Chapter 258
Chapter 258
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 257
Chapter Title: A New Transcendent on the 34th Earth
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We moved to the headquarters of Nemesis Soft. We ate at the employee cafeteria with everyone else, but we couldn't exactly drink there too.
The CEO of Nemesis Soft and the idol of all her subordinates, Sarang, drinking with me was more than enough to make for juicy gossip. But since we were teleporting in, there was no chance of word getting out.
"Where did Secretary Carlton go?"
"He clocked out. He seemed pretty tired lately."
"Ah, right, clocked out..."
I nodded and took a seat at the table. Sarang placed her hand on the wall.
[User authentication complete.]
The wall split open, revealing a private refrigerator.
'Why does a fridge need security?'
Ignoring my bewilderment, she placed her hand on a small door inside the fridge.
Thud-!
With a heavy sound, a bottle of liquor glowing faintly came into view.
She picked up the bottle and two glasses, then sat across from me at the table.
"Cheers! This is 9-T. Nicknamed Nine-Tail. It's liquor brewed by spirit creatures from the energies of heaven and earth."
"Looks expensive."
"I have to eat pricey stuff because of my vitality. I don't splurge my hard-earned money anywhere else, so this is my one indulgence."
Humming to herself, Sarang poured the liquor into the glasses. It definitely wasn't ordinary booze—even from the small glasses, I could feel a stimulating energy.
I raised my glass and smiled.
"To the boundless growth of Revenge and ten billion simultaneous users."
"What?"
Sarang stared blankly at my out-of-left-field toast for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Haha, yeah, thanks. To that!"
We drank, and a fiery energy burned down my throat. It was a wholesome energy with no harmful effects on the body.
"Oh, this is good."
"Right?"
Just one sip lifted my spirits. Of course, it couldn't apply any permanent effects to someone with my Extreme Physique... but the aroma and taste alone told me this stuff cost a fortune.
"So you're saying the Game Master herself helped out directly? That advanced my plans by twenty years!"
"Even with the Steel Realm and the Korean government collaborating, I have to split the profits more than half, but I didn't expect the stocks to skyrocket like this. Sold off just a tiny bit, and I'm set for cash with no worries."
"Awesome! Let's crack open another bottle!"
Sarang rambled on as she drank, and I gave appropriate reactions to her stories or tossed in a question now and then.
'As I always think... she's such a chatterbox. How does someone like her pull off that iron-blooded entrepreneur image?'
Sarang always had a ton to say. She acted like a total loner who'd never had anyone listen to her anywhere else.
Considering how countless people in the world were dying to meet her, it really didn't make sense.
There were plenty who'd pay a fortune just to share a meal with her or have a drink.
'It was the same with the Five Dragons, but there's this inexplicable closeness. I never heard that Extreme Physique came with affection buffs...'
Anyway, it was a good thing for me, but what I'd planned as a quick drink was dragging on way too long.
'I should wrap it up soon.'
That's what I was thinking.
"The concept was that the Mythic Class Nature Lord tamed that Hundred Million Beast and stepped onto the path of Transcendence. The beast settings all got scrapped, so it just turned into something like the ultimate Druid, but..."
"...Mind explaining that in detail?"
Sarang's face lit up at my words.
"Ah! You're interested in the beast settings? It's super fun and great for ramping up monster numbers too! So, these beasts—they're formed when..."
In the end, I couldn't cut her off and ended up chatting along with her.
No helping it.
The existence of beasts, born from creatures devouring humans, was a kind of eternal environmental factor that Ardenia had to carry forever.
'Sure, an update could fix it, but a continental-scale one would cost way too much. And it's not exactly essential.'
The current Human Empire was worlds away from the old days when beast packs claimed entire regions and hunted humans as routine.
Dungeon accidents were already down to a tenth, so no way were we doing a massive update just for beast casualties that low.
"Did you set up the cause of beast generation too?"
"Hehe, well..."
Sarang launched into an excited ramble. When explaining the worldbuilding, she was the ultimate info-dumper.
No joke—she could go for hours from a chair with just the bare minimum reactions.
And I wasn't even forcing out reactions.
"No way—after the Hundred Million Beast comes the Ruin Beast, so it should obviously be worth ten billion, right? A hundred billion?!"
"Nah, even so, that's pushing it. Emperor Class has its own tier. Plus, it's not just about filling stats—you need the digestion process."
Info on Ardenia was always fascinating. The structure, principles, myths of Ardenia straight from its creator god, and the reasons behind all those settings—it was blood and flesh for me as its ruler.
[Ding~ Ding~]
An antique bell toll rang from the wall. I glanced over—midnight already.
"Hehe, we talked too long."
Sarang's eyes were half-lidded. She'd kept drinking while spilling stories for hours.
The premium liquor she'd pulled out first was long gone, and we'd gone through at least twenty kinds since.
"You're wasted. It's late, so let's save the rest for later."
"..."
She just stared at me silently in response. Her face was flushed red.
Then, out of nowhere, she said,
"You lucky bastard."
"Huh?"
