Chapter 1125

Tae-Sung was not entirely convinced about the novelist's prowess.

However, upon hearing that the man’s work ethic was well recognized in the industry, Tae-Sung decided to give him a shot and entrust him with writing the novel based on his life.

‘

Well, it’s not like I’m the one writing it. I can just let him handle it.’

With that thought in mind, Tae-Sung handed over the reins of his life’s story to the novelist.

“I’ll be counting on you, Author-nim,” Tae-Sung said with a slight bow.

“I will give it my best,” Damhwagong replied, bowing politely.

Just then, Tae-Sung caught a glimpse of the man flashing a faint grin as he bowed.

‘

Huh? What the hell was that all about? Why does that seem... off?’

Tae-Sung thought, feeling uneasy.

There was something about the novelist that made him feel uneasy. That look in his eyes and that weird grin emanating a strange s, ug and mischievous vibe. It felt like the guy was hiding something.

It was like he knew more than he was letting on for some reason.

‘

Nah, I’m probably just being too sensitive,’

Tae-Sung thought, shaking off the strange feeling and getting up from his seat.

“Well, I will leave the novel adaptation completely in your hands. Just do as you see fit, Author-nim,” Tae-Sung said. Then, he turned to Cha Hye-Mi and said, “I’ve got some work to do, so I’ll be heading off now.”

“

Ah,

thank you for your time,” Cha Hye-Mi said, standing up to see him out.

‘

Heh.’

Damhwagong’s lips curled up, flashing a faint smirk.

***

Tae-Sung stayed away from the game for a while, taking time to rest and catch up on all the things he had put off in the real world. First of all, he held a private press conference and answered the questions the reporters had for him.

After that, he updated his long-neglected social media accounts with new photos and videos, took care of company matters, and checked on his asset portfolio.

He had been occupied for the next few days with back-to-back tasks.

To his surprise, he found that his net worth had skyrocketed. Just his real estate holdings alone had reached roughly eight hundred billion won, but that was not all.

The Hive Games Entertainment stock he had been steadily buying whenever he had some spare cash fell dramatically during the recent incident, but it surged to new heights after sending his stock portfolio soaring well past the trillion mark.

He had essentially secured enough wealth to live without working for another day in his life. His wealth would last three generations—no, at least ten generations easily.

Sure, he was not generating billions annually like the chaebol conglomerates, but the wealth he had amassed so far was a staggering accomplishment for an individual. The fact that this fortune was amassed by an individual and not a corporation was truly impressive.

‘

I should really take a proper break.’

With that thought, Tae-Sung called his friends up. Then, he chartered a private jet and flew out to a remote resort island in Southeast Asia.

This island was actually his private property that he bought as a vacation spot and a second home.

Since he had his own private jet, he bought the island on a whim so he could escape there whenever he had time.

At the resort, he enjoyed peaceful days with his friends while soaking in luxury,

Unfortunately, his personal paradise did not last long, thanks to none other than the doting father, Yong Tae-Pung.

“Do you wanna go swimming with daddy, Seol-Hwa? It’s been ages since we last swam together!”

“Nope.”

“...”

“Why don’t you go hang out over there with the uncles and talk about the good old days like you always do? I know how much you love reminiscing about the past.”

“B-But Seol-Hwa...!”

“See ya.”

Yong Seol-Hwa did not seem too thrilled that her father had tagged along on the trip, and she appeared irritated by it.

Seeing how cold she acted toward her own father, Tae-Sung felt a little bad, so he tried to talk and soothe her.

“Seol-Hwa? I think your dad was just trying to—”

“You can go too, oppa.”

“

Huh?

”

Tae-Sung blinked, confused. He did not expect that Yong Seol-Hwa would treat him so coldly like this.

“Y-You want me to go?”

“You’re the one who invited him, weren’t you?”

“Well, I just thought that he would be worried, you know? So I figured if he came with us, then—”

“Yeah, yeah,” she cut him off. Then, she waved her hand and said, “Enjoy your quality time with dad, oppa.”

“

Eh?”

“Bye.”

