Chapter 205: Loki’s Gift

“Right now, your body is on a limit, to put it mildly.”

Loki takes a bite out of the apple, then proceeds to explain the problems I’m having with my awakening.

“I’m sure she’s told you all sorts of nonsense about how your emotions will fade and you’ll never be king, and it’s all true. The crown is designed to make you less emotional as you level up, and I had to put a limit on it because.. well, you know, you could just level up like crazy.”

It was easy to level up.

“..So you’re saying you put a limit on it on purpose?”

“Yes. It’s more like I’m forcing you to come to me in the middle.. There are no levels or awakenings for the humans in this world. It’s just a staircase that I deliberately built.”

Loki made the game, so he could have designed something like that.

“So how do I get past that limit?”

“..You’re just going to solve it without even thinking about it.”

“Do I have to think about it?”

“You mean.. Don’t you want to know what the crown and the king mean?”

Loki spat out in a shaky voice, scratching his head but I already knew the answer.

“You mean the Demon King, right?”

“..What, did you know?”

“Lord Zetto is supposed to be a Demon King?”

Loki and Geppeti look puzzled by my answer.

“After talking to Heneryes, I kind of figured it out.”

The king and the crown, a past life goal of breaking the chains and the similarities between players and demons were hints.

In other words, if I became the Demon King, I could break the shackles.

“Well, I’m still not sure how I, a human, can become the Demon King.”

“You’ll figure that out in time. There’s no need to rush it. More than that, don’t you find it disturbing that you don’t mind being a demon king?”

“Not really.. Isn’t that what you were trying to get me to do in the first place?”

“I can’t really say.”

“Well, I don’t feel like I’ve been played, which is probably what I wanted, so why don’t you just let me off the hook, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

At my urging, Loki clicks his tongue once and says something along the lines of, “Come closer,” and as I approach him, he places his hand over my eyes.

Then his hand glowed.

“I thought I’d get a funnier reaction..” he said. Okay, that’s it.”

“..”

I didn’t really feel anything but I’d have to check later to see if the experience points would work.

“I left you a gift as a bonus..Can you take a look at your status?”

Loki replied, and I opened the status window to check it out.

There were no changes to the skills or items that were already displayed.

“Progress..?”

A new window appeared underneath.

Progress:

-Saint: 7%.

-King: 2%.

-Demon: 9%.

The words Saint, King, and Demon, along with their unidentified percentages.

“Does this have something to do with my past life?”

“It’s an upgrade of sorts. In the game, you get a Job after you awaken, so I thought it would be a shame if you didn’t have one, so I put it in.”

“..How does it work?”

“The way it works is that as you learn about your past life or do things related to your past life, you gain progress, and whenever you reach a certain line, you gain the power of your past life.”

I wonder if this is what Heneryes was referring to when she said that my past life experiences would help me.

“It would be more fun for you to find out for yourself.”

Loki tossed his finished apple roughly to the ground and smiled.

So he wants me to figure out how to make progress myself.

‘I guess nothing comes easy.’

I don’t know what powers I had in my previous life, but I’m sure there are many skills that can help me.

I don’t know what I’ll get, but it won’t be enough to replace the Awakening.

“But.. What’s that underneath?”

That wasn’t the only new thing in the status bar.

Relationships:

Aizel Ludwig – irritable, annoyed

Yuri Clementine – nervousness

Sierra – doubt

Kaen – excitement

Bernice – worry

It listed their emotions alongside the familiar names.

“Some sort of gift.”

Loki flashed a devious grin.

“A gift..”

“What did you get?”

Geppeti asked, and I explained what I could see in the status bar.

“Ah..”

“I want you to be happy, why are you so clueless in so many ways. You’re probably getting more so as you level up, if that helps.”

“Clueless..”

“That’s a pretty blunt way of putting it, but.. I’m thinking along those lines.”

Geppeti fired a confirming shot.

