Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Push to the Limit, Then Bolt to Ardenia
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Do as much as I can, and if it doesn't work, bolt to Ardenia.
That was my conclusion.
"Ah, no... That's just ridiculous...."
The beautiful woman with an intellectual look that suited her suit perfectly flailed about like a child. It was only natural.
'Because it's an absurd deal.'
In-game currency was ultimately just bits of data. Sure, the essence of pay-to-win games was buying those data bits with money, but that depended on the situation. It wasn't normal for a game company in crisis—especially one facing potential shutdown like now—to sell shares in the midst of a management dispute for diamonds.
It was something that could only happen in an extremely exceptional case like mine, where in-game abilities applied to reality.
"Is it possible?"
"No, really, you're okay with that? For 40 billion won's worth? If service ends, it'll just become worthless data bits."
"That's not like the representative of Nemesis."
After all, wasn't Nemesis the one that had raked in fortunes from those very data bits?
Sarang seemed to understand my point, composing her expression and responding in a serious tone.
"Normally... I'd be tempted but turn it down. Ten times 40 billion is 400 billion, and that much diamond could damage Revenge's in-game economy. It would stir up bad public opinion among users."
"So right now, it's possible."
"Right now... yes. It should be feasible. With Revenge users sharing fears of shutdown, public opinion won't sour too much. But immediate execution is tricky."
I pressed her on it.
"Why is that?"
"Because it conflicts with user agreements. Giving ten times value in charging violates fairness, so not only truth gods but justice gods would take notice. To prevent that, we need to announce this proposal first and that I've accepted the terms. Plus, we should make this option available to other users too."
The conclusion was that this wasn't a deal we could quietly hash out between us.
"Hmm. If I delete the diamonds, could I get more?"
"...."
Sarang made an incredulous face, like she was looking at a [real] madman. She stared at my face for a moment before shaking her head.
"We can't make that a condition. Buying items with versatile diamonds and deleting them is your choice alone, Jaeyeon-ssi. It's different from when we gave you deletion-only items."
"Hmm, and another thing."
"There's more?"
"It's 40 billion won in charging. We have to make it worth it."
With that, I made the proposal I'd prepared in advance.
"Add a 1 billion diamond box to the cash shop. A package would be even better."
"A package? A 1 billion diamond package would need insane extras... Even Revenge can't make a product like that."
"It can't be done?"
"Of course not. What would other users think? A diamond box... that's doable, but is it necessary? If clicking to buy is a hassle, I can just transfer the diamonds to your Jaeyeon-ssi account."
I freaked out at Sarang's words.
That would be a disaster.
"No way. If you do it like that, I can't give you the shares."
"...Why not?"
"You have to give it as a box so I can delete it."
"...."
Taking diamonds as straight currency would be inconvenient to carry to Ardenia.
Sure, I could buy needed cash items and take those, but for mythic rank upgrades, I needed the diamonds themselves, not items.
'And there's one more reason.'
It was the recovery request.
But since I couldn't explain that here, I put on a shameless face, and Sarang sighed as if she had no choice.
"Fine, whatever... I'll add it."
A 1 billion diamond box. Considering 100 diamonds = 10,000 won, that was a 100 billion won item.
A once-in-history, record-shattering insane pay-to-win product that would rewrite 34th Earth's gaming industry!!
"Please take care of it."
"Ha, what is this... ha...."
Sarang still looked confused but couldn't pass up the one-sided gain.
And that evening.
Along with an announcement, a new charging service was added.
The internet naturally exploded.
⤷ChargingMaster : 2,000 shares?? For 40 billion? Exchanged for diamonds?
⤷KimChoco : No lololol 1 billion lololol diamond box insane lolololol
⤷ChaNoah : 2,000 shares? That's 40 billion won, right? 40.7 billion in shares for data bits from a game that might shut down? Don't you know how huge 41.9 billion is? With 42.4 billion, you could buy supply gigases or spaceships for real.
⤷BlackSheepCharges : Why do the numbers keep changing?
⤷HotBody : The stock price is rising.
But whether the internet blew up or not, I was satisfied.
I had no choice but to be.
[Item Recovery]
※Items deleted due to user error can be recovered up to 3 times per month.
Target → [1 Billion Diamond Box]
[Recovery successful.]
"...."
My head buzzed like I was drunk.
No sensation in my legs. Floating in midair.
Because the money was duplicating.
A whopping 100 billion each time.
-When I thought I slightly grasped the ultimate of the sword, people were already calling me the Sword King.
[Sword King (Hero)]
I deleted the 1 billion item to hit the ceiling and pulled a class card in Revenge. It was a dud, but I wasn't disappointed at all.
"Log in."
I went to Ardenia and moved the 1 billion diamond box.
"Log out."
Back to Earth, I pulled a class card in Revenge.
I repeated the process once more.
-Seeking the truths of the world, counting the stars.
-Now, I shall become the law itself.
[Star Seeker (Legend)]
Jackpot. 9% chance. A legendary class I'd once dreamed of, but now just an expected outcome.
[Recovery successful.]
Sitting on my studio apartment bed, I looked at the inventory on the monitor.
[1 Billion Diamond Box] x4
I'd sent 3 to Ardenia, but with this month's recoveries, the count hadn't dropped.
I clicked one.
[Used 1 Billion Diamond Box!]
[Acquired 1 billion diamonds!]
