Translator: Dreamscribe
How should I put it.
It felt like all the fatigue I'd accumulated over the years had been lifted at once.
I opened my eyes with a refreshed sensation.
But this wasn't the ceiling I was used to.
The first thing I saw was a group of doctors and nurses drenched in sweat.
"Uh......"
"Ch-Chairman-nim!"
"Chairman-nim!!"
They jolted in shock, wearing expressions as if they had just seen something they shouldn't have.
"Where...... am I?"
"GAIA Center. Are, are you conscious, sir?"
"Why am I here......"
Before I could get an answer to my question.
"Father!"
Se-yoon came running and threw his arms around me.
"......"
It felt like ages since I'd held Se-yoon this tightly.
But wasn't he actually crying?
"Why are you crying? What happened?"
"I...... I thought you might never wake up......"
"What?"
In that moment, my memory came rushing back.
Of what had happened right before I collapsed.
'The excruciating pain hit me right after the video conference ended.'
And I'd also realized the source of my pain was my Intuition.
It was as if, with age, my body could no longer withstand the Intuition.
Right before losing consciousness, I'd quickly scribbled the word "Intuition" in my notebook.
I trusted that Se-yoon, of all people, would see it and find the answer.
"......So you figured it out."
And the boy had figured it out.
That had to be the reason I was awake now.
"So how long have I been lying here?"
"Three months."
"What. That long!?"
Three months!
Just how much must have piled up in that time?
"Don't worry about the company. The executives handled things well. And we kept a tight lid on the media so no one outside would find out you'd collapsed."
"Still, three months is way too long to be bedridden. My body feels totally fine now, so I should get up and......"
With my newly lightened body, I tried to rise from the hospital bed.
But in that very moment.
Crunch!
"......?"
The metal handrail I'd gripped to pull myself up crumpled helplessly in my grasp.
Like an empty aluminum can.
"Wh, why is this......"
It had looked rock solid, hadn't it?
The problem was, anything else I touched also broke or crumpled without resistance.
"Father. Wait!"
Se-yoon calmed me down as I started to panic.
"Your body right now is very different from before."
"Different?"
"Yes. Your muscle strength has multiplied several times over, and your reflexes have become extremely sharp. Your body has also reverted to how it was in your youth."
The figure reflected in the mirror was...... the twenties-version of myself that I had long forgotten, exactly as I'd been.
"How is this even possible?"
"I took a gamble. To save you. I'm sorry for operating on your body without your permission. But I had no choice."
This was the son who had returned youth to a middle-aged body.
How could I possibly blame him?
If anything, I should be thanking him.
"But before you appear at any important engagements, you'll need some training. Force regulation and the like. Otherwise people might get hurt."
"Important engagements?"
"Yes. I told the executives I'd present you to them within three months."
"......What have you been up to while I was out?"
"You, the pillar of our Earth, collapsed, so I did everything I possibly could?"
He had been bawling his eyes out moments earlier, and now he was beaming brightly again.
"All right. I suppose I should start my rehabilitation train-"
Crunch!
"Ah......"
It seemed I was going to need quite a long adjustment period.
* * *
"......"
After the stunning meeting had ended.
The executives simply stared blankly at the seat Chairman Jung Jin-ho had vacated.
"Everyone saw that, right?"
"Yes. We definitely saw it. The Chairman's youthful appearance."
"He hasn't just grown younger. Those piercing eyes and the oppressive aura radiating off him, it was like, how should I put it......"
"Like facing something other than a human being?"
"Yes. That's exactly it."
Some might call this exaggeration.
But that's only because they hadn't faced the returned Chairman Jung Jin-ho in person.
Something other than human.
What else could that be?
A god.
There was no other way to explain it.
That youthful face and that suffocating charisma were proof of it.
"It seems the Chairman is aware that during his absence, various nations were thrown into confusion, and there were certain unsavory movements. Judging from the fact that he plans to meet them separately soon."
"And he's apparently going to appear in the media too...... If that's the case, the Trinity members who've been waiting for the Chairman to return in a new form will have their faith strengthened even more."
"The heads of state will be no different. They thought something had happened to the Chairman, and now they'll be floored to see him come back not just fine, but completely renewed."
"So what happens to us now?"
Someone's remark brought a brief silence to the room.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I have ears to hear and eyes to see. Did you think I didn't know that some of you here pulled foolish stunts during the Chairman's absence?"
"Uh... th, that was all out of loyalty to the Chairman......!"
"How in the world is that loyalty!?"
"Now, now. Enough."
