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Chapter 570: The Black Zone (2)

‘Uh…? What the hell is this supposed to mean?’

Four more acts of hypocrisy remained until the first collection reward.

And right after committing his very first hypocrisy since obtaining the Catalog, Yeongwoo earned a new effect labeled “Izori.”

「From now on, you will receive 5% less damage from all ‘Izori’.」

Yeongwoo’s head grew complicated.

‘So this means… I now take 5% less damage from everyone belonging to the Izori family?’

It was probably the base effect granted by the Hypocrite’s Catalog.

Since a hypocrite still technically belonged to the “domain of good,” it made sense that it would grant a defensive function such as damage reduction.

‘Then the Wicked Catalog must increase outgoing damage… right?’

A rather plausible guess.

In other words, if one were planning war against a certain house, they could prepare in advance—by performing hypocrisy or wickedness beforehand.

‘They say a gentleman’s revenge isn’t late even after ten years… Guess the same goes for the universe.’

Of course, one question did arise.

‘How many times can this damage-reduction effect stack?’

He understood that each house gave a 5% reduction, but could he gain another against the same house?

If he later committed another act of hypocrisy toward a different Izori, would that become a total of 10% less damage from all Izori?

‘Hmm.’

There was no explanation for that—he’d just have to test it himself.

‘Either way, the fact that simply committing hypocrisy grants damage reduction is insane.’

And that wasn’t all—there were also tiered collection rewards on top of it.

‘Ha.’

Now Yeongwoo understood why the dungeon “Aesthetics of the Circle” had such absurdly high over-achievement conditions.

‘With rewards like this… it makes sense.’

So far, he’d only confirmed the reduction against one house, but he suspected that similar effects might apply to races as well.

For example—those like the Artari.

‘If only I’d gotten this Catalog a bit earlier, I could’ve profited enormously.’

But that was already in the past.

So Yeongwoo chose to look forward.

‘From now on, whenever I meet nobles, I’d better put on a touch of hypocrisy.’

However, the standard for what counted as hypocrisy was vague.

Would any act of goodness done while his evil karma outweighed his good karma count as hypocrisy?

‘Probably not. The Hypocrite’s Catalog seems to understand the context of my actions—it reads the whole layout, almost like typesetter.’

And its base reward was damage reduction, no less.

So cheap tricks likely wouldn’t work.

Then another thought came to mind—

[Rescue of Kanaph Izori]

| Evaluation Grade: C

‘The “grades” of collected hypocrisies—what do those mean?’

Perhaps only hypocrisies above a certain grade could be collected, or maybe rewards varied by grade.

Either way, he’d need more data to see the pattern.

‘Truly, this universe… its unknowns never end.’

As Yeongwoo muttered inwardly, the four-eared beast he was riding snorted.

Psshh!

A signal—they were almost there.

Indeed, the Parnas Hotel now loomed right before them.

—Is that your dwelling? It’s as large as the inner fortress of our house!

Madam Kanaph gaped at the towering hotel building.

To her, it was shocking that an obscure house lord like Jeong Yeongwoo used such a massive structure as a mere lodging.

Yeongwoo told her the truth.

“I didn’t build it. Think of it as… a relic of my species.”

—…A relic?

“Yes. It originally belonged to someone else. You’ve never experienced a Reset or a Planetary Trial, have you?”

—Regrettably, I have not, so I can’t quite grasp your words.

“That’s not regrettable. The fewer planetary trials you go through, the better.”

Soon they reached the hotel entrance.

Yeongwoo dismounted and led her through the lobby.

“We’ll take the elevator.”

—Eli… what?

As the bewildered lady followed him into the elevator—like stepping into another world—Earth finally spoke up.

○ Hey, I’m detecting an unfamiliar lifeform.

‘A new guest. I’m keeping her for now—plan to sell her off for a high price later.’

○ Sell her? You just called her a guest.

‘A valuable guest.’

○ Anyway—what about the dungeon? Everything sorted?

‘You won’t believe it even if I tell you, but… I saved everyone.’

○ What bullshit is this?

