Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 332: Negotiation (7)

CLAAANG! BOOOM!

It was an utterly overwhelming entrance.

A massive anchor dropped straight onto the table, making the cards scattered there jolt from the impact.

"W-What did you just draw?"

Yuto, nearly stumbling back, managed to regain his balance and asked.

In response, Yeongwoo raised the card responsible for summoning the anchor to eye level.

“…Dogo.”

“What?”

“「Dogooooo」!!”

FWOOSH!

In an instant, Yeongwoo's eyes glowed gold, and his intense loyalty to the chairman surged with the authority of the Strongest Sword, flooding the room.

"Kegh? S-Spare me!"

Yuto’s heart felt like it was about to burst, and soon a warning message popped up from the system.

「Violence is prohibited in this public area.」

「Please cease any violent actions toward your opponent.」

Then, a flashing red countdown started.

「Five seconds remaining until forced suppression.」

…5.

…4.

As Yeongwoo quickly retracted his aura and raised his hands, the countdown that had dominated the scene came to a halt.

Pop.

'Wait, does that mean if I start flexing again, the countdown will resume from 5 seconds?'

A burning urge to test this theory rose within him, but he managed to hold it back.

After all, he couldn’t ruin everything at the last moment.

This was the final round—success at the negotiation table was within reach.

And, most importantly…

‘Right? This has to be a Mythic card.’

The card he’d drawn in the final round was Mythic level.

And not just any Mythic card—it was the Chairman’s card.

[Our Chairman]

“Dogo has no weaknesses.”

| Card Rank: Mythic

| Power: 3,000

Master of the Ten Thousand Swords

<If the ‘Bastard’ card was previously activated, power increases by 2,000. Additionally, for each equipment card activated earlier, power increases by another 1,000.>

Saving Face

<Power level is adjusted to always be higher than your opponent’s. However, the increased power will reduce the power of the next card in the round.>

‘What the heck, this is completely overpowered.’

True to its Mythic rank, the base power alone was overwhelming.

And with the Bastard already activated and classified as an equipment card, "Our Chairman" now boasted an astonishing power of 6,000.

But the reason Yeongwoo muttered “overpowered” was because of the unique effect, “Saving Face.”

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‘It guarantees that my power is always higher than my opponent’s, but at the cost of weakening my next card? This is basically...’

It was as if he was taking out a power loan with hefty interest.

Of course, with the "Master of the Ten Thousand Swords" effect, its raw power would generally increase so much that the burden on the next card would be minimal.

But there could always be exceptions.

For example, what if he faced a card of higher rank than Mythic with just the base power of 3,000?

‘It means I’ll forcefully overpower the opponent's card, but pay the price later, right?’

Could this also be how the Chairman operated his business?

Come to think of it, Yeongwoo had never seen the Chairman do anything that would harm his own image.

Nor had he even come close to that level of the business world.

‘Somewhere out there in the universe, there must be a world where even the Chairman has to overextend to match others... right?’

For some reason, his heart swelled—no, it expanded to the size of the universe.

And then, he spotted a pale-skinned, naked swordsman entering his field of vision.

"Have you checked the cards?"

Yeongwoo asked, and Yuto nodded, holding a bluish card in his hand.

《Both parties have confirmed their cards. Negotiation begins now.》

Finally, the last round had arrived.

Yet, after that anchor drop, Yuto had already guessed he was going to lose the fifth round.

That entrance seemed like it could only belong to a top-tier Legendary card, or perhaps even another Mythic.

"How… how is it that your strength has no end?"

Yuto asked, sounding genuinely curious, and Yeongwoo raised a finger to point to the ceiling.

“Because the universe is watching over me.”

“…What?”

“The energy of the cosmos… it's starting to flow into me. I can feel it.”

To an outsider, it would sound like utter nonsense, but Yeongwoo was dead serious.

While he didn’t fully understand the aliens' constant talk about something called "the Blueprint," he did feel one thing clearly.

Whether by chance or destiny, if mysterious events kept happening in succession, it meant that the universe’s will was guiding him.

His mother, who returned as a dragon after being the head of a conglomerate, and his father, who was reset but tied to her decades ago in fate.

And Dogo, who supported him until the day he reunited with his father.

Could all of this really just be a coincidence?

Sure, at one point, it must have all been due to sheer luck and effort.

But somewhere along the way, he started to feel like he was part of a grander flow.

Maybe the universe had been searching for a ruler of this planet all along, with those who met certain criteria becoming candidates, riding the cosmic current.

And now…

‘I am the clear front-runner.’

The fact that Yuto, who was once a decent rival, was crumbling here spoke volumes.

In a way, this game was a test that summed up all the accomplishments he’d accumulated over time.

And the result?

“You’re out.”

“What?”

“You’re out. You’re too weak to lead this planet and challenge the universe.”

Yuto frowned, looking puzzled.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Why would anyone fight the universe?”

“You really don’t get it, huh? Mara’s representative probably understands the universe better than you.”

Yeongwoo shook his head, holding the Chairman card.

“Now that our lands are practically neighbors, I won’t be too harsh.”

He added a final note.

“But since you attacked first, you’ll have to pay the price. I’m demanding reparations for the war.”

“Reparations for war?”

“Prepare 300 million karma every day.”

“What? 300 million a day? That’s insane!”

Shocked at the absurd amount, Yuto sprang to his feet, and Yeongwoo calmly placed the Bastard card on the table.

Clank!

“If you win this match, we’ll pay you 300 million instead, right? So just win if you want to avoid it.”

