Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Pay-to-Win Knight
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The cooldown on Legendary Songpyeon's Moonlight Defense was 10 minutes. Considering that the Songpyeon buff lasted for 4 hours, in theory, a single Legendary Songpyeon could trigger Moonlight Defense 24 times.
However, that obviously wasn't how it worked.
'Too much time gets wasted.'
The time spent healing injuries and building up 100 stacks of critical hits made it impossible to return to Earth every 10 minutes.
Especially in the final battle, during the 4-hour buff, I'd only gone back to Earth a mere four times. Just four clashes, and one Legendary Songpyeon was gone.
Why am I rambling on like this?
"I've only got one Songpyeon left...."
I stared at the Songpyeons in my inventory. But no matter how desperately I looked, the only Legendary Songpyeon left was the single one in Killianschilchil's inventory. The alt characters' inventories were overflowing with Rare and Heroic Songpyeons, but nothing Legendary.
It was only natural, perhaps.
Even as event items, Legendaries were Legendaries. And Chuseok Songpyeons were non-tradable event items, so no matter how diligently I picked them up, there was a limit to how many I could secure.
"Butter-fried corn and well-grilled Hellhound steak. This is iguana sirloin steamed whole inside a Revan cactus."
"Oh, the food's getting better and better."
"A lot of chefs are researching it. Personally, it's rewarding to experiment beyond wild boar meat."
I devoured the feast laid out before me like a hawk snatching prey.
'Good. Now I'm starting to put on some fat.'
With only one Songpyeon left, I'd halted combat and returned to Flame Castle, resting solidly for a fortnight. After all, without the Songpyeon buff, fighting was impossible anyway, right?
Even the vicious Heavenly Demon Qi couldn't endure the daily showers of hundreds of healing spells while I just ate and slept—it had washed away.
I was in peak condition, but logging out felt iffy.
'Without Moonlight Defense... can I hold out?'
Moonlight Defense didn't have an overwhelming effect. It shattered in 0.1 seconds—no, 0.01 seconds. Maybe even shorter.
But that fleeting moment made the difference between life and death.
'No.'
I judged coldly. Yeah. Impossible.
The battle with Hyperion was slowly tilting in our favor, but it was precarious, like walking a knife's edge.
What if Boram failed to block a single burst of qi even once?
What if Hyperion broke through our interference and reached the base camp?
What if the Dark Messiah, tied up by the two dragons, buffed Hyperion?
What if I took an irrecoverable injury?
If even one of these became reality, our advantage would vanish, and we'd be annihilated.
"I need to find a way...."
I sat in my office, deep in thought.
"Should I switch martial arts?"
The martial arts I used weren't embodied through normal means—I'd converted neutral mana to true qi using elements—so swapping internal energy methods wasn't impossible. It'd take 2-3 days at most, a negligible penalty compared to others who had to scrap their entire base of internal energy to change.
But I soon shook my head.
'No. There's no martial art that can react to a level 22 absolute expert's attacks.'
Of course, solutions existed.
Mythic stats and Mythic skills.
Mythic stats were reachable right now with a stat reset potion.
'But no. I can't max out at 900 stats... and even if I barely do, it's a problem.'
I had over 80 bottles of stat reset potions, bundled in various packages.
But bonus stats lose efficiency when poured into one—the moment I hit Transcendent in one stat, the others would be relatively too low.
'One high stat alone isn't the answer.'
If Agility surpassed 900 stats, I'd accurately read Hyperion's attacks. But without the physical ability to dodge, what good was that?
If Vitality hit 900, I wouldn't die instantly to a sword beam. But dumping everything into Vitality would turn me into a stationary sandbag.
The solution was simple, really.
Just raise raw stats higher.
'Job proficiency, class awakening, gear engraving, fame unlocks... plenty of ways.'
Mythic skills were even simpler.
Upgrade Protective Gang Qi (Legendary) to Protective Gang Qi (Mythic), and done.
"Ha...."
Irritation bubbled up naturally.
'I need money for that. You damn paupers....'
I needed to make money fast, but those damned monsters had completely blocked my real-world outlets.
'I need to port over the fully rewritten Book of Light for sponsorships and serialize the contest entries too...!'
But all that came after resolving the real-world situation.
Mid-meal, I finally decided.
"Flower."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Relay the order. Occupy all dragon veins."
Flower's eyes widened at my words.
"Your Majesty, forgive me, but...."
"I know. It's dangerous. And we're short on forces."
Taking the castles was easy. I could fly in and wipe them out solo. The problem was holding the land afterward.
As if voicing my own thoughts, Flower spoke.
"Reports indicate inland forces are consolidating. One-eyed giants wielding all manner of weapons, drakes resembling Kasim's kind, wyverns flying vast distances, ghost legions, black orcs, tiger packs, and a faction calling themselves the Bright Revolutionaries...."
All Heroic to Legendary-grade monsters. They seemed numerous, but considering each Revenge spawn point had different monsters, this was already heavily culled.
