Chapter 439 – Part 2 – Negotiation

At the mention of having a way, Choi Seong-min stopped as he was about to turn away.

[Let me hear what it is.]

[You’re definitely a transcendent, but if you touch the latch, you’ll be annihilated. But if you have Divine Force, the story changes.]

As if she needed mental preparation, Dayna fell silent for a moment before speaking.

[I’ll… give it to you.]

[Give what?]

[…Divine Force.]

Choi Seong-min wasn’t surprised by the fact that she could transfer Divine Force.

It was something he had been aware of from the beginning through Insight.

[I need over 10 million, and you’re saying you’ll give that?]

[I can give that much.]

[Can you transfer it without meeting directly?]

[Of course. As long as our systems are connected like now, I can give you Divine Force. Since we’re both in safe mode, we can transmit without being detected.]

He already knew that it could be passed along like data transmission between transcendents.

[Do you know how much Derkius has threatened me because of this? To hand over Divine Force obediently.]

[So you’re saying you’ll give me the Divine Force you’ve been treasuring and protecting all this time.]

[I have no choice… Without your help, there will never be another chance to escape.]

If Choi Seong-min turned away now, Dayna could never get out of prison.

In other words, Choi Seong-min was Dayna’s only hope.

[Hmm…]

Choi Seong-min pretended to ponder, drawing it out.

In fact, he had already made his decision.

As his answer was delayed, Dayna couldn’t help but become anxious.

[I’ll give you 10 million Divine Force, so please open the door. Then you won’t be annihilated. Right? You’ll do that, won’t you?]

[……]

[Please answer quickly. There’s no time. Derkius is watching you right now. We don’t know when he might come.]

[Fine. I’ll save you. But you know…]

A smile formed on Choi Seong-min’s lips.

[Don’t you think 10 million is too little?]

[What? Too little? Do you know how much that is…]

[80 percent.]

Dayna stopped talking at the unexpected words.

[I should get about 80 percent of the Divine Force you have.]

[What? Are you crazy?]

Though Dayna jumped up in shock, Choi Seong-min’s voice was calm.

He wasn’t crazy, and this wasn’t a joke.

He was being serious.

[I’m your life-saving benefactor, so shouldn’t you be able to give that much?]

[Th-that’s…]

[If you don’t like it, forget it. I’ll go to Derkius and confess everything. Then what will happen to you? At least you won’t be able to use the strategy of making souls into transcendents to escape anymore, right?]

[……]

Dayna had no choice but to remain silent.

Because it wasn’t wrong.

But that didn’t mean she had nothing to say.

[D-do you think Derkius would show mercy if you side with him now? You’ll definitely be abandoned as useless!]

[That’s uncertain. Maybe negotiations will go well and we’ll end up helping each other mutually? Or maybe I’ll end up working like a dog under him again.]

[You think that’s good?]

[I didn’t say it was good. But at least it would be better than now.]

[……]

[Think about who has more to lose and decide carefully.]

The bus named Choi Seong-min was the last one.

Once it left, it wouldn’t return.

This fact forced Dayna to act.

[Fine… I’ll give you more Divine Force. How about 30 million?]

[It has to be 80 percent of the Divine Force you have.]

[B-but 80 percent is too much.]

[Then let’s make it 70 percent.]

[How about around 50 percent?]

[70 percent.]

[Ah, fine. Let’s make it 60 percent…]

[70 percent.]

[……]

The person currently holding the key to the storehouse was Choi Seong-min.

Dayna belatedly realized he was in the absolute position of power.

[Sigh… Let’s make it 70 percent.]

Choi Seong-min grinned wickedly.

It was the percentage he had wanted.

[That’s right. I was originally thinking of making it 90 percent, so I’m making a big concession.]

[……]

Though his showing off was annoying, Dayna in her inferior position had to be grateful even for that.

[Then tell me now. How much Divine Force do you have in total?]

[1-100 million.]

Choi Seong-min chuckled.

[Your voice is trembling, so it’s a lie.]

[What?]

[Don’t try petty tricks and tell the truth.]

[A-actually, it’s 200 million…]

[I told you not to try tricks.]

Choi Seong-min’s voice became cold.

He could see through lies using Insight.

[If you don’t tell the truth, I’ll leave without looking back. You’d better not think about deceiving me. Remember that I saw through the latch’s trap.]

[……]

After pondering in silence, Dayna spoke cautiously.

[I-I have about 500 million.]

[You have quite a lot.]

This time it was the truth.

The corners of Choi Seong-min’s mouth naturally lifted.

He was about to receive 350 million, which was 70 percent.

‘That’s quite a lot for just opening one latch.’

Choi Seong-min, who had smiled, spoke as if ready.

[Transfer 350 million Divine Force. Then I’ll free you from prison as soon as I receive it.]

Choi Seong-min had instantly become rich in Divine Force.

* * *

For transcendents, Divine Force was no different from fuel.

Fuel to use the advanced technology called Elsis.

Without such Divine Force, a transcendent was no different from an empty tin can.

