Chapter 162

I stretched my body. Honestly, there was almost no fatigue so it was just for show. The problem was that regardless of how well my physical body felt, my mind was tired.

‘Ah.’

I had strong mental power. This wasn’t self-praise but an objective fact. Why else would the evaluators include ‘Supernatural Mental Power’ in my attributes window? Even with my body being torn apart, I could continue fighting by repeatedly logging in and out or using sleep magic spells. However, not everyone could work like crazy every day while sleeping only 30 minutes per day.

‘I’ve become weaker.’

Now, I was exhausted after merely working for 10 hours straight. With combat power comparable to a Transcendent, billions of income, and worldwide fame…it was undoubtedly good things. Yet, achieving all this made it harder to summon the same level of fearlessness as before.

Ultimately, I closed the system UI, removing the keyboard from view.

“That’s enough for today.”

After the contest ended, I sequentially released popular works from Olymon onto Ardenia. It was essentially illegal distribution, but if I had any moral qualms about such actions, I wouldn’t have been so ruthless as to make billions off selling a single legendary pet.

“Thank you for your hard work.” Flower approached and handed me a steaming hot beverage.

I absentmindedly accepted it, surprised by its familiar aroma.

“It’s coffee?”

I had contemplated the possibility of cultivating it in the southern region someday, but I didn’t expect results this soon. Moreover, the sweet taste…

‘Mixed coffee?!’

Flower explained to my bewildered self, “Indeed, you know it. This item is made by combining coffee beans farmed from All Poisons and sugar from the World Tree Garden. It not only increases mana recovery but also has excellent taste, making it highly regarded as a premium beverage among Players.”

“Is it a drop item…? As we conquer more castles, our supply of crafting materials for combinations or cooking seems to be increasing.”

Indeed, leather, iron, wood, and gemstones used in equipment production were steadily being farmed from the eight flower shops under our control. The cloth dropped by undead or spider-type monsters was somewhat problematic, but this issue could be resolved by dedicating time to conquer additional locations producing these resources.

“By the way.”

I stood at the window, drinking coffee while looking down at the city. The largest mixed-use building, excluding the guild tower located in the center of the city, was known as Nobel Tower. On its rooftop, I could see the one-eyed giant sitting cross-legged with his katana placed on his thigh. He looked so still that he seemed like a picture rather than a living creature.

“I didn’t expect her to choose the Cyclops Samurai…”

One month ago, after winning the first literary competition, Rozelian had been offered three legendary pets by me. Among the more than 20 legendary pets I possessed, these were the only ones available for gifting since the rest were part of my collection.

However, despite having limited choices, I didn’t expect her to choose a combat-type pet. Naturally, I thought she would pick Kasim, which held great significance for the imperial people, or at least Sweet Home.

“Still, don’t they look good together?”

”…Indeed.”

Rozelian approached the meditating Cyclops samurai, Jenta, with neatly tied white hair. In her hand was a large pot, but when it passed into Jenta’s hands, it looked like a soju cup.

”~~~~~.”

”~~~~~.”

The two of them seemed to be conversing. Due to the distance and my low agility stat, I couldn’t understand their words, but I could sense the gentle atmosphere between them.

It seemed that Rozelian had given some type of tea to Jenta, who drank it calmly and slowly with a composed posture.

”…Well, think positively. At least there won’t be any accidents if she is by his side.”

I watched them for a moment before turning my head.

“What about Haze?”

“I have arranged rooms on the 29th floor for her. The child who came with her also has a room on the same floor.”

“You mean Red?”

She was just a teenager but possessed extraordinary talent. Thanks to Haze’s rough explanation, I knew her identity.

‘A hero of the future.’

A person with the potential for both the Hero class Elementalist and the Legendary class Master Wizard.

‘According to the class card settings, the elemental was around 30 years old, while the Master Wizard was 120 years old. However, both appeared to be in their twenties.’

Of course, these were all events from the ‘World of Possibilities’, so there was no guarantee that Red would actually reach legendary status. Nevertheless, considering Edward’s mythical talent as her past self and a special boss, it was highly likely that she possessed extraordinary abilities too.

