Chapter 135: That Time We Took In Refugees in South America (5)

TL: Skye

While Yu-jin was away in Venezuela, something unexpected was happening back in San Marcos.

Tourists had begun showing up in Choi City, the Tourism City. (Yu-jin had opposed the name, but Isabella had pushed it through anyway.)

Choi City wasn't even 100 percent complete yet.

Some of the hotels were still undergoing interior work, and the Drump Group was busy putting the finishing touches on the casino district.

Naturally, since the place wasn't finished, there hadn't been any real promotion either.

And yet, somehow, tourists from the United States had started coming.

The first person to visit was a man named Michael Anderson.

From New Jersey. A supervising engineer at a Drump Group construction subsidiary.

After spending six months working at the Choi City casino construction site before returning home, he came back to San Marcos with his girlfriend, Rachel.

“There's seriously a place like that here? This just looks worse than Florida.”

Rachel looked around with little enthusiasm after landing at Libertad Airport.

The airport itself was clean, but the surrounding scenery looked like nothing more than an ordinary Latin American city.

“I'm telling you, there is. I worked here for six months on the supervision team. You'll probably be blown away when we get there.”

Instead of renting a car, the two boarded a tourist train bound for Choi City from Libertad Central Station.

It ran on a rail line the San Marcos government had built alongside the highway.

The train sped along the coastline.

Beyond the window stretched the cobalt-blue Caribbean Sea.

As they passed a coastal road lined with palm trees and white beaches glittering in the sunlight, Rachel's expression gradually began to change.

“The scenery's actually not bad...?”

“We haven't even gotten started.”

Thirty minutes later.

The train arrived at Choi City Station.

The doors opened, and when the two stepped onto the platform, an entirely different world unfolded before their eyes.

“Wow...”

Rachel's mouth fell open.

Hotels lined the beachfront against the backdrop of the Caribbean horizon.

The beach spreading out in front of them was nature itself, shaped over tens of thousands of years.

An endless sea of emerald and turquoise, colored by the coral reefs, stretched into the distance, while waves broke over white coral sand and left soft trails of foam behind.

On both ends of the beach, strange volcanic rock formations rose like natural walls, giving the entire place the feel of a private beach created by nature itself.

Overwater bungalows dotted the sea, spaced well apart, and beyond them the view opened completely onto the distant horizon.

“Is this... real?”

Rachel took off her sunglasses and rubbed her eyes.

“What did I tell you? I said it was incredible, didn't I?”

And their amazement didn't end there.

Choi City was packed with facilities for tourists.

An eighteen-hole championship golf course built atop the coastal cliffs offered panoramic views of the Caribbean from every hole, while surf schools and jet ski rental shops lined the beach.

The coral reef area offered snorkeling and scuba-diving programs, of course, while the yacht marina had sailing excursions and sunset cruises ready to go.

The food was nothing to scoff at either.

A branch of a famous New York steakhouse occupied a beachfront location, while a popular Miami seafood restaurant had opened up its terrace seating.

From Japanese omakase to Italian fine dining, famous restaurants from across the United States had rushed to open locations there.

“And it's at least thirty percent cheaper than the original locations.”

Of course, the prices weren't exactly cheap in absolute terms, but thanks to San Marcos's low labor costs and inexpensive rent, they were still cheaper than eating at the same places in the United States.

Golf green fees were half the price of Miami. Hotel rooms were two-thirds the price of Las Vegas. Restaurant prices were seventy percent of New York's.

Getting the same quality for less money was a major advantage.

Add the emerald Caribbean Sea and year-round warm weather on top of that, and there was hardly any reason left to go to Las Vegas.

“At this point, this is way better than going to Vegas.”

Michael grinned.

“Good thing we came early. Once this place gets popular, airfare's going to shoot up and it'll be a lot harder to come.”

Rachel's eyes gleamed.

As though determined not to waste the opportunity, she took pictures everywhere they went and uploaded them to Starstagram.

And so photos of Choi City began appearing on a handful of social media accounts, reviews started popping up on travel blogs, and the people who saw them began visiting Choi City one by one.

The growing interest was no different in Korea.

City Inside, San Marcos Gallery.

Title: Just Got Back from Choi City (Photo Warning)

ㄴ [beach photo.jpg] [hotel exterior.jpg] [golf course.jpg] [sunset.jpg]

ㄴ Wait, this is San Marcos?

ㄴ It's the Tourism City His Excellency built lol

ㄴ Isn't this basically Macau + Guam + Las Vegas?

ㄴ Wait, the Tourism City's actually called Choi City? LMAO

ㄴ The prices are seriously insane. Not even half of New York

ㄴ No direct flights from Korea? I wanna go

ㄴ It's not far from Libertad, so you get there pretty quick.

ㄴ Is stuff actually that cheap there? Cheaper than Korea?

ㄴ Hotels and food are cheaper than Korea. Airfare's the problem

ㄴ Fuck, I wanna go so bad ㅠㅠ

Title: Choi City vs Cancun vs Las Vegas Comparison

ㄴ Beach: Choi City >>> Cancun > Las Vegas (desert)

ㄴ Casino: Las Vegas >> Choi City > Cancun

ㄴ Food: Choi City = Las Vegas >> Cancun

ㄴ Price: Choi City > Cancun >>> Las Vegas

ㄴ Safety: Choi City >>>> Cancun (cartels) > Las Vegas

ㄴ Conclusion: Choi City is #1

Title : Booked My Flight.

It's cheap because it's still early. Once the place gets popular, airfare's going up.

