Chapter 121

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 121: SP Exchange (2)

I spent 100 million SP to raise my SP Trading Skill to level 10.

Then, a message popped up.

[SP Exchange can now be established.]

[Would you like to establish the SP Exchange?]

I pressed "Yes" to establish the SP Exchange.

What will come out of this...?

[SP Exchange window has been activated.]

[SP Exchange has been added to the system. The one overseeing it is the Soul God, Kim Jiho.]

[Soul God Kim Jiho’s SP Exchange is specialized in finance.]

Huh...

It's already being added to the system?

Checking the system menu, I saw that the SP Exchange had been newly established.

Wow, it really was created just like that?

And seeing "SP Exchange" officially listed in the system—something even the deities fear—felt somewhat overwhelming.

Alright, what kind of services does this exchange offer?

I remember it was said to be specialized in finance...

I opened the SP Exchange.

It was completely empty.

Only a few options were available.

[Deposit.]

[Loan.]

[Settings.]

[Upgrade.]

Four options.

Deposit and loan—those seem similar to what a bank does, right?

Settings and upgrades must be for me as the administrator.

I checked each one.

[Deposit.]

[You can deposit SP into the SP Exchange. The SP Exchange guarantees an annual interest rate of 1%. The maximum deposit limit is 100 million SP.]

1% interest.

That’s ridiculously low.

Depositing 100 million SP would only yield 10 million SP in interest.

Who would even deposit with such a low rate?

But suddenly, countless messages started popping up.

[The deity ‘!#[email protected]$#*)%’ from the 8,877th realm has deposited 100 million SP.]

[The deity ‘Albrot’ from the 1,732nd realm has deposited 100 million SP.]

[The deity ‘Zeus’ from the 17,344th realm has deposited 100 million SP.]

[The deity ‘Poseidon’ from the 17,344th realm has deposited 100 million SP.]

Messages flooded in like crazy.

Some names were familiar, like Zeus and Poseidon, while others were just bizarre symbols or strange characters.

Wait, are there really this many deities in existence?

Even beyond the 100-million SP deposits, plenty of deities were depositing 10 million, 20 million SP each, making the list grow exponentially.

The SP Exchange’s storage was filling up in an instant.

And then, more messages popped up.

[SP Exchange’s SP storage is 80% full. Please upgrade the SP Exchange.]

[SP Exchange’s SP storage is 90% full. Please upgrade the SP Exchange.]

Ugh, you can’t just rush in and deposit like this...!

Besides, the SP deposited in the bank isn’t even mine, right?

Can I even upgrade it?

Ah, screw it.

Let’s just go for it.

I navigated to the upgrade menu.

A message appeared.

[You can upgrade the SP Exchange using 10% of its total deposits. Would you like to proceed?]

Checking the SP storage limit, it was set at 100 billion SP.

Wait, did it really fill up in less than an hour after opening?

The sheer number of deities in this vast universe was hitting me all at once.

Filling up 100 billion SP this fast...

Shaking off my astonishment, I carefully read the message.

The cost to upgrade: 10 billion SP.

Seriously...?

Only 10% of the total deposits could be used for upgrades, meaning I needed to reach the deposit cap before expanding.

"Upgrade."

A simple message popped up.

[You have used 10 billion SP to upgrade the SP Exchange to Level 2.]

[SP deposit limit has been increased to 2 billion SP.]

[Total SP storage limit has been increased to 500 billion SP.]

[Interest rate adjustment is now available. The minimum interest rate remains at 1%.]

[When the SP Exchange reaches Level 30, it will be recognized for its stability, allowing adjustments to the reserve ratio. The current reserve ratio is 100%.]

Reserve ratio?

Ugh... I’ve lived a life completely unrelated to finance, so I have no clue what this means.

It said I could adjust the interest rate, but there wasn’t really a reason to increase it.

After all...

The messages kept flooding in.

[The deity from the 1,294,194th realm...]

[The deity from the 373,195th realm...]

How many different realms even exist in this universe?

Deities were frantically rushing in with their SP to deposit.

Even with just a 1% interest rate, the number of customers was overwhelming.

