Chapter 168

His weight had decreased by seventeen kilograms to be exact. His face didn’t look gaunt or unhealthy, but…the issue was that he lost muscle mass.

It’s mainly from my thighs, specifically the quadriceps and hamstrings on both legs.

In other words, his large muscles were significantly depleted. Naturally, Jinwoo couldn’t pinpoint the cause of this phenomenon.

“No… What’s going on?”

This wasn’t due to overexertion during their first intimate encounter in ages. The disparity between their abilities alone should’ve prevented it. Besides, considering how delicate Flower is, they’d been extremely careful not to hurt her physically. Their night together focused more on emotional bonding than physical pleasure, and even then, Jinwoo had used Songpyeon and healing spells because it proved too strenuous for Flower.

“Is there still something I don’t know about this body…?”

Feeling puzzled, I got out of bed. As the blanket slipped down, Flower’s slender naked body was revealed, as she had fainted and fallen asleep.

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty…”

As I grasped her hand while she groaned my name, she struggled to open her eyes.

“Yes. I’m here, Flower.”

”…Heh heh.” She smiled innocently, unlike her usual self. Her radiant grin, like a blossoming flower, brought a smile to my face as well.

After a brief moment, Flower managed to shake off her drowsiness and sat up.

“You should eat…”

“Lie back down for a bit more. You must be quite tired.”

“It’s not that bad. After all, I’ve already eaten Songpyeon… Great Heal!”

Fwip!

She cast a healing spell on herself before slowly getting dressed. Her attire was a sleek modern suit that clashed with the Land of Midgard’s medieval setting. Flower had always possessed an urban look, and the outfit suited her like she belonged on a magazine cover.

Thinking about it, these types of items seem to be gradually becoming available now. Still, I bet…the drop rate is incredibly low.

Considering her position as the second-in-command of the Human Empire, though, acquiring such clothing wouldn’t be difficult for her. If she wanted, she could have amassed enough gold to build a tower by now.

“U-um… Could you please stop staring…?”

Seeing her blush while still half-dressed, Jinwoo shrugged nonchalantly.

“What? We did worse than this yesterday.”

”…I will prepare your meal.” Flower’s face turned red as she quickly left the bedroom. In the meantime, she tidied up the scattered furniture and clothes from yesterday’s first round in the study room to the bedroom. Then after a while…

“Your Majesty, here is your meal.”

“Yes.”

Soon, servants brought food to the table in my bedroom, and I started eating. My weight had decreased by 17 kilograms, making me feel like there was a hole in my stomach due to hunger.

“Anything special?”

“In the last three months, 187 new guilds have been registered. A group of legendary monsters, the sphinxes, attacked Flame City resulting in 17 deaths…”

As I ate for an hour, I listened to various reports about the Human Empire.

Despite the massive amount of information, Flower’s voice flowed smoothly, indicating her mastery over these routine matters.

‘By the way… Even after eating for an hour, my weight hasn’t recovered.’

I didn’t need to step on a scale to know; currently, I weighed 178 kilograms. Considering my original weight was 190 kilograms… I’ve only regained about 5 kilograms. It seemed challenging to recover both muscle and overall mass simultaneously.

‘Well, at least the hunger is somewhat alleviated… Recovery can happen gradually.’

As I pondered this, Flower handed me another report.

“The value of gold coins is steadily increasing.”

“Value of gold coins?”

This was good news since I had been contemplating summoning the shop owner again due to constant inflation. But what caused it?

“What’s the reason?”

“It is a collection.”

I wasn’t the only one receiving benefits from the system among Ardenia’s Players. After becoming a Player with a class card, anyone could create a guild and receive attendance rewards. They could open a cash shop, gain experience by killing monsters, and use their inventory. The only thing they lacked was diamonds.

‘That single aspect creates too big of a problem.’

In any case, since other Players also benefited from the system, it was natural for them to engage in collections.

“I see… Players are burning gold.”

“Yes. An increasing number of Players are buying weapon enhancement scrolls and defense enhancement scrolls from the cash shop.”

The cash shop wasn’t exclusively for diamonds; quite a few items could be purchased with gold as well.

Weapon Enforcement Incantation Scroll (6,500 gold)

Armor Enforcement Incantation Scroll (3,500 gold)

These items were sold daily in limited quantities of ten each and were highly recommended by Revenge guides to buy consistently even if one was short on gold initially. This advice stemmed from the rarity of goods purchasable with gold amidst the diamond-dominated economy of Revenge. Although not particularly cheap, gold would accumulate in tens or hundreds of millions over time through automated hunting sessions anyway.

But it’s different in Ardenia.

In the Human Empire, the value of 1 gold is roughly equivalent to 100 won in South Korean currency. Considering that 1 gold used to be worth approximately 10,000 won in the past, it represents a 99% depreciation… However, this current value is actually maintained through my interventions at the Central Exchange and various national policies.

In Ardenia, there were no NPC stores for consumables or skill books, inevitably leading to inflation. To prevent a drastic collapse of gold’s value, one issue arose: the excessive cost of enhancement incantation scrolls, which users had to purchase ten times daily regardless of their choice.

With 1 gold equaling 100 won, a single enhancement incantation scroll costing 65,000 gold would amount to 650,000 won. Buying ten such scrolls would total 6,500,000 won.

Considering that ten armor enforcement scrolls cost 3,500,000 won, players were spending around 10,000,000 won daily on these items alone. Even if they earned substantial amounts of gold, how could they afford to spend so much on enforcement scrolls? Consequently, most players used to purchase only one scroll at a time from the cash shop for each reinforcement attempt… However, as their levels increased, they started buying them in bulk.

It was quite remarkable given that unlike characters in Revenge, they couldn’t automate hunting 24/7.

Is this related to a non-paying collection strategy? I need more information.

