D.I.O - CH 286

“Actually, it’d be more apt to state that it’s grown infinitely … since something appeared from nothing….”

“…!”

A blood vessel appeared on Leaf’s forehead.

“Ah, so it’s come to this. I’ve never liked you anyway; let’s step outside!”

“L-Leaf… calm down….”

Leaf’s rage exploded, and Sunghyun grunted as he tried to hold her back.

Of course, Leaf was an employee of Sunghyun’s agency, and she normally acted timid in front of her boss, Kim Sunghyun, the CEO of SH Entertainment. Yet, Leaf had entirely lost her temper and all inhibitions after she heard Eunhye’s comment. At that moment, as Miho sat on Yongno’s lap, she stared at Leaf and said, “Merlin, I feel divine qi from that girl.”

“What? That can’t be… she’s a life force user.”

“It doesn’t seem to be her aura.”

“…”

Yongno’s eyes momentarily widened before quickly relaxing. This was because he realized two things.

The first realization was that a new extraterrestrial entity must have started to intervene on Earth. If the aura Miho sensed was divine qi-based, that meant the godly world, the Celesti, or another Union group member, like the Elohim, were involved.

‘Now that I think of it, the Noblesse are kicking up a fuss, but the Elohim are being way too quiet.’

The two main powers of the Union, the Noblesse and Elohim, weren’t close.

The Noblesse were born with a noble lineage and tended to look down on other species, and some even went as far as to openly discriminate against other species. The Elohim disliked this aspect of the Noblesse, as well as the unfair advantage that allowed the Noblesse to easily transcend just by existing. Although, the Noblesse needed to put in some effort to achieve this feat. In other words, the Elohim were envious of the Noblesse. Moreover, some Elohim hunted the Noblesse for their transcendent spiritual organs, such as a dragon heart, to become stronger. This illustrated just how contentious the factions’ relationship was.

Even on Earth, which was comprised of a single sapient species, humans divided Earth into separate regions, created political differences between progressives and conservatives, treated those of other races differently, and started arguments and wars based on religious beliefs. Since the situation was like this on Earth, how terrible would it be for transcendent species that possessed different lifespans, behaviors, and ways of thinking?

Most importantly, the Noblesse and Elohim were two forces that dominated the Union, which essentially ruled the entire universe, so skirmishes and conflicts were inevitable.

‘Of course, I did help kickstart the most recent spat. No, come to think of it, I couldn’t have gotten this far without the Celesti’s help. If not for them, I wouldn’t have been able to get my hands on DIO’s operating rights.’

Manbo had succeeded in riding the unprecedented skill tree of a sleep master in DIO, and he transcended through Channeling.

In fact, although no one knew, Manbo was the first user to reach the transcendent realm.

And, following the Celesti’s order, Manbo lent his treasured item, the Dream Celestial Dagger, to Yongno, though the dagger disappeared after Yongno took over DIO. This way, Yongno could secretly infiltrate DIO with the dagger’s unique power.

If Yongno couldn’t avoid the peering eyes of the Noblesse and their ever-vigilant operators, it would have been impossible for him to make the Editor Blade. The Noblesse would have entered DIO and stolen it as soon as it was produced, and on top of that, they would’ve prevented Yongno from creating it again. In other words, without the Celesti’s help, it would have been virtually impossible for Yongno to gain DIO’s operating rights. So, in truth, the Celesti played an integral role in his current success.

‘The problem is that it ended there. They helped me up to that point and never contacted me again.’

They only helped as much as necessary.

In the first place, Yongno knew he couldn’t consider the Celesti and the Elohim allies. Not all beings of the Celesti world were kind, and there was no guarantee they’d act friendly and assist him just because they were both part of the overarching human species.

Everyone acted based on their own benefit. In the end, they worked together because of a mutually beneficial outcome. However, Yongno knew it was dangerous to believe they were helping out of the goodness of their heart.

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

‘Anyway, this little fox girl….’

And the second thing Yongno realized was that Miho had awakened an ability that Yongno himself did not possess or know of.

Obviously, in terms of sensing aura and energy, Miho wasn’t at Yongno’s level.

Yongno’s powers came from internal energy and magic power, but he could sense every type of spiritual power. If even he couldn’t discern this aura, how could Miho?

“Miho, who were you in your previous life?”

It seemed like a random question. Yet, Miho had suspected that Yongno would ask this, and she leaned her head against Yongno’s chest and whispered.

“A nine-tailed fox.”

“… Dang, you were an exceptional being.”

“Hehehe, yeah, I guess so.”

As he saw Miho smile with a somewhat bitter expression, Yongno didn’t press further for details.

