CH 173

50. The Empire is One (3)

Jin-woo raised the performance of his robot to the limit and faced the mechanical army.

Quagga!

Enhanced by its mana engine, its sword became huge and powerful enough to slice through several mechanical fighters at once, causing them to explode.

Right after his attack, a particle beam cannon passed over Jin-woo, piercing through the enemy fleet with ease. He found their end quite refreshing to watch.

[Their mothership is entering Ion!]

Just like what he heard from the communication channel, he found the machines’ mothership trying to lower into the planet’s atmosphere.

It no longer tried to destroy it. Rather, it attempted to imbue planetary fusion devices created by the Machine Emperor into its core, which would turn its life forms into machines. That would increase the number of their mechanical soldiers even further.

He knew he couldn’t just let it enter the planet. The moment the fusion devices were plugged into it, all life in Ion would disappear.

However, the Holy Union and the Dark Empire fleets had their hands full with the enemy forces. He was the only one close enough to stop it.

“I’ll go. Bread Jam, protect the NPC fleet.”

[Ah, I see!]

Jin-woo headed for the machines’ mothership, breaking through every fighter in his path.

Harara: Look at the size of that ship.

Lucky Man: Wow… It’s huge.

Secret Bird Folder: More enemies are coming out of it!

It sent out even more fighters, but they couldn’t keep up with his mecha’s speed. This was one of the reasons why robots were expensive.

Jin-woo thrust through the mechanical mothership’s shield with his beam sword and stood on its armor plating as it entered Ion.

‘There’s its power source.’

Breaking into its fuselage and destroying everything he could see, Jin-woo arrived at its power unit. However, it released a thick energy shield embedded with the Machine Emperor’s power as soon as he tried to cut it in half, preventing him from damaging it.

‘Using normal means to smash it would be impossible.’

He put down his beam sword.

The mothership had already entered the atmosphere and was lowering its altitude.

Not long after, the bottom of its hull began to open, allowing planetary-life-melting devices and mechanical fighters to be deployed like swarms of bees exiting a beehive.

Hot Seven: It’s too hard to break.

Magical Boy: As expected, a boss-class battleship!

Jin-woo pondered for a moment.

The broadcast prevented him from openly wielding the power of an emperor. That left him with only one option left.

“Your interest and support fuels Kim Gun-jooTV.”

His words made viewers speculate.

Kim Emperor never looked back. If the doors before him were locked, he’d break through the walls instead, and whenever a puzzle blocked his path, he would shatter the puzzle itself. Other players would wander around looking for ways to solve it, but not him.

Jin-woo overloaded his robot’s mana engine with no hesitation.

“I once heard someone say, ‘If you spare it, it becomes shit.'”

[Self-destruction system activated.]

Cafenet: Woah lol

Painful toes: As expected of Kim Gun-joo

Life’s Double: First the spaceship, now the robot

It’s Bread Jam: This is different from Bread Jam’s mistake. Unlike him, Gun-joo’s voluntarily making his explode for a good reason.

Korean Thanksgiving Lover: The real Bread Jam would get his team killed doing this.

When he imbued his mecha with the Great Emperor’s power, it began to tremble. At this rate, it would soon be capable of blowing up the power source and severely damaging the mothership.

The problem was that such an explosion would make it hard to save his avatar.

Jin-woo threw his beam sword upwards, creating a hole connecting to the outside world, then looked at the self-destruction timer in the hologram that appeared on his wrist. He linked it to the chat room, allowing the viewers to see it as well.

‘I’m the second to do this…’

It was strange.

Jin-woo wasn’t the first to use the robots’ self-destruct mechanism. Apparently, an idiot accidentally activated it before.

“Let’s go!”

Jin-woo ran out as soon as his mecha’s cockpit opened and quickly started climbing out of the hole. However, the machines’ mothership was so big that leaving its interior took a long time.

Lotto Life: He’s running out of time!

Chocolate Girl: Run!

Goodboy: Ughhhhhhh

Finally reaching the end of the hole, he now stood on its armor as clouds passed by his side.

They were still high in the sky.

He didn’t have much left or even a clear escape plan. Nevertheless, he ran towards the wing.

When the machines’ mothership deactivated its shield to fire its devices, the strong wind hit his body.

Whew!

Still, he kept his balance as he stood on the tip of its wing, looking down onto the ground.

A large city could be seen in the distance, its size befitting to be called the Space Federation’s capital. Floating amid the sea, which gave it the typical sci-fi feel, it currently housed the National Assembly of the Space Federation and tens of millions of people.

The mothership was heading directly to it.

