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What on earth is that noise?

I was completely taken aback until I suddenly snapped back to reality and asked, “I just don’t get it… How does seeing the end and then being reborn multiply coins by a hundred million?”

“Hmm. Do you know about the concepts of gifts and short selling? Looking at your obsidian, it seems you’ve already inherited the knowledge of the Great Bear Empire and it’s been recorded in the Heart of Memory.”

“That… what’s that… um… stocks… what was it again….”

Shit… I have no idea…. As I fumbled my words, Lee Hwan-woong chuckled.

“Even with loads of knowledge, if you don’t understand it, it’s pointless. To put it simply, a futures contract is a financial product dealing with the future.”

“The future?”

“Yes. To make it simple, it’s like gambling based on predictions about the future. If your bet is correct, you can make a ton of money, but if you’re wrong, you lose what you have.”

“Oh, I see.”

Ah, so betting on the future is what futures are all about!

Feeling like I grasped it a bit, I nodded and said, “So… when I see the [end] and [rebirth] to gain [Law of Cause and Effect], that alone counts as a gamble, and if I succeed, the multiplier is a million… Did I get that right?”

“Exactly.”

“…But why is the multiplier a million? You said tougher bets have higher multipliers, but this is what I do all the time.”

As I tilted my head in confusion, Lee Hwan-woong wore a grim smile.

“It’s definitely not easy. Because, you see, no matter what other being in the universe except for the reborn gets to survive after the [end].”

“Huh?”

“Think about it. Why do the myriad divine beings you’ve met envy and covet your rebirth ability? Simply put, no matter how powerful they are, they couldn’t possess the rebirth ability. In other words, you are the only existence in the entire universe that can survive by being reborn after the [end]!”

“…!!”

“Moreover, if you consider your journey so far, you seem to gain some kind of Law of Cause and Effect every time you’re reborn. You can tell just by looking at the reactions of divine beings. But is there another being besides the reborn who can survive the [end] of the universe and acquire something that can be called the most precious resource in the entire universe—the [Law of Cause and Effect]?”

Lee Hwan-woong confidently continued, “There isn’t! Regardless of the Three Sovereigns or whatever, they all die when faced with the end! Only the reborn can survive across the universe’s destruction… that’s the essence of being the reborn!”

I was so stunned that I questioned back, “Is… is that so?”

“Yes. You need to be aware of your absolute rarity as the reborn. And if it’s something only that unique reborn can accomplish… then of course it’s the hardest thing in the universe, so 1 million times is just child’s play! In fact, the 1 million times is simply the multiplier allowed by Chi You, and it wouldn’t be strange at all if it goes beyond 100 million!”

“……”

“Of course, considering this rarity of the reborn, you wouldn’t be satisfied with just 1 million times. That’s why I added short selling. It’s a different system than futures, so the multipliers can stack.”

“Short selling?”

“Short selling is somewhat different but similar to futures. In the end, if something fails or brings negative results in the future, I will make money.”

Lee Hwan-woong flipped a small book that he usually read.

“Think about it. The universe will ultimately meet its end after the [Revelation], right? The fate of that universe is set; it can’t be changed. It’s like a stock called [universe] crashing into the ground and getting delisted. Everyone is forced to accept this outcome.”

“So what?”

“On the contrary, we can use the reborn’s ability to say the universe isn’t going to face its end; we short the universe’s fate. This bet should also obviously exceed 1 million times, but due to the limits of Chi You’s power, it seems only 100 times can be applied at the Tier 3 Front Demon level.”

“……?”

“It seems you don’t quite understand yet. Let me simplify it.”

Lee Hwan-woong smiled brightly.

“So… if you [reborn], then this universe isn’t destroyed. You’re carrying the fate of this universe and maintaining it. If you do that, you could consider it overcoming the universe’s end [destruction] and successfully executing the ultimate long-bet by shorting shorts!”

“……”

I pondered deeply over Lee Hwan-woong’s words. It was a very unfamiliar concept of stocks. But thanks to his simpler explanation, I came to a degree of understanding and soon expressed what I understood.

“…So if I’m reborn, this world doesn’t fall apart? It’s like I’m carrying the world’s fate?”

