[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 232: Administrator Privileges (3)

The voice brightened at my declaration that I’ll live for myself.

This level of hospitality made me suspicious.

"Why are you so happy about that?"

—Do you see the light swirling around Zeus’s status window?

Zeus’s status window is blocking the base of the statue’s claw.

A red glow flickers on and off around the status window.

As that continues, the red glow slowly but surely encroaches on the blue area that belongs to me.

"A red light, huh. It’s similar to the one on the left arm. Is that the power of Chaos?"

—Correct.

"It appears and disappears intermittently, but it's invading my area. Is this because Zeus attacked Earth?"

—It’s unrelated to Zeus.

"Then what is it?"

—When you are absorbed by Chaos, your light turns red.

"I’ve never been absorbed by Chaos, though."

—Just before you arrived here, more than half of your light had already turned red.

Before I came here?

That must have been when I was tricked by the Soul Sword, and my will was fading.

“Back then, I got deceived by an EX-rank divine artifact and absorbed SP beyond my limit… but what would that have to do with Chaos?”

I recalled the moment when my ego became faint under the flood of SP.

Did the energy of Chaos fill the space left by my weakening sense of self?

But I don’t have any particular connection to Chaos energy, do I?

—Examine the essence.

The voice offered a subtle hint.

Essence, huh.

There has to be a reason for suddenly bringing that up.

"If you know something, stop speaking in riddles and just tell me."

—Only when you realize it yourself can you truly see it. Contemplate inwardly.

Typical cryptic nonsense…

So unhelpful.

The boundary between the claw and the root.

Near Zeus’s status window, blue and red lights kept flashing alternately.

As I watched the lights, I pondered.

Where did Chaos creep in?

All I did was have a lot of SP, that’s it.

Right.

SP…

"Hmm…"

A sudden thought struck me.

I open my account and deposit about 50% of my SP.

Then, the flickering lights noticeably diminish.

The blue light, which represents my domain, faded slightly.

But unlike the fading blue, the red flickered briefly and then rapidly weakened.

Only a faint red remained at the edge of Zeus’s status window.

Too much SP.

Was that the cause?

I recall the voice urging me to observe the essence, and I examine my SP closely.

Ever since I ascended to Soul God, I thought I had a firm grasp on SP...

Maybe it’s this space, but it feels different now.

Splitting it down further and further, I finally sense a very subtle oddity.

"This... Every SP particle has a trace of Chaos."

—Correct.

"That's strange. There's no sense of Order or Neutrality in it. That shouldn’t be possible..."

SP is the basic unit of the soul.

It should either have no factional alignment or contain all of them equally.

Yet, all I could sense was Chaos.

Thinking I might be mistaken, I kept splitting and examining my SP.

Hours passed.

"This one’s Chaos. That one’s Chaos. All of them… wait… this one’s Neutral?"

After countless examinations, I started detecting SP with Neutral energy.

Once I recognized the sensation, classification became faster.

Before long, I determined the proportions of my SP…

"99% Chaos. 1% Neutral. Not a trace of Order."

Almost everything is Chaos.

Neutral was like a rare drop in the desert.

I tried tracing where the Neutral SP came from.

Like tracking the origin of a single grain of rice.

Basically impossible—unless you're a Soul God.

"This one's from SP exchange interest. This one from soul mediation. This one from soul reaping… huh."

SP obtained from exchange interest.

SP obtained through my soul skills.

Only those showed signs of Neutral energy...

But the SP I deposited after selling shares to the Creator—all were tinged with Chaos.

The SP I earned myself was Neutral.

Then the Chaos ones...

"So the 2.4 quintillion I received—all of that was Chaos. Oh… because it came from the SP shop…!"

—Correct.

Before the exchange existed, the SP Shop was the only channel for SP circulation.

And the owner of that shop was the Supreme God of Chaos—the Creator’s Left Arm.

Any SP passing through the shop was subtly altered to match its owner’s nature.

Just a slight touch.

Almost imperceptible.

Like trying to walk across a sandy beach without getting any sand on you.

SP distributed through the shop gradually gained a slight trace of Chaos.

—The chaotic nature of SP is extremely faint. It never shows—unless you possess an infinite amount.

"Someone at the deity level wouldn’t notice. Even at EX rank, they couldn’t perceive the chaotic nature of SP. But… if someone exceeds even EX rank…"

Right.

Someone like that EX-rank who bought my shares for 2.4 quintillion.

The one trying to surpass the Creator.

They’d notice.

"What would have happened if I were completely consumed by SP? Would this claw have turned entirely red, like the Left Arm?"

—No. In that case, you would’ve reverted into the Left Arm. SP tainted by Chaos belongs to him.

"So this place… only accepts SP with Neutral alignment?"

—Correct.

Now I understand why this guy is helping me...

If I’m consumed by Chaos, then the massive statue of the Creator wouldn't get its color filled.

"SP tainted by Chaos pretty much dominates the entire universe. Even so, the Left Arm can’t leave that spot?"

—Correct. All three factions—Order, Neutrality, and Chaos—must be prepared for that to happen. As of now, only Chaos is ready.

"You want me to fill in the color for the Right Leg, don’t you?"

—Yes.

No wonder he was so friendly.

—The Creator’s Left Arm was too perfect a god.

