The Novel’s Villain

57. Dreams, Hopes, and Love (3)

The First District’s underworld system was now fully operational, and all of Earth’s souls had completely merged with it, applying its rules to everyone equally.

It didn’t matter who they were.

All the information they had done during their lifetime was computerized and recorded. For the parts that were difficult to judge even with the system, the Grim Reaper in charge of them would intervene and defend them, providing them the best benefits they could get.

Of course, that was only for souls heading to Heaven or Middle-World.

Jin-woo inspected Heaven, the Demon Realm, and the Middle-World, directly checking how the underworld system affected them.

Luna, who had been freeloading in the past, now had her days turned hectic and full as a key figure in the underworld system. She was a goddess, after all. She guided noble souls into Heaven, turning them into angels, and dispatched powerful souls to the Middle-World whenever it was in a crisis.

When Jin-woo arrived in Heaven, he immediately noticed her working hard. Youthful and heavenly individuals followed behind her, listening to her explanations.

They were the souls reincarnated as angels.

Unlike the Middle-World, becoming an angel meant being able to preserve their memories through Luna’s power.

She showed them the avatar production plant.

“We produce avatars here,” she said. “It’s the most important facility in Heaven.”

“What will be our working hours?”

“You’ll be working forty hours a week spread across five days. However, when you’re behind your work, you’ll have… no choice but to extend working hours…”

“Are we going to be compensated?”

“Of course! In Heaven, both overtime and holiday rates are paid! Heaven is rich! If you work hard, you’ll be able to buy a house and even a pegasus.”

This dimension was surprisingly realistic. Houses in cities where there were a lot of angels were apparently quite expensive, but avatar manufacturers had high salaries, so they had no problem purchasing such properties.

Pegasus was similar to luxury cars in Earth terms.

After Luna finished her explanation, she handed responsibility for the recruits to an archangel. As soon as they were out of sight, she drooped.

“Ugh… I miss being unemployed.”

“Yeah. The good times are gone.”

“Oh! Master!”

Luna ran to Jin-woo, a strong desire imminent in her eyes. She rummaged through her pockets and pulled out one of her envelopes.

It was titled ‘Goddess Resignation Letter.’

Jin-woo took it. Although she took part in the New World, she had little to do then, so she was essentially just a freeloader. Clearly, she missed that life.

Staring at her, he smiled. When Luna smiled back in return, he burned her resignation letter with no hesitation.

“Ugh?!”

“As a goddess, you should set an example. It’s your job to maintain Heaven and take care of the Middle-World.”

“Ugh…”

Luna had no rebuttal.

“The Great Emperor is right.” The Archangel Chief nodded as he walked over to them, carrying a bunch of documents. There was even a report prepared for him among them. He read it before he could reach him.

‘Hmm…’

According to it, the Middle-World became more active thanks to one of the powerful souls sent to it. They seemed to have calmed down the rampaging monsters and heterogeneous races since then.

Presently, that dimension was well under control. They simply sent similar existences to underprivileged areas, promoting development and preventing international wars.

‘High trolls and high ogres were born…’

There were some problems with that, but it was Luna’s job to solve them. Her expression hardened sharply as she read reports about them.

“What have I done…”

Luna fell to the floor, frustrated.

She underestimated the souls from Earth far too much.

Jin-woo shrugged, doing nothing but give her a suggestion on how to tackle it. Afterward, he immediately moved to the Demon Realm.

A different landscape unfolded. Before him were Earth’s foul souls doing intense labor.

Gallord personally toured Jin-woo around, showing him their procedures.

“We use them as a labor force, and when they break, we replace them right away. We don’t need to provide them with sleep or food, which is extremely convenient.”

“I see.”

A soul fell while carrying a gigantic stone. When the demons beat him with a whip, he staggered up and started working again.

All of the souls here were already beyond salvation, so they didn’t look pitiful at all.

Even moderately evil people were sent to the Middle-World to suffer. People had to have done nothing but despicable crimes and sinful deeds the majority of their lives to be sent here.

The demons liked the free labor created in large quantities quite a lot. What made things even better was that they were all souls one would love to torture and torment for all eternity.

The relationship between the dimensions improved simply by giving the demons a way to vent out their savage instincts to some extent.

“The desert is also recovering.”

“Good to hear.”

“By the way, Great Emperor.”

“Yes?”

Gallord looked at Jin-woo with curiosity.

“I heard rumors that a Demon King has been born in the Middle-World, and I would like to request for your permission to let us help him. We find it unfair that only the angels are able to intervene in that dimension’s affairs.”

