wavenovel Chapter 237: Prelude to the Dimensional War (1)
Chapter 237: Prelude to the Dimensional War (1)
Translator: Dreamscribe
Jinwoo installed a Soul Gate in the Luzen dimension.
He dismantled the Dimensional Excavator and the equipment left behind by the Kalsus Dimensional Empire's forces, using them as materials. Thanks to that, the Soul Gate installed in Luzen had a distinctly mechanical feel to it.
'Not bad.'
Jinwoo nodded as he gazed at the Soul Gate. This kind of theme wasn't bad at all.
RRRUMBLE!
It settled perfectly into the sky above Luzen, and a space capable of housing the Dimensional Transit Ship had formed.
The Intermediate Dimension inside the Wall of the Abyss was already connected to Arsilan, and after waiting a few days, it was perfectly connected to Luzen as well. Now Luzen, too, could receive the divine power and blessings radiating from the Soul Moon.
"It's finally open."
The Soul Gate stationed in Luzen swung wide open. Light that had flowed from Arsilan poured through the Soul Gate and began to slowly spread across Luzen.
He had expected something beautiful to happen, just as it had in Arsilan, but when the light touched the suspicious energy that the Luzenians were spreading through prayer, it began to distort in a strange way.
It didn't seem like a major problem.
Not yet, at least.
"Well then, I'll be heading back."
"Yes, we'll keep a close watch on things here."
The 3rd Division stationed in Luzen had been making suspicious movements, but they couldn't breach the barrier erected around the city. Now that the connection to Arsilan was established, they could also access Arsilan Worlds and the community app.
Title: This is insane.
Seriously insane.
You guys can't even imagine.
God, it's no joke.
I really wanna show you but man, it's just....
Wow, seriously...
FlameMan: ???
Leviathan: What is it?
SeaBeast: What? Tell us.
└Ignis: Sorry, spoilers.
└SeaBeast: You crazy bastard! Then don't bring it up!
└Ignis: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The crew members posted bragging threads on the Reincarnated Hero Community. They were finally free to brag to their hearts' content. Just being able to use the Soul Link app and Arsilan Worlds was enough to make their lives significantly more comfortable.
Jinwoo returned to Arsilan through the Soul Gate. When he moved to the Magic Tower, Tiris was waiting for him.
"Welcome back."
"Mm...."
"I've reviewed the information. The Dimensional Realm is far more vast than I had anticipated."
Tiris appeared to be quite astonished. It was rare enough to actually show on her face.
Jinwoo shrugged.
It was vast, sure, but not enough to be shocking. He had only let out a small murmur of admiration. And for good reason, since compared to Earth's universe, it was infinitely small.
'Earth's side is an absurd waste of space.'
The universe where Earth resided was so vast that even numbers in the trillions felt infinitely small.
However, all those thoughts about the mysteries of the universe and whatnot had vanished after this trip. Everything that existed had a reason behind it, and what people saw was merely the result.
"Master?"
"Ah, right! I brought you a gift."
Jinwoo snapped his fingers, and the commander and soldiers of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire's forces were summoned. Tiris examined them.
"Fascinating. As the intelligence suggested, they appear to be Living Armors. Materialized souls fused with armor. Thanks to the armor, they seem to have a degree of resistance to the energy of Erosion."
"That's what it looked like."
Thanks to the armor crafted from a special material, they could withstand the energy of Erosion to some extent. If it were the energy emitted by a Lesser Entity, they could likely endure it for about a day.
"Magic below D-rank doesn't work on them either. Since they only need their armor maintained, they shouldn't tire out."
Tiris sank into thought for a moment before raising her staff. Magic circles were inscribed on the inside of the armor, linking them to the Magic Tower. They began moving according to Tiris's gestures.
Tiris nodded, then pulled up an information window and connected it to a soldier.
"My love for you is a rosy pink~! Heart~!"
The soldier began singing and performing a cute little dance.
"Oh?"
"They're easy to control."
The other soldiers joined in, performing a perfectly synchronized dance. It seemed they could be controlled completely.
The soldier screamed as his body moved on its own, but no voice came out. The sounds they produced were dependent on a device built into their helmets.
