Chapter 99

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 99: An Unexpected Reunion (2)

I couldn’t believe my eyes, so I rubbed them.

It was my father’s face.

No, why is my father here?

As I sprang to my feet, my father gestured for me to sit back down.

“Are you really my father?”

“In spirit, yes… but it’s complicated. I can’t say I’m entirely Kim Sejun.”

With a wry smile, my father snapped his fingers, and wings of light emerged from his back.

What the—an angel?

Now that I think about it, I recall someone mentioning ‘Michael’...

“I was appointed as an avatar by the great Michael, who was almost sealed away by Olympus. That’s why I can’t say I’m completely Kim Sejun anymore.”

“Michael… as in the archangel?”

I wasn’t well-versed in religion, but I knew about him from games.

“Yes, but when God ascended to the throne of the Absolute, Lord Michael also rose to the rank of a Supreme Deity. That’s how he was able to appoint me as his avatar.”

“But, Dad, I don’t remember you being that religious…”

“You just didn’t know. After your mother ran away and you caused me trouble, I turned to God.”

Wait, really?

I don’t remember causing trouble, though…

I scratched my head.

“So that’s why Heimdall couldn’t find you?”

“Heimdall? You mean the guardian of Asgard? I don’t know how he tried to track me, but it would’ve been difficult using only my previous records. I am now completely Lord Michael’s avatar.”

I see.

But he’s still my father… right?

Not just in appearance…

“You remember my birthday, right?”

“November 27th. You little brat, testing your father like this? I even remember when you pooped your pants in third grade.”

“Haha… I mean, that was when I was a kid.”

“Should I also remind you about when you watched adult videos in middle school?”

“Oh, come on! Can we not talk about that in public?!”

Wow, my face is burning.

So embarrassing.

At least he still has his memories.

“You started it.”

“You’re too much, Dad. But really, I’m so glad you’re alive.”

I had read in strategy guides that my father might still be alive, so I had high hopes…

But even Heimdall couldn’t find him, so I was half-convinced he was gone.

Now, seeing him alive and well, even as an avatar, made me happy.

My father smiled but then looked at me seriously.

“Jiho, we are trying to restore Earth to its original state. To do that, we need your power.”

“How exactly do you need it?”

“First, we need to break the seal using SP support.”

The seal placed by Olympus?

“Is it possible to break the seal just with SP support?”

“Yes. Do you know what your class is?”

“I have both Soul Mediator and Soul Reaper.”

“Soul Mediator…?”

My father seemed unfamiliar with the concept.

Maybe because it was created by Olympus?

After I explained it to him, he became ecstatic.

“They actually made something this powerful? Our plan can move forward even faster now!”

“What plan?”

“Can you cooperate with us? I need your confirmation.”

So he won’t tell me until I say yes…

That stung a little.

But I quickly understood.

Even though he was my father, and even though he was Michael’s avatar, I couldn’t immediately decide to cooperate.

Compared to Olympus, Asgard, and Chaos, he was more trustworthy, but I still had to be cautious.

Especially since I had already been betrayed by Loki’s group once.

Who knew if there were spies?

“I’d also like some confirmation. If I join you, will I get answers about the current situation?”

“Yes. I hope you’ll trust me.”

“What’s the method?”

“That’s…”

My father hesitated.

Another secret?

But I need to know how we’ll fix this situation before making a decision.

“I have a connection with Hercules. Chaos also told me to trust them. But if I don’t get at least a rough idea of your plan, I can’t just blindly believe you.”

“Hercules? You mean Olympus’s sword? And what does Chaos have to do with anything?”

So Hercules was originally Olympus’s sword.

The fact that my father knew this made him seem unfamiliar to me.

“He’s now the Lord of Chaos.”

“The Lord of Chaos, not part of Olympus?”

My father asked in surprise.

Ah… he really has no information about this, huh?

“Yes, he was betrayed by Olympus.”

“No wonder they haven’t tried to eliminate him. So Olympus lost their sword…”

“Because of Spirit Emission?”

Spirit Emission made it possible to kill gods, so they must have used him like a death-row executioner.

When I mentioned Emission Burst, my father’s eyes widened.

“You know a lot…”

“Soul Mediator is highly sought after by many factions.”

My father nodded.

But he still didn’t tell me the method.

Instead, he changed the subject.

“So you’re an awakened soul… By the way, what exactly does Soul Mediator do?”

I guess he wasn’t ready to share their plan.

Well, I get it—it feels like some kind of secret society.

I might as well answer his question.

“It’s a skill that increases the amount of SP the deities can receive.”

“There’s a skill like that…? Can you explain how it works?”

He asked carefully.

Information about Soul Mediator was widely known to Olympus, Asgard, and Chaos anyway, so there was no harm in sharing it.

When I detailed its abilities and percentage values, my father and the Avatar of Avalokiteshvara both gaped in astonishment.

“That’s… an absurdly powerful skill.”

“It’s revolutionary.”

“That’s why so many factions are trying to recruit me. What do you have to offer?”

I wasn’t fully committed yet, so I had to negotiate first.

“Jiho! This is about saving Earth! How can you think of this as a transaction?”

“Well, I was already tricked by Loki once, and I’m still just an A-rank. I can’t trust any side completely… I can’t work for free.”

I shrugged, and my father chuckled.

“You’re right. Even between father and son, SP should be handled properly.”

“I mean, I’d love to help you out, Dad, but there’s no room left.”

“No room?”

“Yes, Soul Mediator requires an available slot, but Olympus and Asgard already took them. I can’t just remove them easily.”

My father nodded in understanding and asked,

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“Is Soul Mediation a skill? Or is it part of a larger system?”

