Chapter 198

Wait, hold on… Is this for real?

I hadn’t paid much attention before, but now it struck me as odd.

Despite it being a new myth class?

The world of Ardenia had already been “finalized.” The moment I first stepped into Ardenia—the day before I was set to be discharged from the military—was the same as Revenge, the final episode. Any updates or new items added after that point were not implemented in Ardenia, as countless investigations and gameplay had already confirmed.

But if we patch it, we can apply the new updates. And if that’s the case…

My thoughts began to take shape.

Could we potentially update something that’s helpful to me and then patch it into the game?

It wasn’t a joke; I could potentially perform actions akin to cheating in a console game. Of course, this would only be possible because I am no ordinary player.

As both the CEO of Nemesis and the key planner behind Revenge, I work closely with Bae Saram, our lead developer, on various projects.

If I wanted to… as long as it doesn’t significantly impact the game’s balance, updating systems or settings to my advantage wouldn’t be particularly difficult.

I need to look into this further.

“Your Highness?”

Noticing my silence, Flower approached me and voiced her concern. I shook off my musings and smiled reassuringly.

“Ah, my apologies. A good idea just popped into my head.”

“A good idea, such as…” Flower trailed off, understanding dawning on her face.

The Dungeon Master paused as if noticing something. I turned my head to see my young son, Jisung, emerging from the dungeon gate. Naturally, I couldn’t acknowledge him. Jisung was currently working as a bounty hunter under a pseudonym.

Even though we look alike… No one seems to recognize him.

Then again, Jisung was only eleven years old, though widely known for his age. Unless someone noticed the gun on his head, it would be hard to tell that this strapping young man was only eleven.

But as I looked closer, I realized his party was quite unusual.

…What’s with those guys?

“Careful, you old hag.”

“Heh heh. I appreciate your concern, but my stats have improved so much that running around isn’t a problem now.”

“Wow. That’s aside, Jisung-nim is incredibly strong! I thought I’d gotten pretty tough, but…”

“Jisung-nim is quite impressive too,” Song Ha remarked.

Jisung’s party consisted of a werewolf with long legs, their designated bodyguard, as well as Rozelian and Yes, the minstrels.

Wait. What, is this some kind of novelist’s gathering?

The arbitrary composition of the party was utterly absurd. Upon reflection, wasn’t even the werewolf bodyguard a rather known novelist in his own right?

But that wasn’t all.

Jisung was wearing a long, loose robe.

No way. A born mage wearing peasant attire? How scandalous…

While it was ridiculous, I couldn’t really fault him. After all, I had entrusted Jisung’s education entirely to Flower. Moreover, despite his sturdy appearance, Jisung was only 11 years old.

At this age, he was free to play and do as he pleased.

“It’s fine. The hunt isn’t scheduled for some time yet.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

I returned to the Guild Tower and finished my work there.

Although I had increased the number of administrative officers, I still needed to make major decisions myself.

“All right… Phew, got that done… Log out!”

Once back on Earth, I checked my schedule.

“Twenty-one hours from now, it’s writing time… I should set up an appointment then.”

I started working again.

I had already shot more than enough advertisements, so the remaining ones weren’t worth the time, according to Eddusuni’s advice.

“The next game is tug-of-war!”

“Aaagh! Why is everybody being pulled despite putting all their strength?!”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Han Garam, the villain of this story!”

I participated in several action variety shows and continued filming movies.

“Your Majesty, it’s Han Jaeyeon-ssi!”

“Jaeyeon, my brother—!”

“Ohh! It’s Han Jaeyeon!”

These days, it’s becoming rarer to encounter someone who doesn’t recognize me.

There’s no need for me to pretend humility. No matter how cutthroat the entertainment industry gets, no crazy person dares to mess with the Apostle of Game Gods – a Transcendent.

Is this what it means to be famous?

Everyone is kind to me, and everyone knows my name.

