Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become CEO of Overpowered Hero Clan – 001

Chapter 1: Prologue

Sound of Crumbling

A vibrant crystal nestled in the heart of a grand temple erupts, releasing intense heat. The black heart that once rested peacefully upon the surface of the massive crystal cracks and shatters.

[Gasp! Ugh…]

The man with outstretched wings of darkness, the owner of the heart, collapses. As the fabricated world unravels from his fall, the sky and sea blur into a muddled haze.

Swoosh

The dull energy in his crimson eyes ironically fades only after losing the source of life. Stumbling, the man leans against a temple column, gasping for breath.

[Exhales]

He sports a meaningful smile on his lips as he catches his breath. A sense of incomprehensible joy and liberation dawns on the man’s scarred face, where traces of stubble have grown.

-Rumbling-

The temple begins to crumble.

The pillars that precariously maintained their balance crash to the ground, and gold streaks across every crevice of the stone walls.

[Are you there, my friend?]

The man gazes at the heroes who brought him down, then raises his head to the empty sky. His words resonate like the musings of a lost soul.

[Transcending and reaching the truth. We are born from the very beginning, diverging along our parallel paths. Converging onto the path that unites us.]

Once a symbol of terror, a monster that haunted humanity, the man spoke words that seemed unfamiliar and strange.

[Please, ascend… in the verdant skies of Lucita, somewhere in the garden. Nurture the flowers I failed to tend.]

Howling Wind

A white light tightens around the outskirts of the temple.

The unique territory that unfolded from the man oxidizes as if it had never existed.

[VICTORY!]

[Defeated monster ‘Mytreya of the Deep Night.’]

“Phew.”

The cutscene of defeating the final boss, Mytreya, comes to an end.

The sweat on my palms reveals how focused I was. The feeling of accomplishment, hard to put into words, rises immensely in contrast to the time and effort I invested in conquering the boss.

I wonder how much I struggled against that thing. I must have tried around 300 times by now. With the cost of potions I poured into defeating the guy and the equipment repair fees for the times I failed, combined with various other expenses, it’s probably around 500.

[Charisma ‘Boredom Genius’ unlocked.]

[Obtained 4 pieces of ‘Melancholic Black Wings’ fragments.]

[Acquired ‘Miracle of the Night’.]

[Obtained 5 ‘Top-Grade Dark Stones’.]

…

…

Beneath the completion message, the results of my investments shoot up significantly.

The rewards seem to have turned out better than expected.

“Let’s see, let’s see.”

I examine each item I acquired as a reward.

First, the newly unlocked charisma skill.

「Boredom Genius」

▶ Category: Charisma

▶ Grade: Hero

▶ Effect: Efficiently performs tasks and missions with a genius brain. However, becomes lazy and susceptible to stress. People will perceive you as a lazy slacker due to this behavior.

“Ugh.”

An insignificant item appeared.

At the very least, shouldn’t it be a legendary grade?

Well, still better than nothing. My luck with charisma is disgustingly abysmal, so it is better than what I have equipped now. I should change it immediately.

“Next.”

Fragments of the Melancholic Black Wings.

This is a material required to craft top-tier equipment. With four fragments, I could create one piece of armor, but I should probably gather more and prioritize crafting weapons first.

As for the top-grade dark stones… If I were to cash them out and sell them at this near-zero supply timing, it would provide me with sweet income equivalent to several months of my salary. Rather than that, isn’t it a wiser choice to reinvest and boost my character’s stats, paving the way for a more successful gaming life?

“Other than that, there’s nothing much.”

This one’s a random drop, and that one too. I’ll roughly gather them up, sell them in the auction house, and distribute the earnings among my guildmates as a reward for clearing the boss.

I even managed to pick up a miscellaneous item that looks like a black flower bud…⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯.

“Huh? Huh? Huh?”

Wait a second, just a moment.

Ting-a-ling.

Thud, thud.

