The entire community was buzzing with excitement over the release of fried chicken.

> ㄴ"Goat is K-Chicken!"
> ㄴ"Bow before the Almighty Chicken!"
> ㄴ"Kiaaa!"
> ㄴ"Praise the Admin!"
> ㄴ"Send the Admin to Parliament!"
> ㄴ"Of course it’s chicken, I totally get it, lol."
> ㄴ"Didn’t they say the Admin is an Emperor? lol"
> ㄴ"Chicken…! Oh, this is the taste!"
> ㄴ"Chiiiickeeeen!"
> ㄴ"WTF"
> ㄴ"Is this for real? lol"

The whole community was in an uproar because of the chicken.

The users who knew the taste of chicken from their original world began flooding the forums with posts, almost as if they were ready to break the platform.

Especially those who had been abruptly transported to another world couldn’t contain their amazement at the high-quality taste that perfectly recreated the chicken they remembered from back home.

> ㄴ"Tastes like home."
> ㄴ"Only chicken can comfort me."
> ㄴ"That taste brought back old memories."
> ㄴ"This Admin chicken is amazing, haha."
> ㄴ"WTF, dude, lol."
> ㄴ"The only drug allowed by the community: K-Chicken…."
> ㄴ"Is it just me, or is the supply vanishing at light speed?"
> ㄴ"Ah, damn, I’ve only had three pieces, and it’s already selling out!"

Naturally, this all led to a flood of praise for the Admin.

> ㄴ"I turned my gaze to the sky, and there was the Admin."
> ㄴ"Where is the Admin? All I see is light…."
> ㄴ"Pure radiance."
> ㄴ"King-God-Emperor-Majesty-Admin!"
> ㄴ"GOAT!"
> ㄴ"Who dares cast stones at them?"
> ㄴ"Kiiiiiii!!!"

Even the locals who were trying K-Chicken for the first time felt the same.

At first, they didn’t quite understand why everyone was making such a fuss.

> ㄴ"They say it's just fried chicken, though?"
> ㄴ"Right? Why are they getting so excited?"
> ㄴ"Just let them be. They do this all the time."
> ㄴ"It’s just food, yet they’re acting like this…."
> ㄴ"The store is interesting, but it’s not essential."
> ㄴ"Hmm…."

Still, the community’s enthusiasm was so intense that, out of sheer curiosity, they decided to try it. They bought the chicken, with an attitude of "Fine, I’ll taste it and judge for myself."

For some of them, who had never shared in the nostalgic connections that people from Earth held in common, there was even a bit of defiance. They thought, *So, this is the chicken you all brag about so much.*

However.

The aroma of the delivered chicken hinted that this might be something special.

“Hm, well… The smell is definitely good.”

A greasy but irresistibly savory scent filled the air.

The appearance was anything but ordinary. The golden-brown crust sparkled as if it were dusted with gold.

They cautiously picked up a piece and took a bite.

*Crunch.*

“!!”

The rich, savory taste flooded their mouths, delighting their taste buds.

“Oh…!”

The crispy crust combined with tender, juicy meat, the hot, slightly salty juices seeping gently through the flesh.

Crispy on the outside, moist on the inside.

How could they make something as simple as chicken taste this good? This had to be alchemy!

They had tried fried chicken before, but it had never moved them like this.

It wasn’t just labeled as K-Chicken for nothing. After a meticulous seasoning process, it was coated with a thick batter, double-fried at the perfect temperature and time, resulting in the ultimate fried chicken.

This was nothing like the regular fried chicken of the past.

---

**Post Title: Accusing the Admin**

"Admin, explain yourself! Why is such a magnificent dish labeled as ‘ordinary’?"

> ㄴ"Right! Right!"
> ㄴ"Exactly? It’s amazing…."
> ㄴ"This is nothing short of an insult to a great dish!"
> ㄴ"Hmm… Is it because it’s not marinated or soy sauce flavored?"
> ㄴ"No way! Then just call it 'Fried Chicken'!"
> ㄴ"Why! Why! Why is the chicken in limited supply?!"
> ㄴ"Admin, explain yourself!"
> ㄴ"So… you guys eat this regularly?"
> ㄴ"Tch."
> ㄴ"Restock it! Quickly!"
> ㄴ"Ah, why was I born to crave this chicken all my life…."
> ㄴ"Amaziiiing!!!"
> ㄴ"Haaa…"

The community continued to roar with excitement. As a result, Kalstein’s karma points started stacking up fast.

“This… is practically free money.”