Some people get intoxicated by this attention and develop a celebrity complex. Others shrink away from the spotlight. But I don’t have any issues with it.

In the first place, those things don’t matter.

What matters is…

Money.

“Meow!”

“Ah, please don’t cry…”

I want to cry too.

Still, just in case, I check the stock market.

I hastily turn off the screen.

For the love of…

Shaking off my bewilderment, I headed straight for the executive’s office at Nemesis Soft. The secretary didn’t even bother to stop me—our relationship had reached that level of familiarity.

“Is this happening again?” I asked.

Saram was on a call when I entered. He saw me and raised a finger to his lips—a silent plea for me to keep hushed.

I’ll need to step out for a moment, I thought.

Just as I considered leaving…

“Hrmm… When did the precognition barrier first appear?”

…Huh?

I froze, momentarily stunned. It was all too familiar a date—the very day I began buying stocks.

“It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t seem like someone’s attack…” I think while talking on the phone.

Huh? Wait, what’s this?

A sudden thought occurs to me, and I put my hand on Cheddar. After switching him to polite mode, I open up my stock app and sell all of my stocks.

[…Eh?]

“What is it?”

[I’ve received information. Nemesis has started appearing in the prophecy again.]

”…Suddenly?”

At that moment, Cheddar trembles.

[Spike app notification!]

Nemesis.

Your stock of interest is rapidly increasing (5% up)!

Oh shit! This is bad!

Startled, I immediately buy all the stocks again.

The old man on the other end of the line says.

[…Nemesis has disappeared from the prophecy again.]

“What in the world is going on?”

Hearing the blunt words of this love, I shed tears of sorrow within my heart.

It was really, truly just a moment… yet such an enormous… loss…

I had sold stocks and then bought them again at a price 5% higher. In other words, a 5% loss.

However, that 5% equaled 2.5 billion won.

In just over ten seconds, 2.5 billion won had vanished.

Argh…

My chest felt torn apart, but at least I had gained one piece of information.

When I buy stocks, they aren’t predicted by my foresight…

There could only be one explanation.

Another creator god… It must be because of “her.”

No matter how it’s viewed, the disturbance of predictive abilities due to interference by Transcendents from the material realm meant that foresight couldn’t reach beyond the barrier of existence itself.

Ah, wait. Could I use this somehow? No way. If I’m not careful, I’d get tangled up in financial crimes…

As I grappled with these thoughts, Saram ended the call and turned to me.

“What’s got you here, meu amigo? Must be important, with your busy schedule these days.”

Our conversations about Ardenia had become a constant over time, and it had brought us closer than I ever thought possible. After all, how could our relationship not deepen when he felt comfortable enough to just barge into my office whenever?

“Important? Nah. I just wanted to chat.”

“Oh…” Saram’s face lit up with a brilliant smile. He loved talking about Ardenia more than anything. Even if I just listened attentively, he would be delighted, but when I actively engaged with his ideas, he couldn’t contain his glee.

“Did I ever tell you about Shinlight?”

“Oh, the mythos class story about Shinlight?”

“Yeah, the first mythos class.”

For about three hours, I chattered aimlessly and loved every moment.

Although my purpose for attending was clear, bringing up the subject immediately would be an amateur’s move.

Well, there’s always plenty of useful information to be gathered.

I naturally guided the flow of conversation until I felt it was time to interject. “What if it’s located underground?”

“Huh? Underground? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just say it exists in this world? We’re flying over with teleportation spells anyway.”

I had already anticipated this obvious objection.

I convinced her.

“It’s a tower that goes in reverse,” I explained. “First underground floor, second underground floor, third floor… If we’re heading deeper into the earth as we journey towards hell, wouldn’t it make more sense for this place to exist within the ground rather than in another dimension?”

“Well, but the tower already exists…” Ha replied, the request clearly flustering her.

I grasped her hand gently, trying to reassure the one I loved caught off guard by this unusual plea. “Please, do this for me. Pretty please? It’s just a matter of changing a few lines of text.”

