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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 454: Lord Jeong Yeongwoo07 (7)
Sleep.
Even though Yeongwoo no longer needed sustenance to survive and could adapt to any planetary environment, sleep was still essential.
Because physical and mental fatigue continued to accumulate.
"How many days has it been since I last rested? I feel like I'm dying."
When Yeongwoo arrived at his bedroom and shrugged off his Vesedel armor to crawl into bed, Jiseon, who was standing in the doorway, looked down at her son and asked,
— What about tomorrow morning? No plans?
"None. So unless it's urgent, don't wake me up."
Now stripped completely naked, Yeongwoo was left alone with only Bastard and Aratubank by his side.
Jiseon gazed silently at her son for a moment and then nodded.
— Got it. Rest well.
Even though her son always spewed nonsense, she knew just how grueling the tasks he faced each day were.
Especially his dialogues with the stars... Those were too much for any ordinary human to handle.
Swish.
Jiseon left the bedroom and immediately came face to face with Jeonggu in the living room.
— What do you want?
Kim Jeonggu.
One half of this household’s foundation, and the partner with whom she would meet the stars for the introduction ceremony tomorrow.
"Ah... I was just worried about Yeongwoo. And also about you, Jiseon..."
Jeonggu mumbled, and Jiseon frowned and responded.
— That guy probably passed out from sheer exhaustion. But why are you worried about me?
"The Sun is coming directly to Earth for the meeting... Aren't you scared?"
— Ha.
It was a perfectly reasonable question, but Jiseon couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
She found it absurd that someone clearly weaker than her was worried about her.
— Scared? That guy came back unscathed after being surrounded by planets. Why would I be scared?
"But this time..."
This time was different.
Two stars were coming—an event of massive scale.
And since it was a formal "introduction," there could be some kind of power play.
— Stop worrying and just handle yourself. Don’t start trembling for no reason in front of the stars.
Of course, to say she wasn’t worried at all would be a lie.
After all, it was her first time seeing stars in person.
But ironically, the fact that someone far weaker than her—Jeonggu—would be there too gave her some peace of mind.
— Anyway, that guy will stir things up somehow. We just have to sit and watch.
Jiseon pointed her finger toward the bedroom where her son was sleeping.
Jeonggu nodded, still looking uneasy.
* * *
In the middle of the night, while Jiseon and Jeonggu were also asleep.
Yeongwoo was dreaming—fully aware he was inside a dream.
Fwoooosh!
What he saw was Earth, crossing the cosmos while tethered to the solar system.
Or more precisely, the Earthship.
He was dreaming of a future following the introduction ceremony scheduled for later today.
“A pointless dream. I don’t have powers like the records. This is just delusion.”
Still, it wasn't a bad dream.
After all, seeing Earth as the center of the planetary system traveling through the universe was a pleasant sight.
“But where is it headed?”
After watching the Earthship for a while, Yeongwoo tilted his head.
Earth no longer moved in a fixed orbit, so if it was traveling, that meant it had a destination.
“Hmm.”
As a mere consciousness floating in the dream cosmos, Yeongwoo couldn’t look inside the Earthship. He could only observe from the outside.
Then, finally—
‘...!’
A massive planet appeared in front of the Earthship, which had been speeding through space.
“What is that?”
There was no nameplate on the planet, so Yeongwoo couldn’t tell what it was.
But one thing was certain:
Fsssh!
The Earthship was headed straight for that planet.
It had already begun stockpiling high-density energy for a bombardment, having received the charge from the Sun, and upon seeing this, Yeongwoo’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
A flash of light burst near the Earthship’s vicinity, and a milky-white ship appeared.
“That’s...”
A porcelain-like ship that stood in stark contrast to the pitch-black universe.
He’d seen it before—so Yeongwoo recognized it immediately.
“...Aldo?”
The second prince of the Shelbir royal family and the Virtue-Bearer, Prince Aldo, had appeared in front of the Earthship, just as it was preparing to fire.
He then released an energy so powerful that it reached even Yeongwoo’s dream-consciousness.
— Lord Yeongwoo! No! You can't use that power like this—it will bring great karmic consequences...!
“What?”
Reading the Aldo-like message embedded in the energy, Yeongwoo opened his mouth in disbelief.
And almost at the same time—
KABOOM!
The high-density energy burst forth from the Earthship in a storm of firepower.
Crazy Shipmaster Jeong Yeongwoo had gone ahead with the attack.
“That lunatic!”
Dream-Yeongwoo cursed himself.
If Aldo was desperately trying to stop it, it must truly have been a grave karmic act.
But the attack was already striking the unknown planet, and as immense pressure enveloped the area—
「Yeongwoo! No! Stop!」
A new voice shook the entire dream universe.
“What? Who is that?”
The tone was completely different from Aldo’s, and Yeongwoo lifted his head within the dream.
Then the space shook again, and the voice rang out:
「This is bad! You can't sleep anymore! Wake up—now!」
“...Father?”
As a heavy feeling dropped into his chest and he recognized the voice—
FLASH!
His vision brightened instantly, and his eyes snapped open.
"What? What’s going on?"
Yeongwoo shot up, only to see Jeonggu recoiling in surprise.
"Y-you’re awake? I thought something was seriously wrong!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I shook you for twenty minutes and got no response!"
Behind Jeonggu stood Jiseon, holding a massive ice greatsword.
In the worst-case scenario, she had been ready to strike.
Because if she did, Yeongwoo’s "One-Eyed Sentry" would detect the threat and forcibly wake him up.
"What’s with all this chaos?"
Yeongwoo suddenly realized it was bright outside and glanced at his wrist.
"Ah."
The current time: 11:31 a.m.