The quickest way for her talents to flourish would be by immediately granting her a legendary class now.

‘There is no need to create such a potential bomb.’

However, it wasn’t necessary to take unnecessary risks when humanity wasn’t currently in danger. Unlike Haze, who was inherently good and just, as well as having a connection with me, there was no guarantee about what heroes from ‘other worldlines’ might think or do. If abilities could be freely used, then the Heroic Alliance Master would have taken advantage of them. He probably would’ve given the Sword King class to the current Crimson Knight.

“Yes… For now, let her rest deeply and pass on my message that I want to see her sometime.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After Flower left the study, I calmly drank coffee while looking down at the city.

“Ardenia is completely stabilized now.”

With eight flower shops possessing Mythical castles, we were able to repel monster attacks. There was no longer a need for daily patrols across the continent like before.

In other words…

“It’s time to make a decision.”

It was now time to deal with matters that had been postponed while I was desperately fighting for my life.

“What should I learn?”

During a week-long operation involving four great mages, I overcame my previous mana deficiency and became akin to heaven itself. Now, I could sense the flow of mana even with my eyes closed. My energy naturally flowed without needing to focus on posture or breathing. The movement of mana at will was an indescribable feeling.

‘But when thinking calmly…my power hasn’t changed much.’

Indeed, it hadn’t changed. This was because I had already become too powerful despite having a mana deficiency state.

Despite obtaining the talent for mana that I had longed for, it was just the starting line now. With my bare hands tearing off the special gloves, could I accumulate mana to reach a meaningful level? However, since I erased the inferior mana attribute and only gained Detection ability, there were several options to consider.

“Firstly, martial arts.”

This was the most attractive option. In this brutal world, I lived for 20 years with merely beginner-level Inner Force. Having pursued martial arts at the boundary between life and death, my understanding of martial arts could be considered as reaching the realm of mastery.

However, when it came to Inner Force…

‘It’s not genuine.’

Although I currently utilize Inner Force, strictly speaking, it isn’t the authentic type.

Instead of accumulating nature’s energy within my dantian to form Inner Force, I manifested it using the power of knowledge and opening chakras. It was the effect of Qi Manipulation. Thus, I could instantly release or anchor my Inner Force, but that wasn’t all there was to Inner Force, right? Despite using Land Breaker from the giants, my body didn’t undergo any unique transformations characteristic of martial arts practitioners. My size didn’t increase, nor did my physical strength enhance significantly.

Now, with the ability to accumulate Qi, I should be able to strengthen my Inner Force directly…

“But how long will it take to build up Inner Force…?”

Indeed, that’s the problem. Inner Force isn’t something that can be accumulated overnight!

“In that sense, magic is better.”

Amongst the magic system, there were things that could grow rapidly if one had the ability. If I opened the ‘Magic’ chakra and installed a legendary or mythical magic class, it would allow for rapid growth.

“And Physique.”

By consuming an incredible amount of money to increase my size, killing numerous monsters, and reaching level 64, my body stats were already higher than most Transcendents. If this body accepted the biological factor and evolved further…

There would be a truly dramatic increase in power.

”…”

I put down the empty coffee cup. Indeed, I was aware of this fact. It wasn’t really something to worry about.

“The Physique is strongest.”

It was obvious. My physical body was already incredibly strong, and Combat Premonition was more useful for Physique cultivators than martial artists. With Combat Premonition, how magnificent would a Physique cultivator who usually relied on perception to take hits appear in actual combat?

However,

“I want to do this…”

I knew it was foolish and inefficient. Using ‘Mugong’, my Inner Force had already surpassed that of peak experts, yet I was starting Qi Accumulation with no clear use case? It was simply a waste of time.

Nevertheless,

I wanted to do it.

“Should I really search for true magic… Cheonmashin Gong and Hapsung Daebup. Shimma Gong accumulates Qi quickly.”

In the end, I decided to seek more information.

“Log out.”

