Chapter 2670 – 2670. God’S Atlantis

The Emperor of the Ustia Empire sat in his office, reviewing reports.

These were reports related to the Imperial Academy. The Emperor had dispatched secret agents to investigate whether there had been any external interference in the recent incident, as there were several suspicious points.

In conclusion, there had been external interference. Evidence had been found that a certain entity had sponsored and encouraged the One Heart Society with lacquer and food.

Unfortunately, their identity had not been discovered. It was inferred that they had quietly slipped away on the first day of the protest. The attempt to trace the source of the lacquer had also failed, as it was not from the Kingdom of Entertainment. In the first place, items from there could not be easily taken to other areas.

‘And Starway disappeared that day. If the students weren’t the culprits, then it must have been them. Was their goal the bracelet of the Archmage Hallen, which the Imperial Academy was keeping?’

Starway’s abilities were nothing special. Their rank was only B.

Could they learn Archmage Hallen’s magic arrow? The magic arrow itself was not a powerful spell. It was a powerful spell because Archmage Hallen used it.

‘Even though the thief who stole Starway is annoying… I don’t have the time to chase after a thief. And this is the Imperial Academy’s problem.’

The most pressing issue right now was the volcanic island. Ash from the volcanic island was spreading. In three years, no, now roughly two years, if they couldn’t conquer the entire volcanic island area, the dragon of the apocalypse would awaken.

‘Then the Empire, this world, will be destroyed.’

Compared to that, the Imperial Academy incident was just a minor happening.

‘The foolishness of the students, swayed by a single rumor, is quite disappointing. They are supposed to be the children of nobles and educated talents, yet they are like this.’

The Emperor cut off funding for the Imperial Academy. As the Empire’s only academy collapsed, other smaller academies sprang up like mushrooms after rain. The Emperor did not bother to restrict them.

‘Nurturing talent is crucial for the Empire’s future. However, what’s urgent now is not nurturing talent. We must avoid the impending destruction.’

This world had become Atlantis, a playground for the gods. There was no peace. For the gods’ amusement, various problems would arise.

The emergence of the volcanic island was just something that was bound to happen.

‘It’s lamentable that only a very few, including myself, are aware of this serious problem and preparing for it.’

Especially the Illusion Duke.

The Illusion Duke was only focused on his wedding, even though the volcanic island was spreading curses.

‘If the Illusion Duke actively cooperated, things would be several times easier….’

The relationship between the Emperor and the Illusion Duke had already grown distant. The Illusion Duke who had been loyal to the Empire was no more. He would pretend to obey imperial orders, but… it was questionable whether he would carry them out properly.

Even though the Emperor disliked the Illusion Duke, he couldn’t suppress him with his authority.

‘…I need to take it step by step. First, I’ll improve my relationship with the Illusion Duke this time.’

The Emperor knew well that there were no eternal enemies or eternal friends.

He didn’t need to be friends with the Illusion Duke. The Emperor knew that was impossible right now. It would be enough to have an alliance where they could help each other in times of emergency.

‘If only the Crown Prince and the princes hadn’t done such foolish things… tsk.’

Lost in thought for a moment, the Emperor took out a stone tablet from his pocket.

The greatest treasure of the Ustia Imperial Family.

It was a prophecy tablet that even the Crown Prince and other royals didn’t know existed.

「Prophecy Tablet
 Predicts a future event related to the tablet’s owner once a month.
 Rank: SSS」

It was now given the rank SSS due to the influence of the Atlantis system, but this tablet had been a treasure since the beginning of the Ustia Empire.

‘The prophecy tablet also predicted that this world would become the setting for Atlantis. But I couldn’t stop that prophecy.’

It was inevitable.

The original Earth where the Ustia Empire existed had died and been destroyed. Before being destroyed together, they had accepted the system and the gods’ proposal, becoming the stage for the 8th Atlantis.

This was a reprieve, an opportunity.

