Chapter 207
Chapter 207
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: Golden Cross
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The Union, a sort of international organization. Or rather, a cosmic alliance encompassing the entire greater universe—a massive multilateral conference body. Not only our 34th Earth but also the Leonhardt Empire, which could be called a close ally of the 34th Earth, was a member of this greatest power in the greater universe.
Countless races and civilizations had joined the Union, but if you had to pick the pillar-like forces among them, there were the Noblesse—known as the gathering of those born with noble bloodlines—and the Elohim, the assembly of those who had awakened through their own enlightenment.
‘The Elohim’s greatest force is the Immortals... while the Noblesse’s is the dragons.’
“Greatest” didn’t mean their numbers were overwhelming by any means.
The official number of dragons in the Union was 180,000.
‘A truly pathetic figure. Even minority species don’t have numbers this low.’
Among the trillions—no, quadrillions—of intelligent beings in the Union, just 180,000.
Even if you measured it on a single planet rather than the universe, it was a drop in the ocean, barely a handful. And yet, could they really be the Union’s greatest power?
They could.
If they were dragons.
“Flashy, isn’t it.”
“Who’s the dragon ruling this place?”
“Let’s see... Gold Dragon Geum Junhyuk.”
“...A dragon named Junhyuk?”
“Dragons have all sorts of names. Especially since this client isn’t even a Dragonian.”
The Golden Cross we’d arrived at was an industrial planet carved from a solid metal world to make it habitable. A sort of spaceport, it produced transport and travel starships rather than the warships that needed Iron Hearts.
And like most places we were summoned to...
It was a total mess.
Dududududu—!
Kwangkwang!
In the pitch-black void of space, the Phantom Dragon Replie floated. Dozens of Giggas and small warships buzzed around it, unleashing barrages of fire.
‘At least they’re keeping it from approaching the residential areas.’
As monster incidents caused growing damage, the Union was responding swiftly.
Using magic, science, and all sorts of abilities and authorities, mid-to-high civilizations had already developed tech to somewhat control where monsters appeared.
It wasn’t at the level of a game master herding them all to one spot, but it could at least prevent transcendent-grade monsters from popping up near populated areas.
Lower civilizations were protected by their civilization guardians and holy planetary gods, who kept even transcendent-grades from approaching.
[We’re heading in!]
[Little bro! Ram it first!]
[Thanks to you, little bro, we’ve already fought transcendent-grades several times. Honestly, even if us old folks—fifty strong—unlocked all our special-grade gear, catching one would be tough.]
The reason 34th Earth was called a demon realm was largely thanks to the elders, but no matter how powerful their abilities and gear, they couldn’t handle transcendent beings lightly.
Culling a transcendent with non-transcendents in three minutes was only possible on 34th Earth, with its massive infrastructure.
But if you had a cheat character who could tank every attack from a transcendent head-on one-on-one—like me—then the story changed completely.
My perspective was the same: fighting alone versus fighting with the elders behind me made the difficulty worlds apart. A battle that required full effort and might even be risky became extremely safe!
-Kraaaaa!
The Phantom Dragon Replie’s roar spread darkness and deathly energy. Even the warships that had been pounding it unilaterally took damage and fell back, but to me, it was just a familiar sound.
“Please.”
I just prayed.
“Mythic-grade!”
After about three hours of combat, the mission ended.
‘Ah, shit.’
No mythic-grade in the end, but I decided to be satisfied with the decent haul of legendaries. We’d added a clause about drop item ownership to the contract now, so no ownership issues.
If the client refused the clause?
Then I’d just use Zero Sum’s transcendent weapon power to store the probabilities.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“You’re incredibly strong!”
Beautiful elves cheered and treated us. As I ate the food they provided, I thought.
‘But they called it Dragonian territory, and not a single dragon in sight.’
The Golden Cross was small for a full civilization, but still not an insignificant scale. With over 500 million residents, it was packed with massive facilities and factories for starship production.
“Fascinating.”
“Hm?”
I turned at the sudden voice and saw a man sitting at the table across from me.
Shiny blond hair, stunning looks. Dressed in luxurious clothes with a relaxed expression—figuring out who he was wasn’t hard.
