Chapter 207

The next day, all entertainment-related broadcasts on Earth-34 exploded with news:

“It’s pandemonium…” I muttered to myself.

I had always been a public figure with high visibility and a penchant for controversy:

• Apostle of the Great and Wonderous Game Master.
• A transcendent immigrant in his early twenties.
• A popular actor recognized for his remarkable acting skills.
• A superstar who had graced countless commercials and entertainment shows, making my name relatively easy to find online.

However, this was on an entirely different scale from before. When I entered various ESP-related websites…

When you enter entertainment-related sites:

Even when simply browsing community forums:

I was undoubtedly a celebrity, but my fame was limited to Earth-34 alone. On a cosmic scale, Transcendents weren’t rare at all, and being known as the Apostle of the Game God was only a title recognized on Earth-34.

However, since the rumor of my romance with Space Star F-D had begun to spread, my name had permeated throughout the various galaxies of the macrocosm.

“I never imagined my name would echo throughout the cosmos…”

I tapped the belly of my virtual assistant Cheddar and closed the community feed, then rose from my seat. I’d detected a commotion from somewhere nearby.

The rooms in Dragon Star were soundproof, but they couldn’t block out my Transcendent senses.

“Are you all out of your minds? What are you doing here?” I asked, clearly not happy with the sight before me.

“Fader is really furious.”

“Watch your mouth.”

“I can curse even worse! Are you people insane!?”

I burst into the room. In the lounge were the Five Dragons and their manager, Eddusuni.

“You.”

Eddusuni’s expression chilled upon seeing me.

Whoosh.

Darkness spread. Behind Eddusuni’s long hair, a vast expanse of darkness shimmering with stars unfurled.

A Shadow Dragon—a member of one of the most powerful dragon species, renowned as Transcendentals. Among the Dragonkin, commonly known as ‘dragons,’ this lineage was equivalent to royalty.

He’s formidable.

Having transcended my rank through sheer willpower, I could now roughly gauge the gap between his strength and mine.

This wouldn’t have been possible during normal circumstances, but with Eddusuni in an agitated state, suddenly anything seemed plausible.

I might be able to hold on for a while… but ultimately, I’ll lose.

It wasn’t as if victory was entirely out of reach. If pressed for odds, I’d put my chances at around five percent. However, assessing one’s momentum couldn’t account for the game’s unique mechanics—logging in and out at will. It inevitably led to this perplexing question:

If we truly engaged in combat… would I stand a chance?

In my early days, when I wouldn’t even dare claim expertise, I’d fought against impossible odds. I’d slain sword masters groping for meaning and even killed a Transcendent in my own right, transcending the limits of flesh. The power of the game system, coupled with the ability to log in and out, was so formidable that I’d honed both my martial skills and chakra-based combat strategies for swift, decisive encounters.

In other words, if I were to commit to a battle with my full ‘combat prowess’…

I’m genuinely curious.

The prospect of defeating an opponent one or even two ranks above me was within reach.

I’m curious.

Crack!

A fissure opened on the floor between Eddusuni and myself.

“Ha… I see.” Eddusuni’s momentum faltered. He ran his fingers through his hair, which was as dark as pitch itself, as if frustrated.

“Ah! I don’t know either. You’re both Transcendents, so it shouldn’t be an issue of authority. But remember this well: to the outside world, you’re still minors… The senior members won’t just sit by and watch.”

With that, Eddusuni exited the lounge.

The room was plunged into silence.

I walked to the center of the lounge and sat down on a chair. Then I spoke.

“Come, explain.”

“Oh, dear Jaeyeon-ssi. Why the stern face?” Snow, with a mischievous grin, attempted to engage in intimate contact.

I pinched the back of her hand.

A pinch from a Bio-energy Transcendent, no less!

“Ouch!”

“I’m not joking around. Sit down.”

I let my words hang in the air.

“Ah…”

“Uh…”

“Huh…?”

At my stern expression, the Ohryongi hesitantly took their seats. They looked like they were about to protest, but it wasn’t as if I was a figura for a day. No, I was swept up in the moment, and words failed me.

“Eh… why are we getting scolded?”

“Of course you’re getting scolded. You can’t just randomly talk about relationships on live TV.”

Ruby protested at my firm words, “No, I was just expressing my genuine feelings.”

“Yeah, that’s right. What’s wrong with talking normally on an observation show?”

“Normally, they would just ignore any physical contact or temptation.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Her quick reaction drew a sigh from me.

“Do you see me as inferior, making it easy to take advantage of? Do you think you can control me once we’re in an irreversible situation?”

”…!”

My words made the five-year-old jump.

“What? No! Why would you think that?!”

“Jaeyeon, there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“In any case, Ruby was being too impulsive!”

“No, can’t you blame me here?”

I watched, amused, as they flustered over my accusations.

Right. I should’ve known. They… they think of me as a man.

But no matter how I thought about it, this wasn’t normal.

It’s too impulsive.

While it wasn’t impossible for dragons and humans to form relationships, they were generally based on psychological love. If they wanted to have children, it was because they desired offspring with their beloved partner, not because of sexual pleasure.

