Chapter 256
Chapter 256
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 255
Chapter Title: Transcendent Hunt
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Harmony hesitated for a moment before asking slyly.
"By any chance, could you bring Edward here like you did with me?"
"Edward?"
It was a sudden question, but one I'd pondered to some extent.
Could there be another case like Harmony right now?
"It'd be difficult."
Even Harmony had only managed to bring her consciousness into reality because her divine stat had crossed into the realm of authorities. Her body still couldn't come along.
'Of course, it's not just her consciousness that's here.'
The power she harbored was special. Even in that chubby cat body... if she focused her mind, I could sense the [rank] of a transcendent from her.
It was limited, but she could activate skills and traits, and while all her other stats had vanished, only the [divinity] stat remained. That was her now.
No joke—this made her usable in actual combat.
'But it's too special a case.'
I could travel freely between Earth and Ardenia because I was the one carrying Ardenia within me. To the imperial citizens born and raised in Ardenia, the 34th Earth was no different from an alien world.
Not just some other realm—it was the outside world entirely. How could they easily come out?
Harmony was an extremely exceptional case created by special skills, stats, and [legacy].
"I'm not entirely sure either. But I thought I should mention it before trying."
I nodded at her response, which suggested she had something in mind.
If it was possible, it wouldn't be bad for me. But it absolutely couldn't involve Hayang. I couldn't give up the functions of that 50 billion won smart pet I'd finally acquired.
"Look into another air-based one. Let me know when you're ready to try."
"Yes, Your Majesty! Then I'll get back to work!"
She raised a front paw in salute and scampered off. Her activated mic drone soon floated after her.
"She's really pumped."
I let out a hollow chuckle, watching her plump rear as she departed.
Harmony, the Empire's top diva and superstar, seemed to prefer her cat life on the 34th Earth.
"Destination: Surreal Research Institute."
[Destination set.]
As I stepped onto the teleport magic circle, I suddenly burst into incredulous laughter.
"...180 million won, huh."
It reminded me of long ago, when Legion had sponsored me with 300 million. The unimaginable sum had made my head spin and my hands and feet tremble.
'The fee was 60 million, right? Heh. I remember it all so vividly.'
I'd felt empty knowing the fee exceeded the money I'd earned working sleeplessly for two months.
In fact, I'd even felt rage.
Who the hell were they to take a 20% cut without doing anything?
Of course, I didn't feel that way anymore.
Now, I was the one taking that fee as the owner of Oryong Net.
'Running a platform means paying employee salaries and taxes! Gotta take that fee! Damn right!'
Anyway, shaking off the stray thoughts, I turned back to Harmony.
The way she was generating revenue was completely different from back then. Unlike me, who'd copied Ardenian works, she was doing it purely with her own power.
Considering she hadn't even been on the 34th Earth for a few days yet, it was utterly absurd.
"Seriously... if you were gonna come out, you should've done it sooner."
What if she'd been able to enter reality sooner than now? If so, so much would have changed—my labor, my growth path, even our relationship would have been worlds apart.
'But by the time I achieved financial freedom, it didn't matter anymore.'
The bitter taste of wondering if there'd been an easier path lingered.
"I'm heading out."
"Oh, okay! Have a safe trip!"
Leaving Harmony's greeting from afar, I activated the teleport magic circle.
Flash!
The transfer was instantaneous. The coordinates to the Surreal Research Institute were already unlocked.
"Welcome."
Love greeted me in front of the magic circle. I glanced around, but no one else was there.
"Long time no see, Love."
"Yeah, you've been so busy."
Her awkward smile made me think.
'Huh. Come to think of it, it's been forever for me, but not for her, right?'
My 14 nights and 15 days with the Oryong girls had felt like 5 years, but not for her.
As that thought clicked, I realized my mistake.
'Oh no. My speech...'
Our relationship had grown close after chatting all night about Ardenia. In my memory, we'd even dropped formalities. But now, meeting again, we were using them. Looking back, it started from the phone call.
'Oof. She started with formal speech, and I got confused.'
Living more time than others led to such slip-ups, but instead of regretting, I calmly stood beside her.
Switching to casual now would be foolish. Instead, I matched her courtesy.
"Have you been well? Nemesis Soft's status is insane these days."
"It was something we'd planned long ago, but the process exceeded my expectations. For some reason, the Korean government and the Steel Realm provided support. Astral Network was tech we couldn't even dream of."
We walked slowly as Love calmly explained recent events.
The process of developing new tech through alliance with the mechanical lifeform Legion.
The story of massive magical support from the Steel Realm, arranged by the Korean government.
Negotiations and persuasion with other civilizations.
Preparations to accept players from lower civilizations.
And as that wrapped up, Love finally brought up the real purpose.
"Um... what happened with the F·D members?"
She looked at me with a hint of anxiety.
I couldn't help but smile.
'To think this woman is over seventy.'
Seventy was no young age, even on the 34th Earth, famous for high average ages. Appearance could be managed with abilities and care, but experience didn't vanish.
And in that regard, Love didn't look her age at all.