“Exactly, you got it.”

“But doesn’t that just seem like nonsense? Just because it’s destroyed doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, doesn’t it?”

I was baffled. Lee Hwan-woong’s explanation seemed somewhat correct, but honestly, if I thought about it, it was quite irrational. If what he said was true, then I had witnessed the destruction of numerous worlds over my 30 rebirths; didn’t that mean those destructions weren’t actually destructions?

Lee Hwan-woong shrugged.

“That’s why I consulted the spirit dealing with commercial power first, right? To see if it’s possible or not. If not, I would’ve been fine with the 1 million times and just ended it, but unexpectedly, the short selling on the world’s fate was also recognized as part of the rules. Whether you think it’s nonsense or not, once the true ruler of this ability acknowledges it, that’s the essence of this ability.”

“Hmm….”

Well, this wasn’t a power based on human laws or institutions.

It was a portrait ability guaranteed by the distant Absolute Being, the Outer God.

Thinking like that, I found Lee Hwan-woong’s words to have some validity.

“Anyway, that ability of yours is truly vast. Is it linked directly to the [omniscient being] or something…? A non-reborn existence could never gain this kind of multiplier. You could even say that’s why Chi You has wasted a good ability.”

Lee Hwan-woong muttered before continuing.

“In any case, a hundred million times—that’s a hundred million. If you have that much property, wouldn’t giving dividends to shareholders be trivial? You’ll be able to do anything with that much wealth in the future.”

“Whoa…!!”

“You could become the greatest tycoon in the universe.”

One hundred million times!

The concept didn’t quite hit home when I just heard it, but for some reason, my heart was racing. Honestly, the investment money I had received from the [old rulers] until now was considerable, but if that multiplied a hundred million times, just how extraordinary would that be?

‘Could it… be a huge jackpot…!!’

Feeling a bit giddy, I suddenly recalled a flaw and said to Lee Hwan-woong, “…Hey, but since I [reborn] after seeing the [end], I’ll have to die after my 30th life to get the hundred million, right?”

“That’s right.”

“So, my gain of a hundred million doesn’t kick in until my 31st life, which means… how am I supposed to give dividends when those shareholder guys demand them regularly in this life? I need to grow the money first before I can dish out the dividends.”

“Hoo-hoo. That’s a very rational question. But it’s quite simple.”

Lee Hwan-woong smiled and continued.

“I will use options.”

“Options?”

“Wait about 5,000 years and sell call options to those loud divine beings in the universe at expiration. While we call them call options, we’re essentially treating the Law of Cause and Effect as money and can thus add a massive premium! From the moment you’re recognized as the reborn, it’s like gambling with money… and with swaps in place, there’s absolutely no way you’ll lose money.”

“I don’t understand any of that.”

“Hehe, guessed you wouldn’t. So there’s one thing you need to do.”

“What’s that?”

“Ask the spirit of commerce to draft a contract.”

“What kind of contract?”

I flinched at what Lee Hwan-woong elaborated next.

“I, Lee Hwan-woong, acknowledge you as a co-manager sharing [Commercial Power].”

“…!!”

“If you do that, it won’t matter if you go back to the future. Last time, since it was your unique ability, you had no choice but to watch the company collapse, but if you delegate the authority to me, that won’t happen. Even in your absence, I could increase the assets through commercial power, thus setting the Law of Cause and Effect.”

“No… wait a minute…”

I thought for a moment before saying, “Does that mean you can also use my [Commercial Power]?”

“Exactly. And not just that, you’ll also grant me the right to freely manage all the assets of every [old ruler] you’ve kept.”

“……”

“You’ve got quite a skeptical look.”

I shot a wary glance at Lee Hwan-woong. “Honestly, we don’t exactly have a trust-filled relationship, do we? If you think about it, aren’t I the enemy who killed your master, Nailatop? [Commercial Power] is significantly important to me, so how can I trust you to delegate it all?”

“Hehe. Well, it’s only natural you’d think that way. But what I want to emphasize is the business relationship here.”

“Business?”

“I bear no grudge against you for wiping out Nailatop. After all, regarding mere human affection, that existence was too great a divine being. Maybe it was part of the providence that the reborn was the one to perish.”