I entered the official website of my mobile game ‘Clan of Heroes’ and navigated to the reward page for the boss ‘Mytreya of the Deep Night.’

When the boss is defeated, it’s confirmed that at least 4 wing fragments and 2 or more top-grade dark stones will drop, along with various booster crafting materials to aid heroes’ growth and stress management.

And if you scroll further down, there’s a concise explanation for an item written…

[New ‘Only One’ Added]

By satisfying certain conditions and defeating the boss ‘Mytreya of the Deep Night,’ you can acquire a new hidden piece with very low probability. This item is called ‘Only One,’ and only one person can obtain it.

“Is this true? Phew.”

My heartbeat surges, and my lips tremble. My arms seem reluctant to move too. It’s like my whole body isn’t obeying me.

Smack! A firm slap to my cheek.

But even then, I can’t calm down.

“Seems to be correct.”

The newly added ‘Only One’ hidden piece from the final episode, ‘Fall of the Stars,’ at this point in time…

“Miracle of the Night”

▶ Category: Consumable Skill Enhancement

▶ Grade: Only One

▶ Description: On a starry night, gather the starlight of the Zodiac’s Twelve Palaces!!

▶ Effect: Consume skills of the same grade to acquire skills of a higher grade.

“Something happened.”

A thrill courses through me. How long has it been since I was swept away by such a tsunami of emotion? I can’t quit this game because of moments like this.

Thud.

Clicking on the consumable item ‘Miracle of the Night,’ a circular enhancement panel centered around the sun motif appears.

There are a total of 12 slots along the outer edge where skills can be placed, forming a structure where sacrificing 12 skills upgrades one to a higher-tier skill.

“Wow.”

My hands instinctively clasp together.

Sacrifice 12 skills for a higher-tier skill. Sure, it might be a situation where clueless newbies consider cost-effectiveness, but my eyes, maintaining the position of a top-tier ranker by nibbling at the pockets of whales, bend into a crescent shape.

I’ve seen such shameless hidden pieces. To think about putting skills enhanced with this on the Clan of Heroes forum and boasting, I can already feel drool forming at the corner of my mouth in anticipation.

“The answer has been decided, and what’s life? This is the time to shout.”

I possess a total of 11 legendary-grade leader skills. They’re precious collections I’ve gathered over four years.

To add one more legendary-grade skill, I have to vigorously purchase this month’s renowned package with the rumored probability boost. My heart already commanded me to charge cash up to my limit.

I’m willingly doing so. The fragmented salary will be carried by the future me.

I purchased a total of 20 packages as a set of 3+1, listed the items other than the [Greed’s Jug], which allows drawing leader skills, on the auction house.

This way, 20 jugs of greed arrived in my inventory, and without hesitation, I started breaking the jugs.

Clang!

Clang!

[Congratulations. Rare grade……]

[Congratulations! Hero grade……]

As always, rare and hero grade leader skills flooded in. There were things that I already had, things I didn’t need, things that were just mana, and more… Yellow and purple skills were everywhere.

At this point, if it wasn’t a legendary grade, it was all garbage to me.

Clang!

Pa-a-aah-

“……!”

The goddess of victory smiled upon me when I broke the 19th jug.

[Congratulations! Acquired legendary-grade leader skill ‘Promise of Eight’.]

Finally, a golden skill, a legendary grade, appeared.

The next jug yielded a rare grade without fail. Anyway, pulling a legendary grade within 500,000 won can be considered a slight profit.

Last time, I didn’t get a legendary-grade skill even after breaking 50 jugs. That day, what I broke wasn’t a jug, but my head.

Thud.

I retrieved ‘Miracle of the Night’ and dragged my cherished legendary-grade leader skills into the constellation-shaped enhancement window.

Wuuung.

Twelve rays of starlight converged to protect the sun, and the skill upgrade button activated.

To commemorate this moment, I turned on the automatic recording feature. If I upload it to YouTube with a clickbait title, it should gather views quickly.

