Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 197

Attack, Defense, and Development (1)

The strongest being in the celestial realm with a benevolent smile. And flying side by side with such an entity was Ophelia Grace.

The wings of fire that sprouted from her back revealed the fact that she, too, had her body taken over by a celestial soldier.

I didn’t expect to meet Ophelia again in this way, but it was almost inevitable that heroes and saints across Terraria would be consumed as avatars of celestial soldiers.

Perhaps they were even overjoyed until the moment they lost sovereignty over their bodies.

After all, most saints and heroes, born into their faith, would have considered the descent of angels into their bodies as a kind of blessing.

‘It’s bitter, but.’

It’s a far more optimistic situation than being brutally slaughtered by the ominous demon lords who had just crawled up from the netherworld.

Besides, wouldn’t they have saved countless lives while flying from the territory of the Grace family to this distant southern small-world?

“Noah. Connect communications with nearby Ethereals of 8 stars or higher.”

―Understood. Connecting communications with a total of 84 Ethereal entities.

The number of celestial soldiers who had arrived in the small-world during the past few days while Isaac was resting with all his might was 84.

Most of them were well-known figures you might have heard of at least once in the Bible, Taoist scriptures, or Buddhist sutras.

As conveyed to Gabriel, celestial soldiers boasting cosmic-level specs had gathered near the small-world rather than Earth.

‘It’s not all bad.’

Those who directly witnessed Isaac’s divine status were only Sun Wukong himself, who received a harsh lesson, Gabriel who served as the main and assistant referee for the brawl, and the Azure Dragon of the East who enjoyed listening to the lively music.

No matter how vividly Gabriel spread the word of Isaac’s achievements, how would the celestials and immortals, who are nothing without their pride, readily accept it?

They would have had to go through another round of qualification verification.

‘Still, I’m a king. Shouldn’t there be some kind of authority?’

Not a general, not a duke, but a king.

Even for divine beings who have been playing in heaven, shouldn’t their rank in the hellification Terraria be lower than that of a king?

If they at least pretend to respect him outwardly, the burdensome position of king might not be all bad.

Just last week, Sun Wukong’s Ruyi Jingu Bang nearly split the Earth in two.

It seems that he might be able to somehow prevent the tragedy of these guys, who won’t even listen to Isaac, accidentally destroying the Earth.

‘Of course, this is all assuming the king’s authority comes into play…’

[A new day is about to begin.]

[As the king of the Ethereal Kingdom, you must decide on the policy to implement for the day at 8 AM every morning.]

Just as his heart was about to flutter at the sight of Ophelia flying horizontally alongside the benevolently smiling Maitreya, he was truly granted something called ‘the king’s authority’.

“Policy…?”

“Is Sir Isaac making some kind of decision?”

It seems that even the lowly beings who aren’t treated as humans received a separate message.

As he slightly turned his head, he saw the contrasting words [Await the policy to be issued from the king soon.]

The celestial soldiers seemed just as dumbfounded, as even Maitreya on the other side of the hologram screen was tilting his head with dignity.

It was a moment when the difference in rank became palpable, but Isaac had to engrave the characters pouring before his eyes into his mind without even having time to indulge in the sense of achievement from succeeding to the throne.

[You must choose one of three policies: attack, defense, and development.]

[The attack policy increases the attack power of the allied forces by 50%.]

[The defense policy increases the defense power of the allied forces by 100%.]

This clearly revealed that the position of king was not just a figurehead CEO.

He had avoided becoming like the young King Sunjo, who was swayed by in-law politics through regency in the late Joseon period.

[The development policy increases the resource production rate of the allied forces by 50%.]

Attack, defense, and development.

Could there be a more intuitive national policy than this? A psychological game of rock-paper-scissors where attack beats development, development beats defense, and defense beats attack.

Although the concepts of attack power, defense power, and resource production were not yet fully understood, it was easy to predict how the three policies would interact just by eyeballing it.

[Attack power adjusts the combat power when allied forces attack the enemy camp.]

[Defense power adjusts the combat power when allied forces defend against attacks from the enemy camp.]

[Resources are consumed when replenishing allied forces.]