”…!” Her expression froze as hard as stone.

Oh no, did I anger her? Was that a mistake?

Feeling uneasy, I was relieved when she spoke instead of fiery rebuke, though her voice was awkward and strained. “Uhh… y-yes, of course. It’s not like it’s difficult…”

“Thank you! I’ve been considering placing it at a specific location.” Luckily, my persuasion worked.

And the next day…

[The Hell Tower]

A tower deep within the continent’s earth.

It was named “HELL” because, as one progressed through each level, they delved deeper into the ground. Despite its ominous moniker, countless adventurers risked the journey for the vast treasures and riches rumored to be within.

“It’s done.”

I clenched my fists upon seeing the updated text in-game. Needless to say, no player cared about mere text changes. Why would they when it didn’t affect gameplay?

However, this text modification allowed me…

Meow.

“Ah, please.”

Trembling, I check Cheddar.

Fortunately, it’s a text message.

• ragingbear: Xianyi. My mission has been assigned.*

“At last.”

The mercenary job, which I had been anticipating as a major source of income for a while now, had been rendered worthless by the incursion of Transcendent monsters into Earth. The Transcendents on Earth were now bound to it as an emergency measure.

Of course, they weren’t just tied up; they were receiving their fair share of cash. Still, this obviously couldn’t compare to direct mission participation.

“Cheddar. I accept. Please send relevant information. And thank you for the request.”

In the meantime, I purchase more stocks.

Yes, I should just keep buying.

The blow from the stock failure this week was truly immense. A loss of 50 billion won—no, now approaching 60 billion—the pain wasn’t just unimaginable, it felt like my heart was being torn apart.

…However.

I can make more. I am a Transcendent, Apostle of the Game Master, Top Star, and CEO simultaneously, leading hundreds of authors. Even if it’s not billions but trillions… Money is ultimately just a matter of time for me. No matter how much loss I incur… isn’t it just a matter of making up for it in a few more years?

“Login.”

Entering Ardenia, I leave a rough note for my assistant before moving towards the wilderness near Mandok. It’s about 500 meters away. Though it may sound like ‘nearby,’ at this distance, it’s practically next door—well within the effective shooting range of the Human Empire’s archers. And more importantly…

It’s within the firing range of the defense towers.

“Landworm.”

KABOOM!

The building scurried over at my summons. A landworm revealed itself.

“That’s not it. Let’s dig into the ground.”

The landworm didn’t seem to understand my words, but it obediently carried me and burrowed into the earth.

Through excavations exceeding 100 meters, then 200, approaching 500, we finally reached:

Just an ordinary layer of bedrock.

“I knew it wouldn’t be there.”

“For a place called the Hell Tower.”

In Revenge, there existed the Mythical Tower and World Dungeon. The Mythical Tower, as the name suggested, was the pinnacle content featuring mythological monsters, while the World Dungeon was immediately below it, encompassing three separate locations.

Hell Tower, Great Demon Scripture, Infinite Labyrinth.

In Revenge, these three dungeons weren’t places you could walk to. They were flight zones where players had to pay gold to teleport three times a day, forcing all players to collide and guiding them towards microtransactions.

However, just like mail and quest NPCs, these features hadn’t been implemented yet. Creating new dungeons that didn’t exist was no small feat, and it wasn’t something that could be achieved by simply stockpiling shares.

Even if it were possible, it wouldn’t be worth it due to time constraints.

But what if… what if these dungeons actually existed in this world, just like the nine volcanoes?

I’ll create a hellish tower.

The moment I spoke, the text before my eyes vanished as if by magic.

And then…

Pop!

A new window materialized.

Ownership Rate: Less than 0.1%
Available for Use: 8,771

”…Well. I knew I’d see this someday.”

I chuckled at the text.

Yes, at long last, I had encountered it too.

The box office sensation that Merlin had experienced…