Chapter 56
Chapter 56.
After Lee Ganghan's press conference.
[Already C-grade? There was a reason for the incentive contract.]
[Domestic ranking top 50 entry possible. Lee Ganghan, confident steps.]
[Heavenly Demon Constitution's power demonstrated even in reality. Showcasing transcendental physical abilities.]
Headlines related to Lee Ganghan appeared at the top of portal sites.
-No, how many news stories are there today lol
-What's scary is that these are all news stories that the Heavenly Demon broke...
-Hey, but that's insane growth speed... How long has it been since he became D-grade and he's already C-grade?
-Is top 50 really possible? ㄷㄷㄷ
-Do achievements get included in the score too? Then wouldn't he hit 1st place? lol
-But wtf is that jumping ability? Is that possible with 10+ Strength, Agility, and Stamina?
-Isn't that the Heavenly Demon Constitution's power being applied? That's insane...
Lee Ganghan had already achieved C-grade Heavenly Demon Constitution.
And claiming that achieving a score ranking of top 50 was possible, he took a confident attitude.
Seeing him like this, people began to understand why he had made such an incentive-focused contract.
And.
['Just a meal's truth? Assemblyman Joo Yongwan, controversy over Heavenly Demon contract intervention.]
News related to Assemblyman Joo Yongwan, whom Lee Ganghan had openly targeted, also began to appear.
-Wow, he's openly dissing a powerful assemblyman lol
-Well, when even President Alfred is calling him over, what's a Korean assemblyman?
-I heard a lot of players from Joo Yongwan's district came to greet him, did he mess around with contracts like this ㄷㄷ
-What happens if this ends with just giving Lee Ganghan 30 billion and terminating the contract?
-Then the Management Office would have to let go ㅡㅡ
When it became known that Joo Yongwan was behind the incomprehensible incentive contract, public opinion blazed hotly.
Although he was a ruling party power player, he was only skilled at politics.
Perhaps because he wasn't particularly popular even among ruling party supporters.
He began to be carpet-bombed by supporters of both ruling and opposition parties.
Behind this, of course, was.
[Heavenly Demon, leaving Korea? Hints at 'new contract after contract termination.']
The 'new contract' that Lee Ganghan had mentioned.
-Ah seriously lol At this rate, if we just give incentives and Lee Ganghan runs away, wouldn't we be the only idiots?
-So why did they put in a contract termination clause? Are they really idiots? lol
-But honestly, seeing them make a fuss about eating a meal, even I would lose interest...
-If I were Lee Ganghan, I would have already gone to America lol 30 billion a month would be basic for his current status
-For real lol How do you resist the home country roulette benefits
Since achieving accomplishments in the Tower of Infinity.
Lee Ganghan's status had widened to a heaven and earth difference compared to before.
For superpower countries like America or China.
Rather than playing around with incentive clauses, they would be willing to pay that amount as a basic salary.
Lee Ganghan was positioned as the most 'key player' among players worldwide.
Meanwhile,
In Assemblyman Joo Yongwan's office.
"This crazy... This crazy bastard...!"
Kwang!
Having received the news, Assemblyman Joo Yongwan threw objects in rage.
"This bastard... He was already C-grade? He was already in that state when he played tricks?!"
The 24-year-old kid who he thought didn't know how the world worked, who he thought he could toy with in the palm of his hand.
Turns out he was the one who got played?
Joo Yongwan gritted his teeth thinking of Shin Yuri, who had flattered him during the last drinking session and modified the contract clauses.
'That was all an act...? Ha. These bastards played me?!'
No wonder she was being so subservient.
Was she hiding this scheme?
What should I do with these people?
Joo Yongwan tried to think of countermeasures somehow.
But Lee Ganghan's status had grown too big overnight, making it difficult to respond easily.
Then.
"As, Assemblyman..."
"What!"
"The, the President has contacted you..."
"What...?"
Receiving the phone from his aide.
"Ah. Mr. President!"
Joo Yongwan immediately bowed 90 degrees.
"Ah. That's not it... That rash kid...! Ah, yes. Yes... Yes..."
Continuing to bow his head and take a submissive attitude.
It seemed somehow related to this incident.
'Ah...'
'How did things turn out like this?'
'Did I know such achievements would come from the Tower of Infinity...'
'This is driving me crazy.'
Every time Joo Yongwan bowed.
