Chapter 238. Labor Union (3)

“Well...” Eun-Ho muttered under his breath.

“We should start with this, right?” Yeon Bo-Ra asked.

After exchanging a glance with the construction forewoman, he selected a card rimmed in gold. It spun lightly in the air before snapping to a halt, shining in a brilliant golden glow.

[Level two upgrade has been activated!]

[The defense of Castle Wall(Lv.1) has been reinforced.]

[500 Team Benefit Points have been consumed.]

Thuuud—!

A violent tremor slammed into the ground. Though too localized to be an earthquake, the shockwave rattled the towering walls and everyone nearby.

“What the?! The Castle Wall is moving!”

“It’s not going to collapse, is it?!”

The circular wall encircling the Castle began to shift shape.

Rumble—!

“W-what?!”

“The ground’s rising!”

The earth beneath their feet lifted along with everything inside the walls.

“O-O-Oppa! What’s happening?!” Yeon Bo-Ra cried, grabbing his arm in panic.

Eun-Ho quickly summoned raven wings and ascended into the air. Only then did the full view come into sight.

This is...

In the midst of the dense forest, the once-flat castle grounds now stood elevated. With five protruding strongpoints, the completed wall formed a star. It was as if a colossal star had been engraved atop the hill.

[Upgrade has been completed!]

[The Castle Wall(Lv.1 → Lv.2)’s defense power has increased from 500 to 1000.]

[The Battlements have been installed.]

Those five protrusions must be the battlements, which are positions meant for bombarding enemies during a siege, Eun-Ho thought.

“Wait! But why is the wall slanted?!” someone yelled.

“Shit! It’s not going to tip over, right?!” Swear-Master shouted.

The incline wasn’t vertical, but it was steep enough to make climbing look nearly impossible.

“That’s gotta be sixty degrees.”

“What if someone just climbs up?”

“No way.”

With attacks raining down from above, scaling it would be nearly suicidal. However, that also meant incoming artillery would glance off the slope.

“Install fortress cannons,” Eun-Ho said.

[Select number of Fortress Cannons to install!]

“Five.”

Mounted atop the wall, five heavy cannons would make even entering the castle an ordeal.

[Five Fortress Cannons have been installed.]

[500 Team Benefit Points have been consumed.]

Clang—!

Eun-Ho narrowed his eyes.

Let’s push it further.

[Fortress Cannons have evolved into 360° Rotating Turrets!]

[500 Team Benefit Points have been consumed.]

The massive cannons, once requiring several men to fire, transformed into automated turrets capable of rotating a full circle.

“Are you insane?! What kind of fortress are you building?!” Swear-Master shouted from below.

“Young man! This is incredible! Are you planning for war?!” the cleaning lady cried in awe.

Eun-Ho descended slowly, folding his wings. “Well?”

“Well my ass! Even if every employee stormed this place, it’d hold!” Swear-Master exclaimed.

“That might be a stretch,” Eun-Ho replied dryly. “But it’s not bad.”

“‘Not bad’? Just how big of a picture are you painting here?”

Since defense seemed more than sufficient, now was time for the interior.

“Oppa! What are we building next?” Yeon Bo-Ra asked eagerly as he landed. “Swordsmanship Training Hall is a must, right?”

The hall increased sword-related skill growth by a hundred and fifty percent. At only four hundred Team Benefit Points, it would pay for itself many times over, especially for him.

“Of course,” Eun-Ho said.

“I knew it! Then I’ll take the room next to it,” she declared.

“Oh? Planning to learn swordsmanship too?”

“Hehe, nope!”

He smiled faintly at her nonsense before selecting the next card. “Graduate from the Training Room first.”

[Swordsmanship Training Hall has been installed.]

[400 Team Benefit Points have been consumed.]

“Uh... But I don’t know how to use the equipment in the Training Room,” Yeon Bo-Ra admitted. “Can’t you teach me?”

“There’s a hologram instructor,” he replied.

“... Damn it.”

“What was that?”

[Training Room has been installed.]

[500 Team Benefit Points have been consumed.]

As precautions for any prolonged conflict, he also installed a food storage facility and a freshwater well. At this point, even if war broke out, they would be ready. That left one final choice.

“You just said—”

“Ah! I’ll go test the Training Room and report back!” Yeon Bo-Ra squealed, bolting away before he could finish.

Left alone atop the wall, Eun-Ho studied the remaining cards. The dull gray one continued to draw his gaze.

[Secret Room]

The price tag read a thousand five hundred Team Points.

Wow. Triple the Swordsmanship Hall, Eun-Ho thought.

They had extorted so much from the defeated forces that Team Benefits were plentiful.

Still, I hope I’ll never need something like a Secret Room.

However, he knew better than anyone that the path ahead would not be paved with flowers.

