[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 571: The Black Zone (3)

Jeonggu, who dreams of dying a natural death.

And Yeongwoo, who prepares for the murder that will one day come.

These two men—father and son, opposite in disposition to the point of near incompatibility—were holding hands when Madam Kanaph muttered with a pale face.

—They said everyone else in this family was normal… That was a lie.

Well, when the head of the clan isn’t even sane, how could any other member of the same family be?

“Here it comes…!”

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo had already begun transferring a full 1 billion Karma to Jeonggu.

Shiiiiiing!

“Uuh?”

A massive sinking sensation struck as Jeonggu’s balance shot upward at a crazed pace, and Yeongwoo quickly cautioned him.

“Start raising your stats little by little from now on.”

“…What?”

“If you dump a billion Karma all at once, your head might literally explode.”

“Eek.”

Yeongwoo wasn’t joking.

A billion Karma converts into one million stat points.

And because side effects occur even from stat surges below the ten-thousand range, dumping a million at once could very well lead to actual shock-induced death.

“Hurry, raise your stats…!”

As he kept the transfer going and urged Jeonggu on, Yeongwoo suddenly fell silent and widened his eyes.

“Why… what? What is it?”

Jeonggu, unnerved by his son’s expression, looked frightened.

Yeongwoo scowled and swore.

“Ah, fuck.”

“Why, what’s wrong? What happened?”

“I just realized—it's not 1 billion.”

“…What?”

“No wonder it felt too cheap.”

“Then how much is it?”

Yeongwoo squeezed his eyes shut.

“Four billion. All four stats need to hit ‘limit.’”

“…What?”

“How much have you used so far?”

“R-right now? Maybe… about 300 million…?”

“…Whew.”

Three hundred million wasn’t even 10% of what was required.

So undoing the whole thing was still perfectly possible.

But Yeongwoo needed someone to watch his back in the Black Zone, and he also had to slowly increase the number of Catalog holders.

‘Still, 4 billion for a single person? That’s rough.’

If he turned Jeonggu into a post-human weapon, he would have about 2.5 billion left.

Not a small amount—but not nearly enough either.

This was effectively the clan’s current retained capital.

‘I’ll have to replenish it inside the Black Zone.’

But the Black Zone was a world utterly beyond prediction.

Even Yeongwoo, who had been fearlessly charging forward until now, hesitated at this moment.

Then Jeonggu slowly loosened his grip on Yeongwoo’s hand and muttered.

“…Four billion sounds a bit much, doesn’t it?”

Just moments ago his eyes had been shining with fierce determination, but now he was back to the same old Jeonggu.

“….”

Yeongwoo sighed softly and grabbed his father’s retreating hand again.

Grip!

“…Huh?”

“You’re the founder of our clan, aren’t you? If you don’t want to disgrace our name, you need to be at least somewhat strong.”

“…!”

Jeonggu’s eyes widened.

“You can’t mean…”

“Total of 4 billion. I’ll authorize it. But you’re going to earn every bit of what it costs.”

With that, Yeongwoo transferred the enormous sum and tossed the Aratubank artifact to him.

“Hug that thing tight. With 4 billion worth of stats, your head will explode otherwise.”

Four billion Karma was enough to bring every stat to 1,000,000—the maximum.

This was a change Jeonggu, who had lived as a “small creature” for most of his life, absolutely could not endure unprotected.

“I’m supposed to hold this?”

As Jeonggu spoke and began to pour the Karma into his stats, he felt something massive rising from deep inside his body.

“Guh…!”

It felt like a huge tidal wave crashing through the interior of his body.

Then Jeonggu’s pupils began glowing gold.

Hwaaaa!

Yeongwoo quickly asked.

“How much have you used now?”

“T-t… two billion?”

“Then dump the rest at once. The Aratubank will protect you.”

The Aratubank could block mental attacks, and Yeongwoo himself had relied on it when surpassing his own species limit.

【Inviolability】

| This shield cannot be destroyed and blocks most non-physical damage and mental attacks.

But since Jeonggu had never experienced something like this, he hesitated—so Yeongwoo kicked him hard in the thigh.

Thud!

“Get it together! This is where you start paying for that money!”

“S-son of a…!”

Cold sweat poured down Jeonggu’s chin.

He felt as if he were standing at the edge of a roller coaster’s drop.

“….”

And finally—

Hwaaah!

He poured in the remaining 2 billion Karma all at once.

In an instant, every stat hit the maximum value of 1,000,000.

