Chapter 113

“Minus… 68 billion… won?”

As my stats returned to their original level from rock bottom, I felt an overwhelming surge of physical strength, but managed to stabilize it using my incredible body control ability.

“68 billion…won.”

Amidst this turmoil, I organized my thoughts.

‘The important thing is the unit.’

Won (₩). What was the unit for this? It was the currency unit.

“Your Majesty.”

“Oh, it’s okay. I was just testing a new ability and experienced some backlash.”

“A new ability… please don’t overexert yourself. You already do so much, Your Majesty.”

Gently stroking Flower’s worried head, I rose from my seat.

“It’s alright, go ahead and take a break.”

Flower looked at me for a moment before bidding farewell and entering the elevator. I watched the elevator descend briefly before turning around. Moving towards the window, I could see the view of the giant city below.

‘Money.’

I thought.

‘Once again, money is a problem.’

After disposing of stocks worth 40 billion won, it increased to 400 billion won, and now I could restore the box of diamonds worth 100 billion won three times a month… As a result, I became completely free from the monetization aspect of this shitty cash game. This was on a different level compared to using a money cheat in a package game. Unlike package games where there were limits to what you could do with money, modern cash games allowed you to achieve anything if you had enough cash.

I didn’t have to worry about how much money was left and could buy anything I wanted. In other words, if I wished for it, this world could truly be enjoyed like a game. At least, that was until five minutes ago.

“Money…” My head was spinning. I had pondered over the principle or origin of my ability dozens, even hundreds of times. It really was an unexpected situation but still, I had some guesses.

‘My money has gone negative. This means I am now in debt.’

To use the game ability, money was needed. I thought it was unfortunate.

-Ah! Why did such shit happen? Such trash! Such a cash cow game!

Yes, that’s what I thought. If this ability were applied to what is commonly called a ‘god game’. Just playing the game would increase my level, and as levels increased, I could choose skills along the desired tree.

I could’ve earned money just by hunting in dungeons. By studying raid boss patterns and strategies, I could’ve obtained legendary or mythical equipment. However, while feeling disappointed, another hypothesis occurred to me.

What if this ability didn’t arise from grinding excessively in a pay-to-win game but rather because it was overly reliant on microtransactions?

‘Well, let’s set that aside for now.’

Yes, I put it aside. There were too many gaps in that theory. After all, not everything I brought back involved microtransactions, right? For instance, I could effortlessly bring items dropped during Revenge raids, like the Songpyeon alone weighing several tons.

‘But what if…just hypothetically speaking…’

What if this ability is fundamentally tied to microtransactions?

What if buying something with money gave me strength? If so…

‘The restoration after deletion… or the stock market issue becomes problematic.’

It was because much more value would be consumed than what I actually used. Then it could result in -68 billion won. It was a messy patchwork but there was no hypothesis that fitted better.

‘Let’s see.’

I opened the pet window and selected Hamdol (General), the least popular card among them.

[Do you want to delete this card?]

[If you collect four lower-rated pet cards, they can be synthesized into a higher-rated pet card. Do you really want to delete it?]

I touched the emerging windows rapidly until they disappeared.

Then…

“Log out.”

Upon returning to reality, I checked my balance right away. Once again, I felt my stats decrease drastically, but I ignored it and focused on the numbers alone.

[-6,872,772,300 won]

Beeep!

[-6,872,770,800 won]

”…As expected.”

It decreased by 1,500 won! However, there was a problem. The pet card cost 10,000 won, yet its value was assessed at only 1,500 won for a general grade pet.

“Log in.”

I conducted an experiment, deleting another Hamdol card.

“Log out.”

[-6,872,769,900 won]

This time, it decreased by 900 won.

‘What? It isn’t a fixed amount… Is it random?’

Now, I deleted a larger chunk.

[1,000 Diamond Box]

It was a 100,000 won item. However…

(-6,872,769,900 won)

This time, it didn’t decrease by even one won.

‘Indeed.’

The unused diamonds weren’t counted as spent. In fact, if using diamond boxes were considered, my balance shouldn’t be minus 6.8 billion but several tens of billions.

“Hrmm.”

As confusion subsided and my thoughts became organized, I realized something clear about this situation.

“Ah…”

It was a moment of choice.

‘In fact, there is no problem if I just live in Ardenia.’

I still had many diamond boxes left, and the consumption of diamonds wasn’t as large as expected.