“……”

“One more thing, at this immediate moment, there’s no one besides me who can grow your assets efficiently. And if you aren’t around, I wouldn’t even be able to survive in this era. If we have to coexist, let’s thoroughly make this a business alliance.”

“……Where else do you find allies like that?”

“Who knows? Haven’t you experienced many such cooperative relationships since you’ve been freely using obsidian? You’re just placing too much significance on the existence of Nailatop.”

“Hmmm….”

I thought about it deeply. And I realized that Lee Hwan-woong was correct.

‘After all, it’s not my first time in this kind of relationship.’

Collaborating for mutual needs was something I’d experienced plenty. Besides a few key allies, most of my relationships had indeed been like that. I recognized I didn’t need to look down on Lee Hwan-woong and said to him, “Alright then. Just don’t stab me in the back.”

“Hahaha… If I tried to backstab you, so many have already fallen to their doom. Would I be so foolish? Unless you handed over your rebirth ability to me directly.”

Swish swish swish

Shortly afterward, I drafted the delegation contract through the spirit and signed alongside Lee Hwan-woong. Then the contract glowed brightly for a moment, and the spirit of commerce spoke.

[Thus, the Commercial Power is shared with Lee Hwan-woong, granting him asset management authority.]

“Great.”

Lee Hwan-woong, celebrating, then said, “Now that the important matter is all settled, shall we start moving?”

“What should we do?”

“The petition for unsealing the Navel of the Sun God with the Dark Sun still has a few days left. So first, we’ll head to the new capital city, Kalpa.”

“Kalpa?”

“Yes. First, securing the alliance is our priority.”

Lee Hwan-woong explained his plans, and I decided to go along with his strategy.

“Got it.”

Pa-at!!

Shortly after, I used divine power to activate my dimensional movement abilities, traveling with Lee Hwan-woong towards Kalpa. Upon arriving in Kalpa, it wasn’t long before Vishnu and Shiva appeared before us.

Vishnu spoke, “What brings you back?”

“Last time, you asked me to form a blood alliance. But that guy Shiva opposed it, so I just left.”

At my words, Shiva, standing beside Vishnu, smirked derisively.

“Hmph… I still think the same. A mouth like yours is untrustworthy, so prove your strength and power to me.”

“I’d like to, but I don’t feel like wasting energy on a useless fight.”

Why would I want to engage in pointless battles just to show off? It was destined to be meaningless confrontation fueled only by divine power!

“Take a look at this, Shiva.”

I then lifted my shirt to reveal my torso and showed it to him.

Upon seeing the symbol reading “Om” (ॐ), Shiva appeared utterly bewildered.

“Uh… huh?! No way?!”

“This means you acknowledge me as your blood ally and comrade, right?”

“……!!”

As Shiva continued to look flabbergasted, Vishnu, next to him, began laughing heartily in the guise of Krishna.

“Hahaha!! Well, now… bringing the ultimate pattern that Shiva only grants to his true blood allies… could it really be possible that you unknowingly did such a thing?”

“I’m pretty sure I mentioned it. I’ve met Brahma at the universe’s end. This is nothing.”

I arrogantly bragged, but neither Shiva nor Vishnu mocked or looked down on my words. Understandably so, as it was something even they, as representatives, couldn’t fathom logically.

After a moment, Shiva nodded as if he had no other choice.

“…I acknowledge you. We will accept you as our true blood ally and will cooperate wholeheartedly henceforth!”

“Awesome!”

Done deal!

Thanks to messing around with Shiva in the future, I easily gained the Tianzhu Three Greats as allies in the era of Takrok!

Then, Lee Hwan-woong stepped forward and said, “Now that we’ve become true blood allies, let’s collect some funds.”

“…?”

Looking at the bewildered Tianzhu Three Greats, Lee Hwan-woong grinned wickedly.

“You need to invest in our corporation. Please present the most valuable divine treasures or treasures of any kind.”

“……”

This was Lee Hwan-woong’s plan.

To forcibly extract investments from every [old ruler] and ancient god he’d befriend as allies to grow his wealth.

 

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