Chapter 236
Chapter 236
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 235
Chapter Title: Lower Civilization Players
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It wouldn't be some other dragonkin—it would be the Primal Dragon, the Chromatic Dragon itself, coming to tear me limb from limb.
Better not to do anything foolish and just go on the trip, set up auto-hunt, and let it run. That seemed the rational choice.
"Cheda."
"Meow."
I patted the belly of Cheda, who was sprawled on her back on the table, summoning Replie. Normally, I'd use a teleport scroll to return to a hunting ground, but I had no intention of wasting strategic resources that could teleport anywhere on the Ardenia continent just for a game.
Even if the map was huge, a Mythic-grade pet like Replie could reach the continent's heart in under five minutes anyway.
BorichaMasidaSaredulim: Ooh, Replie. Total badass.
GoraniShot: Mythic pet blocking the view lololol size is no joke lololol
BorichaMasidaSaredulim: Jealous... Even just getting something on Cassim's level, I'd brag to the whole world.
As always, the players were making a huge fuss.
'Fair enough.'
Revenge had countless players, but fewer than twenty owned a Mythic-grade pet. Even that was after the Mythic era (also called the 10-billion-pull incident). Before then, only the eight shop owners had them.
Even accounting for that, though, the reactions were over the top.
Thomas: D-Dragon!?
Kwon Tae-hwan: A s-sudden dragon...!
Hana: O G-Great One...!
The players in ragged clothes, who had been wandering the city aimlessly, suddenly prostrated themselves en masse. The ferocious aura made even the regular players halt in surprise.
AppleMeowPhone: What? What's going on?
Poseidon: Why are they suddenly freaking out... flash mob?
SubcharAmongSubchars: Should I kneel too? What the hell?
I was as startled as the other players. Because the reaction from the ragged-clothed players was a type very familiar to me.
"No, wait... this reaction..."
I wasn't the only one noticing.
Alix: ...Isn't the concept a bit much?
Gilip: I heard it was just a poor civilization... This is way beyond that. Not a lower civ?
HardToHuntSpiritTags: That doesn't make sense. A stellar god wouldn't let a lower civ play a space civ game.
When one civilization is born, one god is born.
Stellar God.
Commonly called the guardian of stars and civilizations, they were also known as silent gods. Because they were passive observers who neither tended nor interfered with their assigned civilizations.
Thus, despite their immense power and authority, most civilizations never even realized they existed... but when it came to invasions or interference from outside (extraterrestrial) forces, they wielded the full might of an Untouchable (upper god) without hesitation.
Alix: So it's really the concept?
Speedwagon: Checked the homepage! Out of this service's 42 planets, 36 are lower civs!
Kalspanik: What? A stellar god wouldn't let an alien game into their civ, right?
Speedwagon: Let me explain! Extraterrestrial beings. Those with talent in psychic powers awaken chakra abilities while fighting monsters! According to the homepage, Nemesis Soft partners with the Steel Realm and Ilseong Group to connect to relays on the galactic railway running through the astral plane...
I paused while scanning the flurry of chats.
"...No way?"
I immediately patted Cheda's belly and searched the ID.
SmashedSack search results: 4 hits
SmashedSack, SmashedSack (Beta), SmashedSack (Gamma), SmashedSack (Delta).
Revenge allowed duplicate nicknames, appending distinction codes.
"No way, four SmashedSacks..."
I added filters and searched again.
SmashedSack joined within the last month: 0 hits.
'Not this... Ah.'
GoldPouch search results: 7 hits.
GoldPouch joined within the last month: 1 hit.
"Found it..."
Of course, it wasn't confirmed yet, so I sent a whisper.
Killians (whisper): SmashedSack?
GoldPouch (whisper): Eek! Killians-nim! I hoped since it's Revenge, and yep, you're here!
Killians (whisper): Where are you now?
GoldPouch (whisper): Red Orc Forest entrance!
I flew Replie toward the Red Orc Forest.
While flying, I checked out the hunting grounds.
Smith: Urgh! Pressure!
Harry: These monsters are weird. They won't leave their spots?
Hoshino: Argh! Stabbed... What? The pain feels kinda off...
The ragged-clothed players' murmurs appeared in the chat logs.
Other players watching them were visible too.
KungDeokKung: Heard? They're lower civ kids.
ShallIDeal: Some noob was grabbing players asking how to make modern weapons?
FriedPotato: Is this for real? Contacting alien civs via a game...
KungDeokKung: Should we go help? Pitiful struggling with one monster.
I kept flying. It didn't take long to reach the destination.
Thud!
As Replie landed, the ragged-clothed players around GoldPouch freaked out.
Tamra: Argh! Dragonkin! Dragonkin! And that size...!
Lee Jung-se: Everyone, evade!
Cheongik: Be careful!
"Oh man..."
On screen, I saw GoldPouch blocking about ten people, sword held stiffly, face pale as a ghost.
I quickly unsummoned Replie and moved my character in front of him.
