Chapter 16. Galaxy Martial God Hall - Reincarnation (7)
At my sigh, Siu wiped the sweat from my brow with a towel and asked,
"Is something the matter? Are you feeling unwell? Should we go to the hospital?"
"No. I'm not sick."
Usually, even if a child says they aren't sick, people take them to the hospital anyway, assuming they’re just lying to avoid the doctor.
But because I was different from typical children and actually told the truth, Siu believed me.
Still, perhaps thinking that young children often don't know their own condition, she checked my temperature just in case and asked,
"Then, is the training too difficult?"
"Uh... it is tough, but that's not why."
"Then why are you sighing?"
Because I can't return to my original body, that's why.
I couldn't tell her about the Multidimensional Avatar, so I couldn't explain it.
Even if I could explain the Multidimensional Avatar, I couldn't tell her the reason I couldn't return to my original body.
I mean, it’s too embarrassing to say I can't go back because there’s no bathroom on the first floor of the Tower where my main body is!
There is nothing on the first floor of the Tower.
All that exists is me and the crystal, which is the passage to the second floor or Earth.
There isn't a single thing there to sustain life.
Of course, I’m already wearing clothes, and I can procure food through my Tower avatar or my reincarnation avatar.
The first floor of the Tower has no wind or rain, and the temperature is constant, so I don't even need a house.
The problem is that since I’m a living being, I have to eat even if I stay still, and if I eat, I have to dispose of the waste.
That’s right. My main body is currently in a desperate crisis.
Facing a life-or-death struggle where my dignity as a human was at stake, I had no choice but to flee my main body and come to the body of my reincarnation avatar.
I escaped for the moment, but this was a problem I had to solve somehow.
Even if the first floor of the Tower is so vast that you can't see the end, there are things a person should and shouldn't do.
When the crisis first struck, I thought about burying it and marking the spot.
But looking at the hard ground, I had to abandon that plan.
I tried striking the ground hard with a one-handed sword, but it didn't even leave a scratch.
If I had slipped even a little, I would have injured my real body.
If an avatar gets hurt, I can just make another one, but I can't recreate my main body, so I had to be careful.
In that moment of crisis, I chose to flee, and I’ve been agonizing over it ever since.
Hmm, should I send a plastic bag through the inventory to take care of it?
No, if I make a mistake, I won't be able to wash it off.
I have to think about the future, so I need to be cautious.
"I just have something on my mind."
When I fell into a dilemma I couldn't easily solve, Siu said,
"I don't know what's troubling you, but would you consider listening to a little advice from me?"
At Siu's suggestion, I briefly alluded to my situation.
"Siu, what would you do if you were alone on a deserted island?"
"Let me see? Are you talking about a survival situation?"
"Something like that."
Siu pondered for a moment at my answer.
"If you were adrift while sailing, is there a survival kit? It would be better if there were camping supplies, but in a sudden situation, you wouldn't be able to find such things, so you would need to know the tricks to camping with minimal tools in the wild..."
"That's it!"
I jumped up from my seat.
Camping supplies! Among camping supplies, aren't there portable toilets or showers?
The inventory has a weight limit, but if it's too heavy, I can disassemble it into parts and send it to my main body.
My goodness, such a simple answer existed, and I hadn't thought of it until now!
After calming down from my excitement, I realized it was natural that I hadn't thought of it.
Because I had no way to get camping supplies right now.
The Tower shop doesn't sell things like portable toilets, and I’m a baby who isn't even two years old yet.
I don't have the money to buy camping supplies. Ask Siu to buy them? Would she actually buy them for me?
As I looked at Siu, she blinked and replied,
"I don't know what it is, but I'm glad I could be of help."
Hmm, she probably won't buy them, thinking it's dangerous.
Camping supplies often include blades or sharp, heavy objects that are dangerous for a young child to touch.
I can't just ask her to buy a portable toilet and shower, either.
If she asks why I want them, I have no way to answer.
Throwing a tantrum to get what I want is a Demonic Art.
If I keep using Demonic Arts, there's a risk that it won't work when it really matters.
A computer was worth throwing a tantrum over because gathering information is important, but a portable toilet was a bit different.
In the end, economic control was key.
As time passes, the items I need will increase, and I can't just beg Siu to buy them for me every time.
In that case, I have no choice but to persuade her.
"Siu, what kind of money are we living on?"
At my question, Siu hesitated for a moment, looking troubled, before answering.
"Why, it's the money your parents earned, young master."
"Exactly."
"……!"
Siu hesitated to answer.
"Don't lie to me."
At my firm words, Siu answered as if she had no choice.
"...The money we are living on now is the inheritance your parents left you."
Siu seemed to have hesitated, wondering if it was right to inform me of my parents' death.
If I were an ordinary child, she would have lied and said my parents were away abroad for a while.
Ah, in this world, would she have said they went to another planet?
But by my telling her not to lie, she must have realized that I already knew about my parents' death.
"When did you find out?"
I couldn't say, "I've known since I was born, from the loose-lipped nurse and your own self-introduction."
Who would believe that a newborn who couldn't even open its eyes properly could understand speech?
