Chapter 65
The Tower of Arrogance vanished.
No one could have imagined such a thing.
Something impossible had happened.
With the tower’s sudden disappearance, South Korea was thrown into chaos.
But it wasn’t just Korea in turmoil.
There was an uproar in a place where the commotion in Korea seemed trivial by comparison.
The Abyss.
The demon realm where billions of devils and lords lived!
—The Tower of Arrogance went bankrupt?
—Was it even possible for that to go bankrupt?
—Hah. I can’t believe it.
—Does that mean the Lord of Arrogance actually exists?
—No, it means the tower itself acted as a Creator.
—Whatever it is, this is a first.
—Who in the world bankrupted it?
The name Arrogance was a constant topic among Creators.
Every ordeal that bore that name was extraordinary.
Its worldbuilding was so creative and unique that no one dared to imitate it lightly.
That’s why Creators put so much effort into having their Incarnations conquer ‘Arrogance.’
They could obtain a great number of coins, and could even copy the unique ‘ordeals’ of Arrogance for their own Abyss.
There’s a reason for the saying, imitation is the mother of creation.
It was common for Creators to copy other Creators’ Abysses.
Of course, they always claimed the work was entirely their own.
Creators always insisted:
“My Abyss is the best!”
“My Abyss is the most creative!”
That it was a special Abyss, made by their own hand from start to finish.
That even the geography, ordeals, processes, and monsters were all created solely by them.
But is that really true?
Definitely not.
They used their Incarnations to explore other Creators’ Abysses, secretly stole creations, and acted as if they made it all themselves.
Of all names, ‘Arrogance’ was the one Creators referenced most.
In other words, ‘Arrogance’ was the Creator of Creators.
But never before had anything bearing the name of Arrogance gone bankrupt and disappeared.
Unprecedented.
So the uproar was only natural.
It was fundamentally different from the usual case of a Creator going bankrupt.
As a result, the Creators’ information-sharing ‘Creator Community’ was burning with activity.
—Where did the Tower of Arrogance go bankrupt?
—Earth. It happened in a newborn dimension.
—Huh. Not the Twelve Species?
—You’re saying ‘Arrogance’ was defeated in a place where the First Species War hasn’t even happened yet?
—A mutation happened in a dimension only the lowliest Creators are interested in.
—Even the Twelve Species never conquered ‘Arrogance.’
—Hmm. Earth…
—How did mere humans conquer ‘Arrogance’?
Creators could only tilt their heads at this unsolved mystery.
Earth.
A newborn dimension that had just touched the ever-expanding Abyss.
The humans there were feeble beyond compare.
And the coins that could be obtained in a newborn dimension were so limited that only so-called ‘lowly’ Creators bothered to look there.
Most Creators never paid attention, yet an unprecedented event had occurred on Earth.
Because—
…Even the Twelve Species and their lords had never conquered ‘Arrogance.’
Yet here, humans—who had only just begun to grow—had done so.
It was beyond absurd, reaching the level of disbelief.
Humans.
Weak beings living on a small planet called Earth.
To be admitted as the thirteenth species, they would need to perform well in the Species War, but no devil in the Abyss ever imagined humans could become the ‘Thirteenth Species.’
“Humans are incompetent and powerless.”
“Once the Species War is over, that race will disappear anyway.”
“There’s no value in devils investing in them.”
Compared to the other Twelve Species, humans were weaker than infants.
The Twelve Species could reach the level of the Ten Realms just by growing up, while humans were weak in every way.
The Twelve Species possessed overwhelming talent incomparable to other races, but humans’ talent was so meager it wasn’t even worth the dirt under a fingernail.
No potential, no value as an investment.
That’s why the Abyss’s powerful Creators or devils had little interest in Earth.
Just creating an Abyss there was already considered an ‘investment.’
Let alone making an Incarnation contract, or giving out greater rewards?
Why bother for worms who might not even qualify as the Thirteenth Species?
Thus, humanity’s reputation in the Abyss was the worst.
……And yet.
—Maybe humans have some kind of blessing other races don’t.
—The defeat of Arrogance… I admit I’m a little interested.
—Even so, I still don’t believe humans can ever make the leaderboard in the Species War.
—Is this the end, or the beginning?
—We’ll have to keep watching.
An incomprehensible event had taken place.
Even though they had not yet fought the First Species War and received no ‘special privileges,’ humans had conquered Arrogance.
The fact that these beings, considered little more than bugs, had conquered Arrogance made quite an impression on the Creators.
Maybe they were a race worth a little investment.
Buying at the bottom and selling at the top was a good investment among Creators, too.
Right now, making an Abyss on Earth cost very few coins.
In contrast, making one in a Twelve Species dimension cost an enormous amount of coins.
If humans became the Thirteenth Species, it would be too late.
If you were going to invest, now was the time.
—Just in time, the ‘Second Night’ is starting on Earth.
—It’s the devils’ festival, isn’t it?
—Who knows, maybe it’s worth a little investment.
—In the Second Night? Or on Earth?
