Chapter 225
Chapter 225
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 225
Chapter Title: Great Domain: Sky
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Choi Seong-un stood atop the pantheon, on the triangular altar.
No one else was there except for him.
While waiting for someone, Seong-un gazed up at the stars overhead for a moment.
A world message floated in front of Seong-un.
Like other high-rank players, Seong-un had known exactly which great domain he would challenge and when, before making his attempt.
The key was seizing it without interference.
'Of course, it's all just a means to defeat Hegemonia...'
But Hegemonia was a formidable foe who had survived multiple clashes without taking a decisive blow.
So Seong-un needed to mobilize every possible advantage available during his playthrough of Lost World.
The great domain was one such tool.
'That's why what I prepared wasn't the generator patent—it was the great domain.'
Seong-un had anticipated the interference during his great domain acquisition and mapped out the shortest path to overcome it.
That's when the generator's invention occurred, and Owen appeared.
He had expected electricity to emerge eventually, but not precisely then. Its utilization and the generator's invention were mere accidents.
He had finally tracked down the elusive Owen, too.
And Owen's presence beside the inventor in Polybia had sparked all these ideas for Seong-un.
'Beating Hegemonia? I could come up with ten ways off the top of my head.'
With the revolutionary momentum building and secularists spreading their transformative influence, the Union Kingdom couldn't suppress it at all.
It wouldn't fall immediately, but by methodically targeting its vulnerabilities, Seong-un could win in the long run.
This invisible war was no different.
For instance, the naval blockade made it hard for the Empire to directly aid Polybia, but the revolutionaries within the Union Kingdom—who had solidified their regime—had the bandwidth to support Polybia's Etimo family.
And while the gods of the Ronante-Oroban Alliance seemed oblivious, the seeds of division had already been sown.
In pursuit of camouflaged leaks to plug information gaps, wanderers like Owen had slipped the pantheon's grasp and were waging solitary battles without divine aid, all while superficially following its will.
In go terms, it was a power struggle with key stones already placed on the board.
'...No idea where it all went wrong.'
Seong-un found the abundance of uncontrolled agents troublesome.
'Is it because of Rakrak's initial stance?'
Either way, they were benefiting him and the pantheon.
But Seong-un saw no need to invest excess resources in Polybia.
There was no reason to tip his hand to Hegemonia, her ally Suhengari, or Vladimir—and above all, Owen alone could achieve his goals.
Seong-un's objective was to lose the contradiction prophecy duel with Hegemonia.
Of course, he couldn't let on that it was intentional.
So he concealed his hidden cards and acted as if he was going all out.
His performance served another purpose, too.
'To challenge a great domain, I needed to level my subdomains anyway. Better to use it for this charade than pointless EXP grinding.'
As expected, Seong-un lost afterward.
The generator patent was seized, but the Pallet family that took it couldn't utilize it properly anyway, and most merchants would block their rise.
Polybia's city council was a factor as well.
If Polybia normalized, the Pallet family would bear all the blame.
Spotting Seong-un's great domain attempt, Hegemonia had overextended to win the contradiction prophecy.
'The patent might even return. Or Owen could have his Shimo craft an improved generator.'
Either way, considering the contradiction prophecy's mechanics, Seong-un hadn't truly lost the invisible war among mortals.
'The inventor matters more than the patent.'
Someone approached from behind Seong-un.
It was Wisdom.
"Nebula, I brought it."
Wisdom said that and extended the item in his hand toward Seong-un.
Seong-un glanced down at it for a moment before replying.
"Thanks for the trouble."
"Hm, feels like we didn't do much here."
"Just being polite."
"I was just humbly deflecting."
They both chuckled awkwardly.
Wisdom said he'd wait below and left.
Seong-un accepted the incoming video chat request.
He braced for raucous shouting, but it didn't come.
"Nebula."
Hegemonia appeared on the screen.
She wasn't looking at Seong-un, her head bowed.
"...Explain to me what happened."
Yet the flames inside her helm—believing Seong-un had synced with her emotions—burned brighter than ever.
Seong-un replied calmly.
"What about?"
Hegemonia looked up.
"How did you lose the contradiction prophecy and still snag a great domain right away?"
Seong-un thought he heard her grinding her teeth.
As Seong-un offered no answer, Hegemonia pressed on.
"You must've lost faith resources and EXP from the loss. By my calculations, you could've even dropped levels. How'd you refill to a million faith in that state? Impossible."
Seong-un said flatly.
"You know this game isn't perfect, right?"
Hegemonia echoed back.
"...Not perfect?"
"Meaning... we exploit the system well enough, but it's not made by flawless beings, so it has gaps. Not just balance issues between elements—the system itself has flaws."
"Like?"
"Your 'Great Traverse' playstyle, for one."
In the real world, the Union Kingdom's early civilization phase would be laughable.
