Part 1, Chapter 11, Section 19

A cadre awakens as a Spirit through love, and as that love deepens, the Spirit reaches the level of a ‘god’.

‘It feels like a marketing ploy to include acts of love.’

I had a reasonable suspicion that this setting was intentionally added because the game’s genre was a dating sim, but I successfully awakened Seok Harang and Hwanryong as Spirits for now.

‘The object of Seok Harang’s love was Eun Yuha.’

When Seok Harang awakened to SS-rank, he was grieving so much it seemed the world was ending, and he felt love for Eun Yuha, who took care of him.

‘I killed Gwanggeom, whom Seok Harang considered his master, and then had Eun Yuha stay by his side to comfort him, making her a sanctuary for his heart.’

In the original story, the protagonist became a ‘husband’ as a loving partner, and when I initially killed Gwanggeom, I tried to make Eun Yuha a ‘Yuha unnie’ to him, a family member.

‘Seok Harang’s Spiritification.’

If only the synchronization condition is met, anyone, regardless of talent, can reach the realm of myth.

‘Synchronization is not related to attributes. Even a powerless person can reach SSS-rank through the power of synchronization.’

Before I met Rusalka, my plan was to synchronize Eun Yuha, a human, with Seok Harang, a Spirit, to spiritify Seok Harang and make Eun Yuha the subject of water-attribute myth.

‘It all became useless.’

Now, it’s not just back to square one, but a fleeting dream buried in magma, yet Seok Harang must definitely reach the realm of myth.

To prevent a future where I foolishly act out and get a harsh lesson from the Otherworld God, I had to face the Otherworld God with my maximum power.

That’s why I awakened Hwanryong too, but his case was a little different.

‘Will to live. That’s the first thing.’

I killed all his subordinates in front of Hwanryong-though they were fakes-and made him go berserk, then sent Gaeul to create in Hwanryong the will to live in this world.

If I knew the conditions, awakening Hwanryong was easy.

‘If he ‘loves’ someone other than himself, Hwanryong’s awakening is complete. Whether it was heterosexual love, familial love, or camaraderie, it didn’t matter.’

Hwanryong, who had been hurt by sending others away for an extremely long time, now abandoned his physical body and became a spirit body, vowing never to love anyone again. And I broke open the lock Hwanryong had placed with a physical attack, and Gaeul went inside to awaken Hwanryong.

I told Gaeul to give Hwanryong a reason to live and to encourage him, but Gaeul still hasn’t told me how she managed to awaken Hwanryong.

And Hwanryong’s love is now directed towards Gaeul.

I….

Anyway, about 2.5 Spirits were cleared. I became allies with two SS-rank Spirits, Snowy Night and Hwanryong.

‘Myth goes one step further.’

Of course, even if one reaches SS-rank through awakening, their growth doesn’t end there.

And since Seok Harang is a half-human, half-spirit who inherited Snowy Night’s power, she can reach ‘myth’ on her own, just like the protagonist who inherited power from Changyeom.

‘Because she’s a human born with the power of a Spirit.’

Unlike other Spirits who can reach myth through synchronization with humans, Changyeom and Snowy Night had the power to reach myth on their own if the conditions were met.

‘The protagonist reached myth through Changyeom’s annihilation of existence.’

Changyeom’s Phoenix made the protagonist reach myth by transferring all its power to the protagonist through the annihilation of its own existence.

‘But Seok Harang has two paths.’

Rusalka-Seok Harang, the second Snowy Night, also reached myth, SSS-rank, through love.

The condition for that awakening was familial love.

Seok Harang reaches SSS-rank by either taking a personal route and becoming a lifelong partner, or by resolving the family secret intertwined with Gwanggeom.

‘If I truly accept Seok Harang, would it be possible…?’

The reason Seok Harang clings to a familial relationship with me, calling me ‘oppa’ or ‘yeobo,’ might be because she craves familial affection from me.

‘If only she could reach myth just through a sibling relationship.’

Marry Seok Harang? That’s not an option I can choose. I’m sorry to Seok Harang, but my love is currently directed towards only one person.

‘So Seok Harang needs to resolve her relationship with Gwanggeom.’

She needed to sever the love-hate relationship with Gwanggeom as her father and understand Gwanggeom’s paternal love in her heart. Why Gwanggeom hid his identity as her father and lingered around her for his entire life.

‘Because Gwanggeom committed an original sin against Seok Harang.’

