The Cyber Realm's Panic

The Spirit Realm was engulfed in war. Yet the scene unfolding there had thrown one particular faction into complete chaos.

The Cyber Realm, which never ceased its tireless surveillance and management of the Mercenary Gods under the pretext of “providing support,” was now in an uproar.

“What the hell is going on? Why have ten of the highest-ranking Lord Gods appeared out of nowhere? And their Karma is ‘Evil’—! If those lunatics start rampaging, an entire regional universe will vanish in the blink of an eye.”

“Assign administrators immediately! Prepare the Mercenary Gods—!”

“All the Spirit God Emperors who rebelled in the 499th Master Universe have restored their bodies beyond their original capabilities. This has been confirmed as the authority of the Dimensional Lord Candidate.”

“What—! Is something like that even possible for a mere Creator Candidate? Analyze the exact authority right now—!”

“It is sorcery. A dual application of Reality Denial combined with creative power was used to reconstruct and bestow their bodies. It appears to be a temporary Reality Denial effect.”

“Temporary? That’s a relief. A tremendous relief.”

Only after confirming the phenomenon originated from sorcery did the atmosphere in the Cyber Realm calm slightly. They let out a collective sigh.

Beings above the Lord God rank—those possessing over one billion divine power and at least 10-Circle authority—could destroy planets with ease. If they began annihilating planets at will, the potential of a Master Universe would plummet, leading not to progress but to regression.

The eight Absolute Beings who once ruled the Absolute Realm, along with the two Transcendentals known as the Gray Sage and the Symbol of Power, had all fought him and been defeated. They had died.

The sole mission assigned to the forces that would later be called the Cyber Realm was simple: Maintain the development of the worlds.

It was the fate given to his direct subordinates in place of execution.

“My goal is endless prosperity for the sake of eternal happiness. Therefore, assist the other Master Universes to the best of your ability. You are also members of the Absolute Realm I created and fragments of my memories, so I shall impose neither disposal nor special restrictions. From now on, relinquish your power and live only as indirect supporters. However… if development ever halts because of your direct interference, every single person involved will be converted into Substitute Gods and recycled. That is the price those who challenged me and yet received forgiveness must pay.”

The tone of that declaration still sent shivers down their spines.

It was an order to abandon all the authority they had enjoyed in the Absolute Realm and live in service. Yet no one dared raise an objection or voice dissent. They could only bow their heads in acceptance.

There was no being capable of opposing him—the one who, after countless attempts, had triumphed over the combined assault of eight Absolute Beings and two Transcendentals, each capable of annihilating even a Creator.

After that, they were placed under the direct management of the Cyber Planet Idea, came to be known as the Cyber Realm, and devoted all their efforts to managing his domain.

They had struggled desperately to keep up as he subjugated the Master Universe Creators and his administrative territory expanded without end. They had come this far.

They had operated the ever-increasing numbers of Substitute Gods and Mercenary Gods who had been defeated or disposed of by him, pouring every ounce of their strength into managing and developing the universes.

Four hundred billion years had passed in what felt like the blink of an eye, yet they had never felt more strained than they did lately.

It was all because the Creator of the 499th Master Universe refused to accept his utterly hollow defeat after leading every faction against him. He continued to challenge endlessly.

Worse, in order to strengthen the Creator’s abilities, he had transformed the Master Universe itself into a far more brutal “strongest-first” system—far harsher than even the Cyber Realm’s development-first management—and was pushing forward without regard for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠any sacrifice.

He ignored even the checks and ostracism from the other Creators.

In the middle of that hellish war, the appearance of transcendentals and powerhouses resembling carnivorous beasts had given the Cyber Realm a headache severe enough to kill them.

The biggest problem was that these beings had grown so brutally that they treated most trials as everyday occurrences, laughing as they passed them by. There was almost nothing that could be adjusted indirectly.

Moreover, their base abilities were so high and their personalities so savage that the line between gods and demons had blurred. The realm overflowed with battle gods indistinguishable from one another.

