Chapter 146: Gongsooni Island.

I may have become a king, but it’s not something to brag about.

In today’s world, where most countries are democracies, going around saying you’ve become a king will only earn you resentment.

And honestly, being an S-rank alchemist with the title of Alchemist of Healing carries more weight than being a king.

What matters is that I’ve gained rights equivalent to a king’s.

If the packaging only brings losses, there’s no reason to bother with it.

I released everything I’d prepared all at once.

First, I coated the dead land with <Earth Revival Slime>.

Dead land is an area where mana is depleted and no creatures can live.

Experts keep saying there’s no harm, but that can’t be true.

Animals instinctively avoid these places.

It has a similar effect on the ecosystem as roads cutting through habitats.

The more dead land spreads, the less living space there is for marine creatures.

There are more conflicts between animals, and the overall population decreases.

<Earth Revival Slime> is a <Slime> created to both neutralize the negative effects of dead land and revive the earth at the same time. Ever since I decided to deal with the dead land, I’ve been preparing step by step. There’s no need to go into detail about its effects.

I traveled to the dead land using the path Road had opened and covered it with <Earth Revival Slime>.

I could have left it to Road, but I decided to do it myself to make sure it was done right.

After installing <Earth Revival Slime>, I also released <Feed Slime (Fish)>.

Fish, attracted by the scent of food, quickly began to swarm.

Now, the plants and animals that used to avoid the dead land will settle on top of the <Earth Revival Slime>.

The <Feed Slime (Fish)> that get eaten serve to provide nutrients to the fish, but that’s not all.

They also have the function of removing plastic and heavy metals from inside the fish.

If these fish are eaten by other animals, the slime will also remove plastics and heavy metals from those animals’ bodies.

Even if they’re not eaten, they process microplastics, heavy metals, surfactants, oil, and other things polluting the sea.

Eating <Slime> can make you healthy, but not everyone can eat <Slime>.

So I decided to remove harmful substances at the fish stage.

There’s no reason to leave behind the disasters humanity created.

I could have done this even before gaining rights to the sea, but there’s a reason I’m only doing it now.

After all the trouble of feeding <Feed Slime (Fish)> to fish and getting <Slime> into the marine food chain-if it all gets swept away by nets before it can circulate, it’s just annoying.

Only I have the right to fish near <Earth Revival Slime>.

What happens if you get caught fishing without my permission?

I won’t sink your boat. But you’d better be ready for your nets to get torn.

While riding Road and Deps, I stopped for a moment in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

There’s a pretty big job here.

“Finally, I get to deal with this.”

There’s something that’s always bothered me whenever I observe.

Trash island.

In the ocean, there are areas where circular currents and winds trap huge amounts of trash.

“Eat.”

I released a massive amount of <Feed Slime (Fish)>.

The <Feed Slime (Fish)> that ate the trash used their [Divide+] skill to multiply on their own.

Even though it’s called a trash island, technically, it’s not really an island.

There are places where the trash gathers in large masses like an island, but there are also parts where it doesn’t.

There’s not just visible trash-there’s a ton of microplastics, too.

There’s not only a huge amount, but the area is also extremely wide.

It’s not something that can be solved in a single day.

“That’s a relief.”

It always bugged me, like grime stuck to the floor or dust bunnies rolling under the bed, but seeing it disappear feels great.

I could have dealt with trash island a long time ago.

Still, I waited.

If I clean this up, humans will just get more excited and dump even more trash into the sea.

They’ll just assume I’ll handle it and pass the problem along.

There’s dead land under here too, covered by <Earth Revival Slime>.

From now on, I can protest when people dump trash in my territory.

There’s more than one of these islands.

Anywhere there’s a circular ocean current, a trash island forms.

I went to the other trash islands and released <Feed Slime (Fish)> there, too.

The rest can be left to time.

I feel lighter now.

Moving in always starts with cleaning, after all.

I headed to Gongsooni Island, up above the largest Jeongju Dungeon.

