Chapter 242
Chapter 242
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 241
Chapter Title: Hardworking Pay-to-Win Knight
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We boarded the prepared cruise ship and departed from Earth.
In truth, the [Heaven's Ship], which takes about two and a half hours from Earth to Mercury, isn't all that fast as a mode of transport. Well, there's no real reason for a cruise liner—neither a transport nor a warship—to be speedy anyway.
"It's so serene."
Flower approached me as I sat in a deck chair protected by the force field. She wore an off-shoulder dress that boldly exposed her shoulders, with a striking green jade necklace around her neck.
"Yeah. It feels like we're flying naked through space."
It was a familiar sensation to me, in fact. Even if I were tossed into the vacuum of space right now, I'd have no trouble surviving, and I'd already experienced space battles several times thanks to that ability.
"Hehe. It's one of the features the Heaven's Ship boasts. You can feel the universe with your bare body, and the force field makes the stars appear even clearer."
She pressed right up against me and gazed up at the cosmos. Her arm rose, and her slender finger pointed to a spot in the stars.
"Can you see it? That's Dragonia."
"Dragonia?"
I turned my gaze as she said, but among the countless stars, I couldn't tell which one she meant.
'No, wait—Dragonia shouldn't even be visible, should it?'
Dragonia, or Dragonian as it's also called, the dragons' homeworld, is a planet separated from Earth by an immense distance.
The observable universe—that is, the commonly called visible universe (the range where signals like various wavelengths from specific objects can, in principle, reach Earth now, centered on Earth at 46.5 billion light-years)—lies beyond that, so no matter how superior one's physical abilities, it's impossible to see with the naked eye.
Yet when I focused my mind in the direction Flower pointed, a transcendent intuition painted an image.
[Graaaaaah—!]
It was a roaring golden dragon.
Of course, it wasn't an actual roar I heard. It was just an image, literally.
"...What is this?"
I chuckled in disbelief. It was more shocking that I hadn't sensed it until now.
"Long ago... our dragon race was little more than barbaric native creatures. We were incredibly rare, with difficult reproduction—veritable endangered species."
Flower continued, now clinging tightly to my right arm.
"Born with transcendent magic and intelligence, we were worshipped as gods in primitive or lower civilizations... but those who couldn't communicate or integrate into society were nothing more than frogs in a well. As other intelligent species formed groups and developed civilizations, it wasn't uncommon for us to be hunted, skinned, and have our hearts ripped out."
As Flower whispered softly, Heukyo—wearing the dress she'd once bragged about—approached and sat to my left.
"So primitive and pathetic. Dragons possess immense potential... but no matter how great the power they're born with, without forming a [civilization], they're no different from wild beasts."
"But it's inevitable. There are just too few of us dragons. We need to encounter our own kind to form groups... but the universe is too vast, even for transcendents."
As Ruby snuggled into my arms, she was right—the universe was overwhelmingly vast even for transcendents.
Even low-tier transcendents might be revered as gods in lower civilizations... but how many could truly travel the stars on their own power? Even if possible, they couldn't easily escape their own stellar system, let alone tens of billions of light-years.
Snow, who had approached unnoticed, spoke up.
"When the Golden Dragon God ascended, he crafted Dragonians from his own flesh, allowing any transcendent to sense their presence anywhere in the universe. Dragons can even transmit information through them."
"That's what laid the foundation for our dragon race to build a society."
Before I knew it, all five dragonesses were pressed against me. With each boasting peerless beauty, the sight of them all clinging to me was spectacular in every way—but on the Heaven's Ship, there was no commotion or stares.
Because we'd chartered the entire passenger liner.
"Still, it must not have been easy."
At my words, the five dragonesses sighed in unison, as if on cue.
"Easy? Far from it!"
Ruby's wail-like lament drew a sigh from Heukyo too.
"Ha... Yeah. It took nearly tens of thousands of years just to reach a scale worthy of being called a [civilization]."
"And with so many lunatics who lack any social awareness at all... We really agonized over it!"
"Agonized?"
"We... uh, I heard. It's history every dragon learns!"
Ruby laughed awkwardly while Sa-ryong glared at her.
'These girls are more airheaded than I thought. No intention of hiding their identities?'
If I didn't already know their true natures, it would pass as casual talk, but they were being way too loose-lipped.
'Well, they've always been like that.'
Like middle school boys babbling nonstop in front of a girl they like, unable to distinguish what to say, they easily bared their true feelings before me.
Their love was the purest and most primal, unswayed by my power, wealth, or background.
'Truly... too fortunate a situation.'
It was so perfect it made me uneasy. I couldn't fully grasp why they loved me this much.
