Creation Talent
“If the Soul Stone is such an important item, why give it to me so soon?”
Kim Jihun voiced his curiosity. It was definitely strange. He could handle creation, but he was still just a low-level god. Sure, thanks to the divine power essence, he'd soon rise to mid-level god, but bluntly speaking, even with the Soul Stone, he didn't know how to use it. His current level was just barely dipping his toes into biocreation. Asrie grinned at Kim Jihun and said,
“Now you can properly begin biocreation, Jihun.”
“Huh?”
Asrie had thrown that out of nowhere. Properly beginning biocreation—what did that make everything he'd done so far? Asrie's voice continued.
“Truth is, the biocreation you learned was just a taste. Bioccreation without a soul is nothing more than medical treatment. It's hard to call it true divine creation.”
Kim Jihun had definitely felt that. He'd imagined biocreation meant crafting new life, but the quests he'd done were just simple things like healing wounds or improving health. No matter how much he practiced biocreation, he couldn't progress beyond that—and the reason was right here.
The Soul Stone. That was the key factor enabling true biocreation.
Asrie told Kim Jihun,
“Someday, you'll create your own subordinate intelligent beings. This Soul Stone is for that day.”
With those words, she handed him a book. It was his precious possession, the one he knew well: the Creator God Manual.
Kim Jihun looked at Asrie curiously as she offered it. She informed him of what she'd done.
“I've updated the quests in this Creator God Manual. Once you reach mid-level god, give it a try. With the Soul Stone, you can now enter true biocreation.”
Kim Jihun took the Creator God Manual from Asrie and opened it. New text appeared at the top of the pages, text that hadn't been there before.
Chapter 2 - Biocreaton (ver2)
Notice: Your divinity has not reached the required level, so you cannot enter yet.
Seeing the text, Kim Jihun let out a hollow chuckle for entirely different reasons. Ver2? Asrie must have played all sorts of games. How else would she add game elements to the Creator God Manual like this?
Is Asrie a gaming otaku, maybe?
Entertaining that silly thought, Jihun stared at the text. Asrie explained again.
“True creation requires a lot of divine power. Material creation mainly consumes Creation Force, but biocreation needs Creation Force, divine power, and the Soul Stone's power.”
In other words, his divine power was insufficient right now. Listening to her, Kim Jihun resolved to consume the divine power essence as soon as his body recovered.
...
The watch Kim Jihun designed, P.B's Series K, sold like hotcakes. People were moved by the mysterious, delicate design they'd never seen before and raved over the flawless movement inside. Of course, Kim Jihun's watches cost 100 million won—a steep price. But they were so perfect and beautiful that rivals were hard to find. That's why even as luxury items, they flew off the shelves.
Thanks to that, the atmosphere at P.B lately was fantastic.
“The third pre-order batch filled up in no time!”
“No way, it's our best-seller ever?”
“The chairman really brought us an amazing talent.”
“His eye for people is spot on, as always.”
Every day at P.B felt like a flower garden. Watches sold well, revenue kept climbing. The gloomy vibe before Series K's launch seemed like a lie—everyone's faces were bright.
The P.B staff all felt grateful to Kim Jihun. How could they not? He'd saved their jobs from the brink of ruin. So, talk began among the employees about giving him better treatment.
“Without Kim Jihun's design, we'd have gone under.”
“He saved P.B, this historic company!”
“Instead of treating him like some no-name freelancer, shouldn't we give him an honorary title at least? Sure, he's in Korea, so we won't see his face much, but we should show the company appreciates him.”
The staff wanted to do something for Kim Jihun. But he was far away in Korea, making it hard to meet or reward him properly. That's where the idea of an honorary position came in. No real authority, but it expressed the company's gratitude—and the recipient got a fancy title to feel good about, plus a hefty bonus.
P.B's chairman, Camiel, smiled in satisfaction at his employees' suggestion and approved it.
“Haha, indeed. I've felt a bit off treating such talent like a mere freelancer without a title. Promote him to honorary vice-head of the design department and give him a proper bonus.”
He, too, was deeply thankful to Kim Jihun. This was his way of showing it. In the end, Kim Jihun's name was added to the honorary vice-head position in P.B's design department. Of course, he'd learn about it much later.
...
“I heard the news.”
