Chapter 160

Within a Japanese-style mansion in Tokyo…

"How annoying." Shizuru frowned when she saw the effects JiHan was having on the world.

'If only my Gift's rank had gone up as well…'

Her Gift, 'Edit' was SSS-rank. It'd started at S-rank, but she'd managed to raise it to SSS thanks to the use of many Akashic pages. She'd hoped her Gift might rise another rank during the mass upgrade of supporting Gifts, but she had no such luck.

Instead, the previously scorned supporting Gifts became the focus of attention, which screwed with her supply of Akashic pages.

'I could spend more money to bypass regulations pages until now.'

The South Korean government had cooperated with other countries to block the sales of Akashic pages to her SZ Corporation, but it wasn't like every country in the world had taken part. 

As long as they received money, some countries didn't care about what Shizuru did to others. Although her expenses had increased, the supply of Akashic pages had remained stable.

'If the demand for supporting Gifts increases and their usefulness is recognized, then the pages will skyrocket in price.'

It was manageable at the moment, but even she might not be able to afford a continuous supply of the pages if their price shot up. She could only hope that the newly described supporting Gifts weren't that useful.

As she was closely monitoring the situation on the market…

[Everyone~ My 'Nurture' Gift became SS-rank~]

The Bloom Guild's guild master, who was also known as JiHan's girlfriend, uploaded what became the latest trending video on Battle Tube.

'That woman had the Nurture Gift?'

Shizuru thought that not even JiHan would be bold enough to appoint his girlfriend as the guild master, but she never imagined the woman would have the 'Nurture' Gift. If she'd known, she would have brainwashed her as well when she was infiltrating the Bloom Guild!

Filled with rising regret, Shizuru turned on the stream.

"Hello everyone~ I'm Lee HaYeon, the guild master of the Bloom Guild. Now that information on supporting Gifts has come to light, I wanted to share some tips~"

Shizuru had an ominous feeling.

- Did the guild master have the 'Nurture' Gift?

- I thought it was weird for her to become the guild master just because she was his girlfriend, hahaha.

- If your Nurture Gift's SS-rank, does it mean it was originally A-rank?

"Ah! Originally, it was A-rank, but thanks to JiHan… No, Mr. Sung, giving me an Akashic page, it increased to S-rank!"

- Aah. So Akashic pages can fortify supporting Gifts?

- Isn't an Akashic page worth like 300 million? JiHan spent a crazy amount of money.

- They've become even more expensive lately. I heard people from SZ are paying even more for them.

- Doesn't SZ belong to Shizuru? Regulations seem to be useless.

- Honestly, if I could sell something that costs 300 million for 400, I wouldn't hesitate.

The prices of the Akashic pages were high due to the regulations, but then HaYeon dropped another bomb.

"Everyone, pay attention! This is the effect of my Gift!"

People were shocked after the effects of Nurture Gift were revealed.

- What's that growth rate??

- Why's the Bloom Guild only full of monsters? The guild master, Mr. Sung, and even Sae-ah, who just won her promotion match.

- Isn't that growth rate just a monster breeding ground?

- Shouldn't it have been kept a secret?

- Since she's revealing such an amazing ability, I think someone is about to appear…

Ba-ba-bam—!

[R.E.Gates has donated 100,000 GP.]

[I want to personally offer a recruitment proposal to the Bloom Guild's master. We're offering a billion dollars and 2% of America First's shares.]

"Ah! I also received a recruitment offer from Mr. Gates…!"

HaYeon's Nurture effect was something anyone involved in guilds would go crazy for. Even when her Gift was A-rank in JiHan's past life, she was America First's second team's guild master.

Of course, she was even more valuable with her Gift at SS-rank, and Gates gave her a huge offer as soon as the effects of her Gift were revealed.

"I decided to dedicate myself to the Bloom Guild. Thanks for the offer, but I'm sorry!"

- Wow, she flat-out rejected such an offer.

- What's so great about the Bloom Guild?

- The guild master should have a lot of shares.

- The 2% shares in America First should be more valuable than her shares in the Bloom Guild, hahaha.

"Since you've made such a good offer, I'll give you a tip. You can achieve similar effects if you use Akashic pages on people with the Nurture Gift. Although not to this extent, with an S-rank, you can focus on nurturing up to three people~" HaYeon kindly advised him to nurture other talents.

- Won't revealing that diminish the Bloom Guild's position?

- Yes. It seems that other guilds will also operate their own growth-focused guilds.

- No. The Bloom Guild can only take a limited number of people anyway. The best players will still go there for the higher growth rates.

- Still, giving tips like that is a bit…

Shizuru's expression stiffened. 'This will make the prices of Akashic pages increase again…'

No, it wasn't just about the price. She was still able to acquire pages, even if they were at a premium, but the actual supply of pages was probably about to become inadequate.

"Ah, many people are wondering why I'm giving these tips." HaYeon smiled. "Mr. Sung was upset, saying that the Akashic pages regulation wasn't properly enforced. I'm doing this to raise the prices a bit and ensure it's hard for a certain someone across the sea to get them."

Shizuru bit her lip when she heard she was the target of the announcement, then picked up her phone. "Buy every Akashic page you can right this moment, even if you have to pay double!"

- U-understood, Shizuru…!

Following her orders, an SZ Company employee hurriedly began calling to purchase Akashic pages.