[Trial: Revolution]

He understood exactly what that meant. After a moment’s thought, he pressed his finger against the card. Without brilliance or fanfare, it spun silently before settling into place.

[Secret Room has been installed.]

[1,500 Team Benefit Points have been consumed.]

“I’m curious,” he muttered. “Let’s see what kind of secret you are.”

Reading about it and seeing it firsthand were entirely different things. He had just taken a step forward when Min Yeo-Jin ran up, wiping sweat from her forehead.

She beamed proudly. “Mister! The stage is complete! Invitations are all sent out as well!”

“Good work.”

He had tasked her with preparing the stage and inviting attendees for tomorrow’s labor union inauguration ceremony. As expected, she had handled it flawlessly.

“Honestly, even if we didn’t invite anyone, a few thousand would probably show up,” she said. “The bulletin board’s on fire right now.”

“That’s perfect.”

“But do we really need to call that many people?”

As she tilted her head, Eun-Ho read the translucent window visible only to him.

[Trial: Revolution]

[Reward: Management and Governing Rights of the Entire Company]

“That’s where the revolution begins,” he said quietly.

“Huh?”

“Literally,” he continued. “It begins there.”

[1] Beginning of the Revolution

- Declare your will for revolution to the masses

- You shall grow stronger in proportion to the number who hear your declaration

Eun-Ho exhaled slowly. “Everything’s ready so shall we take the stage?”

“Yes! This way!” Min Yeo-Jin said eagerly, leading the way.

***

A historic day dawned.

“Gah! It’s so high up here, Hyungnim!” Jae-Hyuk yelped as he climbed the last of the ten temporary steps leading to the towering stage.

The magnificent Castle loomed behind it.

Jae-Hyuk craned his neck until it nearly snapped, staring at it in awe. “Phew... I’m the one getting nervous, Noonim!”

“Nervous about what? Just sit down already,” said Ji-Eun, though the corners of her mouth twitched with barely contained laughter.

The big guy was making a fuss again.

“Isn’t this Hyungnim’s debut stage? And in front of this many people!”

“Ugh... Well, that’s true.”

Thousands of chairs had been set up behind them, most of which were already filled.

“All these people came to see Eun-Ho, right?” Ji-Eun asked quietly.

“Of course!” Jae-Hyuk replied. “From the first time I met him, I knew he wasn’t ordinary. But I never imagined he’d become someone this incredible!”

“Me neither. We picked the right side, huh?”

If Eun-Ho had heard them, he would have covered their mouths in embarrassment. However, neither Ji-Eun nor Jae-Hyuk showed the slightest hint of shame.

They remembered the first meeting in that conference room, the trips between Seoul Station and the KTX, the day Eun-Ho had appeared leading Skeleton Soldiers, and the moment they had faced their old trauma head-on.

“And then the battleground,” Ji-Eun murmured. “When we were trapped with that dragon... I really thought we were going to die.”

Just as her memories reached that point, a low, clear voice cut cleanly through the crowd.

—Good afternoon, everyone.

“Jae-Hyuk! Look!” Ji-Eun grabbed his arm.

“Ooooh!”

All eyes snapped toward the stage, more precisely, toward the man standing at the podium. Eun-Ho wore a tailored gray suit that fit him perfectly. The jacket hugged his shoulders and waist, sharp and precise.

Jae-Hyuk gasped. “Wow... He looks like a completely different person.”

His hair, usually falling loosely over his forehead, had been swept back neatly. Ji-Eun had never seen him dressed like this before.

“... Slicked-back Eun-Ho,” she whispered, covering her mouth.

—Thank you all for coming despite your busy schedules. I appreciate your interest.

From the way his fingers rested lightly on the microphone to the measured calm of his words, he radiated composure. His gaze moved naturally across the audience, like someone who had spent a decade navigating the political arena.

Ji-Eun exhaled softly. It felt like watching a hometown friend rise from nothing, reclaim his family’s stolen land, and return as a celebrity.

“Huh? Noonim? Are you okay?” Jae-Hyuk asked.

Her chest felt like a storm. “Ah, yes! I’m fine. Sorry. What did he say?”

Is it pride? Excitement?

She couldn’t tell.

—I am Lee Eun-Ho, Team Leader of the Labor-Management Cooperation Team, and I am overseeing today’s labor union inauguration.

Lee Eun-Ho was the man who had smashed through every obstacle that tried to pin him down. He was the man who had dragged defeated, broken people to their feet and brought them this far. He was also the man who had taken her hand when things were hardest.

—And...

Eun-Ho paused.

—I am a murderer.

Ji-Eun’s head snapped up. “What?”

—I am a thief, a robber, and a gambler.

“W-what?!” Jae-Hyuk stammered. “Noonim, what is Hyugnim saying?”