SP stacked up in the Exchange.

Whenever the SP storage filled up, I upgraded it again and again.

Before I knew it, the SP Exchange had reached Level 10.

The total SP storage limit had increased to 50 trillion SP.

The deposit limit per deity had risen to 1 billion SP.

50 trillion... 1 billion...

It feels totally unreal.

Meanwhile, the SP I personally owned was only around 20 million.

Hmm, even if all these deposits are coming in, I won’t really profit unless I start lending SP, right?

A bank makes money by lending and collecting interest, after all.

But so far, no loan requests had come in...

[The deity from the 112,341st realm has requested an SP loan.]

[The deity from the 8,471st realm has requested an SP loan.]

Then, more messages started popping up.

And more...

And more...

The flood of messages was overwhelming.

It was like I had held down the Enter key by mistake, causing the screen to scroll endlessly.

It was a constant stream, as if there was a bug.

Loan requests were coming in.

So many realms, so many deities.

All of them wanted me to review their loan applications.

Ughhhhh!

What is this?!

How am I supposed to review all of these?!

At this rate, I’m going to be stuck managing the SP Exchange for eternity!

And seriously—who even is this deity from the 8,471st realm?

Some random nobody from a remote corner of the universe?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

How am I supposed to verify whether these deities can even pay back their loans...?

Ugh, this is a disaster.

There must be some options.

I start pressing different selections.

First, [Settings].

When I press Settings, I see that I can adjust deposit and loan interest rates.

The current deposit interest rate is set at 1%.

The loan interest rate is 5%.

I can increase the loan interest rate up to 10% and the deposit interest rate up to 3%.

Hmm, Hades’ loan interest rate is supposedly around 20%, right?

He tricked Elprian into thinking it was 10% while actually making her pay 20%...

Then, even if I set it to 10%, it’s not that expensive, is it?

I casually adjusted the loan interest rate to 10%.

Then, a warning message popped up.

[You have set the loan interest rate excessively high compared to the deposit interest rate.]

[Your interest margin reaches 9%. Are you sure you want to proceed with this setting?]

Interest margin?

Ah… so since the deposit rate is 1% and the loan rate is 10%, the profit margin is 9%?

Anyway, there’s already a line of people waiting to take out loans.

10% is cheap.

The competitor is charging 20%, after all.

I confidently set the loan interest rate to 10%, and another message appeared.

[The resistance of the gods to loan repayment will increase. To counter this, a strong debt collection team is required. Would you like to invest in this?]

Debt collection team…

That must mean those who go and take everything from those who can’t repay their debts.

Suddenly, I recalled the sight of Asgard being burned to white flames.

Is this related to that?

Might as well invest in this too.

I can’t tolerate people taking loans from me and not paying them back.

Debt collection is the most important thing.

Looking at the upgrade button, I saw there were upgrade options for debt collection as well.

I poured all my SP into it, and before I knew it, the debt collection level reached LV 10 MAX.

[Debt Collection LV.10]

[If gods using the SP exchange fail to repay their debts, the debt collection team will be dispatched. SSS-rank deities will be forcibly collected as SP.]

Guaranteed up to SSS-rank…

Very nice.

This should put my mind at ease.

After investing in debt collection, a message appeared saying I used up 10% of the SP exchange’s deposit assets, but soon enough, new deposit applications flooded in.

Ugh.

The sheer amount of scrolling is overwhelming.

Do I have to approve each one manually?

No, if this is a system, there must be a way.

I carefully examined the upgrade options.

Scrolling down the upgrade options, I found an entry labeled "SP Exchange Manager."

Ah, this must be it.

I upgraded it immediately, consuming another 10% of the deposited SP.

[SP Exchange Manager has been created.]

Then, a golden pig started flying in front of me.

A golden pig with golden wings.

Despite being a pig, it wore glasses and a graduation cap.

Is this the manager?

The pig looked at me.

Its gaze was sharp—far too intelligent for a pig.

Just from its eyes, I got the strong feeling that this thing was smarter than me.

[How would you like to set your investment strategy?]

Options: Aggressive - Moderate - Defensive.

Hmm, isn’t "Moderate" usually the best choice for things like this?

