Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: The Tide Turns
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Thanks to the efforts of Nemesis Soft's Representative Bae Sarang, who sold off family assets to raise funds and ran around on foot gathering white knights.
And on top of that, thanks to the many individual investors who responded to the stock trading wave sparked by Jaeyeon.
Nemesis Soft was able to put up a surprisingly fierce fight.
However, it was still an absolutely disadvantageous battle.
Because the major investors and corporate investors—who already held a significant amount of stock, the so-called "big players"—had not sided with her.
But at some point.
The tide began to turn.
"The Chairman has promised his support. As a bonus, the shares we were holding amount to about 8%."
"......That's unusual. Has he suddenly decided to bend to sentiment now?"
"You know that's not the case."
"......"
Sarang had no reply to the words of Gidam, Secretary General of Ilseong Corporation. It was true.
Even though her own father had never reached the transcendent realm, he had maintained his position as the richest man on the 34th Earth thanks to his management philosophy of moving by clear standards.
But that was just the beginning.
"The family head has decided to support the young lady......"
"It's a message from the Representative. We......"
"Here's the list of supporters, Representative."
Suddenly, everything started falling into place.
"No...... what the hell is going on?"
Even Sarang, the beneficiary, was left dumbfounded.
"No!"
One could guess the feelings of her opponents on the other side without looking.
"No, what the hell is this? Argh---!"
The roar that shook the entire company headquarters had the employees whispering.
"Why is the Representative so pissed off?"
"Nemesis Soft merger fell through."
"Huh? For real? Why? Wasn't it almost done?"
"No idea. Looks like the big players suddenly pulled out."
"No way the Representative got played, right?"
"As if. The Representative is an apostle of the God of Honor and a priest of the God of Truth. And an archmage to boot."
Though it was the failure of a project backed by enormous wealth and effort, the employees weren't too bothered. Sky Soft had a culture of sticking strictly to their roles without meddling in other areas.
Of course, Shining himself was furious, but he wasn't the type to take it out on his subordinates.
"Honestly, trying to acquire a powerhouse like Nemesis was overreaching in the first place. It's amazing they pushed it this far."
"Were there issues among the VIPs that we didn't know about?"
And indeed there were.
"Waaah! Why! Why! Just one month! No, two weeks! No! One week later would have been fine, why!"
Shining bellowed.
"Why did you suddenly enter my prophecy range?! If you're going to do this, why did you disappear in the first place!?"
"Representative. You're making a fool of yourself. Sit down."
"Shut your mouth! Are you pitying me right now? Ha! Damn it, nothing goes right."
"I don't get the parody, and it's not funny, so stop. Now sit down and work on the incantations. You need to add two ultimate spells by tomorrow."
Shining's face crumpled at his secretary's firm tone.
"Yongyong! Isn't that too much? Daddy's so upset!"
He bellowed again. But even after being struck by the transcendent's shout, the secretary with the vibrant blue hair didn't twitch an eyebrow. Dressed in a flamboyant gown utterly out of place in an office, she continued her work on the 3D display without even turning her head.
"First off."
Tick!
The woman in the gown spoke as she mechanically saved her progress.
"My name is not Yongyong. I am Anser of the great Blue Clan. And you are not my father. You merely acted as my guardian for a time."
"The old days were better...... You weren't this cold back then."
"Sit down and work."
"You were so cute as a kid."
"I'm telling you to work."
"You even said you'd marry me when you grew up! Sniff sniff. Daddy is so sa~d."
"......Sit. Before I kill you."
"Yes......"
Shining, who had been lounging and throwing a tantrum, meekly sat down at Anser's icy expression.
But he couldn't focus.
'Argh, seriously. It was almost done. Ah! I could have made Lost World into a perfect virtual reality.'
The more he thought about it, the more regrettable it was. It had really been on the verge of success.
"But why did you suddenly come back into my prophecy range! One month! No, two weeks! No, one week more and......!"
"Representative."
Anser's expression turned icy as she watched Shining erupt again.
"Want me to hit you for real?"
"No......"
He sat back down.
Anser comforted the sniffling Shining.
"Just make a new one. You got all the tech partnerships already."
"Sure, but the Origin server is too massive. It'd take ten years to build."
"If you pitch in personally, it'll be faster. And so what if it takes ten years? It's not that long."
