[Location: The Imperial Treasury - Winterhold]
[Status: Counting Money.]
"One million... two million... three million..."
Ahri was sitting on a pile of gold coins, tossing them into the air. "Master, we have too much money. We literally ran out of storage space."
"There is no such thing as too much money," I said, leaning back in my chair.
I was testing my new Class Skill: [Liquidate].
I picked up a rusty goblin sword from the loot pile.
"Liquidate."
FLASH.
The sword dissolved into golden light. It reformed into a small stack of coins.
[+5 Gold.]
"Trash," I muttered.
I picked up the severed head of Demon General Moloch (which I had kept in a jar of preservatives).
"Liquidate."
FLASH.
The head screamed silently as it turned into pure bullion.
[+50,000 Gold.]
"Better."
This skill was broken. I could turn anything into gold. Corpses. Debris. Evidence.
"Boss," Seraphina walked in, holding a scroll. She looked worried. "We have a problem."
"Did the Pope wake up?"
"No. It's... bigger."
She handed me the scroll. It was glowing with starlight.
[System Notification: Cosmic Mail.]
[Sender: The Monarch of Greed (Constellation).]
[Priority: Urgent.]
I opened it.
The text wasn't ink. It was burning starlight that seared the paper.
"To the thief called Cain Cross."
"You stole my Dungeon. You stole my General. You stole my concept."
"I am watching you. Your soul shines with the color of Avarice. It is disgusting. It is... beautiful."
"I offer you a Sponsorship."
"Accept my Brand. Become my Avatar. I will grant you the power to buy stars."
"Refuse... and I will audit your existence."
[Accept / Refuse]
Ahri peered over my shoulder. "A Constellation Sponsorship?! That's huge! Usually, only Level 80 Heroes get those!"
"If you accept, you get insane stats," Sylvia added. "But... you become his servant."
I looked at the options.
[A] Accept: +100 All Stats. Unique Skill 'Midas Touch'. Become a Slave to Greed.
[B] Refuse: Get hunted by cosmic horrors.
I laughed maniacally.
I took out a quill on my table.
I wrote my reply on the bottom of the scroll.
"Dear Greed,"
"I don't work for minimum wage."
"Also, your branding sucks."
"Sincerely, Cain."
I burned the scroll with Void Fire.
[System Alert!]
[You have rejected a Constellation!]
[The Monarch of Greed is displeased.]
[Relationship Status: Hostile.]
"You... you just rejected a God?" Seraphina gasped.
"He's not a God," I said. "He's a shareholder. And I'm doing a stock buyback."
I stood up.
"Prepare the ship. We're leaving the North."
"Where are we going?"
"To the Neutral Zone. The Floating City of Arcadia."
"Why?"
"Because," I pulled out a map.
"The Third Wave isn't monsters."
"It's Players."
Ahri blinked. "Players? You mean... like us?"
"No. I mean the Hero Party from the neighboring continent."
"In the original story, when Arthur died, the System summoned a 'Backup Hero' team from another world."
"They are arriving in Arcadia in 2 days."
I grinned.
"They think they are here to save the world."
"I'm going to greet them."
"And then?" Sylvia asked.
"And then I'm going to scam them out of their Starter Packs."
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Location: The Skies over the Ocean]
[HMS Profit Margin - Bridge]
We were flying South-East. The air was getting warmer.
I looked at my crew.
Sylvia (The Mage/Tank).
Seraphina (The Healer/Moral Compass).
Ahri (The DPS/Mascot).
Glacies (The Nuke).
We were strong. But against a "Chosen Hero" team with plot armor?
We needed an edge.
"System," I commanded. "Open Class Shop."
[Chaos Broker Shop]
[Currency: Gold.]
This was the perk of my new class. I could buy System Upgrades with Gold.
[Item: Skill Fusion Ticket] - Cost: 100,000 Gold.
[Item: Stat Potion (Permanent)] - Cost: 50,000 Gold.
[Item: Plot Armor Piercing Round (x1)] - Cost: 1,000,000 Gold.
I bought the Plot Armor Piercing Round.
It materialized in my hand. A single, golden bullet etched with runes that said "No."
"One shot," I whispered. "One kill."
I loaded it into my X-99 Sniper Rifle.
"Boss," Seraphina called out. "Land ho! Arcadia!"
I looked through the window.
Arcadia. The City of Magic. Floating on a massive chunk of anti-gravity rock above the ocean.
It was a glistening utopia of white marble and waterfalls.
It was also the location of the Inter-Continental Tournament.
"Landing gear down," I ordered.
"Let's go ruin a tournament."
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Arcadia - The Grand Plaza]
The city was buzzing. Flags from every nation flew in the wind.
But the crowd was focused on the central teleporter.
A beam of light shot down from the heavens.
[System Announcement]
[Inter-Dimensional Summoning Complete.]
[Welcome, Heroes of Terra-Prime!]
Five figures stepped out of the light.
They looked like standard Isekai protagonists.
The Leader: A Japanese teenager with black hair and a katana. [Name: Kenji]
The Paladin: A blonde girl with huge... armor. [Name: Alice]
The Mage: A guy with glasses adjusting them constantly. [Name: Haru]
The Rogue: Hooded edgelord. [Name: Shadow]
The Archer: Elf girl. [Name: Elara]
The crowd cheered. "The Saviors! The New Heroes!"
Kenji waved, looking confused but arrogant. "Wow! This is just like an anime! I bet I have a cheat skill!"
He checked his status.
[Cheat Skill: Infinite Growth.]
"Yes!" Kenji shouted. "I'm going to be the Harem King!"
I watched from the balcony of a nearby cafe, sipping an espresso.
"Infinite Growth," I noted. "Annoying."
"He looks weak," Sylvia assessed. "Level 1. I could freeze him."
"He scales fast," I said. "If we leave him alone for a month, he becomes stronger than me."
"So we kill him now?" Ahri asked, eager.
"No. Killing the 'Backup Hero' triggers a System Penalty. The difficulty ramps up to Impossible Mode."
"Then what do we do?"
I finished my coffee.
"We become his Quest Giver."
I stood up.
"I'm going to offer him a 'Tutorial Quest'."
"A quest to go fetch a 'Legendary Item' from the Dungeon of No Return."
"He'll go in. He'll get trapped."
"And while he's stuck in a time loop for 100 years..."
I smiled.
"I'll take his Harem."
I adjusted my coat.
"Showtime."