Level 4 Human in a Ruined World
Chapter 492

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Chapter 492: Balance (9)

The Balance of Donations.

If you were to rephrase that strange expression, it would essentially mean the "donation laundering ratio."

King Teroph of Doatel was a businessman too, after all.

‘What the hell… He’s the one bringing up ratios first?’

In truth, donation laundering negotiations had been a secret weapon for Yeongwoo.

He had assumed those soft-hearted caramels wouldn’t dare argue with him over the donation laundering percentage.

But in reality, Doatel's side had launched a strong preemptive strike.

“What do you mean by ‘the balance of donations’? What exactly are you referring to?”

Yeongwoo asked, probing to figure out the other side’s stance.

Teroph raised his index finger, as if to emphasize:

◇ If I understand correctly, you, will be accepting donations from the ‘Evil’ of the universe, yes?

“That’s right.”

◇ And we, in turn, are to return a portion of those donations to you. Is that correct?

“…Correct. By taking donations from Evil, its karmic weight is reduced. Paradoxically, that increases the amount of Good. So I take a portion of the donations as operational funds in order to reduce that excess Good.”

It was utter nonsense—but Teroph didn’t show even a hint of confusion.

◇ However, the operational funds you take will ultimately lead to acts of violence, which are effectively Evil karma.

“True. But that Evil will give rise to even greater Good, which means, in the end, it’s the right thing to do.”

The two clashed sharply, neither backing down.

But Teroph still had another card up his sleeve.

◇ I agree. However, since the existing balance between Good and Evil is already disrupted, we currently need more Good.

With those words, Teroph summoned a tiny scale above his palm.

Fwoosh!

◇ This is our starting point for negotiations. Good and Evil, in a 6:4 ratio.

He was saying they would begin negotiations with the donation distribution ratio already set at 6:4.

In other words, Yeongwoo would not be allowed to take more than 40% of the donations.

“What…? How is that balanced? At the very least, it should start at 5:5.”

Yeongwoo almost summoned Bastard to smash the scale but barely restrained himself.

Teroph elaborated,

◇ The universe is already flooded with Evil, creating a state of imbalance. A 6:4 ratio is the minimum required to even begin approaching true balance.

At that moment, Jiseon quietly returned to her human form and stood behind Yeongwoo.

—He’s not wrong. The whole premise of laundering is to restore the universe’s balance, remember?

“…Mother, not you too…? Is no one on my side?”

When Yeongwoo turned around in protest, Song Jeongho, also now in human form, shrugged.

∴ Maybe it’s time you acted a little more human. Think about the harm you’ve caused this universe.

“Oh, come on.”

So this… was karma?

With even his own bloodline refusing to side with him, Yeongwoo stared at the tiny scale—already seemingly tilted.

“6:4… I don’t like it, but if it’s for the sake of universal balance, then I suppose it can’t be helped. It’s true this world is full of villains.”

As Yeongwoo tried to wrap up the ratio negotiation at this point, Teroph raised his other hand above the scale.

Slick.

◇ Not yet.

“…What?”

◇ Won’t this new business create yet another great Evil? That would worsen the balance further. Therefore, we must engage in even more acts of Good.

“What do you mean? Another great Evil… will be created?”

A new great Evil born from this business?

What on earth could that be?

As Yeongwoo stared blankly in confusion, Teroph placed his raised hand over his chest.

Thud.

◇ Doatel. Having long claimed the role of savior for all creation, we are now not only tolerating Evil, but even cooperating with it. How could that not be Evil?

“…What?”

◇ Because of us, the universe’s balance has tilted even more. We’ll need to perform greater acts of Good to make up for it.

“No way…”

At Teroph’s nonsense, Yeongwoo felt a chill crawl up his spine.

Teroph was putting into immediate practice the earlier claim that Doatel didn’t need to be purely righteous to be part of the balance.

‘Wait, no—this isn’t just “not pure Good.” This is just straight-up villainy!’

Using the balance of the universe as leverage, threatening a business partner for the sake of more Good?

Yeongwoo, not wanting the ratio to skew further against him, hurriedly protested.

“Your Majesty! I’m a villain. So you’re threatening a villain right now. Which, if you think about it, is closer to a good deed.”

Though Yeongwoo tried his best to deny the notion of a “Doatel-as-villain” theory, Teroph already had his next move prepared.

◇ There is no law in this universe that says a villain deserves to suffer Evil. The truly Good show kindness even to the wicked.

Then Teroph looked at the scale in his palm.

◇ Therefore, if we’re threatening you—someone who is evil—we can no longer call ourselves good.

With those words, the scale tilted once more—shifting to a 7:3 ratio.

◇ Since Doatel, once a major pillar of good deeds, has fallen, we must now diligently fill that void with virtuous acts. Will you help us?

Shk.

Teroph extended the scale toward Yeongwoo.

It was a gesture asking him to agree to a 30% donation laundering rate.

“This is just…”

Yeongwoo was so taken aback by the absurdity of the logic that he could only mouth silent words.

And since the nonsense was being spouted under the guise of “goodness,” he couldn’t even easily strike back.