Since they couldn’t use Elsis functions, they would become beings too embarrassing to call transcendents.

That’s why Derkius was excessively obsessed with Divine Force.

He annihilated every soul in the Spring of Oblivion and converted them to Divine Force.

Whether human souls or monster souls.

But there were souls that weren’t like that.

The number one contributor who prevented humanity’s extinction and made it possible to earn Divine Force again, Min Do-jun.

For Derkius, he was naturally a human he couldn’t hate.

But not now.

‘I should have thrown that damn Min Do-jun bastard into the Spring of Oblivion too…’

Derkius regretted not annihilating Min Do-jun.

‘I unnecessarily had him possess the specimen world and created this mess…’

Though he was earning more than enough Divine Force through the original world that Min Do-jun had saved…

‘I was too greedy. I should have not cared whether the specimen world with 1 billion population perished or not…’

The thought of preventing the specimen world’s destruction to earn a bit more Divine Force had tripped him up.

‘No, I’m not tripped up. It’s just one little rat scurrying around.’

When he confirmed through Clairvoyance that Choi Seong-min had killed all 8 Heroes and prevented humanity’s extinction.

Derkius was honestly happy.

He felt like giving him a kiss when they met.

Until he saw Choi Seong-min, who had ascended to the underworld, subdue Ira.

‘How could an ordinary soul like Min Do-jun knock out a guide?’

The answer came from his mouth.

‘A transcendent? Like me?’

At first he didn’t understand what had happened, but watching Min Do-jun in real-time now, he had some idea.

‘He opened the prison door.’

Opening the latch was clear proof of being a transcendent.

And a transcendent with over 10 million Divine Force at that.

‘An ordinary soul became a transcendent and has as much as 10 million Divine Force?’

It was an impossible story by common sense.

Then someone must have helped.

‘It must be Dayna’s doing!’

He was certain.

If it was Dayna, an Elsis developer, she would have the technology to make an ordinary person into a transcendent.

‘If she made Min Do-jun into a transcendent to escape from prison…?’

All the circumstances fit.

Dayna could have given him the Divine Force.

‘Hah… These little rats dare to challenge me, the one true god…!’

He was angry, but thinking about it, there was no need to take it seriously.

‘Dayna’s Divine Force is at most 500 million. Compared to that, I have over 3 billion.’

An incomparable difference in power.

Of course, having more Divine Force didn’t make one stronger.

Instead, it made one much more advantageous since there were no restrictions on usable functions.

Derkius set his gaze on Dayna and Min Do-jun who had come out of prison.

He didn’t know what conversation they were having due to safe mode.

‘They must be planning to run away.’

Sure enough, the two began running somewhere.

Even so, Derkius was relaxed.

‘Even if the little rats run away, they can’t go far. The underworld is my territory.’

While thinking about how to catch and annihilate the two…

[Administrator ‘Dayna’ requests communication.]

An unexpected Elsis message appeared.

‘Dayna? What trick is she trying?’

He, who had been watching Dayna through Clairvoyance, withdrew his suspicious gaze and accepted the communication.

[Senior Dayna. You finally escaped?]

[Derkius…]

[How does it feel breathing outside air after 120 years? No, more than that, why did you contact me? Looking at you now, you seem busy running away? Well, it’s only a matter of time before you’re caught anyway. Hehe.]

Though Derkius mocked and provoked Dayna, her reaction was surprisingly calm.

[Derkius. I’m secretly contacting you through an emergency line right now.]

[I know.]

[Don’t you understand what that means?]

As if realizing late, Derkius’s voice became serious.

[Do you have something to say to me secretly from that human?]

[I… got screwed.]

[What are you suddenly talking about?]

[I got extorted. I had all my Divine Force ripped off by the human next to me.]

Her voice trembled thinly, seeming resentful and frustrated.

[What happened?]

[Sigh…]

After sighing, Dayna confessed what she had done.

[I’ll be honest. You probably expected this to some degree, but… I made Min Do-jun into a transcendent.]

[As expected. You planned to use Min Do-jun to escape from prison.]

[Right. It was a clean operation to make him open the latch and annihilate Min Do-jun.]

[You planned to use him once and throw him away.]

[Of course. But there was a problem.]

[What?]

[That human Min Do-jun interpreted the rune script on the latch.]

[That should be impossible to interpret unless you’re a developer like us.]

[That’s what I’m saying. I don’t understand that part either.]

[So that’s why you two stood facing each other across the latch for a long time?]

[You were watching everything after all? Right. Min Do-jun didn’t even touch the latch and made a deal with me. To give him Divine Force in exchange for opening the door.]

[So you transmitted 10 million to Min Do-jun?]

[No. What I lost was 350 million.]

[What?]

Derkius was surprised by the larger-than-expected number.

[You gave him that much?]

[I had no choice. Escape had to be the priority no matter what.]

At the sound of Dayna sighing deeply, Derkius became suspicious.

[But why are you telling me this?]

[Because I want to make a proposal to you.]

[A proposal?]

After a brief silence, Dayna spoke.

[Let’s cooperate together to annihilate Min Do-jun.]