The other <Island Slimes> are just regular <Slime> that have been split and raised.

Gongsooni Island is different.

If you think of the scattered <Island Slimes> as my territory, this island is basically the capital of my kingdom.

Because it’s such an important place, I left it to Gongsooni, not just any <Slime>.

Gongsooni will play a crucial role in the future, just like Mother, who holds Slime Land.

From now on, many people will come here.

The most essential thing for people to live is food.

There’s plenty of water nearby.

Even a <Humidifier Slime> can turn seawater into drinkable water.

Conversely, turning seawater into salt is also extremely easy.

The sea is a treasure trove of food.

I released <Feed Slime (Fish)> around here, too. Just casting a fishing rod in the right spot will create an environment where you can catch fish.

Gongsooni can use its tentacles to catch fish as well.

Just like I made fields inside Mother, I also created large-scale fields inside Gongsooni.

I also moved over a large amount of food that had been stored inside Mother.

You can’t live on fish alone.

Now, even if Gongsooni is isolated, the people inside will have an environment where they can survive for a very long time.

Personally, I don’t think this kind of preparation is absolutely necessary.

If there’s no rice, you can just eat <Slime>.

Still, having a high food self-sufficiency rate has a positive effect on the mental health of people living on the island, so I prepared it.

As for everything else needed for daily life, Gongsooni can handle it by changing its body and dividing.

The preparations for people to live on top of Gongsooni are complete.

Next is the core facility of the capital.

The main users here will be Hunters.

I could build a bunch of casinos and turn it into a pleasure island.

Or I could make it a relaxing place full of nature, a resort island to calm nerves frayed by battle.

“What would be best?”

A good idea came to me.

Let’s build a school.

Not a bleak training facility, but a place where kids can hone their skills together with their peers.

Let’s make it a place where Awakened children can dream of something other than being Hunters.

Let’s make it a place where people can come when they hit a wall and need to find their path.

The practice field is conveniently nearby, so the location is perfect.

I’m doing something similar in Slime Land, too.

There’s a training facility for Awakened there.

There are plenty of teachers who teach Awakened kids music and art.

We also provide all sorts of education for early Awakened children.

But here’s the thing.

Isn’t the inside of a theme park just about the worst possible place for an educational facility?

A theme park that’s not just ordinary, but the world’s greatest theme park.

A place where you go for a change of pace and end up losing an entire day.

Humans lose focus even with just a monitor right in front of them.

As if anyone could concentrate in a place like that.

You’d probably only feel like studying if you were thrown onto a remote island.

Gongsooni Island will certainly be centered around Hunters.

But I don’t want a divide between Awakened and ordinary people.

I plan to accept ordinary people into the school built here as well.

However, inside Slime Land, only kids full of thoughts of playing would come to a school.

I have no intention of lowering the level of the school I create that way.

And since Slime Land is in Korea, there are some diplomatic issues.

People are greatly influenced by their surrounding environments.

The situation of valuable Awakened taking their place in Korea is something to be wary of.

In that sense, Gongsooni Island, treated as a semi-nation, would be less of a burden for sending students.

Gongsooni Island is decided as the academy island.

Who would be good as a teacher?

***

The Undersea Dungeon, which was sure to become a headache.

The forces dispatched from Slime Land were beyond imagination.

In an instant, the Undersea Dungeon was being cleared out.

There were governments that tried to sneakily get a piece of the pie.

But the table within reach was already covered by <Slime>.

Only the dungeons that were hard to touch remained.

At this course of action, the national leader of a certain country furrowed their brow.

“I never thought they’d move so boldly to this extent.”

It was fully predicted that Alchemy Slime held considerable forces.

AlchemySlime Company had many Hunters who, though retired, once made a name for themselves.

The power that <Slime> would exert when used militarily was roughly predictable as well.

Even if it was predicted, there’s still a shocking impact when it actually happens.