Squeeze.
"Oof."
"Hau...."
I spread my arms and embraced them, turning their faces bright red. Holding them close, I felt the distant aura of Dragonia emanating from far across the cosmos.
Lost in sentiment alongside the seemingly wistful dragonesses, we stayed like that in silence for a long while.
"Log in."
Of course, even amid this, I shuttled back and forth between Ardania and reality now and then. I had to intercept monster incursions.
"Tank bombardment! Focus the shields! The castle's barrier is low on mana!"
"Keep sending recon squads! The stealthy monsters approaching are setting off nukes!"
The defense was going smoothly. The enemies moved strategically, true to their strategy game origins, but with my short logins cutting them off, they could only be picked off one by one.
"Log out."
After stabilizing Ardania somewhat, I returned to reality.
"We're he~re!"
"The sea!"
We'd arrived at the solar system's first planet, Mercury.
The dragonesses, buzzing with excitement, unpacked at the lodging. Calling it lodging was generous—it was a massive palace packed with every amenity, complete with a beach of colorful glass pebbles.
"You rented out the whole place?"
"We came to have fun for once; we can't share with strangers!"
Her cheerful voice made my head spin.
'No... even chartering this for an hour would cost billions, and for 14 nights and 15 days?'
It was insane flexing. Even for dragons, treating this level of spending as normal was wild.
"Come on, quick! Let's swim and then eat!"
"...Yeah, yeah."
Dragged by the urging dragonesses, I plunged into the sea.
Splash!
The water on terraform terraformed Mercury for resorts wasn't salty—it was so pure you could drink it for health benefits. Moreover, infused with powerful magic, it absorbed solar heat to produce all sorts of magical phenomena impossible outside.
Boom!
"Whoa—! Ah—! Ah!"
A wave sent Snow flying dozens of meters. When she landed, the seawater cushioned her like a giant fluffy blanket.
All of us here were transcendents who wouldn't be scratched falling from orbit bare-skinned, yet they frolicked in the water like children.
It wasn't a bad time for me either. The sight of the peerless beauties in swimsuits was quite the view.
"Log in."
"Log out."
But I couldn't just relax on vacation.
Ardania's situation wasn't great.
"Your Majesty. Attacks on subway lines K16-K15 sectors and Q7-Q6 sectors!"
"Seal the main roads immediately and deploy Storm Castle response units. I'll handle Q7."
"Relaying the order!"
Thanks to frequent short logins and logouts, limiting the monsters' influx at once, we'd had no damage for a while.
Even when they'd come in tens of millions, no castles fell—now, a proper siege was even less likely.
The problem was, once the enemies realized this, they shifted tactics instead of futilely charging walls with insufficient numbers.
'Terrorism....'
Worm-like monsters burrowed underground, flooding subways with more beasts. Disguised as imperial citizens, enemies tried infiltrating with nuke briefcases. Mind-controlling aliens manipulated wall soldiers to detonate bombs or slaughter each other.
"Kieeeek!"
-Monster! This monster! How did you find...
Splat!
I sliced through the tunneling monster and a distant command-type specimen before returning to the capital.
But the damage had already occurred.
"Damn it."
I ground my teeth quietly in the office. Beyond the casualties, their terrorism was stiffening logistics. Warehouses and factories were shielded by castle defenses, but the routes between weren't.
'Can't seal the subways, though.'
The Empire's abundance came from dungeons, and specific items only from specific ones.
If logistics halted?
Somewhere overflowing with food to discard, elsewhere mass starvation.
"...Log out."
Back to Mercury. We'd just finished eating.
"Shopping! Let's go shopping!"
Ruby yelled excitedly.
"Shopping sounds good. Shall we?"
Ardania soured my mood, but I wasn't green enough to show it.
"Shopping means... that famous Mercury Center, right?"
"It's pretty renowned even in Dragonia! As expected from wealthy 34th Earthers, they say it gathers goods from across the universe!"
Boarding a shuttle amid their eager chatter, the ultra-fast craft crossed Mercury's skies in just over ten minutes.
"Me~r~ry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas to you!"
The beach where we'd played was midsummer; here, snow fell.
"...Christmas?"
They stared at me in disbelief as I froze.
"Whoa! For real? You didn't even know it's Christmas today?"
"Jaeyeon, really... Why do you think we insisted on coming today?"
"Honestly, it's hurtful."
Cold sweat beaded at their scolding.
"S-Sorry! Been so out of it lately...."
The login/logout ability was a cheat power with few rivals across the greater universe, but if I had to name a flaw, it wrecked the user's sense of time.
