Chapter 328: 328

Chapter 328 – 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 .

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