Chapter 369: Seoul (19)

“Leave Hochi and Yong-yong alone. They can take care of it themselves..”

Seregia said, as I sat beside her on the bed and peeled tangerines.

It’s kind of annoying.

“Are you going to be okay?”

We successfully defended against the waves of monsters that attacked the East Coast of Japan.

There will be no more recurrences.

But that’s not the end of my inconveniences.

We still need to communicate and reassure those who were wondering exactly what happened and what will happen in the future.

Hochi and Yong-yong are not obligated to do that, but as they know something, they should provide at least a minimal explanation for those who are concerned.

Of course, you could just ignore them, but it will only be a hassle later on.

On top of that, we should also be in line with the Japanese government, which is trying to wrap up and promote this incident as a successful defense and subjugation effort.

Which means we’ll have to participate in the promotion too.

“It’s all right.”

It’s going to be a real pain in the neck.

I don’t have to participate in this, but, oh well.

After Hochi finishes his task successfully, I plan to entrust him with the believers I gathered at the Holy Land of the God of Hope.

“I’ve also gotten in touch with a private group. When should we make an appointment?”

I heard that there is a pseudo-religion that sells my name in Gangwon-do.

Business must have been good already, but because my name has been appearing more often on the news recently, it’s bound to be even more successful.

“I’ll leave that to Hochi, too.”

You can think of it as a rehearsal before I tackle the believers of the God of Hope.

Yes, the believers of the God of Hope were a bit more difficult.

It would be easier to deal with the rural people who were tricked out of their money due to pseudo-religion than to deal with the believers who struggled in despair because of the God of Hope.

It’s safer too.

“Ah.”

As soon as I finished peeling the tangerine, Seregia opened her mouth.

She shook her head when I tried to feed her the whole tangerine in one bite.

“What, you want me to put them in one-by-one?”

Seregia nodded.

It was annoying.

I threw the whole tangerine into Seregia’s mouth.

She glared at me, but she didn’t spit out the tangerine in her mouth either.

She just mumbled and ate.

“Seregia, why don’t you eat something like strawberries instead of tangerines?”

Peeling a tangerine was so annoying.

“If you pick off the tops, then I’ll eat the strawberries.”

Yeah, I don’t want to.

It’s a hassle.

“Are you almost done then?”

“It was the first thing I did as soon as you came.”

said Kim Min-hyuk, nodding his head.

His complexion was a little better than before.

After sending Hochi and Yong-yong to Japan, his face had improved a little while they were gone.

He’s going to be busy again. Should I tell him?

“Call Park Min to the Association.”

“Why do you want to call him? Didn’t you decide to let him go already?”

I didn’t.

Although there were some extenuating circumstances to consider, it was mainly because he had been previously used by the God of Hope.

So I still had to get my hands on him.

“It would be enough to infect them and make them puppets.”

“…Can you do that, too?”

Of course I can.

If the subject were a non-deity, I can do anything imaginable.

“Let’s also gather some of the Newly Awakened.”

“Why would you need the rookies? If you need any Awakened, just the guild members would be enough.”

“No, it’s not enough.”

My own strength was enough.

Even the party and its 61st-floor subordinates were nowhere near my ability.

The problem was the number.

We needed more numbers to expand our power.

“I need more rookies to work for me. But perhaps externally, more will be working for Hochi or you.”

Kim Min-hyuk said after thinking for a while.

“The only ones I can recruit from my sources right now are the rookies from the guild. There are some who say they’ll come when their contracts are over, but not a lot.”

In short, more bait was needed. Bait to attract the Awakened.

“System window to assist leveling-up. Limited size inventory. One item from the Tutorial. Is this enough bait?”

“It’s enough.”

Kim Min-hyuk nodded.

“It’s an irresistible offer for even me right now. Can you support the system and inventory though?”

I’m already doing it.

I’m already creating the system.

The inventory can be made by giving up part of my subspace and setting personal coordinates.

The items will also be easily accessible from the Tutorial.

“Just leave the rookies who don’t want to come, they’ll only be a burden. Not all will accept the recruitment anyway.”

There is no need to cling to a person who is not interested.

