[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 239: Limit Breakthrough (4)

"Kim Jiho, you bastard. Seriously... What? I'm fake?"

Bang! Bang!

Lee Jinseong was cursing furiously while fighting off undead.

"Ugh... These damn Kim Jiho types. No matter how many I kill, they keep coming."

He smashed the skulls of skeleton warriors and zombies, cursing me with every blow.

The budding soul sprouting from Lee Jinseong’s body had grown a little more than before.

My impression, seeing such a guy...

‘Tch. Still the same.’

It didn’t feel like he was my friend anymore—more like I was meeting a ‘new person’ wearing a mask that resembled my friend’s face.

Though I’d destroyed his spirit sword, he’d already transcended as a soul god, and that wasn’t something I could undo.

Our perspectives had diverged completely.

‘Still…’

Seeing him struggle in that form, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry.

Maybe I did drop him into this world a bit too recklessly.

‘Astrape.’

The clone I’d left behind to observe soul germination revealed itself and incinerated all the undead.

The skeletons and zombies vanished without a trace.

"Ah! Damn, you scared me! What the hell, Kim Jiho. You gonna kill me just 'cause I cursed at you a little?"

"I'm not here to kill you."

"Then... why are you here?"

Lee Jinseong tensed up at the sight of me.

He looked completely different from when we used to be friendly.

"I’ve come to my senses a bit. And… I felt kind of bad about what happened..."

"...What? Are you kidding me? You said I had a fake soul! Are you saying that’s not true? Wait. Am I real?"

"Ah. You’re not the original Lee Jinseong’s soul. But you're not fake... You’re a new kind of real. You are."

At my confirmation, Lee Jinseong’s face twisted.

"Damn it. Don’t sugarcoat it. You're still saying I’m fake, aren't you?"

"No. You're a splendid, new kind of real."

"...Even so. What’s your real motive for coming here?"

"How’s life in this place?"

"It’s hell."

He cursed immediately at my question.

He’d grown quite rough.

Well, can’t blame him.

I did drop him into a world filled with undead.

"What if I wipe out the undead and bring more people from Earth?"

"Shit. It’s a world without internet or smartphones. How is that supposed to be good?"

Yeah, that would be boring.

"If you're sorry, send me back to Earth."

"I can send you back if you want. Though Zeus has descended there and half of humanity is already dead... But if you still want to go."

"...What!?"

Lee Jinseong was shocked.

He hurriedly asked me,

"What about our country? What happened to Korea!?"

"Korea is still safe. Zeus has only conquered up to the Himalayas. But it won’t take long for him to reach Korea."

“Ugh…! Then my family…”

His face twisted in anguish.

"Want me to bring them here? Your family."

"To this place…?"

"Yeah."

"To this hell full of forests and undead that pop up day and night?"

"I said I’ll wipe them all out. Besides, I’ll bring more people along, not just your family."

"More people…?"

"Yeah. People whose souls have sprouted like yours."

Lee Jinseong listened in silence, then asked,

"What about the ones whose souls haven't sprouted?"

"Even if they come here, they’d just be copies using fake souls. It wouldn’t mean anything."

Since I transfer their souls and regenerate their bodies, if the soul is fake to begin with, it’s meaningless.

Just a real-looking mannequin is all that gets created.

"Then my family too… by your logic, they’d have fake souls. Wouldn’t that be meaningless?"

"True. But your family… after witnessing Zeus's massacre of humanity, they were consumed by fear and their souls sprouted."

"What…?"

"Over ten million people have sprouted their souls because of Zeus. Your family is among them."

"Hah…"

Lee Jinseong was dumbfounded.

Out of 4 billion people, being one of 10 million isn’t common, yet his family happened to fall into that group.

"If their souls hadn’t sprouted, I was planning to imprint terror myself. But there was no need."

"...You said ten million awakened. Are you bringing them all here?"

"As many as possible."