"The materialized souls seem to carry a significant amount of experience points."
"Simply copying them would lower the experience points."
"Yes. It would take quite a lot of resources to match the same level."
The soldiers themselves could be replicated at the Soul Moon, but a simple copy was expected to result in a severe degradation of their experience point levels.
Tia approached with a bright smile, then tilted her head when she noticed the soldiers.
"A new idol group? The armor is an interesting touch."
When the soldiers finished their dance and struck an ending pose, Tia clapped.
"Cool. I doubt they'd be popular, though."
Jinwoo got down to serious work preparing the prologue for Episode 6.
With Tia's help, the content of the prologue was decided.
First, the initial phase would begin with opening Arsilan's borders. Beyond the borders were a Higher Entity of Erosion and the Lesser Entities that followed it, and a fairly large battle would ensue.
"That's where the Higher Entity gets defeated and flees."
Tia nodded as she spoke.
The Higher Entity would pry open a Dimensional Rift and escape, and the Heroes who found clues through quests would be able to enter the Dimensional Realm. In the Intermediate Dimension where the Heroes arrived, they would encounter the Kalsus Dimensional Empire for the first time.
"I think it'd be good to show the Kalsus Dimensional Empire abusing the inhabitants of other dimensions. Mining resources in quarries, or making them fight to the death for entertainment, that kind of villainous imagery would work well, don't you think?"
"Hmm, that's good."
Jinwoo created Bio-Golems modeled exactly after the Luzenians' appearance.
By generating terrain in the Intermediate Dimension and placing the Kalsus Dimensional Empire's soldiers alongside the Luzenian Bio-Golems, he could create a convincingly staged setting. The prologue for entering Episode 6 would conclude with arrival at Luzen.
Half of Luzen was tainted by Erosion.
That area would be repurposed as the first stage of Episode 6.
"If we mobilize the development team at FS Games, we can build it even faster."
Alright! Let's get to work!
It was time for the Lord God Engine to show its power!
"What's the title of Episode 6?"
At Tia's question, Jinwoo paused in thought for a moment before speaking. A fitting title had just come to mind.
A war waged between Arsilan, Erosion, and the Kalsus Dimensional Empire.
"Dimensional War."
A war with the fate of the Dimensional Realm at stake.
It was none other than Arsilan Saga Episode 6: Dimensional War.
* * *
Back at FS Games, Jinwoo immediately distributed the development materials and dove into production.
He created a convincing higher being of Erosion and placed it outside Arsilan's borders, and also hid information about the Kalsus Dimensional Empire in various places. Rather than a sudden encounter, it was better to plant breadcrumbs in advance for a natural lead-in.
Since the Intermediate Dimension had become entirely part of Arsilan's domain, he could freely set up vast landmasses and various structures.
Luzen, on the other hand, was not yet fully within Arsilan's domain, so placement had to be done via drones. It consumed a lot of resources and was somewhat tedious, but still manageable.
The development period wasn't long.
They reached the polishing stage in no time. Even without the excuse of it having been developed at Erosion headquarters, everyone had seen enough by now to just accept it.
Rather than revealing the content through a showcase, he wanted to give players the joy of exploring an unknown dimension. He planned to announce Episode 6's prologue with a simple teaser trailer.
"The world has gotten seriously massive. How are we supposed to fill all of that?"
Han Yong-seon stuck his tongue out in disbelief as he stared at the Dimensional Realm map displayed on the information window. Filling that enormous space was a game developer's job, but there was no need to bother. It was already filled with things even Jinwoo himself couldn't fully grasp.
"Teaser trailer production complete."
"As for the release timing...."
Everyone worked busily, pouring themselves into development, and the release date for Episode 6 was set.
Time passed once again.
Jinwoo had been quite busy himself.
This was the first time he had taken a long vacation, so a mountain of work had piled up. The projects he was running with the government, and the ones he was independently carrying out for Earth's benefit, were all proceeding smoothly.
'It wasn't exactly a vacation, though....'
The sight of his overflowing inbox, texts, and messages made him sigh.
