Chapter 574 – The Cursed Throne
The time when he glared at the Paladin of Struggle and openly mocked him. Seong-il feels that time in the world around him is rapidly slowing down.
『In the end, you succeeded in retrieving the last piece, right? Great!』
A meow that appeared above her head without any sign. Perhaps seeing him several times, Seong-il responds leisurely by waving his hand, rather than being taken aback by his sudden visit.
“Thank you!! To be honest, I feel like I ate the last piece raw, so my conscience stings.”
『Ha ha!! The world should be like that sometimes. And if you hadn’t intervened in this incident in the first place, I would have been pretty tired.”
“Ah, thank you for thinking that way.”
Having finished the work, Kitty projected a strange power onto the sculpture and dragged it toward his face.
『Nyan.』
A kitty that makes a cute sound that doesn’t suit its status and gulps and swallows fragments of the abyss.
After swallowing a piece, he smacks his lips with a happy expression, as if he had eaten a sweet treat.
‘Is that delicious?’
A fragment of the abyss that made Seongil feel uncomfortable and terrifying just by holding it.
Seong-il, fed up with the sight of a kitty eating such a hideous object casually, tells him.
“But why did you stop time? Because it’s burdensome to be known?”
“Is that so? If my presence is revealed to the priests, their faith may be shaken.”
“Is it so?”
“Huh. If the priests find out that I am a higher being than the god they worship, wouldn’t there be confusion in their beliefs?”
“But…”
『To me, the beliefs of mortals don’t mean much, but to ordinary gods, the faith of believers is the root of their strength.』
After lightly explaining the difference between himself and the gods, Kitty lays down in the air with a tired expression and asks Seong-il a question.
『Hey…Then shall we conclude our deal now?』
‘Oh…’
In fact, Seong-il’s eyes twinkle at Kitty’s words that he will reward him.
『Um~ Actually… There is no direct reward this time.』
“…Yes?”
He puts a lot of expectations on himself, and when Kitty says something that will break the colic, Seong-il puts on an absurd expression.
『Cook Cuck Cuck!! It’s a joke. The final reward is to go to the Temple of Knowledge. If you go there, the knowledge that has been resurrected this time will give you an opportunity.”
“Thank you!!”
Seong-il gets extremely excited at the word ‘gi-yeon’ from a kitty because he has had the experience of breaking through several levels of heaven, earth, yin-yang, and connection techniques thanks to the skill he gained after coming to this world.
『Then… Shall we say goodbye now? It’s been fun.”
After lightly teasing Seong-il, Kitty bids farewell to him.
‘Uh…?’
In the midst of that, a sensation that gave strong stimulation to Seongil’s head. He feels that he shouldn’t let Kitty go like this.
“Wait a minute!!”
“Hmm? Why?”
While trying to enter into a strange microcosm, Seong-il catches him and Kittens examines him with a puzzled expression.
‘What can I do…’
Seong-il can’t explain the reason why he didn’t let him leave because he didn’t tell him a clear reason.
‘How should I explain…’
Seong-il feels that his heart is getting nervous at the sight of himself committing a disrespectful act in front of the Absolute.
‘Fuck… I have to explain something… Ah!!’
Come to think of it, the opponent in front of me is an absolute being who can see through the truth. Because of this, Seong-il realizes that if he honestly opens up about his situation, he might be able to tell him the answer.
“Um… Since Kitty is about to leave, my power to read the law of causality warned me that I shouldn’t let Kitty go like this. Do you know the reason? Kitty is omnipotent.”
『Hoo…』
Seong-Il’s honest answer makes Kitty keep an eye on him with an interesting expression.
“…You know?”
Seong-il looks at him with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety.
“No? I don’t know?』
“Eh!? Why?! You’re the absolute one!? You’re the truth of the universe!!”
When Kitty makes a weak noise, Seong-il panics and shouts at him like crazy.
『You are not from our dimension, are you? I don’t know if you’re just that kind of existence. Your source is a powerful being equal to mine, so how can I read your causal law?”