It was a part that many players didn’t empathize with, but some players strongly defended Gwanggeom, saying they understood his feelings.

‘He’s afraid of becoming an object of hatred for his child.’

The sorrow of people who, due to circumstances, couldn’t afford to raise their children and left them in an orphanage, then succeeded and returned, but couldn’t reveal themselves as parents to their children.

The source of the sorrow Gwanggeom fears is ‘the future where Seok Harang will hate him.’ The same goes for Rusalka, who genuinely tried to kill Seok Harang.

‘I thought time would solve it.’

I thought 5 years and 5 months of comforting her would be enough, but the situation became difficult.

Rusalka is suddenly in danger of being pinned down by another man,

Gwanggeom still hasn’t mustered the courage to reveal himself to his daughter,

Seok Harang is waiting for the couple to come to her first due to her pride,

And time is rushing like an arrow.

However, even if it was a little, no, very frustrating, family matters were not something to be meddled with from the sidelines.

Emotional problems that couldn’t be solved through dialogue options like in a game had, of all things, become tangled and twisted.

* * *

“Do you understand my difficulties now?”

I poured out all my frustrations to Deokbae. I felt like the man who shouted the king’s secrets into the ground in a bamboo forest.

“That… what is it?”

Deokbae scratched his head and tilted it.

“Honestly, I don’t understand any of it.”

“……How can Subordinate No. 2 be more inhumane than an alien family? Haah, do you have no minimum empathy?”

“I don’t know. That kind of thing. I’ve never had a family, so how would I know?”

Deokbae made a self-deprecating joke, and I was speechless.

“That couple is also a bit much. They started *that* the moment they met after 20 years? Don’t they worry about their child?”

“They talk about it even while doing it. I listen to their stories while coaching them from the side.”

“You do that too?”

“I thought it would help them gain peace of mind and talk smoothly with Seok Harang.”

I wondered what it would be like if the couple gave their child as much love as they gave each other, but the couple didn’t know how to give love to their child. After all, they had given birth but never raised her.

“It’s fine. When it really reaches the last resort, I’ll forcibly create a table and make them have a three-way meeting. I’ll tell Gwanggeom this directly later.”

“Alright. I understand. But can I ask you something?”

Deokbae glanced at his magic gear to check the time. The 10 minutes we had agreed to rest had long since passed.

“Just how amazing is that mythical realm that you’re so obsessed with it? You’re already blowing up cores in your current state, so how much stronger does one get beyond that realm?”

“I told you. It’s myth.”

“Are you saying you can literally become a god?”

“In terms of ability, yes.”

I pulled out a hologram from my magic gear. The spherical object placed between Deokbae and me was riddled with craters.

“It’s the moon?”

“Yes. Rather than explaining with myself, I’ll use Seok Harang as an example.”

*Click*.

As soon as I snapped my fingers, water began to fill the moon’s craters. Deokbae’s eyes widened more than ever, and I could confidently say I had never seen Deokbae so surprised in my life.

“Amazing, isn’t it? Yes, that’s right. This is possible when you reach myth.”

I snapped my fingers again. The gray land turned green, and a green atmosphere began to flow around the moon.

Golden light and black darkness periodically orbited the moon, creating day and night. Gray floating bodies flowing through the atmosphere took on substance and became living creatures.

And in the moon’s inner core, a blue flame was burning.

“Everyone’s a ‘god,’ so terraforming should be possible, right?”

“……That’s not terraforming, that’s creation of heaven and earth, isn’t it?”

“Pfft. Deokbae-ssi.”

I gave a bitter laugh at Deokbae’s words.

“If I were such an omnipotent being, would I be living like this, afraid of the Otherworld God?”

“……That’s true.”

“And this is a story for when all seven of them have reached myth. Right now, not only have they not reached myth, but four of them are enemies, aren’t they?”

All shadows on the ground vanished, the golden light faded, the land turned gray again, and the life-breathing atmosphere disappeared.

“So regarding Seok Harang’s problem, you should stop bothering Gwanggeom too. In the end, it’s a problem that time will solve.”

“……Something feels off.”

Deokbae tilted his head and looked at me with suspicious eyes, but I merely scattered the hologram with my hand.

“Puhuhu, first, shall we go save the old god? Before she gets pinned down by a mere human man and falls, let’s go find a way to save her.”

“……Alright.”

The break was over.

Deokbae and I returned to the meeting room, and we discussed the plan and its associated risks again, setting the agenda for the Azure Syndicate.