On the other hand, there was Oryong. He would grab onto me at any opportunity, and his seduction was second nature. He acted like a young high school student with high sex drive.

“Uh, well. I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention… I think I was getting frustrated because it seemed like we were expressing our feelings clearly but not getting a response.” Hwakyu apologies sincerely.

Is this because of Ardenia? Maybe due to the eight Sun positions? Or is it because he’s a myth-class being? No, could it be because he’s an element with extreme will and composure?

I strained my brain trying to figure things out. But there were so many unique things about humans that it was impossible to be certain about anything.

“Oh—um, I’m sorry!”

“…I apologize.”

“I guess I was acting a bit moody.”

“Sorry.”

When all had gone quiet, Oryong cautiously approached me and offered contrition.

Their expressions were as innocent and adorable as those of a child taken aback by their own emotions, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Don’t do this again. It’s confusing for me too. No response at all… If it was just one person, maybe, but with five of you? You’d be turning your close-knit group of friends into rivals.”

”…?!”

“Huh?!?”

“Wh-what…”

“O-oh…”

“My goodness!”

Leaving the dumbfounded Five Dragons behind, I exited the room, pondering:

What in the world will happen now?

If they were ordinary dragons, despite the gossip, forming a relationship wouldn’t be a problem. Dragons are individuals; who could stop them if they set their minds to it?

But these aren’t ordinary dragons.

F-D and Space Star were the oldest of the beings who had led the dragon race for hundreds of thousands of years, being chromatic dragons. Eddusuni, their manager, hadn’t known about this fact… but it wasn’t really possible for anyone to be unaware of it.

In the worst-case scenario, Dragonian might take action.

However, there was nothing I could do about that at the moment. And even for Dragonian… it was impossible to pressure me on Earth-34, where the game master’s eyes were blazing with intensity.

I didn’t know what to do! I had to work.

I had more stocks than mountains, so why did something like dating matter so much?

“You’re one of the hottest figures these days, right? Han Jaeyeon-ssi!”

Instead, I became even more proactive in appearing on entertainment shows.

“Recite your lines and jump! Rumor has it you can jump at the speed of light, right?”

I put on a show.

“You’re quite good at participating in variety shows and doing it so regularly, even after appearing so many times. Once this one is over, there’ll be another mission right away.”

I was always on a mission.

Taking into account the steady stream of royalties coming in, I was earning so much money that it was literally unimaginable. Unlike those transcendent beings who had become immune to money, I’d done everything possible to earn wealth. Even Lucky Strike, the great mage known for his debt, probably couldn’t work as hard as I did.

And thus, day became two days, then three days, four days…

A week became two weeks, three weeks, four weeks…

A month became two months…

The world left behind me carried on with its noisy affairs, but I remained focused on my routine. My work became profit, meticulously filling my bank account.

And then, the moment I had been waiting for finally arrived.

Nemesis – 3,888,120 won (+12,310 won) ↑

When I held shares of Nemesis, its stock price would plummet. If I possessed a stake in Revenge, Nemesis would inevitably fall outside the scope of prophetic knowledge.

Even if they didn’t blindly trust their foresight, big players in the stock market always took it into account. When these major investors not only refrained from investing but even withdrew their money, it was inevitable that the stock prices would crash. After all, no matter how ants scurried, there were always those with greater capital calling the shots.

But there must be limits to that too.

No matter how far outside the realm of prophetic knowledge the stocks might stray, could they ever truly fall to zero? Nemesis was a solid company consistently turning a profit. Any withdrawal of capital due to anxiety wouldn’t last more than a day or two at most. In reality, given that the stock was destined to rise, it had to climb back up sooner or later.

And if that’s true…this has got to be the real bottom.

He had accumulated wealth relentlessly, all for this moment—his chance to acquire all the shares once and for all.

Yet, as he was about to manipulate the stock app, Cheddar began to meow insistently.

Meow! Meow!

What’s wrong? Are the prices plummeting again?

But upon closer inspection, it was indeed a call, not just a notification. Without a second thought, I pressed Cheddar’s nose to answer the call.

[“Hello, sir. This is Han Jaeyeon, correct?”]

“Ah, yes. That’s right. Who might you be?”

Cheddar rarely alerted me of calls from unknown numbers. I had blocked all such calls, except for a select few key contacts. For someone to reach me despite this, they must either be part of a criminal group capable of bypassing my block or…

…a government entity.

[“This is the National Tax Service. We’re contacting you regarding tax issues.”]

”…”

Those words dropped my heart lower than if someone had threatened my family.

Taxes… issues? What kind of—

“Ah, I-I’m terribly sorry. How much do I owe in back taxes?”

Terror overwhelmed me, causing my voice to quiver uncontrollably. There was only one explanation for this situation.

I suddenly remembered… I’ve been buying stocks.

I hadn’t paid any taxes so far because of Earth-34’s generous game tax deduction policy. However, no matter how lenient the game tax deduction was, it didn’t cover buying shares of game companies.

The voice that spoke next was cold, ruthless, and heartless.