Kalstein watched the community’s reactions while monitoring his karma points. Even without lifting a finger, they were piling up rapidly.

“Of course, it’s not nearly enough.”

Compared to the karma he amassed as Emperor of the Galactic Empire, it was nothing. But unlike his regular karma, which he earned and spent constantly, the karma from the community was tax-free and almost like a secret fund.

A true slush fund!

“Hm. It’s a bit lacking, though.”

Kalstein and Aria weren’t the type to be satisfied with just this much.

> - "It’s still just the open beta. This is only the beginning."
> “True.”

They were preparing a lot more to thoroughly milk the users' karma.

---

> - "But what about that guy? Is he alright?"

Kalstein glanced at a screen showing Kim Young-sik, who was under assassination threats from shelter officials. Several Awakened ones with weapons were approaching his place.

It was probably out of greed to kill Kim Young-sik and take his spaceship.

“They think they can seize the Hyperion with that? They probably have no idea.”

> - "They won’t be able to touch him. Still… Kim Young-sik definitely needs protection. If he dies, it will delay the upgrades to the relay."

The screen displayed the Awakened ones vaporizing under the Hyperion’s powerful counterattack.

“The Hyperion will handle it. But the amount of karma that guy is earning is more impressive than expected.”

One thing that surprised Kalstein was the amount of karma earned by Berdel and Kim Young-sik. More specifically, it was the karma generated by Hydra and Hyperion.

Perhaps it was because they were from a different dimension?

As Berdel and Kim Young-sik used Hydra and Hyperion to accumulate achievements, Kalstein reaped a loyalty-like karma flow.

“Still, it’s not feasible to mass-produce such things. The initial investment is too high.”

The advanced SF technology he used consumed a significant amount of karma just for transmission.

Even though he used an older prototype model, the karma drain was substantial.

Maybe he’d break even by the time that guy finishes the apocalypse and saves the world?

It was no wonder he couldn’t invest freely.

---

“Ha-ha.”

But Kalstein could laugh because, after that, he would be able to collect karma indefinitely, like a magic pot.

“What’s Berdel up to?”

> - "…."

Kalstein sneakily checked on her through Hydra.

“Hmm. She’s sparring.”

She was exchanging blows with the Grandmaster.

“Looks like she’s having fun.”

She was using Hydra’s power sparingly, managing it efficiently. She was practicing… *practicing?*

> - "It seems she’s intentionally keeping him alive as a sparring partner."
> “Well… She does seem to love swordsmanship.”

He had no intention of interfering with how she lived her life. Besides, as the Empire splintered, Berdel was generating a steady stream of karma.

“So, Kim Young-sik doesn’t use the community at all?”

> - "Yes. He barely looks at it."

Well… Some people were fully absorbed in their current lives.

Looking at the dimension-integration community user statistics, Kalstein was stunned to learn that only a fraction of dimensions he monitored were connected. If he considered the whole of existence, wouldn’t that make the community nearly infinite?

Even with Kalstein’s management doubling the user count, active users still made up less than one percent of the entire potential user base.

---

“Which means we have a lot of karma to exploit.”

Yes, the goal was to make the community so essential that users couldn’t live without it.

---

“But there aren’t many VIP high-tier users.”

> - "Those with large amounts of karma are more likely to understand its value."
> “True…”

While they might not use it as efficiently as Kalstein, the more intuitive ones could sense the effects of karma on causality.

> - "But really, it’s like a pearl necklace on a pig. They don’t even know how to use it properly."
> “Still, extracting it recklessly would be inefficient. It has to be done carefully.”

Trading karma wasn’t as simple as dealing in physical goods. Even with the Galactic Empire’s technology, it wasn’t worth it to take it by force—that would be like killing the goose that lays golden eggs.

What Kalstein really wanted wasn’t small karma gains but a massive flow that could ensure an early retirement.

He needed a source of karma that could self-generate indefinitely.

“Financial independence! Financial freedom!”

Back in his previous life, he’d often heard of the “FIRE movement,” a community focused

 on accumulating enough assets to retire early by saving and investing.

And that was Kalstein’s true goal.

To achieve that, he had to let go of something big.

The “For Fun” mode of the community.

“Sniff!”

He never wanted to be the Admin who worked around the clock!

Still, if he was going to make it happen, he had to go after the big karma players.

“Hm… in times like this, after all….”

> - "After all?"
> “Promotions!”

Kalstein grinned mischievously.

They were already preparing a second wave of chicken stock and the launch of the next menu items as planned.