Chapter 145: Shaolin (3)

A human arm protruded from the pitch-black gap in the door.

The arm, which had forced its way through the door, trembled violently before flopping down limply with a thud. What the hell was that?

As Lee Taebaek stared in bewilderment, the door flew wide open, revealing what lay beyond.

Flags fluttered on the other side. Boys and girls stood in orderly ranks, gazing down at the sprawled figure.

A scene of madness. It was hard to find a more fitting description.

To cut to the chase, the arm belonged to Kim Changsik. The Lilith Order executive had passed out while trying to flee.

The next moment, the girl at the front stepped on Kim Changsik’s back. Mounting his back, she clenched her fist and thrust it upward.

“The revolution! Our Hundred-Fold Sect’s holy war is a success—!”

“Hundred-Fold! Hundred-Fold! Hundred-Fold!”

It was Jasbi.

“All of this is the will of our Founding Patriarch, Lee Taebaek…”

As she savored the cheers, Lee Taebaek entered her peripheral vision. Her words trailed off.

“……”

The fervent cheers showed no sign of stopping. But Jasbi’s face paled in real time.

“…What are you doing?”

Lee Taebaek, the man in question, asked coldly.

No matter the world line, business always comes down to money.

That’s because the prosperity of a species stems from ‘purpose.’ That purpose varies from individual to individual, from world line to world line, but there’s a clear common thread.

What others desire. Ironically, progress arises from desire.

The start of conflict is desire. The spark of war is desire. Even as they think, If we keep fighting like this, we’ll all perish, they don’t change the mechanism of If I can’t have it, no one can.

It’s not just a trait of Homo sapiens. Even bacteria fall prey to desire and devour their own kind. That’s why they say they fight until they ‘burst.’

But Homo sapiens were a cut above. It’s no coincidence they’re called tool-using monkeys.

Homo sapiens realized the futility of desire-driven conflicts quite early in their history. The path wasn’t smooth, but after a history of twists and turns, they finally devised a solution.

If they point cold weapons at each other, neither side gets anything. Homo sapiens think far ahead—not just for themselves, but for their descendants’ prosperity.

And so, humans set down their cold weapons. They satisfied their desires by plundering others with a far more powerful weapon.

The terrifying thing about ‘that weapon’ was that the opponent accepted it. They submitted without question, no matter the power gap.

Moreover, in the world Lee Taebaek had created—one where humanity had advanced so far it had become decadent, the dystopia of Laykuns—that weapon’s effect was especially potent.

So, what was it?

“…You were trying to acquire the Lilith Order through a merger?”

Money.

“…Yes……”

Jasbi nodded tearfully at Lee Taebaek’s question. She stood with her arms glued to her ears like a punished child.

“Why would you do something like that?”

“……”

As expected.

“No particular reason, huh?”

“N-No, that’s not it…! It’s not that there was no justification at all—no, that’s not what I mean…!”

She had essentially admitted to a lack of justification. As a penalty, Jasbi earned herself a +1 scolding.

Jasbi’s explanation went like this.

Recently, two of the Ten Wings—Illusion Master and Bow Master—had retired. Upheaval had struck the upper layers. It was only natural that the chaos would ripple down to the lower layers.

Religious facilities were mostly located in the lower districts. Land was cheap there. People seeking religion would go even if it was hell.

So, it wasn’t unusual for religious sites to cluster in the lower layers.

But when hostile factions crammed into a small territory, problems erupted.

Rather than uniting for synergy, the human—nay, Laykuns religious—instinct was to think, I need to steal their flock.

– Valhalla has reserved seats!

– Do you believe, everyone?! Do you want to claim them?! Then we must reclaim the enemy stronghold…!

And so, the holy war was ignited.

Even so, Homo sapiens acted like gentlemen. Instead of primitive methods, they began competing with ‘money’ as their weapon.

“Religions short on capital are being absorbed by others with similar affiliations. It’s the trend of the times, you could say.”

The result?

The lower districts, now in a Warring States era, were being divided among three major powers.

“The strongest is ‘Eden,’ which worships the God of Order. It’s not just in the lower districts—they have massive influence in the upper layers too.”

“Eden, huh. I don’t remember creating something like that.”

Add that to the bug list for now.

“Next up is ‘Asura Balbalta,’ with a strong Buddhist bent.”

“That’s really the name?”

“Yes. Unless you’re a mega-religion like Eden, you need to grab attention. ‘Asura Balbalta!’—style aside, it sticks in your mouth, right?”

“…Fair point.”

To survive in a crowded ecosystem, you need visibility. Games work the same way. Even if you get hate, being talked about means potential.

“Eden just has money. The God of Order is basically the sun god in the City. Their backing is so solid it’s pointless to speculate.”

“Asura Balbalta has—”

Jasbi started to lower her hand, so Lee Taebaek flashed a faint smile. Jasbi shot her hand back up and pouted, but answered anyway.

“Shaolin’s with them.”

“What… Shaolin…?”

He thought he’d misheard.

