Around the time the first day’s meeting was being wrapped up, Kim Sanghun, the general headquarters director, posed a question to Suho.
“No matter what anyone says, the beginning and foundation of this city were laid and built by you, Add Suho. So, unlike other ordinary cities, I believe it is only right that your intentions carry the greatest weight in this new city. In that sense, here at this starting point, with all of us in charge gathered together, we would be grateful if you could say a word about what kind of city you wish to create.”
Suho gathered his thoughts for a moment, then brought out what he had been keeping inside.
“Yes... If you ask what kind of city I want to create, there are many things, but as I’ve said so far, I want to create a super-advanced smart city. And another point I’d like to emphasize is... first of all, I want to create a young city.”
“When you say a young city, what sort of city do you mean specifically?”
“First, I’d like newlywed couples to be given priority for moving into this city. We would provide exceptional benefits to every newlywed couple who wishes to enter the new city.”
At that, another person raised a hand and asked.
“What sort of benefits do you have in mind?”
“I’d like to provide every newlywed couple with an apartment of around thirty-four pyeong free of charge. Of course, it would be a newly built apartment, and one filled with smart facilities.”
“Do you mean you intend to provide housing subsidies or low rent?”
“No. It’s an era when it’s harder than ever for young people to find a home. So for the first few years, we’ll lease it to them free of charge, and if they simply live in that home for five years or more, we’ll transfer ownership completely.”
“Without housing subscription requirements or any other conditions?”
“Yes, without any other conditions. I intend to provide these benefits to all newlywed couples who wish to move in, especially newlywed couples who have been married for less than three years. And the way they come to own the home is simply by living in it for five years or more.”
“Wow...”
“That’s... unprecedented.”
Looking at the slightly stirred-up audience, Suho continued speaking.
“Oh, and if a newlywed couple who has moved in has a child, we plan to provide a child-rearing allowance of 3.5 million won per child.”
“Did you say 3.5 million won per child? Then if they have two children, that’s 7 million won?”
“That’s right. From the moment the pregnancy is confirmed until the child turns twenty.”
“Wow... Just hearing that, newlywed couples from all over the country will flock here.”
“If you do that... the city certainly will become younger. Haha.”
“Yes, I’d like this new city to play a role in somewhat alleviating the issues of marriage avoidance and low birth rates. Of course, there will be side effects. Sham marriages, couples who illegally falsify their marriage status in various ways—things like that. I’m also planning to propose legislation so that they can be severely punished by law.”
At Suho’s explanation, another person raised a hand.
“By any chance... would adoption, rather than childbirth, also qualify for the related benefits?”
“Oh, that’s a good point. Yes, I intend to do that. We’ll provide support so that those who adopt children can receive the same child-rearing allowance.”
“Wow... Isn’t this practically like winning a pension lottery? If you have just two children, you could make a living without doing any work at all.”
“That’s right. I intend to provide support even to that extent. For now, the low birth rate issue is far too urgent.”
There were also those who expressed concern.
“Hmm... Since the child-rearing allowance is so large, there may be a problem of people who become dependent on the welfare system over the long term losing the will to engage in economic activity. There will also be many people who see marriage itself as an economic means. We should also keep in mind the possibility that the allowance won’t be used to support the children’s healthy growth and education, but will instead be spent too much on unrelated things.”
It was not something Suho had failed to consider.
“That’s true. That could certainly happen. I think we’ll need to create a system to continuously monitor whether the children are receiving care and upbringing above a certain standard. And while the will to engage in economic activity may decrease, in my experience, humans are ultimately beings who derive satisfaction from comparing themselves to others. No matter how much basic income increases, they will want more income in order to have something more than their neighbors. That, too, will become a motive to work.”
There was another voice of concern.
“Benefits that are excessively concentrated on newlywed couples may appear as relative discrimination to unmarried people or those who choose not to marry. I imagine such people might feel alienated or dissatisfied.”
“Would that be a problem? It’s not as though I’m saying we’ll support it with government policy or national taxes. It’s support I’ll operate with my own private funds. If someone doesn’t like that, they simply don’t have to move into the new city.”
“Ahem... Maybe I should have a late child too...”
At the joke muttered by Park Jaemin, the chief financial officer who had only just passed fifty, a round of laughter burst out.
Questions and answers about “making the city young” continued for a while, and Kim Sanghun, the general headquarters director, posed another question.
“Suho, you said you especially wanted to make this new city into a metropolis comparable to Seoul and solve the issue of overconcentration in the capital... What plans do you have regarding that?”
“Ah, that’s embarrassing, but you heard about that too. Mm... To solve that issue, we’ll first need to create many jobs in the new city. I see that as the top priority. So I intend to actively attract various global companies, not only domestic ones but also overseas companies. Even if I have to provide various benefits with what I possess, I plan to bring many companies into this new city. And those who are hired by those companies should also be given priority in securing residences in the new city.”
Seeing that not a single person looked bored, all of them listening intently, Suho smiled faintly.
“And befitting the name of a smart city, many things will be automated. I also intend to bring in many cultural facilities for diverse cultural infrastructure. We’ll create many parks and lakes as well. We plan to build theme parks, enormous department stores, all sorts of shopping malls, and leisure facilities that are difficult to find in Korea.”
