Chapter 120

Thanks to Bae Sarang’s efforts, selling her assets and tirelessly recruiting Thanes for the Knights Guild, Nemesis Soft was surprisingly holding its own against the competition. Additionally, many individual investors responded positively to Jae-yeon’s stock trading wave.

Despite this, it remained an uphill battle. Large institutional investors, often referred to as “whales,” did not support her side despite already owning significant shares of the company.

However, at one point, the tide began to turn.

“The chairman has pledged his support. He had been holding onto some stocks quietly, which amount to approximately 8%.”

”…Well, isn’t that something? Did he suddenly feel obligated now?”

“You know very well that can’t be the case.”

”…”

Sung Sangmoon couldn’t respond to Kidam’s words from Il-sung Enterprises’ secretary. He was correct. Despite her father never reaching the transcendent stage, his clear management principles allowed him to maintain his position as the wealthiest person in District 34.

However, that was just the beginning.

“The family head has decided to support you…”

“This is directly from our chairman. We will…”

“Here is the list of supporters, Madam.”

Everything started falling into place suddenly.

“No… What is happening here?” Even Sung Sangmoon, who stood to benefit, was bewildered by the turn of events.

“Nooo!” The emotions of the individual on the other end were evident without even hearing them speak.

“What the hell is this? Aaargh!” His furious roar echoed throughout the building, causing employees to cringe.

The chairman’s roar echoed throughout the building, causing employees to whisper among themselves.

“Why is the chairman so furious?”

“I heard we failed to merge with Nemesis Soft.”

“Whoa! Really? But why? Wasn’t it almost done?”

“Don’t know. Seems like some big investors suddenly pulled out.”

“Do you think someone tricked him?”

“Nah, that’s impossible. The chairman is both an apostle of the God of Merit and a priest of the God of Truth. Plus, he’s a grand mage!”

Despite the failure of this massive project involving significant resources and effort, the employees didn’t seem overly concerned. At Sky Soft, everyone understood their roles and responsibilities without meddling in matters outside their purview.

Naturally, Shining was personally upset, but he wasn’t one to take his anger out on subordinates.

“In truth, attempting to acquire Nemesis when they were performing so well was quite ambitious. Honestly, it’s surprising we got this far.”

“Were there any issues among VIPs that we overlooked?”

Indeed, there were.

“Aaaargh! Why?! Why?! Just one more month! No, two weeks! No! Even just another week would have sufficed, but why?!” Shining erupted in frustration.

“No, I’m asking how did this suddenly enter my divination range?! If this was going to happen, then why did you disappear earlier?!”

“Sir, please sit down; your outburst is unbecoming.”

“Shut up! Are you trying to pity me now? Ha! Damn it, nothing ever goes right.”

“I don’t understand what parody you’re attempting, and frankly, it isn’t amusing. Stop it. Sit down and focus on refining spells. You need to incorporate two ultimate magics by tomorrow.”

The secretary’s firm tone made Shining look crestfallen.

“Yongyong! That’s not fair, isn’t it? Look how upset Daddy is!”

He yelled again, but despite being scolded by a Transcendent, the blue-haired secretary didn’t bat an eyelid. Dressed in an extravagant gown that seemed out of place in an office setting, she continued working on her holographic display without turning her head.

“Firstly,” she mechanically saved her progress before speaking, “my name is not Yongyong. I am Anser from the great Blue Clan. And you are not my father; you were merely my guardian for a time.”

“The past was so much better… You weren’t this cold-hearted then.”

“Just sit down and do your work.”

“You were so adorable when you were young.”

“I told you to get back to work.”

“You even said you’d marry me once you grew up! Hic! Dad is truly heartbroken.”

”…Sit down before I kill you.”

“Meh…” Despite his whining, Shining promptly complied at Anser’s icy glare.

However, he couldn’t focus on the task at hand.

‘Oh, seriously? So close yet so far. Ah! It could have been the perfect virtual reality version of Lost World.’

The more he thought about it, the more disheartened he became. He was genuinely almost successful.

“But why suddenly bring divination back within scope?! Just one month! No, two weeks! Even just one week more would’ve sufficed…!”

“Chairman.” Anser’s expression remained cold as he watched Shining rant again. “Do you really want me to hit you?”

“No…” Shining settled back into his seat.

Anser comforted the sobbing Shining.

“We can build our own server. We already have all the necessary technology partnerships.”

“That’s true, but Origin’s scale is enormous. It would take at least ten years to replicate it.”

“It’d go faster if you personally oversaw the project. Besides, even if it took ten years, so what? That isn’t too long.”

“But then—then I’d have to endure that crappy gambling game dominating the industry for a whole decade?! The mere thought of my games, which are like children to me, being compared unfavorably just because they lack depth makes my blood boil!” Shining abruptly stood up again.

“Ahhh! Just one more month! No, two weeks! Or even just one week longer, and I could’ve… Gah!” He finally received a blow from Anser.

