Chapter 296: Friend (1)

Translator: Dreamscribe

After the 4th Anniversary Grand Festival came to a successful close, time passed quickly. Throughout it all, Jinwoo spent his days busily preparing the finale of Episode 6.

Episode 6, which had carried hope to the Dimensional Realm, was now racing toward its conclusion. Most of the more than five thousand dimensions had been liberated, and those dimensions had been sealed off so that neither the Kalsus Dimensional Empire nor Erosion could invade them.

Only the forces of Arsilan, to whom the natives of those dimensions had opened their hearts, were able to come and go from the liberated dimensions. Naturally, every dimension came to believe in Arsilan's Lord God or Evil God.

Jinwoo felt his Authority steadily welling up. His influence over the Dimensional Realm kept climbing higher!

"The final stage of Episode 6...."

It had to be magnificent, no question about it.

The concept was an all-out decisive battle over the fate of the southern region of the Dimensional Realm.

Jinwoo arrived at a dimension on the verge of becoming a Bubble Dimension. It was a place without a single survivor, where only faint starlight remained. Nothing but shattered debris drifted through it.

At least within the southern region of the Dimensional Realm, Jinwoo could now wield tremendous influence. Powerful Heroes and over five thousand dimensions stood behind him. And Arsilan, made stronger still now that its boundary with Earth had crumbled, supplied him with a great deal of power.

In practical terms the southern region of the Dimensional Realm was already as good as liberated, but the ending of a story still had to be grand. Since this was the final stage of Episode 6, Jinwoo prepared it with real care.

First he summoned the blueprints the FS Games employees had designed themselves.

One of them looked enormous and extremely intricate.

"A gate that leads across to the Kalsus Dimensional Empire."

This colossal structure would serve that role.

Jinwoo set this dimension up as the 'gate' that allowed the Kalsus Dimensional Empire to push into the southern region of the Dimensional Realm. Put the other way around, seizing this place meant one could cross over into the dimensions of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire. It was a concept that didn't actually exist in the Kalsus Dimensional Empire, but that was simply a matter of how he set things up.

Jinwoo studied the blueprints, then roused his Authority and began building it right away. The Blade of Terror, which he had left running on autopilot within Erosion's camp, was still doing good work, so he had been able to stock up a fair number of Authority Stones.

"Shall I build it, then?"

Jinwoo drew up his Authority and connected the Soul Gate to this dimension. When the Soul Gate appeared before his eyes, he felt a power that made it seem like he could do anything.

The instant the Soul Gate linked with a dimension of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire, Jinwoo stretched out his hand.

RRRUMBLE!

Enormous masses like asteroids appeared around the Soul Gate. They were fragments made from melting down the treasures he had taken from the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.

They had the property of being able to hold dimensional energy, and they were incredibly hard. It was a mineral he had not yet revealed to the Heroes. If the nobles of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire had laid eyes on it, they might well have fainted in horror. After all, that vast hoard of treasures had been melted down into lumps.

When Jinwoo clenched his fist, the floating metal masses gathered into a single place, forming a metal core centered on the Soul Gate. Then he generated land above it and covered the core over.

It looked as though he were making an ordinary planet, but from this point on things were a little different.

He built a massive elevator connected to the core, and where the elevator terminated sat a power plant that spewed out dimensional energy. Then he recreated and embedded various facilities he had torn out of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire, created several satellites, and set up a defense system.

"That's pretty convincing."

Next, he brought out the nobles and troops he had been accumulating in his Subspace and positioned them appropriately. Each of them held a suitable post, and they were controlled through the Soul Gate.

The role of dying in an explosion.

The role of being brutally torn apart and dying.

The role of simply melting away and dying, and so on; a whole variety of endings had been assigned to make the staging that much richer.

[U-ugh, uuurgh! S-save me!]

[Wh-what is this!]

[Aaargh!]

They shrieked inwardly at their own bodies moving without their consent, but no one apart from Jinwoo could hear it.

Jinwoo created a great many more soldiers made of Bio-Golems, and he planned to station General Gord's subordinates on each of the satellites. It was finally time for the crew who lived aboard the Dimensional Transit Ship, still keeping watch over the Dimensional Realm, to take the spotlight.

The legion of Kalgul and General Gord, generously backed by Kaljest and Scharnhilde, would be the main villains closing out Episode 6. Jinwoo arranged the environment and the various facilities to fit the setting, completing the final stage of Episode 6.

Once everything was done, it looked rather good.

It was a stage the Heroes would get excited about.

Jinwoo contacted Jun, who was operating inside the Sanctuary.

Since the communication was routed through the Evil People crushed beneath the Dimensional Barrier as a medium, screams came through as static, but that wasn't much of a problem.

"Jun, how's the situation?"

[The conflict keeps escalating. Both sides are on a hair trigger, so a civil war looks likely to break out soon.]

That was very good news.

