Chapter 250
Chapter 250
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 249
Chapter Title: ......Harmony?
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"......Harmony?"
"Y-Yes! Your Majesty. Wh-Why is this happening......"
That was right. Out of nowhere...... Harmony had possessed Cheddar's body.
"What the hell?"
I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh. The situation was just too absurd.
'No warning signs like my inner world shaking or something?'
I'd considered the possibility that someday a member of the Human Empire might leave Ardania. Ardania was too small a world—not even planetary scale, let alone cosmic—for the Human Empire, which had embraced all sorts of technology and supernatural abilities.
However, what I'd imagined was them breaking through the [wall] of the world and entering my inner world, not popping straight out into reality like this.
And once they were out, why possess Cheddar of all things?
"I-I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I think I made some kind of mistake......"
I asked, looking at the stammering Cheddar—no, Harmony.
"What were you doing?"
"Uh, w-well, I was checking a skill. It's called Descent......"
"A mythic job skill, huh."
Thanks to my investments, Ardania now had a fair number of mythic classes, but the mythic skills they possessed were few and far between. Realistically, the only way to acquire mythic skills was through cash shops, and no matter how much money I had, I couldn't equip every single one for everyone.
But there was one exception: Harmony.
Having [inherited] her character, she had acquired all the unique skills of that class, just like Hayes, who had inherited the memories of the original Duelist template.
"Hold on."
"Eek!? Your Majesty?"
Ignoring Harmony's bewilderment, I poked her belly and pulled up the skill description I'd favorited.
Descent (Mythic).
Manifests the will of the heavens. Until the skill ends, lowers the tier of all stats by one step and raises the [Holiness] stat beyond its limit (999).
"A ability that temporarily boosts the Holiness stat to the level of an Authority stat......"
Holiness was a special stat, so to put it simply, it unlocked the Authority stat equivalent of mana power.
'The penalty is too severe for me to use it, but...... who knew it worked like this.'
"Your Majesty?"
"Hold on."
"Ah, yes."
I set Harmony aside and gathered my thoughts.
I could pull objects and lifeforms from Ardania into reality. As long as I had enough cash power, it was entirely possible, but of course, there were restrictions.
'It has to belong to Revenge.'
"Belong to Revenge" meant items, pets, and so on. That was also why I couldn't pull Human Empire players to the 34th Earth.
"But she came like this......"
I looked at Harmony. In Cheddar's form—a chubby cheese-colored cat—she was tilting her head.
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
"Login."
I entered Ardania. Hayes, who had been covering her ample chest with the blanket, stood up and tilted her head at the sight of me.
"Where are you going at this hour?"
"Something came up."
"So suddenly?"
"I'll be right back."
With that, I leaped out the window.
Pfoosh!
The distance to Festival Land, the city of festivals and arts, was over hundreds of kilometers, but it took less than a second to arrive. Ever since my Strength reached the Authority realm, I could move my body like picking up an object, achieving mobility beyond imagination.
"Your Majesty."
And in the concert hall where I arrived, the Human Empire's top superstar, Harmony, was waiting.
"So you do remember."
I'd worried that Harmony's memories might vanish or cause issues since time in Ardania stops when I go to Earth, but fortunately, that wasn't the case.
"Yes, Your Majesty. But...... what was that place?"
"To put it simply, it's outside the world."
"......I knew it."
The people of Ardania were well aware of the outer wall. The ceiling wall was nearly impossible to confirm, but sailing out to sea in any direction always hit a barrier, so it was obvious.
"Logout."
I returned to Earth. Harmony's head snapped up.
"The cat again......"
She seemed unaware that the cat she inhabited wasn't a living being. Makes sense—coming from Ardania, the concept of a smart pet would be hard for her to grasp.
"Whatever."
I scooped up Harmony and teleported to the workshop. She seemed quite confused, but that wasn't the priority right now.
"Eek! Your Majesty!?"
Right. The priority was.
"Welcome. Harmony."
The task I needed to do.
"Copy some sheet music for me."
"......?"
* * *
After returning from my 14-night, 15-day trip, I wrapped up most of my external activities. I stopped visiting variety show studios I used to frequent, turned down all movie offers, and even halted new CF contracts beyond those already signed. I quit mercenary work too.
Sure, related income vanished, but I didn't care. Ever since acquiring All Master, I no longer needed money urgently.
And honestly.
The income wasn't bad at all.
"Let's see, this month's earnings are 28.7 billion......"
My sense of money was skewed by the Five Dragons' [gifts], so I glossed over it, but looking back, it was an insane profit. How many people in the world earn hundreds of billions monthly? Not annually, monthly.
And I wasn't even grinding like before.
⤷Ares (Guild Master): A detachment has entered the Typhoon Mountains! Can you block them?
⤷Killians: On my way!
⤷Supreme Law Mage: Whoa, the attacks are fierce. They're pressuring us hard since we took two more bases!
Lately, I'd been focusing on Revenge play. Participating in sieges, raids, guild wars, and hitting special dungeons regularly.