“For as long as no damage or harm comes to the Middle-World.”

“Thank you.”

Monsters were closer to demons.

A good balance would be good for the Middle-World’s development.

“The Demon King, huh…”

“Yes. His name is Luna Nim Kak Pika.”

“What?”

“He’s filled with determination to insult the goddess, which is really admirable. Even the Demon Emperor cannot humiliate her in such a way.”

Even Sarah Vriac apparently highly valued him. It wasn’t a big deal, so I decided to just ignore it.

“Now that I thought about it, World Tree Land is almost complete.”

“I’ll be holding a ceremony to celebrate its successful construction soon.”

“I’ll instruct everyone to attend.”

World Tree Land was a large-scale interdimensional collaboration. It was built to accommodate several themes as well.

Jin-woo spared no effort in financing it with all the dimensional gold coins needed. Even the screws used to build it were of high quality.

Amusement parks normally changed themes and decorated them according to the four seasons, but World Tree Land was built with that already taken into consideration. They’d only have to change the entrance to suit each season or theme.

‘I never could’ve expected to build an amusement park in the underworld.’

It was all done for a purpose, but there were times when it felt like a waste of time.

However, it had brought nothing but great results thus far, except for the fact that it was a little noisy.

Not long after, World Tree Land was completed.

The Sci-Fi World’s latest tech and inventions were used in it, paired with magic tools such as subspaces. Many of the best technicians also came to install and maintain them all. Their work speed was so fast it could be considered a miracle.

Jin-woo announced the date for its completion ceremony.

Representatives from each dimension and other key figures from Earth answered his call. World Tree Land decided to service the Second District, known as Another Earth, first.

Yoo-na approached Jin-woo.

“Everyone has arrived.”

“I’ll be there soon.”

He stood up and stretched, then moved right in front of World Tree Land. There he immediately found Luna, her angels, Sarah Vriac, the demons, and the women of the Sanctuary. Richard and John were also present, accompanied by the entrepreneurs that came as representatives of Another Earth.

Richard’s expression hardened.

Around him were winged demons.

“Thanks to humans’ souls, the Demon Realm now prospers once more.”

“They’re perfect as fertilizers once they have been ground.”

“It’s pretty fun torturing them too.”

The demons’ conversations were filled with brutality and absolute agony.

He gulped, causing them to look at him.

They were all wearing nameplates so they could recognize each other. His nameplate read, “President of the United States of America.”

“Are you from Earth?”

“Y-yes.”

“Nice to meet you. I must say, the quality of Earth’s souls is quite extraordinary. What’s your secret?”

“That’s…”

Richard and the entrepreneurs broke into cold sweat.

They had already been on a tour of the underworld. When they saw the numerous ferry boats floating on the Black Sea, their minds wandered.

Souls were being tormented endlessly in Hell!

Richard thought he had sold the people of Earth and that the series of processes he had seen were all to drag them to the Demon Realm.

Even those that looked like angels bowed down to the Devil. They called him the Great Emperor, which made it seem like he had already conquered Heaven.

Richard and his entrepreneurs looked at each other with worry.

‘I’m glad we’re standing in line.’

‘I know.’

‘We have to make the Devil, no, the Great Emperor see us in a better light.’

Everyone thought so.

When Jin-woo arrived, everyone greeted him with a respectful attitude.

After a light cutting ceremony, they all entered World Tree Land, following him as Prof. Kim Dae-jin provided him with explanations.

World Tree Land was grand beyond compare. Every ride it had to offer looked amazing and unique in its own ways.

There was also a haunted house the size of a small city.

Jin-woo told them to increase this place’s scale, but it became much bigger than expected. Considering even the angels and demons couldn’t help but look around in admiration, there wasn’t even a need to mention Richard and the entrepreneurs’ reactions.

[Hades admires World Tree Land’s enormous scale.]

Hades snuck in, but he left him alone, thinking they were going to see each other soon anyway. Jin-woo would kill him if he resisted, but if he obeyed and submitted to him, he was willing to spare his life.

Jin-woo looked at Prof. Kim Dae-jin.

“It’s a lot bigger.”

“The demons helped build this haunted house.”

“Did you use their ideas as well?”

“Yes!”

With a gesture, his gloomy researchers brought a smoking mechanical box. He then took out a remote control and pressed a button.

Push!

When the mechanical box opened, all sorts of ghosts often seen in movies came out of it. There was even a monster wearing a mask and carrying a chainsaw.

There were also mummies, phantoms, and demons. All of them were copyrighted, so there were no major problems.

All of them began rampaging.

