Chapter 55

(Already modified)

Accompanying the golden toad’s confident declaration, the mountain of Golden Wheels in front of it disappeared instantly and reappeared right before Leon.

And Leon, having received the “payment,” let out a sudden scream of agony, clutching his ears in pain.

“Zzzziiiiiiiiiii!!!”

A mechanical alert sound, far more piercing than any before, rang out by Leon’s ears.

[Warning, anomalous item “Money-Changing Golden Toad” attempting to transfer system ownership.]

[System ownership cannot be transferred. Transfer operation rejected.]

[Warning, anomalous item “Money-Changing Golden Toad” attempting to transfer system ownership.]

[System ownership cannot be transferred. Transfer operation rejected.]

[…]

“How could this be…”

Looking at Leon, who despite showing signs of pain didn’t add a single wrinkle to his face or turn a single hair gray, the golden toad couldn’t help but widen its eyes in shock.

This was thirty thousand Golden Wheels! Enough to buy the lives of over a dozen people, yet it couldn’t even make him look older? Does the Clearing Bureau pay that well?

Refusing to believe otherwise, the golden toad retreated slightly, gathered five times the previous amount of Golden Wheels with both hands, and pushed them all toward the man in front of him.

“Fifteen ten-thousand!”

“Zzzziiiiiiiiiii!!!”

[Warning…]

[…Rejected]

“Fifty ten-thousand!!”

[Warning…]

[…Rejected]

“One hundred ten-thousand!!!”

[Warning…]

[…Rejected]

“Aaaahh!! It hurts!!”

“This is impossible!!”

Why could one human be worth so much?! Watching Leon, who continued to hold his head and scream in agony but refused to die, the golden toad’s worldview was dealt a massive blow. Unable to comprehend, it clenched its teeth and opened its mouth as wide as possible, spewing out enough Golden Wheels to form a river.

“All of these… added together!!”

Like a gambler who had lost everything, the golden toad, whose very existence was being challenged, began spitting out Golden Wheels with all its might until they submerged Leon up to his chest, formed a towering Golden Wheel mountain in the center of the Shopping Plaza, and caused its golden skin to pale slightly. Finally catching its breath…

[Warning…]

[…Rejected]

“Ah…”

After enduring five minutes of deafening noise, whether because his ears went completely deaf or he gradually got used to the pain, Leon not only stopped screaming but stood straight, his face even glowing with a healthy red hue from the intense “exercise.”

“…”

Impossible! I can’t believe it!! It shouldn’t be like this!!

Seeing Leon, who besides feeling slightly uncomfortable due to being squeezed by the Golden Wheels, looked better than ever, the golden toad felt its mind go blank, as if someone had struck it hard on the top of its head. The toad collapsed with a thud and couldn’t get back up for a long while.

“I’ve told you already, some things can’t be measured by money!”

Seeing that this stubborn creature had finally stopped its antics, Leon sighed in relief. Clambering out from the Golden Wheels that submerged him up to his chest after much effort, he climbed atop the mountain of gold and silver, looking down at the hateful golden toad with disdain and half-truthfully bluffed:

“I’m just an insignificant ordinary person, struggling daily for a meager salary, selling my life indirectly as you said.”

“Bullshit!”

Enraged by the disdain in Leon’s eyes, the severely faded golden toad struggled to stand, its massive head arching higher than the Golden Mountain once more. Opening its mouth, it aimed at Leon on the Golden Mountain, attempting to spit out more Golden Wheels to buy this human’s life.

However, this time, instead of brilliant Golden Wheels, it spat out large amounts of intricately carved silvery-white currency, covering the dazzling Golden Mountain with a ghastly white snowcap.

“How did it switch to Silver Wheels? Are you out of money?”

“I still have plenty!”

Spitting out another massive amount of Silver Wheels, and realizing it still had no effect on Leon, the now silver toad’s eyes flickered with doubt before quickly regaining determination. It raised its head angrily and responded: “I am the Holy Spirit of the Scale Gold Religion! My wealth is infinite! I’ve merely expended too much power during my descent. Once I leave here and return…”

“Don’t be stupid, no matter how much money you spit out, the result will always be the same!”

Submerged up to his chest again by the Silver Wheels, Leon smirked coldly, secretly taking a big gulp from a bottle. Relying on the effects of [Alcohol Martyr], suppressing the last remnants of fear in his heart, he tilted his head upward, staring at the copper-tinged giant toad and relentlessly pressed on:

“You see, the relationship between me and money is just like this mountain you’ve spat out.”

Without hesitation, Leon brushed aside the heavy Silver Wheels and struggled out of the “snowcap” once more. He reclaimed the highest point of the mountain of gold and silver, looking down at the fading toad below with disdain and declared:

“Admit it, as long as I remain clear-headed, resisting the allure of money and striving toward greater goals, no matter how much money there is, it deserves only to stay beneath my feet!”

“Crack!”

“I don’t believe it!”

With a loud crackling sound, cracks appeared all over the toad’s body. It violently tilted its head upward, roaring in disbelief and trying to lift itself higher than Leon.

However, under the weight of the massive mountain of gold and silver, no matter how hard it tried, it remained lower than Leon, bearing his scornful gaze from above.

“This is impossible!!”

Feeling immense humiliation from Leon’s condescending look, the fading toad struggled to rise, leaping upward in an attempt to climb the mountain of gold and silver and regain its high position above Leon.

But even a mountain made of gold and silver couldn’t support a six-meter-tall monstrous beast. Half of the mountain collapsed instantly, and the toad, which had barely managed to leap up, tumbled back down, gasping for breath and dizzily gazing up at Leon atop the mountain.

“Look, even the money under your control has begun to abandon you.”

“Crack!”

Leon, sitting cross-legged on a silver wheel “snowcap” over a meter thick, glanced downward at the reluctant toad below. Shaking his head silently, he grabbed a handful of silver wheels and sprinkled them onto the increasingly cracked skin of the toad, sighing:

“After spending my whole life pursuing money, I now stand atop countless riches, while you, who consider yourself the sovereign of money, are buried beneath it. Don’t you find that ironic?”

“Crack!”

No… This isn’t real! This isn’t real!

Looking at its nearly shattered body, the toad, unable to rise again, clung to its last hope, raising its head and shouting furiously: “It’s an anomalous item! An anomalous item, right? You must have an extremely high-grade anomalous item, powerful enough to resist my abilities!”

“If you think so, then fine.”

Flexing his still scrawny arms, Leon shook his head and chuckled derisively: “You guessed right, I do have an incredibly powerful anomalous item, higher in rank than a true god, but it provides no enhancement to my body. I can’t even lift an iron box and have to use a shopping bag to carry that sheep’s head to complete tasks.

Oh, by the way, the reason you couldn’t buy me earlier was because its rank was simply too high, making your ability ineffective… hehe, does that give you any comfort?”

“I… I…”

“Don’t bother, you’re just a pitiful guy too.”

Having forcibly concluded the life of the cracked toad, Leon sat atop the mountain of gold and silver, suppressing the excitement about killing a holy spirit, and narrated calmly: “I’ve always believed that a person’s view of the world is actually a projection of their own values.

When you see someone making noise, what you see isn’t the noisy person but your own aversion to clamor; when you see someone working hard, you aren’t seeing the worker but your appreciation for effort. This world is so vivid and beautiful, yet you not only fail to feel it but can only see a group of slaves controlled by money…”

Pausing here, Leon looked down at the enormous toad shattering bit by bit below and softly murmured with compassion:

“Who exactly is buried by the allure of money—those striving to live or you, who sees them as slaves?”

“Crack!”

“Rustle!”

(End of chapter)