“Hoo.”
After handling the urgent matters, the first thing I checked was Lee Joon-hyuk, who was still working hard in Jeju.
‘His Star Power increased, right?’
With the level-up expansions and the influx of new citizens, I hadn’t had the ti to properly check this.
I first looked at the Star Power effects, but they remained the sa.
[☆☆☆]
All stats increased by 300%
50% additional experience gained
50% additional settlent money gained
‘Then…’
Could it be that, just as he had overco his level cap, his maximum Star Power enhancent had also increased?
To test my theory, I attempted to enhance Lee Joon-hyuk’s Star Power.
And—
[Would you like to use 3,000,000,000 won to enhance Citizen Lee Joon-hyuk’s Star Power?]
[Success Rate: 45%]
As expected, he could now be upgraded to 4 stars.
The cost was a hefty 3 billion won, but Star Power enhancents were always worth the investnt.
Even in the case of failure, accumulated Starlight Dust increased the success rate for future attempts.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
‘So, the Star Power enhancent cap was lifted.’
There was no reason to hesitate.
‘Enhance.’
[Citizen Lee Joon-hyuk’s Star Power has been enhanced.]
Surprisingly, it succeeded on the first try.
[☆☆☆☆]
All stats increased by 400%
100% additional experience gained
100% additional settlent money gained
However, 4 stars didn’t bring any fundantal changes—just nurical boosts.
‘Even so, this alone is significant.’
Star Power wasn’t just for retainers.
It applied to all citizens.
And since the Crown of the Absolute doubled all effects,
Lee Joon-hyuk’s total experience and settlent money gain from hunting monsters now reached 1500%.
At this point, if a high-level monster needed to be finished off, it had to be done using Lee Joon-hyuk’s power.
‘He has a 300% advantage over the other retainers.’
Still, sothing felt lacking.
With a na like Limit Break, it should have been more than just a stat boost.
‘Can I enhance it again?’
Out of curiosity, I attempted another enhancent.
[Would you like to use 10,000,000,000 won to enhance Citizen Lee Joon-hyuk’s Star Power?]
[Success Rate: 35%]
‘It works!’
Even though each attempt cost 10 billion won, the benefits of strengthening a retainer made this cost trivial.
‘At 5 stars, there has to be sothing different.’
Thud!
[Enhancent failed.]
[Citizen Lee Joon-hyuk has accumulated Starlight Dust.]
Unlike regular enhancents, failures here still provided Starlight Dust, increasing the success rate.
[Would you like to use 10,000,000,000 won to enhance Citizen Lee Joon-hyuk’s Star Power?]
[Accumulated Starlight Dust (10%) increases success rate.]
[Success Rate: 41.5%]
A much kinder system compared to standard equipnt enhancents, where the success rate never improved.
‘Enhance.’
After three failures, the notification I had been waiting for finally appeared.
[Citizen Lee Joon-hyuk’s Star Power has been enhanced.]
And then—
[☆☆☆☆☆]
All stats increased by 500%
100% additional experience gained
100% additional settlent money gained
New Trait: [Blooming] acquired
The change I had anticipated had finally arrived.
‘[Blooming?]’
The description was simple.
A trait that temporarily unlocked the target’s latent potential, significantly enhancing all abilities.
I was about to call Lee Joon-hyuk imdiately—
But.
Wuuuuuung!
He was already using his newfound power.
It seed the timing aligned perfectly with his battle against the black insects.
Even though the scale was smaller than that of the Avatar, generating an artificial tsunami still required an enormous amount of concentration.
Swooooooosh—
At the center of the swirling sea, Lee Joon-hyuk’s entire body turned black.
Fwoosh!
‘Hmm?’
What surprised was that he had ignited the black flas himself—before I had even enhanced him.
A more refined, controlled black fla radiated from his entire being.
‘I see.’
I quickly understood what was happening.
I had encountered a similar case before.
‘This is just like when I first used the Subjugation Contract.’
Before the Noble Title System had been unlocked, I had unintentionally bestowed titles like Baron and Viscount upon my retainers through the Subjugation Contract.
At the ti, the ability I had inherited from my mother, Subjugation Contract, had drawn out the system’s latent potential.
And now, the sa phenonon was occurring again.
‘Originally, he should have needed to reach 5-star Star Power and acquire [Blooming] to use the black flas.’
But thanks to my enhancents, he had skipped the prerequisite process and gained imdiate results.
In short—this was a bug.
A bugged thod had allowed to use black flas before, but Lee Joon-hyuk’s [Blooming] was the real deal.
‘It’s definitely much more efficient than my forced enhancent.’
Which ant—
‘What happens if I enhance him while he’s in this state?’
As if skipping through the process and bringing only the results wasn't enough, what would happen if I enhanced Lee Joon-hyuk again while he was properly going through the right steps?
For reference, the nobility ranks he gained through the Subjugation Contract remained intact.
With so anticipation, I used my power on Lee Joon-hyuk while he was in the state of [Blooming].
