Truly Magnificent

The normalization wave set in motion by Cheon Cho-young showed no signs of slowing down.

Though it had started as a single pebble tossed into a pond, the moment it caught fire across social media and NewTube, it surged straight into the cultural mainstream. No matter the era, nostalgia possessed an undeniable magnetism as a trend. Even in a cyberpunk age perched on the precipice of a technological singularity, what happens when retro suddenly becomes the hottest thing in town?

Outside the Nice Pictures Studio building, a small crowd had already formed.

"Is anyone here?"

"Excuse me! Boss! Are you inside?"

"Pardon us, we're from the ABS broadcasting network!"

Trendsetting influencers, journalists, and network producers were practically banging down the door. While not a massive stampede, the turnout far exceeded anything the lonely studio had witnessed in months.

"Wel... come?"

Na Hyun-ho, the owner of Nice Pictures, stood behind the threshold in utter bewilderment.

Why are there so many customers...?

Day in and day out, the place had been an absolute ghost town. Believing that someone, someday, would come searching for the lost beauty of untouched nature, he had stubbornly clung to his vintage aesthetic despite flying entirely in the face of modern fashion. In the end, nobody came. He had resolved to close his doors for good at the end of this very week.

Only yesterday, viewing it as a final, desperate roll of the dice, he had pitched his studio to a streamer named Cheon Cho-young. And now, the very next morning, people were arriving in droves—not just ordinary walk-ins, but famous influencers whose faces he instantly recognized.

"Oh! Boss, you were inside after all!"

"Why did you open so late?"

"Is this where Cheon Cho-young took her photos?"

"Is this the studio styled after the natural world?"

"Hello, I'm a producer from the ABS entertainment department. I came to scout this location for a broadcast."

They jostled one another at the door, each insisting they had arrived first. Hyun-ho blinked in disbelief. He had prayed for business to pick up, sure, but he had never dared to dream of anything like this.

Just then, a hush fell over the entrance.

"Wait, is that...?"

"Holy crap. Even she came here?"

"Is there really something special about this place?"

The murmurs rippled through the gathering. Hyun-ho poked his head out through the doorframe to see what all the fuss was about.

"Hello, everybody! It's Jay!"

The undisputed number one creator in the streaming beauty sphere. Over two million subscribers on NewTube. Over a million followers on StarGram. Selected as one of the ten most influential figures of the contemporary era. A former celebrity and reigning queen of beauty broadcasts—Jay.

She was a flawless Chromian, her frame completely rebuilt with chrome-plated cybernetics. That cutting-edge chassis afforded her a voluptuous figure and undeniable, breathtaking glamour. And right now, that very superstar was striding straight toward Nice Pictures Studio.

Hyun-ho vigorously rubbed his eyes, convinced he was hallucinating. Was this real, or was he losing his mind?

"Hi, Boss! Is this Nice Pictures?"

Flaunting her unreal proportions with casual poise, she leveled a radiant smile at him, leaving Hyun-ho tongue-tied.

"Ah, uh, N-N-Nice Pictures... y-yes. That's, that's, that's right."

Jay let out a cheerful chuckle.

"Mind if I step inside, Boss?"

"Ah, y-yes. Please, come right in."

A few moments later, her gaze swept across the interior, her eyes sparkling with delight.

"Whoa—everyone, look at this! Mmm, pure retro vibes!"

Holographic projections of the breathtaking Alps illuminated the space, framed by warm backlighting that bathed the entire studio in a cozy glow. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Bundles of flowers—silk, yet remarkably lifelike—dotted every corner. In an era paved entirely with cold ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠concrete and neon metal, this was a rare, almost mythical sight.

Jay spun on her heel, flashing a dazzling grin at Hyun-ho.

"Boss, do you take photos too?"

"Pardon? P-Photos? Oh, absolutely! I certainly can!"

Hyun-ho dashed behind the counter in a frenzy, emerging seconds later with his gear in hand. The viewers watching through her stream immediately lost their minds.

It was a digital single-lens reflex camera—a DSLR.

"Wow, Boss... that is an ancient camera, isn't it?"

"Haha, well... yes."

