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Translator: uly
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Return
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Geon-woo stared quietly at Ilryeong.
Ilryeong was a soul from another dimension that had been drawn to Geon-woo's soulstone when he first logged into Onviroad.
She was a being from a world that was neither Earth nor Onviroad.
From what Geon-woo had heard, the world Ilryeong came from was exactly like the backdrop of a murim novel.
She had been the eldest daughter of the Lang Clan, a family that created and controlled jiangshi in that world. But enemy forces attacked, plunging the clan into crisis, and she was killed amid the chaos.
Yet because the cultivation technique she practiced was so unique, her soul ended up hitching a ride during Geon-woo's soul transfer as he crossed over to Onviroad.
At the time, Ilryeong had already died and then undergone this dimensional soul shift, but Onviroad's world will rejected her, leaving her on the verge of dissipation.
In desperation to avoid fading away, Ilryeong pleaded for Geon-woo's help, and after agonizing over it, he finally agreed.
In the end, she survived bound to him as his subordinate, and they'd been together ever since.
"Alright, let's start by fully absorbing the soulstone."
Geon-woo began fusing a portion of the 5,231 souls Ilryeong had collected and stored into his own soulstone completely.
Right now, they were just absorbed and held in his soulstone—the ones Ilryeong had been keeping.
This had become possible starting with the 2nd Expedition.
At first, absorbing soulstones automatically fused them, so to pull out those 4,000 souls, he'd had to shatter his own soulstone.
But now, thanks to the Ark Capsule upgrade, it had a storage function for soulstones.
And he could fully merge those stored soulstones into his own, which let him grow the avatar he used in Onviroad.
Boosting avatar potential via soulstone fusion was a fact that had only come to light after the 2nd Expedition Team.
The 1st Expedition Team members had been stuck using basic avatars for everything.
Even so, Geon-woo scraping together nearly 10,000 soulstones was next to a miracle.
"Gotta build up the soulstone like this to raise the avatar's potential. I had no idea back then…"
Geon-woo muttered to himself as he fully integrated 5,000 of the 5,231 souls into his soulstone.
Wuuuuuuuung!
In that instant, the air in the waiting room churned violently around him.
= Ooooh, finally…
Ilryeong gazed at him with eyes brimming with emotion.
Geon-woo sat on the sofa, eyes closed, contemplating the changes within.
Right now, he was reclaiming every bit of power his avatar had built up during the 1st Expedition.
His old self, trapped in a mere 1-soul soulstone, was breaking free into an avatar expanded to 5,000 souls.
"A little room to spare."
After observing the whole process with his eyes shut for a while, Geon-woo opened them and murmured.
The 5,000-soul avatar had absorbed all his past abilities and still had margin left over.
Plus, the oppressive weight he'd always felt from the avatar before was gone.
Back then, it had been like constant crushing gravity—but now, that pressure had vanished clean.
No, it even felt like there was extra breathing room.
Meaning he had growth potential left, even without dumping in more souls anytime soon.
= Congratulations, my lord.
Ilryeong dropped to one knee, hand over her heart, and bowed her head with a look of deep emotion.
"Out of the remaining 231 souls, hold 200 in reserve and earmark 31 for revivals."
If his avatar died in Onviroad, it would respawn in the waiting room or sanctuary plaza—but that cost 1 soul each time.
Stockpiling all 231 extras for revivals meant his avatar could come back 231 times.
Sure, each revival would slash the avatar's potential and abilities hard, but that was the trade-off.
= You mean reviving with souls. But my lord, you've never lost an avatar once. So why reserve 31 for revivals this time? Does each one take around 10 souls or something?
Ilryeong lifted her head, eyes wide with surprise at his plan to set aside 31 souls for revivals.
"Why hold onto just 1 soul? Revivals cost 1 soul."
= Only 1 soul?
She blinked in shock at his casual confirmation that avatars revived on a single soul.
"Yeah. One soul gets you back up. No point risking a one-life run when you don't have to."
= In that case, we absolutely should prepare for the worst. Though with your abilities, my lord, stocking up for 31 deaths does feel a tad excessive.
"It's the kind of extravagance you can afford with soul surplus."
= Hohoho, well, it's still great news. Hohohoho.
Ilryeong picked up on the changes from those 7 years and brightened up.
"Yeah. Worst case, I die, respawn right here in the waiting room, and chill till the debuffs wear off. Nothing like the old days taking years to recover."
= Really?
"That 7-year grind back then? Because I force-cracked the soulstone. Totally different from an avatar dying in Onviroad."
= Got it.
"And here's the big thing: I'm planning to stick around Onviroad as long as possible this time. No heading back to Earth."
= Pardon? You're not returning home? Why's that?
Ilryeong's pale face tensed, her eyes going huge as she sensed some deeper motive behind his long-stay plan.
