Regressor Instruction Manual - Chapter 424. Problems From Above (7)

Silence immediately descended, and I heard Benigoa’s voice a beat later. I thought she would respond with a high-pitched voice, but her voice sounded so low that it sounded more like a mosquito’s droning.

Honestly, it was strange to hear her speak like that. She seemed childish because of it.

[…]

“…”

[It’s all someone’s fault…]

“What?” I asked.

[Do you really think I’m doing this because I…]

“What did you say?” I asked again.

[I-It’s nothing.]

“…”

I was sure the reason the incompetent Benigoa went bankrupt was because of the amount of holy power she had to use on me.

However, if I were to judge the situation carefully, I would say that the amount of influence I had was as small as fine dust.

‘Actually, that’s not true. I received a reasonable reward based on my actions, so this is completely different from that.’

Even if I contributed a lot to her bankruptcy…

‘This is still a bit too much.’

I couldn’t help but think that the problem was too big because the order of the continent was on the brink of falling apart. I was sure the things Benigoa informed me just now were only one part of the problem. If something really did happen, I was sure that there would be a lot of side effects in addition to the issue of the quests and dungeons not functioning properly.

It was no different from the managers of the continent letting go of our hands.

Actually, it was more like they were abandoning us. We were basically travelers without a compass or a boat without a captain.

I was gradually getting angry, and whether Benigoa knew how I felt or not, she kept mumbling excuses. Eventually, she released a deep sigh because even she couldn’t give a clear answer about what was going on.

“Whoo…”

[…]

“…”

[I-I’m sorry…]

“…”

[I-I’m sorry… my proud honorary cardinal. You know how much I care about you, right? I-It’s not your fault, so don’t worry too much about it. Forget what I said just now. You can do that, right?]

“Geez, I know that much. It’s not like I did anything wrong. You caused all of this. You’re hilarious. I gave you so much holy power from down here, and yet that’s all you can do? There’s a limit to how incompetent you can be…”

”I can’t say much since I’m not your manager, but I think you should do some self-reflection. I’m sure it doesn’t feel good getting criticized by a human, but this is advice from a follower who really believes in you,” I explained.

[Ughhhhhh.]

“Did you secretly stash it away somewhere?” I asked.

[Hiccup.]

I wanted to continue criticizing her, but I knew that it was more important for us to deal with the current situation rather than the reason why the situation even happened in the first place. If everything I heard today after coming to this place was true…

‘It can be considered another threat.’

We wouldn’t be able to quickly wrap this up. If a raid boss simply appeared and the issue was killing it, then I could approach the issue without much issue, but this was more complicated than that. It was a social issue, and many people were involved in it.

“Have you thought of a solution?” I asked.

[No. It just… happened so suddenly that we didn’t have the chance to deal with it. It happened so fast, like a bubble getting popped…]

‘Shit…’

[A-Anyway, that’s what happened. The system will still function at the bare minimum, but it may be kind of unstable…]

“Unstable? What part of the system is unstable?” I questioned.

[I-I don’t know the details just yet…]

‘Is she being serious right now?’

“So… why did you tell me this all of a sudden? Are you asking me to take care of this for you?” I asked.

[Half… of it is right. I-I know this isn’t your area of expertise, but I’d like you to take care of the chaos that’s going to happen on the continent as long as it’s not beyond your capabilities…]

“Are you telling me to try controlling the continent?”

[No, that’s impossible. I’m not telling you to do the impossible. It’s exactly what I said. I-I’m afraid that the children on the continent will get really confused if many changes happened at once. If you can… deal with that a bit… You’re so good at handling things like that, Father Lee Ki-Young.]

“So you want me to clean up your mess? Even if I managed to keep things stable, I still don’t think that the situation will end right there and then…”

“I’m sure you know how massive the consequences are if the system stopped working, right? Society will fall into chaos, and a few nations will go bankrupt right away, like how you guys went bankrupt. The people will end up on the street…”

“Moreover, yes, it’s just temporary, but we will still get worried if we lost the only method we have to level up. Timing is important when it comes to a situation like this. Yes, we can employ a band-aid solution, but it really won’t be a solution…”

“It would be more like we would have to tough it out until everything is fixed,” I explained.

[…]

“When is it going to come back exactly?” I asked.

[Earliest will be in three years… I honestly don’t know the details. If we can keep paying my debt at this rate, then things might go back to normal sooner than that. Of course, we can open epic and legendary-ranked dungeons a lot faster than that.]

‘This is a big problem…’

I couldn’t help but gulp at the way she casually explained. The earliest was three years… I thought the scenario of Benigoa backstabbing me was the worst-case scenario, but this was just as bad as that.

Honestly, I found it difficult to decide which scenario was the worst.

I got so frustrated that I started pulling my head.

I eventually asked, “Is there anything else you need to tell me, or is there anything else I need to know?”

[No… that’s all.]

“…”

[I’m ashamed…]

“You shouldn’t be ashamed in front of me. You should be ashamed of yourself. Anyway, it’s fine. I’ll think about it on my own,” I told her.

