Chapter 1904
The Fountain of Life—soaking the body in it healed wounds and restored health. Not only did it cure abnormal conditions such as fractures and poisoning, but it also restored health by 10% per minute. The efficacy of it was definitely great.
Yet surprisingly, the versatility was bad. It was because it only existed in beginner hunting grounds below level 50.
‘It is purely an arrangement for newcomers. I didn’t properly take advantage of it, but...’
Every time Grid went to the fountain, he would find wild boars or goblins drinking the water...
The probability of that happening was ridiculous now that he thought about it. Didn’t he die dozens of times near the fountain? Grid shuddered as he recalled this shameful past. Then he quickly sorted out the situation.
‘In any case, Agnus took Betty there...’
Betty stated that when the two of them dipped in the fountain together, Betty’s body was released from the curse and started to regenerate, while Agnus became a complete skeleton. He left a short will for her to live a normal life in the future. Then he turned to ash...
‘He managed to find such a hidden piece.’
There must be at least two former Baal’s Contractors. Additionally, Baal must be dead. It was a hidden piece triggered on a premise that originally couldn’t be established. Agnus used the ‘opportunity’ that would never happen again to save a being with a finite life, unlike himself. He risked being turned into an undead...
Grid was able to vaguely fathom Agnus’ inner thoughts. ‘A woman who would suffer for the rest of her life before dying... I guess he didn’t want to make any more of them.’
Agnus’ old lover was now an open secret.
Grid’s mouth was bitter when he thought about the story of her death. Grid wiped his face once before opening his friends list. He wanted to convey at least one message to Agnus: ‘You’ve had a hard time.’
However...
‘...What?’ Grid was startled. It was because the name Agnus wasn’t present on his friends list. It meant one thing.
‘He removed me.’
Deleting friends—to be precise, the other person removed him from the friends list.
Grid’s thick eyebrows wrinkled. Putting aside the grat.i.tude he felt for Agnus, his pride was hurt.
‘This jerk.’
He wanted to send a whisper to Agnus and argue with him right away, but he couldn’t remember the ID code. It wasn’t like they usually kept in touch a lot. In the end, Grid had to change the target of his whisper. He quickly escaped from the territory of the Tower of Wisdom by using Shunpo and contacted Lauel.
-Lauel.
-Yes, Your Majesty.
-...What is Agnus’ ID code?
-It is number 00013.
Lauel answered immediately without knowing the situation. His tone was cautious. He didn’t know the situation, but he had inferred the situation where Grid had suffered a one-sided friend deletion.
Grid blushed with shame and added.
-I accidentally removed him from my friends list.
-I see.
-What is with that dull reaction? Could it be that you misunderstood that I was deleted?
-I didn’t think so.
-...Yes.
Grid sighed with relief and designated a new target for the whisper.
Agnus#00013.
‘I am in the 10,000s.’
He knew that they started the game at a similar time. So what was this difference in ID numbers? How did this guy manage to make the Agnus ID that was 13th?
‘His fingers were much faster than mine.’
Aside from the shame that had returned, there was a lot that Grid wanted to say. However...
[The target doesn’t exist.]
“What?”
The target wasn’t connected or couldn’t receive whispers—it wasn"t a familiar message like this. It was a message that said ‘the target doesn’t exist.’
A chill went down Grid’s spine as he was feeling confused by the unfamiliar message.
-I’ll look into it.
Lauel whispered to him. Lauel had also tried to send a whisper to Agnus, so he seemed to have grasped the situation.
-...Please do so.
***
After contacting Lauel, Grid returned to the tower and tried to control his expression.
He looked Betty straight in the eyes.
A girl who had lived as a half skeleton for hundreds of years—she lived for others while suffering unimaginable pain and regret.
Thanks to this, she met a precious connection called Agnus and regained her human form. Therefore, Grid spoke brightly in the hope that she would grow up into a woman safely and live a normal life, “Agnus says he is safe, so don’t worry and focus on recuperation. Your breathing must’ve changed now that your body has been restored. You have to adapt to it.”