Killians: Never thought I'd see you like this.
GoldPouch: Killians... nim? You look different...
On Cheda's belly screen, GoldPouch's puzzled face appeared.
Killians: Game character, so can't look the same.
GoldPouch: Speech pattern's different too. And the focus feels off...
Obvious, but responsiveness varied by connection method. Mobile play didn't make the character completely sluggish or inhuman... but mobile and full-dive couldn't be identical.
"...Right. Need to talk face-to-face."
I headed to the capsule in the break room.
To log into Revenge, which supported cross-play, via VR instead of mobile. As I walked, a thought struck me.
"Wait... Chakra users can connect, right?"
Thinking about it, there was no reason I couldn't connect when civilizations billions of light-years away could.
Especially since the servers were right here on 34th Earth.
Vrum!
I opened my chakra.
"Revenge... connect."
Flash!
Senses overlaid. Not full immersion like stepping into Ardenia. More like opening a [channel] called Revenge in the corner of my mind.
[Verifying identity... Welcome, Han Jaeyeon-nim. Servant character is online.]
[Connect with avatar character?]
"Yeah. But... is this Nemesis tech?"
I gasped. The login was lightning-fast and simple. Chakra drain was minimal—anyone at the first layer of Immeasurable Void could connect.
'Not zero cost, though. Entry-level lasts maybe 1 hour... 2 at most.'
[Please specify login location.]
"With the servant character."
Flash!
I logged into Revenge.
"Killians-nim!"
"Yeah, long time no see."
I replied and glanced sideways.
"..."
Killians stood silently beside me. Just a game character with no will... yet the power emanating was immense.
'Still disappointing... Not enough to fool me.'
My own creation, sure, but it couldn't fully deceive a Transcendent's senses.
Full VR or not... to me, this was a crude fake.
Nothing compared to Ardenia.
"Killians-nim?"
"Ah, yeah. What the hell's going on? Never expected to meet here."
"Wait! Who are you to speak casually to GoldPouch-nim?"
A blue-haired woman stepped forward. Tall, with sleek, panther-like muscles—an impressive beauty.
"Elf?"
"Problem if I am?"
"No... right, Pharaoh planet. Dwarves hold hegemony there, yeah?"
Makes sense. Elves, humans—same boat there. Even haughty high-elves calling themselves superior had to side with humans in that situation.
"Captain, all dragonkin are in league with the overlords!"
"Calm down, Cheongik. He's the benefactor who made it possible for us to reach here."
"...Not dragonkin?"
"Human. But stronger than dragonkin. Stronger than legendary dragons."
"No way..."
I looked around at GoldPouch and his ragged-clothed followers. Trembling from Killians' presence yet standing tall, their eyes full of trust in GoldPouch.
"Who are these guys?"
"Ah... They're the independence army from my homeworld, fighting non-human oppression. But lacking talent, I could only bring this many."
He calmly explained the situation.
His homeworld, Pharaoh: a planet where dwarves wielding advanced chemical weapons dominated. Other races, unable to match firearm power, were conquered by the dwarf empire and treated as slaves.
Naturally, monster outbreaks happened there too.
No Transcendent-grade monsters like in space civs... but in a lower civ, even low-level ones were disasters.
"Boss-grade monsters... what you'd call Completers... slaughter thousands effortlessly."
But it wasn't all bad for GoldPouch. As monsters rampaged, the dwarf empire oppressing other races began to falter.
GoldPouch seized the chance, forming the independence army and rallying the abandoned non-humans.
"Your life's been eventful."
"Impossible without the Sentinel you gave me. I'd be dead long ago."
Hero-class Sentinel trait. [Empire's Watchman] revealed enemy and ally positions, skills used, status, etc.
'Not popular in Revenge auto-hunt... but in reality or AOS games like Blade & Magic, it's near-cheat.'
Guaranteed 'survival'—most vital thing. No wonder I gave him that card out of so many.
GoldPouch continued.
"Then, those who awakened chakra got [info]. That ad, right?"
"Heh... yeah."
I chuckled dryly. Interfering in a lower civ like this.
But a problem.
'As expected. They can't be proper customers.'
Even 3rd civ planets struggled with 34th Earth's killer prices. A lower civ without bank accounts? Paying? Absurd.
'But Sarang wouldn't miss that. Surely has a plan to use them.'
So I asked.
"Can you pay?"
"Pay... you mean?"
"Buy diamonds, I mean. Or rather, what's the purpose of logging in like this? Not just for fun."
"That's—"
As GoldPouch opened his mouth—
Flash!
Space rippled, and a ragged-clothed man appeared.
Shabby attire like the others... but I startled, stepping back.
Even in this [fake] world, overwhelming pressure crashed down.
"Oho, it actually works? Even if it's a game-god-ruled planet, one planet having this tech? Makes sense?"
"...Yeah. Of course you could come too."
I gave a dry laugh at the man's excited voice. Someone with far more to discuss than GoldPouch.
"Merlin."