[What? What? What? Think on your own?]

“It’s just like I said. I’m going to think on my own,” I repeated.

[Y-You don’t have something else in mind, right?]

“What do you mean?” I asked.

[Y-You know… the plan to backstab the fallen god, Benigoa…]

“It’s nothing like that. I’m not doing that. I’ll be thinking about how to handle this issue. I’ll take care of it, so don’t worry about it. However, I’m going to be using your name often, so keep that in mind…” I told her.

[Really? Of course. I-I’ll do what you say, Father Lee Ki-Young! But… you really don’t have other plans, right? Father Lee Ki-Young? Y-You know how much I care about you, right? D-Don’t do anything strange… We’re a team, right?]

“I’m not, so stop worrying about it. I’m not the type of person to casually backstab people. I don’t plan on making you guys my enemies. I just need time to think for myself. If you were in my shoes, wouldn’t you need time to think as well?” I asked.

[I-I’m relieved to hear that, but…]

“Anyway, I’m leaving. The people outside have been waiting a long time, and I’ll give some random excuse about why you’re crying,” I continued.

[Okay…]

“And I want you to prepare a hefty reward for me. I’m going to come and claim it as soon as I’m done taking care of all this,” I added.

[…]

I removed my hand from the statue before I could hear her answer. When I looked up at the goddess statue again, it was still crying tears of blood. I touched the statue just in case, but I couldn’t hear anything anymore.

I looked at the statue from afar, and the reality was finally starting to sink in for me. It was interesting how I had a conversation with the literal Goddess of Benigoa, and it was unexpected how I had to face a huge problem now.

‘It’s really unexpected…’

I knew there was a problem, but I never thought that it would be this big of a problem. It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t help but chuckle. I didn’t know where to start, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have any idea. If I were to keep this issue simple, then there was a simple solution to it as well. One of them was…

‘Increasing the people’s fate on the gods and goddesses.’

Helping Benigoa and the other gods get back to their position was the right thing to do, and thanks to my image and reputation, faith in the gods was already firmly established on this continent.

Once I was done gathering enough power for Benigoa, then the most important thing to do afterward was to return the unstable continent to its original state. I had to revitalize all the gods on the continent within two—no, a year.

I was basically a life rehabilitation—no, a new life rehabilitation consultant who could help the gods return to their social life a bit faster. While all of that was ongoing, the next thing I had to do in the interim was…

‘I have to arrange alternative resources for people to level up and earn…’

I could forcefully reduce the time it would take to implement the first solution, but this was the hardest part of the first solution. After all, it would be irrational to think that there were alternatives for quests and dungeons.

To create an alternative for those two was basically creating a new workplace. The players had to grow, earn rewards, and money in the form of gold. It had to be a qualified and sufficient alternative for the players.

I had to take care of the players, or the situation would become worse. The high-level foreigners would be out of jobs, and they would have to enter rare or even average-ranked dungeons to earn money.

If that were to happen, then the novices who should be growing wouldn’t be able to grow as fast as they normally would. In addition, there could even be frequent conflicts between the high-level players and the novices due to the skill gap.

I couldn’t help but think of the worst that could happen during the three years Benigoa would need to return everything to normal, and that worst-case scenario was…

‘The complete interruption of mankind’s growth.’

In addition to being unable to grow, they might even retire from the scene. Of course, it wasn’t really my business if those high-level players retired. Honestly, I would be happy to see them retire, but…

‘I can’t let them do that…’

Anyway, I was in a dilemma for many reasons, and no matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t think of a solution. However, the remark I made earlier started pricking my conscience.

“It’s not like I can make a dungeon. Shit…” I mumbled.

‘…’

“Wait, I already have one…”

I got so busy that I had basically forgotten about it. But right now, it popped up in my mind. I activated Mind’s Eye and saw a title I had been ignoring until now.

[Rift Museum Rank 4 Manager]

I thought it was worth thinking about…

‘Did they not block the Rift Museum?’

I had to check to make sure. However, there was a high chance that the Rift Museum was still operating. After all, it was a part of my jurisdiction rather than the gods. The Rift Museum was an Unranked Dungeon as well, and it was actually about to open.

We held a few closed betas, but we had no time to hold an open beta. In addition, we still hadn’t made a concrete business plan for the Rift Museum.

If I were asked whether I would accept legendary and epic-ranked foreigners, I would definitely nod because there were still a lot of monsters remaining in the Rift Museum.

Max had also created a bunch of chimeras that had to be handled. It was completely impossible to enter dungeons right now, so the Rift Museum was basically priceless right now.

‘I can also sell potions there. Actually, I can sell more than that.’

I can sell potions, food, and lodging… and if I were to go further, I could also open a gift shop and even a casino because they were necessary for a working and developing economy.

“Rift Land…”

It would be a magical place that would revitalize the economy in the upcoming recession of the continent, and I couldn’t help but smile at the reasonable solution I just found.