A beauty with red hair said that. She was Kanna, the high creation god with a passionate allure. She continued to Asrie.
Asrie looked at Kanna curiously.
“What news?”
“What else? The Soul Stone.”
Kanna had learned through rumors in the divine realm that Kim Jihun had acquired a Soul Stone. She'd rushed to Asrie's realm to meet her upon hearing it.
Kanna gave Asrie a meaningful smile.
“You haven't forgotten our old promise, right? When Kim Jihun grows enough, we'll grant him his own divine realm and let him create one like Earth.”
Back when Kim Jihun's Creation Talent became known, the gods had pledged full support to Asrie's realm. It wasn't much—just providing divine power to create another planet where intelligent beings could think freely, like Earth. And the one chosen to create and manage it was the rising star, Kim Jihun.
But back then, Kim Jihun was a fledgling low-level god, his abilities woefully inadequate. So the gods consulted with Asrie: if Kim Jihun proved himself a true Creator God, he'd get to make such a planet.
And now, he'd obtained a Soul Stone. It was like a license granting a Creator God the right to handle souls. Receiving it meant full recognition as a Creator God in divine society.
In short, the gods acknowledged Kim Jihun as a Creator God—even as just a low-level one. They must have seen his potential.
But Asrie still saw his abilities as lacking. Naturally so. He couldn't even do biocreation properly, let alone creation of heaven and earth.
So she refused.
“No. Kim Jihun's still a low-level god and can only do material creation. Giving him too much power now would disrupt his growth. We need to wait longer.”
To become a true Creator God, one needed mastery of various creations: material, bio, heaven and earth, space, time. All five chapters perfected—that made a true Creator God.
Kim Jihun was barely at the start of Chapter 2, biocreation. Entrusting a world to him now was too much. He needed to grow more, learn creation seriously, build his power.
So Asrie firmly rejected Kanna's urging. Kanna smacked her lips at Asrie's stubbornness.
“Fine, then. But try to move things along quickly. 'Above' has high expectations for Kim Jihun's potential.”
Kim Jihun was in the spotlight. A mortal-born with Creation Talent, reaching low-level god on his own, fighting the Void despite being a low-level god. 'Above' couldn't ignore that.
“I'll come back next time.”
With that, Kanna opened her dimensional gate and vanished. Asrie sighed, gazing where Kanna had disappeared.
“It's not time yet. Kim Jihun lacks the ability and experience to build his own divine realm.”
She planned to let him receive the gods' support once he grew appropriately. But now was too soon. He was diligent, but his experience was sorely lacking. A mortal who'd lived barely 20 years?
So Asrie had no intention of hasty support until he matured properly. He needed experience more than raw power right now.
“Still, I'm glad he's doing better than I expected.”
On that note, Asrie felt proud. Kim Jihun getting the Soul Stone already proved it. She'd never imagined he'd fight the Void so bravely—a low-level god delaying Ma-shin and repelling demonic beasts? Impressive by any measure. That's why he'd received the Soul Stone despite his rank.
“Grow quickly, Kim Jihun. You're expected to do more than you think.”
Asrie murmured that, continuing to watch over him.
...
The Boundary. The silent space where existence and non-existence mingled began to ripple. Soon, an enormous wave of Void energy poured out. The universe's fabric shook, dimensions vibrated. Overwhelmed by the sheer power of the Void.
From that intense force, someone emerged.
—...
It was Alquinoa. But not the ordinary one. Her black wings were darker, like vantablack, and tiny black flames flickered around her eyes. Transformed thus, she was Alquinoa who had consumed the Void's essence.
She was en route to carry out one of Grasut's orders.
—Kim Jihun, capture alive.
She spoke in short bursts. The Void's essence had eroded her reason, preventing coherent thought. Her target: Kim Jihun. Capture him alive, bring him back, or erode him with Void to turn him ally—that was Grasut's command.
—Going.
As she muttered, hundreds of shadowy figures appeared behind her. Dark humans made of black shadows. Ma-in. Mock lifeforms born of the same Void power, but leagues above demonic beasts. The Void used was far purer, making them vastly stronger.
She took a step forward. The ma-in followed. Ma-shin clan Alquinoa and hundreds of ma-in headed toward a distant galaxy's planet: Earth.