"This world just got a lot more interesting," Sinclair commented and turned to walk back to his abode.
On his approach, the guards bowed their heads in respect and preemptively opened the mansion doors. Sinclair nodded at them and entered the basement where many stone tablets leaned against the walls.
These tablets were made from an unknown stone and possessed astonishing durability. Engraved upon their surfaces were symbols of a lost language. It was a complex language, one that had confounded even the most experienced linguists within the area.
"You're back," a middle-aged man in luxurious attire said as he entered. This was the high priest, a collaborator that Sinclair had found to help achieve his goals.
When the invaders from the realms entered this world, their objectives fell into one of three categories. The first aimed to improve the world, similar to Genji's mission. The goal was to demonstrate that EonRealm was incompetent in managing the world and that other realms could do better.
If they could prove this effectively, the world's ownership would be revoked and put up for contention again. This was a way for the realms to compete for resources and challenge one another. However, invasions were only possible after a realm had ownership for a certain period. The exact timeframe varied for each world, but it was at least five years.
This allowed the world's development to be assessed. If the results were subpar, the world would be open to invasion for one world duration. At this point, other realms could send a limited number of people to prove that they could do a better job.
If they succeeded, a world battle would be held to determine the new ownership. If not, the world would remain with its original realm for another secure period. That was how worlds were normally exchanged between realms.
Then, there was the second category of missions, which aimed to damage the world's structure. Although it appeared contrary to the first category, the two were meant to work together. After all, the best way to showcase problem-solving skills was to create a problem and then flawlessly solve it. This was against the competition's rules, but it was fine if they didn't get caught.
It was a risky mission and required individuals to hide their affiliations. If discovered, they would be considered violators and hunted down. Most realms assigned this unofficial mission to those already on the verge of becoming violators, or individuals with such a poor track record that the realms didn't care about losing them.
Essentially, this group was cannon fodder meant to support the first group, but with fewer expectations. The best way to describe it was akin to buying a lottery ticket. If they won, then they would celebrate, but they were prepared for failure.
This leads to the third category of people: the violators. Unlike the other two, violators actively disregarded the primary mission and pursued their own objectives. Examples included cultists who massacred villages for their rituals and summoning of demons.
In summary, everyone received the same mission upon entering the world, but the specifics varied. Those in the first category constituted the main forces and had a standard mission. The second category might receive some hints about their true goals, but the realms couldn't directly state that they had to harm civilizations, while the violators often didn't even bother to read the missions.
Sinclair knew all of this because he fell into the third category. While he wasn't an official violator with a bounty, he certainly had no intention of wasting his time on the standard mission. Instead, he had a different objective in mind: to study the ancient history of the world.
The previous civilization had been a prosperous one, teeming with powerful fighters. By his estimation, they should fall between the upper second step and the early third step. This meant they possessed a significant level of inheritances and treasures. As long as he could find them, he could easily reap substantial rewards.
Take the pharaohs, for example. Although they only discovered a meager clairvoyance inheritance, they managed to become the rulers of this world. As for the Sphinx, Sinclair dismissed it entirely. It might be a real entity after centuries of worship, but it was far from being a real god.
Sinclair would know because LuminalRealm had many contacts with actual gods. With the help of these gods, they could easily compensate for their stat deficits. Of course, this depended on the quality of the offering and the gods' satisfaction.
Due to this, Sinclair didn't prioritize high mission completion rates as much and preferred to optimize his income with minimal effort. If he succeeded, this world alone could provide him with over 40 stat points and enough money to pull ahead.
That was why he had joined forces with the high priest to delve into the lost history. The priest was an intriguing character. Instead of spreading the faith of the Sphinx like a conventional believer, he pursued his own interests.
In fact, he had only become a priest to enjoy the authority and prestige associated with the position, rather than carry out the responsibilities. And even the pharaoh had to treat him with respect due to the Sphinx's name.
Failure to do so would undermine the basis of their powers. Sinclair had noticed this greedy nature and shared his objectives with the priest. Upon hearing about them, the priest swiftly requested the pharaoh to release the stone tablets from the royal treasury.
Transferring the tablets was a laborious task, but the pharaoh had little choice when the priest justified it by saying, "These tablets could hold the key to better serving the Sphinx. We must study them."
*Sigh*, politics.
"Have you made any progress?" Sinclair asked, taking out the papyrus papers and ink he had recently purchased.
"Not yet. Are you confident that this will work?"
"We have to keep trying. How many words have you managed to decipher?" Sinclair placed the papers on the table and reviewed their previous research.
"I'm not sure. You're the one with the expertise," the priest replied with a disgruntled snort before handing over a book of translated text.
Sinclair paid no attention to the priest's attitude and accepted the document. As he perused the scribbles of speculations, he activated his talent and slowly pieced together the clues. After a while, he gathered all the information he could and gave the tablets another try. This time, he discerned the rough meaning behind some of the phrases.