“It’s a skill. It can even be upgraded. But to upgrade it now, I need 50 million SP.”

“50 million SP…? With 100 million SP, you could unseal a Supreme Deity…”

Avalokiteshvara spoke as if exhausted.

"100 million is enough? It's expensive, but considering it's a god-tier seal, it actually seems cheap."

"If it's just a skill, that's fortunate. We can help with that."

"Huh? How?"

"We can expand your limits. That level of skill modification is possible."

Skill modification is possible?

But how could sealed gods have such power?

"There is a divine artifact. If we expand your capacity, will you use it solely for our benefit?"

"Of course."

"We’d like to set the commission at a fixed 20%."

Did I explain the skill too clearly?

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the commission adjustment.

But since it’s a request from my father, I have to comply.

"Hmm... Since it's for my father, I’ll agree to it."

"Hahaha, thank you. I raised a good son. Now, let’s gather Skill Stones."

With that, my father looked at the masked Avalokiteshvara.

She shook her head.

"Skill Stones… Let’s have Michael check them first. We can’t carelessly use SS-rank treasures."

"How stingy. Avalokiteshvara had such a broad mind, but her avatar is like this?"

"No way!"

"Alright, alright."

As my father raised his hand, a green light gathered and a green gemstone fell.

The gem landed in my father's hand.

"This is a Skill Stone. A divine artifact that upgrades skills."

"Skill upgrade…?"

"It’s different from leveling up. It increases a skill’s efficiency. Expanding your skill’s targets should be possible."

With trembling hands, I grasped the Skill Stone.

Then, a message window appeared.

[Would you like to use the Skill Stone?]

I pressed "Yes," and another message appeared.

[Please select a skill.]

I chose "Soul Mediation," and the Skill Stone in my hand slowly disappeared.

Then, another selection appeared.

[Your Soul Mediation skill has been upgraded.]

[Please select an upgrade option.]

[Increase Skill Efficiency]

[Increase Skill Targets]

[Reduce Skill Upgrade Costs]

The other two options were tempting, but I chose to increase the skill's targets.

Another message appeared immediately.

[Soul Mediation target capacity has increased by 10 slots.]

Wow, that's powerful.

Ten slots?

Normally, I’d have to raise the skill level by ten to achieve this.

"Is it possible now?"

"Yes, it is."

I designated Michael as the Soul Mediation target.

After completing the contract and adjusting the commission, the mediation was finalized.

"Is the contract complete?"

"Yes."

"Then let's check the effects."

"It’ll take at least a day to see the effects."

"That’s not a problem."

As my father tapped his fingers on the round table, a strong light emanated from it.

The light engulfed the entire space and then vanished with a flash.

"Oh, this is an incredible amount of SP."

At his words, I checked my SP.

It had increased by almost a million.

"What did you do?"

"I accelerated time. Four days have passed in Earth's time."

"Wow, that's amazing."

"This power of mine has been useless ever since the SP income dried up, but it turns out to be quite handy."

A power to accelerate time?

That’s incredible.

Originally, my income was 150,000, but with Kevrian and my father helping, along with the increased efficiency from the SP skill, it had skyrocketed to 250,000.

"How many options appeared when you used the Skill Stone?"

"Three."

"Hmm. That means you can use two more. Avalokiteshvara, we need more Skill Stones."

"Hmm..."

The masked woman hesitated before whispering to my father.

"How much have you earned?"

I could hear her clearly, so I didn’t understand why she was whispering.

"200,000."

"200,000?! In just four days?"

Avalokiteshvara was shocked.

She looked back and forth between my father and me, then spoke suspiciously.

"You’re not tricking me just because you're father and son, right?"

"What nonsense! I am the chosen avatar of Michael. If I were to accuse you in the same way, how would you take it? To us, the will of the gods is paramount!"

My father burst out angrily, and Avalokiteshvara immediately bowed her head.

"Ah… Yes. I misspoke."

"Soul Mediation is extremely efficient. With Skill Stones, the unsealing process will be even faster."

"That’s true. I’ll support you. However, since Skill Stones are extremely valuable, it won't be enough to only support me. You should also support one Buddhist deity."

"I agree. I’d also like Gabriel to be supported."

So they’re each selecting two deities from Buddhism and Christianity?

That works for me.

I still have nine slots left, so even if I support two from each, I’ll have six slots remaining.

"Understood. Just tell me who."

"Alright, then we just need one more Skill Stone..."

"I don’t have one."

"Neither do I. We’ll have to ask the others."

As they continued talking, Avalokiteshvara handed me a gemstone identical to the one my father had summoned.

As I grasped the Skill Stone again, the upgrade options had decreased to two.

[Increase Skill Efficiency]

[Reduce Skill Upgrade Costs]

I need to maximize my earnings.

Efficiency it is.

After choosing efficiency, Avalokiteshvara immediately pressed me.

"If you used the Skill Stone, hurry and mediate me."

"Yes, yes."

I selected Avalokiteshvara for Soul Mediation.

While at it, I also selected Gabriel.

"Which other Buddhist deity should I support?"

"Will SP flow to a sealed god through Soul Mediation?"

"When I mediated deities sealed in other worlds instead of Olympus or Asgard, they still received SP."

"Perfect. We need a warrior. Support Asura."

"Asura?"

"Yes, once he breaks his seal, he can defeat Pollux, who guards the god-sealing site."

"Pollux?"

"Yes… The son of Zeus. A lower deity, but incredibly powerful. We need a god of battle to subdue him."

Pollux.

My former guardian deity.

The one who granted me infinite stamina... was guarding the sealing site?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]