“Ah…”
As Seong-il, speechless, stands there blankly, Kitty continues talking as if having fun.
『In the first place, the reason I am talking to you, a mere mortal, is because you are transcendental chaos and the unknown itself, capable of transcending the causality of our world and creating variables. Therefore, I cannot predict your fate.”
“Ah…”
At that time, Seong-il was in despair at Kitty’s resolute answer. Kitty looks amused and starts grooming his face by lifting his front paws.
‘That pose!! I only do it when I’m joking around or when I’m interested!!’
However, through meeting several times, Seong-il knows that the act is a gesture that comes before a positive answer, so Seong-il’s eyes shine with anticipation.
“Let’s do this. Would you like to tell me what you’ve been thinking about lately? I’ll see if I can listen to it and answer it.”
“Oh oh!!”
An absolute, clear solution. With an expression full of anticipation, Seong-il confesses the troubles he has been experiencing lately.
『I mean… The maker of the wooden doll, the way to save the Pocket Girls world, and the situation where you have to subordinate the goddess of harvest for the sake of the world tree are the problems that are giving you a headache right now?』
“Except in reality, yes.”
At her Seong-il’s words, Kitty put on a worried expression for a moment, then opened her mouth shortly after.
『Hmm… I can’t solve the first two. It’s a place out of touch with our world. In the first place, my powers are not applicable to other worlds you visit.”
“…Does that mean you can guess the solution to the third problem?”
Most of them gave negative answers, but Seong-il is very excited to see Kitty answer the last question as if there is a way.
“Maybe? Well, it’s not 100% certain. As I continue to say, I am not an absolute being outside of the dimension I control.”
“But where do you know the answer is similar!! Please give me some advice!!”
『Whoops… Originally, I wouldn’t do it… But being involved with an existence like you is a special event that few people can encounter in this boring life of eternal life… To commemorate that, I’ll help you just this once. 』
“Oh…”
“Please allow me to read your memories. Then I’ll read your memory and come up with a plan.”
“Sure!!”
Seong-il readily agrees to his request, knowing that Kitty will not harm him.
『Now, from now on, I will project the power of my essence into your mind. Don’t deny it.”
“Do I really have to project the essence?”
“Huh. The ‘Game Master’ nestled inside you is truly powerful. If I don’t project a power as strong as my essence, it’s close to impossible to read your mind.”
‘Was the game master that great?’
Although he knew that Game Master was an unusual guy, Seong-il felt dumbfounded when a being as powerful as a meow was difficult.
‘No… Isn’t this world no different from what the Game Master created in the first place? Maybe that’s why…’
While thinking so, Seong-il feels the mysterious power of the universe being injected into his body.
‘This power is not a negative force… It is not a negative force…’
Suppressing unpleasant emotions as much as possible, Seong-il tries to accept the power projected by Kitty into his body as much as possible.
‘Okay…’
An unpleasant feeling, as if a strange power were sifting through every cell of one’s body. Not long after, the power penetrates Seongil’s spirit and begins to read his memories.
‘Huh… Even though I lifted my guard, you only let me see what we just talked about?’
Surprisingly, despite Seong-il breaking down his own mental barrier, the Game Master only allows Kitten to read things related to the world of 『Farm Story』, While thoroughly interfering with other memories and preventing him from reading them.
“Huh… That’s interesting. The reason for taking the ‘Goddess of Harvest’ is to make an incarnation of the World Tree that dominates the dimension…”
“Eh? Incarnation? Isn’t it? Just to make a spiritual body?”
“Ultimately, the two are the same story. It is because the divine tree, Avatara, descends to the dimension where you live.”
“Ah…Yes…”
It seems that the spirit spring that Widgrasil requested was not a simple magic shuttle.
“What! Anyway, that’s not the point. Anyway, as you know, you must attract the goddess who resides in the world of 『Farm Story』 As your minion. This is certain.”
“…Do you know how to do that?”
Seong-il feels his heart pounding and asks Kitty a question with an expression full of anticipation.