A moment in one world could be years—decades even—for me. A family-like friend today might be a memory tomorrow. That's the login/logout power.
"Hmph! We're going to look at clothes, so as punishment, stand here and don't move."
"Yeah, yeah! Don't go anywhere!"
"Woo! Jaeyeon's mean, so mean!"
Heckling me, the dragonesses headed into the Mercury Center.
I stood blankly at the entrance.
"Oh my, what? Got dumped?"
"Parading five women around, tsk tsk...."
"What's up on Christmas? Heh heh heh."
Sighs escaped amid the whispers of countless passersby.
"Sigh...."
No anger, no pity—it was plainly my fault. I'd been too immersed in Ardania, neglecting reality.
Zoning out mid-date was inexcusable rudeness. Even dragonesses would be pissed.
'Need to focus. Focus.'
That's when it happened.
Tap.
Suddenly, Mercury darkened. Not just lights out—the entire surroundings plunged into blackness, like the sun in the sky had winked out like a burned-out bulb.
"What the?"
I reflexively drew mana when—
Pop!
Lights flickered on the floor.
"...?"
Stunned by the absurdity, I stared at the illumination. Then—
Pop! Pop!
Pop pop pop pop!
From afar, floor lights ignited, stretching like a path of light straight to me.
'What the hell? An event?'
As I panicked, a young man—early twenties, maybe—stepped forward. A total stranger, naturally. Clearing his throat with a hem-hem, he—
Began.
"Hm?"
Singing.
-I don't want a lot for Christmas.
-I don't want a lot for Christmas.
-There is just one thing I need.
-There's just one thing I need.
Top-tier skill and vocals rose; a couple lounging on a bench stood up.
-I don't care about presents underneath the Christmas tree.
-I don't care about presents underneath the Christmas tree.
-I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace.
-I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace.
Tour groups guided through the Mercury Center pulled instruments from bags, taking positions like they'd rehearsed and playing along.
-Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas day.
-Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas day.
"...What is this?"
Not one of the thousands—tens of thousands?—of seemingly ordinary tourists panicked. They were all in on it.
-I just want you for my own.
-I just want you for my own.
-More than you could ever know.
-More than you could ever know.
Mothers with children, lovers, spouses—all began dancing, gradually gathering.
One, two, ten, twenty.
A hundred, two hundred, a thousand, two thousand.
As the song continued, their numbers swelled. Passersby joined, forming a massive dance troupe.
-Make my wish come true.
-Make my wish come true.
"...."
I walked along the straight line of light on the floor. The entire Mercury Center buzzed with energy.
-All I want for Christmas~
-All I want for Christmas~
Finally, everyone in the Mercury Center danced and sang.
Boom! Bang!
Whoooosh—!
Dazzling lights exploded in the sky; illusory beasts of light streaked across it.
Following the glowing path through corridors and up stairs—
To the rooftop, where they awaited.
-Is you.
The five beautiful women smiled radiantly, welcoming me.
"Ah."
My mouth fell open. Not from emotion.
'Whoa.'
Just that thought.
'How much did all this cost....'
Crass as it was, I couldn't help it. Chartering the entire Mercury Center? Unheard of.
And mobilizing thousands—tens of thousands?—of actors in pricey 34th Earth? What kind of budget?
This wasn't mere [money]; it was [budget].
"Hehe! Surprised?"
"Ahem. Don't feel bad just because we got a little mad."
"They say Christmas is important for lovers on Earth, right? So we prepared this."
The dragonesses approached with bright smiles. In their midst, Flower held a small case.
"...What's that?"
I snapped to attention.
Time to act.
They'd gone all out on this event; if they caught me thinking, 'Just give me the cash instead,' it'd be over. Our relationships would end.
"It's a gift to commemorate today."
"We emptied our emergency funds prepping that thing!"
Grumbling, I took the case.
'What could it be? A gift they're pushing this hard.'
Some transcendent weapon? I opened it.
Inside lay a single metal card.
"...?"
Puzzled, I read the inscription.
[Nemesis Soft Shares]
[3,659,760 shares.]
"...."
I stared blankly. Flower smiled kindly.
"You've seemed really interested in those stocks for a while. It felt like more than just investment curiosity, so we prepared this."
"Block deals and all that headache...."
"Yeah, yeah! We had to go around negotiating ourselves!"
The dragonesses' giggles sounded distant.
My trembling hand grasped the card.
Flash!
A sensation of something filling me rose, text appearing before my eyes.
Ownership: 15.3%.
Usable: 5,715,001.
I clapped a hand over my mouth.
"...Oh my."
Emotion crashed over me like a tsunami.