A G.o.d who was a player—Grid was actually much more powerless than the heavenly G.o.ds he hated so much. All he could put forward was strength and power. It was far from being omnipotent.
It was impossible for him to understand everyone’s situation. He wouldn’t hesitate to lie if it meant he could deal with the situation. That was how he had lived.
“...I’m glad.”
Betty’s beaming smile of relief drove another nail into Grid’s chest. It felt like there was a hole in his conscience. It was familiar to him.
***
“...I really don’t know.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.”
The giant brothers, Radwolf and Fronzaltz, failed to appraise the yeouiju. The worst thing was that they didn’t even ask for more time. The last survivors of the giant species neatly gave up on the yeouiju, despite the knowledge they had acc.u.mulated throughout their lives.
It was strange. The species instinct of the giants was their enthusiasm for learning. For them, incomprehensibility was a blessing, not a curse. Yet they gave up so easily?
Fronzaltz noticed Grid’s doubts and added an explanation, “This is beyond the realm of knowledge and wisdom. It is composed of just myths and divinity... therefore, the very distinction of its physical material is an impossibility.”
“......”
Grid’s anxiety was amplified. He was worried that Braham and Sticks wouldn’t be able to identify it. However, they were the only ones he could rely on right now.
Grid said goodbye to the tower members and returned to Reinhardt with Bunhelier.
***
“I don’t know...”
There was no chance. Braham and Sticks also failed to appraise the yeouiju. The same was true of Zeratul, who was present just in case.
“What are you using it for?” Zeratul didn’t even know the concept of the yeouiju itself. This was surprising considering his followers were often active on the East Continent.
‘It shows how rare an imoogi is.’
Then how did Sword Immortal Yeoam find and seal the imoogi with two yeouijus among all the imoogis? Grid only learned the truth today after being informed of the entire situation by Kraugel and he belatedly regretted it.
The Sword Immortal, who disappeared without a trace just before Chiyou appeared—Grid shouldn’t have let him go...
‘He must know the most about the yeouiju.’
Should he try to contact Yeoam through Yeo Yulan?
It happened the moment when the mysterious yellow amulet that Yeo Yulan handed over to him for communication crossed Grid’s mind...
“By the way, is all of this necessary?” Braham raised the fundamental question. It was a question that bothered Sticks and the giant brothers, Radwolf and Fronzaltz, but that they didn’t dare to bring it up.
“Can’t you just give it to him?” At the end of Braham’s gaze was a small, black mouse.
“Squeak.” The mouse nodded enthusiastically, as if his frustration had finally been resolved. From here on out, it was purely Grid’s choice.
Evil Dragon Bunhelier—what effect would the yeouiju have in his hands? If Bunhelier really regained his ‘lost power,’ could Grid handle it?
Grid’s expression darkened as he recalled a scenario where Bunhelier became equal to the other Old Dragons. Even though they had been cooperating for over a year, Grid still couldn’t trust the Evil Dragon.
‘Nevertheless, I announced the existence of the yeouiju and cooperated with him to obtain it?’
At this point, Grid wondered if he was hypnotized by Bunhelier without even realizing it. The dream that Basara had was a trap created by Bunhelier’s magic. He couldn’t tell the difference and became obsessed with the yeouiju...
“Squeak?”
Grid thought of the worst situation and made eye contact with Bunhelier.
The round eyes of the mouse—they were as pure as an insignificant creature that merely lived according to providence. It was completely different from reality. The ever-evolving Polymorph was the trigger to cloud his judgment...
Grid thought this far with his crazy thoughts and eventually developed a feeling toward Bunhelier.
I have to kill him. This is a monster I should never trust...
Just then—
“What is this?”