Vice Chairman Seo Jae-pil barely managed to calm the rising voices.
"The Chairman has stated that he will not hold anyone responsible for what took place during those three months. And looking at his upcoming schedule, it seems he has decided to announce himself to the entire world."
"Announce......"
"That he has shed his human body and returned as a complete Transcendent Being, and he plans to let the world know. But his making such a decision means he's about to move on to the next stage, doesn't it?"
The next stage.
What in the world could that be?
"I wouldn't dare to presume I understand the depths of the Chairman's heart and mind, but it's clear he's preparing something immense, something our minds cannot follow. So what is our role? As we always have, to obey, and to assist him with utmost sincerity in whatever he sets out to do. Is that understood?"
"......"
"As expected, the Vice Chairman truly understands the Chairman's heart."
"Well, you have served the Chairman the closest since the securities firm days, haven't you. For decades, even."
"Haha. I was fortunate enough to make it this far thanks to my long tenure as a director and my proximity to the Chairman. But the advice I give here is always the same."
The Vice Chairman slowly looked around at the executives as he spoke.
"Do not have a self. That is the reason I have been able to survive in this company for so long."
"......"
In other words, it meant they were not to do anything without the Chairman's orders.
It may have been advice, but it sounded almost like a warning, and the executives swallowed dryly.
* * *
"I feel even busier now than before I collapsed."
"You've been working hard, Father. But it's best if you keep up as much outside activity as possible. You need to adjust to your body, and more than anything, you've gotten younger, haven't you? You'll probably feel restless sitting still at home with all that leftover stamina."
He wasn't wrong.
I'd even gone to my private gym and worked out for over ten hours at a stretch.
The problem was, no matter how much I exercised, I never got tired.
"The media must be having a field day. Me suddenly showing up at official events looking young."
"Yes. Since you aren't giving any separate interviews, we can deal with that issue later."
"Right. Could cause unnecessary confusion."
But I still couldn't believe it.
"Living forever without dying......"
Over the span of several days, Se-yoon had explained to me what had become of this body.
To save me, he'd had no choice but to forcibly execute an ongoing project, and fortunately the experiment had succeeded, leaving me with the only body of Eternal Life in the world.
"But we can't run this project on anyone else. The truth is, the experiment we performed on you was technically a failure too."
"Then how did I wake up?"
"I'd guess it was thanks to the Intuition. Even I don't know the details."
"So you're telling me I have to live forever without dying, while watching my son and my wife die? I don't want that."
"Don't worry. Your body is just the special case. There are plenty of other ways to live an Eternal Life. This is the era when we can build artificial organs, after all."
The difference between them and me was that I could heal myself without the help of artificial organs, and on top of that, I now possessed strength and reflexes several times greater than normal.
I had literally become one of the superhumans from the movies.
"Your body has enormous research value going forward. You may well have achieved the highest evolution humankind can aspire to."
"So you're saying I can be upgraded even further?"
"Yes. Like the ability called Intuition, you may gain more superpowers that we can't even comprehend. We'll have to keep researching, though."
As he said that, my son handed me a tablet.
"Ah. Please don't break it."
"I won't anymore. I've got force regulation down."
The tablet was filled with projects that had been piling up.
"These are the projects backed up while you were unconscious. I wasn't sure which ones to push forward with."
"A kid who doesn't even need my permission to do things right..."
I chuckled and looked through the project list.
But the moment my eyes fell on them, didn't they all start glowing in unison?
Normally, for my Intuition to react, I had to acquire data first.
But without any of that, it reacted intensely, showing me exactly which projects should be prioritized.
"......"
I quickly checked off the items on the list.
"You've gone through all of them already?"
"Ah...... yeah. That upgrade you mentioned? I think I'm starting to see what it is."
The pain that had tormented me seemed to have vanished completely.
And I felt as though I could fire off short trades and work my Intuition as hard as I had in my prime, without ever growing tired.
"......"
An Intuition that no longer overloaded.
No. Beyond that, it felt like my Intuition had finally been completed.
No matter what it was, no matter what the question, it seemed I could find the answer to anything with this Intuition alone.
Just like an omniscient, omnipotent god.
* * *
"I think I've seen about all there is to see."
As Anthony Watson faced Chairman Jung Jin-ho, who had at last returned in the body of a god, he felt as though his long-held wish had been fulfilled.
"Already?"
"What do you mean already? I'm a man who's well past his retirement age. And I don't think there's anything left to see anyway."
"You don't think this is just the beginning?"
"Pardon?"
"There's still plenty of interesting things left. For example...... aliens."
"!?"