“Of course. I was dubious at first, but… After reading your memories, I’m convinced. That ‘goddess of harvest’ doesn’t differ much from the divinity here. If you use her methods well, you will be able to make her your minion.”
“Oh!”
Kitty’s answer made her heart pierce. Seong-il makes a strong request to meow with her excited voice.
“Then…Then!! Tell me how!!”
『Hmm… But it’s not free.』
“Yes…?”
Seong-il looks puzzled at Kitty’s sudden change of attitude after talking as if she’s giving advice.
『Your ‘question’ this time is not ‘me’. It’s not even a ‘us’ thing. Therefore, if you want to hear an answer about that matter, you must pay me a fair price.”
“Hmm…”
In fact, Seong-il feels his excitement cool at the words of Kitty to pay tribute.
‘Okay… Shall I listen to the conditions first?’
However, he is in a very desperate situation right now to just refuse. Therefore, Seong-il decides to decide whether to proceed after hearing the conditions from him.
“…What are the conditions?”
『Ah, there are two major conditions.』
“Two…?”
“Okay. The first is to offer me a ‘tribute’ with a value similar to information. The second is that you give up the reward you will receive from knowledge this time.”
‘Keuk… Ambiguous…’
Since the information is not completely disclosed, Seong-il considers the terms of the kitty ambiguous. Because of this, he asks me back with a cautious expression as his own future depends on it.
“The conditions are too ambiguous. The first one is hard to choose because I don’t know what kind of tribute I have to offer.
Second, I don’t know exactly what reward I will receive this time, so how can I give up?”
Seong-il takes the matter off the bat and replies to Meow. As if he liked his meticulous answer, he answered with a smirk.
“Oh! Detailed conditions! That’s a good attitude!”
‘…I guess he just enjoys this situation?’
For some reason, Seong-il gets the feeling that Kitty seems to enjoy sharing answers with him.
‘…Coming to think of it, it seems that Nara is like that too. In a situation where I know everything in the world, if I suddenly see an unknown existence for the first time one day, I might be curious and say something…’
When I think about it, I think it’s a plausible reasoning. In the meantime, Meow continues to answer with a happy expression.
『The first specific condition was to receive what you call ‘points’ as a tribute. About 200,000? But, aren’t the points you paid for me insufficient in your hand right now?』
“Ah…”
Seong-il naturally uses augmented reality to open the status window at Kitty’s point.
‘Fuck… I only have 78,200 points left…’
Let alone 200,000 points, there is not even half of that. Because of this, Seong-il feels that his headache is hurting.
‘Is there only the second answer…’
At that time, Seong-il was contemplating whether he should give up the reward in the end. Kitty smirks and offers him a compromise.
“Originally, I wouldn’t have done that, but… After this time, my meeting with you will be over, so I’ll give you a special courtesy.”
“…Which?”
『Cook-Cook… I’ll replace the lack of points by transferring the ownership of the ‘item’ you have as much as the points you lack. How are you?』
“…Items?”
“Okay. For one, you should be able to give me the magic book of the universe or the soul mask…”
“Those things never work.”
Since these two items are the items Seongil regards as the most important, he resolutely cuts off Kitty’s words.
『Whoops… Really? Then how about this. Offering two. The items are the ‘Gauntlet, Indomitable Will’ and the dagger ‘Devil’s Tooth’ you are wearing.』
‘…I guess I’ll have to think about that.’
Gauntlets that provide strength buffs, defense and fire resistance auras, and demon’s teeth, a powerful throwable item.
Both of them were Seongil’s favorite items, but the recent Plasma Gun and Arunrabe. The two items were not very important to him now, as he had acquired a bunch of new powerful offensive weapons.
『If it were me, I would just pay tribute. The ‘opportunity’ given by the god of knowledge will be of great help to you.』
“…Can I ask what the reason was?”
“No. Isn’t that funny?”
‘Fuck…’
Seong-il gets annoyed at the mischievous kitty answer. However, no matter how much he thought about it, there was never a time when Kitten’s ‘giyeon’ hadn’t helped him, so Seong-il eventually began to take off his gauntlet and dagger.