At a moment when he could have painted himself as noble and heroic, he instead called himself those vile things.

A wave of murmurs rippled across the tightly packed seats.

“What?! M-murderer?”

“Did I mishear that?”

However, Eun-Ho waited and stood calmly, letting their attention sharpen.

—I am not standing before you because I am pure or strong.

Silence slowly fell.

—I stand here because I am weak and because I am desperate.

His eyes had not changed since the day they first met.

—A labor union.

He spoke of the purpose that had brought them all together. His gaze swept across the thousands gathered. Strangely, it felt less like he was being judged and more like he was judging them.

—What we are about to do is not a pure and noble festival.

His eyes gleamed.

—It is a bloody war. A seizure of power. A revolution.

The whispers died wherever his gaze passed, leaving only resolve behind.

—If we must stain our hands with blood, then we will.

A vow without hesitation.

—If we must shed tears of blood, then we will.

Even if that blood flowed from his own eyes, he would move forward.

—We will not wait for someone else to save us.

His will surged outward to the thousands present—to the tens of thousands who would gather someday.

—It’s not some nameless hero but we will change the world.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

“... Ah.”

Ji-Eun’s heart pounded. Emotion and exhilaration twisted together, heating her blood.

—Not tomorrow but today. Not later but now. Right here.

The man who once grabbed her hand just to survive, and showed her a tomorrow she thought was lost, was now speaking of building a different tomorrow starting today.

—If my words have stirred your minds and your hearts, the world has already changed.

A spark ignited in her eyes. She knew she would follow and walk beside him, even if the road ahead was paved with thorns.

***

[Attention!]

[Attention!]

[Attention!]

Boom!

Colorful celebratory fireworks exploded overhead. White smoke rolled across the stage floor like drifting fog.

[Attention, all employees currently in the company premises.]

[As the required number of agreements has been reached, the proposal for Labor Union Establishment has passed.]

At the perfect moment, Choi Min-Young added the final one, bringing the total to 10,000.

[Team Trial, Obtain 10,000 Signatures, has been completed!]

[Please select your trial reward!]

[Everyone’s Rebellious Aura]

[Everyone’s Defense Mechanism]

[Check effect details.]

They finally received the reward for ten thousand signatures.

[The Labor Union has been established.]

[Union Members - 10,000]

[Union Leader - Lee Eun-Ho]

Not only did they finally receive the reward for the signatures, his name appeared in a system window visible to every employee.

His shoulders felt heavier yet his stomach fluttered strangely. “Union Leader...”

[Union Leader’s authority has been granted.]

[You have acquired the Right to Organize, the Right to Collective Bargaining and the Right to Collective Action.]

[You may file Objections against disciplinary measures targeting union members.]

[You may organize a Revolutionary Army.]

...

The messages poured in too quickly to read.

[1] Beginning of the Revolution(Complete!)

The first special order was done.

[Congratulations!]

[You have successfully declared your will for revolution to the masses.]

Successfully declared? Got that, Eun-Ho thought.

[Special reward for the Revolutionary will be granted.]

“Now I’m curious,” he murmured.

What grand reward would this absurd system grant me?

Just as he focused, one by one, heads tilted toward the sky.

“Huh?”

“Sol-Ah, what is it?”

“Over there...”

The crowd started shouting.

“Attack! It’s an attack!”

“No wait! It’s not! The angle’s weird!”

Then, the floating surveillance Eyes in the sky exploded one after another.

“The Eyes!”

Zzzzt—

Static crackled in Eun-Ho’s ears.

What’s going on?

He had never once associated that sound with anything good. A chill crawled down his spine. Instinctively, he stepped off the stage and drew the Sky-Shattering Blade.

Beeeeep—!

Then, the piercing shriek felt like it would split his skull.

“What’s this sound!” the crowd shouted.

[Critical danger has been detected!]

[Unknown gods rage at the Revolutionary’s peril.]

[Special reward has been modified.]

[Searching for suitable compensation.]

Puff—!

“What the hell?”

“We have a trial? What’s going on!”

Puff—! Puff—! Puff—! Puff—! Puff—!

Following that, red system windows appeared before everyone except Eun-Ho.

“What the fuck?!” Swear-Master muttered.

Ji-Eun, seated in the front row, shot to her feet.

“E-Eun-Ho!” Her face was drained of color. “It’s a group trial! But...”

“Lee Eun-Ho?”

He didn’t need to see it to understand. The frantic glances, the pale faces and the hand gestures slicing across throats made the trial clear.

His team members seemed to be trying to convey something.

“Trial, Eun-Ho! You’re the target!”

“Hyuuuungnim!”

“Ruuun!”

Eun-Ho exhaled sharply. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

So this is how the company wants to play it?