Chapter 316: Now This Is Arsilan Saga! (4)

Translator: Dreamscribe

It was time to select the country where Episode 7 would be unveiled!

People from all the countries selected as candidates had gathered here, at the Grand Temple of the Sun, and the Heroes and Arsilanians had arrived as well.

‘There are a lot of them. Nice.’

Standing on the stage, Jinwoo spent a moment looking over the brilliant beings of Arsilan gathered inside the Grand Temple of the Sun. Seeing so many brightly shining souls naturally brought a smile to his face.

Part of him wondered whether something like this really warranted going so far, but it was fun, so there was no point worrying about that.

Making a huge spectacle even out of something unnecessary.

Wasn't that what romance was all about?

“This is truly a meaningful occasion.”

The cheering gradually died down as everyone focused on Jinwoo's words.

“This is the first event where everyone in Arsilan has gathered together like this. I hope we will have many more occasions like this in the future. A great battle lies ahead of us, but as always, I believe we will overcome it. If we stand together, I believe even painful and difficult things can be turned into something enjoyable.”

He would tell everyone the direction Arsilan would take from now on. It bore the name Episode 7, but for the Arsilanians, it would be their debut on the dimensional stage and a source of pride.

“Then, you've waited long enough. We will now select the country where we will explain and announce the direction Arsilan will be taking.”

The flags of the candidate countries and views of their major cities appeared on the Information Window. Before long, he would also make it possible for Arsilanians from the New World to visit through Dimension Gates.

The expressions of the people from the candidate countries grew tense. Some could be seen clasping their hands tightly together and praying desperately.

‘Please, please, please….’

‘Please, just this once, let us be chosen!’

‘I promise I'll live a good life from now on. So please….’

Every one of those desperate prayers reached Jinwoo directly. Unfortunately, he could not grant everyone's wishes. Jinwoo first revealed the photos and videos from his visits to each country.

“Huh?”

“Leon-nim came here too?”

“Oh….”

Wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a mask, Leon had visited and explored the major cities of the candidate countries. He had spent time touring famous attractions and sampling their signature foods.

It had been possible because every candidate country had approved the introduction of Soulmates.

-I'm in Paris right now. I heard the bread here is supposed to be delicious. Is that really true?

Leon had personally filmed the travel video.

It should have been an incredibly strange sight, yet all the Heroes accepted it as though it were perfectly natural.

Perhaps the Heroes approaching level 300 had already begun to vaguely sense it. That Arsilan Saga was something that transcended a mere game.

“They were all beautiful cities, full of life.”

The photo of Leon standing stiffly upright with his thumb raised looked a little old-fashioned. The hiking-club vibe of his outfit only made it look even more so.

The Heroes could understand the reason.

Only an outfit coordinated to that extent could suppress Leon's aura even a little.

“Then, let us watch together and see which country has been selected.”

Swoosh!

The flags displayed on the Information Window began disappearing one by one. It meant elimination. Every time a country was eliminated, disappointed sighs rose from the audience.

The Heroes' votes had been taken into consideration, but FS Games had taken the lead in making the final decision. They had considered which countries had the most Soul Gates installed. As a result, the countries included in the initial launch received higher scores.

Japan was eliminated, leaving the United Kingdom and the United States as the final candidates.

The Information Window transformed into light, and the flag of the selected country brightly illuminated the Grand Temple of the Sun.

“Ooh!”

“We did it!”

“Damn, that's a shame.”

The selected country was the United Kingdom.

It had been one of the initial launch countries, and Soul Gates had been installed in every stadium the United Kingdom took pride in, allowing them to accommodate enormous numbers of people. By making use of the existing infrastructure, they would be able to hold a successful presentation without extensive additional preparations.

The British representatives sprang to their feet and happily embraced one another.

The British side immediately began moving busily.

The moment the country was selected, FS Games received a call, and the high-ranking officials who were still in Korea immediately began arranging a visit.

“Is it over now?”

“They picked the country, so isn't that it?”

“It'd be a shame to just go back like this….”

Ending things here somehow felt disappointing.

The announcement of the selected country had not lasted very long. Considering how grandly everyone had gathered at the Grand Temple of the Sun, the actual event had been brief. Naturally, disappointed voices began rising among the Heroes.

Jinwoo smiled when he saw them. Of course he wasn't going to simply send them away. He had prepared something else.

“I have some news to share. Thanks to Ella-nim's consideration, the Celestial Realm will be opened to the public for a while.”

The Celestial Realm!

The Heroes' eyes widened.

Since no events had been held in the Celestial Realm lately, clouds from the Celestial Realm had become rare items. Beds and sofas filled with those clouds were in such short supply that they were nearly impossible to buy even with money. On top of that, using them as materials for ships made the hulls lighter, so everyone had been searching for them with fire in their eyes.

“O-Oooooh!”

“The Celestial Realm!”

“Hell yeah! Thank you!”