“But what are we gonna do with the rookies?”

asked Kim Min-hyuk.

In fact, it’s no loss if we aren’t able to gather the Awakened from Earth.

But more than Earth,

“I’m going to send the rookies away from here..”

“Away?”

“Other dimensions.”

The Awakened of the Earth who cleared the tutorial were all used to moving on to the next world and clearing the missions.

If we can train them a bit more, then we can send an expedition beyond the dimensional gates.

“A different dimension? Is that possible?”

It’s possible.

In fact, if you have the right coordinates, you can easily create portals connected to other dimensions.

I’ve actually learned quite a lot of coordinates by chasing the God of Hope around.

As I tracked down the God of Hope, I also marked the corresponding coordinates of each location.

Among those, there were some planets that could allow the Earth’s people to make a steady advance.

A dimensional expedition naturally brings tremendous advantages.

And if you think about it, new resources and artifacts will come from the civilizations of other dimensions.

You could colonize the undeveloped ones, or you could make deals and trade with the civilized ones.

Through these exchanges, the influence of human beings on Earth will naturally increase in indigenous areas.

And the growth of Earth’s influence will also grow my influence.

I will be the one opening and managing the dimensional gates after all.

We can offer an appropriate fee to the humans who use the gates and let them enter the portal.

“It’s not an admission fee, so we can adjust and monopolize it from the beginning, right?”

Kim Min-hyuk asked.

He seemed to be eagerly thinking about it when I opened a new topic to discuss.

It was an attractive offer.

“Or we could just split up the groups and bring them all into our own group. We’re already the ones maintaining and managing the dimensional gates anyway…”

“Yes, yes, it’s fine with me, so make the model yourself.”

“Okay.”

Kim Min-hyuk looked serious and didn’t move for a while.

After all, it would be comfortable having someone who would devotedly think about such troublesome things instead of me.

That way, I don’t have to use my brain.

“Warrior.”

Seregia, who had been quiet, called me.

“What is it, do you want more tangerines?”

“I want some pork cutlet.”

…Oh, right.

I want some pork cutlet too.

Let’s go with that..

“Hey…hey…hey.”

I called Kim Min-hyuk who was deep in thought.

I had to call him several times since he seemed to be too absorbed in the gate.

“What?”

“Hey, why don’t we have some pork cutlet?”

What I meant was, ‘I want you to buy it.’

As a bonus, you can also buy your share.

“I’ll order it. We can have it delivered.”

“No, you have to buy it.”

“…Why?”

“We’re going to the temple in Seoul. The one that’s being remodeled in Jamsil Stadium. Delivery isn’t allowed there yet, so you have to buy it and bring it.”

The temple will not be opened to humans until Yong-yong is done with the decorations.

It’s a temple after all.

If it looks too shabby and insignificant, then it will lose its prestige.

“…Do we have to eat a huge pork cutlet?”

“No.”

Seregia responded sharply.

She usually speaks in a calm tone that’s barely audible, but she only raises her voice at times like these.

“…okay.”

Kim Min-hyuk sighed and left the room with his shoulders slumped.

You don’t have to read his mind to figure out what he’s thinking.

As soon as the missing guys come back, I’m sure he’s going to be grumbling in annoyance again.

Seregia looked at me as soon as Kim Min-hyuk left.

“Would you like more tangerines?”

Seregia shook her head.

Of course.

Seregia likes to eat, but not this much.

She was just dissatisfied.

She laid in bed pretending to be sick and made me do all the work.

She was grumbling like a human.

It wasn’t because I ignored her suggestion of going back to Earth immediately, or because she complained that I have been using her roughly, and forced me to feel guilty and apologize.

Seregia was a sword, a weapon.

There was no way she would be angry because I treated her like a tool.

Now that Seregia sent out Kim Min-hyuk like she wanted, it was time to hear the reason.

“I didn’t have to hit it head-on.”

Okay.

So it was because of that time.

I expected her to bring it up to some extent..

That time when we crossed swords with the fake who received the power of the God of Hope.

Seregia was talking about that time.

“But you won in the end.”

Seregia didn’t respond.

I know.

