Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Hardworking Pay-to-Win Knight
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“Cassim.”
Flash!
In a split second so brief that even I, with my superhuman perception, could barely register it, the white drake stood right in front of me.
It didn’t feel like it had crossed through space. It wasn’t some physical phenomenon—just like a CG effect in a video, it was suddenly there in the middle of the training ground.
“Whoa.”
I lightly stroked Cassim’s pristine white scales. Lately, I hadn’t been summoning him much because the landworm had taken over that role, but seeing him in the real world was still awe-inspiring.
“I could totally pass this off as a summoner skill.”
Of course, this wasn’t the typical kind of summoning.
That went without saying. No matter how bizarre chakra’s power was, summoning a creature of this caliber at just the 4th layer was impossible.
“Login.”
I entered Ardenia.
“Cassim.”
Seated on the World Tree’s throne, I attempted the summon.
But nothing appeared.
“As expected... Logout.”
Back on Earth, I faced Cassim again.
I was tempted to hop on his back and take him for a spin in the sky, but flying without clearance would bring combat police in gigases swooping down to slap me with a fine.
“Grrr...”
Cassim growled as he surveyed the training ground. He seemed to think he was trapped in a cramped space. I patted his head to calm him and checked the timer.
One minute later.
“Ah, yeah.”
The burden hit. More precisely, my mental energy was draining, and a headache started creeping in.
My chakra had reached the 4th layer, allowing me to summon a legend-class being, but that was just the bare minimum—I could do it, nothing more.
Maintaining a legend-class summon for long periods was still too much for me.
“But... this alone is a huge deal.”
It was. A massive one.
“Because I can pull out legend rice cakes.”
I’d already verified multiple times that I could eat the rice cakes summoned this way.
Rice cakes took time to eat, making them impractical in emergencies, but on Earth when busy in Ardenia, or vice versa—no problem.
And the applications didn’t stop there.
“Login.”
I shifted to Ardenia. In that instant, I realized.
“As expected.”
The headache vanished. Just like shuttling between Earth and Ardenia to recover stamina when low, mental energy worked the same way.
“Nice. At this rate, I could jump into cosmic mercenary work right now.”
And this was just the beginning. I’d only claimed three fire points so far. What happens when I claim more, pushing my chakra to the 7th or 8th layer?
Then...
“I could summon mythics.”
Legends were useful, but mythics were on another level. Sure, the 34th Earth was a magic city where even transcendents got hauled off by police for breaking the law, but that didn’t make transcendents lightweight.
In reality, if a landworm popped up in downtown Seoul, even the mighty city would suffer catastrophic damage.
No matter the facilities or thousands of spells, how could it withstand a building-sized monster tearing up the ground?
The landworm’s scales shrugged off sword ki like it was nothing—insane durability without a scratch.
‘Of course, that doesn’t make it a transcendent.’
The landworm’s specs were transcendent-tier, but it lacked the [realm] typically associated with transcendents.
That said, dismissing it as non-transcendent would be silly too. I’d never seen its full potential, after all.
‘Honestly, no clue. I don’t even know any transcendents personally...’
“Landworm.”
I stepped down from the throne and summoned the landworm. As I entered the space that now opened automatically in my forehead, it burrowed into the ground without asking.
Rumble rumble rumble!
I watched the rock layers split left and right before me for a moment, then said,
“Logout.”
Back on Earth. Cassim still stood before me, summoned.
Flash!
I deactivated chakra, and Cassim vanished. Then I canceled the personal info shield and left the training ground.
“Ah! You’re out! I was just about to call.”
“Hello, Olya.”
“Yes, hello! Ready to train right away?”
Being a training ground, Olya was dressed casually. Not a bikini like in the ring, but form-fitting workout clothes.
“Leonardo! Book a training ground with personal info shield!”
“Kyu~”
The flying turtle nodded from the sky, and the ground I’d just left glowed briefly before returning to standby.
I opened the door and stepped right in.
“Ah! But is that outfit okay for training?”
“Should be fine, but... I’ll change.”
I ducked into the attached lounge and swapped into training gear. This was my only outing outfit—if it got damaged, I’d be in trouble.
“Come on! Hit me! Full power!”
Olya crossed her arms in an X in front of me and shouted.
Thud.
I stomped forward, channeling inner power into the strike. Pure muscle alone wouldn’t transmit impact through my featherweight frame—minimum energy circulation was essential.
I charged straight ahead, slamming into Olya’s fortified guard.
Whoom...
A heavy shockwave swept through the surroundings.
“Ugh... ughh... ughhh...!”
Olya’s body flushed bright red. Not blood rushing to her face—crimson light poured from her entire form.
Finally.
Flash!
“Ugh... ack!”
The light swirling around her body surged into her chest!
Boom!
The training top covering her chest exploded.
“...”
I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even look away, just stood there blankly.
‘Does her chest always blow open like this?’
“Ugh... Ah, still, I held out pretty well this time.”
Olya groaned as she got back up. Then the turtle flew in beside her.
Flash!
A burst of light in midair, and burgers came tumbling out. I recognized the type.
Buns replaced by fried chicken, stacked with sauce-drenched bacon and hash browns—calories oozing from the sight!
“Wait a sec.”
“Ah, sure. Uh, shouldn’t you change your clothes?”
“My chest? It’ll just blow again anyway. Whatever.”
She devoured 30 burgers right there, downing 3 liters of cola.
“Burp... ha!”
Boom—!