With that, she turned and walked off to join a group of female gamers lounging on the beach.

“

Tsk, tsk...”

Chae Hyung-Seok clicked his tongue as he watched the whole scene unfold.

He had been working out a lot lately, so he looked way more toned than before. Despite that, he still looked skinny when standing next to Tae-Sung.

“What a clueless moron you are.”

“Hey, what did you just say? Did you call me clueless?”

“Are you really asking me that right now?”

“

Huh?

What do you mean?”

“Don’t you get it? Yong Seol-Hwa probably wanted to spend some quiet time alone with you. But instead, you invited every single person you know in real life, including her father.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“You’re never gonna have a proper relationship at this rate if you’re that dense about women’s feelings.”

“You little—!”

Tae-Sung lunged at Chae Hyung-Seok upon hearing the latter's comment that struck his sore spot.

“Whoa! Whoa!

Aaack!

Han Tae-Sung’s beating me up! Help!”

Chae Hyung-Seok tried to run away, but he was already rolling in the sand a minute later. He spent the next few minutes slapping the sand in agony, all because he ran his big mouth.

***

Meanwhile, peace had returned to the Nurberg Continent thanks to the heroic efforts of Siegfried and the Allied Forces.

It was only natural that peace would return after the world war that involved two-thirds of the continent had finally come to an end.

Unfortunately, the situation across the continent was far worse than one would imagine.

Though the war had lasted only for six months, it had left behind deep scars and irreversible devastation.

To begin with, the outbreak of disease unleashed by the Illuminati just before the war started had already claimed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across numerous nations.

On top of that, the casualties from the war itself had surpassed hundreds of millions, astronomical quantities of war supplies were used, and several hundred cities were razed to the ground.

However, the greatest crisis of all was none other than food.

The war had ended in the middle of winter, which meant that the entire continent was now facing a massive food shortage.

This was particularly severe in the territories of the Holy Alliance.

During the war, the Holy Alliance had forcefully seized staggering amounts of food and resources to be used as war supplies.

Their ultimate goal was to help the fallen angels descend into the Middle Realm in order to destroy it, so it was only natural that they would not care about the suffering of the people.

As a result, the Allied Forces were forced to work almost as hard for the postwar recovery.

Winning the war was one thing, but the cleanup afterward was just as difficult.

Even so, the Allied Forces carried out the postwar efforts remarkably, especially in resolving the food crisis.

[Emperor’s Blessed Lands]

[The ancient magic Force of the Lord will bless the territory under Emperor Siegfried van Proa while he is sitting on the throne.]

[Type: Passive]

[Effect: Talent Recognition, Resource Excavation, Talent Enhancement, Abundant Harvest]

[Talent Recognition: Increased chances of finding talented individuals.]

[Resource Prospecting: The hidden resources within the territory will start to appear.]

[Talent Enhancement: The stats of the citizens will increase, and the officials will experience exponential growth.]

[Abundant Harvest: The territory will always have abundant harvests, and all crops will be immune to insects and pestilence.]

Thanks to the overpowered passive skill that Siegfried possessed, the Proatine Empire’s food production was extraordinarily abundant. The land was always so fertile that it yielded two to five times the average yield of other nations.

At the heart of this abundance was the Espadrille Region within the Proatine Empire, and it was a vast stretch of plains that rivaled even the best farmlands of the Marchioni Empire in terms of output.

However, the Proatine Empire had a relatively small population, so its food consumption was very low.

In other words, there was always a surplus in the empire.

At times, the surplus was so excessive that they had no space to store it, forcing them to dump it into the Piaro River or divert it to the brewery industry to turn into beer or whiskey.

Thus, it was no big deal for the empire to open its granaries to support the postwar recovery.

Just then, something unexpected happened.

“We’re seeking asylum!”

“Please let us in! We’re refugees!”

“We want to become citizens of the Proatine Empire!”

A swarm of refugees from the Holy Alliance began flooding into the Proatine Empire.

How many were there?”

Their numbers reached into the hundreds of millions, a sight so overwhelming that it was nothing short of biblical.