—The Night events are hosted by the Lord of the Moon, Ahheta. Worth investing in.
—At least you can’t lose much.
—And if we watch, maybe we’ll see what kind of talent humans really have.
Some Creators began to consider seriously.
In this way, the ‘Creator Community’ was a place where every Creator spilled their information.
[‘Death’s Creator’ has joined the ‘Creator Community.’]
Adora, the Witch of Death, set foot in the community.
—
The bankruptcy of the Tower of Arrogance, the defeat of Arrogance, didn’t just shake the Creator Community.
“Who here has information about this event?”
“If you’ve got the source, please sell it to me!”
“Don’t any of the merchants who went to Earth know anything?”
Demon Merchants’ Guild.
The demon merchants there were in just as much turmoil.
It had been proven that even trials bearing the name ‘Arrogance’ could go bankrupt.
Naturally, ‘customers’ interested in this case exploded in number.
Countless people were requesting information on how it had been done.
But hardly any merchants knew the process.
“Dagon! Do you know anything?”
“Puhaha! What would he know?”
“Are you sure you’re asking the right person?”
“He’s been dead last in performance for ages. Even at the last festival, Dagon was the useless one who couldn’t sell a thing.”
When someone asked Dagon, the other demon merchants openly laughed at him.
At the recent ‘Earth Dungeon Summoning Festival,’ Dagon had made no sales at all.
How could he possibly know about something so major?
It was a waste of time.
Just a waste of breath.
“……”
Meanwhile, Dagon was quietly reading a book.
All the merchants had gathered for this emergency, but even they felt lost.
Dagon was the only one remaining calm.
Because Dagon knew.
He was the only demon merchant who did.
He knew the essence and process of the event—and all the main players.
‘Sephiro. He is a god.’
Dagon was utterly convinced that Park Chan-woo was Dragon God Sephiro.
And this event had only strengthened that belief.
The only being who defeated Arrogance.
If that wasn’t a god, what was?
If he sold this information, Dagon would be the center of the guild.
But he couldn’t sell any information related to that.
The contract said so.
However, he could probably explain roughly how the Tower of Arrogance went bankrupt.
He could talk about Adora and Kankun.
‘Trust is the most important thing in business.’
But Dagon shook his head.
Park Chan-woo was his exclusive contractor, his lifelong customer.
Dagon would never break that trust first.
He swore he would never speak about anything related to him.
“See? He can’t say a word.”
“Tsk tsk. Should have known better.”
“Dagon, always dead last.”
The merchants turned away from Dagon completely.
He didn’t care.
Instead, he focused on the chatter throughout the guild.
“Can our guild get involved in the ‘Second Night’?”
“How are negotiations with the Moon Devils going?”
“Damn, all the Creators are joining in?”
“We can’t miss out on this festival! It’s a great chance for sales!”
“We’ve got a reply from the Moon Devils! Looks like we can get merchants assigned to Secret Quest No. 5!”
“That’s it?”
“The other guilds are flooding them with requests too…!”
“What about the specialty shops? They’ll need merchants as well!”
“They’re already all full! Oh, there’s one spot left.”
“Where?”
“Only the ‘Fame Shop’ is left!”
“Haa. There shouldn’t be anyone among the humans who can use that place yet, right?”
“Who would go there at this point?”
“There’s no way you’ll make any sales there!”
At that moment—
“I’ll go.”
Dagon, who had been reading, quietly raised his hand.
The merchant in charge tilted his head and asked,
“Dagon! Where do you mean you’ll go?”
“The Fame Shop.”
“…Did you not hear? You can’t make any sales there.”
“I’d like to try.”
“……”
The other merchants snickered inwardly.
‘What an idiot.’
‘He really does have the worst intuition in the Abyss.’
‘Just do the opposite of whatever he does and you’ll succeed.’
Dagon had never made decent sales here.
If it weren’t for his father’s reputation, he would’ve been kicked out long ago.
And because of that reputation, they couldn’t completely ignore him, either.
The merchant in charge sighed deeply.
“Fine. Go ahead.”
With approval granted—
Crunch!
…Dagon clenched his fist tightly.
‘Got it. Opportunity.’
He had caught the chance for the biggest sales yet.
Park Chan-woo.
If he just used the Fame Shop, first place in sales was a sure thing.
Dagon became the manager of the Fame Shop and was granted the authority to select items to be sold there.
‘It’s also a chance to check out Lord of the Moon Ahheta’s treasure vault.’
Not all, but a few items for the shop could be picked from that treasure vault.
As manager, he’d have that much authority.
And if he filled the shop with only things most needed by Park Chan-woo from among Ahheta’s permitted treasures, he’d have a good shot.
‘You’re the idiots.’
Dagon glared at the merchants who mocked him.
They didn’t even know Park Chan-woo existed.
Only he did.
He alone knew just how incredible Park Chan-woo was.
What he could do.
What miracles he had performed!
Only he knew.
The thrill of that was beyond words.
Sssmirk!
‘…This is going to be a truly exciting night.’