The aides felt like they were sitting on a bed of thorns.
This incident was far beyond common sense.
Both the achievements that the player 'Lee Ganghan' had gained in the Tower of Infinity.
And openly targeting politician 'Joo Yongwan' in the media, saying it was because of him.
If someone had said yesterday that such a thing would happen.
They would have dismissed it as nonsense.
"Yes! I understand! I will resolve this amicably! I'm sorry for causing you concern...!"
Joo Yongwan continued to bow, saying he would resolve this incident amicably.
But his aides thought of Lee Ganghan's attitude during the interview.
'Will it really be resolved amicably...?'
'The Heavenly Demon was openly dissing him.'
'Isn't he doing this to go abroad?'
'Honestly, I would go too...'
They foresaw that the 'resolution' Joo Yongwan hoped for would not be easy.
***
Meanwhile,
Lee Ganghan, who had returned home, opened Ten Thousand Demon Battle and.
"What is this...?"
He couldn't hide his bewilderment.
The Sacred Fire that had been at the center of Ten Thousand Demon Battle.
The flame that had swallowed the Sun Stone and had golden light swirling around white flames.
Compared to before entering the tower, its vigor had noticeably weakened.
"...Where did all the fire go?"
Lee Ganghan first pressed on the Sacred Fire.
[Sacred Fire]
The flame that became the origin of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.
When the player challenges the First Tower, the Sacred Fire's ember is passed back to the Heavenly Demon.
The stronger the flame becomes, the more Ten Thousand Demon Battle's functions are restored.
The TP required for 'Heavenly Demon Divine Sect' establishment is greatly reduced.
Currently in 'Dim Flame' state.
The Sacred Fire's power has been greatly consumed. It will take 101 hours to restore the original flame.
If more power is consumed, the Sacred Fire will weaken from 'Dim Flame' to 'Weak Ember.'
Unlike before when only the Sacred Fire description appeared.
The Sacred Fire was greatly weakened, telling him not to use power for 101 hours.
'When did I use that much power?'
Lee Ganghan wondered, then suddenly remembered summoning the Spirit of Heavenly Sword earlier.
The sword that had helped Lee Ganghan's climb for 2 hours, flashing light.
Could it be that power was consumed then?
'Let me see...'
Lee Ganghan pressed on the Spirit of Heavenly Sword stuck near the Sacred Fire.
Then.
[Spirit of Heavenly Sword]
[Status: Laziness, Comfort, Sleep, Recovering...]
There, in addition to what he had seen before.
The status 'Recovering' was added.
'I should try communicating.'
Although the status showed it was sleeping.
That wasn't what was important right now.
Click.
When Lee Ganghan connected communication to the Spirit of Heavenly Sword.
[Ah... Why...?]
Ziiiiing...
A communication screen appeared before Lee Ganghan's eyes.
[I was sleeping peacefully...]
The spirit's voice sounded even more languid than usual.
Probably because it was recovering.
The Spirit of Heavenly Sword looked even sleepier.
"Sorry. But it's urgent."
[Urgent... what is it...?]
"The Sacred Fire's power decreased significantly, is it related to what you used?"
[Ah... that? Yes...]
To Lee Ganghan's question.
The Spirit of Heavenly Sword immediately affirmed.
[Since you... summoned my main body without a medium... we drew quite a lot of the Sacred Fire's power...]
The light sword he had carried from the 1st to 200th floors.
Seeing the sword's powerful might, he thought it was useful.
Turns out this was drawing power from the Sacred Fire.
"A medium was necessary?"
[Yes...]
"It would have been nice to know beforehand."
[I also... didn't know the fire would weaken that much... The Sacred Fire felt like it would burn infinitely, so I thought it would be fine...]
The Sacred Fire's firepower did seem quite strong.
So he judged it would be fine to borrow some power.
"It's still in Dim Flame state, so that won't do."
[I understand... Then next time, please summon me through a medium.]
"Medium?"
[Yes. If there's a sword... I can dwell in it.]
Dwelling in a sword.
"So not in the form of a light sword, but like sword energy forming?"
[That's right...]
Lee Ganghan nodded.
He hadn't been carrying items until now.
It would be better to get a sword.
'And since I've reached Bronze, I should start looking into items.'
Even though the accessory slot had increased by +1.
Since Lee Ganghan had no accessories to wear in the first place, it was a roulette benefit with no effect for him.