……In the end, reducing the risks in the Princess Kidnapping Plan was the limit of our Villain organization, the Azure Syndicate.

* * *

11 AM, Yeongjongdo Yuseong Hotel Penthouse.

Separate from the Azure Syndicate’s agenda, I came to Yeongjongdo to check if the ship bound for India was moving properly.

“Welcome to my island.”

“It’s state-owned land.”

Baek Heea, who had docked the Baeknaro-ho at the former Incheon International Airport on Yeongjongdo, scanned her surroundings with a displeased expression.

“It’s a place decorated almost identically to my room in Yeouido.”

“……I thought the luxury goods bought from Yuseong had gone quite high up, but I never imagined they’d be in a place like this.”

Baek Heea checked the brand of the chair she was sitting on and frowned.

“Why isn’t it a Yuseong product?”

“I thought Miss Baek Heea wasn’t a Yuseong parrot?”

“Let me rephrase! Why are you using imported furniture instead of domestic?”

“Ah, that’s what you meant. My apologies.”

I felt sorry for Baek Heea, but there was not a single domestic product, let alone a Yuseong item, in this room. Because Eun Yuha personally chose all the items.

“This is my room, so Chairman Eun personally chose the furniture for me.”

“Are you perhaps in *that* kind of relationship with Chairman Eun…? No, you wouldn’t be. My apologies. I spoke carelessly.”

“Chairman Eun and I have a special relationship, but I’m just a supplier, and Chairman Eun is merely a client. My main supply item is this.”

I pulled out an A-rank Core from my pocket and tossed it to Baek Heea.

“I hunt monsters that come out of the former North Korean territory and supply them to Yuseong first. I’m telling you this in advance, just in case you’re worried.”

I preempted what Baek Heea was about to say.

“Everything I supply is properly tax-processed by Yuseong, you know?”

“Then that’s fine. Thank you for contributing to national taxes.”

“……Excuse me, Miss Praetor.”

I placed my hand on Baek Heea’s shoulder as she sat on the sofa and leaned in.

“Am I comfortable?”

“Yes. Very much. Right now, I’m meeting Patriot Cheonghwa-nim, not Phoenix, aren’t I?”

Baek Heea smiled brightly, beaming.

“I’ve thought about it in many ways, and there’s no one who helps this country as much as Cheonghwa-nim.”

Baek Heea pressed the magic gear I had given her as a gift and pulled up a list.

“A whopping 8 S-rank Cores that Yuseong reportedly ‘imported’ last month. Those S-rank Cores were invested in SOC without reprocessing. Yuseong was able to proceed with the construction through priority bidding, but….”

*Clap!* Baek Heea clapped her hands, still beaming.

“It seems the national roads across the country will finally be restored! By October at the earliest! Hoho, as expected, with a large budget, a lot of manpower can be secured. In that sense, thank you once again.”

“…….”

I supplied the Cores, Eun Yuha invested capital based on that, and Baek Heea began restoring all sorts of infrastructure based on her family’s power.

“Excuse me, I really want to ask you, can’t you lend me Architect-nim for just one month?”

“No. Architect must work in Seoul.”

Thanks to this, the value of architectural restoration experts was skyrocketing, but I had instructed Architect to prioritize the restoration of Seoul.

“Let’s talk about Seoul’s restoration later, and discuss something else now. That’s why I specifically gave you this room.”

“…..? I’m staying here?”

“Yes. This is a building I restored for you to stay in when you come to Yeongjongdo on business. Use this room. Now for the main topic.”

“To just use such a luxurious room, what on earth-“

“I’d like to discuss how to naturalize Anastasia, the Russian Round Table Hero, Undine.”

Baek Heea stood up and grabbed my shoulders with both hands.

“Let’s talk about that in detail, without missing a single thing?”

“……I’m so afraid of leaving for other countries, so why are you so happy about naturalizing a foreign ability user?”

“That’s obvious!”

Baek Heea giggled continuously, seemingly delighted by the thought.

“It means one more S-rank ability user in Korea! Are diplomatic issues important? When a Round Table member is becoming Korean!”

“…….”

No wonder she’s not popular with foreign players. However, I understood Baek Heea’s feelings. After all, I myself travel abroad stealing Cores.

“First, would you like to hear the story? The situation is completely ‘Romeo and Juliet’.”

“Yes. I’ll listen from beginning to end.”

I began to recount Gwanggeom and Rusalka’s situation, suitably adapted.