Chapter 151

“I am playing Dark Star. My name is… yes.” The man in the red robe smiled broadly. “Call me Merlin.”

His calm voice made me think,

‘Ah, it’s a nickname.’

Of course, ‘Merlin’ couldn’t be his real name. Even my own name, Killian, wasn’t my birth name. It would actually be strange to reveal our true identities when meeting unknown individuals in an unfamiliar location.

Rumble…

I felt a faint vibration. The other two didn’t seem to notice, but as the master of this inner world, I could sense it—a clear indication that this moment wouldn’t last forever.

‘I need to disclose information immediately.’

Despite being within my inner world, everything remains uncertain. How exactly did the Dimensional Dagger Heart bring these beings here?

I didn’t know how long this phenomenon would last, gathering us together from across the universe. Indeed, I knew nothing about it. The only thing I was certain of was that this situation must be a miracle created by multiple coincidences.

”…”

In a moment, I felt a strange sensation and quietly raised my left arm. There was Zerosum shining with a black gloss. I confirmed the description at the very bottom of Zerosum:

[Event Adjustment Stage 1][1 million points required to open.]

’…Event.’

It wasn’t yet an available function but still, I could understand. The ‘event’ mentioned here referred to situations like the current one. An event—a special occurrence distinct from everyday happenings.

At this moment, Zerosum wasn’t exerting any effect but it was informing me that the current situation fell within the realm of an event.

‘I need to open it quickly.’

Indeed, it seemed like a transcendent weapon, giving off hints of its potential. If used well, it might be more useful than the drop adjustment effect.

”…Hoo.” I took a deep breath and made a decision. It wasn’t a time to waste by withholding information.

“I can’t feel mana.”

“Hmm?”

“What?” Merlin and the crushed jar looked at my unexpected words. Regardless of their reactions, I continued speaking, “I don’t know if it was from birth or later, but when I was tested at the age of 15, I received a diagnosis of low-grade mana affinity.”

Forced mana awakening was one of the welfare benefits available to residents from District 34 starting at age 10, but my confirmation came much later. My guardian wasn’t considerate enough to take me to the monitoring screen promptly when the time arrived.

“Then at age 23, just before I was discharged from the army…I woke up and realized that I was in a completely different world.”

I started telling my story. Initially perplexed by my abrupt narrative, Merlin and Crushed Handle adjusted their postures, now attentively listening.

“I began with a body identical to my real one. Strangely, I found myself wearing cheap clothes. From there, I…”

I rapidly continued my tale, capturing the interest of both listeners who eagerly responded to it.

“Wow! You lived for 20 years without aging?”

“It seems that age doesn’t progress within the game. Even though I conducted research inside the game, it wouldn’t be problematic to live there for several decades.”

I shared every detail of my experiences. How I led a fierce life in Ardenia and eventually became its Lord. The sudden appearance of the gate, realizing the option to log out amidst chaos, and then the concept of ‘charging power’.

“‘Charging power’, huh? Interesting. Such a concept exists.”

“To think one can wield virtual world powers in reality and even extract items…!”

The two listeners, initially calm, were now astonished. It seemed this information was new to them, making my revelation quite significant.

‘However, this is also an investment.’

I was certain about one thing:

‘I am safe.’

In District 34, there were few beings who could target me as an apostle of the Game God across the macrocosm. This meant that I didn’t need to play it safe by selling my body and information here. I continued talking,

“And if you have stocks…”

“If you kill the monsters from the recent monster incident…”

“The appearance of transcendent-grade monsters…”

It revealed everything. The two men calmly listened without interrupting me. When my story ended, Merlin raised his hand.

“Can I draw a deck?”

“As long as it doesn’t cause harm.”

“Then…”

Wooong!

With Merlin’s wave, eight card decks floated around him. He picked up one deck and the other seven disappeared.

Shwaaah!

The deck of cards was fixed in mid-air as five cards lined up in front of him. From my angle, I should’ve been able to see the cards but as a third-party observer, all I could see were their backsides.

Woooom!

As Merlin raised his right hand towards the void, mana concentrated and transformed into a mana sphere.

“Unlike games where turns automatically progress, in reality, mana doesn’t recharge by itself. You have to pour a certain amount of mana directly to create a mana sphere like this. Then it counts as one turn.”

After saying this, he drew a card from the ones lined up in front of him and declared:

“Mana Imp of the Deep Sea!”