“No one could have predicted that survival instinct would lead them to form an alliance with their mortal enemies, the demon race, granting them military strength comparable to the Substitute Gods.”

Because of this, the slightest lapse in vigilance caused dozens of planets to vanish and tens of trillions of intelligent lifeforms to be extinguished.

“If they were simply killing, we could at least mobilize the Absolute Realm. But the gods are increasing life beyond that, so we cannot intervene.”

“At this rate, they will even create planets like Main God Stars—which possess over a hundred times the vitality of ordinary planets—and widen the gap with other Master Universes to an insane degree.”

Up to that point, it was an astonishing achievement worthy of applause. The problem was that the development had gone too far.

The endless development and expansion of the Absolute Realm, led by the Substitute Gods, had come to a halt precisely because of that 499th Master Universe.

And now they were even plotting an unprecedented full-scale war between Master Universes.

No matter how wide the gap had grown, the potential of every Master Universe was equal. A great war between Creator Generals and Creator Gods—who ruled in place of Creators—had no precedent. The scale of damage was impossible to estimate.

No one could predict what phenomena or powerhouses might emerge once a crisis erupted.

Of course, Sangharama—also known as Garam—who had already created a Main God Star and stood at the pinnacle of the Absolute Realm’s administrators, would never be unaware of this. He was making thorough preparations. Yet even he could not prevent massive casualties.

“According to Idea, the Cyber Planet, if a full-scale war between Master Universes breaks out, at least half of the 500th Master Universe will be annihilated.”

Everyone fell into despair at that report.

Destruction for the sake of development was tolerated. But if that destruction went too far and development halted for the sake of restoration, every administrator of the 499th Master Universe was scheduled to be converted into Substitute Gods.

The senior Cyber Gods who knew this fact felt as if their blood was drying up.

“From countless past examples, we know how foolish it is to try to induce ‘appropriate’ levels of destruction in the middle of an all-out war where everything is on the line.”

Once a full-scale war began, the gods and demon gods of the 499th Master Universe—who had already far surpassed ordinary standards—would go all out to secure vitality and territory for growth. Naturally, the 500th Master Universe would fight back with equal desperation. No mediation would work. Total devastation would follow.

In that case, the horrific future in which they all became Substitute Gods could not be avoided.

That was why the mediating Cyber Realm could not hide its bleak mood and was running around frantically to prevent the conflict from expanding.

Yet ten of the highest-ranking Lord Gods—beings capable of shifting the tide of the war—had suddenly appeared in the Spirit Realm where the preliminary battle was taking place. The moment their Karma alignment was confirmed as “Evil,” the entire Cyber Realm flipped upside down.

And the one displaying such authority was not even a Creator God, but merely a Creator Candidate.

“The Dimensional Lord Candidate has been identified as one of the Absolute Beings bearing the title ‘Origin.’”

“Even an Absolute Being with a title should not be capable of this.”

“Reconfirm with maximum precision. Rewind and reexamine the subject’s entire past if necessary—!”

“Reviving a Spirit God King to Lord God rank, even temporarily, is not something that can be done by someone who merely received help and grew. It is not an authority that can be exercised by one who did not seize it on his own battlefield.”

On the giant screen, the past of the Dimensional Lord began to rewind at terrifying speed.

But the moment it reached the point where he withdrew his dimensional authority in the Spirit Realm and revealed himself, the footage suddenly warped.

Crackle—! Crackle—!

Noise and errors began appearing all over the image. Shocked and furious voices burst out simultaneously.

“What is this—! Why are there gaps?”

“Because the authority is ‘Dimension,’ records of life within independently constructed worlds cannot be captured. Most of his life was spent in dimensional junction zones, which causes severe interference. This is why we had so little analysis data.”

“I will do it myself.”

In the end, a senior Cyber God stepped forward. Only after expanding the scope to include not just the Master Universe but all related sectors did the noise begin to fade.

Yet even a senior Cyber God could not fully observe zones that existed in completely different dimensions. Still, they canceled the search for those impossible areas and rewound. Additional information was extracted.

The screen, now precisely re-rendered by a senior Cyber God’s authority, was enough to send shivers down their spines.