‘Too long to explain. Long story short, I now have to stack some good karma—by force.’

Yeongwoo briefly explained the Hypocrite’s Catalog to Earth.

And also mentioned its opposite counterpart—the Wicked Catalog.

○ The Wicked Catalog…? That concept’s insane. The righteous wouldn’t even commit evil deeds to begin with.

‘That’s why it’s called the Wicked Catalog. It’s made for people like me.’

Earth’s tone immediately turned uneasy.

○ You’re just plain evi—never mind. So you’re heading back to the hotel now?

‘Yeah. How long till we reach the Black Zone? I’d like a bit of rest before then.’

By then, Yeongwoo had exited the elevator and was walking down the corridor toward his suite.

○ Almost there. About three hours until we hit the outskirts of the Tuani Galaxy.

And the Black Zone was said to lie at that galaxy’s very edge.

They’d soon see that infamous criminal world for themselves.

○ According to Mr. Kejen, taking a planetary-class ship into the Black Zone is suicide.

‘Why?’

○ Because we can’t possibly fight the tens of thousands of pirate ships that’ll come swarming in to hijack us…?

‘Ah.’

In short—sailing a huge, flashy ship there would only attract every scavenger and criminal eager to seize it.

‘Yeah, fair point. So what’s his plan?’

After all, Kejen was the expert on the Black Zone.

○ Since you’ll need to retrieve the Royal Seal anyway, he suggests renting a small ship once we reach the galaxy’s outskirts.

‘Renting a ship?’

○ That way, we won’t draw unwanted attention. Also, his hidden vault—the one with the Seal—can only be accessed by a small craft.

‘Well… then Kejen can pilot, right?’

○ Wouldn’t it be better to bring Mr. Mantero?

‘He has to stay and steer Earth. If worst comes to worst, we’ll need someone to evacuate the main ship.’

○ Worst case?

‘If I die. Or get captured.’

If that happened, at least the Earth-ship would survive to fight another day.

○ Got it. So just you and Kejen going, then?

‘Hmm… maybe one more person would help, but I’ll decide after some sleep.’

Having reached his room, Yeongwoo ended the conversation.

“Here we are. There are quite a few people inside, so don’t be startled.”

He pressed the doorbell—and someone opened the door from inside.

Clack.

It was none other than Jeonggu.

“Uh…?”

Seeing his son returned from the dungeon, Jeonggu’s eyes widened.

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“Your… your arm—what happened to your arm?”

Yeongwoo’s left arm was gone.

“Used it to save someone.”

Strictly speaking, an alien.

“You? Saved someone?”

“One of them’s right here.”

He pointed downward—where Madam Kanaph Izori bowed gracefully.

—I am Kanaph Izori, jewel of the House of Izori.

“…Ah!”

Jeonggu hurriedly bowed back.

“I-I’m Jeonggu. Father of Yeongwoo.”

The lady’s eyes went wide as she looked between them.

—You… have a father?

“What kind of crazy talk is that, ma’am? On Earth you’d get smacked for saying that.”

Pushing the half-open door wide, Yeongwoo strode in and collapsed onto the sofa.

“Nothing happened while I was gone, right? Today was rough.”

“Looks like it. That arm—it’ll grow back, right?”

“I’ll have it by morning.”

He flexed his shoulder; a small nub twitched where the limb had been severed.

The nerves were already reconnecting.

“Wait—where’s Mom?”

Looking around for Jiseon, who usually stayed in the lounge, he saw she wasn’t there.

“She’s in the cockpit,”

Jeonggu said, gazing at the ceiling.

“The cockpit? Why?”

“Said she wanted to see what that ‘Black Zone’ looked like.”

Indeed, her curiosity was far stronger than Jeonggu’s.

‘So… do I take Mom to the Black Zone too?’

He wasn’t sure her martial ability would be much use there, though—

a place notorious for 58% trade-scam rate, swarming with conmen and cutthroats.

‘Maybe I should take Yechan instead—let him get some real experience.’

In this age of space travel, he couldn’t keep the kid confined to planetary errands forever.