[Mana! Give me mana!]

A cute-looking imp suddenly appeared out of thin air and swallowed the mana sphere. However, it didn’t disappear completely; when the imp belched, another empty mana sphere reappeared.

“Rain of Mana Recovery!”

Shuaaah!

As blue rain poured down, the empty mana spheres filled up with a blue glow. Merlin used another card.

“Mana Growth!”

Two empty mana spheres disappeared, replaced by two new ones. Now he had four empty mana spheres.

“Rain of Mana Recovery!”

Shuaaah!

The blue rain filled the empty mana spheres once more. Merlin used yet another card.

“Magic Power Storm!”

Whoooosh!

In an instant, all his mana was consumed as a storm swept across both his field and hand, but it caused no harm since his hand had been empty anyway.

Kreeee!

The Deep Sea Mana Imp on his field got blown away. While that alone would have sufficed…

Shhhk-shhhk-shhhk-shhhk-shhhk!

Eight cards were drawn from his deck! Merlin picked one of them up.

“Mana Recovery Rain!”

His mana was replenished once again.

“…”

Rin watched this unfold, incredulous.

Is he…out of his mind?

He’d only infused one mana sphere so far, which meant they were still within the first turn.

“I’ll ask you first. Is everything you’ve told me thus far true?” Merlin asked, to which Rin nodded affirmatively.

“All of it.”

“I shall verify it. Blessing of Truth!” As he drew a card, white light filled the void. The effect was unclear, but Merlin smiled at the sight.

“Ha-ha-ha! How audacious you are. You’ve revealed almost everything without any secrets left hidden…”

He appeared to ponder for a moment before nodding. The white light continued shimmering like an aurora above them.

“Let’s share information equally then. Ten years and three months ago by Earth’s time, I woke up one day unable to perceive mana anymore.”

This revelation came as quite a shock.

“You used to be able to manipulate mana?”

In other words, could Mrs. Sellner designate apostles not just at birth but also later in life?

Merlin nodded. “Yes, without any warning, I suddenly lost my ability to use mana. Of course, it didn’t last long. That very evening, I performed surgery on myself and resolved the issue.”

The absurdity of his words rendered Thane speechless. “Surgery on yourself? That’s preposterous… In my case, four grand mages, including the dragon, spent a whole week…”

“I am a professor at Ouroboros.”

”…”

Thane was left with no retort.

Ouroboros, known by various names such as academy, school, or university depending on who you asked, is considered the pinnacle of scholarly institutions across the macrocosm. The organization, referred to as the ‘Seekers of Truth,’ encompasses all realms of knowledge, from mysticism to magic, science, philosophy, and beyond. It’s renowned for nurturing scholars so advanced that even transcendents can be found among its student body. Being a professor there attests to Merlin’s exceptional abilities, already validated within the macrocosm.

This fierce place even had Transcendents among its students, and being a professor meant their abilities were already proven. How could someone become a professor at Ouroboros unless they had established their own unique domain within the macrocosm? The position itself was proof of their capabilities!

Regardless of my incredulity, Merlin continued explaining, “I also entered the game. As soon as I arrived, I realized it was indeed a game.”

“B-but couldn’t it just be another world?”

Merlin shook his head at Chegga’s suggestion.

“It wasn’t possible because… Dark Star is a game that I created.”

”…”

”…”.

Our mouths fell open in disbelief. Crushed Handle also wore a stunned expression.

“I created this game out of boredom during my personal research, but there is no reason why I wouldn’t recognize it myself. Even at that time, Dark Star didn’t intend to release the game and never showed it to anyone.”

‘Wait, can you just create a game because you’re bored?’

“As such, I thought being summoned to that world was related to the development of the game, but now it seems not.” For a moment, Crushed Handle looked blankly before suddenly coming back to his senses. “W-Wait a minute! You made it alone. Then…?”

“Yes. I can make corrections, updates and patches at any time. According to Killian’s explanation, it is because I already own 100% of the stocks.”

”…”

It was terrifying. In literal terms, it meant that I could create items within the game as desired and apply patches in a favorable direction? Unexpectedly, Merlin shook his head and looked at me.

“I see now that you have become a slave to charging power.”

”…”

His words weren’t entirely wrong. Seeing my silence, Merlin sighed.

“As expected. However, the situation is similar for me.”

“You can’t do whatever you want?”