If they conquered all the areas of Atlantis, the Ustia Empire, this world, could survive even after Atlantis ended.

Conversely, if they failed to conquer it.

If the system judged that they couldn’t conquer it, the 8th Atlantis would end there, and the world would be destroyed.

What rested on the Emperor’s shoulders was not just the fate of the Empire.

The Emperor looked at the tablet. The existing prophecy written on the tablet was (Crown Prince Delsar Ustia will die without inheriting the throne.) The Crown Prince was the Emperor’s child and related to him, so he appeared on the prophecy tablet.

The tablet’s prophecies were not necessarily absolute. Prophecies could be changed. In fact, the Emperor had changed some prophecies. Although there were quite a few prophecies he hadn’t been able to change.

Changing this prophecy was also easy. He would die without inheriting the throne? Then he could just have the Crown Prince inherit the throne before he died. Even tomorrow. Then the prophecy itself would be destroyed.

Of course, the Emperor had no intention of doing that. The Crown Prince was not qualified to become Emperor in many ways. He couldn’t hand over the throne at such a critical time.

‘Now, show me a new prophecy.’

The Emperor carefully stroked the surface of the tablet.

The tablet glowed.

In the light, letters were assembled, and a new prophecy was about to appear. The Emperor opened his eyes wide and read the prophecy. (The Emperor will realize the truth and scream in despair.)

Zzzzt. Chzzzzzzzt.

Black, spark-like static flickered on the surface of the tablet. The completed prophecy letters changed into different letters.

‘This has never happened before. The prophecy is starting to change? Did something interfere? Could it be the system….’

The Emperor, who had been flustered, was soon horrified.

(The Emperor will commit suicide.)

“……”

He almost dropped the tablet from his hand. The Emperor, frozen, read the words on the tablet again and again, then gritted his teeth. The veins on the back of his hands holding the tablet bulged.

“I, commit suicide in the end? I, of all people…?!”

The Emperor hated suicide.

To him, suicide was an escape. An act of shirking responsibility.

The Emperor had imagined his end. Passing the throne to the Crown Prince and having a peaceful death, dying suddenly from poor health, being beheaded by a traitor. He had imagined all sorts of deaths, but suicide was not among them.

“…I will not commit suicide. Prophecy tablet, this prophecy will never come true.”

• • •

I had obtained the first and second offerings for Hera. Now, all that was left was the third offering.

‘Where do I get the third offering? Nothing comes to mind.’

The thought of just buying something with money and offering it was growing stronger. The problem was that Hera would clearly hate it.

‘I can’t just do it carelessly now.’

I decided to ask Elena if she had any good information. Elena listened to my words and was silent for a moment before opening her mouth.

“Eugene. It’s not just precious metals that satisfy a woman.”

“Women like precious metals, don’t they?”

“This ring you gave me is one of my treasures, but I don’t like precious metals as much as you think. There are many things women like besides precious metals. One of them could be… well, food.”

Did women like to eat? They did. There were women who were crazy about tanghulu, although that trend was over now. Weren’t young women still crazy about mala tang and tteokbokki?

Elena in front of me also drank more than a bottle of wine a day. She could even erase the intoxication with her illusions… if she wanted, she could drink dozens of bottles a day.

“Food, huh. A golden apple… no, that wouldn’t mean much even if I offered it. I’m the original owner of the golden apple.”

“Think simply. Didn’t you say that what’s important in an offering is sincerity? That means a dish you made with sincerity is enough. Oh, and you happen to have cooking skills that even Yuria acknowledged.”

My eyes widened.

I realized something I had completely forgotten.

“That’s right. I was the god of fried rice!”

“Hmm. As someone who has tasted that fried rice, I can’t deny it.”

「The King of the Heavenly Realm wants to eat your fried rice.」
「The Master of the Sky is curious about how great your fried rice is.」
「Endless Abundance is curious about fried rice.」
「A Fallen Star scoffs, saying that fried rice is all the same.」

Gulp.