Jinwoo's vacation had drawn attention both domestically and internationally. He was the world's richest person, and the gap between him and second place kept widening over time. The saying, "Lee Jinwoo advances the world by a hundred years," was no longer an exaggeration but an approaching truth. For someone like him to take an extended vacation of over a week for the first time, it was only natural that people were curious.
At present, Jinwoo's public image was exceptionally good. Heartwarming stories about him circulated even when he did nothing. But, as always, there were those who would stop at nothing to serve their own agendas.
He had consistently maintained a policy of no response, but recently the attacks had intensified. To put various circulating suspicions to rest, Jinwoo decided to hold a brief press conference.
He checked the news articles on the way to the venue.
'Lee Jinwoo, Partying on a Super Luxury Yacht?'
'Lee Jinwoo Buys Hotel Just for a One-Night Stay.'
'Electricity Price Crisis Sweeps Korea! FS Games Receives Special Treatment. Investigation Needed.'
'FS Games Data Center Expansion Achieves World's Highest Power Consumption. Is This Acceptable?'
'FS Games Identified as Primary Contributor to Global Warming....'
'Environmental Group Issues Statement: The Earth Doesn't Belong to Lee Jinwoo Alone!'
They were baseless rumors, but once reported overseas and embellished, they transformed into accepted truths. Cleverly manipulative posts were being uploaded to social media and spreading rapidly.
Even if corrections were issued, a damaged reputation couldn't be restored.
"Hmm...."
Companies from several countries where Arsilan Saga wasn't available had also applied for Second Party status. Naturally, there was no chance they'd be selected. Having failed to receive invitations to the Side Stories, they seemed to be lashing out even harder.
"It seems they received money from regions where Arsilan Saga isn't available. Media outlets from those areas were the first to publish. Osung Group says they're handling the response."
Kim Hansu gave a brief report.
Jinwoo wasn't particularly concerned about his image. However, if it started interfering with his future plans, he intended to stamp it out thoroughly.
'The environmental and electricity concerns are legitimate criticisms, though.'
Everything about the research lab was fabricated, but the criticisms were understandable.
Maintaining Arsilan Saga clearly looked like it required an enormous amount of energy. International oil and LNG prices had been skyrocketing, making it quite the hot topic lately.
Rumors were spreading about how ordinary people couldn't even keep their air conditioning on for long due to electricity bills, while FS Games' research lab was running its cooling systems at full blast, or how their data center was a power-guzzling monster consuming enough electricity for an entire city.
"Quite a few of those journalists are expected to attend the press conference. Should we cancel?"
Kim Hansu's face was full of concern.
Since the press conference was also being broadcast live, an uncontrollable incident could occur. Suspicions could be thrown around recklessly, but refuting them took all day.
"Let's just go ahead with it. I have a plan."
"Understood."
Jinwoo smirked.
"Are you enjoying the Side Stories?"
"Oh, yes! I enjoyed the romantic storylines, and lately I've been into the relaxing slice-of-life content."
Kim Hansu grinned as he looked at Jinwoo.
"But it's still not quite the same as the main Episodes. That excitement, that dopamine, the emotion! It feels qualitatively different."
"I see."
Quite some time had passed since Episode 5 had reached its ending. Many people were waiting for the next Episode. Given that Side Stories had been released, most predicted it would take a long while. Heroes were filling the gap with Side Stories, and the sales figures were actually massive.
But they still couldn't match the main Episodes.
The synergy of real situations combined with carefully crafted production was impossible to imitate. On top of that, the sheer scale of hundreds of millions of Heroes playing together was something only the main Episodes could offer.
They arrived at the venue for the press conference.
The journalists had already arrived and were waiting for Jinwoo. Holographic displays had become as common as TVs by now, and they were set up in the conference hall as well.
When Jinwoo appeared, every journalist's eyes locked onto him.
There was no moderator, just Jinwoo standing alone. Viewership for the live broadcast was enormous. Countless Heroes were watching from within Arsilan, holding back their anger.
-Seriously, why do they keep pestering someone who's obviously busy?
-Imagine making someone explain baseless rumors, this is a joke ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Creator God could cuss them all out and still be innocent.
-I'm gonna die of secondhand stress here.
-They're just mad they can't play Arsilan Saga.
The chat was flooded with messages supporting Jinwoo.
