Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: First, I've Pulled in Some Support
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"These days, you don't seem to be heading back to your homeland."
In the lord's castle of Kolon, after finishing the demon race hunt, this was how Kolon greeted Geon-woo.
"You know how ridiculous things have gotten on Earth."
"That thing about deciding to coexist with the demons? If that's the case, I can't understand why you even came to our dimension. Of course, from our perspective, having reinforcements to fight alongside us is a good thing."
"They say the goal in creating the Onbiroad access capsules was to produce 400 million Awakeners on Earth, and from them, a million Fusionists with 50,000 souls or more."
"So that goal has been fully achieved now?"
"Not quite. We got the 400 million Awakeners, but the number of 50,000-soul Fusionists is barely under a million."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. That's why users are still logging into Onbiroad nonstop."
"Weren't those user Awakeners originally needed to fight the demon race? If you're choosing coexistence like this, don't they become unnecessary?"
Kolon kept up with Earth news through the users.
So he had some idea of humanity's policy on Earth to seek harmony with the demon race.
"That's not it either. No matter how foolish they are, humanity isn't so clueless as to ignore that without power, they'll end up devoured in the end."
"Even if they're compromising moderately with the demon race, they still need the power of Awakeners."
"Exactly. Though they do have the power of their scientific civilization too."
"Either way, doesn't it bother you—the current situation where you're cozying up with the demons? Is that why you haven't gone back to Earth?"
Kolon circled back to the remark he'd made in his initial greeting.
"Hahaha. Lord, your phrasing is a bit harsh. It's not exactly that."
"But that's part of it, right? And there are other reasons? So what are those other reasons?"
"Well, obviously personal ambition. The conditions here in Onbiroad are far better for growth than on Earth."
"Growth... That's enviable."
The natives of Onbiroad didn't receive the system assistance that Earth users did.
They had to pursue growth in a truly analog way.
That was why the growth speed of Onbiroad natives and users was incomparably different.
You could tell just from how many former average users had now surpassed Expert level to reach Master after over a decade of growth.
"Honestly, considering the user system, you could say Earth humanity is blessed."
"But out of nearly 10 billion people, only 400 million got that blessing. That's a form of discrimination."
Geon-woo spoke of blessings, Kolon of discrimination.
By that logic, was there no such discrimination for Onbiroad natives?
Geon-woo nodded as that thought crossed his mind.
"It's unavoidable. And while it's discrimination, there was a fair aspect to it too."
"Fair discrimination?"
"Excluding those who knew the information in advance, getting into those 400 million Awakeners was purely down to luck."
Awakener or non-Awakener was decided by whether you were logged in at the exact moment simultaneous users hit 400 million.
So the starting point had been determined solely by luck.
Of course, some had prior info on the 400 million simultaneous users, so it wasn't entirely fair.
"And those who knew in advance?"
"Well, that was a kind of privilege. Most of them deserved it anyway."
"Deserved?"
"After all, they'd made contributions in Neuron Age, Ark Capsule, Onbiroad, and so on. Sure, there might be exceptions, but a bit of impurity like that exists everywhere."
Geon-woo knew that the bigger the scale, the easier it was for corruption to slip in.
And that something proceeding purely without any of that was even harder.
So he had no desire to nitpick every little flaw.
"Impurities exist everywhere, huh? I didn't expect you to brush off something like that so casually."
"As the saying goes, clear water doesn't foster fish."
"Fair enough. Let's leave that there. So, have you given up now?"
"Given up on what?"
"On just watching as Earth, your homeland, accepts the demon race."
"Hahaha. What can I do? Can I single-handedly defy the tide?"
"That's unexpected."
"Well, don't worry—I'm not planning to get chummy with the demons. I'm still diligently sending astral bodies to the demon dimension. That's why I keep hunting demons."
"But now the reason isn't to protect your homeland Earth like before—it's for your personal growth."
"Right. Same actions, different purpose."
"Personal growth. So, any results?"
At some point, Kolon could no longer gauge the realm of the outsider Geon-woo before him.
Even as a near-Master lord, Geon-woo had far surpassed that level.
So he'd casually asked out of curiosity about Geon-woo's level.
"That's actually what I came to talk about."
After circling around for a while, Geon-woo finally got to the point.
"You have something to say?"
"Ah, think of it as just sharing info. I'm not your subordinate, Lord, or on any commission—just passing on some goodwill intel."
"Fine, say that. So, what is it? Good news?"
Kolon, unsure what Geon-woo—who'd come after so long—wanted to say, wore a slightly tense expression.
"We've confirmed our efforts aren't in vain."
Geon-woo grinned brightly at Kolon.
"No way—the astral bodies we sent to the demon dimension got results?"
