Chapter 117

Saruman’s eyes gleamed coldly.

“The legendary pet is ours.”

Thus, the Gold Tower, now aligned with the Human Empire, began its campaign through writing articles. Similar situations were unfolding across various parts of the empire.

“A legendary pet…!”

“If our family acquires Kasim, then…”

“To think we can obtain that fearsome drake who saved us by just writing about it!”

The contest announced under the emperor’s name shook the entire empire to its core.

Jae-yeon was unaware of this phenomenon. To be precise, she knew vaguely but didn’t fully comprehend its significance.

Kasim had already become…

A symbol of the Emperor himself.

From Jae-yeon’s perspective, Kasim was merely a pet she had surpassed and replaced with her Mythical pet. She currently used him as transportation, but once she acquired another flying Mythical pet, he would likely be forgotten amidst countless other pets stored within her inventory.

However, the citizens of the Empire viewed him differently. Whenever the white drake soared across the sky during invasion announcements, it became a symbol of their pride and glory.

The great emperor, despite the name Human Empire, existed under the care of one extraordinary being, almost akin to a divine figure. This magnificent ruler saved their lives, provided them with food, clothing, and shelter - truly embodying the glory of the Empire itself. The sight of the drake carrying him through the skies represented the pinnacle of imperial honor.

Numerous citizens of the empire would willingly risk their lives tomorrow if they could ride Kasim today, even though no one had ever asked them to do so.

“Novels! How should we write novels? Does it matter what content?”

“Find someone who can write well! Maybe a playwright?”

“Inquire among the refugees from the Holy Empire!”

The nobles, with their literary education, took up writing. Similarly, mages, doctors, and administrators contributed, while some knights started carrying notebooks around to jot down ideas. However, it was not easy. Even modern humans exposed to various forms of media like games, movies, dramas, and novels often struggled to create original works. Considering the poor educational environment in Ardenia, it was inevitable that their creations would be mediocre at best.

However…

“Yes! I told you to clean room 301 again! Where have you been hiding?”

“Oh! Yes, yes! Right away!”

When numerous people pursue the same endeavor…

“Grandma! Grandma! What’s with all these boards?”

“Heh-heh-heh. Nothing much. Just my diary entries whenever something strikes me. It’s been a while since I’ve looked at them.”

…there will inevitably be exceptional talents among them.

“Come on! There’s a writing class tonight!”

“The detailed rules for the competition have just been announced!”

“If anyone wants books, please visit the newly opened Heavenly Bookstore!”

With one year left until the competition deadline, a refreshing wind was blowing through the Human Empire, which had previously revolved solely around battles and training.

After realizing the existence of Charging Power, there was a brake on spending within Ardenia. Of course, there were still hundreds of billions worth of diamonds and tens of thousands of unused cards in my Ardenia account, but I couldn’t use them due to the burden on my Charging Power, which had already reached minus. However, this story only applied to Ardenia. The situation in Revenge was different.

[Transcendent Stats Open: Agility]

[Target: Killians]

->Sugongnyangiphone: No way, boss. You also transcended Strength…

->Wind Arrow: Two stats transcended open—is this real…?

A world message appeared. It wasn’t as flashy as when obtaining Myth cards, but it certainly wasn’t insignificant. Transcendent Stats Open for two attributes.

Indeed, it seemed impossible. Even if one maxed out their level and completed all collections, these stats couldn’t be reached through conventional means of payment.

However… Revenge contained content that allowed surpassing such limits. It was akin to obtaining Myth cards without using the flower shop, employing highly inefficient payment methods.

‘Profession proficiency, combat growth consumables, class awakening, equipment inscription, fame expansion…’

Even Revenge users accustomed to daily spending described these as insane ‘money-draining’ elements. While effective, they were too inefficient, causing even whale users to abandon them.

But with 20 trillion won at his disposal, things changed significantly.

The only drawback was:

‘These options aren’t available in Ardenia.’