“You must be Gold Dragon Geum Junhyuk.”
“Oh, calling me by name so casually? Well, even a lower species reaches that level if they’re transcendent.”
Junhyuk’s eyes sparkled. He scanned me up and down like I was some intriguing specimen.
“We pay respects to the great Gold Clan.”
“We pay respects to the great Gold Clan.”
The elders greeted Junhyuk. He didn’t even twitch an eyeball.
Utter disregard. But as if used to it, the elders just went back to enjoying the feast.
‘Whoa. The vibe’s totally different from the Five Dragons.’
There wasn’t a hint of malice toward us from Junhyuk. Toward me, he even showed goodwill and curiosity.
But his eyes told the story.
‘He doesn’t see me as an equal.’
Even though I was transcendent. Even knowing that if we fought right here, I’d win with 90% odds—still that condescending gaze.
Well, discrimination doesn’t always stem from ability.
Racial bias isn’t just about weakness or poverty.
On 34th Earth or 98th Earth, it wasn’t rare for a restaurant server or low-level clerk to discriminate against a black prosecutor just for their pale skin.
“How old are you this year?”
“Just turned twenty-six.”
“Wow, I always thought living in the greater universe would show all sorts of irrationalities... but this is impressive. Building this level of realm in such a short time? And without any special bloodline, it seems.”
On 34th Earth, my age not matching my realm didn’t spark much debate because they assumed I had some special bloodline.
People there were very familiar with the concept. No need to go far—Game Master Gwandaeha was born half-human, half-god between the God of Civilization and Information and a human.
‘But no.’
Right, special bloodline my ass.
The divine blood and imperial blood of my birth on 98th Earth were all fabricated illusions. Just like China’s Son of Heaven or Japan’s Emperor—set dressing to solidify rule.
Junhyuk’s eyes gleamed as he spoke again.
“Hm. But I don’t get it. Enlightenment and talent can explain that, but where’d you get the karma from?”
“Karma... you mean?”
“Hm, guess I’ll have to look up the related papers.”
He said that and stood.
“Hey?”
Whether I called out in confusion or not, he just left.
“...What the hell?”
As I clenched my fist at his arbitrary attitude, Na Taeseok PD, who’d been sitting silently behind me, chuckled.
“Heh. Don’t get too mad. Dragons are all like that. F·D’s attitude was the weird one.”
I nodded at his words.
I acutely felt that F·D’s attitude toward me was anything but ordinary.
Heck... I’d even been on the verge of sleeping with Green Dragon Flower. Without Dark Evening’s interference, we definitely would’ve.
Considering interspecies relations were massive scandals for dragons, my relationship with the Five Dragons was abnormal in every way.
‘Of course, it’s not like humans and dragons never hook up.’
Dragons were instinctively drawn to souls with indomitable will and mental strength. The so-called heroes and warriors.
Stories of dragon slayers falling for the dragon were already cliché in genre fiction. Of course, there was the catch: no matter how brilliant the soul, without reaching transcendent realm, they couldn’t become [equals] and thus unite.
‘But that’s all old tales now.’
In this open greater universe era, dragons didn’t face the isolation of the past.
No more living thousands of years with four or five dragons per planet—they could roam space, meet others, or go to Dragonian lands if they wanted.
In such a world, there was no reason for a dragon to pair with a human.
Extremely speaking, a dragon mating with an ordinary human was treated no different from bestiality among dragons. At best, if the partner was transcendent, it was slightly better—but still not well-regarded.
‘Like a middle-aged guy marrying a poor third-world girl.’
That’s how it usually went with unions to those of lower status.
“Heh. What do you think of F·D, Jaeyeon?”
“They’re attractive. Pretty, capable, kind, sweet...”
Honestly, if they weren’t always sticking together as five, but just one, an incident would’ve happened ages ago. Even back when we weren’t that close, hadn’t Flower and I nearly had one?
With their individual charms and the selfless teachings and affection they showered on me, I wasn’t idiot enough to have no thoughts about them.
‘No, beyond that—I’m a married man with kids.’
If I told others, they’d call it brain-girlfriend nonsense, but that was my experience.