Now, one click is all that’s needed to proceed.

“…..”

Hmm.

Now that I’m about to offer my cherished legendary-grade leader skills as sacrifices, I hesitate.

Honestly, if I say I’m not nervous, that’s a lie.

After the legendary grade comes the transcendent grade, and I’ve never heard of anyone displaying transcendent-grade skills so far.

So, although it’s bothering me that despite the higher grade, the efficiency might be trash, I can’t not press it now…

“I’m going!”

Of course, the answer was already set. I’ll go as my heart commands.

I closed my eyes and pressed the button.

Ziiiiing

Juwang, juwang, juwang, juwang—Bba-bba-bbam——!

[Congratulations! Acquired transcendent-grade skill ‘Final Finish’.]

My initial impression of the skill is as follows: ‘Is the naming too ordinary?’

Thinking about how the legendary-grade skills all had unique and peculiar names, the ordinary tone of this skill name oddly gives a sense of differentiation.

I cautiously checked the skill’s information with a mix of fear and excitement.

「Final Finish」

▶ Category: Leader Skill

▶ Grade: Transcendent

▶ Description: Can be used when the combat gauge reaches 100%. The combat gauge accumulates through the influence of various combat elements.

▶ Effect: When used, enhances the next attack to have the power of a finishing blow. The attack receives an unconditional ‘Finishing Blow’ judgment.

“…… Does it make sense?”

Finishing blow.

This is a judgment that appears when an attack can unconditionally knock down an opponent. When a powerful technique is used while the opponent’s health is low, it delivers the final blow with a spectacular display, conceptualizing the notion of a last strike.

Creating excitement among users with impressive scenes and inducing in-app purchases is a bonus, and “There doesn’t seem to be any room for alternative interpretations.”

However, this [Final Finish] receives the ‘unconditional’ judgment of a finishing blow. It seems this one truly lives up to its name.

Looking at its effect, in theory, regardless of any boss’s defense or health, if the leader skill hits, it can defeat in a single blow…

So far, the performance of the unlocked Only One hidden pieces has been all scam-like, but this goes beyond the line.

I wonder if those developers on the other side got confirmation from the head when designing this item.

“Give and take.”

Although I might not escape a hotfix in the near future, if I experience such a catastrophe, I’m definitely heading straight to the development company’s headquarters to protest.

Even if I end up nerfing it heavily, I’ll have to regulate its power for conscience’s sake.

It’s such an unreasonable skill. To the point where I’m having delusions like this.

“Let’s take a breath for a moment.”

After finishing my ordeal, I opened the window wide and let in the cold night air. It seems like the exertion drained me, as my legs wobbled a little when I stood up from the chair.

Wuuung.

“Yeah.”

But for some reason, the starlight in the night sky, especially tonight, was flashing unusually brightly. Is it because of my mood?

Seoul’s night sky… was it always this magnificent? While refreshing the warm air, I gazed at the night sky and was met with a spectacle reminiscent of an astronomical photograph.

The starlight was even brighter than what I had seen at my grandmother’s rural house when I was a child, densely scattered across the black sky.

“It’s beautiful, but is it okay?” This isn’t some remote corner in Gangwon Province, and Seoul should normally have fewer visible stars due to light pollution. Wuuung!

… However, strangely, the starlight seems to be getting stronger. Now, it’s not so much beautiful and mysterious, but a feeling of inexplicable dread that grips my throat. Is this some kind of cosmic horror?

Wuuung wuuung.

“Huh?”

In the moment of marveling at this cosmic phenomenon, the starlight covered the night sky. A golden Milky Way unfolded.

With my limited understanding, it felt like something never before observed in space was looking down at us from a great distance.

“Uh, uhh.”

Pa-a-a-a-ah.

Before long, the surroundings were engulfed in brilliant light, obscuring objects from view. My body was being eroded by light.