"But! But then that trash pay-to-win game will lead the gaming world for ten years!? Just thinking about my baby games being compared to that gambling crap because they don't reach Grade 1 depth makes my blood boil!"
He shot up again.
"Ah! Aaaah! Just one month! No, two weeks! No, one week more and I could have...... Kyak!"
He finally got smacked.
"......By the way."
Anser said lightly as she dusted off her hand.
"The situation seems to be getting more serious."
"Ah, you mean the monsters and items."
"Yes. Some in the alliance are even condemning the Game Master. Saying that if he's the God of Games, he should take responsibility and fix it."
"Those insolent fools......"
Shining's playful face turned fierce.
"They're just game-shaped, not actual games! Some unknown entity is merely mimicking one. How dare they......!"
"Well, it means they're that cornered."
Game Master Gwandaeha was one of the rare top-tier gods across the multiverse. He had no particular mission or restrictions, so if he wanted, he could become a tyrant ruling most of the greater universe right now.
That was also why they didn't dare witch-hunt him despite the monsters invading the universe.
"It's a ridiculous gripe from the start! If alien beings invade using martial arts, do we blame the God of Nothingness? If some Magic Empire shows up and turns the greater universe into a sea of fire, do we hold the God of Magic accountable?"
"Calm down."
"Those insects, how dare they presume to judge a god......!"
"I said calm down."
Shining shrank at Anser's stern look.
"Raise a daughter and see......"
"Not your daughter."
They bickered for a moment. He was angry, on guard, but that was it.
They fretted briefly over an issue spanning the greater universe, but it was ultimately someone else's problem.
Even though the monster crisis had caused astronomical damage across the greater universe, 34th Earth's human casualties were still zero.
Some lesser civilization somewhere might be on the brink of extinction, but the 34th Earth was too stable and powerful a civilization to be threatened by mere monster riffraff.
'It might interest soldiers or space mercenaries.'
But even as mighty transcendents, their calling was game development, not combat.
A perfect virtual reality mattered more to them than unidentified monsters.
"Start construction on the Origin server. Money's no object—make it as fast as possible."
"Yes, Representative. Now rest and get back to work. Two ultimate spells, got it?"
"Yes......"
He began working.
It was the day Jaeyeon was doing tap dance in his one-room.
* * *
The time limit was gone.
For me, who had felt chased even while writing, gaming, or filming, this was a godsend.
"I can take it a bit easier now."
Then again, it was absurd for a hit game like Revenge to worry about service end. Even a giant like Shining couldn't push it unreasonably.
"In the end, since he couldn't follow through, he'll take a hefty penalty. He didn't set a deadline, so he might weasel out with 'someday'......"
Muttering that, I copied the Grimoire of Magic. The work had dragged on, building up quite a bit of magic knowledge.
"Magic, huh......"
Muttering that, I continued. Another page done before I knew it.
"Log in."
"Log out."
"Log in."
With spare time in reality, I could work without anxiety. Going back and forth between Earth and Ardenia.
"......Living with a spellbook glued to you. You planning to learn magic too?"
The Hellene asked with a curious look. Her face looked childlike, but her figure was anything but.
The ferocity and rudeness from our first meeting were gone, though she still spoke casually.
"It's more like reading for now. Still thinking about learning it."
I could probably learn magic. If I secured the right foundation, like I did with martial arts, I could unlock that element too.
'But martial arts and magic are different.'
Not exaggerating to say I survived twenty years in Ardenia with just a single sword.
With the persistent penalty of trash mana affinity even in Ardenia, I teetered on the edge of life and death endlessly.
In the coliseum, in rooms, on brutal battlefields.
At full strength, critically wounded, or exhausted to the point I could barely open my eyes.
I pondered the martial arts countless times.
My skill wasn't low; the trash mana affinity just blocked breakthroughs. Winning against expert-level foes as a novice with combat foresight wasn't ordinary.
But magic?
'I just know the basics.'
Even if I unlocked the element, it'd be pathetically low-level. Maybe training could raise it......
'No time for that when I'm busy making money.'
Better to train mages than learn it myself. For me, being able to copy spellbooks and chants like now was enough.
"Log out."
Copy, take out meat, copy again. Grimoire of Magic progress fills rapidly.
And then.
[Hello, Author!^^ This is Green Dragon Publishing.]
Please check the attached ebook royalty statement.
......Royalties came in.