Her right fist glowed orange for an instant, thunder cracking as she released the vibrations she’d gathered into the air.
“Alright, again!”
“...Sure.”
No sooner had I spoken than I struck her guarded arms again.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh, ughhh...”
Olya’s body glowed bright red once more. Unlike before, she held the crimson light flickering for a full 10 seconds, modulating the vibrations.
Boom!
Of course, it still erupted from her chest in the end.
“Hah...! Huff huff. Whoa. Insane! Totally insane! That power’s no joke. What the hell is that technique?”
“Land Breaker.”
“Land Breaker? Sounds familiar... Huh? Isn’t that a giant clan martial art? For inner power users?”
“Chakra too.”
Olya stuck out her tongue at my words.
“No way, that monstrous strength without even being a bio-enhancer. Inherited bloodline? Or elemental?”
“Who knows.”
“Eh, doesn’t matter anyway.”
Olya summoned more burgers and started eating again.
Sizzle—!
Steam rose from her body as she chewed burgers and chugged cola.
Boom—!
She fired off another orange-glowing fist into the air and stood before me.
Her face was flushed bright red.
“Whoa! This is exciting. Really exciting! Worth every penny. Jaeyeon, that wasn’t full power, right?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
I was going all out, but strictly muscle power only. Using Land Breaker solely to root myself to the ground.
Olya asked in response.
“Awesome!”
Grinning brightly, she stood firm and braced her guard.
Drip drip!
Blood vessels burst—eyes bloodshot, blood dripping from her mouth. Her shredded training clothes exposed her figure, but there was no allure in that desperate sight.
I reflected on my disappointment with her pro matches.
‘A true... fighter.’
She lived full throttle in her domain.
Even if it made her a clown before crowds, no one had the right to mock her.
“Counterattack, Olya. Let’s count it as one exchange, including that.”
“Ooh~ Confident. Love it.”
Bleeding from every pore.
The modern fighter smiled.
* * *
Time passed.
My days were a whirlwind of nonstop activity. Mornings to afternoons, I copied scriptures nonstop, filming and uploading to MyTube.
Afternoons, I headed to Grand Tower for two-hour sessions with Olya.
“Come in, sensei! Here for the chest show again?”
“That’s sexual harassment, Olya. Take a hit first.”
“Gangster! Gangster!”
Olya’s shock absorption skyrocketed.
She’d struggled to tank even one hit at first, but soon absorbed and unleashed counters perfectly.
Back home, I dove into every guild activity. Guild hunts, raids, even guild wars from conflicts—never missed one.
⤷SharpGuy: Killians is here!
⤷SupremePriest: Kill’s here. Pot up cold resist and rush the hill!
⤷AppleCatPhone: Win this skirmish and straight to raid!
Shifting from solo auto-farm loner play to guild focus ramped up chats with members.
At regular Ares guild meetings, I showed my face. As guildmates warmed up, execs started pinging me in-game.
⤷SupremePriest: Kill, you’re grinding guild stuff hard lately. Meanwhile Seongjae’s too busy for anything but auto-farm.
⤷Killians: See you soon, hyung!
⤷Ares (Guild Master): Killians, your activity’s blowing up. Rising star, rising star.
⤷Killians: Ah! Guild master! I’ll work even harder!
“Ah, this is it—skipping real-life socializing for game life.”
Grumbling, but I replied politely. Age aside, I was still in my twenties in reality. No good acting like an [Emperor] among execs.
I also did occasional pre-interviews.
“Oh my, that must’ve been so dangerous. How could you step up in that situation?”
“It was so urgent, no time to think.”
“Rumors say you’re royalty...”
“Meaningless past.”
A month flew by. Not a single day off—pure grind.
Ardenia saw big progress too.
[Han Jaeyeon is attempting to imprint the throne!]
[Congratulations! Han Guild has seized Storm Hill!]
[New lord: Han Jaeyeon.]
Clack!
Placing a white stone on the lower fire point held by storm leopards unlocked the wind(風) attribute.
My chakra hit the 5th layer.
‘Next target: lower left fire point... Special boss is Flame Demon King, huh.’
But limits loomed.
[A siege has been declared on your castle!]
[Target: Storm Castle]
[Must start siege within max 6 hours!]
[A siege has been declared on your castle!]
[Target: World Tree Castle]
[Must start siege within max 6 hours!]
Two castles hit with sieges simultaneously.
Not just them—four points around empty Human Empire territories were already snatched.
Each loss stabbed my mind with agony, so I couldn’t ignore it.
“...As expected.”
Claiming castles was easy. Solo rampage cleared dungeon hell mode and sieges.
Defending claimed ones? Whole different beast. Only one body—couldn’t guard multiples at once.
“How much cash have I saved...”
Needed mythic castles, or at least legend-tier. Defensive structures, garrisons to man them.
Why I grinded daily without rest.
“Landworm, fall back a bit. Quick cleanup.”
[What? Again? How many times now?]
“Sorry, sorry. Tunnels we’ve cleared let us zip through faster.”
[Still far! Ride that lizard!]
“Not as comfy as you. Can’t read while riding, y’know?”
[Ugh! Fine, I’ll go!]
Soothing the complaining landworm, I shuttled between fire points.
Finally, nearing the lower left.
“And nooow~! From Survival Island, showing killer survival skills—our special guest brimming with charisma! The Emperor himself, Han Jaeyeon!”
Fwoosh—!
I stepped forward through soaring flames, into the camera.
My first variety show debut began.