The Genius Construction Worker Who Moved to America - Chapter 33

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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 33

Laying the Foundation

Pasadena 1,248 Address.

Trickle, trickle-splash.

Water flowed down from the mountainside at a 1:1500 grade, gathering into a pond that caught the starlight above. The reflected glow rippled across the surface.

Crackle, crackle-pop.

Five figures sat gathered around a bonfire in the center of the yard.
Each one cradled a canned beer or whiskey glass, listening to the wood burn down.

Unlike the raucous celebration at the pub, tonight’s gathering was subdued. Yet what they had accomplished was anything but small.

They had pulled Pasadena back from the brink of flooding and brought Blackwood Construction crashing down in spectacular fashion.

“Ahem!”

Leo rose from his seat with a few theatrical coughs.

“Now, if I may have your attention, everyone! I’ve been studying a bit of Korean culture—you know, from our Mister Choi’s homeland. In Korea, they say that when these gatherings begin, the highest-ranking person offers the first toast!”

He threw a wink toward Kang Joon.

“So then—our Golden Gate Corporation’s finest technician and the hero of the Old Town District! Mister Choi! A few words, if you would!”

Kang Joon let out a dry laugh.

‘Of all things—giving a toast in America. Leo’s really outdone himself this time.’

Any other day, he would have groaned. But not tonight.

He’d cleared the disaster recovery project at SSS++ Rank and claimed the golden land beneath his feet.
There was no dampening his mood today.

Kang Joon rose, swirling his whiskey glass. The bonfire caught the line of his jaw.

He steadied his breath, then spoke.

“You’ve all worked hard.”

His first words cut through the night air.

“There’s been so much. We poured quicklime into the mudflats, tore down the bridge, and floated pontoons above it. None of it would have been possible without each of you.”

Genuine praise continued from Kang Joon.
Leo’s eyes reddened with sentiment, while Sofia simply nodded in silence.

“But I hope,” he continued, “that your labor doesn’t end here.”

“…I’m sorry?”

Leo stared at him, stunned. Even Dominic, who’d been grilling meat, set down his tongs.

The construction was finished—but the work wasn’t over?
Isn’t it about time to collect the reward and take a vacation?

While everyone exchanged puzzled glances, Kang Joon smiled and continued.

“Are you satisfied with just repairing a few roofs in Pasadena?”

Kang Joon raised the glass he’d been holding high into the air.

“Now, let’s expand the operation. Not as a neighborhood construction company, but as Golden Gate Corporation!”

Golden Gate Corporation!
It was the first step in fulfilling the Linked Quest the system had given him: Lay the Foundation of an Empire.

“Come now, let’s toast to our new beginning!”

A strange thrill rippled through the circle around the campfire at Kang Joon’s proposal.

Leo was the first to clink his glass. Sofia and Max followed, then Dominic’s glass joined the circle.

“To that end!”

“Cheers!!”

With a clear, ringing clink, everyone drained their glasses.

A moment of silence settled over them.
Leo, having wet his throat, posed a practical question.

“Ahh. Excellent—Golden Gate Corporation. Just hearing the name stirs the heart! But then….”

Leo continued, his eyes clouded with concern.

“Can we really manage it without a proper office? The site office we’re using now has to be vacated by next week.”

Sofia nodded in agreement, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

“Leo’s right. To formally register the corporation and secure proper construction contracts, we need a legitimate headquarters address to establish the company’s credibility.”

Kang Joon swept his arms wide, as if to dismiss their concerns outright.

“You need a headquarters, is that it? The beginning of Golden Gate Corporation will be right here.”

He rose slightly on his toes and tapped the ground beneath his feet.

On this patch of golden earth, Kang Joon intended to establish the headquarters of Golden Gate Corporation—a forward base for the hot spring resort development project.

“Here? You mean to demolish this house and build a new structure?”

Sofia asked, her eyes wide with surprise. Kang Joon answered with a silent nod.

Then Kang Joon lobbed a bombshell statement.

“Also, I’m thinking of hiring more staff to match the company’s scale.”

“More? New hires? Who exactly….”

Before Leo could even finish the question, Kang Joon’s gaze fixed on one man—the one across the campfire, carving into a steak.

“Max.”

At Kang Joon’s summons, Max looked up with a start.

“Submit your resignation tomorrow. And join us.”

“…!”

An utterly unexpected offer. Max could hardly trust his own ears.

Kang Joon continued, his expression resolute.

“Your vision is wasted working at Blackwood, never knowing when they’ll cast you aside.”

It was a word that struck home.

Just days ago, Max had witnessed firsthand the ugly true colors of Julian and Reynolds.

Yet Blackwood was one of California’s largest corporations. When salary and stability hung in the balance, resigning was no simple matter. His hesitation lingered.

But then.

‘That’s right. With this man, I could actually build real buildings.’

Max steeled his resolve, seized the whiskey bottle on the table, and tilted it straight into his mouth.

“Ahhh…!”

The burning liquor blazed down his throat.
Max wiped his lips and looked up at Kang Joon.

“What the hell. Let’s do it! My last job will be with Mister Kang!”

“Welcome aboard, Director Max.”

The two men clasped hands.

Now they had assembled: Leo, the resourceful president; Sofia, the financial manager; Dominic, their well-connected ally; and Max, the seasoned veteran to command the site.

The Golden Gate Corporation Avengers were born.

* * *

Days later.
Under Kang Joon’s direction, the corporate registration moved forward without a hitch.

At the current Golden Gate office, Sofia placed a stack of documents she’d prepared through the night on her desk.