A great exodus began from the east... from the territories of the now dissolved Holy Alliance, all the way to the borders of the Proatine Empire in the west.

As a result...

“Refugees continue to pour in from the east, Your Imperial Majesty. Their numbers are in the hundreds of millions—at minimum.”

Siegfried received the report the moment he logged into the game.

“What?! Hundreds of millions?!”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. Most of the Holy Alliance’s territory is now completely uninhabitable. People are desperate, so they’re coming to us in droves.”

“This is... like a mass migration of a civilization...” Siegfried muttered, shaking his head after seeing the sheer scale of the refugee movement.

“What should we do?” Michele asked.

Siegfried pondered for a moment before asking in response, “What do you think?”

“I believe we should accept them,” Michele replied.

“Why?”

Michele smiled and said, “Because this is the only way to overcome our empire’s limitations.”

***

The only real weakness of the Proatine Empire was its small population. It had abundant resources, an abundance of talented individuals, advanced technological prowess, and a thriving economy.

And its emperor, Siegfried, was recognized as the most powerful warrior in the world.

At present, the Proatine Empire was now the second most powerful nation on the continent, second only to the Marchioni Empire, and this was not an exaggeration at all.

Despite becoming the second most powerful nation on the continent, its numbers still remained low.

The Proatine Empire had only entered its fourth year since its founding, so there was simply no way to quickly build up a large population.

Now, with hundreds of millions of refugees pouring in, it was as if the empire had stumbled upon the very solution to their biggest problem. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to solve their population problem in a single day.

“But there is one problem...” Michele said with a hint of concern.

“What is it?” Siegfried asked.

“While it’s good to take in all of the refugees and grow our population quickly, there will, without a doubt, be chaos if we accept so many people from vastly different cultures all at once.”

“

Ah...

”

Siegfried immediately understood what Michele meant.

All of the NPCs spoke the same common tongue, so there were no language barriers between them, but it didn't mean there was just a single culture on the continent. The differences in culture and daily life would pose a serious problem once they were mixed together.

Their mindsets and lifestyles were bound to be different from one another, so severe social conflict was inevitable.

On top of that, the citizens of the Proatine Empire could feel betrayed and harbor resentment. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the

natives

, the citizens of the empire, could feel that the newcomers were driving them out and displacing them.

“That's been troubling me for quite a while now. If we want to address our empire’s only weakness as quickly as possible, then accepting the refugees is definitely the best option, but—” Michele added.

“But the conflict they could cause is a major risk, correct?” Siegfried interrupted, finishing Michele's sentence.

“Precisely, sire,” Michele replied with a nod. Then, he continued, “The number of refugees already far exceeds our own citizens. If they fail to assimilate properly and start causing problems, then... our empire could collapse from within.”

“We can’t let that happen. The enemy within is always far more dangerous than the enemy outside,” Siegfried said with a nod.

“Indeed, sire.”

Siegfried pondered for a while before saying, “Then what about this? Anyone who wants to become a citizen of the Proatine Empire will have to convert to the Church of Heroes first?”

“...!”

Michele’s eyes widened in surprise.

“And let’s promote our current citizens by half a rank,” Siegfried said. Then, he explained, “We will need people to supervise and help the refugees adjust and settle into the empire, right? So our current citizens will be a class higher, and they can lead the refugees as they integrate into society.”

“That would definitely lessen the backlash,” Michele replied with a nod.

“And also, I want you to thoroughly investigate their backgrounds and break them up,” Siegfried added.

“Pardon me? I am not sure I follow what—”

“Don’t let the people from the same place live together. Separate them.”

“T-that is...!”

“Hey, think about it. What do you think will happen when people from the same country, same city, and same ethnic group gather in one place? They will naturally stick together, grow a power base, and eventually try to claim the entire region as theirs.”

“T-That is true...”

“So we split them up to stop that from happening. We nip it before it even has the chance to grow.”

As soon as his words left his lips...

‘

He has gotten incredibly sharp...’

Michele couldn’t help but admire Siegfried’s growth. He had to acknowledge just how far Siegfried had come.