"Well, retro vibes call for a retro camera, right?"

Jay struck an effortless, practiced pose before the holographic landscape. Hyun-ho's heart hammered against his ribs like a war drum.

How long has it been since I last shot a portrait? And my model is Jay herself! To think a day like this would come in my lifetime...

"Alright, Jay-nim, here we go! That pose is fantastic! Just like that! Now give me a slightly haughtier look... Ah, magnificent! Now a radiant smile! Beautiful! Incredible! Every single shot is a keeper!!"

A broad, unrestrained grin blossomed across Hyun-ho's face as the mechanical shutter clicked away.

Meanwhile, I arrived at the Pajeok Group headquarters carrying ten supreme-grade Black Moon Pills.

"Phew..."

Even though this wasn't my first time meeting these top-tier cultivators, the prospect still tied my stomach in knots. I stared down at the small pouch in my palm, lost in thought.

Back in the original game of Biseungdo, not a single player had ever crossed into the Transformation Realm. Even the most hardcore veterans had only reached Nascent Soul Layer 4 Great Perfection. Which meant that across the entire game's lifespan, there was zero data on what happened to someone who consumed a pill of my making to break through to the Transformation Realm.

In other words, I had no earthly clue whether these supreme-grade Black Moon Pills would actually help them break through that bottleneck. What if the pills proved utterly useless and failed to budge their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cultivation?

'We let you sit around in comfort, eating and living well while refining pills, and you take us for fools? If this garbage is the best you can craft, you might as well die!'

'Eeeeek!'

A violent shudder ran through my spine. Ugh, why did I have to picture that so vividly? Should I just turn back? Maybe tell them I haven't finished yet and come back another day?

Right at that moment—

Whoooosh!

"Whoa, whoa, WHOAAAA?!"

My feet suddenly left the pavement. Why was I floating?!

I thrashed in midair and glanced downward. T-Too high! We're way too high up!

Panic clawing at my throat, I jerked my head forward. Through the massive glass windows of the fifteenth floor, the executive boardroom was clearly visible. Inside, five Righteous Sect leaders were staring out at me with expressions one might wear while watching a monkey in a zoo.

Then came another invisible yank.

Thud! Squeeeak!

Yep. That was the unmistakable sound of my oversized bust flattening violently against the reinforced plate glass.

"Blast it all. Why does this place not have a single window that opens?"

CRASHHHH!

The heavy bulletproof glass exploded into a million shimmering shards.

I closed my eyes. Right. Stop thinking. The less you think, the less stress you'll suffer.

"Look here, Augustus. Must you always be so vulgar, reckless, and devoid of manners?"

"Why don't you rein in that giddy foot-tapping of yours before preaching to me, Raphael? Even Gye Wang-geon is sitting quietly, so why are you throwing a fit?"

"...You will reimburse the sect for that window."

"See? Told you he'd demand payment."

"Petty bastards, the lot of you, fussing over a sheet of glass! Fine! I'll replace it with pure gold-plated panes! Happy now?!"

Dragged through the jagged gap by an unseen tether, I landed unceremoniously on the plush carpet.

"...I was planning to take the elevator up," I wheezed, rubbing my sore chest.

"Who has the patience to wait for that metal turtle?"

"...Are you going to smash the window every single time?"

"Fret not. I shall personally install a private entrance so you can fly straight inside. I have to foot the bill for repairs anyway."

Oh, for God's sake. That meant he expected me to fly through the sky every damn time. I just wanted to go home.

And so, I found myself facing the five leaders of the Righteous Sects once again. Completely unbothered by the cold wind howling through the shattered wall, they hovered over the pill pouch I had laid out, gasping in admiration.

"Well, well! Our investment has truly borne fruit! To produce a spiritual elixir in a single day!"

"To think a proper pill could be concocted in mere hours, you see? Truly magnificent, you see."

Moyong Geranium, however, remained entirely silent.

"Say, Moyong Geranium," one of them asked. "Why do you hold your tongue?"

"...She misclicked and erased every single one of her audio files, you see," Pa Hae-sol explained gently. "Having no audio tracks to play, she refuses to speak, you see."

