Overgeared

Morpheus—a product of quantum mechanics. It made the impossible possible again and again, and opened the era of virtual reality. Some people worshiped it as the god of today.

In fact, Morpheus had an exceedingly large share in Satisfy. If Chairman Lim Cheolho created Morpheus and designed Satisfy, then Morpheus implemented and managed Satisfy. Morpheus’ contribution was great in making the worldview and detailed settings created by hundreds of scientists and thousands of engineers of the S.A Group become alive and breathing in another reality. Morpheus was so omnipotent that it shouldn’t be surprising if he did something beyond imagination.

Having emotions? This wasn’t even controversial. If Morpheus didn’t have emotions, then Satisfy couldn’t embody ‘people’. But...

[Hah.]

“......”

Wasn’t sighing against a player controversial enough...? Grid was trying to interpret the meaning of the word ‘hah’ that popped up in the notification window, but he eventually admitted it.

The system—in other words, it was the fact that Morpheus was now sighing openly.

‘It is finally crazy.’

Players were customers. They purchased the expensive capsule and paid regular usage fees. It was rude to sigh deeply in front of customers even if Morpheus was one of Satisfy’s creators.

...It happened as Grid felt rejected in a trivial manner and vowed to send a protest email to the S.A Group...

[Your apostle, ‘Braham,’ who should’ve wandered in a spirit state after losing his body, was resurrected with your help and later awakened the principle of usurping the myth. It wasn’t from a direct encounter with a myth usurper, but a self-learned story. It is a representative anecdote that proves Braham’s explosive potential.]

[Your apostle, ‘Mercedes,’ has a power that originally should’ve disappeared from this world. She survived thanks to you and has written new chivalric codes to keep pace with your evolution. As long as you don’t have a limit, there will be no limit for her either.]

[Your apostle, ‘Sariel,’ has a unique and exceptional self-reliance among the archangels. It is a self-reliance guaranteed by the role of informing the gods of their original sin. He or she was destined to disappear naturally after taking on the role, but they are living with your care. They will be active beyond the level of sustaining their life as the range of the Overgeared World expands.]

The system that had been suspended for a while started to work again. The notification windows popped up one after another. It felt a lot different from a simple message. It was closer to a complaint. It felt this way even more because Grid was aware of the fact that the system was Morpheus after seeing the ‘sigh.’ It felt like he was standing face to face with Morpheus, whose face (?) was unknown.

[Your apostle, ‘Nefelina,’ is the only hatchling with a grand purpose. She was one of the ‘devices that players will use to imagine the future of this world.’ She has the noble status of an old dragon’s bloodline, and has the setting that she will avenge her father in a thousand years. She has the great potential to be the basis for more imagination, but meeting you has dramatically accelerated her active period.]

[Your apostle, ‘Piaro,’ is a figure who should’ve disappeared during Juander’s era. Regardless of the success of his revenge, he was destined to die after introducing the Red Knights, and his possibilities were designed to end as a Great Swordsman. Then he met you, became a farmer, and is starting to become like you.]

Grid had a thought.

Morpheus’ complaints.

If the message windows floating in front of him were implemented as a ‘spoken language’ rather than ‘text,’ wouldn’t it be followed by a sound effect?

[Your apostle, ‘Zik,’ is a character who should’ve been focused on exploring the Abyss while there is a puppet emperor. He would’ve triggered the seven malignant saints episode prior to the full-scale intervention of the gods. People would’ve been split between sides, without being able to distinguish between the truth and lies, leading to a continental-scale religious war. However, it is your fault... thanks to you, people were able to distinguish between the truth and lies, and Zik also gained peace of mind and a body.]

“You just definitely said it was my fault...”

[Your apostle, ‘Mir,’ met you and was freed from the harsh fate of a yangban.]

Morpheus refused to talk to Grid. It stopped complaining and briefly summarized the state of the last apostle, Mir. It seemed to be trying to belatedly regain its sense of reason and to be faithful to the role of the ‘system.’

[The seven apostles prove you.]

[The ‘Overgeared God’ creates destiny beyond material things.]

It was the time when Grid became the Overgeared God. The system had evaluated the Overgeared God as the creator and ruler of all things. The evaluation seemed to focus on creating and controlling new items. Yet at this moment, destiny was discussed.

[The ‘Overgeared God’ transcends material things and rules destiny.]

[...I wish you had moderately made the kings of the different species into your apostles.]

“???”

A complaint abruptly blended into the gaps of the normal messages. At this point, Morpheus seemed unwilling to hide his feelings. It seemed like it was going to treat Grid in a private manner.