Yongno trusted Miho. If she believed there was something Yongno needed to know, he had faith that she’d take the initiative to bring it up.

“Alright, let’s all calm down now.”

When Yongno clapped his hands lightly, the clamoring settled down. However, Leaf didn’t forget to get in a few last words.

“I didn’t develop them myself.”

“Hahaha, I know what you mean.”

Once someone used an artificial life force spiritual pathway, their body changed into the most ideal body type for their frame, and after developing beyond a certain stage, they [evolved].

For low-level life force users, unnecessary fat was simply compressed and transformed, and their entire body grew more muscular as the fat was burned off. However, when a life force user exceeded a certain level, their body evolved.

If a life force user over Level 15 had a strong desire, such as [I wish I had four arms!], while they wouldn’t immediately sprout two additional arms, their body and muscle structure would gradually develop and evolve to possess four arms.

First, bones would start to split, or new ones would grow so that their skeletal structure could support four arms. Then, their muscle structure would strengthen to move those extra arms.

And if the life force user maintained this aspiration, they would eventually acquire two additional arms, which they could then move freely.

‘In other words, Leaf was eager to enlarge her chest. Perhaps it’s still in the process of growing….’

And at the same time… Leaf’s physical change meant that she had attained a considerably high level as a life force user.

In general, a Level 2 artificial spiritual pathway specialized in life force could only result in basic physical improvement. To be able to evolve even with this limitation meant….

‘She’s a Master.’

Leaf, adored by the Korean public for her cuteness and affectionately called the nation’s younger sister, was a relatively powerful individual who had reached the Master level as a life force user.

‘It seems that these days, even dogs and cows are becoming Masters.’

However, even when he noticed such a huge secret or at least a huge secret for Leaf, Yongno didn’t think much of it. Becoming a Master was by no means an easy feat, and once an individual reached that level, they became someone worthy of respect. However, achievements and accomplishments were relative.

After the implementation of Yongno’s patch and [plan], users who recently became Masters didn’t possess much power. Of course, the more Masters there were, the better, but seeing Masters was no longer surprising. In the early days of DIO, there were only a few Master level users, but now, there were hundreds.

“Oh, come to think of it, what brings you here, Mr. Sunghyun?” asked Yongno as he turned his attention to the CEO.

Yongno had no interest in the entertainment industry; he only knew Sunghyun because the latter lived in the same apartment as his parents.

When Yongno met with his estranged family and confirmed they were still afraid of him, he bumped into Sunghyun in the elevator. Sunghyun had mentioned that Yongno had an intriguing voice and suggested that Yongno sing professionally.

Countless trainees who dreamed of becoming stars wished for such a chance encounter, but Yongno wasn’t in a good mood at the time, and he naturally refused Sunghyun’s offer.

And after that chance meeting, Yongno composed some music for Leaf. Although Yongno received several more offers to join the entertainment industry, he turned them all down.

However, it appeared as if Sunghyun hadn’t given up on his pursuit….

“To make you a singer.”

“…”

“Hahaha, I’m just kidding. To be honest, I wanted to meet you for a long time, and Leaf mentioned that she had some business with you, so I tagged along.”

“Certainly, if you had tried to come alone, I wouldn’t have let you in.”

“Wow, that’s cold.”

Sunghyun put on a sad face, but the general atmosphere of the conversation was quite pleasant.

Sunghyun looked at the people around him. He wanted to speak with Yongno alone, but he sighed after acknowledging that there were too many busy and important people here who had priority over him.

“Well, I can say that my business has mostly been completed just by coming here, so let me talk about Leaf.”

“Leaf? What’s up with Leaf?”

Leaf had been sitting dumbfounded for a moment as Yongno expressed his confusion, but she soon spoke up.

“I found some strange tattoos on my body. Wait a sec.”

Having said this, Leaf quickly took off her blouse. Sunghyun flinched in surprise at this sudden action, but luckily, she was wearing a T-shirt under her blouse.

“Ugh! Give me a warning before taking off your top! Are you trying to scare me to death!”

“Ouch! CEO, don’t hit my back!”

There was a brief commotion, but instead of getting distracted, Yongno focused on the traditional Chinese characters engraved on Leaf’s arms. There were two idiom phrases, ‘Worry Wart’ and ‘Inconsiderate Troublemaker.’.

“… Traditional Chinese four-character idioms?”

Worry Wart was a four-character idiom that meant ‘to be very worried about something that one did not need to be worried about,’ and Inconsiderate Troublemaker meant ‘one who was careless and thoughtless when acting.’

If someone tried to create a connection and combine the two phrases, the result would mean something along the lines of ‘acting carelessly because one was constantly worried about unnecessary things.’