I selected ‘Moderate.’

[SP Exchange Manager is now active…]

[SP Exchange Manager is reviewing interest rates…]

Wait, is it going to lower the loan interest rate?

There’s no need to lower it since Hades is the only competitor in the market right now…

But the SP Exchange Manager is sharper than I expected.

[SP Exchange has a monopoly in the current market. SP Exchange Manager recommends a harsher loan interest rate.]

[SP Exchange Manager suggests leveling up the SP Exchange. It passionately argues that the unclaimed market should be seized immediately.]

Then, an avalanche of messages poured in from the manager.

Advice for me and the SP Exchange’s future.

When I didn’t respond right away, the pig opened its mouth and spoke.

“Oink oink. Master, you must maximize your interest margin.”

“Oink oink. Master, the market belongs to you right now. Opportunities like this don’t come often. We must sweep up the entire SP market.”

“Oink oink. Greed, you must be greedy, Master.”

The golden pig kept oinking while speaking, passionately spitting out words—literally, as its spit was also golden.

Wow… the pig manager seems reliable, but…

I have no idea what it’s talking about… damn…

Should I have studied finance?

In the golden pig’s eyes, I saw my own reflection.

A dumb expression.

I look completely lost.

I’ve ascended to being a divine being, yet I’m getting overwhelmed by financial information.

Ah… this isn’t right…

[Would you like to entrust the SP Exchange’s management to the SP Exchange Manager? The SP Manager will receive an additional 1% of the SP Exchange’s dividend profits.]

If I manage it myself, I get 100%.

If I leave it to the pig, I get 99%.

I already agreed to give Hercules 5%, so that leaves me with 95%, or 94%…

Sigh…

Fine, this kind of thing should be handled by an expert.

Until I learn more about finance, I’ll leave it to the pig.

When I pressed "Yes," the golden pig nodded confidently.

“Oink oink. Master, leave it to me! I will make you rich!”

“Alright.”

Until I gain more knowledge in this area, I’ll leave it to the pig.

Once I entrusted it to the golden pig, it immediately began upgrading various aspects.

Even so, confirmation messages still popped up for me, meaning I had the final say.

For now, to empower the pig, I approved everything.

The golden pig bowed deeply to me.

“Oink oink. Master, thank you for your full trust. I will make sure to repay it, oink oink.”

“Well, I expect maximum profits. That way, it benefits both of us.”

“Oink oink, of course. This is a great opportunity to exploit the deities… Hehehe… Those arrogant gods… Hehehehe… They called me a pig… Hehehehehe…”

Hmm…

That last part didn’t sound like pig noises…

Maybe I misheard it.

“Oink oink. Master, I will now dedicate myself to running the SP Exchange.”

“Alright, take care.”

“Oink oink. Yes, I will report to you daily, so I highly recommend checking the reports. You must stay informed of the market trends, oink oink.”

The pig bowed deeply once more before vanishing.

Man, saying it’ll report daily makes it seem so reliable.

Good choice.

“Phew… Time to go home.”

It’ll take some time before I see any real earnings.

Plus, after waiting 30 days in Eshtar for the mentoring effect, I kind of miss home.

Now that I don’t need to grind here anymore, I’ll go home and rest for a day or two.

“Heimdall’s Return.”

I used the return skill and arrived home.

The vast space is still as barren as ever.

But there’s something different.

A subtle aroma of coffee lingered in the air.

Sensing someone’s presence, I looked toward the sofa and saw a familiar figure sitting there.

“Hmm. You’re finally here? I’ve been waiting for quite a while.”

“…Loki?”

A black-haired handsome man.

At a glance, he was beautiful enough to be mistaken for a woman.

He once tricked me by disguising himself as the volcano goddess with that face…

That bastard, when did he break in and start drinking coffee from my cup?

“Hey, this is my house, you know?”

“Ehh, what’s the point of differentiating ‘yours’ and ‘mine’ between us?”

“The hell we are. Why are you here?”

When I snapped at him, Loki gulped down the rest of his coffee and stood up.

“The reason’s simple… Isn’t it because of the SP Exchange?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]