Chapter 33 – Creator III

Chapter 33 – Creator III

[Translator – Jjsecus]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 33 – Creator III

3

“You really gave me a hard time...”

As the event time wrapped up and transitioned into dinner, I took a brief excuse to step out onto the deck of the cruise ship. It was actually the main event of the day, as it wasn’t often that guild leaders from across the country gathered in one place.

As soon as the drinking started, I made my way out to the deck under the pretense of needing the restroom. Noh Doha followed me like a ghost.

I sighed deeply.

“A hard time? Me?”

“You’ve really expanded the business related to the roads...”

“Oh, that wasn’t me, that was the Union Leader’s doing. I don’t know why you blame the innocent.”

“The Guild Master of Three Thousand Worlds...”

Noh Doha muttered under his breath.

“She’s a remarkable person, but her pride is immense... She knows how to separate personal and public emotions, but because of that, even if things proceed publicly, her personal feelings remain unresolved and linger in her heart... deliberately poking at the pride of the Guild Master of Three Thousand Worlds by using the term ‘idiot,’ and then introducing me in front of guild leaders nationwide... It’s impossible to evaluate me so highly purely as a public figure without touching her his personal feelings...”

Noh Doha narrowed his eyes.

“If the Guild Master of Three Thousand Worlds asked someone about me, and that someone made a huge fuss about me...”

“Indeed. Who could that be?”

“When I was talking to the Guild Master of Three Thousand Worlds, there was someone in the guest reception room who might fit the bill...”

Noh Doha extended one of the glass cups he held in both hands. Chilled lemon tea. I took it gratefully and drank.

Beyond Busan Harbor where the cruise ship was anchored, the city sprawled out into the night. The spectacle of electric lights stealing the starlight from the sky and spreading the Milky Way on the ground, as it used to be, was no longer visible. Just a little fire. A little shadow. And a lot of moonlight.

The scent of the sea wafted gently from the deck.

Noh Doha and I gazed at the cityscape submerged in the sound of water for a while.

“You really gave me a hard time...”

“About what you said earlier. That.”

“Trying to get someone to work for free, isn’t that a bit lacking in conscience...?”

“Not for free. Whatever resources, funds, manpower, or anything else Noh Doha demands, I’ll try to provide as much as possible.”

“Hmm.”

Noh Doha chuckled softly.

“I’m the one making demands? Fine. Then how about restoring the world to its original state for me...”

“....”

“When you hear the word ‘infinite,’ what comes to mind? Space? Time? For me, in this world, I believe that what’s infinite is human suffering...”

Noh Doha’s tone was slightly darker than the night sky of this era.

“Saving one person’s life? I can do that. I’ve done it before. But is it over once you’ve eliminated one person’s suffering? Does happiness come when suffering disappears? That’s entirely up to that person. It’s something others can’t take responsibility for. Who knows when it will end...?”

Even in a world like this, where no one pays attention to disabled people until the end, someone said.

“So, the very idea of helping others is flawed. Help should be limited. Instead of helping someone throughout their entire life, you should just think of it as helping one arm that’s been cut off. That way, you can take responsibility. It’s something I can do, and I’m very good at it... But.”

Noh Doha leaned forward, looking at me.

Like a snake with a long neck.

The scent of freshly brewed lemon tea mixed with the sea breeze.

“You want me to take responsibility for the entire national road network, not just Busan...?”

His eyes, which seemed to have split the full moon in half and placed each half on his face, captured my face flawlessly.

“Well, I can do it. I think I’ll do well. But then what? Roads are infrastructure. Doctor Jang. Do you happen to know what those in charge of infrastructure are called...?”

“The government.”

“It seems like you’re negative about privatization projects. Correct...”

Noh Doha laughed long.

Clouds cast shadows on the crescent moon.

“I, I have no intention of taking responsibility for everyone...”

“....”

“Dealing with someone who has become disabled is one thing, but I have no intention of dealing with a country that has become disabled. Understand? Right now, I should be introducing myself and flattering in front of guild leaders, but as the roads start to be laid out one by one, it will be the guild leaders who kneel before me. Oh, a new ruler of the broken world. The king of the Korean Peninsula. Sounds sweet, doesn’t it? But... I don’t like it. Why? Because they’re handing me power, do you think I’d like that? Screw that...”

“Noh Doha.”

“Oh, are you offended by some self-fellatio? Then ask the Guild Master of Three Thousand Worlds to suck you off. Ha. If you want to save the world, you should do it nobly among yourselves, not to some distant person...”

[PR/N: Honestly don’t know where that came from. I think this noh doha person is a pervert.]

“I am a regressor.”

The hull of the cruise ship was lightly struck by waves.

Perhaps because of that vibration, Noh Doha’s head tilted.

The lemon slices, divided like a crescent moon in the glass cup, slid down quietly.

“Umm...?”

“You secretly dug a wine cellar in the workshop basement, didn’t you? There, you’ve stored 20 bottles of Château de Cam 1990.”

“Uh...”

“Among them, you also secretly took one bottle the day you decided to lay a road for the elderly living in Bansong. Why Bansong? Because people there are in the most disadvantaged position. Besides, if you butter up the guild leader there who’s also involved in that area, you might be able to intervene when necessary.”