Following her call, she received a few reports from her agents.

- The government tightened its regulations. Moreover, prices have skyrocketed. Even those we already made contracts with are refusing to deliver the goods now. Even when we offer more money, they prefer to hand them over to their guilds…!

- The Battle Net Management Office came after hearing reports of illegal transactions and confiscated the Akashic pages! Even though we'd been bribing them all this time!

- Since Akashic Pages recently doubled in value, it seems they won't listen to us at all. The prices are still soaring!

"These bastards…" Shizuru gritted her teeth. She was furious at how quickly the governments had acted.

"Haa…" She took a deep breath and calmly assessed the situation. 'I won't be able to maintain control and Enchantment on such a scale anymore.'

Even if her Editing Gift was SSS-rank, she couldn't keep so many people Enchanted without the help of Akashic pages. If she didn't have access to as many Akashic pages, then her Enchantments could break at any moment if they were too widespread.

She calmly assessed the people she had under her control and classified them into five levels of importance on a circular graph.

'The one who's most important is…' Of course, she wrote down the Sword King's name in the center of the innermost circle. Even if the Enchantment on Japan's political and business figures all broke, she needed to keep the Sword King, Ito Ryuhei, in her grasp.

That way, even if her position in Japan diminished, she could maintain her place thanks to being the Sword King's master.

Her eyes shone with a chilling light. 'Even if everyone betrays me, you must be mine, Sword King.' 

With that thought in mind, she went to reinforce her Enchantment on him and took some fruits and drinks from a housekeeper before going to the Sword King's training ground within the grand mansion.

Whish. Whish—!

His two swords, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, flew through the sky. Following them, the swords on the ground rose and began to fly as well. The Sword King was using the ultimate form of swordsmanship, Blade Control, to control hundreds of swords at the same time.

His eyes were closed, and a sharp energy flowed out of him as if he were a sword.

"Ryuhei, I'm here," Shizuru gently said as she put the plate of fruit on the desk in the corner of the training room.

"Shizuru, could you wait for a moment? I think I've found a clue to completing the hundred swords." Unlike usual, the Sword King didn't look at her—he was completely engrossed in training.

'He started training harder after he saw JiHan's videos… but is he already close to completing it?'

As expected of the top Warrior. Even though JiHan was fiercely chasing him, the Sword King was still undisputedly Earth's strongest Warrior, and he was doing his best to prepare to crush JiHan in the upcoming Korea-Japan game.

"I'll continue now," he said.

A hundred swords floated through the air and moved around for the next hour.

'I'm right here, but he's just training?' Despite witnessing such an incredible sight, Shizuru, who was watching from the side, grew increasingly anxious.

The Sword King, who'd usually hugged Shizuru when she quietly observed his training, was overly concentrated. She'd usually admire his focus and let it pass, but instead, she thought, 'This won't do…'

Thanks to HaYeon's stream, Akashic pages had shot up in price and become more scarce. Shizuru, who was likely to lose a lot of influence in Japan, was dissatisfied that the Sword King was only focusing on training and not paying attention to her.

That's why she slipped off a layer of her clothing. "Ryuhei, look at me."

"Shizuru…? Didn't I ask you to wait?"

"No. I can't wait."

She increased her Enchantment, and the Sword King let out a sigh. Just a little bit more, and he could have completed his technique. Why couldn't she wait…?! 

That disappointment disappeared as soon as he saw Shizuru's alabaster skin.

"Shizuru, you need to be punished."

"Yes, punish me quickly."

A twisted smile formed on his lips, and he completely forgot his frustration as he was completely Enchanted again.

After HaYeon's stream, JiHan returned home and saw a message related to the Thunder God.

[The constellation 'Thunder God' has a suitable offer for you.]

"Finally."

[The Thunder God has given you the rare 'Hellfire' stat.]

"…?" JiHan blinked. Why had the Thunder God granted him something unrelated to his abilities?

[The Thunder God says he obtained it after paying a huge price to the Fire God.]

The Thunder God somehow seemed offended by JiHan's lack of reaction.

'Is it related to my red lightning?'

He'd created his red lightning by infusing the Phoenix's flames with his usual lightning. It seemed like the Thunder God had gotten interested in him after he saw JiHan's red lightning technique and was pushing him to further develop it.

And as JiHan expected…

[The constellation 'Thunder God' requests that you complete your red lightning by fusing the Lightning Seal and Hellfire.]

[Upon completing the red lightning, you will receive the unique 'Red Lightning' stat along with other great rewards.]

[Will you accept this request?]

The Thunder God was offering him rewards if he completed the red lightning, but JiHan refused.

"I don't want to."

[The Thunder God is surprised by your answer.]

[The Thunder God is furious at your audacity.]

[He threatens to immediately stop supporting you.]

JiHan laughed at the Thunder God's threat.

"Audacity? If you don't like it, then don't support me in the first place."

[The Thunder God is outraged at encountering such a foolish player.]

"Are you angry? If you're angry, just leave."

Swish. Swish—

JiHan moved his hand as if he were chasing away flies. He wasn't intimidated by the constellation.

"I'm the one who'd have to complete the red lightning, not you, and you offer it as a reward? How dare you try to scam me?"

Since the Thunder God seemed so interested in the red lightning, JiHan realized he was in the dominant position in the trade.

Sure enough…

[The Thunder God asks you what you want.]