Communication with the real world was established. It had been 20 long years. My body acted as a hub for connecting to the internet, both in the real world and the Unique World, but connection was meaningless when time was stopped during the time I spent in the stage. But now, it had finally been re-established. More than 200,000 people from the Unique World jumped into the sea of internet as soon as the connection was established.

= Iron World! Let me introduce it to you!

= Incidents and accidents of the Iron World over the past 20 years.

= Watch me fly over the sky of the Iron World on a flying gigas – Blue Hawk.

= Super-sized residence Asadal.

= Hello! I’m Yoo-ah, a singer, professional gamer, and a pilot!

Countless videos were uploaded to MyTube. But this didn’t mean that their activities were only limited to MyTube. People accessing the web from the Unique World visited various communities that they remembered or had heard of. They entered chat rooms and messaged acquaintances from 20 years ago. They called and texted their missed ones.

“Uaah. Uaaaahh… I am so glad that a perfect clear was achieved. I must have died, seeing as I have no memory. Ha, how did I even die?”

“If you really want to know how you died, ask people around you. I also had someone film it from the Cradle of Justice.”

“Come to think of it, I had never thought of that as a possibility. But filming is definitely something I could try… Oh, yeah! Did you hear the news?”

“What news?”

“The dimension ruled over by Iron Mask. I think it was called the Iron World?”

Information from the Unique World leaked, but I didn’t bother to stop it.

As a result,

“This is a list of applicants who want to move into the Iron World.”

I asked while looking at the figures on Min-kyung’s list.

“You informed them that only 100,000 people could enter in a day, but 9 million people applied?”

“In addition, there are about 1.5 million people who were selected as well. As you mentioned before, they are children who have no chance of clearing the stage.”

Korea was rather competent when it came to clearing the stage, but not all countries were so fortunate. In particular, most countries with poor internet infrastructure suffered near annihilation. The End Project designed the stage so poorly that it was extremely difficult to clear, even if one possessed the same level as the stage. A single moment of carelessness could lead to a fatal injury or death, and insidious traps pressured the mind and the body without rest. It was an environment in which one’s mind would become exhausted. Players’ mentality would be crushed by the terrible enemies they faced.

Players were only able to clear the stage when they possessed a much lower level because they memorized the guide and followed through with it, not because the difficulty of the stage was low.

“Well, I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll text you the selected people, so tell them to wait at the designated location at 6 P.M.”

Naturally, the people wanting to enter the Unique World were not required to come to Korea. If I had done so, all the flights to Korea would have been absolutely filled and the airport would have been paralyzed. There was no reason to do something so foolish when I had the Albatross. I could move to any location on Earth within 10 minutes.

“What’s the status of the supplies?”

“It’s quite plentiful. In some countries… there is way too much.”

We weren’t flooded with supplies due to a surge in production. To be exact, the abundance of supplies was due to the fact that all the consumers had disappeared after dying. Supplies, especially food, could go bad or become rotten over time, but it was a needless worry. It had only been a little over 2 months since the stage started. In addition, not even a month had passed since people started dying in the stage. It was obvious for there to be an abundance of supplies, with the exception of fresh produce.

“Good. Let them know that we will make as much room as possible. Obviously, that doesn’t mean we will be accepting everyone into the Unique World. Some people won’t clear the acceptance criteria. We can just put them in space.”

“You are talking about the carrier, Eden.”

Eden was the name of a humongous ship built in the Unique World. It took a great deal of manpower, material, and time to construct the large vessel. Even though I already possessed the Albatross, which had enough loading capacity… The Albatross had a capacity of 150,000 people. If I converted and utilized the weapons department, research institutes, and the production lines, I would be able to fit more than 10 million people, but problems would surely arise if I pushed it too hard. As such, a new space carrier was created with Genie’s advice.

‘Technically speaking, it wouldn’t be appropriate to call it a space carrier.’

Eden could not travel between stars. To be precise, interplanetary travel was also impossible. To be even more precise, it was really slow – so slow that it would take a week to reach the moon from Earth. In the first place, how could it be possible to build a space carrier in just 20 years, especially when the production facilities were constantly pumping out gigas? Eden was essentially nothing more than a very large accommodation for numerous people. Some people may wonder how I was planning to get Eden into space, but this wasn’t rocket science (or was it?).

‘I can have the Albatross carry it!’

It was a perfect, but vain conclusion. I had spent far too long agonizing over the issue of adding in a navigating function in Eden, but it had all been for naught.

“News travels fast.”

“The Unique World is the biggest topic in the world. There’s videos on MyTube as well.”

I stood up after nodding at her answer. Min-kyung followed suit, then politely bowed her head.

“…..”

