The next day,
Suho attended the funeral of the bodyguard who had tragically lost his life guarding the perimeter of his home.
Before the name Choi Jeonghyeon stood a portrait photo of a darkly tanned, handsome man with the tough air of a special forces soldier.
A modest funeral, with few in attendance despite the presence of the deceased's relatives, family, and colleagues.
Everyone who saw the child fidgeting with a toy robot beside his weeping mother burst into tears.
Just thinking about how large the emptiness would feel as that child grew up, never having properly understood his father's absence, made their hearts ache.
When Suho entered the funeral parlor, many people rose to greet him, and one of them introduced him to the widow.
She opened her eyes wide in brief surprise, then hurriedly wiped her tears and bowed her head along with his greeting.
Though it had not been directly Suho's fault, he offered his greeting with a heart unable to shake off guilt.
"...I'm sorry. I have no face to show you. It is my fault for being negligent and complacent..."
The woman replied through her tears.
"No. Please don't say that. It is not the Admitee's fault. My husband was always proud of his work..."
"...Even so, this is not unrelated to me... I will take responsibility for this my entire life."
"No... you don't have to..."
Suho crouched down and spoke to the child.
"Hello, what's your name?"
"Choi Seungbin."
"Seungbin, you should say 'I'm Choi Seungbin.'"
The woman urged him with an embarrassed expression, but Suho waved his hand saying it was fine.
"It's a cool name. How old are you, Seungbin?"
"Five."
"I see. Is preschool fun?"
"No."
"Then let's go out and play with me next time. I'll show you a really fun place. Okay?"
"Okay."
The cute child pressed his lips together.
Suho smiled gently and patted Seungbin's head.
And on the arm of the toy robot that Seungbin was holding, Suho placed a kids' phone he had prepared—a phone with his number saved. He had prepared it separately, thinking the widow would feel burdened by his goodwill in many ways.
"Seungbin is so brave and cool. Now Seungbin has to protect Mommy in Daddy's place, right? If there's something difficult you can't handle on your own, or if something happens, you must call me anytime on that phone. Okay?"
"Yeah."
Seungbin fiddled with the small kids' phone as if fascinated.
"Then I'll take my leave... I hope all the funeral proceedings conclude smoothly."
"Thank you..."
He greeted everyone again and stood up.
As he left the funeral hall, Suho deposited 1 billion won into the online condolence account.
And he set up a scheduled automatic transfer of 100 million won to that account on a fixed date every month.
Next, Suho went straight to the Extraterrestrial Defense and Tower Management Administration.
Director An Yonggeon was absent, so he met Bureau Chief Kim Gyusik instead.
Suho was a sudden visitor without an appointment, but he was too important a figure to turn away. The bureau chief put aside his other work and met with Suho one-on-one.
"Ah, it's been a while... Admitee Suho. What brings you all the way here..."
"There are a few things I wanted to discuss. What happened with the proposal I made last time regarding rewarding the bodyguards?"
"Ah... you mean the reward for the bodyguards assigned to Admitee Suho and your family...?"
"That's correct."
"Th-that... well, there are issues of fairness with so many other bodyguards in the same situation, and it's a matter that violates regulations..."
"So you're saying it can't be done."
"W-well, in principle, that part is... I'm sorry. Please understand."
Tsk. He had wanted to personally reward the bodyguards who had protected his home and family all this time, but both the Administration and the bodyguard agency were adamant on this point.
They couldn't give bonuses or share account details. They had only said they would reward them as much as internal regulations allowed.
"Well, if that's how it is, there's nothing I can do. Please handle that as you see fit. The reason I came today is to ask you to withdraw all bodyguards from the Admitee Bodyguard Agency."
"Th-that too is in principle..."
"No. This must be done unconditionally. Don't send bodyguards to their deaths because of those damned principles."
"A-ah, to their deaths..."
"I felt it clearly this time. These attempts can happen countless more times going forward. I'm the only Item Collector in the world. Enemies targeting me will continue to appear. But the next ones won't be random riffraff either. The ones who came this time were combat androids and Admitees, weren't they? When enemies like that come again, can the agency bodyguards handle them?"
"Th-that's..."
They couldn't. It was something Bureau Chief Kim Gyusik was well aware of.
No matter how optimistically one viewed it, it was impossible.
So would they assign Admitees working for the government? That wasn't easy either.
In reality, most Admitees were active as Tower-climbing Admitees who enjoyed high profits and popularity, which essentially made clan membership mandatory.
Even without such benefits, conquering the Tower was the top priority, so it was encouraged for most Admitees to focus on raiding the Tower.