1 billion diamonds worth 100 billion won.
What did that mean?
It meant 1,000 instances of 100 million.
'In other words, I can hit the ceiling 1,000 times.'
I targeted legendary skills I'd long eyed.
Cash item, [Goddess's Treasure Chest], cost 800,000 won per attempt due to its price, with a mere 5% success rate for skill book creation.
But expected value of 16 million won was chump change to me now.
Acquired Shadow Twice (Legend) (Passive)!
Acquired Protective Aura (Legend) (Passive)!
Acquired Legendary Aura (Legend) (Passive)!
Acquired Immortal Soul (Legend) (Passive)!
Acquired Reset Movement (Legend) (Passive)...
I racked up legendary skills one after another.
'I'd love to go for mythic too, but it needs time.'
If mythic classes, guardians, pets were synthesized from 4 legendaries, mythic skills were upgraded from existing legendaries.
The hardest upgrade materials were tradable, but the easy ones weren't, so I had to farm them myself in Ardenia.
[Acquired Imperial Knight (Hero).]
I bought every package available.
[Acquired Sword Saint (Legend)!]
Classes, guardians, pets—I stocked up massively.
[Acquired Elementalist (Hero).]
And that wasn't all.
I opened the auction house and snapped up gear. High, rare, hero-grade equipment already +9 reinforced.
Given the timing, even legendaries that rarely appeared were up, and I bought those too.
For collections.
'Let's see... Duelist's collection complete, and this finishes Mega Blast collection.'
I completed all the picky ones I'd put off due to tough conditions or poor cost-efficiency.
Individually minor collections, but tallying them up made me groan.
'Whoa, combined stat effects...'
No joke.
'If I gear right, strength could hit over 900 points?'
But instead of pure strength legendaries, I got ones boosting total stats. Stats from 900 were [Mythic]-tier, needing tons of conditions to break through.
'Just in case, grab some stat reset potions too...'
Logged into Ardenia, moved all collection gear, then back to Revenge for class pulls.
[Acquired High Warrior (Rare).]
"Ah, as expected, auction buys don't hit the ceiling."
Disappointing but expected, so I kept buying cash items.
[Acquired Cannoneer (Hero).]
Another hero.
"Mythics are tough, huh."
Well, 1% wasn't high, so natural. But after 100, 200, 300 tries...
Rumble....
-Finally ascending to transcendence, rising to the heavens in human form.
-God, forgive us.
The intensifying light scattered all the thunderclouds.
[Praise him all. The 21st mythic has been born here today.]
[His name is Killians.]
[For the next 24 hours from this moment, all hunting grounds grant 100% EXP buffs.]
[Reannouncing. The 21st mythic has been born here today.]
Now-familiar messages, and a rainbow sword plunged before me. I pulled it without hesitation.
[I shall be reborn from a handful of ash.]
[This is proof of eternity, guardian of the empire.]
[Phoenix Knight (Myth)]
Collection complete!
[Phoenix Knight All Stats +10]
Dud. Hitting mythic wasn't the end. With 18 mythics in Revenge, it was expected.
'But it doesn't matter.'
Because I could just keep pulling.
Rumble...!
Rainbow light crashed down. This time a staff.
[God. God. Oh God.]
[Wield this lowly staff harshly. Love these pitiful souls.]
[Saint (Myth)]
Collection complete!
[Saint of Salvation All Stats +10]
Chat exploded.
⤷Papua : Killians again? How many mythics is he pulling??
⤷NewbieJoe : Not even a shop owner? How much cash is flying right now?
⤷DarkAngel : That guy from the announcement? The 400 billion one?
⤷NewbieJoe : 40 billion in shares... This is real-money cheat, right? Unfair?
⤷DarkAngel : You can exchange 40 billion in shares too.
⤷NewbieJoe : Only a lunatic would dump that much in this economy.
⤷Papua : This real? This real? This real?
I spent endlessly.
Pulled classes endlessly.
Success was inevitable.
[When one sword cleaved heaven and earth.]
[I knew I had forged myth with a single blade.]
[Sword God (Myth)]
Chat exploded again.
⤷Standing : Mythic card... duplicate!
⤷Poseidon : Ah, have I lived too long? Seen it all....
⤷Alex : What mythic is he even aiming for?
But contrary to their thoughts, I'd already achieved my goal.
"...Finally."
[Sword God (劍神) (Myth)]
Strength +120 Agility +200 Vitality +120 HP +80 Mana +80
Attack Speed +100%.
Crit Chance +10%.
[Transcendent Realm]
[Expert's Interval]
[Heavenly Sword]
[Sword and Body as One]
[Sword that Cleaves Heaven and Earth]
The ultimate of the Swordsman class, which I'd exclaimed over long ago, obtained by lucky chance, then burned inside knowing it was just a game.
"Checking... later."
I continued the task.
And.
Rumble....
-Southern guardian god. Incarnation of fire.
-Protect us. Burn the evil.
[Vermilion Bird (朱雀) (Myth)]
The sky in the display split, a red-glowing bird descending in the center. Every player in the packed city watched.
Screams mixed into chat everywhere.
⤷OldTimer : Whoa. Insane... now pulling pets.
⤷ArmyMage : Real talk, daily 400 billion all-in??
⤷WindForestArrow : I lose consciousness now.
⤷AppleCatPhone : (Faints!)
People chattered or not.
The charging... wasn't over yet.