The tidal wave in his body crashed upward, bursting into his head.

“Ahh…!”

As if hallucinating, Jeonggu stared past the empty air, staggering back.

Yeongwoo quickly grabbed the Aratubank slipping from his hands.

“You see the ‘end’?”

“E-end? What are you talking abou—”

At that moment, with his mind reeling, the “end” truly appeared before Jeonggu.

「You have arrived at the ‘End.’」

“…Huh?”

Then a golden tide emerged from nowhere, sweeping his vision and forming a new message.

「Your Prestige Level has finally been unlocked!」

As Jeonggu read the Prestige-unlock message, Yeongwoo also sensed it—the change in Jeonggu’s presence.

Where previously Jeonggu’s existence felt no different from drifting air, now he had mass.

“D-did it work?”

“This is only the beginning.”

As Yeongwoo spoke, a new system window appeared in Jeonggu’s sight.

Flash!

「Calculating initial Prestige Level…」

“Initial level…?”

“All your past achievements are added together.”

As Yeongwoo said, Jeonggu’s meaningful life events were tallied.

「+1 for surviving a Reset」

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“Oh.”

「+1 for dungeon clearance」

「+3 for founding a clan」

「+2 for discovering a Grade-4 entity」

「+7 for discovering a Grade-3 entity」

「+2.6 for witnessing planetary displacement」

「+4.4 for witnessing stellar displacement」

With the stellar-movement entry complete, the column of achievements stopped.

Fiiing!

「Prestige Level confirmed: 21!」

“I-I think this really is the end now…”

Jeonggu, who had landed on his backside at some point, said weakly.

Yeongwoo placed a hand on his hip and asked:

“What level are you now?”

“T-twenty-one…”

“No wonder you still feel like a tiny bug.”

“…What?”

“But I’ll turn you into a person! Block this!”

With that, Yeongwoo drew Bastard, the Demon Sword.

Jeonggu reflexively lifted the Aratubank.

“W-what the hell are you doing?!”

“You have to fight me! If you go out like this, you’ll die in the Black Zone!”

SHAAAAANG!

Bastard tore through the air, and a sharp impact rang from the surface of the shield.

KAAANG!

Yeongwoo had really attacked his father.

“You lunatic?!”

“No, isn’t it crazier that you only reached Level 21 after eating 4 billion?!”

“What?”

“This is the magic that’ll make you useful!”

Yeongwoo raised the sword again.

Whoosh!

To trigger “Duel with a Planetary Ship Owner,” a proper exchange was needed.

Meaning Jeonggu had to counter with full effort.

“Fight back!”

Yeongwoo issued his last warning and swung the sword.

Jeonggu, retreating by instinct, clenched his teeth.

He had a myth-grade item in hand—why not try?

“You little bastard…!”

Finally, for the first time, Jeonggu stepped forward and angled the Aratubank’s edge forward.

Shk.

Then he thrust it forward in a quick strike—

a shield jab.

SHAAA!

“What?”

The unexpected shield technique made Yeongwoo tilt Bastard mid-swing to guard.

The Aratubank slammed into the sword’s blade.

KWAANG!

It felt like being rammed by a car.

‘Well now… he’s better than I thought.’

Yeongwoo realized it clearly now—

his father had surprisingly high combat intuition.

“Hyaaaap!”

As the shield dipped briefly, another rapid jab followed.

SHAAA!

‘Now I can see it.’

After reading the style, the follow-up looked almost slow.

A “shield jab” was now an expected attack type.

TAANG!

Yeongwoo twisted the blade to block his father’s jab and fired a lightning-fast middle kick.

PWAAAACK!

“Guhk?”

Jeonggu couldn’t react at all.

One kick and he bent over, drooling.

“Isn’t this a bit much? You’re basically killing me—!”

He lifted his head, dazed, and saw his son lowering the sword.

Swish.

“That’s the kind of danger you need to be reborn. Besides—you succeeded, didn’t you?”

“Huh? Succeeded what…?”

At that moment, Jeonggu’s pupils flashed with a strange light.

Paaa!

「+10.4 for Duel with the Planetary Ship Owner」

“Waaah!”

Prestige rose by 10.4.

A massive wave of side effects followed, and Jeonggu hugged the Aratubank on instinct.

And at the same moment, for Yeongwoo—

「Prestige Source detected!」

The Appraisal Book of Prestige unexpectedly activated again.

‘Huh?’

And the content was:

[Filial Piety Toward Kim Jeonggu]

| Grade Evaluation: D

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]