Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Part 1 - 2 (11)
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The evening of day 13.
I paused my training in the meadow and turned my gaze toward the entrance to Zone 2.
Far off at the forest entrance, I sensed faint lights accompanied by signs of people.
It was Siron, along with the managers he led.
Almost the moment I spotted them, they noticed me as well.
Like dogs spotting their master, they all came rushing toward me at once.
Siron arrived first, as expected.
He bowed deeply before me without even catching his breath.
"Lord Oheon. We've gathered all the item materials and spoils."
The other managers who arrived right behind him bowed in unison, as if by prior agreement.
They promptly emptied dozens of item materials and spoils from their inventories, almost boastfully.
I didn't respond to Siron.
I simply swept all the piled-up resources into my own inventory.
And Siron's subsequent report was concise.
Today's hunt results, the newbies' movements, the current atmosphere in the dimension.
According to the report, everything was proceeding smoothly without issue.
While listening to the report, I scanned the managers' faces.
Their eyes held fatigue mingled with a faint sense of accomplishment.
Siron alone had a different glint in his eyes.
His gaze mixed fear with ambition, eager to prove his worth through this chance.
As if they would do nothing without my command, they quietly awaited my next order.
Satisfied with their reactions, I turned away as if there was no more business.
Siron's group returned to the village, leaving me alone in the meadow once more.
Today's item recovery operation held great significance.
Until yesterday, I had to handle the spoils myself, but now these guys could do it for me.
Time savings. That was one key purpose of their existence.
Which was why I'd long since abandoned any thought of feeding Siron an elite quest.
Siron still couldn't hunt elite goblins alone; I'd have to help him complete it anyway.
Better to spend that time training instead.
I pondered once more the manager system Siron had proposed.
'Managers—my hands and feet, moving on my behalf from here on.'
'This dimension's vast resources will flow to me through their hands.'
In this way, a social structure unique to Dimension 64, distinct from other dimensions, was gradually taking shape.
An extreme society built solely for my personal gain.
I resumed my unfinished training.
But in a corner of my mind lingered the anxiety and impatience that had arisen after the hunt.
One of today's planned tasks hadn't gone as intended.
It was fulfilling the unlock condition for Zone 4.
Yet the system remained silent even now.
I'd half-expected this, but it was still disappointing.
For previous unlocks:
To go from Zone 1 to Zone 2, all monsters had to be cleared over a total of five days.
The same for Zone 2 to Zone 3.
But from day 9 to day 13:
I hadn't missed a single monster in Dimension 64 over those five days, yet Zone 4 hadn't unlocked.
This meant five days of hunting weren't enough to unlock Zone 4.
The system had always divided things in units of 5 or 10 up to now, so Zone 4 would require at least five more days of monsters.
For now, nothing took priority over unlocking Zone 4.
The main reason was that Zone 3's level was utterly mismatched with my strength.
It felt like invisible waste. My power was going to squander.
Before taking a short break, I opened my status window.
Checking the status window occasionally had become a habit.
Transcendence Lv.31 Trait: X Unique Ability: [Universal Resistance] Skills: [Domain 3rd Grade], [Demi-God Body 3rd Grade], [Grasp Complete 2nd Grade], [Precision Enhancement 2nd Grade], [Wave Strike 1st Grade], [Origin Absorption 1st Grade], [Divine Charge 2nd Grade], [King's Intimidation 1st Grade] (Item)
[Permanent Aftereffect: Body Fissure]
Growth is slowing today too.
The tower rewards and Zone 3 unlock had propelled otherworldly growth, but not anymore.
Daily EXP gains were even shrinking due to feeding the livestock, and Zone 4 still loomed five days away.
Of course, to other competitors, this growth so far would seem abnormal.
But I'm number one.
The top spot, where even a single mutant from any dimension could knock me down.
That's what number one is.
So I must always pursue abnormal growth.
It's a dangerous path, but long-term, losing first place would be even riskier.
To achieve steep growth now, buying the monster summon scroll seems best...
Impatience welled up from deep within.
It was then.
Zone 3 unlock conditions?
Some dimensions hadn't unlocked it yet?
Just moments ago, I'd been fretting over whether Zone 4 would unlock today, yet some dimension had only now met Zone 3 requirements.
But that was other dimensions' business. No need for it to ease my pressure.
Still, the gap felt a bit extreme.
I immediately scrolled through the notices.
...This is clearly a bailout for lower-rank users.
In the current situation where top rankers monopolize resources and widen the gap, it looked like the system's direct intervention to mitigate polarization.
But is the lottery truly random?
I suspected the system's intent. This deviated from its direction so far.
Perhaps it wasn't mere luck, but winners selected by system-defined criteria.
I opened the community window.
At the top of the board was already a new notice: [Today's Lottery Result].
I paid no more attention to their commotion, which seemed like nothing major.
For ordinary folk, this lottery might matter greatly, but I had more pressing concerns.
The newly added ranking restricted notice.
Previous ranking restricted notices:
The 1,000th place one mentioned villages expanding to cities upon Zone 5 unlock.
100th was the Transcendence Tournament.
10th covered Soul Origin and the Soul Shop.
Finally, the rank 1 restricted notice—visible only to me, and still active—revealed that only the qualified could return to Earth, while the rest would be erased.
Of course, it also included a 10-day waiting period and the option to return to the Transcendence World.
There had been crucial info back then. Hopefully this time too.
I headed straight to the [Ranking Restricted Notices] tab.
Beneath the existing notices, new entries appeared: [500th Notice], [50th Notice], [5th Notice].
Not updates to existing ones, but new notices in 5-unit increments.
Without hesitation, I checked the 500th notice first, then onward.
Unfortunately, the notice held info I already knew all too well.
The community's reaction wasn't much either. Top rankers who could see it had vaguely suspected as much.
I skimmed responses briefly, then checked the 50th notice, visible only to a select few rankers.
Special Dungeon?
I read on.
Special Dungeons were one-time instances that wouldn't respawn after clearing.
This implied superior rewards and a high chance of limited items.
Giving everyone a shot at discovering dungeons. Like the random lottery, it favored the lower ranks.
The system was shifting from a structure benefiting the strong to one offering chances to the weak.
Or perhaps it was predetermined all along.
As I pondered the notice further,
a post by a ranker who'd seen the 50th notice caught my eye.
The post by this ranker called Armor hinted at exploration's importance.
The comments wove sharp conflicts of interest.
Unlike the meaningless chatter from average users, rankers' posts and replies were worth reading.
I mulled over Special Dungeons from my own perspective for a moment.
This was another opportunity for me.
Opening Zone 5's gates before anyone else and claiming everything there.
While others formed parties to tackle dungeons, I could solo and take all rewards.
To that end, unlocking Zone 4 grew even more urgent.
I wanted to think further, but one unviewed notice remained.
Finally,
I checked the 5th ranking restricted notice.