[Notice: Emergency maintenance for server stabilization from 6:30 PM for 30 minutes.]
Dogok Goddess: WTF, another emergency maintenance? Is this even the Revenge I know?
Slave of Ilseong: It's the cosmic hit game Revenge, what can you do.
Do Something: No way this is real life. I can't accept this reality!
Dogok Goddess: Expand the Revenge servers NOW!
Bounce Bounce: Revenge as a cosmic mega-hit...... shit game turnaround world......
As the chat log scrolled wildly, Revenge's recent momentum was terrifying.
[Cosmic Hit Game Revenge? Concurrent users break 19 million!]
[Nemesis Soft: No server expansion plans. Revenge remains single-server only.]
[Is this the true metaverse? Revenge aims not as a mere game, but a new world.]
[Everything about Mana Coins! Logging into games to work?]
[Revenge daily sales shatter records again! 581.1 billion!]
The 34th Earth had a culture of scorning pay-to-win focused games. Why wouldn't they? This was the domain ruled by the God of Games, the Game Master.
But now, the insane pay-to-win game Revenge had carved out a unique realm no other game could touch. Its completion and fun as a game were still lacking, yet player numbers kept surging.
[Server Connection Queue]
Server is congested. Please wait a moment.
Queue position: 316,991.
Estimated wait: 4 minutes 22 seconds......
"Ugh, come on......"
Even turning it on right after maintenance, there's a queue. It's inevitable, but impossible with just 34th Earth players.
"How long are these lower civilization players going to keep multiplying......"
Nemesis kept adding lower civilization players endlessly.
Of course, by principle, they were all free-to-play users. Not paying customers, but laborers earning money.
They didn't bring in revenue for Nemesis Soft—in fact, they burdened the servers. Logically, accepting hordes of such users should bankrupt Nemesis, not make it thrive.
Even utilizing their [labor] via the new [currency] Mana Coin should only offset losses!
But reality was different.
'Well, pay-to-win games like Revenge were always about feeling superior...... and superiority requires inferiors below you.'
In the old Revenge, 1 million won got you nowhere but under the feet of heavy spenders. 1 million isn't pocket change, but competition is relative.
1 million spenders trampled by 10 million spenders, who get trampled by 100 million spenders—a bloodbath!
But now, things had changed.
With countless free-to-play players added to Revenge, even 100,000 won could put you in the top 10%.
'I can't say this is a good thing even on my deathbed...... but it's undeniably helping the lower civilizations.'
I let out a hollow laugh at the absurd reality when—
Thud thud thud!
The workshop door opened, and the cheese-colored chubby cat crossed the break room. Dodging the sofa and table nimbly, it dashed to me and bowed politely in front of me.
"Today's work is done!"
"You're getting faster. It's not even dinner time yet."
Harmony in Ardania was quasi-transcendent, but on Earth, her powers didn't apply properly, making her just a regular smart pet.
'No. Strictly speaking, not even a smart pet—just a normal cat level.'
Of course. Even possessing a smart pet, could Harmony, originally human, suddenly interface with machines to open Magic Stores or run apps?
Her means of interacting with reality were purely physical.
"I worked hard! So, um......"
I smiled wryly at Harmony's fidgeting.
"Yeah, go ahead and use the internet. Just one hour."
"Thank you!"
Clasping her paws politely, Harmony scampered off.
'She loves it that much?'
The initial confusion upon arriving on the 34th Earth was gone; she'd fully adapted to life here. No complaints despite being in a cat's body instead of human.
'I'd noticed before, but...... her adaptability is unreal.'
Calling modern Ardania [medieval] as I used to gripe would be hard now. Buses ran on roads, cannons lined the walls, and dwarves built gigases—how could it be medieval?
But even in this transformed world.
The people were still medieval at heart.
No matter how world-shaking Ardania's changes were, it had only been 20 years. Most of the Human Empire's members were still those from the medieval era.
Without the absolute strength, charisma of the emperor, and their faith-like loyalty, even the sturdy Human Empire would creak endlessly.
Yet this medieval-born Harmony had mastered the internet in a day, browsed it with cat paws, and now begged for daily internet time.
'Well, she's smart, so she won't cause trouble.'
That thought led to curiosity.
What does she even look at online?
"As the Human Empire's top artist...... probably music, right? Browsing MyTube, devouring all genres."
I stood up. Harmony had gone to the workshop I'd prepared, but as Dragon Star's owner, I could peek inside anytime.
Pop!
In the workshop center, a mic was set up. Next to it, a keyboard; beside that, an electronic keyboard. I'd arranged it meticulously so she could handle everything from one spot with her cat body.
And right in the middle.
"Nyaan! Nyaan! Nyaan to everyone! Your cute and kawaii Kitty Harmony is here nya~!"
Harmony was flapping her pink paw pads, dancing in front of the camera.
"......"
I stared blankly for a moment. Her screen showed 1,300 concurrent viewers.
"No, wait, what."
I let out an incredulous laugh.
"Isn't she adapting way too fast......?"