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Chapter 237: Limit Breakthrough (2)

"What did the Creators say?"

"Oink oink. The Creators responded positively to your proposal, Master. They are favorable toward receiving loans."

A proposal brought by the Golden Pig.

Create special deposit and special loan accounts, and link the two.

A system where you receive a loan equivalent to your deposit amount and pay interest on it.

If you deposit 100 trillion, you automatically get a loan of 100 trillion.

"We've set the deposit interest at 10% for now, and the loan interest is linked to it with a 1% increase. It will be settled and renewed annually, with the interest rate subject to change upon renewal."

So if you deposit 100 trillion, you end up paying 1 trillion SP—a deal that feels like outright robbery.

But since the SP they receive changes from Chaos to Neutral, the Creators were happy to accept the deal.

"Oink oink. Although, some Creators wanted a higher deposit interest... even suggesting 100%."

"That means they want to convert all their SP into Neutral."

"Exactly."

If you deposit 100 and earn 100 in interest, but pay 101 in loan interest—

If the interest income is changed to Neutral SP, all their Chaos SP turns into Neutral SP.

It's theoretically possible...

But whether the SP Exchange can actually launder that much SP into Neutral all at once was still a question.

"Let’s go with 10% for now. The Creators hold such a large amount of SP that I can’t be sure it’ll all convert to Neutral. If they accidentally get paid in Chaos, they’d just lose all their SP, wouldn’t they?"

"Oink oink. Yes. I will inform them accordingly. Ah, and some Creators have secretly requested a meeting."

"With me? They want to meet me in person? Why?"

"Oink oink. They said they’ll explain when you meet, and they want to meet through an Apostle."

"They need to give a reason for me to go."

"They said it won’t harm you, and it will benefit you as a Soul God."

Why do they want to meet me?

Well, if it’s through an Apostle, it’s probably not a trap...

"If you accept the meeting, they said they’ll give you an additional 1% interest. Oink oink."

"Oh? Really?"

"However, they added a condition: both the dispatched Apostle and the Soul God must carry only Neutral SP."

Only Neutral SP...

The condition’s a bit demanding, but the 1% bonus is huge.

"That’s actually a pretty easy condition."

I just need to temporarily load Neutral SP into my account.

The question is—who to send as the Apostle...

I was going to send an existing Apostle, but then my thoughts turned to the Olympian gods trapped in the Sealing Stones.

Existing Apostles have a lot of SP I’ve distributed, so I’d have to replace that with Neutral SP...

But the gods trapped in Sealing Stones have little SP, so I can just fill them up with Neutral.

"Athena would be best."

She’s the smartest, and has always worked closely with me.

A perfect choice for a diplomatic envoy.

When I brought her Sealing Stone and asked, she readily accepted.

[I didn’t realize SP had factional colors. That’s surprising.]

"Yeah. You’re the smartest, so you’ll be able to read their intentions well."

[Understood. As the Apostle of the Soul God, I will fulfill this mission with utmost diligence.]

I released Athena from her seal and converted her SP.

She dismissed her armor and changed her appearance into a sleek black business suit.

Secretary look?

She looks good in anything, thanks to her appearance.

"So this is Neutral SP?"

"Yeah."

"It doesn’t feel much different from usual."

"That’s expected. The difference is extremely subtle."

Athena nodded and turned to the Golden Pig.

"Where should I go?"

"Oink oink. When they're ready, they’ll open a portal from ‘Right Arm.’"

"Right Arm?"

"It’s a gathering of the Creators."

Right Arm?

That sounds like...

They must've named it in contrast to the Creator’s Left Arm.

Wiiing—

As the Golden Pig transmitted a message, a portal opened in the space.

"Then, I shall be on my way."

"Yeah. Take care."

As Athena stepped through the portal, I attempted to share her vision.

Beyond the portal was a round table.

Ten seats arranged in a circle.

Seven of the seats were occupied by wobbly jelly-like blobs, but the moment Athena stepped in, they all shifted to her appearance.

Athena, unfazed, calmly walked to an empty seat.

"Apostle of the Soul God. Welcome."

"For precaution, we’ve temporarily borrowed your form."

"Greetings, Dominators of the Star Systems—Creators."

All seven Athenas nodded in unison to greet her.

Athena speaking with other Athenas—what a strange sight.

"The Deity is interested in your proposal and sent me as envoy."

"Ah yes, the additional 1%, you mean."

"Of course, it's only fair to offer more—to support our hopes."

The other Athenas nodded at her words.

I expected them to offer some new proposal after the meeting...

But they’re actually just giving an extra 1% for meeting.

[Athena, may I use your voice?]

[Of course, my Lord.]

I had so many questions.

I borrowed her voice.

"The Soul God's presence has deepened."

"Did you come in person?"

They immediately picked up on it.

As expected of those with power—they sensed the subtle change.

"Yes. I have a few questions."

"Ask as you wish."

"First, why is your group called ‘Right Arm’?"

"You already know, don’t you? We're the ones who wish to become the ‘Right Arm of the Creator.’"

As expected.

"This universe is practically owned by the ‘Left Arm of the Creator.’"

"We cannot grow beyond the level of star systems."

"Unlike the ‘Left Arm of the Creator.’"

Even a star system is enormous...

But these Creators are aiming for something beyond even that.

"There were many Creators."

"They all tried to surpass their limits."

"Some fought Chaos directly. Others pretended to ally with Chaos to bide their time."

"But they all failed."

"Every single one who tried to transcend disappeared."

"Not one succeeded."

"Except for the one who existed from the beginning—‘The Left Arm of the Creator.’"

Their words reminded me of the old god who once gave me 240 quintillion SP.

The one who bought shares in the SP Exchange and tried to transcend.