Moreover, there was no hesitation in Alchemy Slime’s behavior.

The moment the existence of the Undersea Dungeon was announced, they immediately moved to monopolize it.

Even those near the exclusive economic zones of other countries, all of them.

Not only that, they built a facility on dead land and claimed the rights to the surrounding area.

“Far more daring than analyzed.”

There were several countries that would find such provocative actions displeasing.

There’s no way Alchemy Slime couldn’t have figured that out.

After all, there were countries that faced difficulties in negotiations.

Yet, they didn’t care.

It was as if they were saying, if you want to fight, then fight.

“Are they revealing their ambitions?”

Alchemy Slime hasn’t crossed the line yet.

Clearly, they acted within the scope of agreements made.

But what if they do cross the line?

“War… I hope such a thing doesn’t happen.”

***

The Undersea Dungeons that needed to be dealt with quickly were cleared.

The rest could be handled by rotating teams.

Retired Hunters finished their field work and returned to their original jobs.

Hunter Song Taesan, who was called teacher by other Hunters, was resting in the break area when Alchemy Slime suddenly appeared.

“Hunter Song Taesan, would you like to be a professor?”

Though it was a sudden question, since it had happened several times before, Song Taesan calmly thought of a response without panicking.

“My education is lacking, so that might be difficult.”

“Your life experience is enough. If specialized knowledge needs to be taught, we can have a graduate student handle the classes.”

“A graduate student?”

I pointed at the surrounding mascots.

“Just grab anyone and tell them to study.”

The mascots scattered immediately, like penguins encountering a killer whale.

Hunter Song Taesan scanned them and stopped at Red.

Red, who held the important role of security head, didn’t run, perhaps thinking he wouldn’t be offered the graduate student proposal.

“If possible, a young person would be better.”

Red, who had let his guard down, was startled and shouted.

“I didn’t even go to college!”

“On Gongsooni Island, I’m the law, so even if you didn’t go to college, you can become a graduate student.”

“Even without going to college, I can’t let my guard down? What kind of hell is this?”

“Do you dislike it?”

“No, it’s just…”

Green patted Red’s shoulders lightly.

“Congratulations. You’ve been promoted.”

“If you’re jealous, why don’t you do it! Teacher! Green is the same age as me! Yellow is young at heart, and Blue is smart!”

“Huh?”

Yellow’s laughter cut off abruptly.

“If you’re going to hell, go alone. Why drag us into it?”

Blue also looked more serious than usual.

“All four of you are hired.”

“President!”

“Can’t I take the professor position? Does it have to be a graduate student?”

“If all four of you become professors, the mascots over there will have to take on the graduate student roles. Do you want to order them around as graduate students?”

The mascots glared at the Slime Rangers as if they could kill.

“Not satisfied with ordering around your seniors, now you want to boss us around as graduate students?”

“Kids these days are scary. Back in my day, we couldn’t even look seniors in the eye.”

“Becoming professors and making us graduate students means you have something to teach us. Do you even have anything to teach?”

The Slime Rangers were completely disheartened.

“W-We’ll do the graduate student roles.”

“Just kidding.”

The Slime Rangers visibly sighed in relief.

What kind of place do they think graduate school is?

“I plan to build an educational facility on Gongsooni Island. Just like in Slime Land, it will be a place where ordinary people and Awakened can harmonize.”

Alchemy Slime explained the vision they had drawn.

“If you want to quit being a mascot and become a teacher or professor, or if you want to study in preparation for that, I’ll support you fully. Don’t hesitate to speak up.”

Alchemy Slime’s words didn’t take long to reach the ears of all the mascots.

“Weren’t you dreaming of becoming a teacher? You always said that when you drank.”

“At this age?”

“We’re still young.”

Hunters who had given up on their dreams.

“Teaching kids feels good.”

“Doesn’t it?”

Hunters who discovered new dreams went to Alchemy Slime.

Awakened who had lived cut off from ordinary people after retirement.

A new path opened for them.