Chapter 149

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 149: Chaos Faction’s Status Window (1)

Second-tier financial institution?

Does that mean a savings bank?

I had the urge to shout "OK!" but held myself back.

I need an advisor.

This is too difficult to judge on my own.

Alright.

Let’s just call the SP Exchange Manager here right now.

"Oink oink. Master. Did you call for me?"

The Golden Pig appeared after a long time.

Hades was startled upon seeing the pig.

[No way. He is…?]

"Oink oink… Hades!?"

"What? You two know each other?"

The Golden Pig frowned.

"He’s my former workplace junior. Oink oink."

"Huh? You were a Lord of Chaos?"

[Hmm… No, he was just a manager at the SP Shop. He quit, saying he was going to rank up, and disappeared. So, he ended up at the SP Exchange.]

"Oink oink. A chief manager at the SP Exchange is far better than just a manager at the SP Shop."

[Well, your rank was too low to advance further. Heh. An S-rank manager, really? Heh heh heh.]

"You’re as rude as ever. Oink oink."

The pig and Hades glared at each other for a moment.

They were former colleagues, but their relationship didn’t seem great.

The pig turned away first and looked at me.

A strong golden glow radiated from him.

"Oink oink. Master. What do you need?"

"Hades proposed this deal…"

The Golden Pig listened intently to Hades’ proposal.

Then he turned to me and spoke again.

"Master, do you absolutely need Chaos Awakening?"

"Hmm. If I want to move on to the next stage, then yes, I do."

"Oink oink. In my personal opinion, the SP Exchange will fully mature in a thousand years and be as good as the SP Shop. But if your Awakening is at stake… oink oink, there are certain conditions we must consider before accepting the deal."

The Golden Pig adjusted his glasses with his arm.

A dazzling golden light flashed.

"First, deposit interest rates. We currently offer 1%, but if Hades’ second-tier financial institution enters and offers higher interest rates, all the capital will flow there."

"Oh, that’s true."

"Second, loan interest rates. They could offer lower rates than us. We lend at 10%, but if they lower it to 7–8%, everyone will flock there for loans."

I see…

If I had been blinded by the 100 trillion SP and agreed to open the bank without thinking, we would’ve been doomed.

If Hades set a 2% deposit rate and an 8% loan rate, all the customers would go there, right?

"We could’ve been ruined."

"Oink oink. Master, the SP Shop has a massive amount of accumulated SP. They can afford to take losses initially to drive competition out. Oink oink."

[Oh no, that’s not it. I’m just suggesting we collaborate at the SP Exchange. Right now, the SP Exchange only has 10 trillion SP in loans, and the gods are complaining. It’s inconvenient. Heh heh heh.]

"Oink oink. No accepting deposits, and the loan interest rate must be at least 5% higher than ours."

Hades shrugged at the Golden Pig’s statement.

[Heh heh. That was the plan from the start. I wanted to work together with Kim Jiho. You’re so suspicious. Heh heh.]

"Oink oink… I suddenly remember how this bastard kept opposing my rank-up and caused me to fail my SP Shop manager promotion. Master. Oink oink."

[Oh, do you have proof it was me? Heh heh.]

"Anyway, we also need to agree on the lease period. A hundred years should be appropriate."

[Hey, a hundred years isn’t enough. I’m investing 100 trillion SP; I’d be fired if it’s just a hundred years. Let’s make it a thousand years.]

"Hmm. Two hundred years."

[Hey! This guy, really.]

They started arguing over how long the lease should be.

Ah.

Calling the manager was a good decision.

I don’t have to negotiate this myself.

Yeah. Since they’re taking 1% of the SP, they should at least do this much.

"Three hundred thirty years. No more than that."

[Heh… Heh… Running into you is just bad luck. Fine, I’ll agree. But allow for contract renewal.]

"Understood. Oink oink. We’ll discuss that after 330 years."

With the main terms settled, the two negotiators wrapped up their discussion.

Hades looked at me once the deal was done.

[Heh heh. You really picked a good SP manager.]

"Seeing it today, I think so too."

[Anyway, a deal is a deal. I’ll send the 100 trillion SP and the Chaos Awakening Orb.]

He’s giving me the full 100 trillion?

Even with the restrictions on deposits, loan interest rates, and the time limit, he’s willing to send the SP so easily…?

I looked at Hades in doubt, and he explained.

[After talking with Goldberg, we realized upgrading the SP Exchange would make our operations much easier. We decided to invest the 100 trillion boldly.]

"Goldberg? The pig’s name is Goldberg?"

[Heh heh. That’s what we called him on our side. I don’t know his real name. Anyway, the official investment and store entry contract will appear in your inventory. Make sure to approve it.]

"Got it. By the way, how is the Chaos faction planning to interfere with Earth now?"

[Krr… That Smiling Devil bastard keeps disrupting meetings. It’s obvious he’s in cahoots with Zeus. We’re still discussing, but for now, dungeons will continue to appear on Earth as planned. Heh heh.]

"Really? There are so many Awakeners on Earth now that dungeons won’t be a threat anymore."

[Heh heh. Sending dungeons is basically like dumping trash for us. As long as you handle it, it works out for us too.]

Originally, if dungeons weren’t cleared, Chaos would gradually expand its influence, leading to the Chaos Lord’s descent and the world’s destruction…

But now, the descent seems to be on hold, and they’re just spawning dungeons.

Looks like there’s still a fierce debate about Zeus on their side.