‘Enhance.’
At that mont—
Wuuuuung—
A halo appeared above Lee Joon-hyuk’s head.
And then—
‘…Wings?’
A pair of black, radiant wings unfolded from his back.
The black flas that had once enveloped his body now transford into an aura that rippled through him like a living force.
As soon as his half-closed eyes fully opened—
Swooooooosh!
A drastic transformation took place.
Towering water pillars resembling a hurricane spiraled around him.
At first, they were rely thin, thread-like streams of water, but they soon rged, thickening and twisting into an enormous vortex.
Swoooooosh—
As the water hurricane expanded, massive raindrops of seawater poured down violently.
So of it crashed down onto Jeju Island like a torrential downpour.
Zzzzt—
[You have slain Black Insect (Lv. 20).]
[You have slain Black Insect (Lv. 20).]
[You have slain Black Insect (Lv. 21).]
……
……
The black insects caught in the downpour died in droves.
But that was rely the beginning.
The true catastrophe was yet to arrive.
A high-tier water spirit was now leading an imnse, hundreds-of-ters-wide water column toward Jeju Island.
A hurricane, but made entirely of seawater instead of wind.
To the black insects, it was no different from the apocalypse itself.
Swooooosh—
By the ti the water column landed on Jeju’s shores, the destruction had spread far and wide.
Zzzzt!
Hundreds. No, thousands of black insects were being wiped out in real-ti.
Those directly struck by the water column died instantly, but tens of tis more perished just from the widespread seawater splashing across the land.
The result—
[Your skill level has increased.]
Not long after his last level-up, his experience skyrocketed again.
[Clear Mirror, Still Water has been activated.]
Even though my territory expansion had begun due to my own level-up, I couldn't take my eyes off Jeju.
By the ti the torrential waves finally settled, nearly 30% of the entire island had been drenched in seawater.
The death toll of the black insects was unprecedented.
This single attack had wiped out several tis more than what my Avatar and Lee Joon-hyuk had eliminated combined until now.
Having exhausted all his strength, Lee Joon-hyuk floated unconscious atop the ocean.
‘Is this… the next stage of [Blooming]?’
Before unlocking Blooming, Lee Joon-hyuk struggled to even imitate my Avatar.
But now?
At least in water manipulation, he was unquestionably the strongest.
Which naturally led to one big question.
‘What exactly are the conditions for a Limit Break?’
I didn’t have much ti to dwell on it.
With the territory expansion, new citizens were pouring in by the thousands, keeping too busy managing them all.
Distributing relief supplies, checking on the newcors’ health, issuing safety asures—I was completely occupied.
And then—
[The total citizen population has reached 3,000,000.]
[With the population reaching a certain threshold, the Party System has been unlocked.]
A new system had been unlocked as my citizens surpassed 3 million.
***
anwhile—
Chae Soo-bin lay sprawled across her couch, grinning ear to ear.
Ever since awakening her crystal-creation ability at the Shooting Range, her life had taken a complete turn for the better.
She could create one crystal every 24 hours and had sold each one for 30 million won.
‘Hehe. 30 million a day…’
That was over 100 billion won per year.
And tax-free.
She had practically beco a millionaire overnight.
‘Ugh, maybe I should’ve asked for more? He agreed way too easily.’
She had set the price herself.
Even though she knew nothing about gem valuation, she wasn’t stupid.
The fact that soone had rushed to recruit her the mont she awakened her ability ant her crystals had value.
She had actually expected rejection when she asked for 30 million won per crystal.
Yet, to her surprise—
He had agreed imdiately.
Not only that, but Kim Jae-hyun had paid her 10 billion won upfront as a signing bonus for her first batch of crystals.
And now, she was living in the very sa apartnt complex as him.
The most coveted place to live in all of Korea.
An apartnt rumored to cost over 10 billion won, one that only the chosen ones could enter.
‘Honestly, though, isn’t it just like any other modern apartnt?’
She had once visited a friend’s house that was much bigger and fancier.
‘Though, that place got destroyed…’
Other than the fact that Kim Jae-hyun lived there, the place wasn’t particularly special.
But.
‘Actually, that alone is everything.’
The fact that Kim Jae-hyun lived there.
Most of Korea’s land had now beco safe zones, but no one knew when monsters might return.
And when that happened…
Where would the safest place be?
‘Right here.’
The 10 billion price tag wasn’t just for a ho.
It was the cost of survival.
With a satisfied smile, Chae Soo-bin checked the crystals in her inventory.
‘One, two, three, raccoon, squid, spicy ran, turkey!’
Seven crystals.
Which ant 2.1 billion won just sitting there.
‘Wait…’
Usually, her crystals sold out within days.
But now, they had been piling up for a whole week.
‘…Did sothing happen?’
Just as she began to wonder—
[Chae Soo-bin.]
The saying speak of the devil and he shall appear never felt more accurate.
Because Kim Jae-hyun’s voice suddenly echoed inside her head.
“Uh, yes?”
[Are you free for a mont?]
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