The Celestial Realm had become much larger than the Sillion Empire, and Jinwoo had designed it using treasures he had brought back from the Kalsus Dimensional Empire, along with Authority Stones he had been extracting from Erosion entities.

He had also created ‘Celestial Beasts’ to serve as monsters, so it would not be a bad place to gain experience either. More importantly, it was overflowing with rare materials that could not be obtained anywhere else.

‘Of course….’

Opening the Celestial Realm was partly intended to make the Heroes happy, but the main reason was Astel and the Celestials. Lately, they had become depressed because they had nothing to do.

Astel had become so depressed that the feathers on her wings had started falling out as though she were suffering from hair loss.

Jinwoo recalled his conversation with Tiris.

‘I need to deal with this quickly.’

‘Master, can't we just leave her like this?’

‘Why?’

‘Archangel feathers are quite useful.’

‘…Are you a demon?’

The enormous sack behind Tiris was stuffed full of feathers.

Anyway, by the time Episode 6 arrived, the Celestials had become incredibly idle because there was nothing left for them to build. Jinwoo had been letting them satisfy that urge by creating content for newbies, but it was nowhere near enough.

When not only Astel but the Celestials as a whole began suffering from hair loss…, no, feather loss, Jinwoo quickly came up with a solution.

And that was the Celestial Realm Renewal!

‘Praise the Creator God!’

‘We love you!’

‘Sob! Work! We finally have work!’

He had originally designed it as a small project, but the Celestials had been so delighted that he ended up adding one thing after another. As a result, the Celestial Realm had grown far larger than the Sillion Empire.

Swoosh!

Space opened, and Astel appeared.

Appearing in her true form, Astel radiated elegance and majesty. She spread her wings wide, proudly displaying her thick, abundant feathers.

When Astel extended her hand, light flowed into everyone's chests, granting them entry permits.

[S]Celestial Realm Entry Permit

‘Please present your entry permit!’

A permit containing authorization to enter the Celestial Realm.

While holding the entry permit, strike the Praise the Creator God pose to travel to the Celestial Realm. In addition, registering it with a Dimension Gate allows vehicles to enter as well. Please note that the permit has a limited period of validity.

The Celestial Realm was scheduled to remain open until Episode 7 began.

Leaving it open permanently would take away much of its mystique. Besides, there was a unique thrill that came from having only a limited amount of time.

“Thank you.”

When Jinwoo bowed in greeting, everyone turned into light and returned to their original locations. Jinwoo let out a long breath and was about to look toward Ella when he noticed something.

‘Hm?’

Several Heroes had not returned yet.

They were Heroes steadily advancing toward level 300. Jinwoo had cast the grand spell without expecting anyone to resist, yet those Heroes had fought against it with all their strength and forcibly managed to remain behind.

“Huh? It worked!”

“This has gotta be a bug, right?”

“Ooh! Yeah, it's definitely a bug! Run before we get caught!”

“Hehehe!”

Before Jinwoo could even say anything, they dashed out of the Grand Temple of the Sun. Since the spatial restrictions had been lifted after the large-scale return magic ended, they were able to get outside.

Ella tilted her head as she watched the Heroes run away.

“Is that okay?”

“It doesn't matter. If anything, they're going to have a rough time. I'll let them wander around for a while, then give them a little taste of hell. I guess this counts as content too.”

Jinwoo chuckled and nodded.

The Grand Temple of the Sun connected one space to another, forming a maze-like structure.

Helby shook her head in disbelief.

“They've reached that level in less than five years?”

Just as Helby said, their rate of growth defied common sense.

Several Named Heroes were already close to obtaining the qualifications necessary to become Transcendent Beings.

Of course, obtaining the qualifications and actually becoming a Transcendent Being were two entirely different matters. Depending on each individual's enlightenment, they might still fail to become one even after a hundred years, a thousand years, or ten thousand years.

Jinwoo nodded and opened an Information Window to watch the Heroes who had escaped the Grand Temple of the Sun. The Heroes were laughing like lunatics as they sprinted around wildly.

“I'm looking forward to the future.”

He wondered what kind of sights they would show him from now on.

***

The release date for Episode 7 was drawing near.

Preparations had been completed quickly with the cooperation of the British government, and many people had already visited the United Kingdom through Soul Gates. Although football had lost some of its popularity after the release of Arsilan Saga, it was apparently regaining its former glory thanks to Soul Gates.

If there was a match someone wanted to watch, they could pay with Arsilan Gold, travel to the stadium where a Soul Gate had been installed, and watch it there. If there were too many spectators, additional space formed automatically, so matches never sold out, and ticket scalping did not exist either.

As revenues increased, Soul Gates had recently begun being installed in stadiums for every kind of sport.

For the first time in a while, Jinwoo left Earth and traveled to the moon. He had constructed a Magic Tower and a detector on the far side of the moon. Their purpose was to research the higher dimension.

After completing her analysis, Tiris reported the results.