Sarang gave a bitter smile as I looked puzzled.
"Transcendent..."
"..."
It was so random, but I realized it was her honest truth—something she'd never dared voice before.
Once the floodgates opened, she grumbled with a teary face.
"It's ridiculous. Even if it's 'meant to be,' becoming a Transcendent before thirty? No way."
"Lucky break."
"Luck my ass. Better luck than me, born as my dad's daughter? Extraordinary people really are on another level..."
Sarang laughed in disbelief, but I meant it. Would I have gained my current power without being chosen by [Her]?
'Sure, getting saddled with trash mana aptitude as payback pisses me off a bit...'
Even so, I'd come out ahead for sure. Even if I'd originally had chakra aptitude for Transcendence, my growth speed was abnormal.
No one would believe some punk under thirty was eyeing mid-tier Transcendent.
As I pondered, Sarang muttered,
"I reached Completion at thirteen. Everyone freaked out calling me a genius of geniuses... and my dad gave me more than enough backing for my talent."
"..."
No need to hear the rest—it was obvious. In the end, she never reached Transcendence, quit training, and took the entrepreneur path.
She crushed it as an entrepreneur, sure, but that didn't erase decades of poured-in effort abandoned.
"Dad was disappointed big time. Transcendence... that was his dream. One even he couldn't achieve."
"But at the Chairman's level, does he really need to be a Transcendent?"
Ba Jae-seok, the 34th Earth's biggest conglomerate head, had the wealth to hire as many Transcendents as he wanted. He owned swarms of In-Grade Gigases, massive warships, countless Transcendent weapons, and mountains of elixirs—the titan of the era.
But Sarang shook her head.
"No matter how much money or power you have, only Transcendents get true respect."
"Well, yeah..."
The 34th Earth was a world upheld by off-spec Transcendents. The Game Master and the Three Gods of Justice, Truth, and Honor were the pinnacle of the [Benevolent Gods] all civilizations dreamed of.
Just as the Human Empire's brush with annihilation turned into its greatest revival under one 'Emperor,' a single Transcendent outweighed billions of mortals.
Deep down, people admitted that before a true Transcendent, wealth and power meant squat.
"I trained for decades... but I never Transcended. Couldn't remake my body to reach the Extreme realm. I quit training because I knew that was my limit."
Sarang grabbed the bottle and started chugging straight from it.
"Sarang..."
I sighed but didn't stop her. Worrying about a top-tier vitality cultivator just below Transcendent drinking too much? Laughable.
Sarang said,
"I wish rich people got respect."
"..."
Random, but I got it instantly.
"You don't mean...?"
She pouted at my expression.
"Yeah. Why not? Making money ain't easy! Coming up with ideas, meeting people, building businesses—know how amazing that is? Dragging yourself to work every day even when you wanna die, holding back on stuff you hate for your family—that's what's truly impressive! Way more helpful to the world than loner cultivators!"
I was stunned by her outburst.
"So that's why... you made a pay-to-win game? The more you pay, the stronger you get?"
"Everyone acts like I'm money-grubbing. Hell, as my dad's daughter, why would I bother fleecing those idiots? Sucking up to Dad's way easier! I reinvest everything to avoid that crap, but they still yap!"
"Good grief..."
I chuckled in disbelief. Sarang's face was beet red—excitement, booze, who knew.
"Hmph. Idiots. Morons. Retards..."
She mumbled face-down on the table. I stood up.
'Time to head out.'
Did I like Sarang? Definitely. But she was way too emotional right now. Better to tuck her in and avoid future headaches.
"Hey."
But then she called out.
"Yeah?"
"You really hooked up with F·D?"
I just shrugged, and she whined in utter disbelief.
"Nooo~ That makes no sense~~! You're not ugly, but not that hot either, right? Five drop-dead gorgeous dragons? Come on~~"
I laughed at her slurring, tongue-tied state.
"Hey, if the vibes match, it happens."
"...You really did a six-way with five dragons?"
"Yep."
She started sniffling at my casual reply.
"Nooo~ Nooo~ Kids these days... Sniff. And here I am, never even once at my age..."
Her teary complaint hit me with a ridiculous realization, and I asked incredulously,
"Wait, you're serious? No experience? At 80?"
She bristled.
"I'm not 80! Still in my 70s!"
"Rounds up to 80."
Teasing her, but age didn't matter. By Ardenia years, I'd lived over 60 myself... and the Five Dragons had tens of thousands under their belts?
That's when it hit.
Bang!
Sarang grabbed me and hurled me onto the bed in the corner. I didn't resist, just lay there and asked,
"Just to be safe... you don't want to get pregnant, right?"
"Revenge is about to blast off into space—pregnant? This is... yeah! Experience! It's way overdue!"
No pregnancy worries then.
She pounced.
And the next morning.
"Ugh... Ack!"
Sarang screamed and passed out...
"This must be the homeostasis effect of the Perpetual Mechanism. Upping it past 1,000 points improves efficiency even more..."
The muscle loss that should've been 20kg was only 18kg.
And...
...
A new Transcendent was born on the 34th Earth.