After all, wasn’t he the one who needed to borrow Doatel’s philanthropic status?

— Even a 30% rate isn’t that bad. From our perspective, it’s income we wouldn’t have had otherwise. Think of it as a 30% delivery fee.

Jiseon whispered softly, trying to persuade Yeongwoo.

To her, the most important thing in this business was the principal—the source of the laundered funds.

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The donations they were to collect from villains weren’t Yeongwoo’s money to begin with, and without borrowing Doatel’s status as a charity front, he wouldn’t be able to obtain them anyway.

In other words, Yeongwoo’s role was effectively that of a deliveryman.

A special kind of delivery, involving a bit of “persuasion” to make the customer pay against their will.

Therefore—

— Honestly, even if the laundering rate were just 10%, we wouldn’t be losing anything. We’d just need to squeeze out more donations.

“Don’t jinx it, Mom. We might actually end up stuck with a 90:10 deal if you say that.”

Yeongwoo whispered even more quietly than Jiseon, wary that Teroph might overhear.

“Still… If I think of it as a delivery fee, it’s actually not a bad business.”

If he managed to secure 10 billion karma in donations, 3 billion would go to him.

‘Of course, that would require dealing with much bigger clients.’

Which meant he needed to keep getting stronger.

The more powerful he became, the more formidable clients he could extract donations from, and that directly correlated with revenue for the Renaissance group.

‘And as a bonus, I’d be contributing to cosmic-scale good deeds. Not that I’m thrilled about it.’

Thinking that way made the pounding in his temples ease a little.

‘Yeah, fuck it. Might as well rack up some good karma.’

Finally making a firm decision, Yeongwoo looked solemnly at the scale, and Teroph nodded.

◇ So you've made your decision.

“An opportunity to contribute to the balance of the universe… Who could pass that up?”

As Yeongwoo spoke, he removed his hand from Bastard at his waist.

Then, moving his hand, he reached toward the scale, still tilted at a 70:30 ratio.

“Touching this enacts the contract, right?”

◇ That’s correct. You will be opening the door to restore balance to the universe.

“Alright. I’m doing this because I trust your son’s character and believe in Your Majesty’s intentions.”

◇ I will do my utmost. I hope you will do the same.

“Oh, I always give my all when it comes to violence.”

As these pleasantries were exchanged, Yeongwoo’s hand finally touched the scale.

Tap.

At that moment, emblems representing each of their houses appeared in the air between Yeongwoo and King Teroph.

The emblems overlapped and a contract was formed.

◇ From now on, you may solicit donations under the names of House Shelbir and Doatel.

With those words, the knights of House Shelbir turned toward Yeongwoo and saluted him.

Shu-shu-shu!

He was now an official business partner of House Shelbir.

“This contract takes effect immediately, right?”

◇ Yes, it does… though… have you already decided on a donor?

“Ah.”

At Teroph’s question, Yeongwoo immediately thought of the influential Shirach family from the lower galaxy.

But if he couldn’t even take down their young master, could he really squeeze donations from them?

‘Regrettably, I should move Shirach down the priority list.’

So then, who should be the first donor?

After pondering for a moment, Yeongwoo turned the question back to Teroph.

“What about you, Your Majesty?”

◇ Pardon…?

“Do you have someone in mind? Someone you’d like me to visit and extract money from?”

The worst kind of person in the galaxy—the kind of scumbag even the universe’s top do-gooder would want shaken down by a thug.

Jiseon chimed in, clearly intrigued.

— Indeed. If it’s alright, it might be best for Your Majesty to designate the first donor.

◇ Ah… Is that so?

Teroph gave a gentle response and looked toward the scale.

◇ It’s true… There are indeed people who cause major imbalances. Even here in the upper galaxy.

“The upper galaxy? That’s even better. The closer, the sooner I can collect the money.”

Yeongwoo’s eyes sparkled, and Teroph waved his hand through the air, projecting a massive hologram above them.

Fwaaa!

It was none other than a galactic map showing the locations of noble houses in the upper galaxy.

“What the—? There are way more houses up here in the upper galaxy?”

Just looking at the emblems on the map, there were already eleven.

Of course, Yeongwoo hadn’t met every family in the lower galaxy, but even among the major ones, there were only five at most.

Even if you counted the mysterious Chancellor Herisa, that only made six.

◇ Unlike the lower galaxy, where order was once established long ago, the upper galaxy remains engulfed in chaos.

Then, three of the eleven emblems turned red.

“Oh.”

It seemed Doatel had already prepared a hit list.

‘What the hell? I just asked who to beat up, and they already had targets lined up?’

Still, having three potential clients nearby was a good thing for Yeongwoo.

“Alright then, Your Majesty—who should I visit first? I’d like to run a test, so point me to the weakest one.”

Teroph then pointed to the claw-shaped emblem located at the northernmost point on the map.

◇ The arms dealer Koatu. He’s recently profited from selling weapons during inter-house wars, so he should have quite a bit of cash on hand right now.

“Pardon…?”

◇ So please, teach Koatu the meaning of balance. He simply has too much money.

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