There was just over 30 minutes left until 8 AM.

Within that time, he would have to read Satanael’s psychology and gain the upper hand in this extreme game of rock-paper-scissors policy.

‘If we’re countered, the result is obvious.’

The total combat power of the celestial realm and the legion was probably slightly in favor of the legion. Considering the drastic adjustment rates of each policy, that difference would be more than made up for.

If either side gains a favorable matchup in the policy battle even once, the tide would irreversibly turn towards victory or defeat.

“I need advice.”

In a situation where everything was practically decided by policy, Isaac quickly briefed on the pros and cons of the three policies, praying for humanity’s collective intelligence to shine.

―We’ll hold an emergency meeting. Don’t decide yet.

―Hey! You should discuss such things with us! What would those lowly beings know…

Isaac’s briefing reached the 84 divine beings connected to the communication as well.

The dozens of split hologram screens suddenly began to show a unified background.

The soldiers who had descended from the heavens, scattered about, had gathered in one place.

While they were fuming at the reversed rank system, they had to advise Isaac, now the king and the holder of the mark whose true intentions were still unknown, to make a wise decision.

“Ho ho, what kind of outrageous situation is this?”

Amidst the sudden meeting where the named divine beings put their heads together, a monk with a unique physique subtly revealed his discomfort.

The spirit dwelling in that massive body belonged to Bodhidharma, the very one who crossed the Yangtze River on a single reed leaf, known as “Crossing the River on a Reed”.

“Pfft! ‘Outrageous,’ he says. Hehehe.”

Only the mischievous Sun Wukong understood that the ‘heavenly beings’ that came out of Bodhidharma’s mouth was a wordplay referring to themselves, the celestial beings, rather than heaven and people.

The angels and immortals who shook their heads continued their in-depth discussion, ignoring them.

“If what the king says is true, the structure of the war could be reversed with a single policy. All beings are interconnected, so the choice of one being will lead to the happiness of all things.”

“Let’s put ourselves in Satanael’s position. What policy do you think he would choose?”

“Namu Gwan-se-eum Bosal… Amitabha Buddha…”

“Hey, stop just reciting Buddhist scriptures and contribute something!”

Gabriel and the Thunderbolt Heavenly Lord, followed by Raziel and Zadkiel who symbolize wisdom and understanding respectively, Queen Mother of the West who is revered by all immortals, and the Nine Heavenly Fairies who is no less popular than her.

It was perhaps a gathering of the highest-ranking divine beings who control the celestial realm that might never happen again in the history of the universe.

Amusingly, their superior selves didn’t seem much different from the humans living in the small adjacent world.

Although they were imbued with the dignity of angels and immortals who had lived for eons, perhaps it was because most of the vessels containing them were of the human race from the lower realm.

Meanwhile, there were also juniors far too junior to dare interject in the war of words among the highest-ranking divine beings.

“Let’s just listen quietly.”

“Thousands of years of training seem meaningless now. It looks like we can’t even reach their feet. Haha.”

This was the hollow conversation between Lü Dongbin, the Sword Immortal, and Zhongli Quan, another member of the Eight Immortals.

While they were thousands of years old, the male and female deities across from them had endured the weight of time for hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years.

Everything was relative. Though they received respect and devotion from the lower realm beings, upon descending, they couldn’t escape being the lowest in rank.

Despite the self-doubt that could arise from coming down to this land for this, Lü Dongbin, marginalized from the center, continued his local meeting with his kindred spirit mentor.

“What do you think about our king?”

“You mean the owner of the mark? From what I heard from Gabriel, he subdued Sun Wukong single-handedly. If even the clone technique and the Cloud-Driving Thunder-Invoking spell didn’t work, it’s reasonable to consider him at least 10-star… Oops.”

Zhongli Quan abruptly closed his mouth.

It was because the ear of the stone monkey, known throughout the universe for his fighting spirit and guts despite his age, was twitching spasmodically.

Although it was a fact shared for the public good, it seemed to infuriate Sun Wukong himself, who had become the combat measuring stick.

He should have been focusing on the emergency meeting, but his ears were indeed sharp.