[The Crown Prince's faction has shrunk a great deal, so the two forces are now roughly even. It's fair to say the Sanctuary is currently split in two. I expected some reaction from the Emperor, but he's still silent.]

Jinwoo nodded.

It really did seem that the Emperor of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire was no ordinary emperor. Judging by the influence and pressure radiating from the center of the Sanctuary, there was a strong chance he was some special sort of being.

[And RL?]

[It's running smoothly. There was a large-scale siege battle a little while ago, and just as planned, I'm sowing discord in all the right places to draw out internal division. The mood between the Blood Alliances is turning very ugly.]

He had handed them victory after victory to sink them deeper into RL.

Siege battles broke out over the fine castles and resources the demons left behind. Good weapons and armor were essential in siege warfare, so an enormous amount of money could be raked in.

Jun had stabbed the Blood Alliances in the back using Avatars he had quietly infiltrated among them, and things had reportedly escalated to the point where the enraged Blood Alliances were mobilizing the legions they owned.

"You really aren't coming back?"

[I, I've got a lot to do..., I think I need to stay a while longer. I have to manage RL as well, so I'll keep watching how things develop from here.]

Jun's romantic endeavors seemed to be going smoothly too.

He had grown close with Scharnhilde, and the two of them were influencing each other considerably. Looking at Scharnhilde's Evil Karma, Jinwoo could see it had dropped a great deal.

'The balance is just about right now.'

Erosion, the Kalsus Dimensional Empire, and Arsilan.

Arsilan was still the weakest of the three, but it had a fighting chance.

If he dragged things out longer, he could move in far more safely, but there were still countless dimensions enduring terrible times.

"Episode 6 will be wrapping up soon."

[I'll squeeze even more support out of them.]

Jun worked with tremendous drive even without being told to.

The power of love really was something.

Having completed the final stage of Episode 6, Jinwoo returned to FS Games. FS Games was in the thick of producing the teaser video. When Jinwoo showed the employees the finished stage, they got thoroughly worked up.

"Oh, ohh! It turned out great!"

"Would it be all right if we went inside and had a look?"

"It really gives off that last-battlefield feeling!"

The teaser video production picked up even more speed.

The inside of FS Games had changed a great deal as well.

Soulmates helped the employees out, and now and then personnel from Erosion Headquarters would inhabit a Soulmate and stop by FS Games.

The bit he had set up about their outer forms changing via nanomachines looked so high-tech that even Jinwoo himself wondered whether it made sense, but everyone on Earth had gotten so used to him that they accepted it without a second thought.

At this point, if Jinwoo openly showed them magic, they'd probably just take it in stride, wouldn't they?

'Hmm....'

He spotted Helby sitting in the president's office as though she owned the place.

She was lying on the sofa eating snacks, and when her eyes met Jinwoo's through the open door, she turned away with a flick of her body as if he were a nuisance.

She seemed satisfied with the way the employees waited on her like she was a queen. And it wasn't just Helby; they were all visiting often, treating it like a vacation.

The FS Games building was extremely comfortable and had plenty of places to have fun. It offered a different kind of rest than Arsilan did.

"Sir, have you seen this?"

Han Yong-seon brought up a holographic information window in front of Jinwoo.

It was about a random stabbing that had happened that morning.

No matter how hard Jinwoo tried, he couldn't prevent every crime. He had put a number of measures in place to protect the Heroes as much as possible, but unforeseen situations kept cropping up.

Most of the Heroes, their souls cleansed after reaching Arsilan, were moving toward good, but there were still plenty of Evil People on Earth. Every so often, someone would turn up so overflowing with malice that even the people of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire would have tipped their hats to them.

Jinwoo played the video.

It was CCTV footage released right after the stabbing, posted on Arsilan Worlds.

It was a peaceful afternoon.

At a crowded crosswalk, some man suddenly pulled out a knife and started swinging it wildly. As people screamed and fled, one student got tangled up and fell.

The knife-wielding attacker lunged at the student and was about to plunge the blade into him again and again.

CLAMP!

Someone appeared from the side and caught the blade with a bare hand. Flustered, the attacker strained and grunted trying to pull the knife back, but it didn't budge in the slightest.

The attacker thrashed and raged like a madman, but the knife wouldn't come free. Instead the blade shattered and fell to the ground.

The one who had caught the blade in a bare hand was a household Soulmate.

As people rushed in and subdued the attacker, the Soulmate checked over the fallen student's body. It held the terrified, trembling student and calmed him down, then reported the incident to the police right away.

Anonymous1: With that many people around, that could've been a disaster.

Anonymous2: Just grabbed the knife and crushed it, holy crap. That presence tho.

Anonymous3: People keep screaming "AI uprising" and stirring everyone up lol, turns out humans are the dangerous ones.

└Anonymous4: Soulmates are family....

Anonymous5: Didn't one of them save somebody from getting hit by a car a while back?

The stabbing incident had zero victims.

A Soulmate on its way home after a trip to the supermarket had stopped what could have been a catastrophe.

