『Hidden Achievement ‘Defeat Hidden Boss (5/?)’ achieved.』
『Hidden Boss ‘Squadron Commander Verpark’ has been defeated.』
『Acquire 3,000 achievement points as a reward.』
A message announcing the death of Verpark.
Continuing.
『You have completed your Constellation’s mission.』
『The four Constellations are extremely satisfied with your performance.』
『Acquire 5,000 achievement points as a reward.』
Rewards for completing the mission and additional rewards were paid out.
“If I add these up, it’s a total of 8,000 achievement points, right? Sweet, unbelievable!”
Achievement points almost reaching ten thousand. With a satisfied smile, Shimun descended to the ground.
Flutter.
Two wings emerged near Shimun’s head and ankles. Seems like all the energy, like Laevateinn, has been consumed. Petasos and Talaria gradually turned into particles and dispersed.
At the same time.
『Time limit has expired.』
『Platinum promotion battle is ending.』
A message announcing the end of the arena, Shimun’s body also faded.
* * *
-Amazing! It was awesome!
-Why are you so good at aerial combat too?
-For real. I’ve never seen someone fly so well on their first try.
-When I first flew, I immediately got motion sickness…
Back in the waiting room, a torrent of Arenea’s chat messages poured in.
-Koreans are full of lies. To think that was their first flight, lol.
-Exactly. Their boasting is over the top, it’s ridiculous…
-Mr. Kim is good enough to be scouted by American Dream, right?
-He might be in talks with them. They’re always on the lookout for talent.
-Probably preparing a dollar bomb already? XD!
-What is the Continental even doing with such talent?
-If you trace Kim Shimun’s lineage, he’s undoubtedly from the same continent as us.
-Agreed. Feels like watching Spear King from the Huugi era.
Could it be that foreign viewers make up half of the audience?
Shimun’s chat was more overwhelming than usual with messages. Despite the 500,000 viewers, the chat maintained its orderliness.
The reason was simple.
『Manager ‘Black Goat’ has banned user dlwps.』
『Manager ‘Odin’ has banned user rnlcksgdk.』
『Manager ‘Black Goat’ has…』
Black Goat and Odin.
The top-ranked Constellations serving as managers were actively engaging in banning showdowns.
“Childish in a way but… also reassuring.”
Giggling at the managers’ actions, Shimun began to leave the broadcast.
“Thankfully, I achieved Platinum promotion. Next broadcast will likely be my Platinum debut match…”
He needed to quickly go back and confirm the rewards. Just as Shimun was about to throw a closing remark.
『American Dream Guild has sponsored 1,000,000 AP.』
=Congratulations on your Platinum promotion. I would love to meet you personally and have a chat.
A beam of support blocked Shimun’s path.
-Insane!- A million? Did you say a million?
The chat window was overtaken by astonishment in an instant. And it’s no wonder, as AP has a one-to-one ratio with the dollar exchange rate. Therefore, 1 million AP translates to 1 million dollars.
Roughly converting that to Korean won, it amounts to over 11 to 12 billion. Donating such an amount of money for just that kind of content? Moreover,
– But isn’t it the guild… Am I the only one surprised?
– I’m shocked too. American Dream, really!
– American Dream! We knew you guys would come through.
– Let’s quickly scout Mr. Kim!
The guild that sent the donation is one of the two world-renowned strongest guilds.
Isn’t it called American Dream?
『American Dream Guild has donated 10,000,000 AP.』
= If our schedules don’t align, we’ll come to meet you.
An additional zero naturally flew in with the donation.
– What? Why is there an extra zero at the end?
– T-ten million…
– Haha, damn, how much is that!
– Just by looking, it’s over 100 billion, hahaha.
The chat window once again filled with astonishment.
Considering it was a donation in the hundred billion range, ten times the initial donation, it was expected.
– Adding an extra zero to the billion range so easily…
– Is Sas the wealthy country of trillionaires…?
– If it’s just the donation, how much would the official contract be?
– Damn it! Some do everything to get into that guild! Does this Asian just get paid to get in?
– Well done! Hurry and bring him to the U. S.!
With the hefty donation, the chat got overwhelmingly excited.
‘American Dream…’
However, the main recipient, Shimun, did not seem particularly excited. Rather, one might say he was calm, like a seasoned expert. It was expected.
With just the arena disease treatment, he was already making a killing. And now, by lending guild buffs in Shimdrasil, he was also raking in a fortune. Furthermore, both of these revenue streams were continuous income coming in every month.
With the recruitment of renowned asset managers en masse, for Shimun, the hundred billion wasn’t that impressive.
