[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 498: The Chaotic Universe (5)

‘The end of the Golden Achievements? Does that mean all the chain achievements are finally complete?’

Yeongwoo blinked rapidly.

Well, it made sense.

After all, the Golden Ratio was a concept inherently tied to resets.

The first Golden Ratio achievement, “Golden Foundation,” required rainfall in two or more regions.

Then came “Golden Flood,” which needed five or more.

The following one, “Golden Journey,” instructed him to cause golden rain in foreign countries, and the final one, “Golden Typhoon,” bundled together nearly every kind of crisis one might face during a reset.

[Golden Typhoon]

| Summon the Golden Rain through four of the following methods:

-When there are more than seven mutants nearby.

-At the moment of death of a being with the #HeadOfState trait.

-While two beings with the #Chaebol and #Dragon traits are fighting each other.

-On the North American continent.

-When a second-tier or higher otherworldly being visits.

And not just tier-3, but tier-2 or higher?

That alone was proof the reset system had been connected to the universe from the very beginning.

‘So depending on the situation, a tier-2 being could have appeared, huh.’

Fortunately or unfortunately, Yeongwoo's Earth didn’t fall into that case.

But regardless, after countless twists and turns, he had finally made it.

『You have reached the end of the Golden Achievements!』

The very end of the golden trail.

Piiiuuuuut!

The rapidly spinning golden orb shot up into the sky, and soon after, golden waves spread out in all directions.

Fwaaaah!

Seeing this, the fierce warriors of the Western Alliance—who had been charging in with murderous glares—halted in their tracks and looked up.

It was irresistible.

The Golden Rain had a mysterious power that calmed the minds of those who saw it.

Shwaaaaaaa……

As the air was split into countless vertical golden lines, everyone present instinctively stretched out their palms to feel the rain.

But what actually landed in their hands wasn’t golden rain—

Pop! Pop! Pop!

—as expected, golden coins appeared out of thin air instead.

They were three coins, each bearing Yeongwoo’s face, with a value of 10,000 karma.

“Huh?”

“Coins…?”

Realizing the face on the commemorative coin looked different from what they were used to, the people all turned to stare at Yeongwoo.

Yeongwoo tilted his head, then looked over to Utah.

“What’s with their reactions?”

“When someone receives commemorative coins, two of them have to be paid to the person whose face is on the coin.”

“What?”

“That’s the rule in the West.”

“They take two coins instead of one?!”

Yeongwoo was starting to understand where Utah’s unexpectedly high combat power came from.

“You rained Golden Rain in Utah too, didn’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Since when?”

“Think it was from the third day.”

In Utah as well, in accordance with Western Alliance agreements, two of the coins were collected from each person.

‘Then it definitely would’ve been a powerhouse by mid-game.’

Satisfied with the explanation, Yeongwoo turned toward two people approaching with sour expressions.

『The Storm of Nevada』

『Steel Oregon』

A middle-aged man with long white hair represented Nevada, while the significantly younger woman was Oregon’s strongest.

Like the others, they were holding Yeongwoo’s commemorative coins and didn’t look pleased about it.

Neither had drawn their weapons yet, but the atmosphere made it clear they were ready to at any moment.

“Why the hell are you even here? We didn’t invite you.”

Nevada opened the conversation in a hostile tone, then flicked one of the coins at Yeongwoo.

Ping!

“……”

Yeongwoo quietly watched as his commemorative coin landed by his feet, then spoke in a calm voice.

“You don’t have to offer your coins, you know.”

“What?”

“I’m here to claim the unoccupied lands of the West. I plan to collect rent from the aliens and use that money to run Earth’s fleet.”

This time, Oregon furrowed her brow deeply and joined the conversation.

“Claim the unoccupied land? Go pull that crap somewhere else. We’re not going to sit back and let you take our land.”

“Then close your eyes.”

“…Huh?”

Yeongwoo, having already learned the Western-style way of resolving things through his dealings with Utah, wasted no time.

He was already dashing toward the two with tremendous speed.

Shwreeeeeeek!

Even faster than Utah, who had moved like a bolt of lightning.

Baaam!

In the blink of an eye, Yeongwoo was in front of Oregon, swinging his elbow straight into her right shoulder and crushing it—so she couldn’t draw her sword.

Crunch!

“Ugh?”

Surprisingly, Oregon didn’t even scream.

Yeongwoo glanced again at her title with a thoughtful look.

『Steel Oregon』

So that’s why she was called “Steel.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Meanwhile—

“Not very polite for a guest, are you?”

Nevada had drawn his sword in front of him.

Despite witnessing Yeongwoo’s absurd movement, he hadn’t backed down in the slightest.

‘Are all Westerners like this?’

Yeongwoo had already predicted Nevada’s movements and even the path the sword would take.

So he simply waited.

Shhhraaaash!

That is, until Nevada’s sword was swung.

And then—

Kaaaang!

Yeongwoo deliberately grabbed the opponent’s blade with his bare hand and spoke.

“Still not enough?”

Nevada, who had extended his sword, and Oregon, who had been clutching her shoulder, both gaped simultaneously.

“Uh…?”