“…By the way.” As he casually dusted off his hand, Anser continued, “The situation seems to be worsening rapidly.”

“It seems like the situation is becoming increasingly serious.”

“Ah, regarding monsters and items?”

“Yes, even some parts of the Alliance are condemning the Game Master now. They believe that as the God of this game, you should take responsibility and resolve the situation.”

“Those impudent fools…” Shining’s playful expression turned grim. “This may have the appearance of a game, but it isn’t one! An unknown existence is merely imitating a game. How dare they…!”

“Well, it means they are highly mobilized.”

The Game Master, Guan Daeha, was among the rarest supreme Gods, with very few existing throughout the entire macrocosm. Moreover, he wasn’t bound by any specific mission or restrictions. If he desired, he could instantly become a tyrant dominating most of the macrocosm.

The reason they couldn’t conduct witch hunts despite monstrous invasions across the universe was precisely due to Anser’s immense power.

“It’s absurd from the start! So if extraterrestrial beings invade using martial arts, should we blame the God of Martial Arts? Or if a Magic Empire appears and turns the macrocosm into a sea of fire, should we hold the God of Magic accountable?”

“Calm down.”

“How dare these insect-like creatures question Gods…!”

“I said, calm down.”

Seeing Anser’s stern expression, Shining backed down.

“Raising this daughter just brings me trouble…”

“She isn’t your daughter.”

They bickered briefly, their anger and tension dissipating quickly. Although concerned about the issue affecting the entire macrocosm, it ultimately didn’t directly impact them.

The monster crisis caused astronomical damage across the entire macrocosm, but remarkably, Earth-34 suffered zero casualties. While some lesser civilizations faced extinction, Earth-34 remained stable and powerful, barely threatened by these monstrous pests.

‘Only soldiers or space mercenaries might be concerned about this issue.’

Despite their immense power, the Transcendents focused on game development rather than combat. Their interest lay in creating perfect virtual realities rather than dealing with mysterious monsters.

“Begin constructing the Origin server. Money is no concern; prioritize speed.”

“Yes, sir. Please take a break and work on it. Remember those two ultimate magic spells?”

“Yes…” Work began immediately.

It was on a day when Jae-yeon was tap dancing in her one-room apartment.

The time limit was gone. As someone who felt constantly chased while writing articles, playing games, or filming videos, this situation was heaven for me.

“I can take things more leisurely now.”

Of course, it didn’t make sense to worry about the shutdown of a popular game like Revenge. No matter how influential Shining might be as giants of their era, pushing such actions was unreasonable.

“Ultimately, they won’t fulfill their statement and will face significant penalties. They might try to escape by claiming there is no set deadline, suggesting they’ll do it eventually, but…”

Muttering these thoughts, I continued rewriting the Grimoire. Over time, my knowledge of magic had significantly increased due to this prolonged work.

“Magic, huh…”

With that murmur, I carried on with my task. Before long, another page was completed.

“Log in.”

“Log out.”

“Log in.”

As I had more free time in reality, there was no need to be anxious about continuing my work. Thus, I continued working while moving between Earth and Ardenia.

”…Living with a magic book? Are you learning magic?” A Hellain who looked like a child but had a body that couldn’t be mistaken for one asked curiously.

The ferocity and rudeness from our first meeting were gone, although she still spoke informally.

“For now, it is closer to reading. I am considering whether to learn or not.”

I could also learn magic. If I secured enough starting points, I might be able to open up the ‘magic’ element just as I did with martial arts.

‘However, martial arts and magic are different cases.’

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that I survived for 20 years in Ardenia with just one sword. Due to my low-grade mana aptitude penalty, which persisted even in Ardenia, I constantly hovered between life and death. In the Colosseum, inside rooms, on fierce battlefields… Whether fully prepared, sustaining fatal injuries, or so tired that it was hard to open my eyes, I pursued martial arts countless times. My martial arts skills weren’t at a low level, despite being held back by my poor mana aptitude.

In fact, winning against an expert-level opponent with only beginner-level mana, thanks to Combat Premonition, was no ordinary feat. But what about magic?

‘It’s just basic knowledge.’

With this level of proficiency, my elemental magic would be very low even if I opened it. Maybe with training, I could improve its level but…

‘I’m too busy making money to have time for learning magic.’

It was more rational to train mages rather than learn magic myself. The knowledge required for me is enough to translate magic books and spells as before.

“Log out.”

I translated, took out some meat, then translated again. The progress rate of Grimoire quickly increased. In the meantime…

[Hello, writer-nim!^~^ This is Green Dragon Publishing.]

Please check the e-book settlement statement we sent… …and the royalties came in.

[J.M.T Entertainment has deposited ₩4,720,000.]

There were still outstanding payments from previous appearances.

[The MyTube settlement team has deposited ₩811,121.]

These were the ever-increasing ad revenues.

“Excellent.”