The cash shop only offered basic items. The main quests or NPCs were required for more advanced content. Why else would users be frustrated?

‘After going through great lengths to find these quests and clearing their conditions, you still need to spend ridiculous amounts of money… It’s no wonder people are fed up.’

Currently, I was preoccupied with deciphering these quests.

Universe’s Handsomest Man (whisper): Hey. Do you know about the Demon Army Commander, Belisoss Count Raid at 5 pm today? Don’t be late!

I responded to Sungjae’s whisper.

Killians (whisper): Can’t you just do it with your guild members? I need to complete my class awakening quest.

Universe’s Handsomest Man (whisper): Are you crazy? Isn’t that worth 100 billion won? And why should we… Also, doing it with guild members alone? What do you mean by guild members alone?!

Killians (whisper): Can’t you just do it with your guild members? As Ares Guild, shouldn’t you be able to easily defeat high-level demons?

Universe’s Handsomest Man (whisper): There is intel that the Il Sung and Future Guilds might interfere! I got this from a reporter at Hangeul Daily…

“Wow, why would a reporter pop up during a game raid…?”

I responded despite being flabbergasted. Although my class awakening quest was urgent, rewards from event raids couldn’t be ignored. Above all, now that I had confirmed the limitations of cash power, drop items were more attractive since they required less cash expenditure.

Killians (whisper): Understood. We will go through the gap between dimensions?

Universe’s Handsomest Man (whisper): Yes. By the way, there is a meeting next week. Will you attend?

Killians (whisper): Yes.

“What meeting?”

Of course, the Ares Guild ranked fifth among all guilds so their members were exceptional, but that was why I didn’t want to go. There was a high possibility of high-level ability users attending the meeting for Ares, and they might be able to detect my physical condition.

“Now I have to rewrite the Grimoire.”

I set up automatic hunting and sat down.

“Login.”

Hwahk!

A wind blew as soon as I moved. Skilfully controlling Kasim, I descended towards the highest mountain that had been my goal.

Boom!

“This is good enough.”

After sending away Kasim, I manipulated the system UI.

Ku-gooong!

The earth shook, and stones rolled down the slope. I quickly tapped on the ground.

“Don’t come out! Just make an entrance for me!”

As if hearing my cry, the earth’s vibrations stopped. Then…

Crackkkk…

A hole appeared under a large rock on the ridge.

“Wow. You found a good spot where you can’t be seen.” Praising him, I entered the hole and it automatically became smaller behind me. There was no need for it to be larger than a ventilation duct.

“A walk?”

“Yes, let’s take a walk further south.”

Grrrumbble.

The land worm dug down 100 meters underground as planned. Since we intended to connect all the underground passages later, we maintained the same depth. Fortunately, the Landworm had extraordinary senses, allowing it to accurately perceive its depth even without numerical indicators.

Kwagak!

As dirt and rocks were pushed aside by the transparent scales, I took out the Grimoire that I grabbed before leaving the throne room.

I couldn’t put it in my inventory so it dangled during battles, but the inconvenience wasn’t enough to leave behind the Grimoire.

‘I can’t post this as a web novel.’

Even if I conceded and called the encyclopedia a setting guide, claiming that the Grimoire was part of a fictional work presented a different level of problem. People might call it trash all day long, but it still contained a functioning magic system, didn’t it? Therefore, I created a new account.

The ID was ‘newcomer’, the title of the novel was ‘Grimoire Translation’, and the description read: “Translating the native magic system into hangul for training purposes.” Naturally, it would be published for free.

‘If I tried charging for this content, there would undoubtedly be issues. Even though nobody knows it’s real magic, the situation remains the same.’

Of course, this wouldn’t make any money but it didn’t matter. My aim was solely to obtain sponsorship.

“Ah, I installed voice recognition software, but typing on the keyboard is better.”

Since it was a magic book, there were numerous symbols involved. The consolation was that these symbols were readily available within my document program.

“Log in.”

I returned to the pilot’s seat of the landworm and read from the Grimoire.

