The Genius Construction Worker Who Moved to America - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 14

Scaling the Construction Site

Crash—!!

Ten hours had elapsed since the second great deluge poured down.

Torrential rain came driving in with a gale of forty meters per second. The dilapidated wooden houses already ravaged by the first downpour now suffered catastrophic damage under this second onslaught.

Crack! Groan—!

“Ahhh! The house is collapsing!”

At the Pasadena City Gymnasium, thousands of evacuees crowded the makeshift shelter, and the atmosphere was grim. Cries tinged with despair echoed from every corner. On one side, voices thick with anger at the city’s response began to rise.

“Get the mayor down here! When are the reconstruction efforts starting?”

“My neighborhood hasn’t seen a single excavator yet!”

The police and city officials trying to manage the shelter found themselves drenched in sweat under the barrage of accusations.

At the same moment, in the Pasadena City Hall Disaster Control Center.

Mayor David Scott kept his eyes fixed on the wall of CCTV monitors. The city ravaged by the deluge looked like a war zone.

“Mayor… public opinion is at its worst. If this continues, we may actually face riots.”

His chief aide Tom thrust a tablet toward him, his face ashen. The mayor waved his hand dismissively.

“Stop dramatizing! I’m well aware!”

“Blackwood Construction keeps pressuring us for the direct contract award. Even the city council has been pushing….”

“Those bloodsucking bastards!”

The mayor’s jaw clenched.

Hadn’t he seen it with his own eyes yesterday at the construction site? The concrete wall Blackwood had driven into that swampy ground was nothing but an empty shell.

If Choi Gangjun hadn’t stepped in, that entire area would be completely submerged by now.

‘I can’t entrust the work to those scoundrels.’

That was when it happened.

“Huh…?”

Tom, who had been gazing out the window, let out a small gasp. The sound of the rain had noticeably diminished. The dark clouds were beginning to part.

“Mayor! The rain is stopping!”

* * *

At that same moment, at the River Retaining Wall Construction Site.

Choi Gangjun, Leo, and Max stood motionless, peering down at the river below them. The churning muddy waters swollen by the downpour battered the retaining wall again and again.

But.

“We held. We held it back!”

Max dropped to his knees, staring at the H-beam Support that had been holding up the retaining wall, tears streaming down his face.

The river’s pressure traced down the H-beam and dispersed into the ground beneath.

Above it, the retaining wall Gangjun had woven from fieldstone and branches stood firm. The rapids battered the stone dam, but as the current slipped through the gaps between rock and wood, it shed its destructive force naturally.

The rain tapered off, and sunlight began pouring through the breaking clouds. Gangjun looked down at the retaining wall and swept the wet hair from his forehead.

Then an alarm shrieked in Gangjun’s mind.

Ding-! Ding-ding-!!!

[Hidden Quest: ‘Repair the Shattered Shield’ — Perfect Clear!!!]
[Result Rating: SSS+ Grade (Miracle in Time)]

[The System is astonished! How could you repair the retaining wall so flawlessly in such a short span?]
[The great God of Architecture trembles with awe at your command of the site and your ingenuity, offering his applause!]

Golden messages blazed before his eyes.

[Level Up! Agent Level rises from Lv.4 to Lv.6!]
[Stat Bonus: Precision +5, Durability Assessment +10.]

Brilliant light flashed.

The fatigue drained from his entire body, and strength surged through him. But the real reward came separately.

[Special Hidden Reward Skill Unlocked!]
[Skill Acquired: Ruler’s Blueprint (Lv.1)!]
▶ Effect: When you gaze upon a construction site within your field of vision, the System projects the optimal masterplan for rebuilding that area as a holographic blueprint.
▶ Secondary Effect: The quantities of materials needed, required budget, work flow, and number of personnel are provided in real time.
▶ System Hint: You now possess the eye of a Master Builder who commands hundreds of workers.

In an instant, Gangjun’s eyes flew open.

‘Ruler’s Blueprint?’

Gangjun slowly turned his gaze to survey the Old Town District sprawling beneath his feet.

Whoosh—!

Information flooded across his retinas. The quantity of timber needed to roof the collapsed structures, the cubic meters of asphalt for paving roads, the number and dispatch intervals of excavators and dump trucks. The construction timeline and optimal workflow materialized in his mind.

An estimate that would take dozens of engineers to calculate spilled out in a single glance.

‘With just this, I could manage even the largest project alone.’

Gangjun shook his head at the absurdity of the power.

Just then, Max, still on his knees and tearful, looked up at Gangjun and spoke.

“This… this is a miracle! A miracle! But you… what exactly are you?”

“For now, let’s say I’m a genius construction worker.”

And so the confrontation with Blackwood Construction ended in Gangjun’s complete victory.

* * *

A few hours later.
Pasadena City Hall, the Council Chairman’s office.

“What are you saying, Mayor Scott! You want to hand full authority for the Old Town District disaster recovery to some local construction company?!”

Richard Hayes, chairman of the Pasadena City Council, slammed his fist on the desk—a picture-perfect embodiment of a greedy old politician.

The lobbying money he’d pocketed from Blackwood Construction must have been staggering.

“It’s madness! We need to build temporary housing for the displaced immediately and lay down roads. Where else could we get all those dump trucks and excavators if not from Blackwood? This isn’t some sandbox game!”

Despite Richard’s shouting, Mayor Scott calmly tossed a document envelope onto the table.

“It’s not unreasonable, Chairman. Look at these photographs first.”

Richard opened the envelope and pulled out the photos. His pupils dilated as he leafed through them.