“Only those who have an affinity for each other appear on that side. Sometimes they disappear, sometimes they appear.”

“Do you have my name..?”

Loki’s explanation caused Geppeti to look at me, confused.

“Geppeti?”

“Oh, no..”

“..Tsk.”

Loki, who was listening to our conversation, clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Is this.. Is it even accurate?”

What a mess.

Kaen was the only one showing any sort of positive emotion right now.

“What do you think a god is? It’s a god’s power, so it’s accurate. I just used up what little of my godhood I had to create it. With this, I am now a very ordinary human being.”

“..”

Is it really okay to use the ‘Godhood’ for something like this?

My mouth drops open, unable to comprehend his behavior.

“Like I said.. I just want you to be happy, and I want you to live a little longer because watching you is the only thing I have left.”

With that, Loki and I parted ways.

My thoughts were unorganized due to all the changes, but I could see that I had gained a lot from meeting him.

Progress and relationships.

For progress, I would have to figure out a mechanism to increase the number, and for relationships, it would have an automatic alarm when I was in danger without me having to pay attention to it every time.

‘Dangerous..’

I wondered if he was referring to the same kind of threat I had experienced with Aizel.

Later, when I returned home with Geppeti after grocery shopping, I found Sierra with her eyes closed.

[How could it be so late to get groceries, apprentice?]

Sierra’s chilling words helped me understand the meaning of the word ‘doubt’ next to her name.

I’ve since spoken to Bernice through the crystal ball, and she’s realized that I’m worried about leaving for the East.

I also realized that the emotions on the relationship map are reflected in real time.

Right now, both Sierra and Bernice had the word “Relieved” written next to them.

In any case, I realized that it would be difficult and unnatural to check in with them every time and address their feelings.

After all, the relationship chart was meant to alert them to the threat of crossing a certain line, not to give me complete control over their emotions.

It wasn’t just Aizel who was in danger.

“Bernice and Sierra were one thing, but Yuri and Kaen, well, there were some questionable things about them..

It’s a lot of twists and turns, and even if I understood it, if I’m kidnapped or something, I would end up being stuck and unable to move forward.

I needed to do something about that so I talked to Geppeti about it.

Her technical skills could be very helpful in the future but for now, we’re just trying to figure out how to make progress.

[Demon: 9%]

As it turns out, I’ve made progress, albeit very little.

It doesn’t seem like much at all, but when I kill a demon, I get a message that says, “Your progress will be credited,” so I’m sure it’s only a decimal point.

It’s still labeled as [Demon], but from what I’ve been told by Keraph, in my previous life I was believed to be the demon known as the Nameless One.

And the Nameless One preyed on its own kind.

‘Preyed on demons, to be exact.’

I charged my prosthesis with energy, and as soon as I sensed any nearby demons, I began to search for their nests and destroy them.

The unpleasant scent of demonic blood wafted through the room.

-Boom!

I swung my sword in one big swing, wiping the black blood off the red blade.

Luckily, I seem to be getting the right amount of experience, and I’ve figured out how to increase my progression.

However, I still haven’t figured out what I need to do to get experience for [King] and [Saint].

For example, I thought a “good deed” would be associated with [Saint], so I went around town helping people, but I didn’t get any credit for that.

I don’t have the holy power of a real saint, so I can’t heal the sick.. Maybe acupuncture is the only thing left.

I realized that I should join an exchange program sometime. If I do well, I’ll have the opportunity to showcase acupuncture in the East.

There are two ways to make progress.

Finding out information about my supposed past lives and doing things related to them.

Given the small bump in my progress, I was expecting a much steeper climb for finding out information.

‘So what does [King] mean?’

I could get a hint from Keraph about the demons and Bernice about the [Saint], but the [King] was a mystery.

I knew I’d done something related to him before because I’d gotten progress, but the first thing that came to mind was leading or commanding. I had been in a leadership role in the middle of a class at the academy once.