“Log out.”

Then I wrote about it on Earth. Over several hours, I traveled back and forth between Ardenia and Earth dozens or even hundreds of times, checking my position using the minimap each time.

“Oh, it seems like I’m entering the Crystal Alliance territory soon.”

Before the gates opened, the power structure in Ardenia could be divided into four factions. In the center of the continent, the Ming Empire dominated Center Point and its surrounding areas.

The Holy Empire occupied the western part of the continent, while the Eight Kingdoms controlled both the west and north regions. Lastly, the Crystal Alliance dominated the southern area.

Among these factions, the Crystal Alliance was primarily composed of subhuman races such as merfolk, elves, dwarves, etc., resembling humans but distinct from them. Due to their history of persecution by humans, they were highly exclusive towards other powers. Despite living in Ardenia for twenty years, I had minimal contact with them.

‘I only saw some slaves accompanying nobles.’

As this thought crossed my mind…

Grrr!

Beyond the transparent scales, instead of dirt, empty space became visible. As the land worm pushed forward, the void collapsed, causing debris to scatter everywhere.

”…What?”

At this unexpected sight, I put down the Grimoire and stood up from my seat. Of course, I was surprised but the landworm didn’t slow down at all, pushing forward for quite some distance.

“Wait! Wait a minute! Slow down.”

“Why?” The landworm didn’t think it was strange at all. It treated this like groundwater or rock layers encountered while burrowing underground.

“It is artificial terrain. Moreover…there seems to be a path leading further down.” I opened a scale and went outside, not forgetting to grab the Grimoire. Items left with the land worm were considered stored in its inventory, but non-items had different rules. If the summon of the land worm was cancelled, they would simply fall to the ground.

“What, this doesn’t seem like a dungeon… A mining site?”

I looked around curiously when it happened:

“Don’t move!”

A cold voice warned me just as I was about to cancel the summoning of the landworm. Turning my head, I spotted a small child with dull blonde hair who appeared barely over five feet tall.

The problem lay with the object aimed at me.

“A gun?” My mouth dropped open in disbelief. What was a firearm doing in this medieval world?

“I said, don’t move!” The kid repeated the warning, but it posed no threat whatsoever. In Ardenia, I could withstand even cannon fire unscathed, essentially functioning as a living biological weapon.

“What is that thing?” The girl panicked as the Land Worm tilted its massive head. Indeed, witnessing such a colossal creature moving would understandably unsettle anyone.

Dududu!

“Move! Hurry up!”

I could sense a group of people approaching from afar. Although I couldn’t use Perception without mana, my Agility over 600 points provided me with senses sharper and more accurate than any creature’s.

“D-Don’t move! It seems you don’t know what this is, but if I pull the trigger…”

Ignoring the girl’s babbling, I descended from the land worm’s head.

Click!

The sight of the land worm’s forehead closing startled her.

“W-What is this? What kind of body organ is that?”

As she became increasingly flustered, the owners of the sensed presence finally emerged.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Dozens of soldiers appeared along the narrow underground path. Initially, I thought they might be part of a line infantry unit upon seeing their uniforms similar to the girl’s, but unlike her, they were armed with small crossbows and shields.

“Don’t move human! How did you enter this place?”

“Hands up! I will shoot if you do anything funny!”

Fierce shouts erupted out. I looked down at them and clapped my hands.

“Ah! They are dwarves.”

Now that I look closely, the girl who first aimed her gun at me was actually a dwarf woman. I thought a dwarf would have a beard, but she appeared just like a human girl. On one hand, the dwarves seemed angry at being ignored by me.

“I said, don’t do anything stupid or I’ll shoot!”

“Put your hands up!”

They shouted while threateningly aiming their stone bows. At this sight, the landworm stretched its head forward.

[What, should we stop here? Or shall we push on?]

“Hiiik?! D-Did it talk?”

“Aaack!”

“What is that?! What is that?!”

The Mythical pet caused chaos among the dwarves.