Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Frozen Time
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"......"
I stand there blankly for a moment.
My mind goes numb in situations like this.
"Your Majesty?"
Flower's voice calling me snaps me back to reality, and I turn around. Even in my dazed state, my superhuman senses pick up on her posture, the angle of her eyes, and the position of her hands.
It hits me naturally.
'Ardenia's time... hasn't been flowing?'
The moment I confirm it, I say it.
"Log out."
I return to Earth to check the time and freeze.
"...Earth's time hasn't passed either?"
Ardenia has a completely independent timeline.
And the benchmark is me.
When I enter Ardenia, its time accelerates almost infinitely. Conversely, when I leave for Earth, Ardenia's time stops.
But when I, who was in Ardenia, got pulled into Merlin's Dark Star, Ardenia's time stopped again.
'No, wait a second.'
Even after living twenty years in Ardenia, not a single second had passed in reality.
It's not that real time stops.
It's that Ardenia's time accelerates infinitely.
So how could an event from [another timeline] squeeze into that infinitely accelerated time?
'Isn't that a contradiction? It doesn't make sense?'
I'm plunged into confusion for a moment. It's a timeline that can't be explained by any means.
Unless there's no [subjective] reference point...
"Are you alright?"
"Ah, sorry. I had something to think about. I'll be back by dinner, so handle the cleanup."
"Please take care."
"Got it. Come out, Kasim."
Flash!
Kasim materializes in midair, and I climb onto his back. He kicks off the ground and soars into the sky. I set my course northeast, recalling the world where I met Merlin.
"Come to think of it, it was a peculiar world."
I'd only glimpsed it briefly, but it wasn't hard to guess what kind of place it was.
A world where card games decide everything.
"What kind of police settle arrests with card games...?"
Even a monstrous mage on Merlin's level was at their mercy, so it seemed other methods were forbidden.
Like how my diamond inflation pushed my premium points into the negative.
"Poor guy, unlucky in every way."
Merlin was designated as [Her] apostle and fixed his lost mana sensitivity with self-surgery that very evening.
Considering it took four grand mages, massive resources, and a full week to operate on just me, you can imagine how terrifyingly skilled he was.
"But who would've thought he'd be suffering like that."
Of the twelve players designated as [Her] apostles, nine died, leaving just us three. Far more couldn't adapt after being pulled into the game and died!
What does that mean?
'It means death is real.'
Usually, death in games means resurrection. Revenge, the game I play, lets you die dozens of times a day.
Package games, especially?
Roguelikes and soulslikes are built around dying. Tossed into one without even mana? You'd die inevitably.
But Merlin?
"He must've been thrilled."
With his skills, he could've crushed any game. He had the prowess to laugh off death-based games and win.
But he landed in a card game.
Self-made game, self-inflicted punishment, sure—but who designs a game expecting to get sucked into it?
"Meanwhile, that 'smashed sack' guy got lucky."
AOS games let you die endlessly if you want, but you can turtle forever if you try.
Simple.
Just hole up in your base.
Sure, in five-on-five, tanking like that leaves your team short a player and loses, but is victory worth more than life?
"If their games had swapped, things might've been better... but pointless talk."
I mutter as I glance up at Wild Boar Castle rapidly approaching. The city stirs at the sight of Kasim.
But more importantly, there's a mountain of meat piled near the dungeon.
"Good, they've gathered it well."
Thud!
Kasim lands, and the soldiers beside the meat pile salute.
"To the great and mighty Emperor—! Salute!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Right."
I wave casually and approach the pile. To be precise, it's not just meat—wild boar tusks for shop sales and goblin tribe seals from the neighboring city are mixed in.
I extend my left arm toward them.
The one thing I can bring from Earth to Ardenia.
The transcendent weapon Zero-Sum glows.
Hum!
The mountain of common-grade items blurs in an instant and begins to crumble.
And then.
[Wild Boar][Meat][Wild][Boar][Me][at][ㄱ][ㅣ][ㅈ][ㅣ]......
The solid matter scatters into text. The fragmented text swirls like dust caught in the wind.
Zap zap zap!
As the text gets sucked into Zero-Sum, the item pile shrinks in a flash.
[0.4][0.5][0.6][0.7][0.8]......
Each common item sucked in raises it by 0.1 points. A paltry amount, but irrelevant.
Unlike gear destroyed in enhancements or hides consumed in crafting, wild boar meat just needed eating—and it piled up unsold.
Shop items like tusks and goblin seals? No need to mention those.
No shops around—who buys this junk?
Zap zap zap!
Most of the mountain vanishes in seconds. And at some point.
Hum!
A short resonance, and Zero-Sum emits a soft glow. I check its info.
[Zero-Sum (zero-sum)]
Gains and losses sum to zero.
[Drop Adjustment Stage 2] When acquiring legendary+ items, nullify it and store the probability instead.
Stored probabilities can be triggered at will.
10,000 points needed to rise to Stage 3.
[Event Adjustment Stage 1]
[100 million points needed to unlock.]
"Good, it's grown."
But I don't stop absorbing. No reason to.
Plenty of common items left.
"This way."
After finishing the meat, I head to the warehouse and absorb every shop-bound item piled there. And then.
"...Good. Stage 3 now."
Drop Adjustment hits Stage 3, now storing hero-grade drops too.
Stage 4 needs 100,000 points—i.e., a million common items.
'A million, huh.'
Even with commons overflowing, gathering that many isn't easy.
But there's a way.
Flash!
[1]
Feeding it an advanced-grade item nets 1 point.
[11]
Rare-grade: 10 points.
"Tens each time."
Hero-grade would be 100, but I'm not brain-dead enough to feed those.