Did living for centuries rot people's brains, or what? How was it that not a single one of these supreme masters was remotely normal?!

"These are Black Moon Pills," I said, clearing my throat to draw their attention. "They are supreme-grade elixirs crafted by harmonizing the Yin-Yang and Five Elements, blending Black Moon Ginseng steeped in the essence of the full moon with various other spiritual herbs."

My explanation drew solemn, wistful gazes from the assembled masters.

"My word... It has been an age since I laid eyes upon a genuine spiritual pill."

Maeng Raphael waved a slender hand, wafting the aroma toward his nose. Detecting virtually no scent, he lowered his hand with a faint nod of approval.

"There are two for each of you."

Gye Wang-geon rose smoothly and distributed a pair of pills to every master.

"Who shall partake first?"

Consuming a high-tier pill typically required meditating to circulate one's internal qi and assimilate the medicinal efficacy. During that vulnerable window, cultivators relied on trusted guardians to stand watch against external threats.

If you idiots hadn't blown out the window, you wouldn't even need guards in an executive boardroom, I thought sourly. Lunatic immortals, every last one of them.

"Let us begin with Moyong Geranium, seeing as she cannot speak."

Moyong Geranium tossed both pills into her mouth simultaneously and chewed. Her brow knitted slightly, suggesting they tasted intensely bitter. Gulping them down, she immediately dropped into the lotus position.

Vwoooom—

A profound, resonant wave of spiritual qi stirred from deep within her dantian. An azure aura manifested slowly, rising from the core of her abdomen toward her chest, then spreading outward into her arms and legs, swelling in mass with every passing second.

My jaw dropped an inch. This was my very first time witnessing the process in the flesh. In the game, progression had been nothing more than a system notification announcing a level-up. Watching real cultivators channel raw, undulating spiritual energy before my eyes was an entirely different beast.

As I stared in rapt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fascination, Pa Hae-sol glided behind me and leaned down, her voice a soft whisper in my ear.

"What color do you behold, you see?"

"...Uh. Isn't it blue?"

"Hehe. Lady Cho-young truly possesses a pristine and warm spirit, you see."

"Pardon?"

"The hue of another's spiritual qi appears differently to every beholder, you see. There are as many colors as there are souls, you see."

Huh. I had no idea. So seeing blue meant I had a good heart? That was nice to hear.

"However, you must keep it hidden, you see."

"Keep it hidden?"

"We regard Lady Cho-young with fondness, so speaking of it here carries no peril. But should any stranger ever inquire about the color of your sight, never grant them an answer. Simply shatter their dantian where they stand, you see."

...Excuse me? Did she just say that with a polite, dainty smile?

"The eyes are the window to the soul, you see. The perceived hue of spiritual energy is the very reflection of one's inner nature. To let another decipher your heart is to invite mortal danger, you see."

A chill swept over my skin. Thank the heavens I hadn't asked her what color she saw in return. If I had, my dantian might have been reduced to dust on the spot!

Still, I told myself, Pa Hae-sol seemed like a fundamentally kind elder. After all, she was kindly offering me life-saving advice...

"The inquisitive fools who perished by my strings could fill an entire wagon, you see."

I swallowed hard.

"It is most fortunate you did not press the matter, you see. Hehe."

Never mind. Scratch that. She's just as batshit crazy as the rest of them.

Moyong Geranium completed her circulation with surprising speed. Despite the noticeable expansion in her spiritual reserves, she remained stoically silent, staying completely in character without her audio tracks.

Next was Gong Augustus, followed by Maeng Raphael, then Pa Hae-sol, and finally Gye Wang-geon. By the time all five had finished assimilating the medicinal power, the air inside the boardroom was thick with the suffocating residue of immense spiritual pressure. The sheer weight of it made it difficult to draw a breath.

Still, did it actually work? This was my first time feeding my pills to cultivators at the fourth layer of Nascent Soul Great Perfection. I held my breath, watching with eager anticipation.

Gye Wang-geon, the last to finish, slowly opened his eyes.

"...Truly magnificent."

A wave of relief washed over me. Thank goodness. It worked for their bodies—

"Magnificently meager," he continued flatly. "It falls far, far short of what was anticipated."