Naturally, there were free-to-play users in Revenge, and strategies existed for easily completing collections relative to their means.

Completing collections would suppress inflation and raise the average level of Players, so it was natural to actively support them.

“Encourage this good trend. However, we can’t let the value of gold coins become too high, so let’s release some gold. Continuously buy ordinary items like wild boar legs for 10 gold each…”

I roughly set the direction. The Human Empire had densely populated residential areas, making it quite efficient to govern. To be precise, with the emperor’s immense power, the state could function well as long as corruption was prevented.

‘Honestly, it isn’t difficult. Running the empire is even easier than managing my old territory. There is a wealth of talented individuals flocking here.’

It’s not because I possess exceptional skills to run a country; rather, the environment itself is favorable. With cheats for food, housing, money, and military strength, anyone who couldn’t manage the state under these conditions would be a complete idiot deserving of death.

“Then I will post it on the guild bulletin board as instructed.”

“Yes. As always, reduce your workload. Appoint more administrative officers under you. If I see you exhausted like yesterday again, I’ll make life unbearable for you.”

“Make…life unbearable?” Flower looked puzzled.

I responded, “In bed, three nights straight.”

”…!”

Flower’s face turned bright red, almost audibly so.

“I-I will remember!” Flower shouted before trying to retreat but then hesitated. Then he cautiously approached me again.

”…?”

I watched him curiously.

Peck!

He lightly kissed my lips and quickly ran away.

”…” I chuckled softly and climbed up the stairs to the rooftop. By now, it was summer, with numerous people enjoying the pouring sunlight as they energetically walked along the streets.

“Okay, refining power has been practiced for three months, including on the bed last night…”

Now it’s time to experiment with full force.

“Kasim.”

[The Roaring Drake Kasim (Legendary) is summoned!]

After jumping off the rooftop, I flew Kasim for about ten kilometers. Then upon reaching an empty plain, I cancelled the summon.

Thud!

I landed on the ground and stretched out my hand to touch it. The solid surface felt reassuring due to my precise landing. This time, I looked up at the sky, specifically towards the sun.

“Good.”

I opened the inventory and took out the Reset Potion.

[You have consumed the Reset Potion!]

[4,400 bonus points have been added!]

Now, instead of increasing mana, which was less necessary, I raised strength. With health already at 999, there was no concern about excessive strength harming my body.

[Transcendent Stats Open. Strength]

[Target: Han Jae-yeon]

After glancing at the world message, I took a deep breath and crouched down.

“Three…”

I lowered my stance, bending my upper body so much that my chin almost touched the ground.

“Two.”

In this position…

“One.”

I remained still for a moment before…

Boom!

A massive crater several hundred meters wide formed where I had been standing. However, even before the deafening explosion reached my ears, the crater shrank to the size of a fingernail.

The entire world seemed distant, everything shrinking rapidly around me. The vast plains and elongated mountain ranges receded, revealing a colossal chessboard-like landscape.

Then,

Bam.

My head collided with something solid—the ceiling of the world.

”…Indeed, there is no universe beyond. No other continents either.”

Ardenia wasn’t such a vast world. Revenge was a large-scale war game rather than an exploration game, so conflicts and clashes between people had to continuously occur for wars to happen. In the end, there was only one continent. Moreover, in a world without the universe, the celestial bodies were also predictable.

Goo-ooh…

“Yes. Is this how it is?” I stood in space, looking at a burning mass several kilometers away. It was the sun, the light source of Ardenia.

“I thought it was incredibly wide… but from this perspective, it seems small.”

I stood in the sky, overlooking the land below. Anyone could see that the continent had an artificial Go board shape.

Indeed, with just one leap of my foot, I jumped over more than 100 kilometers…and reached the ceiling of this world.

”…”

I turned to look at the sun.

Boom.

As I approached through the void, an immense heat was transmitted from the sun.

Hwahk!

The pajamas I was wearing burned instantly, leaving me naked but that was all. There was no burden on my body. After taking out the bone longsword from the inventory, I moved closer.

Hwahk!

Fire caught onto the bone longsword before it crumbled into black fragments. This time, I took out a steel sword. Indeed, the metal sword lasted longer, but things changed as I got closer to the sun.

Zzzt-!

Unable to withstand the sun’s heat, the blade turned red-hot and eventually melted away. It was a testament to the intensity of Ardenia’s solar radiation.

“It is so hot here.”

However, despite the extreme conditions, I felt only warmth without any harm. Even standing right next to the sun made no difference. In temperatures high enough to melt steel equipment, my body remained unscathed; not even a strand of hair singed. The sun’s rays couldn’t affect the fine hairs on my skin in Ardenia. While it partly stems from my robust physique…it’s primarily due to my inherent resistance against heat.

”…”

Just as martial artists strive for mastery by harnessing vital energy, and mages aim to reach great mage status to wield ultimate magic, those who cultivate physical strength also have their own pinnacle pursuit.

A body capable of tearing through all forces present in this world by reaching the pinnacle of resistance unique to Physique. The ultimate form created with extreme willpower, transcending humanity—no, life itself.

Extreme Will Body (극의지체).

“I had guessed as much.”

Yes, I already knew. It wasn’t due to any particular formula; merely extending my hand allowed me to manipulate dimensions like tangible objects. This indicated that my physical being had entered the realm of mysteries, akin to how dragons achieve transcendence with age.

Without profound enlightenment or exhaustive exploration of the world, I had reached the absolute boundary—the transcendental state.

“There’s no need to prolong it further then. Logging out.”

I return to Earth. Suddenly, Lion Queen Sohyang turns and looks at me.

“Your energy…it has stabilized?”

Seeing her scrutinizing gaze, I shrug and smile.

“I can’t keep leaking energy indefinitely.”