Therefore, only Admitees who were mediocre in combat, crafting, and support worked for the government on salary. Even then, their numbers were so sorely lacking that assigning them as a specific individual's bodyguards was impossible.
"But... the protection of a high-grade rare-class Admitee like Jeong Suho is a matter of great national importance..."
"Yes, I'm well aware of that, and I'm also well aware that I'm lacking in combat ability. That's why I'm designing my own multi-layered protection measures, so don't worry about that."
"Then what kind of..."
"It's confidential, so it's difficult to share details. I can only tell you that I'm organizing a security force composed of Admitees and androids."
"Hmm......"
If that was true, it would undoubtedly be a defensive wall so solid that comparing it to the protection provided by the bodyguard agency would be embarrassing.
Bureau Chief Kim Gyusik felt endlessly powerless regarding beings with superhuman strength.
Still, it was a government agency in name, if nothing else—what a disgrace.
Suho, having finished his business, stood up and drove the nail in.
"From this moment today, withdraw all ordinary human bodyguards. This is not a request. From now on, if armed conflicts occur with the security personnel I've personally hired, I will not take responsibility for them."
"Understood..."
Kim Gyusik squeezed his eyes shut, already seeming to hear Director An Yonggeon's roar in his ears.
As Suho exited the Administration, Joshua spoke cautiously.
"Still, the government is trying to protect you. Don't you think you were too cold?"
"It needed to be handled decisively."
"Hmm...?"
"The ones whose lives are on the line aren't them, so to the higher-ups, political justification always seems more important."
An incident like what happened to Bodyguard Choi Jeonghyeon only needed to happen once.
Suho was determined to take every precaution to ensure no one would be sacrificed because of him or his family again.
For the next two days, he visited the BIG 5 android manufacturing companies and placed orders.
He urged them to manufacture as quickly as possible, as he could not afford to delay.
He ordered a total of 1,000 high-end androids, each costing over 1 billion won, divided among the five companies.
The cost for this alone amounted to nearly 1 trillion won, but no matter how much he poured in, it felt insufficient.
Just one A-rank combat Admitee was something an armed platoon couldn't handle.
An S-rank? A company couldn't handle them.
It was a moment that made him truly feel once again how monstrous the combat Admitees who climbed the Tower were. So he had to build up more numbers.
Androids were still better than human bodyguards who faced the risk of death. In combat power, loyalty, and all other aspects.
The only drawback was the price.
The android industry had developed considerably these days, and there was a wide variety of models, with each manufacturer touting different strengths in their security androids.
That was why he had deliberately purchased from various companies.
Just as cross-verification proved effective, he hoped cross-protection would weave a tighter safety net.
He wanted to purchase combat androids used as infantry by the military, but they were not circulated on the civilian market at all, making acquisition a remote possibility.
War androids were on a completely different level from security androids. They were armed with heavy weapons as a baseline.
But then again, they wouldn't be able to exert much strength against high-grade Admitees either, so in that regard they were all similar.
Having postponed opening his business for a while and busily running around dealing with various security matters, the fatigued Suho entered his Subspace Warehouse to rest for the first time in a while.
In that place where time barely flowed, he ate and slept for several days, resting fully and recharging both body and mind.
Looking at the Subspace Warehouse, which he could enter faster than the blink of an eye the moment he willed it, Suho let out a sigh.
How nice it would be if he could bring his family and other loved ones into this Subspace Warehouse besides himself.
There was no safer place than here.
"Lavi."
"Yes, Suho."
"You said living things can't enter here, right? Things with souls? Intelligent beings? Anyway."
"That is correct."
"Then how am I entering?"
"You are the owner of this Cheonyangwon Subspace Warehouse, so you are affiliated as the rightful rights holder. To be precise, rather than the concept of you entering this space, this space itself is affiliated with you."
"I... see. Then what about you?"
"I am here through the Contract of Seclusion."
"Contract of Seclusion?"
"It is a contract made between dimensional assistants like myself and the Administrator of the universe. It is a contract stating that I will not leave this place except in the event that the goods here run out, you die, or I die."
"You're stuck here too, I see."
"...?"
"Then is there no way at all? A way for someone else to pay a one-time visit?"
"Fundamentally, it is not permitted in any way."
"Sigh... It's suffocating."
What was the point of living a long, healthy life alone as a rich man?
If he lost the people he loved, such a life was suffering in itself.
Living was a punishment.
That was not truly living.
He wanted to protect and keep everyone safe perfectly... but it wasn't as easy as it sounded.
Lost in thought, he strolled along the artificial Chungju Lake, then for some reason climbed the mountain of Etherium and gold and silver treasures.
He hadn't realized when he asked Lavi to pile them up, but now that he climbed it, the height was tremendous. Had there really been such a high mountain around Chungju Lake? Anyway, it was high.