And the survivors, having fought tooth and nail to get here, knew none were pushovers.
It was natural they'd push outward instead of fighting among themselves.
"Defense is tough, huh."
"Iron Castle with its Mythic castle and the northern regions with Legendary castles are fine. But... for Light Castle, World Tree Castle, and Storm Castle, monster waves cause dozens to hundreds of casualties."
Heroic to Legendary monsters were no joke.
Even Heroic castles, comparable to apartment complexes in scale, could be climbed or breached at the gates.
No matter the defense towers and siege objects, stopping them required rivers of warriors' blood and sweat.
"But... we have to do it."
Securing the 8 fire points would advance my chakra realm to the 9th layer.
Transcendence, that is.
Sure, reaching the 9th without enlightenment would be half-baked, but even that should let me tank a single qi burst.
"Then... I'll relay it immediately."
My decision would consume vast resources and claim many imperial lives.
But I was the emperor.
The being who could crush all such irrationality.
"To the great and exalted Emperor His Majesty--! Salute!"
"Loyalty!"
Things moved swiftly.
Iron Castle, holding the empire's greatest talents and resources, prepared to march west.
Not for siege, of course.
'I handle the sieges.'
In just a fortnight, all was ready. Thunderbird's Thunder Mountain was right beside Iron Castle, humanity's empire stronghold—a fire point.
Merely 600 kilometers away, preparations were already underway, covertly.
I'd even formed a second expeditionary force there.
"Form it around volunteers. Promise citizenship and class cards to immigrants who hold a castle successfully for 3 months or more, military merit to soldiers, and rewards to merchants."
The Human Empire brimmed with wealth, over a third of which belonged to me, the emperor.
Not from greed—the bulk stemmed from my own hands. Honor coins paid for class cards, drops from monster sweeps, disposed pets and guardians, Songpyeons, wild boar meat, and more.
But the greatest wealth came from reinvestment.
I'd absorbed all the gold piled up from citizens grinding dungeons, then spent it all in shops summoned by stocks.
Millions of skillbooks, lake-worthy potions and solvents, etc.
Whenever inflation loomed from hoarded gold, I'd flood the market, turning it straight back to profit.
Now, just the gold stacked in my inventory exceeded 10 trillion.
"Preparations are... oh, almost forgot."
Before heading out to fight, I posted an announcement.
[To the countless supporters who submitted to the 1st Imperial Literary Contest, I offer my thanks. These are seeds enriching the Human Empire's culture and fuel restoring my authority.
A total of 5,107 works have been submitted, with 811 passing preliminaries.
Regrettably, I will extend the contest by one year.
This is so I may read and judge every entry myself. I'd love to do it now, but frequent duties and battles make it impossible.]
Posting something like that on an Earth contest site would've crashed it. Who delays a deadline-bound contest by a year without going insane? Flames and lawsuits would've followed.
But the Human Empire was different.
"His Majesty... will read them himself?"
"His Majesty will read my writing!"
"Rewrite it! One more year... thank goodness for the time!"
Shockingly little discontent. And the notice didn't end there.
[And six months after the literary festival ends—Imperial Year 3, August 15—I shall hold the 1st Imperial Music Festival. Prizes match the literary one; details...]
I'd stirred up more work.
'Singers are useless. Composers are key.'
Money was too tight. I had to squeeze every last drop from the Human Empire.
Of course, all that hinged on.
Defeating Earth's enemies.
[Han Jaeyeon is attempting to engrave the throne!]
[Congratulations! The One Guild has occupied Thunder Mountain!]
[New lord: Han Jaeyeon.]
The Thunderbird forces long neighboring the Human Empire crumbled. Not entirely good news. With its dungeons resetting, Heroic & Legendary monsters it'd blocked would surge north.
Rumble!
"It's through! Light!"
"Advance steadily! Front lines, push!"
Through the path bored by the Landworm, thousands marched in perfect order. After confirming soldiers garrisoned the upgraded Heroic castle, I headed west.
My underground tunnel breakthroughs were followed by the army.
Thunder Mountain's Thunderbird (phase change point).
Seven-Colored Centipede of the Left Upper Fire Point.
Thus, the top three fire points on the Go board were mine. A goal long feasible but delayed for digestion.
And as a result, Go stones filled 7 fire points.
"This is... the 8th layer...."
I felt my inner world expand endlessly. Even unfamiliar elements activated without a single mudra.
Like how 10 jiazi (600 years) of internal energy lets club-level swordsmanship slay peak experts, skyrocketing base prowess elevated chakra to another realm entirely.
And in that state, I reached the final fire point.
Boom!
[Groooar---!]
The Landworm bursting from the earth roared.
But it soon shut its maw.
[Shut up.]
Silently, a Landworm several times its size loomed over it.
Mature Phase (Legendary)
Landworm
[You... are... who....]
"Ah, that speech pattern brings back memories."
[Quiet. I'll clean up this black history myself.]
Thus, the Complete Body (Mythic) tidied its past.
And at last... the Infinite Nine Layers was complete.