Chapter 192: #Absolute Millionaire Yu Il-Shin

-God...of Harmony...and Balance.

He wasn’t imagining things.

“From below, is it?” A wicked grin tugged at the corners of Yi-Shin’s mouth. The puppet had pissed him off, but he had an inkling about the one below.

Yi-Shin stomped the ground, and it cracked like a spider’s web, unable to withstand the sudden increase in force.

Booom!

He descended to the floor below as if riding an elevator. Yi-Shin’s red eyes scanned the surroundings. The ominous place, which seemed like an abandoned museum, was about 100-pyeong wide. He could only detect one sign of life.

“

Tsk

, did he get away?” Yi-Shin was slightly disappointed, but he still went after the only clue he had.

Someone was dangling from a red chain over a bloody magic circle, reminiscent of a sacrifice in a ritual.

Clink!

The chain exuded an unusual aura, but one snap of his fingers shattered it.

Plop!

The sacrifice fell to the ground.

“Hey, know anything about the Despair Dragon’s priest?”

Yet, all he got was a faint, intelligible mumble.

“Harmony...and balance... Creation and Destruction... The world’s logic...”

“Cut the crap and answer me properly—” Yi-Shin frowned, looking down blankly, then muttered in disbelief. “...Penguin?”

***

I left Seong-Yeon’s room after making sure that she was asleep. Then, I crossed my arms and sat in a corner, pondering about the Despair Dragon cult. I hadn’t seen them in any of Kang Woo’s regressions before.

This unexpected variable made my head throb, especially since the Emperor had requested a duel with me some time ago.

I have to reach High-tier God within the month, but why do I have to keep cleaning up all these messes?

I knew it was useless to ponder about that. I’d have to wait for Yi-Shin’s return. Despite his foul temper, his skills were guaranteed, so I wasn’t that worried.

I launched God-Maker.

Ding!

[Welcome to God-Maker.]

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not playing a game, but keeping tabs on the well-being of my followers. Although, there’s also a small part of me that wanted to visit Anty to get some healing...

[Due to your growing number of followers, you now have access to seven channels.]

-----

Gayami Nation, Antrinia Gayami: Holy Empress Anty and Gayami followers

[New quest unlocked!]

41st Floor, Tower of Warriors: Fairy Queen Aran and Fairy followers

[New quest unlocked!]

42nd Floor, Tower of Warriors: Fallen High-tier God Cycler of All Things

[New quest unlocked!]

44th Floor, Tower of Warriors: Great Cosmic Alliance Queen Esméralda

[New quest unlocked!]

19th Floor, Tower of Warriors: Yi-Ho

46th Floor, Tower of Warriors: Warrior and Temporary Apostle, Il-Ho

-----

Thanks to Il-Ho’s activeness on the Tower of Warriors, not only I’d been steadily gaining new followers, I also gained access to more channels. Il-Ho seemed to have moved on to the next floor after his muscle training. Yi-Ho had also climbed a few floors during the time I’d been away.

But something on the list caught my eyes.

[New quest unlocked!]

It was a line often seen in games, but seeing it in God-Maker made me feel unnecessarily anxious.

“What's this? Did something happen while I was gone?”

I chose to take a look at Antrinia first.

Diriring!

Then, an extravagant sight unfolded on the screen. A dazzling and magnificent white castle stood in the middle of the city, filled with citizens of diverse perspectives and antennas.

Some were trading and bargaining at the market stands, while others were breaking a sweat building houses. There were also soldiers maintaining safety and order. I felt as if I was watching a miniature city of daily human life.

How fascinating.

Beyond the reliable and strong fortress walls were hundreds of acres of seemingly endless farmland.

-Let’s plow the fields

-woof!

-Grains, grow up fast

-nya!

The most recent transfers to Gayami Nation—the Divine Beasts of Eden—wore straw hats as they worked hard on the fields alongside citizens. Especially Rollie, the hedgehog, who was rolling about on the fields, plowing the soil.

Wow, I think this is ten times larger than the last time I saw it.

Above the Gayami Nation was a flashing window visible only to me.

[Current population of Gayami Nation: 1,963,242,325(↑)]

Refugees from the fallen Iron-blood Empire are constantly streaming in.

[Current accrued Godcoins(Gcoin): 190,030,525(↑)]

Automatic nomination is currently running at 90%.

Automatic nomination? Oh, I remember it now.

That function allowed automatic usage of Godcoins and divine power for the expansion of facilities and race evolution where necessary. I had faint spells when I first evolved them, but now, I didn’t even realize my followers were evolving at such extensive scales. It made me realize how strong I had become after becoming a Mid-tier God.

But wow, the population had hit two billion! Isn’t that just impressive?

As it was, the Gayami Nation nearly rivaled the empire, which made me proud. Regardless, I was still far from reaching the trillion followers needed to become a High-tier God.

