Overgeared

A month had passed since Chiyou’s death.

“From now on, you are the leader of this nation.”

Grid ceded the throne to Lord. There was no opposition.

Grid was the god who ruled the world. Everyone around him understood that there was no need for him to cling to the mere status of emperor.

Above all, Lord was the ideal emperor. The young prince had gone on adventures to follow in his father’s footsteps. He grew up watching and interacting with all kinds of different humans. He knew how to distinguish between good and evil, wisdom and ignorance, and evil and wickedness.

Above all, he sympathized with the pain others felt.

“I’ll come visit often.”

As emperor, Lord toured the empire every day. He used the warp gates installed in each city and town as well as his abilities as a Transcendent quite a lot. Thanks to this, he was able to examine how the people of the empire lived and could devise and implement the necessary policies.

The lives of the empire’s subjects improved by the day. It reached a point where Lauel could no longer find a reason to remain prime minister.

“I’ve been very good at racking in skilled people for twenty-three years. Prince Lord... Well, an emperor has his own capabilities, but he must also have a lot of skilled people next to him. I am going to retire for now.”

Lauel decided to focus on reality.

“First of all, I will put pressure on the National Assembly and the president’s office. I will threaten that the country will be in trouble if they don’t allow your polygamy.”

Grid replied, “Y-Yes... But I don’t want polygamy. I just want to marry Yura and Jishuka.”

“Isn’t that the same thing? Whatever, don’t worry. I will make all the wedding plans.”

“You’re wrong. And I will make all the wedding plans. Yura and Jishuka seem to want to choose their own wedding venues and honeymoon locations.”

“Um, I understand.”

Lauel was phenomenal at using his skills in reality. Firstly, he quickly subdued the South Korean government. It was simple. The amount of taxes that Grid paid in one year was more than any large company.

Secondly, there were over ten Overgeared members with Korean nationality such as Yura, Jishuka, Lauel, Peak Sword, and Toon. The amount of taxes they paid was astronomical. They were diplomatically strong, so there was no way the government would allow them to leave South Korea.

South Korea had recorded the lowest birth rate in the world for more than a century. Grid’s promise to have two wives and many children was almost patriotic.

“If Shin Youngwoo immigrates, I will leave South Korea too. God Grid is the symbol of South Korea!”

Peak Sword also helped a lot. He stood by Lauel and pressured the government the whole time. As the president of the Korean Patriotic Association, which was known for being an extreme right wing party, the announcement that he would leave South Korea made the government realize the seriousness of the situation, so they quickly gave in.

***

Lauel quickly found Agnus. “It feels very inspiring to see you use your skills in real life.”

“...Is that your only reaction? You aren’t even surprised,” Agnus wondered.

“The world is always changing. It’s not a big deal. By the way, when using skills, do you also have concepts like level and stats? I’m particularly curious about the HP part.”

Lauel endlessly barraged Agnus with questions the whole night. Agnus had to suffer through all of them.

***

Kraugel, Zibal, Hurent, and Haster were elected members of the US Congress. The US government had persuaded them after noticing an unusual change in the world since the discovery of an asteroid flying toward Earth.

No matter what, these four men were heroes who had absolute support from the American people. Becoming members of the Congress went more smoothly than the US government had predicted.

“The government will establish a new player department centered around the four of you.”

“Player department...?”

“This department will respond to changes in the world caused by Ghamid. We’re still working on the name, so don’t worry about it. The president has high hopes for the four of you. This is a way to maintain communication with Grid.”

“Is the last thing you mentioned the key point of this department?”

“The government believes that if we win Grid’s trust, we can easily rally players from other countries.”

“That’s right. However, you should refrain from using Grid in a bad way. Many people won’t forgive that, including us.”

“Of course... I am well aware of that.”

Similar things were happening in many countries around the world, especially in those that were advanced enough to precisely observe changes in space.

“I have high expectations for you, Mister Hao. Your friendships with Kraugel and Grid have been noticed by the higher-ups.”

“...Of course.”

The Chinese Communist Party relied on Hao. He couldn’t bear to turn away from his country even though his country had abandoned him several times. He knew the tendencies of those in charge and had good intentions toward Kraugel and Grid.

‘If I don’t want the communist party to go astray, I should establish myself among them.’

Meanwhile, in Japan...

“H-Hey...!”

Damian continued to refuse the government’s request because he wanted to focus on Satisfy, where Isabel was.

***

Another few months passed. During this period of time when the players from their respective countries had less activities in real life, Satisfy had all sorts of content. This content had been created by players, who had set the rules after agreeing upon them.

In general, the competitions were limited based on the number of participants, their level, class, items, and skills. They were perceived as sports such as football and basketball, or marathons. They were immensely popular. New players rose to fame one after another.