“Director. I’ve completed the Articles of Incorporation, the registration with the California Secretary of State, the IRS identification number application—everything. Capital contribution is finalized.”

Kang Joon’s official title had become “Director.”

Concern clouded Sofia’s face as she continued her report.

“But Director, about the headquarters address. Are you really certain about the Pasadena 1,248 Address?”

Sofia pointed to a page in the documents.

“That property is in a residential-only zone. To build a corporate headquarters, you’ll need a zoning change permit from City Hall. And there’s still an old house standing on the lot….”

It was a shame to see the house where she’d spent her childhood demolished, but she could bear it for the company’s sake.

But it made no sense to register a standing residential house as the company headquarters right away.

Kang Joon nodded without hesitation.

“Scott will handle the zoning change permit. Have you forgotten that we’re the unsung heroes of this Old Town District restoration? And if it’s a building issue….”

He continued with a meaningful smile.

“Set the groundbreaking ceremony date. Everything will be resolved that day.”

* * *

Days later, in front of Pasadena 1,248 Address.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the headquarters of Golden Gate Corporation was underway.

To celebrate this auspicious occasion, Mayor Scott showed his loyalty by setting aside his official title and taking a seat as an ordinary citizen.

Besides him, some twenty guests including Chairman Brown of the Self-Government Committee had gathered in the yard.

Yet bewilderment was plain on every face.

“Mayor… is this really a groundbreaking ceremony?”

Chairman Brown whispered to Mayor Scott.

“Usually at a groundbreaking, don’t they turn the first shovelful of earth on vacant land? But that old house over there…. What exactly is this?”

Mayor Scott could not dispel his own doubts.

“Quite right. But Mister Choi is such an unusual fellow…. I’m sure he has something in mind.”

Murmurs rippled through the yard.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Your attention, please!”

Dominic’s voice rang out, commanding the crowd’s focus.

Hard hats were stacked along one of his arms. He approached the guests and distributed them one by one as he spoke.

“Please put on the hard hats I’ve provided, and stay at least three meters behind the control line I’ve marked! Under no circumstances should you cross this line!”

The guests murmured and shuffled backward.

Then Kang Joon approached the main support pillar of the house.

In his hand, oddly at odds with his immaculate suit, he held a single Hand Axe.

Leo, watching this sight unfold, could contain himself no longer and shouted toward Kang Joon.

“Wait, Mister Choi! You’re really going to demolish that roof we spent several nights building on top? Doesn’t it bother you at all?”

Kang Joon flashed a grin at Leo.

“Not at all. There’s no better spot than this for Golden Gate’s headquarters.”

Turning back toward the pillar, Kang Joon fell silent, closing his eyes and then opening them.

[Skill Activation: Aesthetics of Destruction (Lv.1) is now available!]

Flash!

In that instant, Kang Joon’s eyes flooded with a deep crimson light.

The world that unfolded in his vision was transformed.

The skeleton, walls, and flow of weight through the two-story wooden house materialized before him like crimson veins pulsing with blood.

The Aesthetics of Destruction was a power that divined the building’s vulnerabilities and revealed the Destruction Points where its structure would shatter.

A game of Jenga played with a house as the medium.

The algorithm of chain reaction bloomed in Kang Joon’s mind—which wooden block removed would bring the entire structure crashing down.

Truth be told, Kang Joon had already been working inside the building for several days before the groundbreaking ceremony.

Following the trajectory that the Aesthetics of Destruction revealed, he had made delicate fractures with precise axe strikes beforehand.

Beneath its sound exterior, the building’s skeleton had become a time bomb waiting to detonate at the slightest touch.

And now, before Kang Joon’s eyes, the point where all these weights converged blazed red.

The base of the main support column—strike it with the precise angle and force, and the building would collapse of its own accord.

Kang Joon adjusted his grip on the Hand Axe.
He signaled to Leo, standing at a distance, with a sharp tilt of his chin.

Leo raised the megaphone to his mouth and called out.

“Well then! We now begin the ceremonial first strike—not the first shovel, but the first axe blow—to commemorate the groundbreaking of Golden Gate Corporation’s headquarters! Countdown!”

“Three! Two! One! Go!”

The moment the count ended, Kang Joon’s feet drove into the earth, his hips and shoulders rotating in sequence.

The Artisan’s Grip Strength activated, multiplying the pressure transmitted through the axe handle several times over.

Crack!!

The fracture spreading from the main column shot across the first-floor ceiling, up the second-floor walls, and into the roof trusses in an instant.

The algorithm of collapse that Kang Joon had calculated in advance worked flawlessly.

The building, unable to bear its own weight, began to implode inward toward the center.

Crunch-crunch-crunch! Boom!!

With a deafening roar, dust erupted upward.

“Aieeeeee!”

“Get down!!”

The attendees instinctively covered their heads and crouched to the ground.

Not a single splinter of wood, not a fragment of glass, crossed the containment line Dominic had drawn.

With nothing but a Hand Axe, Kang Joon had demonstrated the Controlled Implosion Method—a technique only professional demolition experts could execute.

It was the shock of watching a blockbuster movie scene unfold, except there was no comfortable theater seat between them and reality.

As the dust settled, the guests cautiously lifted their heads.

“Cough, cough! What on earth is—”

The house that had stood perfectly intact just one minute before had been completely dismantled.

Destruction perfected into art.

Through the cloud of dust, Kang Joon emerged in his black suit.

He retrieved the shovel with the ribbon attached from where it had been propped to one side, then raised it high toward the sky.

“Well then, shall we begin the real groundbreaking ceremony?”

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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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