Hegemonia had kept migrating her tribe westward, traversing two continents.
Not just the third continent—the first had once been Union Kingdom territory too, meaning they'd claimed all four at one point.
But the Great Traverse wasn't Hegemonia's unique strat.
In Lost World, encountering unseen races triggered 'Civilization Clash' events for massive EXP.
So risking early-game continental crossings to contact other players gave an edge.
Loss for mortals, gain for the game system.
Of course, it wasn't always advisable—disrupting other players' balance made you public enemy number one, an extreme gamble.
Having succeeded, Hegemonia stood proud.
"So? You pulled something similar?"
"Exactly. I exploited a contradiction prophecy loophole that's bugged me for a while."
"Explain."
Seong-un had no obligation to tell Hegemonia.
Nor would explaining cost him anything.
'Gotta think ahead.'
Seong-un raised the item Wisdom had given him.
"Here's your hint."
Hegemonia recognized it instantly.
"...A sealed god statue?"
"Yeah."
Players turned into sealed god statues upon death.
Seong-un, who hadn't possessed one before, had just received a fresh one from Wisdom.
"Whose is... wait. Right. Damn it. Why didn't I think of it? 'Overlapping prophecy'?"
Seong-un looked down at the 'Jangwan's Sealed God Statue' in his hand.
It wasn't odd that Hegemonia had overlooked it.
Known since early Lost World, overlapping prophecy involved stacking a second contradiction prophecy atop the first for profit.
First, Seong-un and Hegemonia clashed via contradiction prophecy over the patent.
Then 'sacrificial lamb' Jangwan slipped from the pantheon.
As planned, Jangwan dueled every other pantheon player except Seong-un.
These second prophecies bet on 'who wins between Nebula and Hegemonia.'
Jangwan bet on Nebula's victory; each pantheon member bet on Hegemonia's.
'I could've bet on my win and pulled it off, but excess faith is meaningless, and no need to waste resources on unneeded flair for the act.'
Seong-un lost, Hegemonia won—costing him nearly 200,000 faith.
Jangwan lost to eight pantheon players, each costing ~150,000 faith—enough, minus his own 200,000 loss, to max Seong-un's million-faith cap for great domain acquisition.
'Some call overlapping prophecy a bug since it generates resources beyond one player's capacity. But nah—the loser's loss roughly equals the winner's gain, so it seems like transfer. It isn't.'
In truth, defected Jangwan held only ~70,000 total.
His eight losses dropped him from level 24 to below 1, sealing him into the statue.
Which naturally returned to the pantheon, and Wisdom handed it to Seong-un.
Impossible in ranked wars.
Allies must stick together—no sacrificial lamb. Strangers might not honor promises to unseal, requiring complex rituals and massive resources anyway.
Dubbed 'entertainment play,' it was for streamers or concept players, fading post-hype.
Rankers adapt to metas, ignoring outdated gimmicks.
'Victory blinds you.'
Hegemonia's flames visibly dimmed.
"...Overlapping prophecy...? How'd you convince the sacrifice? Blackmail?"
"Nah. A favor."
"No one agrees to that."
"Strangers, maybe."
"What?"
Hegemonia didn't grasp it.
Seong-un stowed the statue in his inventory.
'Hating me means knowing me.'
But no need to say it.
Seong-un had other options.
Win the prophecy outright.
Lure more wanderers like Owen to Polybia, brute-force the blockade.
Empire's waged dual wars forever.
Contact Owen to extract Shimo.
Owen had the chops.
Wisdom's or Im Chun-sik's ideas too.
But none granted a great domain instantly, so overlapping prophecy it was.
Hegemonia was dazed.
The shock of 'victory' turning to defeat—via a known strat—left her reeling.
'This changes everything...'
She quickly assessed.
She'd barely held off the Empire's offensive and the Union Kingdom's civil strife, but now it was impossible.
Great domains offered perks like wielding disasters—once requiring massive faith—far more easily.
Acquiring one meant power to intervene in causality.
'...But it's not over.'
Sorting her thoughts amid countless setbacks this game, she chalked up a glaring new blemish.
'Stupid. Should've ended it cleanly my way, but Nebula dragged me into uncharacteristic plays.'
And she'd grown stronger.
'Won from worse odds before. Always a way to turn it around.'
She knew the probabilities favored defeat.
But Hegemonia knew she was a gambler.
Crashing low odds had made her #2.
Hegemonia tossed off her horned helm.
As her long hair cascaded, she brushed it back.
"You don't think it's over, do you?"
Seong-un finally saw Hegemonia's face inside the helm.
A woman. Deep eyes, fierce gaze. Teeth bared as if to bite, then she bit her lower lip.
"The real war hasn't even started."
Seong-un paused, stunned by her appearance, but soon countered.
"Bring it."