“Haha. Sun Wukong, that’s not what I…”

Swoosh!

Whoosh―

Just as Zhongli Quan, his face turning pale, was about to continue his desperate self-defense, a high-speed lotus descending from the sky dispersed the aggro.

“Greetings, brothers.”

The grateful owner of the lotus was none other than Maitreya Bodhisattva, the undisputed strongest in the celestial realm, who had just arrived late in this small world.

“Ah, aah…!”

Although it was just an avatar, this was their first encounter. The preacher of Tuṣita Heaven, designated as the future Buddha who would someday save the universe.

Having desperately tried to enroll in his teachings only to be rejected every time due to insufficient qualifications, Zhongli Quan’s eyes, as he looked up at Maitreya’s avatar, were filled with a vitality that seemed ready to enter Nirvana and break the cycle of rebirth.

On the other hand, Sun Wukong, who had been about to educate his junior who had blabbed about his shameful anecdote, suddenly grinned sheepishly.

“U-Uriel. Hehe, he…”

He bowed his head towards a Western woman with distinct hot girl vibes.

There must have been some past incident for him to be wary of her first, even with Maitreya, the highest-ranking figure among the immortals, right in front of him.

“Hey, monkey. Not causing any trouble these days?”

The aura of a class bully emanated from her tone. This woman, who looked like she might have chewed some gum in her school days, was the impressive entrance of Archangel Uriel.

Her position could be roughly gauged by the reactions of the named angels, including Gabriel, whose expressions immediately brightened.

[The policy of the Ethereal Kingdom will soon be announced.]

[The king’s decree is absolute.]

As if telling them to save the reunion pleasantries for later, a stern system message urged the celestial soldiers.

The celestial deities guessed that the message that suddenly appeared before their eyes was an intervention by the Tetragrammaton, and the chaotic atmosphere quickly turned serious.

“So, is ‘defense’ the standard for the first day’s policy?”

Thus, with two more spiritual pillars from the angel and immortal factions joining in, the result of the continued celestial meeting was that ‘defense’ seemed to be the correct choice.

And at this point, the opinions of the Earth representatives were also coordinated into one.

“The majority of the soldiers’ voices suggest that the defense policy is the wise decision.”

The hero reporting the final thoughts of the ministers in the position of Chief State Councillor was none other than the Sword Emperor.

Isaac, with his ears perked up, could clearly hear the emergency meeting of the celestial deities through the hologram screen.

As they said, it was true that the defense policy had the least risk. If Satanael chose an attack policy, they could achieve a great victory, and if both sides adopted a defense policy, there was a high probability of a peaceful day passing.

Although development counters defense, its expected value compared to the risk was overwhelmingly higher than the other two options.

At the very least, it wouldn’t lead to failure. In stock market terms, it was comparable to a blue-chip investment strategy.

It wouldn’t be strange if the ‘defense policy meta’ became the mainstream king game strategy limited to the afterlife.

‘The important thing is that the opponent is thinking the same thing.’

Wasn’t Satanael the cunning strategist who had won number games even against the genius scientists of the ancient Terra civilization?

Fighting by the book wouldn’t yield any answers.

[Choose the desired policy among Attack, Defense, and Development.]

1. Attack Policy
2. Defense Policy
3. Development Policy

The clock ticked towards 8 AM. Only 1 minute left.

At this turning point where a single choice could determine the end or continuation of the multiverse, Isaac decided to trust his genius brain once again.

‘Please work well this time too.’

Finally, gently stroking his head that had elevated his survival probability along with the final finish, his finger pointed towards…

[You have chosen the ‘Development Policy’.]

[Resource generation rate increases by 50% for today.]

It was a policy that could only be chosen by one with the heart of a beast.

The foolish choice that ignored the ministers’ advice soon flashed before the eyes of all Ethereals.

[King Isaac of the Ethereal nation has declared the ‘Development Policy’.]

[It’s a prosperous day.]

“What the…!”

“OMG!”

“What the…”

My people, trust in my foresight.

Isaac’s inner muttering, having become quite accustomed to role-playing, naturally didn’t reach anyone.