"I did have to come back to Onviroad at least for your sake…"
Geon-woo let his words trail off.
When he'd first taken her in, he'd promised to return her to her homeland someday, if he could.
The odds were better in Onviroad than on Earth, so resuming his activities there made sense.
But his tone hinted there was more to it.
= There's another reason too?
Ilryeong tilted her head curiously.
Geon-woo went quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts.
Then he spoke up.
"If we can't hold back the dimensional invasion in Onviroad and it crosses that line, Earth gets hit next."
= But you already knew that, didn't you, my lord?
"Yeah. Everyone at Neuron Age knows."
Twelve years back, world leaders had gathered to prep for dimensional invasions—and became Neuron Age brass.
= So there's something else?
"Yeah."
= Like what…
"If Onviroad goes south enough for Earth to face dimensional invasion."
= And then?
"They say users can wield the powers they got from Ark Capsules on Earth too."
= Powers from Onviroad?
"Yep."
= So if you just stay home on Earth, you might end up struggling later?
"Spot on. I'd be a total noob, twiddling my thumbs. Can't just sit back hoping Ark Capsule players carry the fight in Onviroad."
= You hate getting dragged along by events. Unless it's you flipping the script with your own strength.
Ilryeong nodded knowingly, as if she got his mindset perfectly.
"Yeah, that's why Onviroad it is. Never even got to blow that rotting pile of cash properly."
= Ah, right—you mentioned striking it rich. Looks like you did.
"Yeah, but I dumped most of it into safe zones. Tsk."
= You finally lived the rich shut-in dream, only for it to slip away.
"Fate's a bitch. And don't get me started on fretting whether I'd even make it back here…"
= Huh? You, unable to return to Onviroad? What do you mean?
Ilryeong's face lit up with alarm.
Geon-woo let out a small sigh of relief as he eyed her.
"Whew. Learned this barely, as a Neuron Age major shareholder: the second simultaneous logins hit 400 million, access locks down."
= Access lockdown?
"Over a billion Arks built so far."
= So what's the 400 million mean?
"Simultaneous logins. The instant Onviroad has 400 million people inside, only those online right then keep access rights. That's why I'm not risking a trip back to Earth till it's decided."
= So if you pop home quick and it caps at 400 million simultaneous, you're locked out?
"Yeah. Then it'd be scavenging soulstones from access holders. Buy 'em or rip 'em away by force."
= You could snag access rights like that?
"Yep. Dogfight over slots, basically."
= Why the hell would they…
"Something about dimensional balance—couldn't dig deeper. Point is, I sweated bullets wondering if it'd hit 400 million before the 7-year ban lifted."
= Knowing that makes seeing you again feel even more special, my lord!
"Tsk, dialing it up again."
Geon-woo clicked his tongue at Ilryeong, who knelt on one knee atop the table, head bowed.
He rose from the sofa and headed to the waiting room wall.
Two shelves ran along it, one above the other.
The upper one held just a single sword, a black leather belt, chestplate, boots, and half-gloves—sparse enough to feel empty.
The lower shelf, by contrast, brimmed with cold weapons of all sorts, assorted armor pieces, big and small backpacks, simple men's garb—all neatly arrayed.
Geon-woo stripped off his avatar's default outfit first, then grabbed leather pants and a shirt from the lower shelf and suited up.
= Hmng, your physique is a masterpiece, my lord. Hmnng.
Ilryeong's teasing hum drifted from behind, but Geon-woo paid it no mind.
He was long past getting riled by her quirks.
Pants and shirt on, he now pulled every piece from the upper shelf and equipped them.
A moment later—with the sword hooked onto the belt's ring—he turned around.
= My lord, so much time's passed. Those might not cut it anymore.
Ilryeong eyed his geared-up form with clear worry.
Seven years, after all.
Users who'd been grinding Onviroad longer than him would surely sport better kit.
"Seven years is a haul, sure. But these? Best I scraped together rolling face-first in Onviroad for three straight years. My three won't trail their seven by much. Not trash-tier now. Mid-to-high grade at worst."
= Mid-to-high for you, my lord? That's devastating…
He'd meant it as reassurance, but "mid-to-high" tanked her mood hard.
Geon-woo cracked up at the sight.
"Hahaha. Just talk—think that's real? Damn few users have sunk 5,000 souls into their avatars yet. Word is, that's top-of-the-line territory."
= Really?
"Yeah. And hey, I'm not solo."
= We'll back you up, of course, but…
Her face lifted a touch at that.
Still, not fully eased.
"What's eating you?"
= Your old teammates, obviously—that's the real issue.
Ilryeong spoke carefully, gauging his reaction.
Her true worry? Folks who'd clock his return and try to mess with him.
He'd had bad blood with some teammates back in the 1st Expedition.
After seven years, those same players had no doubt climbed high in Onviroad—Ilryeong could picture it clear as day.