Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 131: The Salvation of God (68)

Reporting in, Captain-nim. The Great Pirates of Basara...

"Ahh, I felt it, too." As I answered, I suddenly felt baffled and asked, "No, but aren't they falling for it like crazy even when there isn't any bait? Are they all lacking in intelligence?"

The Great Pirates of Basara, who had invaded South Korea, were arrested by the police who arrived late. They had been robbed by high school students who were on their way home. Yes, they were robbed by high school students. It was mind-boggling to think about it. The Basara's evil reputation was widely known in the whole Great Universe, but only infants and newborns who were just born not long ago could be kidnapped by them on Earth-34.

The Pirates were frozen as they had always been until now and they were thrown into the Unique World. I will proceed to buy the Iron Heart that we have come by.  

"Yes, yes."

It had been a year since the stage was over. The number of human beings, which was over 6 billion, had fallen to less than 500 million. It was a devastating damage that mankind had never experienced before. However, the remaining 500 people that survived shared a current average level of over Level 10. Moreover, this average level included the children and the elderly who were non-combatants, so the average level that a typical adult would have on Earth-34 was higher than that. 'This isn't a joke. This is basically a level equivalent to the standard Noblesses.'

Moreover, the actual combat capability of Earth-34 was higher than its massive average level. This was because most of the current human beings were Gigas pilots. Also, the number of Gigas on the current Earth-34, to be exact, the number of Gigas in my possession numbered in the billions even after handing them to all the pilots. 

In other words, there are more Gigas than the entire population. What kind of crazy civilization is this? 

I sighed at Ares' words. I said, "It's because I've been continuously making them while training. Besides, a lot of the Gigas owners died." As the stage progressed, the number of Gigas that were recovered after its pilot died amounted to more than 1 billion. In addition, I also kept replacing the Gigas while my quality of production increased during my peak production days.

But aren't there also a lot of retired players too?

I promised to provide pensions to those who participated in the war. As a result, most of humanity had become a beneficiary of that, and the situation in Earth-34 had turned into one where it didn't matter if its people worked or not after the stage ended. But nevertheless...the people wanted to work. They wanted to return to Earth and decorate the place they lived in, as well as lead their daily lives.

After all, the stage was a pain. Although they had to endure it to survive, not many people could casually overlook the experience of fighting gruesome monsters, waging wars, and facing transcendents who had the Spiritual Divinity to crush the soul. Numerous players were suffering from PTSD and that was a social problem that Earth-34 had to cope with for a while.

"But not all of them were like that." And of course, there were also those who perfectly adapted to the stage. Those who were cut out for it, those who were competent, and those who had lived in a world where the stage was rampant since birth and could not adapt to the peace. When the stage was over, they wanted a new battlefield. Some of them were content with being soldiers or police, but that was not enough to gratify them… 

Ultimately, do you intend to proceed?

"Yes, peace has been restored on Earth, but there are plenty of battlefields still going on in the universe. Immediately being a Warlord would be over the top...but I'd better start with forming a Mercenary Corps," I commented. And the main client of the Mercenary Corps would be the Leonhardt Empire, since their system was the most similar to Earth-34. There would also be no one who would dare to exploit the Mercenary Corps, as I, their Former Emperor, was the ruler of Earth-34. 

What should we do about the Gigas?

"We can't go out and be looked down on. Recover all the Gigas right now and exchange them for a Gigas of an equivalent rank that has an Iron Heart." Although I have obtained a Divine Spirit, it was not possible to produce Iron Hearts on my own because I was only secondary to the Machine God. Of course, I might somehow be able to reproduce it if I devoted time and effort, but there was no reason to purposely do so.

Captain-nim. We have confirmed the invasion of the Tekea Federation!

"Where?"

At the field trip site of the Platinum Middle School... Ah! It's been resolved!

"Did they get robbed by middle school students..." I muttered. That was because, even at this very moment, Iron Hearts were rolling in in bulk. 

The teacher-in-charge was a player of the guide-making group.

"Ah, as expected, they're not at the level of being robbed by middle school students, huh?"

It's just that the teacher did not intervene. 

"..." I was dumbfounded by the excessive treatment. Speaking of the Tekea Federation, they were a demi-human force who had previously kidnapped me in the past. "Well, but I don't think it's going to last long either, huh?"

That's most probably the case. The reason why the current mankind is so strong is purely because of the rewards of the stage.

The average level of humans was over Level 10. However, that did not mean that all of mankind had achieved the enlightenment of a Compléter. 'It's the power of spiritual medicines and stats.'

Even if they lacked enlightenment, had a crazy amount of Inner Qi, as well as an outrageously high amount of Stats, they would have the fighting power beyond that of a Compléter. If it's a grizzly bear with thick skin and a huge size, a boxing world champion would be like a tourist attraction to them even if they didn't know martial arts. 

Since the average capabilities and talents of Earth-34 were not that of a Compléter, the average level of Earth-34 would also be lowered significantly as the generation who had experienced the stage grew older and died. 

Though, I, who had the faith of a Game Master, would not be in a situation where I was badly weakened...

Wiiiiing! As the space above the table where I was sitting shook, a steaming hot cup of hot chocolate appeared. I asked while I grabbed the cup and drank from it, "What about Milleon and Jenica?"

They're in the midst of recovering. They say they still need to rest a few more years to heal completely. 

The injuries that the two heroes had sustained whilst fighting against Hawa and Dekarma, who was on board of Hawa, were quite serious. It couldn't be helped because they had demonstrated the fighting ability that exceeded the level they were in. As a result, I had prepared them a place to rest in the Unique World after seeing their sacrifices. Originally, they rested and recovered from their injuries in one building at close proximity.

