Chapter 174
Chapter 174
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: Mercenary Registration Complete
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‘Wait, isn’t there some kind of misunderstanding here?’
But seeing their reaction,
an idea suddenly popped into my head.
‘Hold on, isn’t this actually a pretty good method?’
Thanks to the contributions of all creators and the infamous text dump culprit Han Jaeyeon, Ardania’s magical civilization was advancing by leaps and bounds every single day.
The old world of magic, where you had to do all sorts of menial tasks for a single spell or kill over a single formula, was long gone.
Superior magical knowledge that rendered Ardania’s existing systems obsolete was being released without any restrictions!
But even with all that knowledge flooding out, there were clear limits.
‘It’s like trying to build knowledge from textbooks alone, without a teacher.’
Naturally, people got stuck everywhere, and there were countless cases of misunderstanding grimoires or spell circles and learning them wrong.
And this wasn’t just one or two people—it was tens of thousands.
Just improving that would make a huge difference.
‘I’ll have to try it later.’
With my thoughts sorted, I spoke.
“All right, is the issue resolved?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Good. Keep up the hard work with your magic training.”
I finished my audience with Red and left the reception room.
“I’m going to see Flower.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
I walked down the corridor following the maid’s guidance. The guild tower’s structure was a hollow square in the center, so no guidance was really needed, but announcing it beforehand avoided confusion.
“How’s her food intake?”
“She’s eating 120 servings a day… but she’s still wasting away.”
“Keep supplying nutrient-rich foods. Contact all the castles to provide a comfortable variety.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
I arrived at the room where Flower was staying. She was leaning against the wide bed, cutting into a steak on the small table, and jumped up when she saw me.
“Your Majesty.”
“No need to get up.”
Her condition didn’t look good. Dark circles under her eyes, skin dry and flaky.
Her body was shriveled tight, her not-so-abundant muscles starkly visible—like a model in the middle of an extreme diet.
“How’s your body holding up?”
“I feel like I’ll collapse from eating so much. Your Majesty, I barely even go to the bathroom, and I’m still like this…”
“I’m sorry. I should have been more careful.”
Honestly, I was worried. I couldn’t be sure of the impact my superhuman bloodline would have on someone as ordinary as Flower during childbirth.
What if the baby caused permanent damage to her just to be born?
‘Then… I’d have to surgically separate the biofactors, no matter what.’
That’s when she spoke.
“Please don’t say that, Your Majesty.”
She said it while stroking her belly.
It had only been two weeks since we’d been together, but her stomach was already noticeably swollen. It stood out even more against her emaciated frame.
“I… I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life.”
She gazed at her belly with eyes dripping like honey.
In the end, I shoved my plans aside and said,
“No talk of tragic flags.”
“…Flags?”
I chuckled at Flower’s bewildered expression at the unfamiliar term.
“Anyway. If you’re worried about the baby, eat even harder. You’re down to skin and bones at this rate.”
Flower made a pitiful face at my words.
It was a rare expression for someone as meticulous as her.
“I eat all day long…”
“Eat faster. If the nutrition’s lacking, it’s bad for you and the baby.”
Flower’s eyes widened in shock.
“Your Majesty, ‘bad’ meaning…”
“It could be premature. Remember, my bloodline isn’t like a normal human’s. It’ll need an insane amount of food.”
It was a trait of bioforce cultivation. Bioforce practitioners required massive calories for growth and maintenance, so even high-level ones got disqualified on paper for roles like snipers or paratroopers that demanded solo ops.
Unless you went for unusual bioevolution, sustainability was just too poor.
Determination settled in Flower’s eyes.
“…Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll do my best.”
I left her to her now even more aggressive eating and stepped into the corridor.
“How many priests are assigned right now?”
“Ten mid-level and three high-level.”
“Double it, and keep food ready at all times. If chewing’s an issue, consider pureeing it.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
With the arrangements made, I headed to Hayes’s room, thinking.
‘Restoring her won’t be easy, though.’
Two weeks after we’d been together, her lost muscle and bone recovery was sluggish. She’d regained 8 kilos of muscle, and her height had only grown 1 cm.
‘Pleasure’s fleeting, but muscle loss is forever…’
Gaining weight was easy—just eat a ton—but converting it to muscle was tough.
Especially since my strength was so overwhelming that normal methods wouldn’t cut it for growth.
“Your Majesty.”
“Yes, how’s Hayes?”
The maid guarding Hayes’s room answered.
“She’s alternating between eating and training.”
“Food intake?”
“180 servings a day, but she’s still very thin.”
At least she was a knight, so more aggressive than Flower. I nodded and entered.
“Hoo… you’re here?”
Hayes, sitting cross-legged on the floor, raised a hand in greeting.
Not as bad as Flower, but her face was half-gone too.
“The reset potion you asked for.”
“Oh, thanks! The tooltip says it drops somewhere, but nowhere does!”
Reset potions were cash items, so of course they weren’t on any drop tables.
They popped up in main or sub quests sometimes… but sadly, no NPCs in Ardania.
‘Ha… fine. I’m raking in billions a month anyway; time to buy stocks.’
While I pondered main NPCs and rewarding sub NPCs, Hayes downed the reset potion. I looked at her light attire and said,
“You’ve gotten really thin.”