Santo: I see a metropolis over the waters right beneath them!

Luna’s Broadcast: An alien city! It looks so cool!

Youngjoo: This is sci-fi, after all.

PD: I feel like he’s going to die. Will he really finally kick the bucket?

His robot would explode in less than a minute.

But he still couldn’t figure out a way to escape.

Even Gun-joo wouldn’t survive a fall from this height. He couldn’t use his power as the Emperor either since it would look a little too obvious.

‘If so…”

Mechanical fighters were pouring out from under the mothership.

The moment he saw them scattering, he came up with an idea.

Jin-woo relaxed and took a few steps back.

[5, 4, 3… ]

When the countdown reached zero, he ran forward until he fell off the spaceship’s wing.

Dududududud!

The core of the machines’ mothership began to swell greatly, like a balloon being overpumped with air. Despite how sturdy it was, it couldn’t handle the mana that had pierced through its defenses using the Great Emperor’s power.

Jin-woo spread his arms the moment he saw a mechanical fighter right below him, allowing him to barely hold onto it.

It began to twist, turn, and rotate as he got on it, but he refused to be shaken off by it. Taking notice of their ally’s predicament, all the other mechanical fighters took out their beam cutters and aimed at him.

BOOM!

Their mothership exploded with enough force to obliterate even its thick armor platings. Combined with its fragments and shockwave, the explosion took down thousands of mechanical fighters and life-melting devices along with it.

Not even the jet Jin-woo rode was safe.

“Ugh!”

It collided against another mechanical fighter.

Lara Digital Complex: Wow… He actually broke it.

Konjac Man: Look at that explosion!

Son of Cold Noodles: Awesome.

Dungeon Legends: He’s a complete movie star.

The enemy mothership split into several burning pieces, all of which fell like meteorites.

Jin-woo fell with them with great momentum.

The difference between them was that the mothership was headed to the sea while he was plummeting towards the city’s castle.

He looked at the mechanical fighter, which, according to the Magic Eye of Information, had a pilot inside it.

Poseok!

Shoving his hand into the spacecraft’s surface, he ripped off its exterior, revealing the enemy soldier hidden underneath it.

His gaze fell on its lens-shaped eyes.

Jin-woo smiled faintly. First impressions were also important.

“I’ll be taking over from here.”

The humanoid machine was a key component of the fighter jet.

Jin-woo grabbed its neck, threw it outside, and went inside, finding what seemed to be a built-in shock absorber.

Tremble: ‘I’m sorry, human!’

About Time: He’s falling!

Hidden File: This is thrilling

Complainant: Everything about this scares me

His viewer count was skyrocketing!

TV news was reporting about his broadcast in real-time. Nobody, from those waiting for the bus to those riding the train, could take their eyes off their smartphones.

Even the ones next to them couldn’t help but look over their shoulders to watch with them.

Whew!

The vessel Jin-woo was riding fell towards the center of the city.

Bracing for impact, he raised his mana.

‘Come to think of it. I’ve never been on a theme park ride before.’

But now, he was riding something more exciting than that.

BANG!

He crashed at high speed against the tallest tower, causing it to collapse.

Jin-woo fell straight to the castle where the National Assembly of the Space Alliance was located. Fortunately, he caused no casualties since the citizens had been evacuated to shelters.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The mechanical fighter burst through walls and floors until it completely penetrated through the building, allowing it to hit and skid across the ground.

Cheeky!

Hot steam rose from the surface of the mechanical fighter amid the flame-filled crater it created.

The Space Federation guarding the National Assembly looked dazed when they saw the mechanical mothership explode in the sky. When Jin-woo fell, they immediately rushed to his crash site in a state of surprise.

“I’m alive.”

Thoughts: How is that possible?

Radio: He lives!

Basic: Kim Emperor will never die!

He felt no pain since he was using an avatar, but his ears were ringing, and he felt nauseous.

Jin-woo looked at the ruined fighter’s interior. With a kick, he broke its doorway and disembarked from it.

The Space Federation soldiers stared at Jin-woo.

“D-don’t move!”

They pointed their guns at him.

Bang! Aww!

Mechanical fighters fell like a hailstorm. Fortunately, with their engines damaged, they were rendered unable to fly.

The fuselages of the mechanical fighters opened, revealing the mechanical soldiers inside it. Stretched out, their bodies were close to 3m in height.

“M-monster!”

“Shoot it down!”

The guns aimed at Jin-woo switched targets.

They fired at them, but their bullets didn’t work against the mechanical soldiers.

Beam cutters formed out of their arms.