"How's Dad and Mom?"

Ah! They're currently traveling around the world on an airship. It's just that.

"It's just that?"

They'd like you to visit them more often...

My father had resurrected my mother with the power of the Project End. It was possible because father was involved in Project End as developer of the concept of the stage.  

"Uhmmm," I groaned as it was beyond understanding. Of course, it was not that I had never visited them. I had already visited them four times, but it seemed like they wanted me to go find them more often than that. 

'But the biological mother of a high school student, huh...' I felt like dying of awkwardness every time I saw them. It was fortunate that I had prevented father's suicide, who maintained his identity as Kwan Il-han after reviving my mother. However, it would have been difficult for me to deal with mother if father had died and mother had been resurrected alone. 

"Oh well. Alright. Tell them I will go see them sometime soon. It's going to be Dad's birthday too." 

Understood. 

After saying so, I became curious about the news of my other acquaintances. "What is Jae-seok doing?"

Jae-seok and Kyung-eun are retired and working hard to raise children. However, Jae-seok accepted some of them as his disciples and passed on the knowledge of Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights.

"Is Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights going to be passed down here? Then again, even if they can't reach the realm of transcendence, he can be considered as a master of Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights... What about Seon-ae?" I said the name of my partner whom I had forgotten for quite some time. A girl who was born with amazing aptitude and talent and met the irony of fate that was most befitting of it. 

She is currently running an orphanage. But the unusual thing is...

"Unusual?"

Yes, she has become young again. It seems to be a little different from Youth Rejuvenation.

Seon-ae was born with a peculiar talent of being a Universal Spiritualist and was tested on all kinds of biological experiments by black wizards. Her ability was one that 'absorbed spiritual pills indefinitely'. In fact, it was a difficult ability to utilize. Wasn't it the reality that even those with great power would never be able to see a spiritual pill in their whole life? However...as she met the gacha machine that could buy spiritual pills as long as she had points, she had gained enough strength to face the Giant of Doomsday. 

'If she had a strong fighting spirit or aspiration, she might have caused a mess in the stage.' But that was a life she didn't want. I let her go because I understood her intentions more than anyone else. She would be able to do her job properly just by participating in the last battle.

Beep-! Then, suddenly there was a sharp tone. 

"What's this?"

This is an external communication through the hotline.

"Ahh, the hotline." I knew there was a hotline, but it was the first time it was working. "Well, put me through."

- Ah! I can hear you!

Upon accepting the call, the hologram was activated and a beautiful woman with blue hair appeared. Celestia looked much more mature than the last time I saw her.

- Hey! Ex-husband!

"Ahh, Celestia. Long time no see."

- Long time no see! No, that's not it. What the hell are you doing? There's a report that Earth-34 has reached the Stage III Civilization! It's something that should still be a hundred years away! Did you perhaps invite scientists to hand down their technologies? It's dangerous to climb to the Stage III Civilization recklessly! 

Her words indicated that the Leonhardt Empire knew little of the situation on Earth-34. 

As soon as Project End began, information about the relevant civilization was covered up. This was done to prevent external assistance. Moreover, even if one were to use indirect information acquisition abilities such as Foresight, they would perceive that there was no problem with the relevant civilization. 

"Ahh, really?" I didn't even think about external assistance until now, so I didn't know. 'Come to think of it, Bo-ram and Dong-min, who were in Dragonian, came back to Earth with no idea about Earth's situation. If the Noblesse couldn't recognize it, it goes without saying the other forces couldn't either.'

I said to Cel while thinking so, "Something called Project End had been progressing. I made some weapons and distributed them, and my level also went up."

- You're saying the civilization level was raised just by distributing weapons, and not technology transfer? No... No, more than that, did you say Project End?! Wasn't that an Untouchable that destroyed civilizations during the Great War? 

"You really don't know a single thing huh…" 

"Dae-ha!!!"

Then the door opened and Yeong-min-hyung came running in. After that, Min-kyung, who turned pale, followed and came in. "Hey, Yeong-min! Y-You can't just walk in here like this!"

After Hyung died, I treated him with a straight face. As I became the object of faith, Min-kyung still had a hard time with me. Of course, Hyung did not care. He entered the Captain's Office, opened his eyes wide when he saw the hologram of Celestia, and asked, "Oh? There's a pretty girl? Is that perhaps your girlfriend?"

- Dae-ha?

"Ahh, I told you, didn't I? This is my brother."

Celestia straightened up in surprise at my words.

- Ah!!! Hello! I-, I am Celestia of the Leonhardt Empire. I couldn't sing at the wedding, so I'm really...

Feeling freaked out, my brother exclaimed, "Dae-ha, you are married?!"

Celestia freaked out, too.

- Dae-ha, didn't you tell him?

"Oh, we're already divorced anyway." I said it like it wasn't a big deal.

However, my brother was even more baffled. "Divorced?!"

Celestia's eyes were spinning at the sight of my brother who couldn't get his act together.

- Ah! Um!! Even so, it's not a bad divorce! E-Erm. I don't know how much you know about it, but I'm the current Empress of the Leonhardt Empire. The Leonhardt Empire is a force made of dozens of planets coming together, and it is quite far away from Earth-34...

"A far away planet? No, what's going on? Then, right now, are you making contact because he’s become an Untouchable?"

- Who did you say became an Untouchable?

Celestia, who tried to somehow explain the situation calmly, could be seen gaping wide. 

While the Captain's Office was in a state of panic, I slurped the cup of hot chocolate I was holding and murmured, "What a chaotic situation, so chaotic."