While I was thinking about it, Sierra’s voice suddenly rang in my head.

[Looks like we have a visitor.]

“..”

I follow her voice and see a man standing there, surveying the bodies of the fallen demons around him.

“..Keraph.”

“I came to visit you quietly, and you sensed me immediately.”

“Well, I have a sixth sense.”

“I don’t think it was a very good one.”

Keraph frowned slightly as he examined the corpse.

As a demon, this was probably not a very pleasant sight for him anyway.

“Shall we go outside?”

“Oh, I’m fine, not all demons are the same anyway, isn’t it the same with humans?”

“You’re not wrong.”

I continued my conversation with him as I used Sheddie to clean up the bodies of the demons that had fallen around me.

After dusting them off, he sat down and recited to me the information he’d been gathering, mostly things that could pose a threat to my safety.

“I’ve been told that a ‘wild dog’ has been sent to assassinate Mr. Zetto this time.”

“Wild dog..I don’t think I need to worry about him.”

“Why, I don’t know much about him, but I did a little research and he seems to be quite famous.”

[I’d never heard of him before.]

“Notorious for not letting go of his prey once he’s in the door, and he likes money.”

Lycanthropes don’t die often, and they’re good at tracking. This is not the Lycanthrope I met in the Labyrinth.

This one is real and a pureblooded.

No wonder Sierra didn’t recognize him.

It’s been less than five years since he’s made a name for himself.

“But he’s stupid,” he says, “He’s still young, doesn’t know the world, and gets taken advantage of all the time.”

He’s probably being taken advantage of right now.

He has the nickname “Wild Dog” because he doesn’t wash well and wears rags because he has no money.

He walks around like a wild dog but the fact that he’s made a name for himself in the underworld in less than five years means he’s good.

“If I play my cards right,” he says, “he might become my canine companion, so it’s a good thing he’s coming to me.”

I knew what he was going through and why he needed the money, so I figured I could make a good deal with him after a brief conversation.

“You have a plan, don’t you, Mr. Zetto? Hmmm, next up.. Rumor has it that the leader of Syncretism is interested in you.”

“The Head of Syncretism..?”

“Yes. From what I’ve heard, they’re a criminal organization that’s making a name for themselves on the continent. If you don’t know about them, do you want me to get some information beforehand?”

“No, I know about them, but did they have a leader?”This chapter was originally shared via n(0)vel(b)(j)(n).

“According to my information, yes, but..”

“That’s odd.”

Syncretism, the flower that blooms in chaos, is a secretive criminal organization with an unclear purpose and members.

I remember seeing some of them in the game, as there was a storyline involving them.

From the rumors that circulate around the continent, they seem to be vicious and ruthless, but the truth is a little different.

They were often referred to as “vicious bugbears” by the community of users who realized their true identity.

The stories surrounding them are often ridiculous, and in many ways, they’re very relatable.

By the way, I understand that the organization itself is so unusual that it doesn’t have a leader..

[..I wonder if he means the puppeteer.]

Sierra knew about Syncretism and mentioned him.

If she was right, he was the only one who could be called a leader.

“Well, it could be.”

I pulled a ridiculous aggro.

“It’s not going to happen. They’re not the kind of guys who like to make a scene. Besides, you did a good job this time Keraph.”

I said, convinced that it was he who had summoned Yuri.

“Ahaha, I didn’t do it for the praise, I just thought I should..”

Keraph scratched his head in frustration.

“More than that, what the hell is the relationship between them and Lord Zetto..?”

“Uh, well..”

I hesitated to answer, then looked over at Sierra.

[ .... ]

She shook her head with a forlorn look in her eyes, as if she had given up on something.

“That’s a little hard to explain right now.”

“..I see.”

“Is there anything else you need to tell me?”

At my next question, Keraph thought for a moment before finally speaking.

“..Nothing else.”

He was hiding something.

I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but it was enough for me to get a sense of the demons’ trends from him, so I didn’t press further.