It was a terrifying sight.

“Our guns didn’t work…”

“What are they even made of?!”

The Space Federation’s forces became perplexed.

Although the Delox Empire and the Lainez Kingdom weren’t on good terms, they had been maintaining peace for so long since the Space Federation kept them under control.

Most of them had no practical experience.

“Stand back,” Jin-woo said, taking out his sword from his subspace. The players didn’t find it strange since some of them also had subspaces of their own.

As soon as he grabbed it, its blade began to glow brighter than the enemy’s beam cutters.

Assassino: Whoa! Sci-fi swordsmanship!

Set of Teeth: This is my first time seeing those NPCs’ swordsmanship.

Voyage: Well, they are a small country.

Ola: You’re all space geeks.

Jin-woo disappeared momentarily, reappearing in front of the mechanical soldiers instantaneously. They swung their beam cutters at him, but his weapon was much stronger.

He cut down several foes with a single swing.

Their bodies could deflect even bullets, but they were like paper against his sword.

“Ugh…”

“Ah…”

The Space Federation’s combatants could do nothing but stare blankly at him.

As he swept through the enemies’ charge with Blade Storm, fighters began to emerge from the mothership that crashed into the sea.

“There are still citizens in there!”

“Hurry up and evacuate them!”

They kept shouting frantically, but there was no need to worry.

The space war was already over.

A white fleet appeared from the sky. And at the opposite direction of it, a huge black battleship descended. The Lainez Kingdom’s ships were also with them, but they looked so shabby beside them.

“You’re right on time.”

Alcohol: Whoa! That’s crazy!

Question: As expected of the New World players!

New World Player: The Holy Union has come!

Fighters erupted from the fleet.

An indiscriminate bombardment began on the machine soldiers pouring out of the wreckage of their mothership.

However, that alone couldn’t calm the players’ boiling blood. They jumped out of their spacecraft.

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

“Aww!”

“It tastes good!”

Smashing through walls and floors, they landed around Jin-woo. Their Maze and Sci-Fi outfits matched quite well with the current situation.

“How are you, Kim Gun-joo?”

“I saw the mothership explode. You did an awesome job!”

“Can I have your signature?”

The players treated him with respect and honor.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Han Seulgi.”

“Can I have one too?”

It didn’t suit the situation, but Jin-woo signed an autograph for the fans he unexpectedly met.

The soldiers couldn’t understand what the hell was going on.

Cheee!

Bread Jam’s robot soon came down with a transport ship.

People of the Lainez Kingdom disembarked from it, abandoning the half-destroyed ship.

Lear and Latica approached Jin-woo. Much to his surprise, the latter was currently escorting the former. He never thought she’d do that for Lear.

“Gee, Kim Gun-joo!”

Lear had communicated with him before, which was how she learned of his avatar’s name. Looking blankly at him, she had slight blush on her cheeks, and when he gazed back at her, she could no longer maintain direct eye contact with him.

Goodbye: Khuh, Kim Gun-joo is definitely the Master of Favorability.

Doctor of Romance: Did her affection for him reach MAX already? This might open up another quest again.

Interpretation: I want to become Kim Emperor for just a day.

Jin-woo received all kinds of buffs from the Constellations. Moreover, the Maze’s NPCs, or Jin-woo’s subordinates, infinitely favored his avatar.

He even earned the nickname Master of Favorability.

“My name is Lear Latis. On behalf of the Lainez Kingdom, I thank you.”

“I was just doing the right thing.”

When Latica’s eyes met his, she bowed slightly to Jin-woo. Her determined look was still evident, but her expression had softened a lot.

Since she seemed cool, his viewers were enthusiastic about her.

Machines started coming in.

“Oh, that’s a lot. Come into the transport ship!” Lear offered, but Jin-woo and the players did not respond.

Instead, everyone warmed up lightly and reloaded their weapons. The two expected a terrible scene to unfold, but they completely betrayed their expectations.

“We’ll finish this.”

“Ah…”

Whoops! Kwang! Peyong!

The players easily slaughtered the machines.

“They’re this weak?”

“Compared to monsters…”

“They just look like slightly oversized skeletons.”

“Let’s go find stronger opponents. It doesn’t seem like they’re giving us any experience points.”

The players conversed as if they had just come here to take a walk.

“There are the big ones!”

The wizards among the players pointed to the sky, releasing their mana as fire arrows rained on them.

Among all the combatants, Jin-woo could be considered the strongest. With every swing of his sword, he released storms capable of smashing the machines to pieces.

Cleaning his sword of debris, he looked around.