Anthony was startled by Jung Se-yoon's words.
"Are you teasing me right now? Aliens, of all things."
There had been so many conspiracy theories over the years.
That aliens had visited our Earth, that they were living among us in human form.
Anthony had looked into it himself out of curiosity several times in the past, but it had all turned out to be lies.
Aliens had never once visited this Earth.
"They haven't come directly."
"Pardon? What do you......"
"They haven't come directly, but they have scanned us and left."
Looking at what Jung Se-yoon had projected onto the hologram, Anthony tilted his head.
"What is this?"
"A comet discovered in July 2025. A celestial body that flew in from outside our solar system, tracing a highly unusual trajectory. It passed Jupiter, Mars, and Earth, then finally veered off on a course toward the constellation Sagittarius."
"Which means......"
"It performed a scan to see how far our Earth's civilization had developed. It checked Jupiter and Mars to see if we had terraforming technology, and then as it passed by Earth last, it gathered information to confirm how far our technological capabilities had advanced."
On top of that, the final path it took to depart followed exactly the trajectory of the so-called WOW signal, the first alien signal detected in 1977, before it disappeared.
"At the time, many called it an alien probe, but it was only suspicion with no concrete evidence, so it was dismissed as just a comet and the matter was closed."
"But now, that's not the case?"
"Right. Our technology has advanced quite a bit since then. The problem is, if you follow the comet's trajectory, it leads to Sagittarius, and there's no planet there capable of sustaining a civilization."
"Then wasn't it just a comet after all?"
"No. Just because a place can't give rise to a civilization doesn't mean nothing can be there. Just as we're trying to establish outposts on planets beyond Mars, there's a high probability that they too have built an outpost at that location."
"Wh, what did you say?"
If that was true, then they already knew of Earth's existence.
And that we humans were living on it.
"You asked me about it before, didn't you? Why we're making things like Super Soldiers."
"Th, then, could the external enemy you spoke of be......"
"Yes. We're not the only civilization in this universe."
"!?"
Only then did he realize why Jung Se-yoon was creating Super Soldiers and building a cutting-edge legion out of androids.
The man had been preparing for a far greater war.
"But aren't we already behind? They sent a probe back in 2025."
"Yes. Possibly. But the fact that there's still been no movement means one of two things. Either they're on their way right now, or they don't have the capacity to send a legion this far."
The idea that they were friendly had to be thrown out.
Following the WOW signal first detected in 1977, humanity had continuously sent out radio transmissions along that same trajectory.
Yet the other side had never once responded.
"That means they're wary of us. And as history shows, the ones who discover a new continent always end up slaughtering and driving out the natives there."
Aliens would be no different.
"That's why we had that thought. If they won't come to us first, then we'll go to them first."
"......!"
Anthony soon burst into loud laughter.
"Well, well. Looks like I won't be able to quit my job for a while longer after all."
"Yes. We still need you around a bit more. From now on, Sentinel needs to watch the outside, not the inside."
When Jung Se-yoon was a child, the day he first understood his own role.
He had also realized what his father's role was.
He was a man destined to become a god.
But could a god who merely played absolute ruler over Earth truly be called a god?
If he truly wished to be called an omniscient, omnipotent god, he had to rule not just this Earth but this entire universe.
And the moment he brought to their knees the beings who were secretly watching Earth from somewhere far away.
That moment would be the first step in his father becoming a true god.
Assisting in that was his role, and accomplishing that task was his father's destiny.
The destiny to become a god.
Side Stories (Complete)
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Author's Note
Hello, this is the author LuckyGuy.
And so, even the side stories has now come to a close.
Originally, I had no plans to write a side story, but......
Due to the many requests, I figured that if I was going to do it anyway, it would be better to tie things up properly, so I put together a short arrangement.
I really do hope you liked it...
In any case, I'd like to thank once more all the readers who've followed along this far, and with that, I'll wrap up "Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend" and take my leave.
Thank you so very much!
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Translator's Note:
Hello, this is Dreamscribe!
Once again, we have reached the end of another wonderful story. Thank you to each and every one of you who read it until the end, and especially to everyone who left a comment, as I loved reading every single one of them.
This is the 3rd series that I have translated to completion, and it is all possible because of you readers who love my translations and support me in continuing them. I have tried to release chapters regularly, and I know my release rate has been very inconsistent recently, but ongoing IRL issues and work keep me occupied. As I have done so far, I will continue to translate the remaining series to completion, and I will also pick up novels that I find interesting, as well as ones you guys want to read.
Thank you again for all the support and patience. 🙇