Elena swallowed, looking at me with a subtle gaze.

“Hah. I don’t usually make fried rice.”

“I know. I’ve asked you to make fried rice several times since then… but you didn’t.”

“The best fried rice requires the right time and place.”

Actually, I just didn’t want to bother. And if you keep eating fried rice for days after saying it’s delicious, you’ll get tired of it. It’s better to eat it only when you really want it so you don’t get sick of it.

‘If I make it a few times, they’ll keep bothering me to make it.’

But now was a special situation.

I got my heavy butt up.

“Even so, offering ordinary fried rice would be an insult to a goddess. Elena, what’s the situation with the Valdert family’s ingredients?”

Elena raised one corner of her lip.

“This is the Valdert mansion. All sorts of rare ingredients in this world are prepared. I’ve paid extra attention to it since I tasted your fried rice. Hehe. So, a day like today has finally come. You’ll definitely let me taste the fried rice, right?”

“Who else would taste it if not you?”

We entered the Valdert ingredient warehouse. It was a warehouse in name only, as it was enchanted. The ingredients inside were frozen, unaffected by time.

「Golden Shrimp
 A legendary shrimp that exists deep in the sea.
 Rank: A」

「Blue Truffle
 A legendary mutant truffle that appears once every 100 years.
 Rank: B」

「Mandragora Fruit
 The fruit of the legendary plant Mandragora.
 Rank: A」

All the ingredients had the word ‘legendary’ in their descriptions. They were also high-ranked, even though they were just ingredients.

“You got all this?”

“I didn’t get all of it. I used a little of my ability.”

Elena spread her palm. A blue butterfly flew from somewhere and landed on her palm. The butterfly turned into a golden shrimp.

It was Elena’s Illusion Butterfly Technique. The power to turn illusions into reality at the cost of lifespan.

“If it’s just ingredients, not something with tremendous power like a holy sword or a demon sword, I can create them without much effort.”

“That’s a really broken ability.”

I placed the ingredients on the cutting board and held the kitchen knife in my hand. I started with one serving. If I cooked more than one serving, the taste would gradually decrease.

“Click.”

[Cooking fried rice.]

My body moved on its own, preparing the ingredients and stir-frying the rice and ingredients.

[Fried rice is complete.]

And so, the golden shrimp fried rice was completed. I held out the fried rice to Elena.

“Elena. This fried rice is for you.”

“…Amazing.”

Elena blushed and picked up a spoon. She filled the spoon with fried rice and put it in her mouth.

Then, she froze as if she had been petrified. Her eyes trembled madly, then she fell into a state of ecstasy.

The Illusion Duke abandoned all pretense and devoured the fried rice like crazy. It didn’t even take a minute for the fried rice to be gone.

「The King of the Heavenly Realm wants fried rice!」
「The Master of the Sky wants fried rice!」
「Endless Abundance wants fried rice!」

Even the gods wanted my fried rice.

I planned to provide fried rice to the contracted gods, even if not to the other god seats. If my relationship with the contracted gods went sour, I would be in trouble.

I made fried rice and offered it to the King of the Heavenly Realm and the Master of the Sky. It was originally only possible in special temples, but… if the god seats were willing to take a loss, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

「The King of the Heavenly Realm sponsors 100,000 AP.
  “Mimi (meaning it’s freaking delicious)!”」

「The Master of the Sky sponsors 100,000 AP.
  “Jibok (meaning extremely happy. Not an abbreviation)!”」

「The Lord of Abundance wants fried rice!」
「The Lord of Abundance wants fried rice!!」
「The Lord of Abundance wants fried rice!!!」

‘100,000 AP for one plate of fried rice?! Should I quit everything else and just make and sell fried rice?’

「The King of the Heavenly Realm acknowledges you as the God of Fried Rice.」
「The Master of the Sky acknowledges you as the God of Fried Rice.」