‘We’ve pretty much killed most of them.’

They definitely suffered casualties. They lost three battleships, four robots, and many fighters. Still, what was important was that the damage to Ion was minor.

‘I’ll make sure to repay the Machine Emperor for what it did.’

Jin-woo paid back his debts hundreds of times over.

He didn’t care how many of their ships his opponents destroyed.

“Hey, did we win?” Lear asked.

“… It seems so.” Latica answered hesitantly.

Jin-woo shook his head.

“Not yet.”

“Huh? But all the machines have been dealt with…”

“Yes, but I don’t think these factions would send so many forces to this place just to fight off the machines alone.”

Lear’s eyes widened, seemingly realizing what he meant.

Latica was the same.

The fleets’ barrages had destroyed the machines, but the war wasn’t over yet.

If the Dark Empire army retreated now, it would not fit the setting.

They had to commit to the situation a little more.

“The Dark Empire…”

As soon as Lear mentioned their faction’s name, their mothership enigmatically turned toward the fleet of the Holy Union. The atmosphere surrounding the two burned with tremendous heat.

A small sphere appeared in front of it, growing rapidly as the seconds passed.

Piwoong! quagga gaga gaga!

Soon enough, it fired a huge red beam of condensed mana towards their rival faction.

Quagga gaga!

“What did they just do?”

“Disgusting elves.”

“I shouldn’t have fought side by side with crows…”

Two of their battleships evaporated upon being hit by it, leaving no debris behind.

At the tremendous power, Lear and the soldiers of the Space Federation’s jaws dropped. The Dark Empire’s fighter jets then spewed out of their mothership. In response, the Holy Union also deployed their own fighters.

Naturally, they didn’t touch any of the NPC forces. After all, death for them was permanent.

The real event, the clash between the Holy Union and the Dark Empire, had begun!

[Dedicate your lives to the Dark Emperor, scums of the universe.]

A voice came from the mothership of the Dark Empire.

The Dark Empire’s robots approached Jin-woo, aiming their weapons at him and the other players.

“Bread Jam!”

“Go!”

Riding his own mecha, Bread Jam joined the battle.

Lear looked up.

Ion’s clear sky became covered with nothing but smoke as the Holy Union and the Dark Empire’s battle intensified.

The fleets’ bombardments were too flashy since they were directed. However, the fighters and robots the players purchased were real.

Even so, a lot of them were being turned into scraps as of this moment.

They were essentially melting their money as they fought.

‘Then they’ll be forced to buy such products again! Wooo!’

He could already hear Se-yeon’s voice. At this point, she was probably thinking of adjusting the spacecrafts’ availability to maximize profits.

Jin-woo slowly retreated.

With this event under Se-yeon and Yoo-na’s control, he thought he should just return and use this time to rest.

“We need to avoid them.”

“Let’s get to the transport ship!” Lear replied. Since Latica was able to drive it, Jin-woo approached it with the players.

However, just as he was about to board it, a beam from above crushed it into pieces.

Whiiiing!

The Dark Empire’s transport ships flew in and landed nearby.

When their doors opened, T1s began to deploy into the battlefield along with the citizens of the Space Federation.

‘It looks like the rescue operation went well.’

It was a separate quest given to the Dark Empire army.

They were meant to kidnap the civilians for the Dark Empire, but they thought of just letting them go after the mission. The process of it was a bit drastic, though.

The citizens screamed from what looked like jail cells.

“Please save me!”

“Ahhhhh!”

“Please save me! Please!”

Lear trembled at the terrible sight.

She could already guess why they kidnapped them.

“Are they going to turn them into a sacrifice for their foreign god or emperor…”

Jin-woo nodded.

In this situation, they truly did look like villains.

The Dark Empire’s players, wearing black helmets and cloaks, got off the transports.

‘I think they’re telling me to stay longer.’

Considering this situation, that had to be the case.

The players of the Holy Union raised their weapons.

The same went for Jin-woo. The Dark Empire player in front of everyone slowly took off his helmet.

“I finally found you, Kim Emperor.”

“Two-handed Swordsman?”

“I will kill you and offer this planet to the Dark Emperor. He’ll cover this planet with green.”

Aya: Is this going to be the Battle of the Century?

Cheese-flavored Grapes: Kim Gun-joo and the Two-Handed Swordsman!

My Stock Rest: Alright, let’s go!

The only player evaluated to have a force equal to that of Kim Gun-joo.

The pinnacle of the disgusting elves.

Elonti’s Berserker, the Two-Handed Swordsman.

Kim Emperor’s rival.