The morning alarm had long passed, and even the 10 a.m. checkout had expired.
He had been completely knocked out.
But surely that alone wasn’t enough to cause this much panic.
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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“The meeting’s at two o’clock, right?”
When Yeongwoo asked with a puzzled expression, Jiseon sheathed her greatsword and replied.
—That’s exactly the problem.
“…Excuse me?”
—First, get up. There’s a line of aliens outside looking for you.
“What?”
At those words, Yeongwoo immediately realized something and leapt out of bed.
Then, as he picked up the armor scattered across the bedroom and began putting it on, he asked his mother,
“It’s the noble houses, right? I heard they’d come visit someday.”
Jiseon glanced up past the ceiling and nodded.
—Seems like it. Get the details from the administrator.
At those words, the administrative officer, Kubu, appeared in midair, pointing at nothing.
—My Lord.
“Oh, Kubu. Everything alright?”
As Yeongwoo put on the final piece, his boots, he asked, and Kubu blinked his large eyes.
—I’m fine, but… there’s quite an issue on Earth.
“Oh, right. I heard some noble houses came. Wasn’t that bound to happen anyway?”
Yeongwoo spoke nonchalantly.
But Kubu responded in a slightly different tone than usual.
—Ours is a new house, but those visiting Earth now have histories going back at least thousands of years, some even hundreds of millions.
“Yeah… and?”
—Which means making such ancient houses wait outside for two hours is not only incredibly disrespectful… it’s a provocation.
“Huh?”
Realizing the situation at last, Yeongwoo stood up, his mouth agape.
“Wait, why the hell did they come so early?”
Kubu, unable to hold back any longer, said bluntly,
—You woke up late, My Lord.
“…!”
Yeongwoo was shocked.
Kubu was someone who never criticized him no matter how far he crossed the line.
But now he was openly calling him out?
“This is that bad? Like, on a galactic scale?”
—Currently, several of the houses’ heads are personally stationed just outside the atmosphere. So yes, it’s not just a serious breach of etiquette—it’s borderline a declaration of war.
“War? Are you serious?”
[…]
Kubu didn’t reply, instead blinking his large eyes again.
—Many of the houses’ patience is likely at its limit.
“That so? And if it does cross the limit?”
—Some of them have the power to ignore our planetary shield.
Well, Earth is only at Metal Seoul Level 4 at the moment.
And the upgrade review for the planet hasn’t even been finalized yet.
In galactic terms, it’s like their defenses are made of paper instead of stone.
“So, they can break through our shield any time, and they’re just waiting out there?”
—That’s correct.
“Then yeah, this is clearly rude on our part. I better get out there.”
As Yeongwoo grabbed his bastard sword and Aratubank and stepped out of the bedroom, Kubu moved toward the living room and spoke again.
—All the houses are already arrayed outside the planet. So, we must proceed swiftly…
Just as Kubu was about to finish his sentence, the entire hotel building shook violently with a thunderous voice tearing through the sky.
「That brat isn’t out yet? Humans really have no concept of manners.」
Yeongwoo stopped just as he was about to open the room door and turned to Kubu.
“What was that?”
—That’s the head of the Satrall House, Lord Bioto.
“Oh, the head himself came? How long has he been yelling like that?”
—He’s been protesting for about an hour now.
Right on cue, the Satrall House’s broadcast blared again across the sky.
「Hey! Don’t send out a mere administrator—have the head come out himself!」
Yeongwoo now realized Kubu had been dealing with furious noble houses for the past two hours.
“Man, you’ve been through a lot. What were you trying to say earlier? About something we needed to do quickly?”
—Since all the houses have arrived, you, as the planetary lord, must personally designate the landing zones and entry order.
“There’s a process like that?”
This explained why Kubu couldn’t let them land on the planet yet.
Without the planetary lord’s approval, even an administrator couldn’t authorize the entry of outsiders.
“Hm.”
Yeongwoo thought for a moment, then gave instructions to Kubu.
“Set the landing site in Gwangjin-gu. We can’t have pissed-off nobles in the middle of Gangnam, can we?”
—Understood. I’ll begin directing the landings. What about the order? Shall I show you the list of houses…
But Yeongwoo waved his hand.
“No time for that now. Let them in by strength—give priority to those whose heads came in person.”
Then he added,
“And let that guy in first.”
Right on cue, Lord Bioto’s voice boomed again from the sky.
「Seems like it’s time to test out a new weapon.」
—Ah… You mean the Satrall House?
“Yeah. And set up cameras near the landing site to broadcast this whole reception to the entire planet.”
—Cameras…?
Kubu blinked, unable to grasp Yeongwoo’s intent. \
Yeongwoo looked down at Bastard at his waist.
“Everyone on Earth has been listening to those broadcasts for the past hour, right?”
—Th-That’s correct.
“Then morale must be in the gutter. So when the Satrall House lands in Gwangjin-gu, I’m going to beat up their head.”
—Pardon?
At this, Jiseon, who had been silently listening from the side, rushed over, shocked.
—Are you out of your mind? You're going to beat up a guest?
“I was rude for oversleeping, sure. But they’ve been disrespectful too. We need to show that even guests need manners when they come to Earth.”
But there was a huge flaw in Yeongwoo’s bold plan.
—But… what if you lose the fight? And you’re broadcasting it to the whole planet? If you lose, your reputation is done.
Yeongwoo looked at his mother calmly.
“What if I win?”
—…What?
“If I win, then the rest of the guests will naturally start showing some manners, don’t you think?”
—Well…
“First fights are always important in school. Lose, and you’re a loser for the rest of the year. Win, and you’re class rep.”
—What the hell are you talking about? What kind of school did you go to?
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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