[Dimensional energy has been detected. It is distributed extremely evenly.]

The total amount of dimensional energy itself seemed comparable to that of the dimensional realm.

However, it was spread so evenly throughout the vast universe that it could barely be felt.

[No souls have been detected.]

Jinwoo nodded.

If beings with souls existed somewhere, he could detect them through the Soul Sun, transcending space and time. However, he could not detect any at all.

Earth was the only place where souls could be detected.

[Master. Infinite resources, and nearly infinite time and space. I believe that is what the higher dimension is.]

Jinwoo nodded.

A closed world would ultimately perish. It might take an incredibly long time, but eventually all its resources would run dry, and it would slowly but surely head toward destruction.

‘Perhaps humanity….’

Unlike the souls of Arsilanians, Jinwoo's soul was complete, so complete that even Erosion could not digest it. The souls of the Heroes possessed infinite potential, allowing them to become anything.

Jinwoo could guess what that implied, but he shook his head and cast the thought aside.

[I will continue my research. While we're at it, how about establishing exploration bases on various planets? I think the Celestials would enjoy that.]

Jinwoo checked on the Celestials through an Information Window.

Apparently having learned from the Heroes, the Celestials had hung banners and were waving flags as they protested against Ella. They had run out of work after completing the Celestial Realm Renewal.

[Give us work!]

[Goddess Ella must guarantee work for the Celestials!]

[Guarantee it! Guarantee it!]

[Lazy Goddess, wake up!]

[The lazy Goddess who does nothing but eat must repent!]

[Repent! Repent!]

They could not bring themselves to complain to Jinwoo, the Creator God, so they protested against Ella instead.

[You've all got a death wish, don't you?]

Ella raised her fist.

[Eek!]

[She's the Goddess of Violence!]

[Spare us!]

[O Creator God! Save us!]

The protest was quickly suppressed.

A large bump appeared on the head of Astel, who had led the demonstration.

‘Hmm….’

If he gave them work on Earth, it would be even more difficult because of the restrictions imposed by Soulmates.

For the Celestials, that would probably be bliss.

Jinwoo seriously considered it as he returned to FS Games.

***

At last, the day of Episode 7's unveiling arrived!

Jinwoo finished preparing and headed for the United Kingdom. The Episode 7 reveal event was scheduled to take place at Wembley Stadium in London.

London had already been dyed in the colors of Arsilan. Countless shops had hung up emblems of the Sillion Empire and were selling food that looked like something one might find in Arsilan. The response was fairly positive.

With not only countless Heroes but also Arsilanians from the New World visiting the United Kingdom, fantasy-like scenes unfolded no matter where one looked in London.

As soon as Jinwoo arrived in the United Kingdom, he visited the British royal family. The royal household had even prepared a separate welcoming ceremony and received him with great fanfare. Jinwoo participated in several events, and some of them were broadcast live.

‘I'm busy.’

After getting through a nonstop schedule without a moment to rest, Jinwoo immediately headed to Wembley Stadium.

From the moment Jinwoo first set foot in the United Kingdom until now, countless agents dressed in black suits had escorted him.

More than fifty agents maintained an impenetrable human wall around him while providing intimidatingly tight security, and every facility along his route had been placed under strict control. They probably would not have gone this far even if a president were visiting.

“Um, you really don't have to go this far….”

“A-Are you uncomfortable? We'll correct it immediately!”

They reacted so excessively whenever he said anything that he could hardly say a word. In any case, he safely reached the waiting room. Agents stood ramrod straight in front of the waiting-room door. Everyone passing through the area was subjected to a body search.

It was understandable. People were even saying that if anything happened to Jinwoo, the world economy would collapse.

Jinwoo had become the most famous and important person on Earth!

Aside from the main stage where Episode 7 would be presented, the British side handled everything. A holographic system had also been installed in the waiting room, allowing Jinwoo to watch the stage.

‘A lot of people came.’

A huge audience had come in person, and countless Heroes had poured in through Soul Gates.

A spectacular production began, almost like the opening ceremony of the Olympics!

Fireworks decorated the sky, and a legendary British band delivered an energetic performance amid dazzling holograms. Every song they performed was currently popular in Arsilan. One elaborate production after another followed, each one clearly showing how much effort had gone into it.

The Heroes, accustomed to Jinwoo's productions, looked thoroughly bored.

“It's time for you to go onstage.”

An agent approached and spoke politely.

Jinwoo followed the agent backstage. The rather lengthy opening finally ended, and at last it was time for Jinwoo to appear.

Jinwoo took one long breath, then stepped onto the stage.

“Hello. I'm Lee Jinwoo.”

It did not take much effort to make the Heroes excited and set their hearts racing.

Those few words were enough.

A roar of cheers erupted from Wembley Stadium, loud enough to bring down the sky.

*****

For more chapters, join my Patreon: https://patreon.com/dreamscribe

If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊

To receive the latest update notifications or report mistakes, join our Discord server linked below.