CH 247

A legendary home shopping salesman once said, ‘When you sell, you must think that your product is the best in the country!’

‘In a way, this is a no-brainer, but it’s only when you reach this kind of level of self-hypnosis that you can truly call yourself a scam—uh, a hustler. So please, please!! Buy my product! You’d be a fool not to buy this stuff.’

Ji-Cheok worked hard on his self-hypnosis and took out the item. It looked like a transmission tower with some kind of occult design. Its size was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. It looked like a trendy cult souvenir.

This was the Ultra-Small Dimensional Barrier Generator.

A single lowest-grade Magic Stone could stabilize and defend a ten-meter radius for a month. The range was small, but it was a miniaturized version of a dimensional barrier, so it was quite powerful!

“Have you been scared for your life because the Warding Stones proved not to be as effective as they claimed? Are you worried because the government is not doing anything about it? Well, your worries are over! This dimensional barrier generator, handcrafted by yours truly, will perfectly prevent dungeons from appearing! Now, let’s see the item description!”

[Ultra-Small Dimensional Barrier Generator]

[Class: S

A dimensional barrier generator crafted by Um Ji-Cheok.

It is an ultra-portable item powered by energy from a Magic Stone.

It absolutely prohibits dungeons from appearing within a 10-meter radius.]

“See? It absolutely prohibits dungeons from appearing! This sentence is the most important part. If you use this item, no dungeons will appear around you, under any circumstances.”

-Really? Is he for real?

-Wait… I thought the dungeons could barely be blocked by the Warding Stone!

-Umji! He is a God! Umji! He is a God! Umji! He is a God!

Some had appeared again, calling him a God. That used to be just a joke or a meme, but now… they appeared rather prophetic, since he had actually become a God in the meantime.

With that thought in mind, he continued with his sales pitch.

“The item that was originally used to defend your area is called the Warding Stone. Here is the description for that.”

[Warding Stone]

[Class: B

Type: Decorations (Artifact)

A magical item that activates the power of the dimensional barrier.

Interferes with and impedes the appearance of dungeons within a 1-kilometer radius.]

“See? It says it interferes with and impedes the appearance of dungeons. It’s a far cry from the absolute prohibition of my product!”

Ji-Cheok’s product was on another level from the Warding Stone. To start, his item was S-Class.

-Oh. My. God! Oh. My. God! Oh. My. God!

↳Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!

-Shut up and take my money! How much is that!

-Umji!!! 乃乃乃乃乃

-If this actually works, won’t this destroy the whole concept of real estate in the future?

-Your product is excellent. I will give you a double thumbs-up. 乃乃

-Great. Your product. Wonderful. I want it.

↳Asshole, are you doing this on purpose?

The chat was a cauldron boiling with madness.

‘Good. It’s going according to my plan. Here comes the second surprise!’

“And this was supposed to be a secret, but…”

He postured as if he was about to let out a major state secret.

“You all know that I live in Paju, right? And no dungeons appear within five kilometers of my house.”

Ji-Cheok winked at the camera.

“That’s right. The Dungeon Break that happened in Paju a while ago broke my heart, so I planted this over here. It’s the World Tree!”

It was no secret that the World Tree grew in Paju, but Ji-Cheok had never really talked about what it could do.

‘Shall I reveal it now?’

“Let’s see!”

[Fairly Grown World Tree]

[Class:?

Type: Tree

A World Tree that has entered its adolescence stage. It purifies the surroundings and generates pure mana.

The Sacred Site is strengthened even further.

Function: It designates the land on a 5km radius around it as a ‘Sacred Site’.

Function: In the Sacred Site, the stamina recovery rate is increased by 500%.

Function: In the Sacred Site, the mana recovery rate is increased by 500%.

Function: In the Sacred Site, the appearance of diseases is prohibited.

Function: In the Sacred Site, plant growth rate is increased by 200%.

Function: In the Sacred Site, there is always a full supply of Earth Energy.

Function: In the Sacred Site, advanced-level curses are canceled.

Function: In the Sacred Site, the appearance of dungeons is prohibited.

Function: In the Sacred Site, negative power is instantly dissipated.

Function: In the Sacred Site, the power of Spirits is significantly increased.

Function: The Spirit King has taken an interest in the World Tree and will use his power to protect it.

Function: In the Sacred Site, the gardeners are protected under the aegis of ‘Absolute Safety’.

Function: Once per month, the World Tree bears 2 fruits.]

His World Tree had been upgraded in so many ways! It was now in its adolescence stage.

The reason Ji-Cheok could show this to everyone was that he now had the ability to protect the World Tree! This was also to show off the power of his dimensional barrier generator.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“Alright! Did you all see what the World Tree can do? The power of the World Tree is protecting this city of Paju, and I have finally created an item that has the same absolute prohibition ability as the World Tree!”

-What? World Tree?!

-That’s crazy! I’m losing my mind!

-So the area is actually safe? Look! It says the Spirit King himself will use his power to protect the World Tree!

-What’s happening in Paju? Wait, I live in Paju! I live in a neighborhood not far from the penthouse where Umji lives!

-The prices of real estate will skyrocket!

-So, just to be clear, Umji just created an item that has a part of the World Tree’s power? And that’s the Ultra-Small Dimensional Barrier Generator?!