"Invasion of demons... Resources... Victory," he read aloud. "Any idea what that signifies?"
Hearing the question, the priest fell into thought, recalling any possible connections. A few moments later, he let out a gasp of surprise. "So it's true. Demons are real!"
"What's true?"
"The legends! You know, the ones about demons invading our world."
"Oh, those," Sinclair said, faking familiarity with the story as he used his talent to catch up on what the priest was referring to before he gave himself away.
[Talent: Hacking the World]
Effect 1: When entering a world, you can choose to replace a random native's identity. The replaced identity can range from detrimental to beneficial.
Effect 2: You can search for information about your current world by consuming stamina. The more obscure the information, the higher the cost.
Intelligence Molding: You gain a boost in talent effectiveness corresponding to the level of technology in the world. If the world is a futuristic one, you can influence the online network.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
It was a supportive talent, but Sinclair had made the best use of it to achieve his current champion rank. The promotion had been challenging, but the structure of LuminalRealm made it easier to compensate for his lack of combat talent.
In the next moment, a wave of information filled his mind. The story the priest was referring to had taken place four hundred years ago, during the golden era of this world. At that time, a different world had sought to expand and had launched an attack on this one.
Unfortunately for the invaders, this world possessed power beyond their expectations and had easily repelled them. In later generations, this event became known as the "Invasion of the Miserable Ones," for the abuse the invaders had suffered. Although this invasion had been harmless, it had served as a wake-up call for the most powerful beings.
They had repelled the invaders only because of their strength, but what would happen if they were no longer there? What if the younger generation couldn't reach their levels, or if a stronger world attacked? Wouldn't they be doomed? This thought had embedded itself in the minds of the sages, eventually leading them to seal their world. This occurred twenty years after the invasion.
Since then, the invaders had been doing everything they could to bypass this seal. Many of them had whispered to mortals, promising them a paradise where they could reunite with their loved ones and live without worries—a utopia of their dreams, to be exact.
Most people hadn't thought much of these whispers, but a few desperate souls had accepted the unrealistic temptation. That was how the dark cultists had come into existence. Exploiting this despair, these demons guided the cultists to create summoning circles that connected directly to their realms.
Over the years, there had been numerous instances of success and widespread destruction, but most people had regarded these stories as just that—stories. How could anyone believe that such beings existed, especially with the collapse of the previous civilization and the loss of historical records?
'Wait a minute. Something doesn't add up.' The more Sinclair thought about it, the clearer this became.
How could the demons lose if they could invade this world? One needed to know that civilizations capable of invasions were either highly advanced in technology or possessed high levels of magic.
In either case, they should have been more than capable of defeating a civilization that hadn't even touched upon spatial travel. Consider any of the factions in the Spatial Battlefield, for example. Any one of them had reached the point where their home planet could no longer support their development.
They were so powerful that even if they were against a world possessing third-step experts, they could easily suppress them with their advantages. And how had they managed so many invasions? Not even the Parasite Faction, the most proficient in portal magic, could afford that. After all, opening portals across worlds was an energy-intensive task.
And Sinclair was expected to believe that they had invaded enough times to become a well-known fairy tale? How many times would it have taken? 10? 20? 50? It was a backward world, after all, so information could never spread that rapidly.
And how had they failed so many times? The first failure could be attributed to luck, but the tenth time? Just how much energy did they have to waste like that? It simply didn't add up.
Sinclair considered all these factors and came to a conclusion that made sense: the demons weren't invading from another world but from the same world. A part of the world that was separated from this one, but still connected to it. A world that allowed two different civilizations to develop.
'What an unexpected discovery.'
Sinclair then decided that even if he failed to secure the inheritances, he would do everything in his power to disrupt other people's missions. That way, his realm would have a higher chance of winning in the next competition. Advantages always built off each other, and getting ahead now would only benefit them.
Otherwise, why would any realm strive to outdo each other when it would only benefit the world owner? If Sinclair could secure an advantage, LuminalRealm would remember his contribution and reward him handsomely if it won. After all, such an achievement was equivalent to securing two worlds for the effort of one.
"That's promising. Maybe we can find something useful in these tablets after all," Sinclair remarked after a while.
"Yes. Remember, it's a 70-30 split, with 70% going to me," the priest replied.
"Of course. I don't have the power to oppose you," Sinclair replied, all the while considering the best way to backstab the priest. There was no way he would let himself be scammed like that.
"You'd better not," the priest snorted, aware of what his cooperator was thinking. He might have been greedy, but he wasn't stupid. 'Let's see who has the last laugh, you know-it-all prick.'
While this was happening, Genji finally secured a meeting with the pharaoh. When Genji walked into the chambers, he ignored all the lavish decorations and locked eyes with the ruler.
