Ch.293293. Coin Money (1)

However, the speculation that Seorabeol’s finances would reach their limit wasn’t entirely groundless.

“It’s not like we have oil money on this Korean peninsula! We can’t build an overwhelmingly wealthy welfare state like those Middle Eastern countries!”

Of course, every policy required a budget.

The national Awakened project, constitutional amendments, the Seoul Reconstruction Special Act, and countless other policies required an unimaginably massive budget.

For a newly established country, it would be short on budget even if it focused on just one of these policies, yet they were boldly claiming they would implement all these national-scale projects simultaneously. It was laughable.

So they were convinced that in the end, they would be the victors, and with confident expressions, they anticipated what was to come.

“They’re basically saying they’ll fund these policies with our assets, right? Do they think we have that kind of money? Even the top 1% of capitalists mostly have financial assets, not that many physical assets!”

Yes, even the wealth of the top 1% elite, when considered on a national scale, couldn’t cover the budget required for the policies currently being implemented.

If that was the case, the remaining option would be tax increases, but as everyone knew, tax increases were a last resort, and if not properly utilized, they were a double-edged sword that would erode public support.

From their perspective, the amateur politicians in Seorabeol were acting recklessly like puppies unafraid of tigers, but eventually, they would reach their limit and need their help.

They concluded that both the Dragon God Association and the Constitutional Democratic Party would have to rely on the Korea First Party, a third political force, to gain power.

“All wealth is finite. If they keep giving handouts, the Seorabeol government will surely collapse.”

“People may be cheering now, but when problems arise with distribution, taxes increase, and military expenses for territorial defense are added? Seoul’s public sentiment will turn. Definitely!”

It was certainly a sound argument, and if based on South Korea’s situation before the apocalypse, it would be considered reasonable.

There’s no welfare without tax increases, and welfare naturally costs money.

If asked whether the current Seoul could collect enough taxes to cover the welfare promised in Seorabeol’s roadmap, the answer would obviously be impossible.

Seoul’s economic structure had once disappeared and was being rebuilt, and excessive taxation in such a situation would be tantamount to destroying Seoul’s recovering economy. Without tax increases, they would have to collect taxes from Seorabeol’s remaining territories to rebuild Seoul… which meant they would have to accept discontent from Gyeongju, Seorabeol’s stronghold.

“Welfare is a sweet poison. When you invest budget in welfare—”

“A country can’t just print money! That would cause hyperinflation!”

“Everything eventually comes back as taxes. But the current Seoul can’t pay taxes to repay the government’s welfare!”

That logic wasn’t wrong at all.

In fact, their arguments were economic theories gained through numerous failures and experiences, and everyone knew that Seorabeol was heading toward the worst-case scenario of those theories.

“The budget, I see.”

“Yes. In about a month, Seorabeol will go bankrupt due to budget execution.”

Even Seorabeol was concerned about bankruptcy due to excessive budget execution.

Lee Hyeon-a had warned Bahamut that Seorabeol would go bankrupt before completing Seoul’s reconstruction with such excessive handout policies, but Bahamut listened to her warning without showing much sense of crisis.

In reality, even Lee Hyeon-a herself was only concerned about bankruptcy, but since Seorabeol had plenty of means to solve this, she looked at Bahamut with an expression full of expectation.

“Let’s increase the production of Bahamut coins. Ask the countries we have relationships with if they’re interested in buying coins. If we invest the proceeds from those sales into the reconstruction budget, we should be able to solve the problem.”

As it happened, Seorabeol had a resource similar to Middle Eastern oil money that wouldn’t run dry.

With an effect equivalent to oil money, if Bahamut truly wanted, he could bring in nearly unlimited foreign capital into the country, as Bahamut coins were becoming one of the new economic orders of the world.

As society increasingly centered around Awakened ones, the value of Bahamut coins continued to rise. What’s more terrifying was that even if Bahamut reduced coin production, the price would rise accordingly, meaning that reducing sales volume wouldn’t decrease revenue—a miraculous economic logic.

Unlike oil money, Bahamut coins were produced by Bahamut himself, and there was only one supplier. Because of this, even if Bahamut reduced production, the only alternative was magic stones obtained from hunting monsters.

Considering that even those magic stones couldn’t match the value of Bahamut coins, they were an irreplaceable commodity in this apocalypse.

“Recently, with the news of war breaking out in Seorabeol, the price of coins has skyrocketed.”

Moreover, news of war in Seorabeol, which produces Bahamut coins, caused a coin shock, making the value of coins jump several times during the war. By the time the war ended, many countries trading with Seorabeol were begging for coins to be supplied abroad.

It was inevitable that as Awakened ones grew stronger, they would demand powerful equipment, and the only material that could satisfy that demand was Bahamut coins.

Although there was the mysterious metal called mythril that Bahamut had developed, even that had level restrictions, meaning that in the current apocalypse, Bahamut coins were the only means to reliably improve the specs of Awakened equipment.

