burning Ice]

| Ensure that your total points of evil karma do not exceed twice your points of good karma.

‘How the hell am I supposed to live a balanced life while smuggling, kidnapping, and robbing people?’

His head throbbed.

As Yeongwoo instinctively pressed his fingers against his forehead, Jiseon, who had been watching him, tilted her head.

—What now? Aren’t you setting up the family?

"Yeah."

—…?

Jiseon, as always, felt an ominous sense of foreboding from her son’s response.

—So what’s the problem?

"Smuggling, kidnapping, robbery and assault, loan sharking, illegal contracting."

—…Huh?

"Those are the five choices. We have to pick one to make a living in space."

—What are you even saying? Why would we have to live like that?

"If we want to register our family, we have to choose one first."

At that, Song Jungho, who had been silent for a while inside his shield, let out a despairing cry.

∴ This… this bastard, he just wrote down everything he wanted to do, didn’t he?

"……!"

A surprisingly plausible theory.

—I mean, Jeongho being stuck in there is basically kidnapping, and robbery and assault are part of your daily life, aren’t they?

Jiseon’s statement only added credibility to Jeongho’s accusation.

To make matters worse, Jeonggu also found himself agreeing with the two Songs.

"Honestly… you’ve already done loan sharking too. During the ceremony and even before that…."

"What the fuck."

Yeongwoo couldn’t even hide his shock.

Because it wasn’t a lie—he couldn’t refute it.

—Come to think of it, you’re right.

∴ So, really, haven’t you already dabbled in smuggling and illegal contracting somewhere?

The three of them cornered Yeongwoo in an instant.

Faced with this, the would-be family head, Jeong Yeongwoo, chose his usual method of persuasion.

"Shut the hell up, all of you!"

Schlaaash!

Threats, of course.

Summoning Bastard, he pointed the crimson edge at his mother and father in turn.

"This is a test!"

—What kind of nonsense is that?

"All three of us were candidates for head of the family, right? So why am I the only one seeing this registration prompt?"

—And the reason is…?

"It’s a trap to create division! They’re testing our level of trust before the family is officially established!"

Of course, this was nothing more than Yeongwoo’s speculation.

In reality, this whole conversation was unfolding because of his own karma.

—But the fact remains that you’ve done kidnapping, robbery, assault, and loan sharking, right?

"That’s true, but…!"

Yeongwoo’s sword wavered.

"For some reason, I got this notification telling me to choose something!"

Even for Yeongwoo, deciphering the true intentions of the Family Court was impossible.

Besides, he had at least wanted to discuss this with his family, considering it a “family matter.”

"So should I just pick whatever I want? Really? You’re all fine with me deciding how we make a living?"

"……."

—This lunatic, what the hell is he talking about?

∴ So… what we choose now is basically our family business?

As soon as Yeongwoo pushed back hard, the other three hesitated, stepping back.

If this really determined their future livelihood, it was not a decision to be taken lightly.

"They’re asking us to choose what we’ll do in space… so yeah, it’s basically our trade."

—So we’re picking a business type.

"What’s the least bad option? If what we choose now becomes our main occupation?"

Yeongwoo scratched the ruined guest seating with his sword.

Scrrrrch!

He wrote down the five choices he saw.

—None of these are easy choices.

Jiseon sighed as she looked at the options.

Then, she raised her finger and pointed to option 5, illegal contracting.

—We can’t pick that one.

"Why not?"

—It literally says 'illegal.' If these are truly business types, the moment we choose that, we’ll be fugitives for life, constantly hunted by the courts and governments.

"…Oh."

That made sense.

Everyone present had already witnessed the power of the Space Court firsthand.

It was best not to pick a fight with them outright.

"But isn’t that the same for kidnapping and assault?"

This time, it was Jeonggu who raised the question.

To him, illegal contracting, kidnapping, and assault all sounded equally insane.

But Jiseon shook her head.

—Kidnapping? Not necessarily a big problem.

"Excuse me…?"

—If we kidnap a fugitive, is that illegal? If we hand them over to the authorities, isn’t that a public service?

"Uh, well…"

—Depending on who we kidnap and who we beat up, our work can be either legal or illegal. In other words…

Tsk, tsk.

Jiseon tapped her temple with her index finger.

—We need to pick a job with room for interpretation.

"That makes sense…."

Yeongwoo nodded at his mother’s argument.

“Hah, well, we still don’t know exactly what we can do out there in space.”

A low-class planet on the outskirts of the universe: Earth.

The only cosmic asset it possessed was approximately 30 billion in capital and a wannabe villain named Jeong Yeongwoo07.

What could this planet possibly accomplish in space?

“Well, one thing is certain. Even if we establish ‘Renaissance,’ it won’t have a significant influence, right? It’s not like we’re overwhelmingly powerful, either.”

—That’s true.

“Then for now, wouldn’t it be best to choose an industry with broad applicability? Something we can do in any situation.”

—And what would that be?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“Robbery and assault.”

—That’s just what you normally do.

“Call it a calling, please.”