Once the analysis reached this point, the full title was finally revealed in its complete form.

From “Absolute Being who received the title of Origin” it became “Foolish yet courageous one who promised to pay three prices to him, received the true title of Origin, and currently has only an extremely small portion of its power activated.”

The highest-ranking Cyber God who had been staring fixedly at the screen shook his head and regained his composure.

There was only one meaning behind a true title of Origin.

“It is the main current of the title. Not a fine stream received from another, nor a tributary seized by force. It is the genuine article. It is the origin of the titles that only 108 beings across all worlds could possess—the same titles once held by the Hero Gods who shook the Absolute Realm in the distant past. Raise the management grade to Ultra-Special. I will report this directly to the Absolute Realm. Wait… what? These activation conditions?”

Even the highest-ranking Cyber God had been momentarily stunned by the revealed title. But upon seeing the three prices that had to be paid, he couldn’t help but blurt out:

“He’s insane. To set activation conditions like these? No wonder he looks like that. But how the hell is he still alive?”

The three prices required to activate a true title seemed, at first glance, like nothing at all.

Live longer than me. Become a being I can take pride in. Be of help to me.

They were far lighter than the “eternal loyalty” most higher beings demanded as payment for their help.

The problem was the standard by which they were measured.

“For a mayfly to live longer than a human is nothing. But for a human to live longer than a mayfly is utterly impossible.”

“He has transcended even the Creators. He has no lifespan. There is no being who can defeat him. Therefore, ‘eternity’ itself makes the price impossible to pay.”

“The same goes for becoming a being he can take pride in.”

Excluding himself—whose combat power could not even be measured—he was currently ranked first in the Absolute Realm. Even his successor, the Second Generation Wind Absolute Yuil Yongsinje, was constantly scolded for being too weak and beaten under ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the guise of training.

“The combat power of Yuil Yongsinje, whom he scolds, is enough to handle all the Creators by himself.”

“So on what basis did he set the condition of becoming the pride of someone who believes only in strength?”

The last condition was even more absurd.

“What help could he possibly need? If he wished, he could subdue every Master Universe in an instant. He is absurdly powerful.”

If his goal had been “eternal domination” rather than “eternal happiness,” the situation would have ended long ago.

The conclusion was clear.

Although he possessed a true title, unless those three conditions were fulfilled—which seemed impossible—the title could never activate fully. Only the partial authority granted by the currently active fragment of the title could be used.

A sense of futility washed over them.

“Ridiculous. He’s like an ant carrying a mountain of treasure he can neither use nor bear, yet he’s still alive. I don’t know how he endures that burden, but it’s almost pitiful. Cancel the Ultra-Special management grade. Raise it to Highest Grade instead. Send field management agents to provide support. If he somehow survives to the end and develops even a little further, he could become incomparably powerful.”

“Understood—!”

As he listened to the Cyber God’s reply, a rare chuckle escaped him. The words attached to the end of the title were simply too funny.

“Pfft—! To be evaluated as a ‘foolish yet courageous one’ despite possessing a true title? It reminds me of the story of those who challenged the impossible and made it possible.”

The duel between him, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eight Absolute Beings, and the two Transcendentals had taken place long after the subjugation of the Absolute Realm. It was a myth from a distant era, unrelated to an ordinary Cyber God like himself who had been born much later.

“The eight most noble and powerful Absolute Beings and two Transcendentals challenged a maddened Creator even as they destroyed themselves, and they won. At first it was ridiculed, but they survived until the end and emerged victorious. They became the immortal legend of the Absolute Realm and the origin of his power.”

If not for them, he himself would not exist.

Watching the Dimensional Lord Candidate on the screen completely heal the blood flowing from his forehead and begin to move, the highest-ranking Cyber God quietly sent his support.

“I pray you survive until the very end and succeed. It will be absolutely impossible, but I wish for you to become the Creator of a new 1,000th Master Universe. We, who have been fated to manage endless development, need more Master Universes as well. If development stops, we too will be recycled into Substitute Gods.”