[J.M.T Entertainment deposited 4.72 million won.]
Remaining appearance fees.
[MyTube settlement team deposited 811,121 won.]
Growing ad revenue rolled in.
"Nice."
Naturally, all that revenue went straight to top-ups.
No need for even a single 10,000-won bill on Earth anyway, since I ate in Ardenia.
★☆Grand Master Package☆★ purchased!
★☆New Season Package☆★ purchased!
★☆Proof of Courage Package☆★ purchased!
★☆4000 Diamond Box☆★ x10 purchased!
Top-up done, pay-to-win power rose accordingly.
[Strength increased by 33 points for unknown reason!]
[Vitality increased by 7 points for unknown reason!]
[Life Force increased by 12 points for unknown reason!]
"Hoo. Finally feeling alive."
Stats recovering bit by bit. The hellish weakness I felt coming to Earth eased considerably.
Of course, the pay-to-win debt left was still mountainous.
"Heh, hehehe."
But even that was ending now.
"Uahaha!"
I laughed like a cheap villain.
"All done!"
New work, Grimoire of Magic, completed.
"Finally saying goodbye to this trash body state."
Posted the final entry. Surprisingly, Grimoire of Magic had decent views. Decent meaning 100~150, but a far cry from Encyclopedia's final zero.
Not because Grimoire was great, of course.
Comments told the tale.
⤷GeniusMage: What is this circling? What are these spells? Driving me insane! Driving me insane! Driving me insane! Driving me out to lunch!
⤷13Class(True): Nah, magic ain't done like that.
⤷2090Freshman: Circling is deliberately sealing mana flow, right? Like in battle, 'Kukuku. Time to show my true talent,' and switch circling?
⤷QuickScholar: Common in primitive magic societies. They make incantations based on experience without understanding circling or spells.
⤷MageCutie: This is basically shamanism? Gotta pray three times and memorize chants.
⤷2090Freshman: Wow, still baffling on re-read. Learn magic with this circling, how do you even hit 5th class?? Forget 5th, can you reach 4th?
140 views, 100 comments.
I skimmed the advice and mockery, then closed the window. Wasn't posted expecting praise anyway.
After the final post, I stared at the board.
And then.
Tap!
Almost simultaneously, every post gained 1 view.
[Wow! M-4 has sponsored 3 million Dragon Stones!]
"......!"
My whole body trembled. It had finally come.
"Ah...... big bro!"
Faster than I'd dared hope, easing my worries!
But then I paused.
"Huh? Wait, 3 million stones?"
I misread as 3 billion at first. That's why I was so thrilled.
But one Dragon Stone is 100 won.
3 million stones is 300 million, not 3 billion.
"Huh? What?"
Just 1/5 of Encyclopedia's 15 million stones. I'd expected Grimoire's value at least equal, if not higher. Unexpected.
As I panicked, the sponsorship message popped up.
[M-4: Excellent. But much duplication.]
"Dupli......cation?"
Fury rose at the scammed feeling.
"Duplication? What the hell does that mean?! It's an Ardenia work, how is it duplicated!"
Searched online. Nothing. If it was public info, I'd have noticed.
Now I read the replies closely, unlike the skim before.
The hint was there.
⤷QuickScholar: Huh, felt familiar. Overlaps a lot with 29th Earth's magic system. Saw it used as medieval incantations in Revenge, didn't expect it here. Guess more 29th Earth immigrants than thought.
"What, the?"
Legs gave out, I slumped. Don't say overreacting. Anyone losing 1 billion would be shocked.
"Ah, damn it. Nemesis, you idiots start from zero, what kind of detail is this!!"
Felt wronged, but nowhere to complain. Sponsorships were like that—no promises, no contracts, who to gripe to?
"Argh, ha."
Sure, 300 million was still a lot.
'Actually, a ton.'
Proof: First 300 million sponsorship in Shine Light Heroic Tale gave me sage time beyond joy.
Not the 300 million, but the 60 million fee ripped off—that exceeded two months of sleepless mad work.
'Yeah. Compared to labor, it's insanely good money.'
Even writing a book for 300 million? Everyone would quit their jobs for it. In high-GDP Korea, 100 million salary is top 10%; 300 million for weeks of copying—not creating or translating?
"Ah."
Yeah. It's a lot.
"Ah, big bro......"
A lot.
"It feels lacking......"
Humans.
Are so petty.