I stared at her for a moment. I didn’t know if it was because of her abilities or if she had adjusted the number of stage clears, but she still looked to be in her late 20s. But she looked very tired, her face was pale, and her hair was dry. Dark circles were prominent, and her rough skin could not be covered by makeup. The famed name of the Twin Rose seemed to be a thing of the past.

Nevertheless,

‘She is shining.’

She was shining brilliantly. Even though she appeared tired, people would not feel sorry for her or look down on her. Her shining eyes clearly displayed madness and tenacity she possessed toward her goals.

”Is there anything you want to say?”

Noticing that I was standing still, Min-kyung asked politely. Instead of answering, I silently gazed at her.

The woman my brother loved. That was the only reason I bothered to designate her as a channel for communication with humankind. It was also the reason why I helped her from the dark.

If that were not the case…

It occurred to me that I might have killed her out of jealousy.

“Useless thoughts.’

I shook myself from the unnecessary thoughts and spoke.

“…Take this.”

Boom!

A 4.5-meter gigas appeared out of the thin air. The perception barrier surrounding Min-kyung and me was broken immediately, and screaming erupted around me.

“Kyaah!? W, what’s going on?”

“It’s a gigas!”

“It’s huge! I don’t think it’s part of the avatar series. What’s the model? I’ve never seen such a fancy one before!”

People’s gaze shifted towards us, but I did not care. I spoke while looking at Min-kyung. She looked surprised with her eyes wide open.

“You.”

“…Ah. Ye, yes.”

“Don’t die.”

Pat!

I activated recall at the same time, returning back to the Albatross.

The Golden Dragon was indeed for the princess. [1]

What was with the weird pun?

“Well, I’ll feel weird if she dies.”

Even among the same ranking gigas, there were particularly strong individuals. When expensive materials, special parts, and high-class technologies were employed in creating a gigas, it would display a greater performance compared to its peers, even if the improvements weren’t enough to push it to the next rank. Powerful beast-rank gigas were distinguished by naming them after special animals.

Dragons, phoenixes, unicorns, etc. They were named after names of powerful fantastical creatures. I also applied the same principle.

“I gave the Golden Dragon to her, the Black Tortoise will be given to Jae-Seok. But who do I give the White Tiger, the Blue Dragon, and the Red Phoenix…?”

The goods had piled up after 20 years of continued production, but there was no one to give them to. In fact, the real problem was with the mass-produced items rather than the special ones.

“Genie, how many beast-rank gigas have we manufactured?”

“A total of 5,400 units as of now. However, we experienced a shortage of materials since 8 years ago, so the speed of production was adjusted and more manpower was put into the production of Eden.

“Well, 5,400 is enough.”

In fact, it wasn’t only enough, but rather an incredible number. Although it didn’t seem like much due to the rank of the gigas, beast-rank gigas were the main weapons used in wars between Type III civilizations. The Leonhardt Empire would possess less than 100,000 units of beast-rank gigas at most, but I, as an individual, had produced 5,000 units in a single day (although it actually took 20 years.). Anyone would have been shocked to find out the truth.

“Use the gigas network and make an announcement. We will be lending out beast-rank gigas with achieving 100,000 points in The Great War as the basis. If they achieve 1 million points, it will be free. Reduce the discount by 20% for every 200,000 points. If they have 800,000 points, they will get an 80% discount, 60% for 600,000, and onwards. Well, if they scored under 200,000 points, just receive the full payment.”

What should I receive as payment?

“Materials, obviously. Rare metals and mana stones. Ask for 150% of the raw materials spent to create the gigas.”

If I had enough gigas, I could have been more lenient with my distribution method. But gigas only displayed their maximum potential in the hands of a proficient pilot. Receiving materials as payment wasn’t a priority, so if anyone displayed potential, they could receive a discount or pay in installments.

“How many gigas do you think we will be lending out with these conditions?”

Based on the current updated rankings of The Great War, about 2,000 people are expected.

“Only? Then we will have too many remaining.”

But we have volunteers from the other side as well.

“That’s true.”

I nodded and sat down. I shifted my consciousness to the Unique World. In the Unique World, I was located in my studio. It had grown familiar over the years, almost like a second home. I stood up from my seat and headed across the back corridor.

When I opened the door, the quiet murmur died down at once.

Papapat!

Thousands of people in the huge hall lined up in a single, fluid motion. Before I knew it, Genie appeared next to me in her metal body and spoke.

5,822 people waiting to leave. All preparations are complete.

When the communication between Earth and the Unique World was re-established, Earth’s interest in the Unique World exploded. The same held true for the other side.

When the two worlds were connected once more, countless people wanted to enter the Unique World. The same was true of the Unique World as well.

1. in the raw, Genie makes a pun here. Yong = dragon. But Princess-yong means “for the princess” So yeah.