“What the hell?”

As expected, it had an effect on them too.

After all, he had just stopped the blade—barehanded—of the strongest warrior in the region.

Who wouldn’t be shocked?

“I acknowledge that your fighting spirit and combat ability aren’t ordinary. But even if all of you come at me at once, you couldn’t leave a single scratch on me.”

With Yeongwoo gripping Nevada’s blade barehanded as he said this, no one could raise any objection.

They were seeing it with their own eyes.

“Is it really that hard to hand over a bit of empty land? It’s not like I’m asking for war—I’m just asking for some land.”

Besides, as he had already told Utah, Yeongwoo didn’t actually need the local representatives’ consent.

He had already been acknowledged by Earth itself as the planetary representative—and could easily crush anyone within the planet with brute force.

Even so, Yeongwoo was trying to persuade them with words—for the sake of his tenants.

“I’m charging high rent to those tenants. If you so much as harass them, there really will be a bloodbath.”

In business, quality control is just basic sense.

“Still… shouldn’t people come first?”

Nevada tried to protest.

But Yeongwoo’s murderous gaze turned toward him.

“That’s exactly why I haven’t killed you yet. You should be grateful we’re both human.”

With that, Yeongwoo tossed a slime core to Oregon, whose shoulder had been shattered.

“Wear this. You’ll recover quickly. Try for round two if you’re feeling confident.”

Then he casually took the sword still in his grasp from Nevada.

“This is your tuition fee.”

“What?”

“In other words, the price of your life.”

“……”

Yeongwoo had once deceived cosmic entities with sheer logic when he lacked strength.

Now that he had strength, manipulating his opponents was mere child’s play.

Swish.

The sword taken from Nevada was, regrettably, of Epic grade.

「Epic Tale」 – Epic One-Handed Sword

【+1% damage for each Epic item you possess】

Still, for an Epic weapon, it had considerable potential.

‘Huh, this is pretty unique.’

Eventually, when he formed his "Ten-Thousand Sword Mountain", at least ten thousand of them were bound to be Epic.

‘Not bad at all.’

When Yeongwoo turned his gaze to Oregon, the golden rain falling from the sky stopped right on cue.

Swaaah.

“You should pay your tuition fee too.”

Yeongwoo reached toward Oregon’s waist and grabbed the hilt of her sword.

“What? You crazy bastard—”

But Yeongwoo’s movement was so quick that by the time Oregon swung her arm, the sword was already gone.

“Why is everyone so poor? Utah was the richest of the bunch.”

The sword taken from Oregon was also Epic grade, just like Nevada’s.

Well, Epic-grade gear could be bought straight from merchants if you had the money.

「Patience」 – Epic One-Handed Sword

【Threatening Patience】

‘Threatening… Patience?’

The tooltip seemed a bit contradictory, making Yeongwoo tilt his head.

A follow-up description soon appeared.

Flash!

【Threatening Patience】

|If this sword is not used, gain +1% attack power every second, up to a maximum of 50%.

‘Oh? If this works out…’

Simply put, if he held onto the weapon without using it, his attack power would accumulate by 1% per second, maxing out at 50%.

So if the effect also applied within the Catalog…

‘That means a permanent 50% boost.’

Yeongwoo immediately registered the two swords in his Weapon Catalog.

Shwaaah!

[Weapon Catalog]

〔24〕

The Catalog was updated to show 24 weapons, and the number of inactive effects remained at three.

[3 inactive effects detected.]

| Items: Golden Trail, 「Bastard」, 「Aratubank」

| Reason: Bound effects

In other words, Threatening Patience was active even inside the Catalog.

‘A lot of this gear only shines when you have the Catalog.’

The Catalog’s value felt all the more profound.

But the real surprise for Yeongwoo was yet to come.

Piiiiing!

A sharp tone rang out, followed by an achievement message.

[Achievement Unlocked: Golden Typhoon]

| Achievement Grade: Legendary

| Rank Achieved: First

‘Ah… finally.’

With the golden rain stopping, the system had confirmed the completion of Golden Typhoon.

「Recommended Achievement List has been updated.」

「You have 1 unclaimed achievement reward.」

And now, finally, the reward he had worked so hard for appeared before him.

‘Let’s see what was worth all this trouble.’

Yeongwoo confirmed the reward, and his vision was immediately filled with golden light as white letters began to inscribe themselves from the side.

『Through the Golden Journey, you have become the master of the Golden Nebula.』

‘…Golden Nebula?’

『You can now make Golden Rain fall on other planets.』

Yeongwoo tilted his head.

‘What’s that supposed to mean? You need an orb to create Golden Rain. Where do I get one of those?’

But then, the next line seized his full attention.

『Each time you cause Golden Rain on another planet, the entire Earthship will be covered in Golden Rain.』

Reading the message, Yeongwoo’s scalp tingled and his eyes snapped wide open.

‘What? Earthship? You damn bastard… how do you know Earth turned into a ship?’

Yeongwoo tried to start a verbal fight with the Achievement System.

But his question was ignored.

『A divine artifact to operate the Golden Nebula will now be delivered. Prepare yourself.』

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]