Cries of consternation burst out everywhere and Grid came back to his senses. The yeouiju on the table was turning black. It spread so much sinister magic power that even Braham frowned.
[The information of the ‘Unidentified Yeouiju’ will be updated.]
[Unidentified Yeouiju]
[Rating: ???
It was one of the two yeouijus held by the imoogi, who practiced for a thousand years, but failed to ascend to heaven and instead became a monster.
One of the energies, whose source is hard to guess, is inducing people to despise and hate ‘Bunhelier.’]
Grid came to his senses.
“Bunhelier.”
He didn’t know the intentions. However, one thing was clear. The purpose of this yeouiju was to isolate Bunhelier. Grid almost got hit as well.
This caused a backlash.
“I believe in you.”
Grid, who was holding the yeouiju in his hand, shoved it into Bunhelier’s mouth. Bunhelier swallowed a bead larger than his body and was forced to hurriedly release Polymorph.
The ominous dark magic power—5he evil energy, which was like the symbol of the Evil Dragon, spread throughout Reinhardt starting from the Overgeared Palace. Countless people living in the city turned pale with an instinctive sense of fear.
Sticks groaned and slumped down, while Braham and Zeratul prepared for battle just in case.
“......”
Grid clenched his fists and remained silent. He barely suppressed his instinct to draw his sword and slash Bunhelier right away. Thanks to this—
[Evil Dragon Bunhelier has regained the lost yeouiju.]
[Bunhelier has restored the ‘Blessing of the Refractive Dragon.‘]
Bunhelier was able to safely digest the yeouiju. The results were very shocking.
‘The Blessing of the Refractive Dragon?’
The gamble was a success—no, his faith was rewarded.
It happened the moment when Grid’s face brightened.
[The G.o.ddess of Light, Rebecca, is descending.]
A ridiculous notification window followed. Then a pillar of light fell from the sky. To be more precise, the notification window emerged only after the light pierced Bunhelier’s giant body, which had become as huge as the other Old Dragons.
There was the feeling that cause and effect had reversed. It was a very strange feeling.
“...Eh?”
Above the sky that was undulating with the brilliant light—
Grid hurriedly flew away when he saw a holy being appearing through the golden clouds and pointing a finger at Bunhelier. He was too late.
The light pierced Bunhelier’s body again. It was only then that Grid could witness the flas.h.i.+ng light from the fingertips of the holy being. It was the power of light that Hanul, a G.o.d of the Beginning, longed for.
It was literally the light.
Grid immediately realized that he didn’t have the means to dare face it.
Bunhelier’s voice rang in his mind. [I will fight against the G.o.ddess, so you don’t have to worry, my friend.]
His voice was infinitely warm, unlike his usual tone that was somewhat nervous. Suddenly, Bunhelier’s scales turned transparent and refracted the trajectory of the light that was falling again. This was the only visual information that Grid could recognize.
[Thank you.] Bunhelier left with this short sentence and was no longer visible.
[The world has overcome the crisis of destruction.]
The yeouiju and Bunhelier, the holy being, and the brilliant gathering of lights—they all disappeared like a lie and the world seemed the same as a normal day.
In a daze, Grid’s consciousness sank.
“I feel like your origin is completely far removed from the worlds I know.”
“Are there more like you? Did Rebecca recognize you?”
“If so, the cycle is simply an escape.”
“Rebecca has ■■’s ■■ from the beginning...
The h.e.l.l of the past that Grid experienced one day—Yatan’s voice, which hadn’t been heard due to the noise, became clearer.
“Rebecca has recognized the existence of the superior beings from the beginning.”
“She realized that she is just a being created by someone. She predicted that one day, someone like you would appear in this world.”
“But actually facing it is a different story. She repeated the destruction in order to delay the meeting with you. It was even while shedding endless tears as she watched the beings born in this world die.”
“She... no, we resent and hate the ones who made us.”
The fact that this world was a game—the G.o.ds of the Beginning knew it.