Seregia was not doing this because she’s an idealist, but because she’s worried about what’s coming.

“The enemy was barely a god. But its power was on par with yours. Maybe he was even stronger.”

It certainly was.

If I only thought of the total amount of power, then the power of God of Hope, which the fake wielded, exceeded my power.

“The opponent, of course, prepared for a one-shot fight.”

The fake had chosen the most natural way to press on — with force.

It put all of its strength in one stroke so that I would not be able to block it or redirect it.

It was a good judgment, and it was the right decision.

Even I would have done the same if I were in that position.

“The other person must have been planning the moment and was preparing for it for a long time. His judgment was sound enough.”

“I suppose it was.”

In the first place, the God of Hope seemed to have prepared the fake just for that moment.

It was a moment when he focused on his whole life, even from a fake’s point of view.

“If only I had any attraction to the fight, then it would have been my victory.”

“Yes.”

If only I fought it head-on and not dragged it out.

If the God of Hope fled first and disappeared, then the fight with the fake wouldn’t have such a twist.

It would have been easier to win.

That was why Seregia was concerned.

Of course, I won, but the power that the fake released at the moment was to the extent that Seregia became exhausted and ill.

This was not a game without any risk at all.

I was someone who used all means and methods to achieve victory, so why did I dare to accept a head-to-head confrontation in favor of the opponent?

The excuse that it was for growth and experience, as in the past tutorials, did not work.

“Surely that head-to-head confrontation is something that you would choose when facing the God of Duel instead.”

“That’s right.”

Seregia’s concern is that the reason for the head-to-head confrontation might be pity or sympathy for the fake.

In fact, while the fake was dying, Seregia once asked if I sympathized with the fake.

Seregia is always concerned about this.

I wonder if that gap was caused by emotion.

Or maybe it was just her way of thinking as a weapon.

My way of thinking was exactly the same as hers once.

In fact, there was only a slight difference even now, but it’s not very pronounced.

Before answering, I moved inside the temple.

It was a story that no one should overhear.

After we moved, I told Seregia,

“There are two reasons.”

“You have two?”

Seregia asked back.

I thought she’d rather complain that I only had two reasons behind that decision.

I wondered if she saw me as a unicellular organism more than I thought.

“The first one is just because I thought I would win. I’ll win no matter how many advantages my opponent has over me and no matter how much they’ve prepared.”

Such confidence allowed me to accept the outcome.

I wouldn’t even be here if I hadn’t been convinced in the first place.

“And the second reason is that I couldn’t back down.”

“What do you mean?”

Seregia asked back.

It’s hard to explain.

“You know, sometimes you feel like you’ve won and lost.”

I often felt it when I was a professional gamer.

Apparently I won, but I’m annoyed, as if I lost.

“…Maybe that feeling means defeat?”

“Yes, even if in substance you didn’t lose.”

Seregia was silent.

I accepted her silence, and had to wait a moment.

The basis of my divinity is a continuous victory.

Confidence and faith in that victory has made me who I am now, and it sustains me.

To put it another way, I can’t keep my divinity in a situation where I can’t win.

That’s what a deity is.

Just as the God of Duel can’t hit someone’s back for a mean victory, and the God of Light can’t fall asleep in the dark.

It was not a matter of preference, but of identity.

“…the penalty is too high.”

said Seregia, who had been silent for a while.

It was as she said.

But it was that powerful.

I hoped for overwhelming force, not just moderate strength.

For my purpose, I even had to assume that all the gods of the Hundred Gods Temple were turned against me.

I had to take such risks to make the 60th and 61st floors my sacred sites and to get all the stages of the tutorials into my hands.

“Even if it’s only once, if the word defeat rings in my mind, I might lose everything.”

Even if I lose, I’ll get through it if I think it’s a stepping stone to a final victory.

But even if I win, if I have a sense of defeat in my heart, that’s it.

“But I’m sure.”

“What are you sure about?”

“I’m sure I’ll get through it in the end. I’m confident that I’ll keep going no matter how many times I fall and get blocked. I’m sure I’ll never lose.”

And I assure you.

That this conviction can never and will never be broken.