"Jaeyeon?"
"Yes, Love."
"Why... are you smiling?"
Her furrowed brow prompted me to blurt it out.
"Because you're cute."
"......!"
She jumped. Not figuratively—literally. She nearly hit her head on the ceiling, despite the lab's high ceilings.
Whipping her head around, Love demanded.
"Jaeyeon? What did you just—"
"I got confessions from the Oryong girls. Received gifts... did all the things lovers do on trips."
"Oh."
Her flushed face went pale.
I could guess her feelings, but there was no helping it. I couldn't lie about what had happened.
And, cruel as it sounded...
'Our bond isn't deep enough to warrant guilt.'
Right. We were close, but we'd never shared whispers of love or sexual tension.
If anything, we were more friends than lovers.
"But they didn't come back with me. Dragonians came to pick them up from Dragonia. I met them on the way back to Earth."
"...Was it forced? I heard all their F·D schedules were canceled, with penalties paid."
"Not forced, but they did return to Dragonia. They said they'd come back someday, but it won't be for a while."
"Oh, uh, okay. Got it."
Love stammered awkwardly.
"Yes. With that answered, shall we go?"
I pulled the fumbling Love into the lab.
Time to get back to work.
* * *
"So."
In a gorgeously decorated castle, Khan spoke from the jade throne at its center.
"What's the reason for pushing this hard? Hwanwon."
"Not boredom, at least."
A man with snow-white hair now stood before Khan. Unlike Khan's multicolored, shimmering locks and stunning beauty, he appeared as a shabby old man at first glance.
But naturally, the form meant little. He was one of only three emperor-class beings in Dragonia, alongside Khan.
"...Hwanwon? You?"
Surprise flickered across Khan's slightly irritable face. His right eye—the one belonging to the Responsive Dragon Hwanwon, equal to her as leader of the dragon gods and representative of the dragon emperors—was closed.
Mid-tier transcendent Khan instantly recognized it as backlash from a massive authority. Hwanwon wouldn't open that eye for centuries, at least.
Hwanwon said.
"Things have changed. An alien monster whose power's end we can't even guess has started moving in earnest."
"...You don't mean [her], do you?"
[Her], said to be on par with the Creator, was a top secret known to few even in the greater universe... but now, the info was spreading quietly.
It was inevitable. Monsters crossing dimensions to ravage the universe—how could they not seek the cause?
Of course, only fragmented info could be salvaged; true confirmation was impossible. Beyond the greater universe was unknown even to high gods.
Only a handful of top gods could traverse that space freely.
"We can't know the exact situation. But you've heard, right? The monsters' appearances have stopped."
"...Yeah."
The monster assaults that had plunged the universe into death and pain halted. Civilizations began countering the sudden, unheralded attacks, and this happened.
Some civilizations sighed in relief after surviving, but many felt unease. The cause was unknown.
"So there was a reason?"
"Yeah. They've changed tactics. Those bastards."
[Warning. Warning. Unidentified warships approaching in large numbers.]
[Warning again. Unidentified warships approaching in large numbers.]
Hwanwon's words paused at the alert from Five, the control AI of the Terra-class battleship Chromatic.
"...As expected. They've come."
Flash!
A hologram appeared before them. It showed combat cruisers approaching Chromatic.
Khan frowned.
"What is this, outdated warships?"
About 500 years ago, during the great war that swept the universe, [Iron Heart] had emerged like a comet, rewriting space weapon history.
Immense output—the near-infinite power needing only recharge time wasn't the issue.
The key was [elemental advantage].
Ether force from Iron Heart extinguished fire like water, absorbed water like thriving wood, burned wood like fire.
Against magic, it was demon-subduing; against internal energy, energy-scattering; against divinity, god-like in nature. A cheat force.
Ether held advantage over all energy systems except divine power, amplifying based on the spiritual [rank] difference.
"Not passenger or transport ships... dragging warships like that?"
Against low spiritual rank energies without ether, the [advantage] peaked.
Pre-ether space weapons lost miserably to Iron Heart-equipped ships or gigas—that was why.
Shields pierced by basic attacks, missiles failing basic shields—how could they fight?
Yet Hwanwon's expression remained grave.
"It's them."
"...No way?"
"Yeah. Monsters."
His firm tone let quick-thinking Khan grasp it instantly.
The outdated warships before them were filled with monsters.
"Rather than tossing monsters straight at targets... they're massing them?"
Until now, monsters targeted living [life] from outside the universe, [thrown] in.
Early on, civilian casualties were astronomical with this deadly method, but now with counters, those vast numbers were easily handled.
But now, their method changed.
Thrown monsters targeted other [monsters], gathering into universe-spanning [legions].
Scattered for individual defeats, now united into a sharp blade piercing the greater universe.
"Recall all dragonkin outside to Dragonia. They've begun."
Hwanwon's face was stone-hard. The hologram showed combat cruisers and matching space behemoths numbering past 100, 1,000... into the tens of thousands.
Irrelevant to them... but young and child dragonkin would die facing such legions.
"Transcendent hunt."