As the tower stages get higher, the difficulty will gradually increase.
He should prepare items in advance and be ready.
As Lee Ganghan thought about equipment other than swords.
[Ah, right. I... can only dwell in swords of A-grade or higher...]
"What about below that?"
[I can't stay even a moment in such shabby places... Even A-grade is barely manageable...]
The Spirit of Heavenly Sword said it needed at least an A-grade sword.
An A-grade sword.
The Castrated Goblin Chief's horn he had obtained before was S-grade.
If it's A-grade and a sword that many people use, the price would be quite high.
"I'll need to earn more money and get a sword first."
[Money...? Your world still seems leisurely...? You should be the hope of your race, shouldn't they just give you an A-grade sword...?]
"I wonder? I haven't been a player for long."
When Lee Ganghan chuckled.
The Spirit of Heavenly Sword stuck its head out from the sword.
[Still... I think summoning the main body earlier was a rational choice...]
"Really? Why?"
[In hindsight... you climbed to the 200th floor without difficulty, but there weren't any dangerous situations.]
Dangerous situations.
[With that giant called Heracles... if you had properly fought, you would have needed my power. You only got by because he strangely went easy on you...]
"Hmm."
Right.
He climbed easily because Heracles retreated obediently.
If he had properly tried to fight there.
Lee Ganghan would have had to mobilize everything to fight.
'During Tower of Infinity climbs, you never know what might happen... Drawing full power to climb was a rational choice.'
Although it was disappointing that the Sacred Fire's firepower weakened.
Still, when climbing the 'Tower of Infinity' that comes when tiers rise.
Using full power seemed like the correct response.
'When going from Bronze to Silver too, I'll need to summon the Spirit of Heavenly Sword's main body.'
Lee Ganghan made up his mind.
"Right. Got it. Rest now."
[Yes...]
He ended communication with the Spirit of Heavenly Sword.
'Now I should check if there are any Ten Thousand Demon Battle buildings that can be upgraded.'
The TP situation was quite comfortable.
Of course, he needed to exchange this for 120% and then buy back with TP.
Lee Ganghan pressed on the Ten Thousand Demon Battle buildings to see roughly how much TP they cost.
But.
[To upgrade 'Goblin Black Market' to Lv.2, the following conditions must be met.]
'This one doesn't meet the average goblin level of 30.'
[To upgrade 'Orc Shaman's Altar' to Lv.2, the following conditions must be met.]
'I've never even seen Gershu Empire Orcs.'
[To upgrade 'Heavenly Mandate Tower' to Lv.2, the following conditions must be met.]
'This one... is possible from Gold. It'll take a long time to upgrade.'
All three buildings.
Even if he wanted to upgrade now, the conditions weren't met.
'The goblins seem to have some possibility of realization.'
The current Goblin Chief was level 24.
The other goblins' levels were distributed between 18-20.
Since Lee Ganghan often swept through alone, the goblins couldn't fight much themselves.
'Thanks to the training ground, their levels steadily rose though.'
Thanks to 'Merciful Master' mode.
After completing 8 hours of work at the black market, goblins were diligently training at the training ground in their free time.
It was just that Lee Ganghan's level rose so rapidly that they couldn't keep up.
If they continued training like this, they would reach level 30 at some point.
'So I won't need to spend money on Ten Thousand Demon Battle facilities for a while...'
This, considering receiving incentives altogether.
Should I aim for Heavenly Demon Divine Sect establishment?
Of course, the cost for Heavenly Demon Divine Sect establishment was 50 million TP.
In Korean won, that's 65 billion, so even pulling all incentives, it was still far away.
'But if I steadily collect, it seems possible.'
Heavenly Demon Divine Sect establishment, which he had said 'I'd buy a Gangnam building with that money' before.
Back then, the cost was so expensive that he thought it was impossible to set as a goal.
But now, just 2 weeks after becoming a player.
Lee Ganghan's standards had risen enough to seriously consider Heavenly Demon Divine Sect establishment.
'Good. Let me properly collect TP once.'
Lee Ganghan resolved to establish the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect and closed Ten Thousand Demon Battle.
And the next day.
"Wow... Thanks to the Heavenly Demon, I get to ride a FIPA private jet!"
Lee Ganghan was at the airport.
To attend a special award ceremony hosted by FIPA.