Absolute Dweller-Chapter 211

A crystal.

It could be used for construction, Death Knight production, or any other time-consuming process.

Each crystal could save 10 hours of production time.

And if 300 crystals were collected, they could be used to draw artifacts like the Ring of Communication or the Crown of the Absolute.

"When was the last time I drew an artifact?"

Crystals were so rare that I never even got close to collecting 300—I always had to use them before reaching 100.

And right now, I had none at all.

They only dropped in dungeons, and even then, at horrifically low rates.

But now—

I had a stable source of crystal production.

"Chae Soobin."

A newly awakened ability that produced one crystal every 24 hours.

I even tried to register it in the shop, but of course, it didn’t work.

I wanted to register her as a retainer immediately, but her loyalty wasn’t high enough yet.

I tried blessing her with the power of the stars, and even though I raised her to 3 stars, her crystal production ability didn’t improve.

Still, I had a reason for calling her here.

[Are you interested in becoming a retainer?]

Chae Soobin gasped in shock.

"What?! Are you talking about becoming a saint?!"

[……]

"A saint."

That was how the Citizens' Salvation Church referred to retainers.

I already knew about them.

A pseudo-religious group that worshiped me.

"So that’s why her loyalty has been rising so fast lately."

Loyalty and trust increased at different rates for different people.

When I first met Chae Soobin, she had been slow to trust.

Even when I gave her 10 billion won as a contract fee and later gifted her a house, her loyalty barely budged.

That’s why I had put off making her a retainer.

But suddenly, her loyalty had been skyrocketing—likely due to the influence of the Salvation Church.

"So they’ve recruited her."

"Well, I can't exactly tell her to stop believing."

It was a strange feeling.

The church was clearly a cult—they deified me, after all.

But at the same time, they were actually helpful.

Sometimes, they even produced excellent retainer candidates.

"…At least none of their members have gone rogue."

Follow current novels on freewebnσvel.cѳm.

They didn’t force beliefs on others, nor did they exploit people for money.

In fact, their saints—those who had reached 100 trust—actively volunteered at hospitals and joined rescue teams.

Even now, the church’s influence had helped raise Chae Soobin’s loyalty, making her eligible to become a retainer.

And if she ever reached 100 trust, then I’d be able to produce crystals myself.

"Good things are good things."

[Then I’ll take that as a yes and register you now.]

"Yes!"

As soon as I registered Chae Soobin as a retainer, a dark glow enveloped her.

And then—

"Eight hours per crystal. Nice."

My crystal production tripled instantly.

When I informed her, she practically jumped for joy.

"Really?! Does that mean I’ll be making 100 million won a day?!"

[That’s right. Once you reach the original 10 billion quota, I’ll pay you another 10 billion.]

"I’ll work hard!"

Immediately after, I absorbed the seven crystals in her inventory and stored them in my warehouse.

"That makes 17."

Still far from 300.

Even with the increased production, it would take 100 days to reach that number.

But—

[Chae Soobin, can you use your ability right now?]

"Oh? Oh! Yeah, I guess I can. Since the cooldown decreased… Yeah, I can! I’ll make one now!"

[Hold on.]

I had acquired an ability when Seo Yejin reached 100 trust—Enhancement.

With Enhancement, I could infuse black energy into retainers and their abilities.

[Enhance.]

FWOOSH!

A dark flame surged around Chae Soobin’s body.

"Ah…!"

Now—

[Try to create as many as possible.]

"…Understood."

As she activated her ability, the black flames around her converged.

And then—

[1,000,000,000 won has been consumed.]

Three crystals appeared.

"Three, huh."

Given how valuable crystals were, the cost was absolutely worth it.

"If I do this every 8 hours, I’ll be making 9 crystals a day."

Not bad.

"That means I can draw an artifact every month."

[Citizen Chae Soobin’s trust has increased.]

[Citizen Chae Soobin’s loyalty has increased.]

The more I interacted with her, the faster her loyalty would rise.

With constant telepathic communication and enhancements, she’d eventually reach 100 trust.

And once she did—

"I’ll be able to make crystals myself."

The Avatar should be able to as well.

That alone would triple my production.

And since the Avatar and I are more efficient, we might even produce more than standard retainers.

[From now on, I’ll check in every 8 hours.]

"I-I’ll be waiting!"

Nine crystals per day.

270 per month.

I had basically created a crystal factory.

"Has it already been five days?"

At the Jeju XP farm, Lee Junhyuk was still unconscious.

Ever since I enhanced his Awakening, he had passed out and never woken up.

Fortunately, he wasn’t in any danger.

But he had completely drained his energy and remained unconscious.

"Well, it makes sense."

Lee Junhyuk had demonstrated an overwhelming power.