‘After all, money becomes toilet paper if the world collapses like in my past life.’
So, rather than the amount,
‘But I didn’t expect American Dream to step up so soon.’
Shimun focused on American Dream, the donor of the hefty sum. Or more accurately, he was trying to figure them out.
『Masamune Guild has donated 10,000,000 AP.』
= Congratulations on the platinum promotion. We would also love to have a chat with you, Shimun-san, at your convenience.
Until another donation followed, that is.
『Continental Guild has donated 10,000,000 AP.』
= Congratulations on the platinum promotion, and we at Continental would like to have a fruitful meeting with the promising future index, too.
『Alpha Guild has…』
Japanese Masamune and Chinese Continental also sent 10 million AP donations with warm invitations.
After that, a stream of donations from giant guilds from various countries followed.
– Wow! This guy’s on a whole other level!
– Now he’s a platinum. As a top player, it’s only natural to receive such offers.
– The guy at the top is insane, right? Which platinum gets offers only from giant guilds?
– For real, haha, you make it sound easy talking about reaching Diamond. Even though it’s not easy at all, haha.
– If things continue like this, what will happen if Kim Shimun-nim goes to another country?
– True. I suppose this level of performance warrants a nationality penalty…
It was only natural that the chat window was exploding.
Just like before, Kim Shimun calmly read through the messages of support.
Especially the gaze of Kim Shimun focused on the three guilds that stood out among the sponsors.
‘Given that they must be aware of my guild membership through the match with Gang Hwawi, why are they reaching out like this?’
American Dream, Masamune, and Continental. Weren’t these guilds that observed the match with Gang Hwawi?
He must have been wondering why they were making contact like this when they were already aware he had a guild. Before long, Kim Shimun nodded.
‘Well, maybe they think I joined because of the growth buff?’
It wasn’t far-fetched. Externally, the guild master of Kim Shimun’s Shimdrasil was his younger brother Kim Shihyuk.
‘I feel a bit sorry. Even if they shower me with AP, I have no intention of joining.’
During the early stages of the game, what was the reason for rejecting the scout from Continental’s scout, Hu Yunryong?
‘If it were before Awakening, I might not know, but abandoning the country after Awakening is a crazy thing to do.’
However, Kim Shimun did not immediately express his refusal. It wasn’t to test the waters. The sponsoring guilds were all flourishing mega-guilds.
It wouldn’t be a good look to openly express refusal in front of over 500,000 multinational viewers. Not to mention it would make him look arrogant for taking their money and rejecting them.
It was a form of social interaction.
“Thank you for the good proposals. I’ll contact you separately about this.”
Kim Shimun smoothly maintained his responses while perusing the support lineup.
At that moment,
『White Tiger Guild has sponsored 1,000,000 AP.』
=Player Kim Shimun, we sincerely apologize for the regrettable incidents caused by our guild member.
Another guild quickly posted in the cooling sponsorship window. White Tiger Guild. During the start of the promotion match, it was the guild’s player guild called Changmin who incited arrows against Kim Shimun.
『White Tiger Guild has sponsored 1,000,000 AP.』
=The member in question has been immediately expelled, and we will soon issue an official apology. We sincerely apologize once again.
Another message from the White Tiger Guild followed. Kim Shimun’s eyes flickered at this.
‘It’s not easy for a guild to publicly apologize in front of so many people…’
In general, the larger the group, the more importance they place on saving face. White Tiger Guild wasn’t in the same league as Holy Trinity or Myth Guild, but it was one of the top guilds classified as a major guild.
For the White Tiger Guild to apologize immediately after the broadcast ended, and even publicly announce a separate apology message, carried significant meaning.
Knowing this well, “It’s okay. The promotion preliminaries ended well, after all.”
Kim Shimun shook the hand extended by the White Tiger Guild. And then,
『White Tiger Guild has sponsored 1,000,000 AP.』
=We sincerely appreciate it. If you have time, we would love to meet you in person and offer our apologies!
The swift response from the White Tiger Guild followed. Kim Shimun smiled inwardly.
‘They’re even trying to make contact in every way possible. A major guild indeed.’
After settling the sponsorship from the White Tiger Guild, Kim Shimun continued on.
“Alright everyone, I’ll leave it at that for now. See you in the next broadcast.”
-Shiba~.
-Shiba~ Today was eventful!
-Why on earth are people cursing Mr. Kim?
-Does Korea bid farewell with curses to posthumous indices? Our continent doesn’t treat talents like this.
-What are you saying? It’s just a joke, haha.
-Hahaha foreigners must be confused.
-It’s not a curse, it’s a shortened form of Shimun Bye!
