Chapter 99

After finishing all my schedules, I returned to Room Tower for the first time in a long while.

“Wow. So dusty.”

As soon as I entered the studio apartment, I called the management office.

“Yes. Room 1803… It might not be good for you so please leave your room temporarily.”

“Okay.”

I ended the call by pressing Cheeda’s nose and left the studio, closing the door behind me.

Hooommm!

Shortly afterwards, I felt the closed door trembling before an alarm sounded:

“[Cleaning of Room 1803 has been completed.]”

I opened the door again and entered the studio. The musty studio was now clean, with fresh bedding. I lay down on the bed, feeling troubled.

“There is still some time before the opening day…”

Normally, this would be the start of frenzy but it wasn’t a good choice to let time flow in Ardenia with two special bosses and high-level mainland monsters converging on my castle. Moreover, I was currently using all available money to buy stocks.

“Then I have to do what I can on Earth.”

I practiced chakra while living through the access device. For physical growth, I studied anatomy and exercise dynamics. Due to working at the flower shop, the cold element was fixed in the present tense, so instead of training it directly, I focused on studying simultaneous open spells. Additionally, I researched martial arts techniques.

I searched the internet for information on one-hit kill techniques. Whenever I found something promising, I went to the public library to look up the formulas and pondered them. Then I visited the government office.

“Hello. Han Jae-yeon-ssi. Have you come to update your combat abilities?”

“Yes.”

Following the established procedure, I filled out around five forms and answered a questionnaire. Then I drank coffee with the apprentice priest stationed at the government office.

“During the process of developing your ability, have you violated any laws or used inhumane means?”

“No.”

“Are you associated with criminal activities that could harm District 34, or is there a possibility of this happening in the future?”

“No.”

By the time we finished answering approximately 20 questions, our coffee was consumed.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work.” I got up after greeting the smiling priest of truth.

“Then we will move to the exam room.”

“Yes.”

As I walked with the city hall staff member, I suddenly turned my head. Beyond the thick glass wall, I could see the priest of truth. It seemed like we were just chatting over coffee, but the previous questions were almost perfect in filtering out impurities.

’…I envy it.’

The longer I ruled as emperor, the more I realized how fraudulent the social safety nets provided by the God of Justice and God of Truth were. As the sole emperor of the Human Empire, I held absolute power without any checks or balances.

Despite being a dictator with absolute power, it was impossible to completely control the Empire. Recently, there were incidents such as elite soldiers raping restaurant staff or cases where class cards were stolen and sold abroad. Discrimination occurred between nobles and commoners, while hate crimes emerged involving elite soldiers born from slaves killing noble-born individuals.

I dealt firmly with these incidents, but it was still impossible to achieve perfect control.

‘If only I had the God of Justice, no, the God of Truth.’

Everyone bowed before me, the omnipotent ruler, but acted freely behind my back. The administrators appointed for administrative purposes committed fraud, while elite soldiers tasked with maintaining order sought undue privileges beyond their authority.

I had to make laws, investigate incidents when they occurred, conduct trials based on the investigation results, and impose appropriate penalties. The priests of the God of Truth could solve problems with just one word, while the priests of the God of Justice patrolled and crushed criminal organizations on their own. However, there were no such people available now. Despite all my efforts, it wasn’t perfect. Every process was messy.

‘Ah, really. How can it be so imperfect and full of errors?’

Creating the Slave Soldiers was also a desperate measure because I couldn’t kill or imprison elite soldiers who made mistakes. It wasn’t laziness that prevented me from having time to train after becoming emperor. The position of emperor carried as many responsibilities as its authority.

“Okay, as you requested earlier, we will register your destructive power measurement. Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then please start.” At the words of the monitoring staff member, I headed towards the dummy with the test sword in hand.

“Login.” I whispered without opening my mouth. Suddenly, the location changed to the study room of the castle. Looking down at Iron Castle, I opened my chakras.

Cold Air. Sage Door. Strike. Gate. Open.

Ice Slash.

A coldness filled my body. This spell added additional cold damage for one attack. Then in that state…

“Log Out.”

I returned to Earth and raised the sword.

Crunch! Crunch!

All the muscles in my body swelled up. They were exaggerated muscles like Strong Man or a physique cultivator. The zenki enveloping my body brought out the strength to its maximum, pushing me beyond the usual limits.

I struck directly down with Land Breaker.

Ku-kung!

The testing ground shook slightly, and the colour of the dummy turned blue.

“Eh…?” The monitoring staff were astonished behind me as I whispered, “Login.”

I transferred to Ardenia and immediately fell backward.

“Ugh… ah!”

Thump-thump.

My body was bruised everywhere. As I grimaced from the pain of torn muscles, my trembling hand grabbed the Songpyeon on the table.

[You have consumed Mugwort Songpyeon (Advanced)! For four hours, your recovery speed and mana recovery will increase by 100 points!]

After sitting in the chair for a moment, my battered condition gradually recovered. In various ways, this body had surpassed human limitations.

“Ha. This should be enough for a while.”

The martial arts I recently learned weren’t human techniques. They weren’t even meant for combat. It was the Destroyer of Breaker Industries, specialized in asteroid mining by the giant race.

‘I would’ve preferred to learn Amplification Techniques.’

Amplification Techniques, taught by Yun Yongno, the youngest professor at Ouroboros, were renowned for their immense power capable of causing natural disasters and slaying dragons with a single strike under certain conditions. Both martial artists and mages pursued this discipline, including Transcenders themselves.

However, there was one issue:

‘My talent falls short in many ways. And I don’t meet the prerequisite conditions.’

I searched for something related to magic power since it had a penalty but could provide amplified strength. However, what I found wasn’t magic-related but rather, an industrial destruction technique called Land Breaker.

‘I was initially unsure about this…but it suits me better than expected.’

Ikensai was an excellent decisive strike, but at its core, it relied on inner energy techniques. But what is my main stat? Strength.

Approximately 30 years ago, the Break Industrial Company, which traversed the universe, sought refuge on Earth-34. They were all Titans, a superior race commonly known as descendants of giants. Possessing physical abilities comparable to ogres and exceptional psychic aptitude, they excelled in resource extraction from asteroids, demolition, and dismantling tasks. The single-move Land Breaker became their signature skill.

They specialized in extracting resources from asteroids or dismantling structures, with their signature move being ‘Land Breaker’. It was a testament to their prowess.

[For unknown reasons, your Recovery has increased by 1 point!]

“Ha… That’s good in many ways.”

I took a brief rest but couldn’t stay too long as three groups of monsters were approaching.

“Log out.”

I returned to Earth. My limbs felt weak, but I tried to stand tall and straighten my spine. The straw figure spoke:

<Cast speed: Medium -> >