No matter how I think about it, it’s just ridiculous.

Were they trying to prevent me from becoming a High-tier Benevolent God or something? At least, I could use the Sacrificial Wars to hunt other gods to become a High-tier Malevolent Gold, albeit it wasn’t going to be a smooth ride either.

By the way, where is Anty? And what’s the quest?

I was still grateful for the fact that the Gayami nation was quite peaceful.

-Ah! Lord Yu Il-Shin! What brings you here?

Just then, Anty’s familiar voice rang in my ears. As Anty surfaced in my mind, the screen switched to the city square.

-You’re finally here! I had a dream last night about your descent! It must’ve been a clairvoyant dream! Oh, I’ve been waiting day and night for you!

Anty, draped in white robes, greeted me with tearful eyes.

-

Ooh!

Our great and merciful God Yu Il-Shin has descended! Start the music!

Bam bam bam!

At the same time, Baek-Ho and his band began their music performance. I saw some Divine Beasts from Eden among the performers. Seeing a fox playing a violin and a rabbit dancing was definitely a cultural shock—but that wasn’t the main point right now.

-Lord Yu Il-Shin? Why are you staring at me so hard?

Anty has grown!

In my novel, I had been describing her as a three-head tall, dazzlingly beautiful, and cutesy girl, whose chest was as flat as a washboard. But now, she’d become four-head tall, and her chest had gained a bit of volume!

I felt both disappointment and pride.

Argh! Is this how a father feels watching his daughter grow up?! If some weirdo approached her, I’d definitely crush him with my finger!

“You’ve gotten prettier since I last saw you, Anty.”

-Oh, gosh... You’re making me shy.

Ehehe.

Anty laughed bashfully, covering her dimpled, apple-red face with her hands.

Aww, she’s so cute.

“But Anty, what are you doing here? And...what is that?”

In the clearing where Anty was, I saw something huge—by Anty’s standards—covered in cloth.

-

Kireuk kireuk?

It was at least ten times larger than Akdol, who crouched nearby, wrinkling his nose in frustration. Anty grabbed Akdol by his tail and pulled him back.

-

Gosh

, Akdol. This isn’t your food! It’s our offerings for God Yu Il-Shin!

I flinched, feeling a sense of foreboding. The figure bundled in cloth looked utterly familiar.

No way...

“Anty, is this another statue of me again?”

-Yes! The entire nation has worked hard to capture your majesticness and mercifulness!

Ha! I knew it!

“

Uhm,

I’m grateful, but like I said, you don’t have to do this. There’s no more space in my house, you see...”

I was still upset about the hole in my ceiling, I didn’t want another statue to add to the stress! Besides, their statues were too hideous!

-Oh...Is that so? We’ve done something unnecessary then.

Anty and the citizens of the Gayami Nation dropped their heads. The festive atmosphere became mournful in an instant.

Ding!

[Would you reject the offering that Holy Empress Anty and the citizens of the Gayami Nation spent a month tirelessly creating?]

The message pierced my conscience like a spear. They made such an unnecessary thing for a month without sleep?

I scratched my head and laughed awkwardly. “

Hahaha!

Just kidding! Of course I love the statue you guys made for me!

Hahaha,

give it to me already! I can’t wait!”

-

Waaaaah!

God Yu Il-Shin is looking forward to our tribute!

My acting must’ve been impeccable as they resumed their celebration, dancing joyfully. Smiling like a gourd flower, Anty raised her voice.

-Everyone, let’s unveil it!

Drums rolled at Baek-Ho’s signal, and the citizens tugged on the ropes securing the cloth around the statue.

My eyes! MY EYES!

I was speechless.

-Lord Yu Il-Shin. How do you like the new statue?

Anty’s eyes sparkled.

In fact, the grotesque appearance was still the same, but the material was different.

“A-Anty? Where did you get this?” I tried to keep my composure, but I couldn’t stop my voice from cracking.

-As you may know, we’re accepting refugees from the fallen empire. That’s when we found a mine that produced these shiny yellow stones, which Arachne had secretly discovered. So, I thought of using it to erect a statue of you! What do you think? Doesn’t this remind you of your extravagant splendor, Lord Yu Il-Shin?

-

Kyaak!

Still loitering around, Akdol suddenly took a bite at the statue’s ankle.

-

Ah! Noooo!

Akdol!

Anty pulled on Akdol’s tail once more, pulling him away from the statue. Now, the legs were clearly marked with Akdol’s bite mark.

Oh my gosh! Gold! It’s really gold!

My heart raced like a young boy meeting his first love. How much was this going to bring me?

“A-Anty. Do you still have more of this yellow stone left?”

-Yes! I used about one-thousandth of the empire’s mined materials to test this statue!”

Dizziness hit me as soon as I heard that.