ㄴTake my money!

ㄴBooked mine too.

ㄴWanna go around together?

And just like that, interest in Choi City began to grow.

***

Meanwhile, in Venezuela.

After wrapping up his summit with Telsy and his meeting with the oil majors, Yu-jin moved on to the rest of his itinerary.

Three more days of scheduled engagements.

The first day was devoted to an inspection tour around Venezuela.

He toured prospective industrial complex sites on the outskirts of Caracas, assessing the possibility of San Marcos companies entering the Venezuelan market in the future.

Telsy's Minister of Industry personally showed him around, while Ricardo carefully analyzed the investment environment.

That afternoon, he visited the Port of La Guaira. It was where the food shipments sent from San Marcos were arriving. Containers bearing the San Marcos flag were stacked along the docks, while Venezuelan workers hurried back and forth unloading them.

‘It really feels different seeing it in person.’

Seeing something on paper and seeing it in the field were worlds apart. Fifty thousand tons of food was no longer just a number. Seeing with his own eyes that it had become the last hope of starving people made something swell in his chest.

The morning of the second day was devoted to working-level talks between the two countries' foreign ministers.

Yu-jin attended as an observer while Sophia and Venezuela's Foreign Minister coordinated the finer provisions of the Comprehensive Economic Alliance.

Most of the provisions had already been agreed upon, so the meeting was little more than a formality, but in diplomacy, form was substance.

Then came the third and final day.

Together with Acting President Telsy, Yu-jin visited Amazonas State, a region along the northern edge of the Amazon rainforest.

Yu-jin was somewhat shocked by what he saw upon arrival.

Places that must once have been thick jungle were now charred black in patches.

Black blotches scarred the forest like enormous burn marks, and half-burned trees stretched skeletal branches toward the sky.

“Wildfires have become more frequent because of the prolonged severe drought.”

“Is that so?”

“This is already our third major wildfire this year. We don't have enough firefighting equipment or personnel, so when a fire starts, all we can do is watch it burn.”

Yu-jin looked around. The devastated jungle seemed to stretch on without end.

“You'll need countermeasures.”

“Yes. But the reality is that with the economy in its current state, we simply don't have the resources to deal with environmental problems as well.”

Ash crunched beneath his feet. Blackened soil spread between scorched tree stumps.

“If there's anything San Marcos can do to help, we will.”

Yu-jin meant it.

The Amazon rainforest was known as the lungs of the Earth. If it burned away, the entire world would feel the effects. San Marcos would be no exception.

Telsy bowed her head.

“The thought alone means a great deal. Thank you.”

Yu-jin was walking through the devastated forest, looking around, when suddenly.

“Mraow.”

A tiny sound reached him.

“Mraow!”

Something was moving behind a half-burned tree stump.

Yu-jin approached and took a closer look.

A rather large cat.

It was so covered in soot from the wildfire that its original markings were impossible to make out, and it was thin enough for its bones to show, apparently having gone several days without eating properly.

“Oh no...!”

Feeling sorry for it, Yu-jin knelt down and held out his hand.

The cat sniffed Yu-jin's hand, then immediately clambered onto him.

And then.

“Mraow... mraow...”

It rubbed its face against him, shamelessly begging for affection.

Thump.

Yu-jin's heart skipped a beat.

‘What the hell is this?’

It was ridiculously cute.

For a cat, it had a stocky body, a huge head, round ears, and a short nose that made it look like some kind of character mascot.

It looked as though someone had run a cat through a 3D printer with the cuteness setting cranked all the way up.

Yu-jin carefully lifted the cat.

The cat buried its head against Yu-jin's chest and began to purr.

‘Is this what they call a cat pickup?’

It almost felt as though he'd come all the way to the Amazon just to meet this little guy.

Of course, common sense should have told him there was no reason for a cat to be wandering around the Amazon. But as a humanities major, he knew next to nothing about ecology, and he'd already lost all reason in the face of overwhelming cuteness, so the thought never even occurred to him.

After spending a good while petting the little creature, Yu-jin carried it over to Telsy.

“I don't think we can just leave it like this. What should we do?”

“Hmm. In this condition, I doubt it would survive in the wild.”

“Shouldn't we contact an animal rescue organization?”

“Well...”

Telsy sighed before answering.

“We disbanded ours because of budget shortages.”

“Ah... So you're saying we'd have to leave it here to die?”

“Hmm.”

Telsy thought for a moment, then answered as though a good idea had occurred to her.

“This seems like fate in its own way. Why not take it with you and look after it?”

“C-can I really?”

“I think it would make a fine symbol of friendship between our two countries. It won't be easy to raise, but this animal is regarded as sacred around here, so it certainly carries enough symbolic significance.”

“Then... should I?”

The delight showed plainly on Yu-jin's face.

He'd always dreamed of becoming a cat servant after retirement. Who would have thought he'd begin the cat-servant life this early?

“All right. I'll think of it as a symbol of friendship between Venezuela and San Marcos, and I'll make sure to take good care of it.”

Yu-jin beamed as he stroked the little creature in his arms.

‘What should I... name it?’

The cat gently nipped Yu-jin's finger.

“Mraow!”

“Ow. You're cute, but you've got some sharp teeth.”

Yu-jin laughed and stroked the cat's head.

“GRAAOW!”

The little thing roared from Yu-jin's arms.

*****

Read more chapters on my Patreon - https://patreon.com/tlskye

If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊

To receive the latest update notifications or report mistakes, join our Discord server linked below.'

.gg/woopread-708613326262894654