At that moment, Song Jungho, imprisoned in Aratubank, shouted in exasperation.

∴ You crazy bastard, the problem is that you’re thinking of making that your family business!

“Well, what can we do? This is the only option available.”

Then Yeongwoo reached out toward the text floating in front of him.

“So, we’re inevitably going with robbery and assault?”

Thus, the new family ‘Renaissance’ would engage in robbery and assault in space.

If they carefully chose the time, place, and targets, it might just be a sustainable family business.

“Technically, it’s robbery, but depending on how we do it, we could become righteous outlaws. Let’s go with this.”

As soon as Yeongwoo selected option 3—Robbery and Assault—his vision was filled with a brilliant light.

Paaaaaat!

「The primary business of the new family, Renaissance, has been set to Robbery and Assault.」

‘As expected, it was asking about the family’s main industry.’

Then, as his vision returned to normal, a dazzling beam of light shot up from Yeongwoo into the sky.

Piiiiing!

「The first family on this planet has been established!」

‘Oh!’

「Information about the family ‘Renaissance’ has been transmitted to the Family Court and |l||I-Earth.」

‘Huh?’

Just moments ago, Yeongwoo had been excited, but now his eyes widened in shock.

“You’re telling me Earth has just been informed that its first-ever family is a gang of robbers?”

—What? That doesn’t sound like news they’ll be happy about.

Jiseon instinctively looked up at the sky, then quickly corrected himself and looked down at the ground instead.

—So what happens now?

Right on cue, another system message appeared in Yeongwoo’s field of vision.

Paaaat!

「You have drawn the attention of the planet.」

‘What?’

「In three hours, you will have a meeting with the Council.」

The Council.

The system message simply referred to it as ‘the Council,’ without any further explanation.

But Yeongwoo already knew.

It was that Council—the one that had announced the end of the world on the first day of the Reset.

“In three hours, I have a meeting with the Council.”

Yeongwoo muttered to himself, and Jiseon immediately reacted.

—The Council? You mean that Council?

Since she had also undergone the mutation selection process after being listed as a candidate for extinction, Jiseon still remembered the Reset’s initial announcement.

“Yes, I think it’s the same one. This probably means we’ve finally become something important on this planetary scale.”

A nail sticking out of the bag.

After all, from both Earth’s and the Council’s perspectives, it was impossible to ignore Jeong Yeongwoo any longer.

They had left him alone, and as a result, a 3rd- or 4th-tier being had visited the planet, and ultimately, he had established its first-ever family as a criminal gang.

—Wait, but why isn’t Earth handling the meeting directly? Why is the Council involved?

“I have no idea.”

∴ Maybe they decided you’re too dangerous for Earth to deal with directly. So they let the Council handle it instead.

Song Jungho was once again showing remarkable insight.

Hearing this, Yeongwoo picked up the Aratubank card from the ground and spoke.

“I think my uncle would make a fine strategist for our family.”

At that moment, a fist-sized shimmering space appeared above the Aratubank card.

“…Huh?”

Turning his head, Yeongwoo saw that the same thing had appeared above everyone else’s heads as well.

“Wait, this is…?”

Just as Yeongwoo was about to voice his suspicion, an entirely new type of interface appeared before him.

「-Song Jungho」

| Relationship: Blood Relative

| Type: |l||I-Earth’s Reset Remnant

‘Whoa.’

It was none other than relationship information.

Specifically, a kind of status window that indicated individuals who could be accepted as members of the family.

「Would you like to accept ‘-Song Jungho’ as a member of Renaissance?」

The family’s emblem had not been decided yet, so a temporary symbol was being used.

‘Huh? So I’m the only one officially registered in the family so far?’

And the authority to register new members belonged solely to the head of the family—Jeong Yeongwoo07.

“……!”

Realizing this, Yeongwoo quickly turned his gaze toward Kobu, Tobu, and Chobu in the distance.

Unlike blood relatives, they didn’t have separate relationship windows, but the temporary family symbol was hovering above their heads.

‘So I can accept people into the family even if they’re not blood relatives.’

This was likely the equivalent of vassals.

That meant the first vassal of the soon-to-be prestigious Renaissance family would be…

‘Yechan? No, the first vassal should be someone more universal—someone cosmic!’

Yeongwoo blinked.

Then, two syllables popped into his mind, and he called out loudly.

“Kubu! Kubu!”

As if he had been waiting, Kubu opened his eyes and stepped forward.

Srrrrk.

—Yeongwoo.

“Kubu! I’ve finally established my family!”

—Congratulations. I understand it is the first family on this planet.

“As expected, you’re well-informed. Then do you also know why I’ve called for you?”

—That is…

Kubu hesitated.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo was already staring at the temporary symbol floating above Kubu’s head.

“Please become the first vassal of Renaissance. Right now, we may be just a frontier family, but one day, we will become a noble house. Would you consider investing in the future?”

Kubu blinked rapidly—something he rarely did.

He seemed deep in thought.

Then, after thoroughly looking Yeongwoo up and down, he spoke in a formal tone.

—How much is the salary?

“Oh! So it’s not free?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]