The biggest consumption should’ve been for acquiring myth-ranked classes, gatekeepers, and pets. It was even more significant since I brought them from reality to Ardenia.

‘Even better, I don’t age in Ardenia.’

In other words, as long as I didn’t waste the remaining tens of billions of diamonds, I could live forever as an emperor in Ardenia.

”…Hmph.”

However, I snorted dismissively. There was no need to ponder this further; it wasn’t a difficult decision.

[The Mind Pathfinder (Hero) card has been deleted.]

[Cannoneer (Hero) card has been deleted.]

[Star Seeker (Legend) card has been deleted.]

[Iron Armor Fire Bear (Hero) card has been deleted.]

[One-Horned Beast (Hero) card has been deleted.]

[Iron Armor Fire Bear (Hero) card has been deleted.]

[NeverDie (Hero) card has been…]

jae-yeon organized his hoard of classes, gatekeepers, and pets that he had purchased in bulk. Of course, he didn’t delete everything; if it was useful despite its low rarity, he kept it, but otherwise, out it went.

For example, among the same-rarity jobs, he purged mage classes. They only appeared one-third of the time, yet they required much higher education levels to learn properly.

As for pets, jae-yeon deleted all those with cute appearances or the Auto Loot Equipment ability.

Humans can manually pick up items anyway. How many drops could there be?

Instead, he retained most rideable pets as well as buff- and combat-type pets capable of carrying bags or baskets on their backs due to their size.

In the case of Hero rank pets, I deleted all except for flying mounts.

“Log out.”

[-3,723,111,400 won]

“Sigh… Even after deleting everything needed to equip my army, this is all that remains?”

Despite removing as much as possible, it was still like this. The problem now was there was nothing left to delete.

‘Looking back, it was incredibly risky.’

With -6.8 billion won, at least there was some hope of recovery. But what if it had been minus ten billion? Or twenty billion? If so, I wouldn’t have dared to think about recovering and would’ve just stayed in Ardenia. It was sheer luck that I discovered the situation before causing even more damage.

“Now, what should I delete next? Ideally, I want to purge the collection again…”

Honestly, it was the least efficient content. I wanted to raise my stats with legendary weapons but all nine of them disappeared. However, there was no way to remove items already registered in the collection.

‘The rule about non-refundable applies not only to equipment.’

There was nothing that could be done since the mythical class, gatekeeper, and pets were also part of the collection. The same applied to the mythical castle and its associated buildings which had already been constructed. It couldn’t be reversed for other castles raised to legendary rank.

”…”

In the end, there was only one answer. I took a sword from my inventory.

Twin Dragon Sword(Legendary) +9

Weapon Damage +29 (+18)

Additional Critical Damage +21(+21)

Strength +15(+18)

Health +15(+18)

Additional Damage +6 (+9)

Skill Damage Amplification +20%.

Material: Orichalcum (Damage Prevention).

Weight: 11.8 kilograms.

Special Effects:

Three Feet Swearing Heaven, Mountains and Rivers Moving Color (Unique).

One Sweep Annihilation, Blood Stained Mountains and Rivers (Unique).

This was the sword I brought to use. It wasn’t just any weapon but one that had been upgraded to myth rank, intended for long-term usage—perhaps even hundreds of years more. This wasn’t all I took out.

Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.

I placed down a helmet, top, bottom, gloves, and boots—all legendary equipment with +9 enforcement. And it didn’t stop there.

[Ring of Light Dominion(Legendary) +9]

[Ring of Dark Dominion(Legendary) +9]

[Ring of Flame Dominion(Legendary) +9]

[Ruling Wind…]

I took them out. I removed everything.

“Yes… In fact, it is overpowered specs. With luck items, I can kill even special bosses alone.”

Of course, things might be different once entering the mainland, where legendary ranked monsters roamed in high-level zones. However… I didn’t think I would be overwhelmed if facing those creatures. Moreover, my immediate target was just the flower shop, wasn’t it? Rather than thinking about the future, I looked at the legendary sword in my hand.

Sssing.

The silver blade flashed coolly as I grasped the handle and pulled it out.

“I’ve never killed a single monster before. Is this deletion…” I gazed at the Twin Dragon Sword.

It wasn’t just any legendary item but a +9 reinforced legendary sword.

‘There must be many stories behind this item.’

