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nMonday morning, November 18th. Around 5 AM.

nJohn set a pen down on his desk and then groaned, running his right hand through his hair. “It’s only been a few days and I’m already sick of this.”

nPapers, papers, and more papers! Even when he used his abilities to speed up the process, the effort remained the same. Sure, he increased efficiency, but he still had to read the damned sheets and then sign them all. Not only that, but he had to read up about the recent tax regulations and terms of use and all of that legal crap.

n“Goddammit.” John slammed his hand against his desk and then spun around in his chair to look out the window.

nThe sun was starting to rise in the distance, staining the glass Tokyo cityscape a crimson hue. A beautiful sunrise.

nSeeing that calmed John down a little. Still, it didn’t solve his problems.

nFrowning, John held out his hand and materialized a cup of coffee. That done, he took a sip and leaned back in his chair, staring at the morning skyline.

nHe was in his office. And he had been in his office for over 24 hours. More time than he could remember, at least, doing a mix of procrastinating, glaring at his work and wishing it would magically get solved, and then forcing himself through it.

nIt was terrible.

nJohn thought that comprehending the laws of existence had been a time-consuming and mind-numbing process, but that at least had been interesting and logical.

nTax laws? Not so much.

nOf course, that was to be expected when a group of politicians with their own agendas got together to write policies that pretended to work for the people while secretly benefiting themselves, as well as interacting with foreign powers that had *their* own interests…

nGod, he wished he could just give it to a shadow servant to fill out. But while those guys were good for manual labor and simple tasks, he didn’t trust them to figure out the intricacies of tax law and catch the loopholes that might be used as justification to go after Myth Inc. or Project MirAIs.

nThe Yakuza legends were an exception though. Since they managed to resonate and merge with souls that already existed here on Earth, they became real people that could definitely do this work… But they were also ‘real people.’

nAnd since those three managed to get a second lease on life by chance after suffering tragic deaths, John really didn’t want to bother them about this… Not to mention that they were also pretty infamous in the underworld even if they did accept roles in the company.

nNot something that would be good for Myth Inc. or Project MirAIs in the long run.

nBut that left a problem. A major problem.

nJohn leaned back and sipped his coffee, frowning. “…I’ll never be able to watch Alphy stream at this rate.”

nIn the Three Realms, he didn’t have a chance to bond with or support Alphy, Betty, or Meg in their activities since he had to keep up the infallible and invincible appearance. Now that he was on Earth and got the karma situation sorted out, he was hoping to get the chance to relax and spend quality family time together…

nBut now he was wrapped up doing similar things as in the Three Realms and stopped by his responsibilities as CEO managing the company and idol project.

nHere he was, literally and figuratively the most powerful man in existence, and he couldn’t even watch his own daughter stream! And from what he heard from Betty, Alphy even broke down in tears the other day because she didn’t know how to handle the chat’s affections!

nJohn narrowed his eyes and took a long drink from his coffee, focusing on the burning sensation of the liquid going down his throat, matching the burning irritation in his heart.

nIf he could, he would have entrusted it all to Titor, but that guy had gone off the grid, mentioning something about a project to make their life easier in the long run. And since it was something that would need plausible deniability in case it went wrong, John had purposefully kept himself in the dark about it.

nBut that meant that Titor was MIA and couldn’t be relied on.

nJohn growled and spun around, glaring at the stack of tax forms and the giant reference book of the recently passed legislature. “Why does a transcendent like me have to deal with all of this busy work? I don’t mind handling the important business negotiations, but taxes and accounting…”

nDammit. Did he really have to go hunt people down to work for him?

nIt would have been great to have Asako help, but she was busy prepping for her debut on Friday.

nWhich reminded him. That was another thing that John had to do. Since he had been so busy, John never got a chance to properly get to know Asako other than what they talked about for her debut. He didn’t even know whether she was okay with how things unfolded with her father and the Seiryuu clan.

nJohn slammed his fist against the table, causing his pen and the papers to fly through the air. He sat there, watching it all fall down, and muttered, “If only this was the Three Realms. There at least I could trick some poor bastard into doing the grunt work- Wait.”

nJohn blinked.

nTricking some poor bastard into doing the grunt work… Right.

nBack in the Three Realms, John had plenty of people that had been more than happy to help him out. Among those were capable former enemies that either changed their minds or had some ‘personal training’ from John about their path in life.

nAnd among those capable former enemies, there should still be a few that John kept imprisoned- kept on standby in a treasure or another.

nRemembering that, John’s eyes lit up. “That’s right…! I’m an idiot!”