Jasbi nodded earnestly with innocent eyes.

“Shaolin needs to survive too. Honestly, they’re not what they used to be—not in the Central Plains, at least. They might hold up in martial arts, but capital-wise, no.”

Kergel Magic Tower was a megacorp.

Compared to them—led by the Heavenly Demon and steadily solidifying their position—Shaolin was gradually declining.

They’re trying to preserve their lineage from the Central Plains.

To Lee Taebaek, it looked like denial of reality. Shaolin was clearly at a disadvantage against Kergel Magic Tower. At this rate, vanishing into the annals of martial history was only a matter of time.

And what can’t a desperate person do? It was just pitiful that they’d resort to a bizarre name like ‘Asura Balbalta.’

Did they give me that elixir for a similar reason?

Probably not entirely. No matter how anxious, handing an elixir to a total stranger like Lee Taebaek on a whim?

They wouldn’t risk the sect’s survival on that. As Kang Hyeonseong had said, it was likely a major investment from Shaolin’s leadership—or a unilateral decision by their head.

Either way, Shaolin was teetering. The speculation had turned to fact.

Lee Taebaek gathered his thoughts and looked back at Jasbi.

“And the last one?”

“That’s the leftovers, literally. Like a mishmash—groups like the Lilith Order or our Hundred-Fold Sect.”

It stung a little.

“When you should be uniting, why fight among yourselves?”

“Eden’s buying out our minor religions one by one. To defend ourselves, we have to grow our numbers—even if it means aggressive mergers.”

“Fine, whatever. But the Hundred-Fold Sect doesn’t have the cash to acquire the Lilith Order.”

“Heh heh heh.”

Jasbi let out a meaningful chuckle. Lee Taebaek’s eyes narrowed.

“Who do you think I am?”

“Scrap AI.”

“……”

She pouted.

“Streamer Cutie Levit.”

“Right! The Cutie Levit who’s skyrocketing in popularity on the current internet broadcast platform! Do you know how much I make in a month?!”

He knew. Over half the total revenue flowed straight into Lee Taebaek’s pocket.

I stopped checking at some point.

Seeing her so triumphant, he felt like peeking now. Jasbi’s cut was just extra income.

Her complexion looked healthy—too healthy.

Anyway.

“Jasbi, you’ve been using your personal funds for the Hundred-Fold Sect?”

“Yes!”

“Why?”

“Huh? Why else?”

Jasbi blinked. Like asking why the Earth is round.

“They’re my family!”

A strange sense of pride welled up in his chest.

“You’ve grown up, Jasbi.”

“This Jasbi is an AI! And the purpose and identity of AI lies in progress!”

“Good. Lower your hand.”

“Yes!”

Hm.

“Raise it again.”

“Why?!”

She dropped it lightning-fast like she’d been waiting. It was annoying—and since she looked cute, he wanted to tease her. It had been a while.

“A man shouldn’t go back on his word! You said X-chu would fall if he did!”

“Who said something so vulgar?”

“I did.”

The private room’s door was already open. The woman leaning slenderly against the frame was the Saintess. The Blind Saintess, leader of the Lilith Order.

Pervert.

The Saintess stepped forward barefoot, one careful step at a time, and spoke.

“Shouldn’t sex education start young?”

Lee Taebaek clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“Weren’t the Lilith Order and Hundred-Fold Sect at odds?”

“If we were still opposed, would I let you plot in our temple? The merger of Hundred-Fold Sect and Lilith Order is already done. There was just a little friction between Executive Kim Changsik and Jasbi over equity shares.”

“Can a cult leader yield so easily?”

“Because I believe in you, Taebaek.”

Her heel caught, and the Saintess’s body lurched forward. Her sweet breath brushed his cheek. Suddenly, Lee Taebaek found himself holding her.

“I’ll make room.”

Jasbi stood quickly.

“Stay put.”

“Ellerikolerri, merong merong.”

Lee Taebaek’s body was pinned by the Saintess, so he couldn’t grab Jasbi. Not yet, anyway. She was in for a spanking soon enough.

Lee Taebaek sighed and princess-carried the Saintess to the sofa, laying her down.

“No matter how I think about it.”

He crossed his arms and looked down at her.

“Your blindness seems like a concept. That fall just now felt staged too.”

“Why do you think that?”

The Saintess smiled seductively.

“Your timing’s too perfect. Even with eyes, I couldn’t pull that off.”

“I can’t see phenomena, but I perceive situations clearly. Free from physical constraints, I have the authority to glimpse fragments of the future.”

“Typical blind person talk. Then the follow-up should be, ‘You have eyes but can’t see what’s truly important.'”

“……”

The Saintess blinked repeatedly.

“…You know everything, don’t you?”

“What?”

“Your true pow—”

The Saintess shook her head gently, cutting herself off.

“The order is still too solid for chaos to come yet.”

“……?”

“Let’s change the subject.”

The Saintess gazed at Lee Taebaek with her clouded eyes.

“Someone from Asura Balbalta came yesterday.”