Chapter 184: 184 This Is Politics!
Chapter 184: This Is Politics!
► Worried: Cadet Kang Han-soo. Have you come to your senses?
…I think so, Miss Trainee Teacher. I thought my adventures and life would end like this, but it seems that my lifeline is longer than I thought.
I looked around in a hurry. Only the First Spirit and her underlings remained to be seen.
"Phew!"
A deep sigh of relief came out of my mouth.
Master Mollan. I thought I became quite strong with the favoritism of the universe, but I was defeated as soon as the great being moved a little. If I describe it as a human, it was only like a nod! I wasn't a match for him at all.
With Master Mollan's ability, he could easily conquer the galaxy with one or two slimy touches, but he lived like an ordinary slime in the arms of a shabby human female, both in the past and the present. It didn't make any sense to me. But there must be some profound reason for this.
I must not be arrogant just because I've gotten slightly stronger. I'll try to change my attitude and life to be more frugal and humble in the future.
"Drug hero. As soon as you collapsed, we slew the Phantom King and sent all the ghosts back to the void. Your master too."
"I see."
It seemed that I was still alive thanks to the agility of Saint H and those beggars. Let's say thank you separately later on. Now was the time for new powers.
"Well then…"
I selected the experiment subject first.
Ah! You seem okay!
▷ Race: First Spirit
▷ Level: 1
▷ Job: Godmother (Child = Dignity↑)
▷ Skills: Dignity ZZ Oblivion Z Sleep Z Charm Z
▷Status: Addicted, Obsessed
It was a very regrettable spec that didn't live up to the name of the First Spirit. It was typical of an incompetent leader who only gave orders from behind. Of course, it was inferior to my companions. Therefore…
▷ Race: First Spirit
▷ Level: 1000
▷ Job: Godmother (Child = Dignity↑)
▷ Skills: Dignity ZZ Hallucination Z Hypnosis Z Seduction Z
▷ Status: Addicted, Obsessed
I gave it a slight touch. After being imprisoned for a long time, the First Spirit's vessel became smaller, but I forcibly expanded it and filled it with experience points. The limit was about a thousand levels. It didn't matter if they were Level 1 or Level 500. Anyone whom I touch would instantly jump to Level 1000.
But the real beauty of this power was the skill. I was a human spirit with infinite possibilities, with the authority to touch that possibility from the universe.
Very slightly.
"Drug hero! What have you done to me?!"
"I just touched my characteristic of fine particles. That's great! The useless Transcendental skills have turned into great assisting skills."
"How is this great?! These are the skills that evil nymphs and witches can use!"
"Get to work, Drug-Addicted Spirit."
"Oooh! This is tyranny!"
It couldn't be changed to a completely different skill; I was just changing it to a similar skill range. And I could only change it once.
There were other restrictions, too. Skills related to race or job were untouchable. It was presumed that this was due to the connection with the soul. However, even with these conditions and restrictions, it was clear that the new power was useful.
Saint H, Green Cake, Boris. The level of three had already surpassed 1,000 a while ago, so it was meaningless. Their skills were also well-balanced, so I had nothing to touch except for one.
"I'm worried about your Massage Skill…"
"It is necessary for filial piety, Father!"
"Hmm…"
He diligently explained the importance and necessity of the Massage skill. He insisted that the reason for raising assisting skills such as massage to the Transcendental realm was for filial piety. In that case, I had no choice but to back down.
► Surprised: I can't believe you can modify the ability…if this fact becomes known, there will be a riot!
Miss Trainee Teacher, can't you do that too?
► Negation: If that were possible, we would not have built such an educational facility. Education only increases the efficiency of growth.
It was an understandable explanation. If they could freely adjust their abilities, they wouldn't have gone through the hassle of selecting and educating students.
► P.S.: It is possible to transfer or steal skills and experience from others. There are many ways to do so. Cadet Kang Han-soo, you've experienced it before, right? But I don't strongly recommend this feature. It's because it's much stronger to have considerable skills than to give them to one person. We're not emphasizing the power of friendship for nothing!
But I am different. I can turn unnecessary skills into useful ones. If people didn't like their skills, they would most likely try to contact me, just like celebrities looking for plastic surgery! I would decide after an interview whether or not to mold their abilities.
Ah! It's free for Miss Trainee Teacher.
► Sulking: Cadet Kang Han-soo, I appreciate the gesture, but I can't accept this. I'm not dissatisfied with my current appearance and skill composition.
This lady is quite an iron wall! It is more and more likely that you're an old man.
► Abrupt: No! How could you interpret it that way?! I can't show my face without a special reason due to the staff policy, but I was popular during my school days! Of course, even now! Many people can't forget me and regularly ask me if I am married!
It's okay, my friend, I understand.
But at this rate, I'm growing afraid that I'll suffer all day, so let's pretend that she's a pretty girl at the peak of popularity for now.
"Let's see if it has been taken care of."
The Phantom King Shakespeare didn't die easily, as he could steal other people's bodies. It was said that he could take away the body. But if you look at it, he could also take their skills and level intact. Seeing that he couldn't become stronger indefinitely with this ability, it was clear there were some unknown limitations.
The entrance exam center was also refreshed while I fainted.
▷ The disaster of the Eastern Continent: Subjugation of the Curse King Malfart (0/1)
▷ The disaster of the North Continent: Subjugation of the Frost Queen Elsh (0/1)
▷ The disaster of the Southern Continent: Subjugation of the Flame King Phoenix (0/1)
▷The disaster of the Western Continent: Subjugation of the Phantom King Shakespeare (1/1)
▷The disaster of the Central Continent: Subjugation of the Dragon King Noebius (0/1)
The death of the Phantom King Shakespeare seemed certain. I didn't see it because I fainted, but he got a joint attack from a Level G Saint and a Level ZZZ Exorcist.