Even in a card game, you didn't have to pay the indemnity if you won the war.

After all, the concept of indemnity was money a defeated nation gave to the victor.

But both men knew well: in this card game, and in the real war, the maniac dressed in clothes had a far higher chance of winning.

“…Our people won’t stay quiet. 300 million every day? That’s absurd.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“For all of Japan, that’s not even much.”

Then, Yeongwoo pointed Bastard at Yuto.

“Besides, you won’t even hear that resentment. You’ll be dead in Tsushima, so you won’t be around when the indemnity is due.”

“……!”

It was an obvious statement, yet hearing it like that made it feel entirely new.

“I’m going to die in Tsushima?”

"We could spare you to manage Japan, but unfortunately…”

Yeongwoo’s gaze drifted back into the air.

"Sorry, but I’d prefer if all the high-taxpaying types other than me were dead. You pay your taxes diligently, don’t you?”

Hearing this, Yuto had to maintain his best poker face.

However, disoriented from their prior conversation, Yuto instinctively twitched his lips, forgetting himself.

“Wh-why does that…”

"Well, you're a stakeholder in the planet too. So you have to die.”

As Yeongwoo posted the negotiation proposal, a system message appeared between them.

Paah!

[The defeated nation must pay 300 million Karma in indemnity to the victor each day.]

“If you refuse, I’ll raise it to 500 million. Don’t do that to those you’ll leave behind.”

Adding a chilling threat, Yeongwoo made Yuto withdraw his hand from the veto button.

“…You’re ruthless.”

“This is me being generous. I mean it.”

Like a cornered rat biting a cat, excessive indemnity could provoke Japan’s deep resentment, potentially sowing the seeds of unnecessary civil strife.

‘What I promised my voters was peace. So I’d rather not have a neighboring country as a constant headache.’

Of course, if he followed the Chairman's method, he could solve it by erasing Japan entirely, but… for the sake of long-term global productivity, he had to keep enough humans around.

“You might die today or, at the latest, by tomorrow, but your country and its people will live well under a mighty planet. So post the proposal and get lost.”

“…You madman.”

Yuto looked at the card in his hand.

And at last, he submitted his proposal.

“If I win this game, I’ll nullify the terms agreed upon in the last round!”

[If the representative of Lemu wins in Round 5, the agreement from Round 4 will be nullified.]

This was his way of saying he’d lift the transfer of Japan's material infrastructure and the ban on using the ‘Giant Hunter.’

He still hadn’t given up hope.

“If you get your hands on our facilities, I can only imagine how much you’ll trample on Japan. I can’t hand it over!”

“This bastard knows me too well.”

Even so, Yeongwoo confirmed the proposal.

‘It’s a fight I’m going to win anyway. Might as well grant the wish of a soon-to-be dead man.’

Piiing!

《Round 5 agreement has been confirmed.》

At last, the final negotiation was over, and confident of victory, Yeongwoo placed the Chairman’s card on the table with the utmost respect.

Taat.

“Not all sponsors are the same. Our Chairman stakes even his dignity and the future. So there’s no way he’d let me lose in such a petty fight.”

“……!”

Seeing Yeongwoo’s card, Yuto went beyond shock and let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha.”

As Yuto exhaled a shallow breath, he revealed his card.

Taat!

[Conference of Tokyo]

“A revival of the Empire’s dream.”

| Card Grade: Legendary

| Power: 1,100

Empire’s Memory

<Automatically defeats lower-grade cards.>

A card so powerful it couldn’t guarantee victory even against another legendary card, let alone a mythic one.

And sure enough.

Shaaah!

The moment the opponent’s card was revealed, a mass of iron surged from the Chairman’s card, tearing the ‘Conference of Tokyo’ to shreds.

“Ah…!”

A deep sigh.

As the conference card that was in his hand just moments ago disintegrated instantly, Yuto’s face twisted in despair as he stepped back.

《The representative of Dogo has won the Round 5 match. The Dogo faction may finalize or modify the agreement.》

Yeongwoo then nullified Yuto’s proposal, leaving only the indemnity treaty.

All the cards on the table vanished.

Paah!

《The negotiation between both sides has ended.》

Then, all accumulated war agreement terms unfurled like a monumental declaration.

[The battle between Dogo and Lemu factions will only take place within Tsushima.]

[The representatives of Dogo and Lemu must engage in combat in a naked state.]

[Dogo’s representative must enter combat after severing one of his arms.]

[Lemu’s representative will transfer all wartime earnings gained through his contract with Lemu to Dogo’s representative.]

[If Lemu’s representative loses the war, all material infrastructure will be transferred to Dogo’s representative.]

[Lemu’s representative is prohibited from using the Giant Hunter in this war.]

[The defeated nation must pay the victorious nation a daily indemnity of 300 million Karma.]

And this entangled battle of Tsushima was set to begin in just a few hours.

“Hm.”

Scanning the list of agreements, Yeongwoo’s gaze fixed on one particular point.

It was none other than the “naked combat” clause.

[Dogo and Lemu’s representatives must engage in combat in a naked state.]

“What is this? So we’re the only ones who have to strip? Then the 200 naked warriors are just a ploy to earn extra points?”

Yuto nodded.

“…Something like that. If baring ourselves boosts national interests, that’s patriotism.”

“Oh, really? You mean 200 people actually went along with that?”

Yeongwoo blinked quickly.

Then, alone, he made a decision.

“I guess we have no choice.”

“…?”

“We’ll look for patriots too.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]