***

“Ohh, Grid! Welcome!”

At the border of Valhalla, Grid was invited by Ares to observe the Battle for Territory. He was accompanied by the four princesses. Grid wanted to give them a break from the stress of schoolwork.

“How are the little ones?”

“Balhara king, hello! I am Phisia.”

“Name’s Pansy! Hello, king!”

“I am Iris.”

“Pfft… I’m Lily.”

“Oh my, they’re so cute...”

Ares’ expression relaxed. The babies were only around six months old. Perhaps he thought this because they resembled their mothers but, fortunately, they looked smart. The way the little girls greeted Ares from their father’s arms while wearing different colored dresses was so cute that Ares wanted to bite them.

Ares and his entourage surrounded the princesses and made a fuss.

“Do you want a Cola with ice?”

“It’s amazing that they can already speak. Can I poke them?”

“Wow, this is how it looks like to get married and have children in the game.”

Grid’s eyes darkened as he looked at his beloved princesses while chuckling.

‘They are actual foxes.’

They were Grid’s children. The princesses learned to talk quickly. Their pronunciation was definitely not the best, but their vocabulary was wide enough and they even learned imperial etiquette, but they acted like complete babies. They deliberately pronounced things badly and clung to their father’s arms as if they didn’t know anything.

...It was probably a bother for them to give proper greetings. Grid was already worried about the future of the scheming princesses, so he was sweating.

Ares led their group to their distinguished guest seats. Grid’s was placed even higher than that of Ares, the king. Grid was surrounded by the princesses, who clung to his shoulders instead of sitting next to him, and laughed awkwardly.

“What type of treatment is this?”

“There are too many eyes on you to treat you as a friend. How am I supposed to try to be on equal ground as you? Just relax. Thank you for being here.”

An insidious smile spread across the princesses’ faces as they alternately stared at Ares, who burst out laughing, and Grid. They realized that their father was important no matter where he went and started scheming.

“I know what you’re thinking about. Yikes!”

Noe scolded the princesses, only to suffer. Lily’s blood magic caught his tail.

Grid sighed and cautioned the children. Fortunately, the princesses listened very well, but not because they were scared. They really loved their father.

‘S-So cute...’

This was why Grid couldn’t be strict with them. The moment Grid relaxed, the Battle for Territory began. This was one of the most popular sports lately. The nation that won the competition was rewarded with their opponent’s territory by transferring a portion of the taxes.

‘It’s a very peaceful conflict of interests.’

The world had changed a lot. Grid seemed happy.

“Hey! Fight fairly, you @#*&^#*!!”

“These idiots can’t fight, hey *&#$!@#! Are you trying to embarrass the kingdom?”

“......”

The spectators in the stands and the soldiers started cursing at each other.

‘...It’s far from being peaceful…’

Flustered, Grid ordered the God Hands to cover the ears of the princesses.

“Hah, Immersion is the essence of sports,” Ares said while gulping down his Cola.

***

Earth observed through satellites was rather dark. This was because there weren’t that many lights that lit up the dark land due to a decrease in electricity usage.

“So far, it isn’t very noticeable, but... Judging by the growth of players, this will soon be an international issue.”

In Seoul, South Korea, chairman Lim Cheolho looked down at the neon-lit city despite it being late at night and sighed.

The skinny old man, the head of the thirty-three scientists, nodded slowly. “Yes, I guess so...”

The old man, whose true identity wasn’t known even by Chairman Lim Cheolho, used to act like a wise man who knew everything in the world. However, now he seemed rather lost. He had been acting like this since the players destroyed all the Full Moon Fortresses.

“I can’t believe it no matter how many times I think about it. I didn’t think the cultivators would be so helpless.”

“The growth rate of players has accelerated drastically.”

“This is purely because of Grid. I never thought he would increase the level of civilization using overwhelming force, technology, and connections with people from all walks of life...”

“So the odds of Earth have gone up? If people join forces with Grid, even if cultivators appear in reality and attack humanity...”

“Don’t look down on the asteroid. In a hypothetical simulation, it must’ve observed the failure of the cultivation world. Therefore, it will take a different approach. My guess is that it will choose to assimilate with Satisfy’s environment.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means that Satisfy, not the cultivation world, will encroach on the planet. This is better. It will be a great environment for players to thrive.”

Only a few days later, governments around the world would be in a state of emergency. It was detected that the amount of time people spent in their capsules had increased significantly, disrupting social activities.

The S.A. Group was subjected to various condemnations and pressure, just as Chairman Lim Cheolho had predicted. The company was turned upside down, but Chairman Lim Cheolho remained nonchalant.

The world would soon change anyway.

rainbowturtle’s Thoughts

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Editor: Murasaki

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