I shrugged at Siu's question.
"A while ago. Because there hasn't been a single contact. In an era where inter-planetary video calls are possible within the same star system, it's strange that there isn't even a video letter."
"...I see."
Siu seemed convinced by my explanation.
It must have been easy for her to accept, given that I often showed behavior unlike a baby.
No matter how advanced the 50th century is, where would you find a baby who lies on the sofa watching documentaries and skillfully surfs the internet during their free time?
"Who is managing the inheritance I received?"
"It is being managed by a professional asset manager under the Cheon Family Clan."
"Can I trust them?"
Siu nodded at my question.
"Before you come of age, even an asset manager needs the consent of your proxy, which is me, and your legal guardian, Mr. Cheon Gyeong-ho, to move money above a certain amount, so they cannot embezzle it. Even if they did, they would be hunted by the Cheon family, so they wouldn't be able to live within the sphere of influence of the righteous Murim sects."
"But that also means the asset manager won't make any major investments, just maintaining the assets so they don't decrease."
"That is correct."
Then the earnings would just be from regular deposits or low-risk funds.
"Naturally, I won't be able to move large sums of money until I'm an adult either."
"That is correct."
Well, I don't need a large sum of money right now, so that's not a problem.
"Can I see my assets?"
"Of course. You can view your asset details transparently at any time."
Siu turned on the computer in the living room and showed me the details of the assets I had inherited.
"The assets you have inherited are divided into three main categories: cash assets, real estate, and investment assets."
The numbers on the account statement were quite large.
The problem is that I don't know the cost of living here yet, so I don't know if this is a lot of money or a little.
If you were asked to choose between 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars and 100 US dollars, who would choose the former?
I hadn't even thought about researching the cost of living because I had no reason to spend money.
"What can I buy with 1 Nyang?"
'Nyang' (兩) was the currency unit of the Galaxy International Monetary Alliance.
Simply put, it was like the Euro in the Eurozone.
It was certainly unified as Nyang in the righteous sects' territory, but I didn't know if it could be used in the territories of the Evil Sect or the Demonic Cult.
I know the Demonic Cult uses its own single currency, and the Evil Sect territories use either unique currencies issued by the major sects ruling each star system or the Tyrant Alliance's currency as a base currency without a monetary alliance.
Still, Nyang would likely be usable and exchangeable in the Evil Sect or Demonic Cult territories as well.
"You wouldn't be able to buy anything. These days, even the snacks you eat cost 1,000 Nyang."
Should I roughly equate 1 Nyang to 1 Won?
No, the snacks I eat look reasonably expensive, so maybe 1 Nyang is about 6 Won?
It's a hassle, so let's just think of it as 1 to 1.
In the first place, the productivity and technology of my home world and the Galaxy Murim world are so incomparably different that simple price calculations are meaningless.
It would be worse than comparing the price of rice in the Joseon Dynasty to the 21st century.
"One, ten, hundred, thousand... Wow, am I rich?"
At this rate, I could live off the interest alone for the rest of my life, right?
"Was my father such a good earner?"
"He belonged to the Cheon Family Clan's martial force unit, so it's not that he didn't earn money, but I understand he didn't grow his assets because he spent just as much."
"Then where did this money come from?"
"It is the property your father inherited from your grandmother."
My grandfather, Cheon Gyeong-ho, lived for over 500 years and married a total of 27 women.
Naturally, there was no bigamy... but it was said he had a history of divorcing after being caught cheating during about half of his marriages.
It was even in the news that he had several illegitimate children.
Anyway, Cheon Gyeong-ho spent time with 27 wives and an unknown number of mistresses, fathering a total of 63 children, and my father was born as the youngest of one son and two daughters with his 24th wife.
My father died at the age of 76.
He was killed in action while performing a mission in a fierce battle zone, having just reached the Transformation Realm.
Since my father was 76, my grandmother was naturally older.
My grandmother never reached the Transformation Realm and died of old age about five years ago, and her property was inherited by her biological children.
My grandmother was one of the heirs to a conglomerate family, and it is said that she received a massive alimony settlement when she divorced the philandering Cheon Gyeong-ho.
Rumor had it that the alimony she squeezed out of Cheon Gyeong-ho was several times larger than the inheritance she received as a member of the conglomerate family.
During her lifetime, my grandmother spared no expense in investing that vast fortune into her children’s cultivation progress.
Siu, too, was apparently a training android that my grandmother had invested in for my father.
According to Siu, surprisingly, unlike Cheon Gyeong-ho, my father was a devoted husband who adored his wife.
Because of this, Siu had to spend more time nursing his young wife, Seo Gyeong-ae, than acting as my father’s training partner.
Returning to the subject of the fortune, after my grandmother passed away, the inheritance was divided equally into three parts, but my father barely touched his share, using only the money he earned himself.
As a result, that inheritance came down to me, his only child, intact.
Well, it wasn't entirely intact, since I had to pay inheritance taxes.
Siu added as if as an afterthought,
"Cash assets account for about one-fifth of the total assets. Most of it is in real estate."
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