Unlike the previous pharaoh, this one was older and exuded a more composed demeanor. This was a man who had experienced the ups and downs of life and knew how to carry himself.
"Let's cut the nonsense and get to the point," Genji began. Many of the guards and subjects glared at him for his disrespect, but the pharaoh gestured for them to disregard it.
"What do you want?" The pharaoh asked with a lofty tone like he was above everyone.
"I want to propose a deal."
This response further incited the subjects, but Genji didn't care. He was going to start his plans here, even if he had to hold the pharaoh hostage.
"Do you think you're capable enough?"
"I've already killed one pharaoh and I don't mind adding another one."
Upon this revelation, all the guards drew their weapons and surrounded him, ready to attack.
"Just that alone is enough for me to execute you."
"You can try, but you better succeed, or I will do everything in my power to retaliate. And just letting you know, I have access to some nasty abilities of mass destruction. You wouldn't want to risk that now, do you?"
They engaged in a tense stare-off for some more time before the pharaoh erupted in laughter. "It's been a while since someone dared to threaten me like that. Fine, show me what you have." The pharaoh waved his hand and the guards reluctantly withdrew.
"Good to see us being so friendly." Genji reached under his cloak and retrieved a root from his storage. Then, he tossed it to a guard, who fumbled it nervously.
"That's the item. It's a crop that can thrive in this extreme environment, grow with minimal water, and is nutritious enough to feed an army. I'm offering to share this with you in exchange for half of the profits it generates."
Genji wasn't concerned about the reward, but it would appear suspicious if he came across as an altruist after having threatened the entire city. To better suit his role, he should demand a substantial share and negotiate from there.
"Half?!? You might as well rob us!" The guard exclaimed in fury.
"No, this is easier and more lucrative," Genji replied, instantly silencing the guard, whose veins bulged outward as he tried to regain his composure.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" The pharaoh focused on a different detail, doubting the authenticity of the traits. It was such a convenient combination that it felt like a scam.
"You can run some tests. I can wait a few days, but if you delay too much, I'll just find another pharaoh. I have a long life ahead of me," Genji said, acting like a narcissistic inventor and giving a triumphant smile. It was an arrogant act, but it only made his argument that much more convincing.
"I can't do half. I need to pay my workers."
"40% minimum. I worked hard to find that thing."
"10%. You're getting free money for life."
"35%. That's the lowest I'm willing to go. If your people can plant this, you will have enough people to form a giant army. By then, you can conquer your neighbors and expand your domain. If you play your cards right, you can even unite half the world. 35% for life isn't that much to ask for when it can ensure your family's future, right?"
The pharaoh hesitated for some time before shaking his head. "30%. I can't spend more resources than that."
"Only if you let me pick some treasures as a down payment."
"Deal."
"Then I'll be back in a few days. Make your choice by then."
With that, Genji strolled out of the palace, content with how the bargaining had gone. Not only did he guarantee his mission, but he also obtained some spoils for it. Could there be a better deal in life?
"So what can I do in these few days?" He wondered to himself as he wandered the streets.
"Darn that ruin. How could there be so many traps?"
"I know. The entire group was wiped out. We're lucky to even be alive."
"At least we got this. We should be able to retire for life once we sell it. I'm sure the pharaoh would gladly add this to his treasury."
As he passed by, Genji overheard an intriguing conversation. Looking over, he saw two injured warriors huddled around a golden bracelet. At first, he wasn't interested, but then he saw the item's stats.
[Guard of Gold]
Rating: Epic
Type: Bracelet
Defense: 12
Requirements: 12 con, 13 str
Durability: 70/70
Effects:
1. Valor (Passive): You are immune to weaker levels of fear
2. Golden Protection (Active): Root yourself to your current position and gain +8 defense, 6-hour cooldown
Description: An old bracelet that was enchanted by an experienced craftsman.
"Can you believe that this was only on the first floor? Imagine what the treasures are like on the lower ones."
"You can dream, but I won't go back there. My life is too short for this."
"You're right. I just can't believe that such a wealthy ruin is so close."
"Don't think about it. By now, the news should have spread everywhere. Leave the ruin exploration to the people who want to risk their lives. Whatever that is, it's way out of our league."
"Fine. Let's get a drink."
At this moment, Genji interrupted their conversation, presenting a pouch of teeth. "Excuse me. I couldn't help but eavesdrop on you. Can you tell me where this ruin is?"
When the person on the right accepted it, his eyes instantly lit up. "No problem. Here's the map. You can have it since we don't have much use for it anymore." He then hurriedly pulled his companion away, worried that Genji might change his mind and ask for the pouch back.
"I guess I got my answer. It would be a shame to miss such a unique place, especially when they managed to obtain an epic item in the peripheries."
With his interest piqued, Genji took the map and walked out of the city gates, ready to further supplement his income.