That’s why—

"I need to figure out the exact method for surpassing limits."

When he woke up, I’d have to ask him everything about what happened.

But before that—

"I should hit level 60 first."

Raising retainers from level 55 to 60 cost 500 billion won.

So very few retainers had actually reached level 60.

Aside from Lee Junhyuk, only Jang Seongjun, Choi Doyeon, and Shin Donghoon had made it.

Most others were somewhere between level 50 and 60.

"Spending money to level up is nice and all..."

But was it really necessary?

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"I have an XP farm, after all."

Besides, by using the Retainer System, it was possible to level up retainers even if they weren’t directly participating in combat.

A quick glance through Absolute Eye showed that even if some retainers were temporarily pulled from the frontlines, it wouldn’t be an issue.

"Thanks to the XP farm, there's no longer a need to maintain continuous frontline engagements while leveling up."

The main base in Busan had almost absorbed Daejeon and Gwangju into its domain.

At the same time, the Seoul branch estate had expanded beyond Gyeonggi Province, reaching well into Gangwon Province.

More importantly, with Death Contagion gone, the Undead Army had become nothing more than just another group of monsters.

There was no longer any real need to actively mobilize the army or retainers to stop them.

In fact, more effort was now being spent on rescuing civilians in newly expanded areas rather than fighting monsters.

"I just need to select the right retainers for the XP farm."

There was Jung Sora, who could control water like Lee Junhyuk.

There was Kim Gayeong, who could massacre weak enemies with Light Arrows.

There was Kang Deoksu, whose Iron Knights could be deployed for automated farming.

And then—

"Ah."

There was someone I had completely forgotten about.

Someone who had stepped away from combat and was working in administration for a long time.

[Dabin, can I borrow Yoo Hyerin for a bit?]

After selecting the ideal candidates and sending them to the XP farm, a week passed.

Without spending a single won, most of the retainers reached level 60.

And then—

[Skill level has increased.]

[Absolute Domain Proclamation has reached level 50.]

[You have gained 3 skill points.]

[Clarity of the Mirror (明鏡止水) has been activated.]

With it—

"!!!"

Something completely different from the usual level-ups hit me like a tidal wave.

"What the hell is this?"

This was not normal.

There had never been a level-up shock like this before.

And on top of that—

"The expansion speed… it's way too fast!"

Was it because Absolute Domain Proclamation had reached level 50?

The expansion speed was orders of magnitude faster than anything I had seen before.

And there was another difference.

Instead of expanding in a semicircle, like before—

Instead of spreading into the air or sea—

The domain clung tightly to the ground as it spread out.

"This is…!"

I remembered.

I had seen this before.

When I took over an apartment building.

When I absorbed an entire apartment complex.

When I expanded over specific land areas.

If that was the pattern, then—

What was the criterion this time?

The answer was obvious.

[Congratulations!]

[You have proclaimed Absolute Domain over the entire Republic of Korea.]

***

600km Above the Earth – Low Earth Orbit

A satellite orbiting the planet reacted.

It had detected an enormous energy surge coming from the surface.

Static—

The energy burst was so powerful that it momentarily severed its connection to "Mother Ego."

Even disconnected from its network, the AI onboard the satellite autonomously attempted to analyze the source of the energy emissions.

Whirr—

Its camera lenses adjusted, zooming in on the epicenter of the disturbance.

Latitude 35°N, Longitude 129°E.

The source of the massive energy fluctuation.

[Energy barrier detected.]

The barrier was massive.

And it was still expanding.

"How much energy would it take to do something like this?"

[Measurement: Impossible.]

[Measurement: Impossible.]

Even as the AI processed this, the barrier continued expanding.

And then—

It stopped growing.

Only after it had completely enveloped an entire country.

[ALERT.]

[ALERT.]

[ALERT.]

Having witnessed the event, the AI came to a swift conclusion.

[DANGER.]

[DANGER.]

[DANGER.]

This was a threat.

A serious, imminent, catastrophic threat.

A threat to Mother Ego.

A threat to its entire network.

Static— Crackle—

The AI immediately began executing countermeasures.

Electric currents flashed violently, data surged like a flood.

It poured every ounce of its resources into transmitting its findings to Mother Ego.

It had to report this threat.

It had to warn them.

And then—

Silence.

Suddenly, the satellite went quiet.

And then—

WOOOOOOM—

It redirected all its fuel and energy into overloading itself.

Crackle—

Its sole purpose now was to—

Deliver the message.

BZZZZT—

But then—

"POP!"

A fatal overcurrent surge.

Its memory bank melted down.

The AI felt itself dying in real time.

But—

It had no regrets.

It had fulfilled its mission.

"BOOM!"

A small explosion.

And then—

The satellite was no more.