Efficiency jumps tenfold per grade, but Revenge item values aren't just ten times higher.
Thud!
"Graaaah—!"
Kasim takes to the sky. I open my inventory, Wild Boar Castle receding behind.
"But... what about this?"
I pull out one of the 18 legendary cards from catching Dark Messiah. Legendary grade—should be 1,000 points.
But the moment I feed it toward unlocking Event Adjustment Stage 1.
Hum!
Zero-Sum resonates instantly. I check the updated info.
[Zero-Sum (zero-sum)]
Gains and losses sum to zero.
[Drop Adjustment Stage 3] When acquiring hero+ items, nullify it and store the probability instead.
Stored probabilities can be triggered at will.
99,988 points needed to rise to Stage 4.
[Event Adjustment Stage 1]
For major events, nullify them and store the probability instead.
10 million points needed to rise to Stage 2.
[Variable Adjustment Stage 1]
[10 million points needed to unlock.]
"...As expected."
One million points gone in a flash. A thousandfold efficiency. Items that can exist in reality pack far more points than mere game drops.
"Of course. Bringing Ardenia items to reality needs premium points, but these already can."
Meaning, real monster drops inherently hold the power to manifest in reality—like premium points.
Hum!
I feed ten more legendary cards. Down to seven left.
'Honestly, I'd love to save them all for trading with Merlin...'
But I need Event Adjustment at Stage 2 first. Unsure if getting pulled to another game counts as [major].
Now Event Adjustment Stage 2—can interfere with mid-tier events.
"Anyway, that's enough for now."
Facing the wind, I open the cash shop.
No plans for ads, but the earnings are insane—matching my royalties from time and infrastructure.
'No, maybe more. Who knew it'd be free money.'
Advance payment alone: 10 billion.
Upgrading Terrahold to mythic and buildings ate a lot, but plenty left. Not fully leisurely with other castles' buildings pending, but post-ad, 20 billion more incoming.
'Heh. Talking 10-20 billion casually now.'
With such massive cash, my job's clear.
Premium spending.
"Finally... the time has come."
Revenge has notoriously inefficient premium options. Huge cash, tiny gains—normies ignore them.
Commonly called nuclear premium.
Job mastery, class awakening, gear imprinting, fame unlocks.
Different methods, same effect.
'Stats go up. Gear imprints can target crit, accuracy, even luck—but gear-bound, no real-world gain.'
Why do it despite crap efficiency?
Push capped stats beyond with enough cash! This unlocks transcendent stats over 900 for players.
'800 strength is insane—what's 900 like?'
Game lets you hit transcendent stats easy; reality, even transcendents rarely reach 900. Biological limits cap it.
Dragons don't hit 900 strength, for example.
Mana, yes.
"But stats aren't the only priority."
Other options exist.
Skills.
Upgrading legendary Sword Gang (劍罡) to mythic Sword Gang (劍剛) alone skyrockets my combat power.
Sword Gang alone equals a kid with a sharp blade—but without that 'sharp blade,' how many times nearly died to Demon Sword King Hyperion?
"Ah, we're here."
Lost in thought, we arrive at Terrahold.
Flash!
Dismiss Kasim and land at the guild tower.
"Wow!"
"A city this beautiful in the world..."
"We really live here now, Daddy?"
Looking down, subway lines spill crowds. The writers I sent soldiers and knights to fetch are arriving one by one.
"The cultural vanguard assembles."
Smiling, I enter the guild tower via the rooftop door. Flower rises from her secretary desk, tapping her pad.
"Welcome back. Have you eaten?"
"Prepare something."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Into the office, take a seat. Few manuscript pages left on the desk.
"Push these harder? Or use preliminaries dropouts?"
But preliminaries exist for a reason. Most contest entries are kindling—efficient or not, copying's time-wasting.
Unlike treasure-grade books.
Sponsored treasures don't care about one view; normal works do.
"These few are exceptions anyway."
I eye the separated Emperor Knight Never and Die, and When New Shoots Sprout.
All at volume 5, written sequentially.
I pick When New Shoots Sprout.
Least volume—finish first.
"Log out."
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Transcription begins.
When New Shoots Sprout splits into three parts.
A baron's daughter who loves literature. Zelkova grows as a noble eldest, leaning on people then disappointed.
Her house falls; she escapes nobles' predatory clutches.
Finally, with the commoner knight who protected her to the end, she builds a family and fights reality.
'A sort of autobiography.'
No great scholarship or beauty, but an endlessly wise, calm girl navigating a harsh world—the real-world backdrop is obvious reading it.
[...Vanilla chattered. Northern tales. Of the wolf knight, a foreigner mercenary who rose to lord...]
"I'm an extra."
Earth readers see passing lore; Ardenians spot it instantly. I chuckle, transcribing.
But then.
I pause.
[...Vanilla paled.
"Jemail's overrun by monsters! So many dead...!"
"Easy, Vanilla. Breathe... Hoo... Hah..."
"Hoo... Hah..."
"Yes. Calm down and tell me. You mean beasts?"
"No! Monsters spewing cold air...!"]
"Ah, no, wait wait. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on."
Transcription stops. Cold sweat down my back.
When New Shoots Sprout is a masterpiece, no contest. Even daily transcription, I couldn't match her.
Problem: it's autobiographical.
Based on true events.
"......"
Yes. True events.
And in Ardenia, gates opened out of nowhere, massacring humanity. That's real.
"This is real...?"
Can't continue.
Dreading what's next.
"Ah, no, wait. No. This flow means..."
Terror shakes me.
A near-perfect masterpiece...
Ruined by...
A gate?