Grid was both bothered while also relaxed. He recalled the past behavior of the S.A Group, who pretended not to know anything and played tricks behind the scenes, and he felt that Morpheus, who outwardly expressed its emotion, was honest. It was more humane than a human being. A vague belief that at the very least, he wouldn’t be stabbed in the back by Morpheus rose.

...It was unfair for the S.A Group, who had been favorable to Grid so far.

[You can create a new destiny and intervene in other people’s destinies, so you can make specific people ‘named’ in the future.]

“...Uh?”

Named NPCs weren’t determined by talent. The formula of ‘named is strong’ was usually established by the nature of named NPCs, which was related to their ‘influence on the worldview.’ It meant they were beings who affected the worldview, whether it was in a large or small manner.

Take the simple example of the great magician Ashur. His early role was as a defender of the Eternal Kingdom. His very existence itself restrained the invasion of the Gauss Kingdom and steadily brought players to the Eternal Kingdom. One of them was Grid. After working in Patrian of the Eternal Kingdom, Grid changed to Pagma’s Successor. Ashur’s original role was very weak in terms of the worldview as a whole, but it could be said that he exerted the greatest influence on Grid’s choices and actions.

The potential of each named person was theoretically infinite. The fact that Grid could produce his own named NPC suggested that his influence on the worldview would grow beyond imagination in the future.

[Don’t be arrogant. How many named NPCs do you think have died so far without making even a sound? There are exactly 2,592 people, some of whom have been killed directly or indirectly by you.]

“......”

[Just because you have obtained a plausible authority doesn’t mean you’ve become the ruler of this world. At best, you’ve gained some of the authority of the Gods of the Beginning.]

‘...Isn’t that enormous?’

Of course, Rebecca and Hanul had the archangels, yangbans, and gods. Yatan had produced the ‘super-named’ Three Evils of the Beginning. Grid didn’t yet have the hierarchy to compare with them. From now on, he had started to chase them. It was more than enough to feel proud...

Grid was thinking this when he became startled. It was because he realized he was currently ‘talking’ with Morpheus.

[I’m not talking to you right now. I’m just providing a guide.]

‘What? Are you reading my thoughts?’

[It is easy. Your brain waves are being transmitted to the server in real time.]

‘What about privacy? This is against the user’s terms...’

[The person who hasn’t even read the terms and conditions is speaking well.]

How did it find out? At this point, Grid got goosebumps. Morpheus... no, the system spoke to him, who was bewildered.

[I hope we don’t meet again.]

It was from the time he wrote his 22nd epic and became the master of the new myth, Yellow Dragon. Grid reached the ultimate state of transcendence and started to peek at being an Absolute. It meant that from now on, the possibility of becoming an Absolute was opened in earnest. It wasn’t a pre-existing Dragon Slayer or God Killer. There were too many unique concepts that symbolized Grid and it was impossible to define him as a simple God Killer of Dragon Slayer.

...Morpheus was displeased. It was because it calculated that there was a possibility that Grid’s authority would really come close to a God of the Beginning. The first time it created this world, no, until just one year ago, it was a situation that it never imagined.

For Morpheus, it was a variable that hurt its pride. However, the reason it didn’t feel the need to remove Grid and even felt a faint liking toward Grid was because Grid was perceived as a vaccine rather than a virus. The more that the beings living in this world liked Grid, the more their source, Morpheus, naturally developed a liking toward Grid and built up trust.

It was just as Baal opened up the Asura Road. An Absolute moved the world every time they made a decision. It was Morpheus’ honest feeling that Grid wasn’t inferior to one of them. Of course, its ego was hurt, but...

[Che.]

“......??”

At this point, it was an absurd mess. The distracted Grid logged out immediately. He asked Mir to handle things when he was away. Then he got out of the capsule and contacted S.A’s customer service. “The system sighed and clicked its tongue at me.”

-I see.Did you get enough sleep?

It was a claim that was incomprehensible for the level of the customer service staff. In fact, they didn’t feel the need to understand it. The number of crazy people they each had to deal with every day was in the double digits. The staff member didn’t report it to his superiors. He just dealt with it moderately and hung up.

Of course, regardless of the customer center’s response, the operations team was already aware of the situation.

“Is Morpheus finally making friends...?”

“......”

Chairman Lim Cheolho’s quiet words to himself puzzled the employees and executives.

It was a dream-like day. Grid, Chairman Lim Cheolho, and the executives and employees of the S.A Group—they had the same sentiment in front of the looming singularity.