Soulmates were no longer simply androids; to the Heroes, they were quite literally companions of the soul. In an era like this one, where people were reluctant to help anyone else, it was welcome news, so the comment reactions were quite positive.

"There were a lot of voices worried about the Soulmates, but this incident seems to have gotten rid of most of them."

Jinwoo nodded at Han Yong-seon's words.

If people hadn't gotten used to all this through Arsilan Saga, there would have been far more concern.

On Arsilan Worlds there was plenty of positive talk about Soulmates, but on other communities, fear-mongering posts kept going up.

'Hmm....'

When he traced them, the posts were being written in an organized fashion from regions where Arsilan Saga wasn't in service. They couldn't use the fusion power plants either, and with Soulmates now on the scene they were at risk of falling completely behind, so they looked pretty desperate.

By now the gap was so wide that it felt almost pointless to sneer at them.

Jinwoo went into the president's office and looked at Helby lying there.

That spot on the sofa had become Helby's designated seat by now. Only when he took some snacks out of his Subspace and handed them over did she finally acknowledge him.

She slithered over as though crawling, snatched the snacks away, and then plastered herself back onto the sofa.

"Head back home already."

"It's Sealing Day. There's nothing to do anyway, is there?"

Today was the once-a-month Sealing Day.

It was the day when all the Heroes vanished, so things were admittedly dull. Even on Sealing Day, though, the Soulmates could move about freely.

Jinwoo sat down in his chair and got down to work in earnest.

As the president of FS Games, the largest corporation in the entire world, there was an overwhelming amount for him to look over.

"Hm?"

An unpleasant presence snagged on his senses.

Something had caught in the detection barrier he had spread across Earth on a massive scale. Just as Jinwoo was about to look into it,

Han Yong-seon hurried into the president's office.

"A fire has broken out at the FS Convention Center in New York. They believe it's a terrorist attack."

"Wasn't there an event scheduled there today?"

"Yes, the companies with storefronts in Arsilan Saga were holding an exhibition. A large number of the visitors have evacuated, but they say there are still people inside."

Apparently a huge crowd had gathered because the first Soulmate lottery in the United States was scheduled to be held there.

Watching the footage, the flames were so fierce that no one could get close. On top of that, they suspected explosives still remained inside.

Through social media, the terrorists were insisting that Arsilan Saga and the Soulmates all had to be wiped out, claiming it would be a great liberation for Earth.

'I shouldn't treat them like human beings, then.'

It was obvious who was behind them.

As long as Jinwoo was aware of it, there would be no loss of life. Had he not become a god and gained his Authority, countless innocent Heroes would have lost their lives.

Jinwoo wanted to do the worst possible thing to the terrorists.

"Aren't there high-end Soulmates over there?"

"Yes, since Leon-nim was scheduled to give a speech at the main event, three high-end Soulmates are on standby."

Han Yong-seon's expression flooded with astonishment. He had caught on to why Jinwoo was asking.

"Don't tell me...."

Jinwoo nodded.

"For now, keep in contact with the US branch and wait in the situation room."

"Understood!"

Once Han Yong-seon had left, Jinwoo looked over at Helby.

Helby smoothly raised herself up.

"Hmm, Earth is a noisy place too."

"That's how it goes anywhere people live."

Helby shook her head and stretched.

Her gaze settled into something cold.

"I shall lend you a hand, as a special favor."

"Sure."

Jinwoo searched for the high-end Soulmates on standby near the convention center, then brought up a connection link. Helby's eyes glittered with blue light, and she connected straight over.

Jinwoo sat in his chair as well and immediately took up residence in a high-end Soulmate.

HSSSSS!

The capsules opened, and Jinwoo and Helby rose to their feet. Jinwoo wore Leon's appearance, while Helby used magic to shape her own form more properly. Then the last remaining Soulmate rose as well.

It was Heina.

She was Arsilan's finest knight, the one who could make the fullest use of a Soulmate's capabilities.

When Jinwoo snapped his fingers, all of them were outfitted exactly as they were in Arsilan.

When Jinwoo, Helby, and Heina emerged from the storage room, the employees of the FS Games US branch caught sight of them and were thrown into a panic.

"Hunh?"

"L-Leon-nim?"

"And Lady Helby too...."

Jinwoo looked at them and dipped his head in a slight greeting, then turned his eyes toward the convention center burning in the distance.

"We're rescuing the Heroes."

Everyone nearby heard Jinwoo's words. The employees trembled, apparently covered in goosebumps, as they stared at him.

"This ought to be fun for a change."

Helby grinned and nodded.

Severely limited power, a burning stage.

It was more than enough to pique her interest.

"I shall obey your command, Your Majesty."

Heina simply followed her lord's orders faithfully, as she always did.

When Jinwoo took off running, Helby and Heina followed behind. The employees stared blankly at the backs of the three as they receded into the distance.

"Uh...."

"Th-that's insane."

There was nothing else they could have said.

*****

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