“So you’re interested.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“What do you think it means? Heh heh.”
With Taeseok’s lecherous laugh as the finale, the mission wrapped up.
[400 billion won deposited from Mercenary Management Office.]
“Oh, rude but big spender.”
Back to the grind.
Taeseok finished shooting and left. He’d only shown my natural routine or chatted occasionally, without much focus on filming, but he left highly satisfied.
I resumed my copying.
Acted in roles.
Filmed variety shows.
On variety, I wasn’t the fun character. I’d joined purely for the money, with zero intent to entertain viewers—a total deadweight guest.
But the title of mid-20s transcendent and Apostle of the Game God was so powerful that even my mundane daily routine got great reactions. Offers kept coming despite the tight conditions.
“Oh, right—today’s the broadcast.”
I flipped on the variety channel while copying.
Celebrities on screen reacted to my daily life, chatting away. Normally I’d be there responding, but we’d agreed I’d skip due to schedule.
[Whoa, that schedule’s no joke...]
[Saw a week’s worth and it’s suffocating. You really live like that always?]
[What? Haven’t slept in years?]
[With that packed schedule, the training intensity in between...]
[Guess that’s how you become transcendent.]
Familiar faces among the hyped celebrities watching my routine.
“Ah, Seongjae. Right, he’s the main MC for that show.”
And he wasn’t the only familiar one.
“Hye-young’s doing well in showbiz too.”
Game Master’s niece Hye-young, with our various connections, was a fixed reactor member. The other two were comedians, the rest guests.
‘Oh, Game Master’s niece—Gwan Hye-young? Name might be fake too.’
I watched the broadcast, thinking that.
Seeing me train with the Five Dragons, Hye-young smiled stiffly.
“Haha... Isn’t the skinship a bit much?”
A comedian picked up.
“It’s like petting a cute puppy or kitten. That habit’s pretty well-known, right?”
Seongjae elaborated.
“I heard dragons don’t care much about looks. More about the spirit? Humans with exceptional spirits look like irresistibly cute animals to them.”
“So Jaeyeon’s the owner of that exceptional spirit?”
“At his age, transcendent? Has to be exceptional.”
They chattered noisily.
But Hye-young didn’t look convinced.
“No, this... no matter how you see it, it looks romantic.”
“What? Haha, Hye-young, you sounding like some morning drama?”
Dragons pairing with humans was gossip fodder among dragons. Naturally. From the past perspective, it was like a chaebol heir—tall, handsome as a top actor, billions in wealth—dating a convenience store clerk, and a plain-looking one at that.
Being buzzed about was the norm.
Sure, some might say, “If it’s love, that’s it,” and theoretically yes.
But theory’s theory—real people don’t think that way.
A total stranger’s fine, but another chaebol? Hot CEO’s friend? Family elders? No good talk there.
‘Yeah, that’s how it goes with lower-status pairings.’
[What do I think of Jaeyeon? Hmm~ He’s amazing. Seeing that star-like talent refined by indomitable spirit makes you cheer involuntarily.]
[Heh. Not even at ‘just transcendent’ level anymore. When he uses power sometimes... chilling. Already past half the lower tiers.]
[Changes every day. Imagining how far he’ll go makes me smile.]
[Handsome, right? Maybe dragon sensibilities differ from humans? Just looking at him sometimes feels so good...]
“What the—?”
Surprisingly, the Five Dragons were in interviews. The chat with Gold Dragon Junhyuk was smoothly edited out—they’d not only allowed filming but done interviews!
[Me? Back in movies or novels, I saw tons of that. Stories of kin with humans. What’d I think? Obviously disgusting and repulsive.]
Dragons with humans: gossip among dragons. As it goes with lower-status pairings.
But conversely...
Humans with dragons: ultimate fantasy among humans.
Why else all the dramas, movies, novels?
[Hm. But with Jaeyeon... with Jaeyeon...]
Last in the interviews, Ruby smiled at the camera.
Innocent, yet utterly seductive.
[Maybe it’d be okay? Hehe.]
And the next day.
Every entertainment broadcast on 34th Earth exploded.