Versia.

The exact results would only be known once he was sent to the Galactic Empire.

"Isn't it too late?"

At least, he was fortunate enough to have hope, even if just a little.

"It’s the Sephiroth."
"It looks like they set traps and lured us in. Some of the enemies were beyond what we could handle with just a few of us."
"Is that so?"

Before, they had only operated in small groups, but now they were coming out in full force, strategically.

Furthermore, even the strong ones who had been hiding for a while had started moving as well.

"Hmm..."

The base of the World was still unstable.

Although the Empire’s support came in the form of fortresses and fleets, it was primarily for resource battles and prolonged wars.

They were vulnerable to a small number of strong enemies.

To address this, several transcendent beings, including community sub-administrators, had been recruited.

"It seems they’ve started to counter as well."

They must have started responding to the expansion on this side.

The monsters were behaving as usual, without showing any special movements.

"Hmm."

Reports of enemy traps, ambushes, and coordinated counterattacks continued to come in.

However...

"If it’s just one particularly strong one, I could solve it directly..."

The enemy’s base had not been clearly identified yet.

Kalstein could not always remain stationed at the World.

He couldn’t handle everything himself as he did before. If that was the plan, he wouldn’t have invited them into the community in the first place.

If it wasn't something that could be resolved in a short period, then the base in this World had to function well without him.

"I’ll increase the support a little more."

Though Aria would probably scold him for it.

"It seems I can’t deal with it right now."

Still, the possession body was nearing its end. It seemed he would have to show himself at least once.

"I guess the last possession body disappeared, and they relaxed…"

He would have to remind them of the fear they had forgotten.

It would buy some time, and anyway, YongYong would wake up soon enough.

Two days later.

A golden flash bombarded a base where one of the Sephiroth's squads had been staying, and they were once again forced to recall the fear.

The few who survived and managed to escape trembled in fear.

***

Kalstein opened his eyes in the capsule.

[“Have you returned?”]

As always, Aria greeted him.

“You know the situation, right?”
[“Yes, I’ll increase the support at the World base.”]
“Thanks.”

Kalstein nodded, feeling the tremendous power in his true body.

Crack-crack—

Just by flexing his fist, overwhelming strength surged, rippling through his body.

Kalstein closed his eyes.

He tried to move the immense ether within him.

‘Taiheoyounggyeong...’

He tried to move the ether in the manner prescribed by the Taiheoyounggyeong formula, but...

Jerk—

“Hmm…”

As expected.
It was delicate.

It seemed like it wasn’t entirely ineffective, but...

It was like stirring a vast ocean with just his finger.

In other words, the method called Taiheoyounggyeong couldn’t handle the ether contained within his true body.

Though it wasn’t without disappointment,
he could at least confirm that the method he had learned wasn’t entirely without effect. Perhaps that was a success in itself.

The technique was limited to the metal element, following the formula of his possessed body.
Moreover, it was just the basic formula, the first one he learned.

What would happen when he learned higher-level techniques?

‘This is exciting.’

What if he could freely manipulate the infinite ether that was dormant inside his body?

Even with rough, overwhelming usage—just pouring it out—there would be almost no one able to withstand it.

‘...Taking them down isn’t impossible.’

It wouldn’t be easy, as expected, but it wasn’t impossible.

[“The macro program is ready.”]

Kalstein was roused from his thoughts by Aria’s call.

“Already?”

The training macro he had left to Aria was also connected to the World.

In research linked with the transcendent beings in the community, ether was determined to be a higher-tier energy than anything else.

The greatness of ether.

And the methods of the Xianxian Sect to control it.

If the right methods could be found, they could be passed on to others.

If that happened, it would become much easier to face the few strong individuals within the World.

“Have you checked the data?”
[“It still needs a little more accumulation, but the first verification is complete.”]
“Haha.”

A victory in single combat?
Could such a closed system truly surpass SF?

Sharing knowledge and information, establishing countless hypotheses.
Conducting numerous experiments tailored to each hypothesis and accumulating data.
Through sufficient data accumulation, better results could be extracted.

And then sharing those results and starting the process all over again in an endlessly recurring system.

It was a structure that inevitably led humanity to become stronger.

“Anyway, at this rate, retirement is out of the question.”

Kalstein muttered, more out of frustration. Immediately after, he attempted to connect through the possession body of the Xianxian Sect.

“Please make a new possession body for the World.”
[“It’s already in the process of being made. Use it sparingly, Master.”]
“Yeah, haha.”

***

"Priest! Priest! Wake up quickly!"
"Hah. I already sent word in advance that I'd be visiting."
"Aaaaah!"
"Get lost!"
"What is this?"
"There are many things here I've never seen before."
"Truly disrespectful. Not even bothering to greet us properly."
"It’s so hard to even see the youngest priest's face."