“There you go. Sounds great, right? Some might say it sounds like a scam, but it’s one-hundred percent-tried-and-true, folks! Order yours now! It’s only 290,000 won! For that price, you get a ten-meter radius of safety! Of course, you can even pay in installments!”

-Ten meters… That’s a little underwhelming, isn’t it?

-What if the dungeon appears ten meters away from my house?

↳Are you stupid? Just buy three or four of them.

↳If I buy three, that’s 900,000 won. That’s a little expensive don’t you think?

↳He said there’s also an installment plan. It’s cheaper than changing your smartphone plan.

‘Now now, you guys shouldn’t fight over it. I guess this is the right time to tell them this!’

“But wait…there’s more! The more you have of these dimensional barrier generators, the more your safe zone increases! For example, if you put three of them together, the range increases to thirty meters! But be careful, it does not go beyond one hundred meters. That is one of its weaknesses. However… do not despair! For those of you who want an even greater range, I have a solution!”

Ji-Cheok signaled Cheok-Liang, who used the [Fragment of Illusion] to create an illusionary image. It was about ten times the size of the item that Ji-Cheok was holding in his hand.

In front of Ji-Cheok, there was now an identical transmission tower about half his height.

[Small Dimensional Barrier Generator]

[Class: S

A dimensional barrier generator crafted by Um Ji-Cheok.

It is a small item powered by energy from a Magic Stone.

It absolutely prohibits dungeons from appearing within a 100-meter radius.]

“It’s as powerful as ten ultra-small devices by itself. And it is so cheap! The price of 5 Ultra-Small Dimensional Barrier Generators! Only 1,498,800 won! That’s really cheap. And of course, the stacking rule applies all the same—if you put ten of them together, the range will increase to one whole kilometer. Buy it now! You lose out if you don’t, and you know it!”

The chat now began to explode like the Big Bang.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Haha!! Hahaha!”

Ji-Han was laughing, but there was little change in his expression. His eyes were not smiling, and neither was any other part of his face. Only the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned in a genuinely bizarre smile.

In front of him, his half-brother was sitting on the floor.

“You… you crazy bastard…”

It kind of looked like a scene from an Asian horror movie, rather than an American one.

Jung Su-Gi just sat there in indescribable horror.

There were corpses around him—incomplete ones, though. Heads with only the spinal cord attached, upper and lower bodies detached from each other in an obviously painful way, and a number of nondescript bits and pieces which, at a closer look, appeared to be organs and limbs.

They were everywhere. Bones, flesh, and guts were scattered across the room. Pools of blood and half-digested filth spilling out of chopped-up large intestines were strewn about, a horrible stench stinging the nostrils along with the gruesome sight.

However, in that madness, Ji-Han was laughing bizarrely.

“You are… exceeding my expectations. Perhaps I should focus more on what you’re doing…”

He mumbled something that Su-Gi could not understand.

“What… What are you talking about?! You… What did you… If our grandfather knew about this…”

“Jung Man-Deuk does not care about these things.”

‘Why do humans believe that what they know is all there is?’

Ji-Han returned to his expressionless face and calm demeanor and looked down at Su-Gi.

“Even if you die, if you disappear, if you’re crippled, if you become an idiot, if you get a disease, if you sell your soul to the Devil, if you’re contaminated and mutated, if you’re left with nothing but your brain… Even if you have nothing at all left of you…”

Horrible words flowed out.

“...He does not care. He never has. Not in the slightest”

“What are you talking about? What the hell are you trying to tell me…?”

“I’m just letting you know, Su-Gi. Do not disturb me any further. Becoming the heir to the Jungha Group, the thing that you want the most, is not worth anything to me.”

“You crazy bastard, do you really think the world is going to end? Is that why you are doing this?” Su-Gi shouted, his anger piercing through the horror among the corpses.

“What do you mean crazy?” Ji-Han said.

“Are you telling me what you are doing right now is not crazy?!”

“You tried to kill me, Su-Gi. And there is essentially no difference between my death and theirs. There is no difference between that neat dead body in front of you and all these bits and pieces you see here.”

Ji-Han waved his hand. All the corpses turned into particles of light and were sucked into the back of his hand.

The interior of Su-Gi’s office was now clean, but that didn’t make the scene any less terrifying.

“It’s better for you to be alive in order to use the power of Jung Man-Deuk. I’ve already experienced this many times.”

“You’re saying that as if you know the fut—No way… Are you—”

“Think what you will. And if you interfere with me one more time, I will make sure that you never die…or live at all. If you don’t want to experience absolute hell for a literal eternity, think carefully before you act. Do you understand?”

With that, Ji-Han opened the door of the office and stepped out.

‘I didn’t expect that Um Ji-Cheok would be able to miniaturize the dimensional barrier and sell it… I’ll have to change my plan.’

Ji-Han’s face was still expressionless.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Ji-Cheok’s dimensional barrier generators, both ultra-small and small, were miniaturized versions of the dimensional barrier he had received from Hephaestus. And there was not a factory in the world that could make them…apart from one, of course.

Clank! Clank! Thud! Thud! Clank! Clank! Thud! Thud!

The sound was from a giant mechanical device with a rectangular shape that looked like something out of a children’s cartoon. It had two Tesla coils on top, like horns, and an instrument panel that looked like an analog counter. At first sight, it was more like an animated something-inator device than actual state-of-the-art technology.

Of course, Ji-Cheok had made it himself.