“Moreover, the battlefield proved that Bahamut bullets can be a significant variable even for high-level Awakened.”

“And it also proved that enchantment technology can be used with modern weapons.”

“Argh! Are Bahamut coins some kind of monster? Why doesn’t the demand ever decrease!”

Additionally, once weapons using the coins proved their strength in battles between Awakened ones, each country’s choices were divided into two:

Either produce a new alternative resource to replace Bahamut coins, or accept the new economic order led by Dragon God Bahamut.

“It’s impossible right now.”

“Right. We still don’t know anything about Awakened ones!”

“We can’t develop something new to replace Bahamut coins right away!”

Most countries accepted the new economic order.

In the post-apocalyptic world where everything from the past had lost meaning, they had learned from experience that maintaining the existing economy was meaningless.

Real estate, stocks, cash—all were meaningless.

Now, citizens demanded strong power to protect themselves and food, and Bahamut coins, which could be exchanged for weapons to protect themselves and for food, were an irreplaceable commodity as the key currency.

In this situation, Bahamut himself was increasing coin production?

“So, you’re saying you’ll increase coin production?”

“Yes. We would have preferred not to intervene in the market and produce the same amount of coins as usual, but demand is continuously increasing while supply remains the same, so we’ve decided to increase production.”

“That’s a really good idea… Ahem. It seems Dragon God Bahamut has made a significant decision.”

It couldn’t be guaranteed that as coin production increased, the sky-high coin prices would gradually stabilize.

Bahamut coins weren’t just currency but were continuously consumed, and even if Bahamut himself increased coin production, it was questionable whether it could keep up with each country’s consumption.

However, the fact that it was at least a downpour rather than a single drop of rain on dry land was enough to make them grateful to Seorabeol.

“So that production amount is…”

“We will increase it to 10 times the current production. If demand is still insufficient, we are confident we can produce even more.”

“10 times…! And you can produce even more? That’s great! What’s the cost?”

But Seorabeol mentioned more than that, promising to produce more coins than the current amount if necessary.

It was like forecasting not just a downpour but a flood on dry land, meaning that the surging value of coins could also stabilize.

However, it was still questionable whether this would meet the demand of Awakened ones worldwide, and conversely, there was a grim speculation that prices could rise even more, but countries with vast wealth didn’t care about that.

What mattered was buying all the coins to be produced, showing off to their Awakened ones, aiming for political support and stability, while putting a leash on uncontrolled Awakened ones.

“Seorabeol currently needs massive resources and budget for Seoul’s reconstruction. If you help with those resources and budget, we can allocate more coins to you in the future.”

“Anything! Just name it. We have oil, and we have so many things that it would be faster to list what we don’t have!”

“We have rice! Don’t the citizens of Seoul want rice?”

“The Phoenix Cult is brothers with the Balhut Cult, right?”

“Get lost! We have the Dragon Priestess who has a contract with Dragon God Bahamut!”

Therefore, Seorabeol was able to fulfill its promises and policies with the overwhelming capital and resources coming from abroad.

Essentially, like many Middle Eastern countries, they relied on imports for all essential goods needed in Seoul, and even with excessive consumption of these important resources, Seorabeol’s current account always recorded a surplus.

All the budget needed for reconstruction was covered by foreign capital, so the taxes collected in Seorabeol could be reinvested in other areas. Thus, buildings in Seoul began to rise one by one, and accordingly, coin production increased, and the price of coins began to stabilize…

“More. We need more Bahamut coins!”

“We need Bahamut coins too! The advance team should stop monopolizing the coins! We want to join the advance team too!”

“That’s right! Bahamut coins belong to all Awakened ones!”

Far from stabilizing, as coin production increased, demand surged as well.

Those who had never used Bahamut coins wouldn’t use them, but those who had used them even once would definitely use them again.

As Bahamut coins became available at reasonable prices, even those who hadn’t been interested in them before started to take notice, and as they began using the coins, the stabilizing coin prices began to normalize again.

“You damn fool! The coin prices are rising because of you!”

“Shut up! Were you using this good stuff all by yourself? Let me use some too!”

It was a nightmare for existing Bahamut coin users, but from the perspective of newcomers just starting to use them, they were full of resentment that others had been using this great resource without telling anyone.

After all, weapons made with Bahamut coins were powerful magical weapons incomparable to other magic stone weapons, and bullets could be used for emergency escapes or as trump cards.

Until now, they had relied on magic stone weapons or bullets, and it was like they had discovered a new world. Moreover, they started earning higher profits than before even after using the coins, so there was absolutely no reason not to use them.

“Is this the famous oil money? It’s amazing. Hey.”

“…Is this really happening? I can’t believe so many people wanted Bahamut coins.”

As it established itself as an irreplaceable item, even Bahamut and Yu-na were left speechless by the enormous wealth flowing into Seorabeol.

They understood intellectually how impressive oil money was, but actually experiencing it firsthand was truly beyond common sense.