"Hmm…it's a bit awkward to leave like this…"
I'm a MAX-Class hero who cleans up his mess. I am different from FFF-Class heroes who help only a few people they want to save and end up causing more trouble while drunk with self-satisfaction.
With the death of the vampire ruler, the western and central parts of the Western Continent were devastated. I had to solve these two problems. The latter wasn't because of me, but because of the chairman of the universe. Still, I'm only a lowly citizen who doesn't have enough arrogance to nitpick about it.
…That's a nice way to say it. 'Lowly citizen'. If I, who was truly educated by Master Mollan, who lives buried in the humble ash, am not a lowly citizen, who would be? This isn't humility. It's a stark reality.
I am such a weak underdog.
► Confused: Don't you think you are too self-deprecating? If Cadet Kang Han-soo is a lowly citizen, then almost all cadets should be classified as plankton.
Miss Trainee Teacher's support always becomes my source of strength. Just as the homeroom teacher offers a difficult task to a student who isn't good at studying, pretending to comfort him by saying, "You can succeed if you have willpower!"
"Shall I start with a new ruler?"
In the 1st playthrough, my colleagues and I celebrated with the vampires for a whopping ten days after defeating the Phantom King Shakespeare. They would have played and drunk longer if I hadn't poured cold water on them, insisting that they should quickly choose a new leader.
Of course, my argument wasn't accepted. And about a year later, I visited the Western Continent to return the belongings of the Dark Princess, the daughter of the Phantom King Shakespeare, the hero's comrade, to her hometown.
The place was in chaos. Liberated and freed from the tyranny's domination, vampires hunted humans and raised them like livestock. How about equal coexistence with humans? Feeling threatened by the fact that very few vampires refused to do so, the rest of them began hunting humans as well. The results were truly disastrous.
"So the drug hero looks back during the adventure, huh?"
"Sort of."
"If the first guy were like you, he wouldn't be as crooked as he is now. That guy was so simple-minded. After all, he firmly believed that if he married women of all countries and powers, the world would be semi-permanently peaceful because all of them were bound by a family fence."
"Was the reality the other way around?"
"Yes. Although it seemed peaceful on the outside, the fierce battles continued as they avoided or deceived the eyes and ears of the First Hero. I gave him some advice, but he couldn't overcome the tears of his wives."
We headed to the vampire city while cursing that senior. The order of the visit had been completely reversed since Shakespeare of the Five Great Disasters was eliminated first without begging for their cooperation.
Conversely, I thought that this was the real fight from now on. Whether one won or lost, many widows and orphans were produced after the war. The only monarch that would remain sitting on their throne was a war fanatic and a moron. Their population was their power. In a savage Fantasy World, one or two powerful heroes determined the outcome of a war, but they didn't fall from the sky.
There was a very low chance that they were born, just like any other, a good prenatal education could increase this chance. The royal family and nobility were typical examples of this. However, in general, rather than increasing this chance, increasing the number of potential cases was chosen instead. In other words, it was to increase the population by encouraging childbirth.
Widows were encouraged to remarry, and the state took responsibility for raising children who have lost their parents until they reached adulthood. But this wasn't as easy as it sounded.
"The bad memories keep coming back to me…"
"Tell me, drug hero. Perhaps the wisest and the earliest First Spirit in the world can give you some advice."
"Do you know a bit about human politics and management?"
I just want to leave it to her if she knew it.
"If you think such a small matter is of concern to the world's noblest spirit, it is a great mistake."
"Let's not talk."
It was so easy to have a child. Assuming that 20% of the total population could give birth, it was calculated that if a child were born every year, the population would double every five years on average, even if natural deaths were taken into account. With compounded interest!
But this was just a theory. Raising a child wasn't easy. Housing, environment, education, food, welfare, leisure, labor, crime, accident, war…there are countless processes a person to grow up. That was why the politics and management of this were also difficult.
I went through countless trials and errors in the 1st playthrough. What kind of politics did a high school student know? I've learned a little, but it's a load of bullshit with the theories of the very few ruling class and hopeful dreamers.
The reality wasn't close. Of course, now I have come up with the correct answer.
Bang!
I lightly kicked down the tightly closed front door of Colony A, the largest vampire city in the Western Continent. Because the Western Continent had no daylight, the vampires weren't limited by time on when they could be out, but they surrounded the city with a wall, and the main gate was almost always closed. A vampire's wings weren't only for decoration.
The door that the monsters might use was almost always closed, and they flew over the wall with their wings instead. The city's main gates were only open for events like the Triumphal Ceremony.
Just like right now. A welcoming crowd to congratulate me on my triumph came flocking like flies.
"It's an intruder!"
"How dare a human-like you?!"
"Who are you?!"
The boundaries were very loose due to their pride as being the strongest race in the Western Continent. However, the vampires living in Colony A gathered around instantly, all the soldiers and civilians.
Even that kid selling pretty moss was a vampire, so one had to be careful.
However…
"Hiplia."
"You poor cursed servants. Kneel before my dear master."
The words of a Level G Saint were more fatal to the vampires than sunlight. It was nothing different than God's command.
"Kuuugh?!"
"Kyah?!"
"Aaargh!?"
The vampires collapsed like dominos around Saint H, and even the flying ones were no exception. I spoke to them now that they were ready to obey.
"I'll be straight with you. I am the hero who hunted the Phantom King. If you don't want to be annihilated, bring the Dark Princess to me- Ah! There you are? You should have told me earlier, why do you embarrass people like that? Anyway, I'll take over this city starting today. If you have any complaints, raise your head, so I know that you want to sunbathe and speak."
Vampire fellows, let's enjoy the ultimate politics with the know-how of a veteran who has been around for decades!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone