To revive the economy, one had to spend money.
Suho decided to spend the money he had earned.
He settled on two main methods. One was to buy and stockpile a wide variety and large quantity of the world’s goods, and the other was real-life SimCity.
For SimCity, he had to wait a little longer because the land he was supposed to receive had not yet been firmly negotiated with the government. So, first came the collection of supplies.
What Suho had felt while spending a great deal of time in the subspace warehouse was that no matter how many cosmic assets he had, and no matter how much cash he possessed, the goods of modern society had their own unique nature and value in and of themselves.
Things that could not be obtained without a properly functioning nation and economy, factory production lines, and market distribution networks.
In truth, no matter how much money one had, if those goods themselves did not exist, they could not be obtained.
That was easy to understand if one imagined a post-apocalyptic world.
The same was true for Suho.
He could be supplied with one yang-won’s worth of any substance in the universe that he chose, and it was even possible to cut and shape what he received into whatever form and size he wanted,
but Ravi could not make things crafted by human hands on Earth, nor could they be received as items from Cheonyangwon.
No matter how trivial it was, the same applied even to a single glass bottle, or a single banknote.
This was because the Administrator of the Universe had never recognized any value at all in Earth’s goods to begin with. Because of that, this fell outside Ravi’s domain, and it remained a rather inconvenient point for Suho.
For example, things like shampoo or toilet paper.
For Suho, as a civilized person, they were truly important and absolutely necessary, but he could not receive them from Ravi and had no choice but to buy them separately.
In that sense, the goods of the human world definitely possessed independent value.
Right now, it was a peaceful era, so such goods could be obtained in any quantity. But if, for any reason, an extreme situation occurred in which this peace was shattered, things would be different.
At that time, where would he get shampoo and toilet paper?
And would it only be shampoo?
Food was the same.
He might be able to ask Ravi for something like potions that supplied calories and nutrients, but those would be merely for survival.
Delicious things meant for the pleasure of the tongue.
Especially things suited to the diverse tastes of each person—Ravi could not obtain those.
Even the Administrator of the Universe could not obtain such things.
Such things had to be stockpiled on one’s own.
Especially since food did not spoil in the subspace warehouse, how perfect was it for stockpiling?
Food could be preserved as it was without needing to be frozen or refrigerated.
It was not that decay did not progress at all, nor that it was perfectly preserved,
but since decay proceeded at a slow rate of about one ten-millionth, just like the time ratio in this place, the freshness of food would be maintained for a very long time.
‘Yes, I need to stockpile things like this...’
He had nearly infinite money,
and nearly infinite space,
and that space maintained freshness almost infinitely,
so if he still did not buy and stockpile supplies, would that not be an enormous waste?
Suho decided to try gathering the goods of the entire world.
It would become a pleasure of collecting supplies for Suho,
and it would serve as preparation for an extreme state of deprivation that might come someday,
and at the same time, it would also become a channel through which the enormous funds Suho had only been piling up could be released.
After making a list, Suho crossed over into the subspace warehouse and designated an area for storing supplies.
Now that he had become quite accustomed to flying and teleporting within the subspace, he flew here and there, checking the sections.
Previously, he had asked Ravi to separate areas by raising specific sections of the ground, but as it turned out, Suho could do it himself.
The space of this subspace warehouse was, in many ways, optimized for Suho.
At first, he had wondered whether he should build something like a logistics warehouse as on Earth, but in truth, the reason things were stacked upward was because land was limited.
The essence of high stacking was to save floor area so that more goods could be stored in a smaller space.
But for Suho, who had what was effectively an infinite amount of area inside the subspace warehouse, there was no reason to go through the trouble of stacking things high.
It would only make stacking more bothersome.
And if they came crashing down, organizing them would become even more annoying.
As long as he designated areas so they could be found easily, he could simply spread them out. There were no longer even any restrictions on movement.
Suho decided to store items only below head height, making it easy to put things in and take them out as well as pleasing to look at, and designated areas for each item category in the vast subspace.
Then, whenever he had time, he began going through various online stores such as Coupong, Oxian, and Qmarket, as well as all kinds of offline marts, department stores, and even traditional markets, buying up every sort of item.
All kinds of luxury goods,
clothing for men, women, infants, and children,
ingredients and foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, meats, seafood, dried fish, sauces, and snacks...
kitchenware, household goods, sports and leisure goods, automotive goods, all kinds of hobby items,
digital products and home appliances,
office and stationery products,
health supplements...
Not only these general items,
but also all kinds of beauty products including cosmetics, feminine hygiene products,
children’s toys and pet-related goods,
and even things that Suho seemed to have absolutely no use for, such as cigarettes, cigars, and indulgence foods,
he began buying them all without omission.
In particular, when it came to food, he bought and stockpiled large quantities of fully prepared dishes from all kinds of famous restaurants.
He was not confident that he could reproduce those flavors just because he had the ingredients.
Aside from that, he also went around searching for many things that could not be found in marts or online shopping malls.
Suho began buying, loading, and organizing goods as if he intended to purchase every single material thing humans had created on Earth for survival and convenience,
and the “supply storage section” of the subspace warehouse also began to fill up steadily before he knew it.
Of course, even this was not something he could enjoy infinitely.
Buying supplies on a large scale would immediately increase sellers’ income, raise manufacturers’ productivity, and contribute to increased income for distributors, thereby stimulating economic activity, but it would not continue to have only positive effects forever.
If he carelessly bought up a specific item in bulk, the supply of that item could become insufficient, and this would naturally lead to price increases. Especially in the case of necessities, such things would place a great burden on ordinary consumers and cause all kinds of serious problems.
So, considering the complex effects on the economy and in order not to disrupt market balance, there was a need to buy only a very appropriate amount.
Fortunately, Suho was always bored, so buying and stockpiling supplies while taking such precarious factors into account was quite fun in itself.
* * *
After watching Suho for some time as he repeatedly continued the work of newly piling something up in the warehouse again and again, Ravi asked,
“Is this a new hobby? Why are you bringing all of those things here?”
“I’m collecting supplies.”
“Are they not things you can exchange for using currency anytime you go outside anyway?”
“That’s true.”
In truth, to Ravi, Earth’s goods must have seemed like neither more nor less than trash.
Since Suho was endlessly collecting such things, it was only natural that it would look strange.
But Suho, finding it bothersome to explain one by one why he was collecting all of this, did not give Ravi much of a reply and continued working.
Then one day, Ravi spoke as if finally enlightened.
“Ah! I understand now.”
“What?”
“Why you are doing such a strange task, Suho-nim.”
“Oh? Why do you think I’m doing it?”
Suho asked back, inwardly expectant.
“You must have schemed to go through the trouble once now and gather everything you will use for the rest of your life, so that you will no longer have to do so-called ‘grocery shopping.’”
Seeing Ravi’s triumphant face, as if saying, Look, I got it right, Suho let out a hollow laugh.
“What on earth do you think I am...?”
“A foolish but fortunately lazy warehouse owner?”
“...Forget it. Forget it.”
Suho waved his hand dismissively and left the warehouse.
* * *
Even after he began his supply storage activities, time passed,
and as funds flowed into the market, the financial system began stabilizing once again.
Consumption and investment increased, economic growth and employment expanded, and the economy began circulating smoothly.
There was a bit of a problem with increased inflationary pressure... but that was something to be resolved gradually.
One day, while Suho was lazing around in the subspace warehouse, he called out to Ravi, who was studying something diligently.
“Ravi, what are you doing?”
“I am studying.”
“What are you studying?”
“About Earth. I am studying the various elements that make up Earth. Why did you call me?”
“Oh, you’re diligent, huh? At least in the fields of earth science, physics, and chemistry, you probably know far more than I do.”
“That is only natural. Soon, I will catch up in the humanities and social sciences as well.”
“Whoa...”
Ravi shrugged as if it were obvious, and the sight was both annoying and rather cute, leaving Suho feeling strange.
“There’s something I’m curious about. That awakening thing... how does that happen? Do you know?”
“By awakening, what are you referring to...?”
“Becoming an Admittee.”
“Ah, you mean obtaining the qualification to enter the Tower.”
“Yeah. Is there something like a spiritual medicine that makes you awaken if you eat it, or a rune or something... is there nothing like that?”
At Suho’s urgent, desperate-looking question, Ravi tilted her head.
“Do you wish to enter the Tower?”
“Ah, no, that’s not it, but...”
“Clearing the Tower is quite dangerous, troublesome, and bothersome. Is there any need to go out of your way to do such a thing?”
“It’s not because I want to enter the Tower. Even if I don’t necessarily enter the Tower, becoming an Admittee makes you stronger, right? Whether it’s magic, physical ability, or whatever. I want to become stronger.”
“Well... from my perspective, there is not much difference between Admittees and ordinary people.”
“That’s your perspective. To a human like me, especially from an ordinary person’s point of view, it’s the difference between heaven and earth.”
“Can Suho-nim really be called an ordinary person? The subspace abilities Suho-nim currently possesses are far more powerful. You can deliver attacks on an incomparably broader scale than those who have authority to enter the Tower, you can even annihilate an entire planet, and not only can you travel between dimensions through subspace, you can also retreat to a completely safe space, can you not?”
Ravi asked back as if she truly could not understand.
“Good grief, you frustrating thing. What’s the use of that? I can’t fight people. Against people.”
“Ah, so there is now a human you must fight as an enemy. In that case, I will recommend a faster and simpler method to annihilate that being.”
“No, no. There’s no human I need to fight. I just want to become stronger. Don’t you know a man’s dream?”
“......”
“Yeah, of course you don’t. By the way, are you male or female?”
“We do not have sexes. All Azure Dragons are born from the Lord.”
“Then is that Dragon Lord of yours a hermaphrodite? No, then are you born from eggs? Are you reptiles or mammals?”
“...Those are all merely classifications of the human world.”
“Fine, I get it. Anyway, there’s something like that. Men of the human world want to become stronger.”
“...In any case, then, in order to gain an advantage in the field of combat where people fight people under extremely limited conditions and environments, you wish to undergo the awakening that allows one to enter the Tower?”
“Yeah... Man, is that really so complicated?”
“Hmm... In any case, such a thing does not exist.”
“What?”
“I mean, there is no substance that causes the awakening to enter the Tower.”
“There isn’t? Why?”
“Is there any particular reason for something that does not exist? To begin with, the qualification to enter the Tower, in other words, the phenomenon Earthlings call ‘awakening,’ is nothing more than the blossoming of innate talent.”
“Innate talent?”
“Even among ordinary Earthlings, there are people who possess talents in singing, sports, and various other things, and are born with those talents, are there not?”
“Of course there are.”
“Awakening is simply like that. It is something produced when that inborn talent, the elements embedded in one’s DNA, react upon encountering ether and various other phenomena. The exact mechanism has not yet been revealed.”
“Th-that’s...”
Suho plopped down where he was.
Ravi sat facing him and frowned, trying hard to find the point of Suho’s discouragement and empathize with it.
And several more weeks passed after that.
Around the time the long winter passed and spring arrived, a high-rise Tower rose in the Republic of Korea.