“Huh...?”

“Back when you were a civil servant, you actually won the first prize in the lottery, but you didn’t tell anyone, did you? You used that money to buy wine and collect the equipment needed for the production of assurance equipment privately.”

“...”

Noh Doha pinched his nose with his index and middle fingers.

“Hmm. I see? Hmm... Very interesting claims. If that’s true...”

“I don’t mind.”

“Can you restore the world to its original state...?”

That was what Noh Doha said earlier.

I looked straight at Noh Doha.

“I can’t do it alone.”

“...”

“Please help me.”

Noh Doha sighed deeply.

As if echoing the sound of the waves at night, the cold waves gently rocked the hull of the cruise ship, now permanently docked in the harbor.

“This is a disease.”

The waves untouched by the light murmured, and the motionless cruise ship murmured.

“It’s a severe epidemic. Damn carriers of infectious diseases. For righteousness or justice... I’ve fixed countless idiots so far, but the biggest idiot was me. There’s no prescription to fix oneself, no matter how hard you search or when you’ll die...”

I didn’t bother to respond.

That, too, was just a confession to oneself.

Noh Doha extended the cup with slumped shoulders.

“Alright, let’s do it. Public work...”

*Clank.*

Our two glass cups clinked lightly.

The scent of lemon wafted under our noses.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Is this going to repeat forever...?”

“If Noh Doha Workshop is capable, then yes.”

“Well, damn...”

There is a sequel.

The next day, an official organization was established.

National Highway Management Team.

True to its simple name, the purpose of this organization was singular: to rapidly repair and maintain the deteriorating road network. It was divided by region, each responsible for rehabilitating the connecting roads between cities and towns.

“At this moment, the government isn’t needed. It can’t be sustained...”

A week later, Noh Doha briefed us in front of our group. Here, ‘us’ didn’t refer to guild leaders nationwide.

Me. The Saintess.

A clandestine meeting took place among the group that almost always shared the fact of being regressors. Later on, there might be additions like misinterpretation, but for now, it was merely a trio.

“Cities will continue to be operated by influential guild leaders in each region. They act like feudal lords in a sense. Metaphorically speaking, the National Highway Management Team is just a group of bureaucrats under the royal family, defining their own positions...”

The Saintess raised her hand. She seemed thoughtful.

“Yes, what is it...?”

“Wouldn’t it lead to an excessive decrease in power?”

“Yes. The less we interfere, the better. Power expands naturally with the areas it occupies, but it becomes stronger when it occupies areas that cannot be replaced by anyone else. And we don’t need vast power. It only lowers efficiency and invites corruption... In the era of self-sufficiency, the era where other cities are out of our concern, that’s when the National Highway Management Team takes full responsibility for the connection and management of roads...”

Noh Doha stated with conviction.

The National Highway Management Team consisted of laborers, construction workers, and combatants. Once they secured the single-lane roads, combatants scattered to ‘patrol’ the roads regularly.

“These regular patrols are more important than anything else...”

People trying to travel to other cities or merchants naturally followed the days when the National Highway Management Team was ‘patrolling’. Noh Doha collected designated usage fees from them.

“Usage fees, or rather, taxes in reality... Still, if we call it taxes, there will be immediate resistance, so we’ll stick with usage fees until the end...”

Cities connected by roads also had to pay road usage fees. Of course, they could use the roads without permission, but in that case, they had to protect themselves from monsters or other dangers that might attack the roads.

“It’s important to portray it as if there are plenty of other options available and actually give people a choice. Belief in it not being coercion but rather their own choice is crucial. That’s when the significance of the National Highway Management Team’s existence is firmly implanted in people’s minds...”

Guilds could also form alliances to use the roads amongst themselves. However, if they wanted to travel to distant cities, they had to pass through waypoints and pay taxes to the guilds of each city along the way.

“It must be quite a hassle, huh...?”

It was much more rational to pay a slight tax to the National Highway Management Team and travel with their added protection.

With both ordinary people and Awakeneds entrusting their travels to the National Highway Management Team, Noh Doha’s influence naturally increased.

The selected members of the National Highway Management Team began to serve a role similar to ‘diplomats’. Even hostile guilds, which would only fight if they were confronted, found it relatively easier to communicate when the National Highway Management Team was placed as a buffer.

Noh Doha utilized the relationships, pride, and competitive psychology of prominent guild leaders in each city to extract maximum efficiency.

Of course, there were numerous trial and errors. No, there were many.

“These damn bastards...”

Sending them out for diplomacy, only to find the National Highway Management Team members sitting idly, became common. Some turned out to be spies sent by other guilds. Choosing the fastest route sometimes led them to pass through monster dens more often than not.

Nevertheless, the National Highway Management Team gradually established its position.

Isn’t it true that one of my skills is truly perceptive?

For some reason, Noh Doha looked at me with eyes filled with hatred.

“When we go to the next session, make sure to pass on the data of my failures to me.”

“What should I tell you?”

“That I’m enjoying sucking on honey, you motherf*cker...”

I relayed it.

Noh Doha’s reaction to the 55th session was succinct.

“Bullsh*t.”

– Creator. The End.

[Translator – Jjsecus]

[Proofreader – Gun]