Part of me wants to watch their soul development.

If the newly sprouted souls disappear this time, that’s it.

Even if time is reversed and bodies are revived...

There’s no guarantee the same soul sprouts will bloom a second time from fake souls.

And if everything is resolved…

And the souls sealed in the Spirit Realm return to their original bodies...

Then the newly born souls would have no place to go.

"I’ll settle these newly sprouted souls in a world that’s already destroyed and broken."

"..."

"Five planets should be enough for the remaining humanity to resettle."

I’ll prepare new homelands for them.

And while I’m at it, I’ll watch their soul growth too.

"You're telling people to settle here… but there's nothing here."

"I’ll dispatch some of my subordinate gods to help them. So the new humanity can settle."

In the past, I would’ve experimented on and managed these new souls.

Now, I just want to provide them a place and observe their behavior.

I don’t really want to manipulate human souls anymore...

And I’ve got plenty of time.

"People will be arriving soon. So be prepared."

"You…"

"For now, you're the boss of this planet."

* * *

"You want us to settle here?"

"Yeah."

Planet Kalvine.

After Drakia unleashed a meteor swarm, civilization here was completely destroyed.

Now, I’ve brought Kang Shia to this place—a barren land where massive craters were carved out by falling meteorites.

If it were just barren, it might still be livable.

But the countless meteors also kicked up huge clouds of dust, destabilizing the atmosphere.

"…Can people even live here?"

"Not as it is now. But…"

I lightly reached out my hand, and the dust cleared, revealing the sky.

"Earth, rise."

Rumble rumble rumble.

The ground trembled as the massive craters began to level out.

"Would be nice to have some plants too."

In the blink of an eye, the end-times landscape transformed into a lush green forest.

“Wow…”

Kang Shia looked at me with awe in her eyes.

Well, it’s not that impressive.

“You’ve seen and heard what’s happening on Earth, right?”

“Yes. The disaster that began in Greece… it’s engulfing all of humanity.”

“It’s about to start again. If that happens, humanity is finished.”

“Can’t you… stop it?”

“Not yet.”

While talking with Kang Shia, I continued to restore the planet Kalvine.

I cleared the thick dust in the atmosphere that was blocking the sun.

I enriched the barren land and created new plant life.

“You’re like a god. Truly.”

“Well, I’m a kind of deity.”

“Then… are the remaining 4 billion humans all going to settle here?”

“No, for now just 10 million. I’m planning to divide them — maybe 2 million each — and settle some on Eshtar too.”

“Two million…”

“But that number could increase later.”

If time is turned back…

And if the soul sprouts again in the returned bodies…

I might bring them over and let them settle too.

“If they stay on Earth, they won’t escape death.”

“…”

“Settle here and build a new foundation for humanity.”

“Is that… really the only way?”

“For now, yes. For the sake of human settlement, I’ll even send down gods.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

With the help of gods, we’ll pioneer this planet and nurture the humans with newly sprouted souls.

While time keeps looping back in the solar system, this place will continue progressing.

Eventually, the five planets that became humanity’s refuge might become even more powerful.

Kalvine was rapidly transforming into a livable world in real time.

Kang Shia looked at the changing scenery with a resolved expression and asked me,

“Understood. I’ll settle here. But… can I bring my family too?”

“If their souls sprout in the fear of death, then yes. Give me their names. I’ll try to push things so that their souls can emerge.”

“Do their souls have to sprout?”

“Yes. Otherwise, there’s no meaning.”

“…Understood.”

* * *

[Is that really all the Neutral SP you could convert?]

[The interest we’re earning on that Neutral SP is too small.]

“Yes, I’m still lacking in ability.”

[You’ll have to grow stronger.]

[We’ve waited for eons anyway.]

[Don’t be in a rush. Don’t try to force enlightenment.]

[We’ll give you plenty of time.]

[But show us that you’re continuing to grow.]

[Even little by little.]