The masked monster ran towards Richard, piercing through him with the chainsaw.

“Aaaaggggghhhhh!”

Richard screamed, but his body was fine.

Prof. Kim Dae-jin smiled slyly.

“They have no physical power since they’re made of souls. It doesn’t matter if they run wild like this.”

“Right.”

The haunted house was much more powerful than he thought. The ghosts and monsters really wanted to slaughter humans, but they grew even more enraged since no attack of theirs worked. They truly felt alive.

This would be enough to make ordinary people wet themselves.

Prof. Kim Dae-jin and his researchers looked at him with eyes seemingly asking for praise.

Jin-woo wondered if he should.

“The shortest course is half a day, and the longest is seven nights and eight days. Through it all, they’ll experience the fear of death.”

Being chased by those demons for seven nights and eight days…

It was like hell.

Why did Prof. Kim Dae-jin and his team’s insanity deepen that much? He seriously thought about it, but there were so many viable reasons he couldn’t pinpoint just one.

Perhaps it was because there were so many things that had to be done.

“People might suffer from heart attacks because of this, so keep the medical staff on standby.”

“Alright.”

The next amenity he saw was the merry-go-round large enough to accommodate a hundred people. With its speed set to that of a blender, when the demons put in as test subjects got off of it, they vomited.

Were they thinking of grinding people down?

Jin-woo recommended adjusting its speed.

He moved to the next ride.

“It symbolizes the World Tree,” Prof. Kim Dae-jin said with pride.

It was a Gyro Drop in the shape of the World Tree. In the Western world, this type of ride was more commonly known as the Drop Tower.

The problem was that it was too high and it fell too fast.

Dropped from the height of a hundred stories, it accelerated tremendously because of its mana engine. When the angels rode it to test it, they flew away in all directions.

Jin-woo recommended slowing it down and putting medical staff on standby nearby.

Naturally, like all other amusement parks, World Tree Land had a roller coaster.

“It’s Another Earth’s representatives’ turn to board.”

Prof. Kim Dae-jin called out Richard and the entrepreneurs. They couldn’t even refuse. When they came to their senses, they were already in it.

Jin-woo lost his mind the moment he saw it move. Again, it had a speed problem, but the worst part was its tracks that abruptly cut off in multiple sections.

“Arrghhh!”

“Nooooo!”

Wherever it neared such parts, its mana engine would start up, causing it to leap a great distance and land on the continuation of the tracks.

That wasn’t even its most thrilling point. That honor was earned by the part where it would launch from the rail, causing it to shoot 90 degrees upward like a rocket before rotating and nosediving back onto its course.

It was no different than a glorified slaughterhouse.

‘Is it okay to even open this?’

This amusement park was indeed suitable for the underworld, but World Tree Land was supposed to be full of love, hopes, and dreams. This was far from that theme.

“Well, based on that experiment’s results, I don’t think there’s any need to fix it since even Earth’s inhabitants can ride it with no problems.” Prof. Kim Dae-jin rubbed his hands together, his Dark Empire role completely permeating his body.

Jin-woo felt troubled. It was a little bit too late to fix it now, considering how proud the researchers looked upon watching the humans from Another Earth persevere through it somehow.

He recommended that a waiver of liability be mandatory for anyone wanting to ride it instead. This way, they would never be held accountable no matter what might happen.

World Tree Land was huge.

It even had a sea-like swimming pool that looked like the sea and a gigantic hotel. Despite the many novels this theme park was based on, it looked quite well organized.

They even gave merchants from all dimensions their own spaces for business.

Since this huge amusement park existed in the United States, many people were understandably skeptical about it.

Fortunately, Richard and the entrepreneurs handled that quite well, explaining that they redeveloped the desert.

Yoo-na’s expression blanked out momentarily.

“Will this be okay?”

“… It’ll be fine. Probably. Humans are always testing the limits of their potential anyway.”

“Is that so…”

“Even if they die, I can just bring them back to life.”

“That’s true, but…”

Once Another Earth was integrated into this system, he wouldn’t have any trouble reviving them as well.

His worries didn’t last long.

In the end, they decided on its official opening date.

* * *

World Tree Land was open!

Its entrance was in an American desert, and Lilith installed large-scale hallucinogenic magic on it. Looking at the satellite image, it seemed like only World Tree Land occupied it.

Jin-woo looked at it from the Black Hound Headquarters, which was now a waiting room for the underworld.

It gathered such a huge crowd that he found it unnecessary to worry about its success. Its tickets certainly weren’t cheap. Even so, there were so many customers they completely swamped the ticket booths.