Jinwoo casually picked up the microphone.
"I'm Lee Jinwoo. I'm short on time, so let's take questions quickly."
Many journalists raised their hands.
Jinwoo pointed to the journalist at the very front, who immediately grabbed the microphone.
"I'm Seo Jeon-won from the Geumhwa Ilbo. There have been criticisms that President Lee Jinwoo gives back relatively little to society. Given that FS Games has received substantial support from Korea, the current public opinion is that you should take responsibility for that. What are your thoughts?"
-Is this guy insane? Does he have any idea how much FS Games donates?
-Does he not know about the medical support programs? Idiot.
-"Public opinion" my ass ㅋㅋ.
Jinwoo nodded.
"Then I'll stop giving back to society and spend it well on myself."
"Excuse me?"
"If I'm going to be criticized for giving too little, wouldn't it make more sense to just not give at all?"
Jinwoo was no saint.
All of his social contributions were solely for the sake of future Heroes.
"I'm curious. How much does the Geumhwa Ilbo cost?"
"Wh-what do you...."
"I'll buy the Geumhwa Ilbo with the money meant for social contributions. Get in touch. I'll offer ten times your current value. I'd still have plenty left over."
-He seems pretty pissed.
-Whoa....
-Now that's the power of money!
Seo Jeon-won couldn't properly meet Jinwoo's gaze. While some low-grade journalists beat people with words, Jinwoo could beat them with money.
As Jinwoo's gaze turned ice-cold, the atmosphere froze over.
"I'm joking."
Jinwoo smiled gently.
That smile alone was enough to instantly ease the tension.
"As a matter of fact, I've been thinking about what I can do for the world. Not just donations, but plans that would provide real, practical help. I'm working on several ideas along those lines. Does that answer your question?"
"Wha? Y-yes, th-thank you."
"Then I'll take the next question."
Silence settled over the room.
Everyone exchanged nervous glances and flinched.
-ㅋㅋ they're all scared now.
-Wow....
-Just threaten to buy them out if they get mouthy.
Jinwoo lightened the mood with a brief story about his vacation.
"During my time off, I was at my lab doing personal research. I did want to ride a super luxury yacht, but I had no one to go with."
Once the atmosphere relaxed, one journalist boldly raised a hand.
"There have been reports that your power consumption surged dramatically with the recent data center expansion. Carbon emissions are becoming a very serious issue, and ordinary citizens are losing sleep over their electricity bills. Don't you feel any guilt?"
It was a low-quality question.
Clearly grasping at straws to find something to pin on him.
"Which outlet are you from?"
"I'm Kim Young-seon from Ilhwan Daily. Ilhwan Daily isn't something you'll be able to buy so easily."
It was a media outlet owned by a fairly major conglomerate.
Jinwoo used the holographic display to transparently reveal the actual power consumption of FS Games and its research facilities. The figures were significantly lower than what had been reported. The journalist, apparently displeased, grabbed the microphone again immediately.
"But there's no guarantee it won't increase going forward, is there? If the number of users goes up, you'll need to expand facilities by several times over. That's just a fact."
"That's true. But wouldn't it be possible that better technology could emerge in the near future to solve that?"
"That's ridicu..., ha! Come on!"
The journalist responded irritably, apparently feeling that Jinwoo's answer was just wordplay.
Jinwoo glanced at his watch.
"It's time. I'd like everyone to check their smartphones."
The journalists checked their smartphones with confused expressions. Hundreds of messages and texts had piled up. The moment they read the contents, they shot to their feet in shock.
-Huh?
-What?
-No way! The government just announced that Creator God's lab achieved a breakthrough in nuclear fusion tech!
-They said verification is already done!
-Whoa....
It was the exact moment the embargo was lifted.
As related articles went up as breaking news, the chat naturally erupted.
-Wait, he invented nuclear fusion to save on electricity bills?
-Honestly hard to believe, but since it's Creator God, it's probably real.
-So does that mean free electricity for us too?
-What is even happening right now?
-All hail Creator God anyway!
"No more worries about electricity bills now, right?"
When Jinwoo said it lightly, as if it were nothing at all, silence fell once more.
This silence lasted exceptionally long.