The creators of Right Arm were disappointed with the amount of Neutral SP I could exchange, but they seemed willing to trust me and wait.

“How kind of them.”

– If you rush and try to awaken, you might vanish after achieving some growth.

“True.”

– But since they said they want to see progress… I guess I’ll have to keep increasing the amount of Neutral SP I offer them.

Yeah.

I can’t reduce it.

For now, I can blame my limits for giving so little, but if the amount ever drops, they might suspect I have other motives.

[Continue to slowly gather Neutral SP.]

My soul form can hold 340 trillion Neutral SP.

The SP exchange market is huge, so with interest, I’ll fill that soon enough…

No need to rush.

It’s more important to increase the limit, not just fill it.

[Zeus is moving.]

While I was negotiating with Right Arm and hiding the newly sprouted souls, Kim Jiho on Earth sent word of Zeus’s advance.

“Hmph… he’s moving fast.”

[He noticed you’re evacuating human souls.]

Before I could escape with more souls, he planned to devour them all.

Because of the Olympus Oath, his SP usage should be limited…

[That’s why he’s going for a quick and decisive end.]

If he waits, he might wither away.

So Zeus launches a blitz.

His darkness crosses the Himalayas and starts spanning the Atlantic Ocean.

“Can you send a clone to buy us time?”

[Not anymore. He’s going all-in.]

At this pace…

It must be a strain even for Zeus.

I checked his SP in his status window.

[SP - 874,001,400,324]

His SP dropped from over 1 trillion to 874 billion.

Even if it costs him SP, he’s determined to seize Earth quickly.

“Let’s start by extracting the sprouted souls.”

I evacuated the souls from countries that came into contact with Zeus first.

People from China, India, and Russia became the first evacuees.

“Uh…!”

“You’re Kim Jiho…?”

“Where are we?!”

Just before facing the darkness, I pulled them off Earth.

Now bewildered in a new world, the people recognized me, the one known as a god, and asked questions.

“Hey. You guys handle the explanation.”

I didn’t have time to answer every person.

I told my waiting apostles and Lee Jinseong to explain.

“Understood.”

“Sigh. They’re all foreigners… I only speak Korean.”

“Put a translation spell on him.”

“Yes, Soul God.”

And so, in a shattered world, humanity began to find a new foothold.

We started with just tens of thousands…

“Zeus. This bastard’s fast.”

[SP - 734,001,200,311]

In a blink, Zeus’s SP fell to the 700 billion range.

He’d already spent over 100 billion SP, breaking down fake souls as he went.

He was using everything he had to seize Earth.

Keeping up with his pace, I increased the evacuation speed too.

“Um… Kim Jiho-nim. There are too many people.”

“Otherwise, they’ll all die.”

“Over a million are already on Kalvine…”

“Just evacuating Chinese and Indian souls covers half the quota.”

Each planet was assigned two million people.

But the countries in Zeus’s path were so populous that we’d already passed halfway.

Over five million had been moved to the shattered world.

[Soul God. Evacuating souls?! I won’t allow this!]

Zeus quickly realized what I was doing after I evacuated hundreds of thousands in a short time.

His pace accelerated further.

“Wow. He’s spent over half his SP.”

Zeus devoured China and India, crossed the Atlantic, and reached America.

In less than a day, more than half of Earth was swallowed in darkness.

[First, I will dominate.]

[Even if my SP runs low, I will merge with Earth.]

[Your attacks won’t work on me, Soul God.]

[SP doesn’t matter. What’s suspicious is your pointless soul evacuation.]

[Before the Soul God does something foolish, I’ll completely conquer Earth and grind all human souls to dust.]

His thoughts echoed through the fake souls.

Even if his SP was depleted, he was determined to finish this quickly.

“Well, let him.”

I couldn’t stop Zeus’s advance yet anyway.

Let him dominate Earth for now.

Because once Zeus fully takes over Earth…

That’s when the real battle begins.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]