Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!

Parker sighed.

It was that kind of sigh—deep, bone-heavy, the type that didn't just leak out of your lungs but dragged pieces of your soul with it. He felt the weight now. Not just emotionally, but cosmically. Like his entire damn spine was holding up an invisible planet. He knew this feeling—it was the "you fucked up big-time and now you gotta fix it" type of vibe.

And the worst part? It was earned. Because this? This was on him. He had been the idiot who thought threatening the gods like it was a casual Tuesday flex was a good idea.

The same gods who probably cried into their silk robes after being ratioed by a mortal who they found out the start of his background was as large as their entire existence and beyond and went snitching to the first eldritch horror they could find. Now this world—his world—was dangling over a pit of multiversal hellfire because they didn't know how to hold their tiny-ass divine willies in check.

So yeah. His fuck up. His burden. And no one else was gonna carry it.

He nodded slowly.

El caught it and nodded back like that was the answer she'd been waiting for since forever.

She looked at him, all that cosmic power behind her eyes, but her voice—her voice—it softened. Dropped into something old. Familiar. Almost human.

"The only way to save this Prime World," she said, "is to protect its Major Cores. Just like old times."

That last part hit different. Like a memory wrapped in a blade.

She stepped closer, the air around her still twitching like reality itself didn't know how to hold her weight. Her gaze locked on his, and for a second, it wasn't the all-powerful sister or divine avatar talking—it was El, the one who used to throw moons at people who looked at him wrong.

"You can't fight THEY when Earth's on life support," she said, voice low but absolute. "Save the cores. Lock this world down. Make it unbreakable! Then you can take 'em on."

Only then, she meant.

Only then could he stand up and swing at the back of heads of the THEY.

Only then could he bring the fight to THEY—without worrying about the entire planet getting chewed through like cosmic bubblegum.

Then she stepped in, pulled something out of... somewhere—don't ask where, she was basically made of metaphysical cheat codes—and held out a small, colorless pearl. It looked unassuming. Too quiet. Too damn plain. Which meant, of course, it was probably world-breaking.

"Each core's hidden in a major city. Each major city in each major country," she said like she was giving directions to a coffee shop. "That's where the cores are. All you gotta do—"

She pulled out a tiny, colorless pearl, holding it up between her fingers like it was a Tic Tac instead of some metaphysical artifact.

"—is locate the major city... and plant this."

Easy, right?

No big deal.

More pearls materialized and were dumped into his inventory like groceries. Parker didn't even flinch—until the realization hit.

"Wait... how the fuck are you even accessing my system inventory? I created this! Privacy, El! Privacy! Sounds familiar?" he muttered.

She grinned.

Of course she could. Why not? The woman walked through dimensions like escalators and controlled major concepts like Karma—breaking into his system was child's play.

Perfect. Fucking perfect.

She held up another pearl again, fingers cradling it like it was made of glass and divine guilt. Then she said it—casually, like she wasn't about to rewrite the fate of Earth with a single breath.

"These pearls," she added, "each one holds a little bit of Mother's aura. Plant one in the city's core and it'll be safe. That core becomes untouchable. Indestructible. Bulletproof to even THEY."

Parker almost laughed—almost. Of course they did. Of course these unassuming little pearls were packed with the same cosmic signature as their mom, the walking definition of 'don't fuck with me unless you've got a death wish.'

El kept talking like she wasn't flexing ancient relics, like she was just explaining Ikea instructions.

"They'll protect the Earth's cores," she said. "Keep them safe. Make them unbreakable."

Then she paused.

And Parker knew that pause. Knew it deep in his damn soul. The "here comes the catch" pause. The classic "but" moment that always followed whenever either his sister or his mother handed him something that looked like a blessing but was actually a Trojan horse with celestial strings attached.

And right on cue, she chuckled.

She chuckled, probably already reading his face. "It's not that bad. Relax."

Bullshit.

"To plant the pearl," she said, "you gotta have full control over the city. Like, actual control."

Parker raised an eyebrow. "So... like, own the land?"

"Own the land. Like, really control it. No backdoor deals. No proxies. The city has to be yours—top to bottom. Politically, spiritually, economically. Everything that breathes in it? Breathing your air. Own the people. Own the politics. Own the goddamn air if you have to," she said. "If the city breathes, it needs to breathe for you."

Parker snorted. "So basically, become a real estate supervillain with a divine checklist who controls the whole Prime Earth."

"Exactly," she winked.

He nodded again, this time slower. It was doable. Buying out every major city? Acquiring all the big dogs, the companies, the underground, the influence? He could do that. Hell, that sounded more fun than cosmic war.

And then she dropped the final twist like it was an afterthought.

"Once you plant a pearl in a city's core," she said, "there's a chance people in that country might awaken sooner than we'd planned. Like, superhuman awakening."

He blinked. "Wait—so like... a global upgrade?"

"If you succeed in planting them all?" she said, a little grin tugging at her lips, "The whole planet enters the Awakening Era. And not just Earth. Every other world tethered to this Prime Earth gets dragged into the party."

He looked at the pearls in his inventory. Looked at her. Looked at the cracked-ass sky trying to pretend it wasn't trembling around her aura.

Goddamn.

Shit just got real.

Parker whistled low, dragging a hand through his hair.

So this wasn't just world-saving.

This was system-wide, multiversal, butterfly-effect type shit.

And he was holding the pearls that could light it all off.

No pressure, right?

____

Here we're again, 400 chapters. Thank you guys for following me throughout this journey. Thanks for the support and I hope we stay together to the very end. I love you guys.

사랑해요 (salanghaeyo)

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