Naturally, jae-yeon spent all his earnings on microtransactions. Since he ate most of his meals in Ardenia anyway, there was no reason to hold onto any money here.

[You have purchased the ★☆Grand Master Package☆★!]

[You have purchased the ★☆New Season Package☆★!]

[You have purchased the ★☆Proof of Bravery Package☆★!]

[You have purchased ten ★☆4,000 Diamond Boxes☆★!]

With each purchase, his spending power increased accordingly.

[Your strength has increased by 33 points for an unknown reason!]

[Your stamina has increased by 7 points for an unknown reason!]

[Your health has increased by 12 points for unknown reasons!]

“Phew. Now that’s more like it.”

Gradually, my stats were recovering. The debilitating exhaustion I felt whenever returning to Earth had also significantly lessened.

Of course, there was still a mountain of charges left to settle.

“Huff, heh-heh.”

But even that would soon be over.

“Wah-ha-ha!”

I laughed maniacally, like a cheap villain.

“It’s all done!”

The new work, ‘Grimoire,’ was finally completed.

“At last, goodbye to this crappy physical condition.”

I posted the final entry. Surprisingly, Grimoire had garnered considerable views. Although “considerable” meant only around 100-150 hits, it was a stark contrast from the encyclopedia entries which had plummeted to zero views. Of course, it wasn’t because Grimoire was exceptionally good.

The comments made it clear:

GeniusMage: What is this circling thing? And what’s up with these spells?! I’m going insane! Insane! Insane! Think I’ll skip lunch today!

13thClass(Jin): That’s not how magic works.

Rookie2090: Circling intentionally seals mana flow, right? Like during combat, you’d switch circles while cackling, “Heh heh heh, behold my true talent”?

GradStudentX: This format is common in primitive magical societies. When creating incantations without understanding the concepts of circling or spells, they often end up like this.

SpellMasterYomi: Isn’t this almost like witchcraft? Need to pray thrice before reciting these chants.

2090rookie: Wow, it still looks hopeless even if I look again. How can you learn magic with this circling to get a class 5? No, forget about class 5, is it possible to reach class 4?

There were 140 views and 100 comments. After roughly browsing through various admonishments and sarcastic remarks, I closed the window. In any case, I didn’t expect good reactions when posting this content. After uploading the final post, I quietly looked at the forum.

Then suddenly…

Tap!

At almost the same time, one more view was added to all the posts.

[Wow! M-4 has sponsored three million dragon stones!]

”…!”

My whole body trembled. Finally, what should come had arrived.

“Ah… boss!”

The response was so quick that I felt embarrassed for worrying earlier! However, it soon stopped.

“Huh? Wait a minute, 3 million stones?”

I initially thought it was 3 billion won and became happy. However, one dragon stone was worth 100 won. Therefore, 3 million stones meant 300 million won, not 3 billion won.

“Eh? Eh?”

It was only 1/5th of the sponsorship received by the encyclopedia’s 15 million dragon stones. Considering the Grimoire was expected to be more valuable than the encyclopedia, this situation was unexpected. As I became flustered, a sponsorship message popped up before my eyes:

[M-4: Excellent. But there are many duplicates.]

“D…Duplicates?” I felt anger rising as if I had been cheated.

“What do you mean by duplicates?! It is Ardenia’s work!”

I searched the internet. No significant results came up. If such information was available online, I would’ve already noticed it. This time, I scrutinized the replies instead of skimming through them as before. The hint was right there:

Chukchukseoksa: Ah, this seems strangely familiar. It overlaps with much of the magic system from District 29. I encountered these medieval spells while playing ‘Revenge,’ but I didn’t expect to see them here. Apparently, there are more immigrants from District 29 than anticipated.

“What…?” My legs gave way, and I collapsed onto the floor. Don’t tell me this is overkill! Anyone would be equally shocked after losing one billion won.

“Ah, damn it. Nemesis, why start from scratch when you throw in unnecessary details like this?!”

I felt wronged but had no grounds to argue. Sponsorships were like this from the start. There was nothing promised or written down in a contract, so how could I complain?

“Well, never mind.”

Of course, 300 million won was still a lot of money.

‘In fact, it is an incredible amount.’

As evidence, when I received my first sponsorship of 300 million won in ‘Shine Sight Heroic Legend’, I experienced more than joy—it felt surreal.

It wasn’t just the 300 million won; the commission fee alone amounted to 60 million won, which was more than what I earned after working tirelessly for two months without sleep.

‘Yes. Considering the labour input, it is an absurd amount of money.’

No matter how thick the book was, if you could receive 300 million won for just rewriting one book, everyone in the world would abandon their jobs and do this work. In Korea, which was known for having a high GDP, earning hundreds of millions per year put you in the top 10%. Yet, I received 300 million won within a few weeks for simply rewriting a single book, not even creating or translating anything new…

“Ah.”

Yes. This was a lot of money.

“Ah, boss…”

It was a lot of money.

“I feel disappointed…”

Humans were so fickle.