“Wow...”
“That’s dazzling.”
“In particular, I intend to invest heavily in the medical sector. We’ll establish an AI smart medical system, and alongside it, I plan to operate an unprecedented android medical system on a global scale. And I intend to make it so that every citizen can enjoy medical benefits at an extremely low cost, almost close to free.”
“Wow, that really does seem like something special.”
“It’s a kind of investment. I intend to make it a city that people from all over the country envy for its medical system and want to visit. And if there’s still an illness that can’t be cured, I suppose I’ll have to take out a disease-curing potion and feed it to them.”
“R-Really? Then I’ll apply to move in right awa—”
At the civil engineer’s fussing, the conference room was once again covered in laughter.
Kim Sanghun, the general headquarters director, summed up the various discussions and said,
“Truly... it seems like an enormous amount of money will be needed. If the government were to push forward with such a plan, it would immediately be countered with issues like fiscal burden and long-term financial sustainability, and it would end up fizzling out... But this time, I expect it will definitely be different. None of that will apply to you, Suho.”
Another person gave an honest impression.
“It sounds almost as though you intend to build a utopia.”
Suho smiled gently.
“A utopia... Well, you could say it’s something similar. The city itself will become like a dream city. Dream Village, Dream House, Dream City. Creating those three things was my goal for now.”
At those words, question marks appeared on people’s faces.
“By Dream House... you must mean Elysium Heights here... but where is Dream Village?”
“Mm... There is such a place, in a rather special location.”
Suho could not bring himself to say that there was a village inside his subspace warehouse.
* * *
The S-rank raid team was riding high.
They had been extremely tense at the thought that the level of the monsters might change from the eightieth floor onward, but unexpectedly, the raid ended smoothly,
and although they were tense on the eighty-first floor as well, they easily took control of that floor.
The team, having cleared the eighty-second floor without issue, now took time to reorganize with only the final floor remaining.
“This is fast.”
“I know. It’s already the end. How much time is left until the raid deadline?”
“Thirty-two days.”
“Whew. That’s a record.”
“It’s definitely fast, but... it was long. This is why I hate climbing tall towers...”
As Seo Yunjae grumbled, high towers took a long time to raid. And those long raids, by the sheer length of time alone, greatly gnawed away at the physical strength and mental fortitude of the Admitis participating in the raid.
“How on earth did Captain Joshua really finish a hundred-floor tower? I’d go insane before then.”
As if it was not a memory he wished to recall, Joshua gave no answer and merely wore a bitter expression.
Since they had time to spare, they moved the base camp up to the eighty-second floor, and everyone ate their fill, checked their weapons, treated minor wounds, and took a rest.
“I feel gross... Do you have any cleansing wipes left?”
Layla Karim, the Egyptian healer, asked Emilia Rossi, the Italian healer, but Rossi shook her head.
“Sorry, unni, I already used all of mine.”
“Use this.”
Even among women, there were those who did not wash often. Katerina Ivanov, an assassin-class from Ukraine, handed over a cleansing wipe.
“Haa... If only because of this disgusting feeling, we really have to finish the raid quickly somehow.”
The raid team spent a full day resting as they wiped away the pieces of monster flesh and blood stuck to their bodies, along with the foreign substances that clung to them because of the tower’s environment, and recovered to peak condition.
Then, with their strength restored, they stepped onto the eighty-third floor.
“What is that...?”
When they ascended to the top floor, a vast, empty space unfolded before them, and in the center stood sixteen things that looked like large cultivation capsules.
“There’s something inside...”
Chiiiiik—
As soon as all the raid team members climbed onto the eighty-third floor, something emerged from the capsules that opened while spewing smoke like dry ice.
“Prepare for battle! Basic formation!”
And what came out from there was,
“Uh... me...?”
“That’s me.”
Something that looked exactly like each of the sixteen members of the raid team.
“They’re doppelgangers!!”
It was not only their appearances that were the same. The doppelgangers were armed with copies of every item the raid team had obtained in the tower.
“Raid Formation A!”
At the main tanker’s shout, they quickly took formation, and the enemies also took the exact same formation like a mirror.
“Fuck!”
“W-What are we supposed to do about this?!”
The S-rank raid team clashed with the charging doppelganger raid team. Astonishingly, the doppelganger tanker carried out the role of the real tanker with precision, while the melee dealers acted as melee dealers, and the ranged dealers and healers likewise performed their own roles, steadily pressuring the raid team.
The confusion intensified tremendously. They had never trained for this kind of battle.
Even after the battle continued for a considerable time, no casualties in immediate danger appeared, but there was no sign of a conclusion.
But time was not on the raid team’s side. Unlike monsters that did not tire, the S-rank raid team grew visibly exhausted as time passed.
Here and there, people could already be seen cracking open regeneration potions and tossing them into their mouths.
At that moment,
Danbi spotted something with hawk-like eyes and shouted.
“I have a good idea! Break formation! Everyone scatter, and each of you take your own double!”
“W-What kind of plan is that?!”
“Just do as I say!!”
There was no time to explain at length.