“Yes. Somehow, our naming sense is similar. I call it ‘Box Office Power’.”

I realized it through intuitive naming, “The game…many people have to play it.”

“That wouldn’t be a problem but it isn’t happening. It needs to sell well! The game must make a lot of money! Ah! I’m really stressed!” Until now, Merlin had been calm but now he became frustrated. This genius, who faced no difficulties or fears in life, was frustrated by an insurmountable reality.

“The graphics are good, the story is decent, the balance has been carefully maintained, and the world setting is intricate, yet why isn’t it selling? Ideally, I’d want to give it away for free, but since we need to earn money from the game, that’s not possible either!”

After venting his frustration, Merlin looked at me with a dejected expression.

“I envy your charging power… You can just make money.”

“Ah no, it is difficult because I have to earn a lot of money?”

“What’s the problem with money? Isn’t it just a matter of working hard?” Merlin spoke something trivial.

“I have to do an incredible amount of work!”

However, Merlin didn’t seem to agree. “Instead, there must be a game company that will make your game popular. Even Geralt can earn one billion per week. Ha… If things could be solved with money, even I would be wielding legendary cards everywhere.”

”…”

The universal currency ‘Geralt’ was approximately 3,000 won when converted to Earth money. In other words, one billion Geralt equaled 30 trillion won. It meant that earning 30 trillion won per week wasn’t simply about working hard.

‘Wow, this is serious.’

It was a moment of awe.

Kugogong!

Suddenly, thunder sounded and I said, “It seems like the connection will be cut soon.”

At my words, Merlin looked up at the sky before taking out a book.

Wooong!

Magic power moved. It wasn’t a spell using cards but magic cast with his own ability. He closed his eyes briefly and spoke calmly, “I have stored the fluctuations of magic power. Next time, I can gather them together. Killians, how about you?”

“This time it was slightly coincidental. However, it seems possible.”

“Yes. Then…”

We were just about to say goodbye when…

“Bosses!”

The crushed jar, who had been listening to our conversation, suddenly knelt down. Confused, I asked, “Boss?”

“I-I don’t have enough information to give you! In our continent, Blade & Magic doesn’t offer this…service? So, I can’t pay! Seeing as you are talking about legendary dragons or grand mages, both of you must be truly great and powerful beings! Please help me somehow repay my debt!”

With those words, he bowed his head to touch the ground.

“L-Look at how hard I am hitting my head!”

“What kind of language is that…?” Merlin made a grim expression.

I suddenly became curious and asked, “What type of help do you mean? To awaken your mana affinity?”

“Huh? No, isn’t it only a few chosen ones who awaken their mana?”

”…”

”…”

I faced Merlin, and it seemed we shared the same thought.

“No. Surely not from a lower civilization?”

Indeed, his aura and physique were too shabby for someone with game abilities. It was amazing that he had survived so far in the harsh game world. I asked him while he remained bowed down, “So what do you want help with?”

“P-P-Please let me reach Bronze rank! There are too many features locked until Iron rank…”

Rumble!

Kuu-gong!

At this moment, the sky split open. Despite the urgency, I decided to make a small investment.

“You. What weapon do you use?”

“I-I don’t have a main weapon! Mostly swords!”

“Which is more important, attack or defense?”

“We must survive first!”

“Then take this.”

I handed over the class card, Sentinel.

‘Blade & Magic should be possible.’

Blade & Magic was a game of absolute strength and didn’t have its own level system. There were only buffs and equipment that could be purchased through specializations, meaning it was possible to assign professions!

As soon as he grabbed the card…

-I am humanity’s guard dog, so I will not close my eyes until the moment of death.

The purple color burst out before disappearing, indicating a hero rank.

“T-This is?”

“Try killing some monsters. Tell me later if your level increases.”

At this moment…

Flash!

My eyes opened with a dazzling light.

“You woke up?”

“Ah…”

Feeling something soft against my back, I quickly sat up. I was lying on a hospital bed, and a beautiful woman with green hair smiled at me from nearby where she had been reading a book.

It was Green Dragon Flower, the third head of the chromatic dragon. With a gentle voice, she supported my back as she asked:

“How do you feel?”

“…Ah.” I couldn’t answer immediately, overwhelmed by new sensations flooding my senses.

“Ohhh…”

Mana surged around me. The flow of zenki communicated between my body and the external world.

“My goodness.”

Indeed, my world was undergoing a dramatic transformation.