-I was just kidding though?
『Manager ‘Black Goat’ has banned user ‘Nolinda’.』
The broadcast ended.
* * *
Pat.
With a small light, Shimun returned to the research lab.
Ggu-geuk.
The mithril golems, who were actively working, all saluted him.
“Well, you all worked hard.”
Even though it was an action he directly commanded. Shimun naturally accepted the golems’ greetings. It was a habit he developed to soothe the loneliness from working alone in his past life.
“Well, shall we check the rewards?”
With hands still full, Shimun checked the rewards without even taking a seat.
『Successfully cleared the Platinum Promotion Battle.』
『The bound trait ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ receives a certain amount of experience points.』
『Level increased by 6.』
『The Philosopher’s Stone level has increased by 4.』
“Indeed, not bad.”
Even after traveling to another dimension, the rewards were modest. Yet Shimun didn’t feel much regret. As the promotion battles didn’t offer significant rewards.
『Player Kim Shimun is designated as Platinum Rank.』
『Achievement ‘Platinum Rank Player’ achieved.』
『Acquire 3,000 achievement points as a reward.』
“This is good.”
3,000 achievement points.
For Shimun, achievement points were always urgent. So, even with the low promotion battle rewards, Shimun could smile happily. Most of all.
‘The real rewards are coming.’
Isn’t there a main DC for that?
『Successfully defeated the hidden boss ‘Squadron Commander Verpark’.』
『Acquire the ‘Queen’s Egg’ as a reward.』
“Sure enough, this is what it gives.”
Without hesitation, Shimun opened the inventory. The reason was simple.
‘The Queen’s Egg. I wondered why it didn’t disappear even after the arena ended.’
The white bead handed over by the Entz prince. Originally, if the information window didn’t pop up, he shouldn’t have been able to bring it outside the arena.
But the Queen’s Egg that was handed over still existed in Shimun’s inventory.
“Now the information window should appear.”
Taking out the Queen’s Egg from the inventory, Shimun checked the information.
『Queen’s Egg』
Grade: X
An egg containing the Queen of Insectia Dimension.
“What the… Is this it?”
Shimun let out a hollow laugh.
‘Even if it’s an X-grade, it’s just an egg meant to birth a queen, after all.’
To create an Insectia queen, the engraving process of an Insect was essential. The species of the queen was determined by the type of Insect engraving.
Thus, “Is it useless…”
Despite being X-grade, this queen egg was utterly useless.
“Ha, what a letdown. But it’s not entirely without use.”
Although it had no immediate purpose, once the official arena started and contact with other species became more frequent, it might be useful for Insectia dimension.
Snap.
Shimun flicked his fingers and conjured a round pedestal, placing the queen egg on it.
“Let’s get to work.”
Just as he turned towards his workstation, there was a knock at the door.
“Shimun-nim.”
An unfamiliar male voice accompanied the knock at the lab door.
“Come in.” Shimun permitted.
“Shimun-nim! I watched your broadcast! It was as impressive as always!”
The door opened, and a rugged-looking man entered. It was Park Jinwook, the Night Hunter.
“You reached Platinum so quickly. At this rate, Diamond rank isn’t far off!”
“You flatter me.”
“Flatter? No way. From what I’ve seen, you’re more than ready for Diamond rank right now.”
Park Jinwook congratulated him earnestly, though with a playful tone, as he laid several documents before Shimun.
“Here are the guild buff rental receipts. We’ve kept a digital record too, so you can check them later.”
“Looks like the payments have already been made.”
“With the level of buffs they’re getting, everyone’s been desperate to pay up. Hahaha!” Park Jinwook laughed heartily.
Then, “Oh, and by the way…” He scratched the back of his head.
“I’m sorry to ask this right after your promotion match, but there’s someone you need to meet.”
“Someone I need to meet?”
“Yes. Something just arrived from the black market.”
Shimun’s face brightened at those words. There were only one or two things he was expecting from the black market.
“You mean you’ve already gotten Adamantium and Orichalcum? Truly impressive.”
Adamantium and Orichalcum—the two super metals he had ordered for his golem creation had arrived. Shimun’s cheerful expression turned quizzical.
“But do I need to meet someone to receive them?”
Maybe there was some kind of confirmation needed? Shimun’s curiosity was soon answered.
“Oh my, how disappointing.”
A voice, enchanting regardless of gender, came from the open door. It was a voice that shouldn’t have been there.
“So, are you going to let me go without a greeting after I personally delivered such precious items?”
“You…”
Shimun’s face hardened immediately as he turned towards the entrance.
TL’s Corner:
Oh, the fox lady visited. That’s my guess.