Did he fail too?

As if reading my mind, the Apostle of the Creator begins speaking about him.

"The last one who attempted transcendence was the Master of Sirius."

"The most senior member of the Right Arm. He was always cautious. He had what it took to transcend, yet he never attempted it recklessly."

"Of course he didn’t. All the Creators who transcended have vanished."

"But even he couldn't endure this stagnation any longer."

"After acquiring shares in the SP Exchange—a privilege reserved only for Soul Gods—he soon attempted transcendence."

"I see... He..."

He disappeared?

He gave me 2.4 quintiillion...

The value was astronomical—felt like using a cheat code in a game.

Didn’t work on that boss Zeus though, so it was kind of a half-assed cheat.

But if he disappeared like that, what happens to the shares he had?

“Check the shares.”

“You mean the 0.9% stake? Oink.”

“Yeah.”

“It says the owner of those shares is unknown.”

“Was it like that before?”

“Oink. No. It used to say ‘Master of Sirius.’”

Seriously.

When did that change?

“Fortunately, before the Master of Sirius disappeared, he told us about the nature of SP.”

“It seems he realized something just before he vanished.”

“Once he noticed that SP had factional colors, only then were we able to perceive them as well.”

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“But that was only possible for us because we are Ancient Gods.”

“Soul God. When you told us about this, we were surprised.”

“How could a mere high-god like you already know that?”

“It was impressive, but also… concerning.”

Concerning?

What are they worried about?

“Soul God.”

“Have you realized it?”

“Realized what?”

“At your current level...”

“!$$#$&(#!#.”

“#$#)$!#.”

Suddenly, the two Athenas begin speaking in an incomprehensible tongue.

What the hell?

These guys...

They call me over and start babbling in alien language?

[Ah... No. This is... the truth of the universe...?]

Athena, who had remained silent until now, suddenly sent a telepathic voice.

Why is she suddenly going on about cosmic truth?

Wait—it's not just the voice.

Tears were flowing from Athena’s soul body.

Even though I was in control of it...

The seven Apostles of the Creator watched this with growing concern.

“Hey. Why are you crying?”

Unable to take it any longer, I asked through Athena’s mouth.

The Apostles all let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness.”

“So he doesn't know yet.”

“The child appointed as an Apostle—she must be sharp.”

“But he hasn’t realized it yet.”

Hmm...

This is kind of unsettling.

Feels like I’m the only idiot here.

“Soul God. Do you think you’re the first Soul God?”

“Well, there were other soul-type classes, like Hercules... but I’ve never heard of another Soul God.”

“The universe is vast, and souls are limitless. For soul-type classes, the base aptitude must be identical, yes, but... there have been two even on Earth. You don’t think other worlds had them?”

That's true.

Even if the odds are infinitesimal, with infinite candidates, someone’s bound to hit them.

There was Hercules, and me.

“So they existed. What happened to them?”

“They realized it.”

“The truth of the universe that we just chanted.”

“Upon realizing it, they merged with the universe itself.”

“Every Soul God that emerged after eons of waiting ended up like that.”

“Each one realized it alone. And vanished alone.”

They realized the truth of the universe...

Is that something so easily realized?

“Strangely, Soul Gods never advanced beyond mid-tier gods.”

“Whenever one tried to become a high-tier deity—they vanished.”

“We’ve also realized the truth, but we didn’t merge with the universe.”

“But Soul Gods are different. For some reason, once they grasped the truth, they disappeared.”

The seven Apostles spoke with bitterness in their voices.

“An elf who became a Soul God after hundreds of millions of years disappeared upon becoming a mid-tier god.”

“A being from Theobar, under my domain, vanished as a low-tier god. Since then, we’ve stopped teaching the soul-origin principles.”

“Tsk. Teaching such things is a mistake.”

The Apostles voiced their regret over offering advanced knowledge.

As I watched their ridiculous behavior, one of them cleared his throat and spoke to me.

“Forgive us. We got a bit worked up.”

“No worries...”

“Beings of high soul stature tend to realize things on their own. High soul rank means frequent contact with the truth of the universe, after all.”

“So we decided to exclude high-tier species.”

“Instead... the lowest form of soul—humans. They would find it hard to grasp such truths.”

“We chose to support humans who showed the qualities of a Soul God.”

Suddenly, the topic shifts to support.

They supported humans?

I don’t remember receiving anything...

“To humans worthy of becoming a Soul God, we sent an item.”

“That item, which you no longer have.”

Wait.

Could it be...

“Are you talking about the Soul Sword?”

“You call it the Soul Sword? Yes.”

“A growth-type item. With the potential to evolve into a divine relic.”

“But if its owner is unworthy, it remains useless and dormant.”

“That damn thing stabbed us in the back...”

When I shared my story about the neutral divine relic, the Creators listened with great interest.

“That happened, did it?”

“We cannot control the egos that emerge from divine relics.”

“There’s a fast path to power, but if it insists on preserving the owner’s will, it must’ve been frustrating.”

“But that very mindset—that’s what we were looking for.”

“You must remain ordinary.”

“You must not realize the truth.”

Ah.

Damn it.

They're praising me like I did well, but it feels kinda off.

Like, "Phew, thank goodness you're dumb and didn’t realize anything."

No...

No, that’s not it.

I was just trying to protect myself.

Not because I was stupid.

If I had accepted SP without limits, I would’ve been assimilated too.

But then... Kim Jiho would’ve ceased to exist.

I still want to live as "Kim Jiho" for a long, long time.

When I say this out loud, the seven Athenas beam with joy.

“A fine thought.”

“We fully support it.”

“So then...”

“Your enemy—Zeus.”

“Would you be willing to deal with him... slowly?”

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