I went to Earth and searched the internet:

[Young Lambs Trying Cheonmashin Gong] >

[Cheonma Dangcheon Shin Gong (Heavenly Demon Ascension Divine Art)] >

[Cheonma Hwapmagong (Heavenly Demon Absorption Technique)] >

[Cheonma Moonwalk (Heavenly Demon Moonwalk)] >

[Cheonma… ]

Various variations of Cheonmashin Gong appeared. There were too many derivative techniques to simply say ‘Cheonmashin Gong is powerful’. This phenomenon occurred because Cheonmashin Gong was both strong and had excessively high difficulty. People couldn’t learn it easily so they tried their best with tears in their eyes.

“Is the answer really the absorption technique? There is something called Cheonma Hwapmagong that absorbs energy from monsters…”

At that moment,

Vrr!

A familiar sensation was felt. I raised my left arm and saw Zero Sum vibrating. For a while, I hesitated before shaking my head.

“This…there is no need to store it.”

It happened to be a leisurely situation.

I felt a familiar sensation. When I raised my left arm, Zerosum started vibrating. After pondering for a moment, I shook my head.

“This…there is no need to store it.”

It was currently a leisurely situation.

Pop!

I moved into a clean room with a science fiction feel. It was completely different from that strange game called ‘Dual’ before. With a sense of familiarity and strangeness, I identified its identity.

”…Inner World.”

“Yes. This is my inner world. It isn’t very wide yet since it is only the fourth floor.”

Merlin, who had been sitting first, drank his tea. Next to him, Crush looked around with amazement.

“Isn’t this quite spacious? My room is smaller than a single room…”

Apparently, these two also possessed inner worlds. Just as I had taken over flower shops to increase floors and established external elements at starting points, they must have opened their chakras in their own way.

“It is different from when I was dragged here before.”

My words surprised Merlin.

“Dragged here? Then coming to my game was an accident?”

“If you insist… yes.”

“Oh man. Forcing someone else’s game now? This hasn’t happened for several years…”

Merlin fell into deep thought momentarily. Suddenly, something occurred to me, and I opened my inventory.

Ping!

As expected, an item appeared. The inner world couldn’t bring anything from reality… but it could accommodate items. After all, hadn’t Merlin used spell cards in this world before?

“Merlin, do you need these?”

Merlin’s eyes widened at the sight of seven legendary cards.

“Legendary cards? But why do you have Dark Star cards?”

“I obtained them by defeating monsters that appeared in reality.”

“Oh, those monster incidents… And despite their low drop rate, they yielded legendary items?”

He sounded impressed but didn’t seem particularly excited.

“So, they don’t hold much value to you?”

“Well, I’m both the developer and operator of Dark Star, remember? If I wanted, I could replicate thousands of transcendent items.”

“…What did you just say?” Jinwoo was taken aback, but upon reflection, it made sense for someone with such authority over the game to be able to duplicate items.

However, there was a problem with this thought.

“No, then why were you being chased? Couldn’t you just create a cheat deck and sweep everything?”

“That’s not possible. Even if I have thousands of legendary cards, I can’t put them in my deck if I lack popularity… huh?” Merlin paused at that point. “No, what is this… already containing popularity?”

Unlike before, Merlin’s eyes sparkled as he looked at my legendary cards.

“Seven usable legendary cards…”

It was similar to how I felt when sensing charging power within the Zhang Fei items. He quietly observed the cards for a moment before speaking.

“You, aren’t you struggling with accumulating mana?”

I was surprised and asked, “How did you…?”

“You mentioned having a low affinity for mana before. Naturally, your problem now is with mana. From what I can see, you haven’t accumulated it yet. Whether Magic Power, Aura or Inner Force…”

Merlin moved his finger through the air.

Beep beep beep beep~ Beeproo~

Dozens of numbers flashed in front of me.

”…Excuse me, but I already have sufficient training methods.”

“Are you trying to solve this with training at this stage? There is a much easier way.”

“What do you mean by an ‘easier way’?”

Seeing my puzzled expression, Merlin looked like I had asked a stupid question.

“What else could it be?”

Tear---

Something burning tore through space, revealing itself. It was only thumb-sized but shone as bright as the sun!

‘Wait, how did that enter the inner world?’

Regardless of my astonishment, Merlin confidently smiled.

“It’s a potent elixir.”