“Gulp… Phew! Yeah. I’m eating till I’m gonna burst, and I still keep shrinking! No way! I’ve been devouring dozens of wild boar haunches, and my chest went from F-cup? Now it’s smaller than my head!”
“…”
I brushed off Hayes’s rant and asked,
“What’s your plan for stats?”
“All into mana power.”
“All of them?”
“Yeah, all!”
Unlike Flower, who still had far to go, Hayes—taking in biofactors not for pregnancy but evolution—was nearly settled.
And the result was fascinating.
A new bio-organ, the Great Vessel, had formed in her body.
‘As expected, not your average biofactor.’
Everyone achieved bioevolution differently, but the effects of their biofactors were the same.
Biofactors simply awakened the body’s own potential without imposing a specific direction.
Above all, a beginner bioforce cultivator creating something as powerful as a Great Vessel was impossible.
‘Mana power, huh.’
Not mana capacity—mana power. Not current mana, but the power to wield it.
Unexpected, but I quickly grasped her intent. I’d considered various plans for the Great Vessel myself.
“I see. So the vessel’s already prepared?”
“Exactly. With a vessel this big already formed, no need to make and maintain a mana hole. Just pump up mana power massively… and I can grow mana fast.”
“I see.”
I nodded and pulled a stack of papers from my pocket.
“What’s this?”
“A physical mana hole. In other words, a cultivation method tailored to the Great Vessel. I’ve only done the first half, so you’ll need more later.”
“You made a cultivation method? Heh… well, not weird coming from you.”
“No one else can learn it. It assumes the Great Vessel.”
“What’s it called?”
“Great Vessel Late Bloom.”
Hayes’s face twisted at my words.
“…Why?”
“Your naming sense…”
“Hey, what else fits after Great Vessel but Late Bloom?”
We bickered a bit before I left the room. I wanted to hang out more, but no time.
“Busy times.”
Back in my office, I tapped the system UI in my vision and accessed the guild board.
I used to stack paper manuscripts in the office, but now I had scribes copy them onto the guild board for reading.
Not all writers had great handwriting, so some were hard to read, and stacks took up space.
“Rozarian’s got a new one… post-Gate.”
I started transcribing. The empire lit contest was over, but manuscripts kept coming.
Their writing was under imperial order from me, the emperor, so no interruptions possible.
I rewarded them based on real-world royalties and had dwarves build massive printing presses.
Reviving literature in entertainment-scarce Ardania wouldn’t be hard.
“But… I appear way too much in this.”
Of course, such works already existed, but between the top 100 flops and the hot ones, there was a massive gap.
“Whatever. If it’s fun, it’s fine… Revenge copyright’s settled too.”
Post-Gate was like a sequel, volume 2 with fresh sprouts.
The Human Empire’s emperor holds a contest, sparking the story.
“…Fun. Feels like way more effort on entertainment than the previous work.”
Rozarian seemed influenced by Earth works I brought and Yes’s writings.
Her subtitle was basically “How to Live as a Writer in a Fantasy World,” so what more to say?
“Login.”
“Logout.”
I transcribed by popularity. Tons besides Rozarian’s, so time flew.
And while I was at it,
[Game God’s Apostle and Space Star F·D Flower’s Pink Vibes!?]
[Is an Extraordinary Couple on the Horizon? Han Jaeyeon ♥ Flower]
[Why Did Flower’s Manager Visit the Police Station?]
[Caught! Han Jaeyeon Walking with Flower at Dead of Night!]
[Where Did Their Connection with Oryong Net Begin?]
“Oh man…”
Articles as expected were up.
Reactions weren’t all bad, though.
⤷Cha Noah: Wow. At transcendent level, you even get scandals with dragons.
⤷Barabarabaramil: Flower’s eyes… Heung…
⤷Bolgi: So jealous. Wow. A dragon? Flower at that? Ultimate fantasy, right?
⤷Dragon Lover: Fantasy yeah, but from a dragon’s view, wouldn’t they be pissed?
⤷Bolgi: True. Worst case, they see it as bestiality…
I checked Killians’s inbox.
[Inbox: 9999+]
No different from Nettree’s account. Then I opened the MyTube channel.
⤷Killing Me: For real dating? For real? For real?
⤷Dreamer: F·D just started, isn’t this too selfish?
⤷Fantasy Master: Respect, bro! A dragon! Awesome!
“As expected…”
MyTube uploads were basically stopped. Content was thin to begin with, days too packed, no time to run a channel.
And above all, it didn’t pay.
A hit channel could net thousands a month, but only if you poured every hour into it. Past me would’ve thought, “Can’t pour that time in!?” But.
‘No point. Not worth it.’
Serializing webnovels on multiple accounts brought unimaginable cash, and as [pen names] gained fame, it only grew.
Billions a month just copying text!
For me to carve out time now, it had to create more value than that.
“Meow!”
Cheda meowed. I pressed his nose, and he looked up at me.
“Hello, Mr. Han Jaeyeon. I’m Gwan Mok-yeong, top supervisor at the Mercenary Management Bureau. Are you available for a call?”
My heart raced. The call I’d been waiting for.
Again, I was already making billions monthly.
Any time I carved out now meant that much more value created.
“Of course. By any chance…”
And that very opportunity had just arrived.
“Yes, exactly.”
Top supervisor Gwan Mok-yeong replied kindly.
“Your mercenary registration is complete.”