Suddenly, the voice talks about the Left Arm.

—He crushed both the Neutral and Order factions after a long war and filled the universe with Chaos. He wasn’t satisfied with that. He tried to bind anyone with the potential to become a Soul God to himself.

The Creator’s Left Arm.

He, who had conquered the entire universe, thought he could completely stain the image of the Creator with the colors of chaos.

—But all he could fill was his left arm. Without the power of the opposing force, he couldn’t advance to the next stage.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

"So. How do you know so much about his left arm? You seem to know his situation a little too well."

—Because he told me himself.

He told you?

—He regretted the schemes he had set in motion.

"What schemes?"

—The scheme to create and support the enemy of the Soul God, forcing him to use SP.

"Like what I'm going through now?"

Zeus, who obstructs me at every turn.

After I finally gathered 2.4 quintillion SP and felt a bit stronger, he showed up with some chaotic divine artifact that prevents me from even hitting him.

But it’s not like I can’t resist at all...

If I use the 2.4 quintillion SP I got from selling my stake, I might actually be able to crush him.

"So even giving me all that SP was part of the plan, huh."

—Yes.

"Then that old god who gave me the SP—he’s from that same faction?"

—That's correct.

"Ha... then why not just stop with the schemes?"

—He’s focusing all his power on achieving his 18,764,872nd transcendence. He’s unable to intervene right now.

That left-arm bastard.

He set up all those schemes to absorb any latecomers who could become obstacles to him...

But in the end, it backfired on him.

"Anyway... you're saying you're here to help me, right?"

—Yes.

"And Left Arm won’t intervene because he’s busy transcending."

—Correct.

"Then you can support me completely. How about giving me more modification permissions?"

Left Arm is Left Arm.

My current enemy is Zeus.

If I keep modifying this bastard’s stats, maybe something will open up.

—That’s not possible. I don’t have that level of authority.

Wow.

Useless.

Then what can you do?

I asked directly.

"So what can you do for me?"

—I can’t support you directly, but I can offer advice from within the Admin Space.

Advice, huh...

"Let’s hear it."

—Zeus is currently merging with Jupiter.

[Fusion]

—He’s dissolving the world. Through disassembly and assimilation, he turns it entirely into his own.

—The process takes 1 second for every 1 SP value being fused.

—Currently, he’s targeting the planets Jupiter and Earth.

Along with the explanation, Zeus’s authority screen appears before me.

—I recommend changing that '1 second' into '10,000 seconds.'

"Oh? So it’s to buy some time?"

—Exactly.

"Why not raise the number even more?"

—That would require higher-level modification authority, and it increases the risk of Zeus noticing the change.

"He wouldn’t notice? Wouldn’t the numbers change in his skill panel?"

—His skill panel won’t show the modified values.

Apparently, what’s visible to him remains the same, so Zeus won’t notice easily.

Since stat changes are felt directly in the soul body, he would notice right away, but skill efficiency is harder to gauge.

So with fusion now taking 10,000 times longer, I’ll definitely buy some time.

When I went to apply the change, it asked for 1,000 trillion SP per modification permission.

1,000 trillion... it stings, but...

"Edit 'Fusion' ability."

Right now, time is more valuable than 1,000 trillion SP.

When I changed the 1 second into 10,000 seconds, I could already feel a bit of breathing room.

"Is there anything else for me to do here?"

Just being in the Admin Space consumes SP.

Although the drain isn’t as bad as before...

Still, if I stay too long, even I will go bankrupt.

Time to leave.

But before that—

"Hey, help me find something."

* * *

As I exited the Admin Space, I saw my father’s face.

“How much time has passed?”

“What do you mean, time passing?”

He responded with a question.

Oh?

So time is frozen inside the Admin Space?

Good.

“Well, let’s call it a day. Hold off on what I told you to do earlier.”

“Understood.”

The Apostle Gods reluctantly withdraw, disappointed that they’ve lost their chance to mess with humans.

Once the gods are all gone, I say my goodbyes to my father too.

“Father. I’ll be going now.”

“Alright. Are you... okay now?”

“Yes. I’m completely fine now.”

After destroying the 'Soul Sword', I’ve seen a broader world.

When I reentered the Admin Space, my SP handling limit had increased.

“Withdraw SP.”

Holding the wreckage of the Soul Sword—the destroyed terminal—I pulled SP from my account.

As the amount grew, the terminal gradually turned red.

By around 200 trillion SP, the top part—about 10%—was tinged red.

“Still... not entirely useless.”

A voice within the Admin Space.

He had said before I left that he’d update me with information about the ‘Claws.’

Looks like about 10% of the device is tainted by chaos.

“So to eliminate chaos completely, it’d need to be around 60 trillion SP.”

Maybe because I’ve played in the big leagues...

My usable SP limit has grown considerably.

“A little chaos is probably good for growth.”

200 trillion is still manageable.

I can endure 10% corruption while continuing to evolve.

With this much usable SP, I have more to do now.

My overall power has greatly increased, and I can operate my clones more freely.

The ones currently scouring the solar system, looking for a needle in a haystack.

With their speed now improved,

I command my fastest clone:

“We’ve found Hera.”

Countless Kim Jihos throughout the galaxy stopped moving.

I shared the coordinates with them.

“Mars. Head to Mars.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]