He looked at the hologram floating in front of him. It showed both World Tree Land and its visitors moving in real-time.

Since they were in the underworld, they were put under its system’s jurisdiction. That allowed him to clearly see their information and status.

Se-yeon implemented that feature.

‘It’s like an amusement-park-building game.’

Upon checking everyone’s conditions, he found out they were all in extreme situations. Some of them even had their lives at stake.

The best-selling product of this colossal theme park was diapers produced in the Middle-World. They used a special fabric to create it, giving it great absorbency while also making it non-sticky.

World Tree Land, symbolizing love, hopes, and dreams, didn’t come into existence. Instead, it was currently filled with fearful screams, suffocations, and cardiac arrests.

Strangely, however, people loved it.

Even metubers from all over the world visited it.

Jin-woo checked the public’s reactions through the Internet.

[Title: World Tree Land is Insane.

Author: Lee Baek-soo

I went to World Tree Land in the USA.

I was only supposed to stay there for 3 days and 2 nights, but I quickly changed it to 8 days and 7 nights.

To start with, it’s really huge. It feels like the whole desert has become an amusement park. From what I heard, even the president of the United States came to its opening ceremony…

Honestly, it didn’t take long for me to understand why it’s called the Heavenly Kingdom. Said to be the largest in the universe, it has no visible end.

According to most of the reviews I read, those thinking of visiting it should definitely buy premium Golden Angel diapers. Wondering what it was all about, I patiently waited in line in front of the store that sold it.

[Premium Golden Angel Diaper Purchase Line.jpg]

Upon getting one, I realized soon enough that they’re far different from regular diapers. At first, I thought they were just some crazy trend, but after riding the ‘World Tree Burning Booster,’ I immediately learned from my mistake and wore one.

[World Tree Burning Booster.jpg]

It was crazy. I can’t even call it a roller coaster. It’s much closer to being a rocket disguised as one.

Its tracks disappear every now and then, at which point it would accelerate, launching itself into the air. What’s so scary about it is that its trajectory is always subtly different every time it does, making you think you might really fall and die this time.

Moreover, halfway through it, it soars into the sky like an actual rocket before plummeting back down to the ground. What I find strange about it is that it can always find its way back to its rails.

To ride it, you have to sign a waiver. Honestly, I think that’s only fair. When I rode it, I almost went insane. I think it’s really made to kill.

Besides that, they also have a merry-go-round that’s more like a centrifuge machine and a haunted house the size of a city. If possible, follow a guide rather than a free tour when exploring it. You might never come out of it alive otherwise, considering how many people were rushed out of it through ambulances.

I didn’t know the reason behind it at first, but it didn’t take long for me to understand. As soon as I walked in, a crazy monster began chasing after me with a real chainsaw. It seemed really intent on killing me.

I threw all the souvenirs I bought and ran away.]

Comments: 1,231

Jolboa: I’m one of the people who went on a free tour of the haunted house. I wandered in it for five days. There is an emergency food vending machine in the middle of it, the products of which cost 30,000 Korean won. Just looking at it brought tears to my eyes. ㅠㅠ It was so flavorful.

└ Lee Baek-soo: I remember that. It’s a real joy to discover it while starving. I trembled while eating it, and I couldn’t even finish half of it before a faceless madman chased after me with a knife. It’s like a movie filmed from my perspective.

Cucumber Gimbap: Can you give up halfway through?

└ Lee Baek-soo: Yes. There’s a safe zone in the middle of it. If you pass out anywhere in the haunted house, you’ll be taken to an ambulance.

└ Cucumber Gimbap: Isn’t it dangerous?

└ Lee Baek-soo: I had to sign a waiver, which already says a lot about it. Still, I heard the US law has changed, so it doesn’t really matter. There seem to be safety devices installed all over the place too.

Nature Person: I thought it would be pretty embarrassing if I accidentally wet myself, but it turned out okay since everyone did anyway. That seems to be the norm there…

The reviews were all positive.

As a large number of living people came in, the power of the underworld rapidly weakened.

‘It should work now.’

As soon as Jin-woo activated the power of domination, a system message appeared.

[You have completely conquered District 1’s underworld.]

[Hades trembled down to his core out of sheer shock!]

This dimension had completely fallen under Jin-woo’s rule.

He headed to where Cerberus was. With a wave of his hands, the iron bars turned into powder and disappeared.

All the gigantic canine could do was hide and cower in a corner.

Looking at it, he grinned.

“You don’t need all three heads, do you?”

It might have become arrogant because it thought too much. He decided to make its life simpler.

Jin-woo brought out a colossal wooden bat.