They were drone photographs from yesterday afternoon showing Blackwood’s substandard construction site. The retaining wall’s foundation—the section Gangjun had demolished with his crowbar—showed groundwater bursting through in stark, undeniable detail.

“Blackwood poured concrete on marshland without even compacting the base. If that ‘local construction company’ hadn’t stepped in to reinforce the wall, Pasadena’s Old Town District would have been underwater by this morning.”

The mayor leaned forward, speaking deliberately.

“Chairman Hayes. What do you think will happen when these photos reach the media? When citizens learn that Blackwood nearly killed them all?
And when that blame arrow points directly at you—someone who maintains close ties with Blackwood?”

“Ugh… Are you threatening me?!”

Cold sweat rolled down Richard’s forehead.

“Not a threat—a proposal. Public opinion is always hungriest for a hero when things look darkest.”

The mayor’s eyes gleamed.

“A major corporation’s shoddy construction nearly flooded our city, but a small local firm used superior technique to prevent disaster. The city government promises major support to that firm and entrusts it with urban reconstruction.”

The Underdog Victory narrative that Americans adore.

The moment this story hits the news, citizens will cheer—and Mayor Scott’s approval ratings will soar.

“But the equipment! That company doesn’t have equipment!”

“Special Clause Article 4 Section B—Emergency Disaster Response. When lives and property face direct threat, the city government can requisition local construction equipment or mandate subcontracting.”

The mayor smiled like he’d just landed the decisive blow.

“We force Blackwood into the Old Town District recovery consortium—not as the general contractor, but as a subcontractor providing equipment and labor. Think of it as the price of their absolution for faulty construction.”

It was flawless logic. Richard stared blankly, his gaze shuttling between the photographs and the mayor, then sighed and signed the contract.

Shortly after, in the Pasadena City Hall VIP Reception Room.

Three men sat facing each other across a solid wood table: Choi Gangjun, Leo, and Mayor Scott.

“Oh… my… Jesus….”

Leo Spencer, immaculate in his tailored suit, covered his mouth in shock. His eyes remained fixed on the numbers written in the contract.

“Fifty million dollars in total construction costs…? Fifty million dollars?! How many zeros are on this thing?!”

Roughly 65 billion won in Korean currency. The contract covered Phase One emergency restoration: repairs to roughly 150 wooden homes in Pasadena Old Town District, reconstruction of destroyed river infrastructure, and road rebuilding.

“Calm yourself, Leo. You’ve read it correctly.”

Mayor Scott smiled and slid the coffee cup toward Leo.

“Don’t be too shocked. Depending on the scale of damage, the construction costs could climb to as much as one hundred million dollars.”

While Leo spiraled into panic, Gangjun studied the contract with meticulous care. His eyes lingered not on the construction costs but on the special clauses written at the bottom of the document.

[Special Clause Article 1. Golden Gate is designated as the primary contractor for the restoration project. Blackwood Construction, bearing responsibility for substandard work, shall provide all heavy equipment and personnel under the primary contractor’s control via subcontracting arrangements.]
[Special Clause Article 2. Given the emergency disaster status, submission of performance bond insurance certificates is waived, and the city shall advance payment of twenty million dollars immediately.]

Gangjun let out a soft laugh, his gaze fixed on the mayor.

“You’ve been clever, haven’t you, Mr. Mayor?”

“Ha ha. Compared to the miracle you’ve shown us, it’s nothing at all.”

The mayor straightened in his seat, his expression growing serious.

“You saved this city. My political future… I’m placing it in your hands.”

Mayor Scott extended his fountain pen.

Gangjun, as site manager, signed the contract. Leo, his hand trembling, completed his signature in the representative’s box. The moment the ink bled across the paper—

Ding-! Ding-dinggg-!!!

The chime rang out once more in Gangjun’s mind.

[Main Quest: “Savior of Disaster, or Predator” has been completed perfectly!]
[You have acquired total oversight and construction authority for a mega-scale project, ascending as a true master builder.]

[Reward: “Mark of Authority” is bestowed upon the Agent.]
▶ Effect: So long as you hold the position of supervisor, every worker of any company shall obey your commands without question.

Then came another message.

[Hidden condition fulfilled.]
[The God of Architecture has taken interest in the Agent’s trajectory.]
[Special privilege activated: You are granted the right to pose a single question to the god.]

Gangjun stared at the message window hovering in empty space, muttering to himself.

‘I’ll save the question for later. First, I need to clear the board in front of me.’

Mayor Scott unfolded a map of Pasadena Old Town District across the table. The hearty smile that had played across his face moments before gave way to shadow.

“The situation remains critical by the minute. The weather service still believes the rain clouds haven’t dispersed.”

Gangjun and Leo nodded, listening intently to what the mayor had to say.

“The most urgent area is Elm Street and its vicinity. As you know, it’s densely packed with aging wooden homes.”

When the mayor turned on the television set mounted on the wall, an aerial photograph appeared—roofs torn away in heartbreaking devastation.

“We estimate approximately one hundred fifty homes have sustained damage, Mr. Choi. I’d appreciate it if you could mobilize Blackwood Construction’s equipment right now and begin the repairs.”

Choi Gangjun and Leo exchanged glances and grinned wickedly at each other.

Choi Gangjun set down the fountain pen in his hand on the table and spoke with unwavering conviction.

“Absolutely. Roof repair is precisely our specialty.”

A Genius Laborer Goes to America — Episode 14

Author
Kalman
Publisher
Titan
Planning / Editing / Production
Yi Sung-guk
Cover Design
Studio Inus

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260819030.0014

ⓒ2026, Kalman

※ This e-book is a work protected under the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or all of the contents of this work may be reprocessed in any form without the permission of the author and publisher.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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