The commotion echoed through his dreams.

"It seems like he can’t open his eyes?"
"Hmm. There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual."
"There seems to be some sort of problem."
"Girl. Did the master know about this?"
"...Yes."
"What is this?"
"I wonder."
"If you like it, why don’t you take it?"
"Hmm. I guess I can think of it as a gift for the future youngest priest."
"Haha, that’s not wrong."
"What’s this?"
"Oh, this is full of curiosities."

There was no commotion quite like this one.
Ugh, make sure there’s no barking noise...

Flash-

Kalstein opened his eyes.

Hooosh—

For a moment, immense spiritual energy flowed from his body, sweeping through the surroundings.

"??"

Contrary to expectations, the surroundings were eerily silent.

"Hmm?"

In the empty room, only Jang Sajo could be seen.

"This doesn’t seem like a dream..."

Many of the items and equipment that had been placed in the cabin for convenience had disappeared.

"Sajo?"

In the corner of the dark room, just before dusk, Jang Sajo was curled up, hugging his knees.

"Sob."

What? Is he crying?

Well… judging by the condition, it didn’t look like anything terrible had happened to him, but his cheek was swollen, as though he’d been slapped.

"Hmm? Are you awake?"

A dejected Jang Sajo wiped his tears and forced a smile.

"What happened?"
"Ah... I'm sorry."
"Hmm? No. Just tell me what happened. I think I heard some of it in my sleep."

It seemed that one of Mayucheol's disciples was involved. The disciple with many notable masters.
This guy, named Bang Saho, had connections that were far from ordinary.

Mayucheol had also been coerced into teaching the skills of acting.

"Sorry... I couldn’t stop it."
"Huh? Ah... Well, that much is fine."

Some of the important things had been placed in the twilight storage.

"But you didn’t touch the twilight storage, right?"
"That... that would be like theft."

Huh? For me, it’s the same robbery whether you’re taking household furniture or the twilight storage.

"And didn’t you say that no one could enter here, the Golden Mountain?"
"Well..."

This guy’s backer could easily acquire a spiritual badge strong enough to pass through the Golden Mountain.

"Anyway, don’t worry about it. Why are you crying?"

Where did the usual bold Jang Sajo go?

"It might be because of me..."
"Hmm?"
"Of course, if Master Sasuk had been here, this wouldn’t have happened..."

As you know, Master Sasuk had been holed up in the training hall, researching some of the things Kalstein had given him, engaging in closed-door training.

"Bang Saho also came back today, so he probably didn’t hear everything, but since I was there, it seems like you were looked down on too. Also, the facts about the deceased were under a gag order from Sasuk, so I couldn’t even talk about it..."
"Eh..."

It was absurd for the Emperor of the Galactic Empire to have been robbed, and it wasn’t easy to understand what she was saying either.

Was it because the culture was different?
There were so many behaviors that didn’t make sense.
Not that I particularly want to understand them, or study them.

"Anyway, the only thing they took was the catch."
"It must have been fate."
"..."

Fate? It was more like camping gear sent from the Galactic Empire. It was just junk.

Anyway, she didn’t know that, so it seems she’s feeling guilty.

No, she didn’t bring it, nor did she steal it.

"Hmm. But why is Sajo just letting it happen? Is he weak?"

Jang Sajo grew even more gloomy.

"Weakness isn’t wrong, but..."

Jang Sajo struggled to speak. He seemed to have a slight unease that others might despise him after hearing it.
It’s not like that would happen at all.
Not everything is conveyed just by speaking.

"If it’s hard to talk about, let me know later."

Kalstein looked around.

‘They cleaned everything out.’

The massage chair, cooking utensils, and household items were all gone.

"Can’t you just report it? They’re complete thieves! Haha."

It wasn’t that he was angry—it was more a sense of absurdity.
It wasn’t even midnight, and his house was robbed.

And that too, by a member of his own faction.

Haha.

"Hmm... Anyway, we’re more like temporary disciples than official ones..."
"What? No, you treated them like they were someone you’d bring in at any time. And now they’re temporary?"
"Sasuk said... since he entered the closed-door training... he didn’t go through the proper procedures..."

This guy?
Shouldn’t he be doing what he’s supposed to do?

"Sigh... Let’s forget about the things we lost. They’re not that important."

It wouldn’t even take a minute to replace them.

Ah, but I shouldn’t forget that guy’s name and what he did.

"So what was his name again?"
"Bang Ryunil."
"Bang Ryunil?"
"He’s similar to you, with a powerful backer."

"Cheon Yeonggeun?"

Is he the one with similar talent and a powerful backer?