nHe had been thinking too narrowly. Since he had come back to Earth, he had been thinking too much like an ordinary human.

nThat wasn’t a bad thing, but that was also limiting him. After all, while he was human, he was also a transcendent that possessed more riches than all the Eternal Emperors combined. He might as well use that, right?

nJohn flicked his sleeve and then jumped back into his heavenly realm.

nImmediately, the giant gears floating in the sky, the mountain with carved hokage faces, and the other anime landmarks came into view.

nJohn stared at them and then crossed his arms to think.

nHe had some more powerful personnel buried deep in his Heavenly Realm and kept locked up under formations. Those guys were loyal too, but he didn’t want to risk them accidently blowing up the world, so they were a no go.

nAs much as he wanted someone like Prometheus to help out around the place since he was smart and helped humans in the past… that guy also was a Titan prone to random fits of madness.

nSo those guys were no good.

nBut that restricted the choices quite a bit… Still, there *was* a group of captives- of personnel that were not only used to working among humans but also run organizations before.

nJohn swept his spiritual sense through the Heavenly Realm and said, “Now where were they? They should be here somewhere… Ah. Right, I kept them in the M-Balls.”

nA pile of miscellaneous items that he had created to replicate anime items. A black notebook with the character for ‘death’, the set of seven dragon ba- spheres… and a belt of six sphere, one half white and the other purple with an M stamped on top of them.

nJohn held up his hand and summoned the belt of poke- of pocket capsules. Snatching it out of the air, he held up each sphere and examined them. “Let’s see. Taotie is too greedy to be let out. Hundun knows a lot and managed to get a human form, but he’s kind of dense. Qiongqi is just plain evil. Taowu is smart, but he’s too stubborn and unyielding…”

nThe Four Perils were useful in their own ways, but not for mundane tasks like helping out with the business. And John also had a feeling that they’d cause his life on Earth to get much more complicated if released, so he immediately ruled those guys out.

n“In that case…” John pulled off the last spheres and sent the belt back into the pile of miscellaneous items. “There’s just you two, huh? What a coincidence.”

nThe Torabu clan… the ‘Tiger Department’ and the Seiryuu. The rulers of the west and the east.

nThe White Tiger and the Azure Dragon.

nJohn had forgotten until now, but he had the real ones locked up in his Heavenly Realm. Specifically, in the two pocket sphere he had pulled off from the belt.

n“I always wanted to do this… Go!” John chucked the two spheres against the ground and said, “I choose you! Bai Hu, Qing Long!”

nA soft *ting* echoed twice as the spheres bounced against the ground. And then the spheres burst open, letting out a splash of crimson light. And when that light died down, there were two men standing where in front of John.

nThe first was a man with sharp eyes, dressed in an azure robe. His body was honed, but it was thin and wiry, giving him an appearance more like a tactician than a fighter. His dark blue hair was long, but tied in a neat ponytail. Then, with his hands tucked into his sleeves and his head held high, he looked like a distinguished strategist from the ancient warring periods.

nThe second was a towering man with fierce eyes, almost feral, and bulging muscles. Like the first, he wore a robe, but his was a pure white, trimmed with black stripes. His white hair flared out behind, like flowing lightning, and he stood with pride, as if looking down on the world itself.

nJohn glanced at the men and chuckled. “Long time no see.”

nThe white-haired man with feral eyes growled. “You bastard. So you finally-“

nA sudden thud. The sound of someone jumping to the floor and slamming their head in a kowtow.

n“Master! Forgive me! I yield to your will!”

nIt was the other man, the one that looked like a distinguished strategist.

nThe white-haired man rounded on him and scowled. “Qing, you bastard!” He stomped over and then forcibly pulled the wiry man up on his feet. “Why are you yielding to that bastard?! Aren’t you supposed to be our leader?!”

nThe wiry man, Qing huffed. “What am I supposed to do, Bai?! You got captured first so you didn’t see it, but that man ate the Golden Dragon!”

n“W-What?” The white-haired man, Bai, suddenly froze. His expression twisted into shock and he let go of Qing, turning back to John. “Y-You… ate the Golden Dragon?”

nJohn coughed and averted his gaze. “It was an accident. I was hungry and that yellow snake attacked me, so I got pissed off and chopped him up for stew.”

nBai stiffly turned his head to look at Qing.

nThe wiry man gave a stiff nod in return.

nThen, the two men simultaneously jumped forward in a kowtow, slamming their heads against the ground.

n“Bai Hu greets Master John!”

n“Qing Long greets Master as well!”

nJohn sighed.

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