[If anything changes, I’ll let you know. Just make sure to process the payment.]

With that, Hades ended the communication.

The Golden Pig turned to me with an apologetic expression.

"Oink oink. Sorry, Master. I should’ve negotiated a better deal… but since we needed the Chaos Awakening Orb, I couldn’t use a hard-bargaining strategy."

"It’s fine. Upgrading quickly is better for me too."

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

When I mentioned that it was better to upgrade quickly because of Zeus, the Golden Pig nodded.

“There were such circumstances, huh? Oink oink.”

“You did a great job negotiating. I didn’t even catch that loophole.”

“Oink oink. Since I receive dividends from my master, I must help out in this way. Then, I will allocate the entire 10 trillion to the upgrade.”

“Hmm… I can’t use any of it for myself?”

Even if I could use just 1% of that 10 trillion, I’d be able to rapidly boost my energy and dominate everything.

But as expected, the Golden Pig firmly shook its head.

“The 10 trillion investment cannot be used for personal gain. Oink oink. If Chaos raises an issue about it, things will get troublesome. Their power is immense.”

“That strong?”

“Oink oink. Yes. The SP capital they have accumulated through the SP store and moneylending is beyond imagination. Their scale is large enough to manage the entire universe.”

“What exactly is Chaos?”

The Golden Pig adjusted the mortarboard on its head and began explaining about Chaos.

“Oink oink. The Chaos faction only appears to those who disrupt the balance of the universe. They act as cleaners.”

“Really? I thought dungeons just appeared randomly.”

“They gradually appear in places where the universe is unstable. They send dungeons first to assess the situation.”

Additionally, the Golden Pig mentioned that most dungeons were remnants of planets destroyed by Chaos.

“But in Kevrian, the dragons just summoned Chaos like it was nothing. That wasn’t disrupting the balance—they actively called it.”

“Oink oink. That was because the faction grew too large. Chaos’s core principle is to descend upon those who disrupt balance and purify them… but as more members joined and more Lords of Chaos were added, some started destroying perfectly fine worlds just to increase their power.”

“And the Left Hand of the Creator, the deity of Chaos, just lets that happen? I thought they were an incredible being.”

“This all started from a competition among their avatars. Oink oink. They do stop at a certain point, but…”

Hmm.

At first, Chaos only cleaned up irregularities, but now even the Creator’s Left Hand’s avatars were fighting for power?

“Oink oink. With the 10 trillion investment, we can immediately upgrade the SP Exchange to level 20. Shall we proceed?”

“Yeah, let’s go with that.”

“Understood. If you have received the contract, please review it with me before signing. Oink oink. Hades might have hidden some traps in it.”

That makes sense.

I should handle this while the Golden Pig is here.

[The Lord of Chaos, 'Supreme Commander,' has sent you an item.]

[Would you like to receive it?]

As soon as the system message appeared, I pressed ‘Yes.’

Two items were added to my inventory.

One was the "SP Exchange Entry Contract," and the other was the "Orb of Chaos Awakening."

I took out the SP Exchange Entry Contract first.

The Golden Pig carefully scrutinized its clauses.

After examining it for about ten minutes, the Golden Pig nodded, indicating that it was fine.

“Oink oink… It seems to be in order. We have further negotiations with Hades regarding operations, but the essential terms are intact.”

“Yeah, I don’t see any issues either.”

“Shall we proceed with the contract?”

“Let’s do it.”

As soon as I signed the contract, it floated into the air.

Then, it started burning with golden flames.

Seeing this, the Golden Pig suddenly let out an excited cry.

“Oooh! Master, SP is flowing in! Oink oink!”

“Great! Invest it right away!”

“Understood! Oink oink!”

Leaving the SP Exchange in the Golden Pig’s hands, I took out the Orb of Chaos Awakening.

A black orb, about the size of a fist.

The moment I retrieved it from my inventory, a message popped up.

[This is the Orb of Chaos Awakening, created by the Creator’s Left Hand.]

[Even those who have ascended to divinity can undergo faction awakening. Would you like to awaken into the Chaos faction?]

Nice.

If I obtain the Chaos faction status window, I’ll finally be able to use the power of fusion.

I immediately pressed ‘Yes.’

The orb slowly disappeared, dispersing into black mist.

The mist swirled around my body, and some of it was absorbed into me.

[You are absorbing the power of Chaos…]

I could feel my soul body slowly changing.

[You are already an awakened divine being.]

[Your Chaos faction rank begins at B-rank.]

So I don’t have to start from F-rank, huh?

As the black mist from the Orb of Chaos Awakening continued to surround my soul, its volume gradually decreased while the amount being absorbed increased.

The system kept displaying messages saying, [Absorbing…].

“Hurry! SP, charge up faster! Oink oink!”

Looks like the 10 trillion SP from the exchange isn’t arriving all at once, just like this loading process.

“Alright, first stage upgrade!”

As I watched the Golden Pig’s reactions, the black mist surrounding me had almost completely disappeared.

Then, one final message appeared.

[You have absorbed most of the power from the Orb of Chaos Awakening.]

[If you absorb the remaining portion, you will become an official member of Chaos, and your faction rank will immediately rise to S-rank.]

[If you do not absorb it, you will remain independent, and your Chaos faction rank will start at B-rank.]

So if I fully convert, they’ll boost me straight to S-rank?

Or I can remain independent and start at B-rank.

Hmm… I know Chaos is strong, but there’s no need to swear allegiance to them.

Freedom is better.

“I won’t absorb it.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]