And now that he’d learned he needed three identical Catalogs to upgrade one, it was time to train more reliable subordinates.

‘Why should I be the only one slogging through dungeons? They can go earn Catalogs too.’

Even if they didn’t hit over-achievement, they’d at least bring back gear—worthwhile enough.

Of course, they’d first need a good supply of golden orbs, and every one of them would be risking their lives.

‘It costs around one billion karma to unlock someone’s Prestige Level.’

Once that level’s open, fighting duels against him—the planetary ship’s owner—lets them grow at incredible speed.

In essence, one billion karma could create a top-tier space warrior.

‘Auto-farming soldiers for a billion apiece… long term, that’s profitable.’

As he thought that, he saw Jeonggu chatting awkwardly with Madam Kanaph across from him.

And it struck him, Shouldn’t I test this on Father first, before Yechan?

After all, Jeonggu was his confirmed blood relative, and now inseparable from Renaissance.

“Father.”

“Huh?”

Jeonggu flinched and turned.

“Why are you calling me that all of a sudden?”

“Because you are my father. You and Mom founded this house together, didn’t you?”

“…Well, yes, but still.”

Once known as the top swordsman of his region, Jeonggu had long lost any trace of that strength.

With a son who’d conquered space and a wife who was a dragon from a wealthy clan, he’d been ground down small and smooth.

“You still have some fire left in you, right?”

“…Fire? What are you talking about?”

“You’re a total weakling now, Father. A mere creature.”

“……”

“But what if you could become strong again?”

Jeonggu frowned skeptically.

“Again…? Since the moment you turned up calling me ‘father,’ I haven’t been strong even once.”

“Of course not stronger than me, but maybe stronger than Mom.”

“What…?”

That flickered a spark in his eyes.

Yet experience told him this insane son never said nice things for free.

“So… what do I have to do?”

“I’ll make you stronger—fast. In return, come with me to the Black Zone.”

“What?”

Even now, Jeonggu rarely left the inner rooms; space itself frightened him.

“The place is crawling with criminals, isn’t it?”

“That’s why I need at least one person I can trust. If it’s just me and Kejen, he could stab me in the back anytime.”

“Someone trustworthy.”

He swallowed hard.

“You won’t have to do anything crazy. Just keep watch and warn me if something feels off.”

Still, to even breathe safely in the Black Zone, he’d need some level of power.

“So… that’s really all?”

“Once we finish the deal there safely, you’ll start running dungeons too. Our house needs more Catalog holders.”

“……”

Jeonggu knew exactly what that meant—he’d gone into one with Yeongwoo before.

“But if I die…?”

“Then it just means you weren’t fated to live in this universe.”

Yeongwoo summarized bluntly.

He knew most deaths were miserable; no need for flowery words.

“But as the patriarch of this house—do you really want to die of old age?”

Would he rather grow old and die a frail mortal… or walk the path of power and risk being slain someday?

“No… but what kind of son offers his father a road to death?”

“That’s why I asked if you still had any fire left. Without will, even gained power just gets you killed fast. Better to wait for natural death then.”

“How strong is this power you’re offering?”

“Worth ten billion karma.”

“……!”

True growth would come after that investment, through a surge of Prestige—but Yeongwoo didn’t elaborate.

“Decide now. If you choose natural death, I’ll make the same offer to Mother next.”

“…Why me first? She’s the better fighter.”

Yeongwoo shrugged.

“Guess fate just had you here at the right time.”

“Damn it, I was sleeping fine—why wake me up for this nonsense?”

He tugged at his T-shirt collar.

“…What are you doing?”

“Checking if it’ll rip later—when all my muscles explode outward.”

“It won’t go that far.”

Yeongwoo chuckled, preparing the ten-billion-karma transfer.

“If you’re ready to face getting killed in space, take my hand.”

“……”

Jeonggu hesitated—then clenched his jaw and grasped Yeongwoo’s hand.

Clack!

“I’ll show you there’s a way to live strong and long.”

“…How?”

“When death comes, I’ll beg so pathetically even the gods would pity me.”

“What.”

“My dream’s still to die of old age.”

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