Kolon immediately grasped what Geon-woo meant by "our efforts."
"Yes. One of the astral bodies we sent there activated the signal magic circle."
"Ooooh. It grew enough to create a magic circle? Hahaha!"
Thud thud thud thud!
Unable to contain his joy, Kolon pounded the table and laughed loudly.
"But the astral body that sent the signal was a demon astral body, not one from our locals."
Geon-woo said cautiously to Kolon.
Meaning they still didn't know what had become of the native astral bodies.
"It's fine. It's fine. They're surely succeeding too."
But Kolon seemed to trust the unbound native astral bodies more than the demon ones, whose intellect was heavily restricted by seals, and he put on a resolute face.
"We've only got one signal so far, and it doesn't tell us the full situation over there yet. But isn't it huge that even one succeeded? That's why I rushed here the moment I confirmed it."
"Right. Yes. Spot on. And there'll be more successes ahead. Definitely. Yeah, you bet."
Kolon grew more excited as time passed, his face flushing red.
"Anyway, with things like this, we should report to the Alliance Command and get more support."
Geon-woo revealed his true intent, which he'd held back until now.
"Hmm? More support?"
"Honestly, support's dropped off sharply lately."
"Well, we've got a lot on our plate here too..."
That was part of it, but there was also the fact that with zero results so far, they'd deemed it a failure and lost steam.
But hadn't that changed now?
"With this positive new result, shouldn't we ramp up support? This isn't some ordinary matter."
"True... Ah! You can prove it, right?"
Talk like this meant nothing without proof of success.
"The signal magic circle makes that easy."
But Geon-woo answered Kolon's question with full confidence.
He wouldn't have come without that preparation.
"Good. Then I'll pull in as much extra support as I can."
With Geon-woo's firm assurance, Kolon gave a straightforward reply.
"Thank you, Lord."
"But you didn't answer my question."
"Hm? What?"
"I asked if you'd seen growth results, but you only talked about the demon dimension."
"Ah, that... Honestly, no real progress."
"Hmm. With all that hunting, you must have collected a decent number of soulstones, though?"
Kolon looked surprised at Geon-woo's claim of no notable growth.
"The system benefits hit a wall at a certain point, it seems. Fusing soulstones does nothing special anymore."
"Really? I hear users talking about something changing at 100,000 soulstones. Maybe aim for that?"
"..."
"You've already fused 100,000?"
At Geon-woo's silence, Kolon asked, and Geon-woo nodded slightly.
In truth, Geon-woo could fuse 100,000 soulstones largely thanks to Paeng's help.
After Paeng hit 50,000, he'd funneled all his soulstones to Geon-woo.
The reason: Better for someone to hit 100,000 first and check the change.
And if further growth came, Geon-woo advancing first would benefit Paeng later too.
Geon-woo's growth helped semi-corporeal Paeng, but Paeng's growth didn't directly aid Geon-woo.
Using that excuse, Paeng gave his soulstones to Geon-woo, letting him succeed at 100,000 fusion recently.
But the result was disappointing.
No further progress beyond 50,000.
"If even 100,000 brought no change, then like you said, the system really caps user growth."
"We wasted soulstones just confirming that."
Geon-woo sighed lightly and shook his head.
"So, what now?"
Kolon asked with expectant eyes.
His gaze showed faith that Geon-woo wouldn't stop here.
"The system's help isn't the only way to grow. Onbiroad history has those who've reached Master and beyond."
"Master and beyond? Uhahaha! Excellent, perfect! Growth without borrowing the system's power?"
Kolon laughed so hard his uvula showed at Geon-woo's words.
And on the way back after meeting Kolon Lord like that.
= My lord, now the Alliance Command will surely back us properly, right?
Ilryeong asked Geon-woo with a bright expression.
"Since my method's the only success against the demon dimension, naturally."
= Hohoho. What a relief. I was getting anxious with resources short for the magic circles lately.
"If not, I wouldn't have bothered visiting Kolon Lord. It's a crucial time when we can't spare attention elsewhere."
= The world really does revolve around money. Nothing gets done without it.
"Tell me about it. But we'll pull in major support this time, so coming here was worth it."
= True. Now, let's hurry. Molti... is waiting.
"You, did you buffer on 'Molti' or something?"
= No, my lord.
"What? What's wrong with Molti? We secretly multi'd a Jiangshi Spirit in the demon dimension, didn't we?"
= It's just unfamiliar hearing you name a Jiangshi Spirit like that for the first time, my lord.
"Unfamiliar my foot. I saw that sour look in your eyes."
Geon-woo bantered with Ilryeong as they headed to his underground hideout.
Their attention was fixed on Molti, the Jiangshi Spirit that had succeeded in growing in the demon dimension.