In fact, the Twin Dragon Sword wasn’t preferred equipment. It lacked the hit stat that was essential for Revenge gear. This type of equipment should only be used by classes with their own hit correction skill or those unaffected by the hit stat. Yet someone had managed to reinforce it up to level 9.

“He…”

He was probably a figure akin to a director of a large company. Or perhaps a descendant of a prominent family, a new millionaire, or even a popular celebrity. Otherwise, there was no way they could’ve obtained and used a +9 reinforced legendary weapon.

‘What was his ID?’

He pondered it over. Considering he used Twin Dragon Swords, his ID was probably YiSunsin… However, such an id would be blocked, so it was most likely SungwonYisunsin.

‘Of course, he must have been a guild master.’

Yes. With that much investment, there was no way he wasn’t a guild master. During normal hunting expeditions, he was a ruthless warrior. In times of war, he was a reliable boss who protected his guild members. When he tried to enforce legendary equipment, numerous guild members gathered around him and cheered him on.

[Dance of Wishes for Guild Master Sungwon Yi Sunsin’s Legendary +9 Enforce]

[Great Sungwon Yi Sunsin!]

[Lucky Sungwon Yi Sunsin!]

[Holding my breath until Guild Master reaches +9 Enforce!]

Yes. It had to be like this.

Finally when he succeeded, everyone would’ve cheered and clapped for him. The success of strengthening legendary equipment to +9 meant that it wasn’t just one person’s power but also the power of the guild increased as well.

‘He… Sungwon Yi Sunsin…’

He must’ve fought numerous battles with this weapon. He must’ve slaughtered monsters, participated in sieges and defense battles.

[Ohhh! It is activated!]

[Sanchok Secheon Sahnha Dongsaek (Three feet swear to heaven, shaking mountains and rivers) !]

[A three-foot sword swears towards the heavens causing mountains and rivers to tremble!]

[Guild Master, please use One Stroke Annihilation Blood Flame Mountain River Sword!]

Yes. That’s what happened. With either one or both swords, he must’ve engaged in PK out of revenge and waged war against raid bosses.

Then what happened after that? Maybe he quit playing the game. As reality became harder for him, he might’ve sold his sword, which was like an extension of himself. Or maybe he aimed to get a mythical weapon or found another weapon better suited for him as he entered the mythical class rank.

This small piece of data contained numerous stories and history.

It…

It…

[Twin Dragon Sword(Legendary) +9 has been deleted.]

[Sungwon’s Helmet (Legendary) +9 has been deleted.]

[Sungwon’s Armor (Legendary) +9 has been deleted.]

[Sungwon’s Bottom (Legendary) +9 has been deleted.]

[Sungwon’s Gloves (Legendary) +9 has been deleted.]

[Sungwon’s Boots (Legendary) +9 have been deleted.]

Everything disappeared. My eyes became hot.

“Ha…shit.”

The fact that I bought items and deleted them was already widely known on the official homepage and fan sites. It was inevitable due to the nature of the game where character information was publicly available. Thanks to this, there were many posts and comments calling me crazy or belittling me.

This is how I felt when seeing those things:

‘So what?’

Yes, exactly that feeling. I didn’t harm anyone else, so why did they care? They were too interested in other people’s affairs.

‘That’s what I thought.’

However, now I was truly deleting equipment.

“Wah, really?”

I understood their feelings.

“They might’ve thought I was crazy.”

Despite knowing it couldn’t be helped, my hands were shaking. How would those watching from the side feel?

Still, deleting tears had its own effect.

[-1,322,166,900 won]

“Minus 1.3 billion won.” I opened the status window.

ID: Han Jae-yeon

Class: Sword God (Mythical)

Title: Novice Adventurer (General)

Level: 69

Strength: 21

Stamina: 11

Health: 18

Agility: 11

Mana: 1 Magic Power: 1 Magic Resistance: 1

Recovery: 13 Mana Recovery: 11 Luck: 10

Free Stats: 0

Condition: Normal

“Wow…”

The buff stats were completely gone due to still having -13 billion won remaining. No, it was worse… Even my base stats have been significantly reduced.

At least the good news is that I can function normally on Earth now.

“But this is below average?”

The difference between my abilities when logged in and logged out felt too extreme, making me feel deprived while on Earth.

“I wanted to work as a space mercenary…”

Space mercenary? Forget about it. It wasn’t even possible for part-time jobs anymore.