Pure gold, platinum, silver, diamonds, and Etherium were stacked in various shapes and sizes, forming many mountains around the lake, and he aimed for the highest peak among them.
As Suho had requested, a hiking trail spiraling around the mountain had been created, so he climbed leisurely with his hands behind his back, following that path.
He walked uphill for over an hour, yet he wasn't out of breath and didn't sweat. It was one of the mysteries of the Subspace Warehouse.
Lavi, still sticking close by his side, would sit on Suho's shoulder and then fly around in circles again.
"Wow... this is a new view."
The summit, reached before he knew it.
The lake was visible below, and beyond it, Dream Village could be seen, tiny.
From afar, the entire village looked so quaint.
The last things Suho stepped on when reaching the summit were rocks made of A-rank Etherium, crudely hewn into massive forms, so standing atop them and looking down gave a dizzying feeling.
"Whoa... brutal. If you fell from here, it'd be instant death, right? Ah-"
Standing at the edge of the Etherium rock cliff, small diamonds and S-rank Etherium pebbles scraped by Suho's feet scattered their light and tumbled down the cliff in a shower.
“This is seriously dizzying. Rabi, wait—what happens if I die here in the subspace warehouse? Does my corpse just get sent outside the subspace warehouse? Does the subspace warehouse disappear?”
“Pardon?”
Rabi’s eyes went round as she flew up in front of Suho’s face. Then she said something astonishing.
“Die in the subspace warehouse? That could never happen.”
“Huh? Why? It’s incredibly high up here right now. I could die from all sorts of accidents—falling from here, or drowning if I fell into that potion lake or the anti-aging elixir lake. Isn’t this place reality?”
“Hmm...”
Rabi wrinkled the bridge of her nose.
It was the expression she usually made when Suho said something truly absurd.
“The subspace warehouse is real, but it is a dimensional space isolated from the reality outside. And it is not a standardized space, but one customized to the owner of the subspace warehouse. That is why the air composition, gravity, friction, and so on are applied in a way suited to you, Suho, who are accustomed to Earth’s environment.”
“Uh...? What does that mean? What does that have to do with me falling into the lake...”
“If you were not swimming in the lake, but instead fell in and entered a dangerous situation, the water would immediately part and all liquid would withdraw to the surroundings, securing your safety as the top priority. Whether potion or elixir, those liquids do not exist as ornamental lakes or rivers, but as assets. Everything exists for you, Suho, and has taken this form according to your wishes and will.”
“Then what if I jump down from here?”
“The gravity of this entire subspace warehouse will be adjusted immediately. So that you take no damage.”
“Holy... That makes no sense. Then what if I shoot myself in the head with a gun I brought in from outside?”
“I do not know what would happen outside, but at the very least, here, the explosive force of the gunpowder would be unable to generate sufficient kinetic energy.”
“My god...”
So inside the subspace warehouse, he was basically invincible.
“Here, within the subspace warehouse, even time itself—meaning even aging—cannot bring about your death, Suho. As I told you before.”
“Wow... That’s amazing... Then this place is almost like being in a dream. Like a lucid dream, where I can do whatever I want. It feels real, but also not real.”
“It is different. This place is not a dream, but unquestionably reality. It is merely separated from external reality.”
“Then can I fly around here?”
“Of course. I will say it again: this space is merely structured in three dimensions for the sake of your understanding and adaptation.”
“Let’s see...”
Suho decided that he wanted to fly and focused his will, and his body floated gently into the air.
It was a strange sensation, as though he had entered zero gravity; his entire body felt ticklish.
The moment he chose a direction and thought to move, his field of view changed instantly.
Finding himself floating in a completely different space before he knew it, Suho jumped in shock.
“Whoa!? Th-this, this isn’t flying...”
“You just teleported. If you wish to fly, you must also imagine the process of moving.”
“Te-teleported... This is insane. Wow, why have I been riding around on an electric scooter all this time? Why didn’t you tell me I could fly?”
Rabi shrugged.
“I thought that was what you preferred. You sometimes bring out only a very small portion of your assets and try to feel a sense of abundance from it, and you also go out of your way to do things in extremely inconvenient ways and enjoy them, so I assumed you were deliberately using that sort of vehicle.”
“Mmm... No. That’s different. When it comes to movement, faster is always better. As for treasures, if there are as many as a planet, I can’t feel anything from them, so I only load up a portion. But moving around is different. What’s good about a vehicle that takes a long time?”
At Suho’s words, Rabi made an expression he had never seen before.
It was the face of someone thinking that she had truly seen the strangest person imaginable.
Her thoughts were probably no different.