Chapter 116

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 116 - S-Rank (2)

[You have been promoted to S-Rank within the Order Faction.]

[You ascend to the rank of ‘Lesser God’ as an Immortal of the Order Faction.]

[From now on, you will maintain your soul form using SP. As long as you have SP, your soul form will remain immortal. If all SP is depleted, your soul form will be sealed.]

Wow, an Immortal.

Does this mean I can’t die anymore?

Hercules is a Soul Reaper, so he might still be able to kill me, but as long as it’s not him, I guess I can survive no matter what.

[All stats of the Order Faction are integrated into ‘Soul Power’.]

[Soul Power affects the abilities of the Order Faction, including Strength, Agility, and Magic, while also enhancing the efficiency of soul-related abilities.]

[Soul Power has reached 1,000.]

[The skill level limit for the Soul Mediator class has been removed.]

[When the skill level of the Soul Mediator class increases, derivative skills will emerge.]

[You have met the conditions to establish a Soul Exchange. The establishment of a Soul Exchange is now possible.]

I thought reaching god-rank would grant me an extra skill, but that’s not the case.

Still, having no skill level restrictions is a good thing.

[You can now fully manifest in soul form. While in soul form, you can use all divine powers, and their efficiency will scale with your Soul Power.]

As soon as I saw that message, I thought about transforming into a soul.

The moment I imagined it, my body became transparent.

A strong sense of liberation overwhelmed me.

Letting myself go with the feeling, I began floating upward.

If I continued like this, I’d probably phase through the ceiling.

But as soon as I willed myself to stop, I halted midair.

Standing in midair in my soul form, I instinctively understood what SP and Soul Power were.

The SP that had been merely a numerical value until now was something I could feel through an entirely new sense, beyond my five traditional senses.

SP—the fragments of souls—flowed past my soul form.

As they passed through me, I realized something.

Without passing through ‘me,’ only 1% of the originally obtained SP would reach the gods.

Soul mediation was the process of salvaging the missing 99% and delivering it to the gods.

So if I keep leveling up my skills, I could eventually achieve 100 times the efficiency?

That’s insane…

I observed the flowing SP with my newly awakened sixth sense.

Inside the fragments of souls were traces of intelligent beings, like grains of sand lined up endlessly.

Within them, I could sense the emotions of intelligent beings—the Seven Emotions: joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, love, hatred, and desire.

And this wasn’t limited to just humans.

There were also the faith and emotions of elves who believed in Elprian.

The faith and emotions of dragons and monsters who worshiped Drakia.

Countless fragments flowed through me in a complex pattern.

I suddenly recalled the time when I had performed soul reaping without upgrading ‘Form Maintenance.’

Back then, I almost got assimilated into a monster’s emotions.

But now, things were different.

Perhaps because I had ascended to divinity, my sense of self remained crystal clear.

I was merely observing the fragments passing through me.

I had an unshakable certainty—I wouldn’t be consumed by them.

Because I was the one controlling them.

Still, just in case, I checked the shop to see if ‘Form Maintenance’ was available for purchase.

But at S-Rank, it was no longer being sold.

Was the system telling me to handle it on my own now that I had become a god?

Sigh…

I descended back to the ground and returned to my physical form.

The moment I did, I felt a heavy weight pressing down on me.

Gravity, perhaps?

Soul form was much more comfortable.

Diana was staring at me with wide eyes.

“Jiho, was that soul manifestation just now?”

“Yeah. I can even live in soul form now. It’s much more comfortable.”

“I didn’t notice much difference before you transformed, but once you did, I could feel an overwhelming presence.”

Her eyes were filled with admiration as she gazed at me.

And… her face was turning red.

“Jiho, you exuded an enormous presence. You really have become a god. It’s incredible.”

“Really? I give off that kind of presence in soul form? How about now?”

“Right now, you don’t feel much different from before. Your magic feels stronger, but… it’s nothing compared to the overwhelming presence from before.”

Looks like my abilities are more specialized for the soul state.

That’s a good thing. I want to maintain a peaceful life, and not having an overwhelming presence in my physical form helps.

Meanwhile, countless messages continued to pop up.

Avatar creation was now possible, and all soul-related skills had greatly improved.

I was skimming through the flood of messages when one particular line caught my attention.

[As a soul-based class, you can appoint Apostles, but you cannot receive worshippers.]

I can’t have worshippers?

I never intended to play god just because I reached divinity, but this is unexpected.

The system outright prohibits it.

Well, whatever.

But then, the final message caught me off guard.

[Maintaining an immortal soul form consumes 500,000 SP daily. This is the minimum cost and will increase as your Soul Power grows.]

I lose 500,000 SP every day?

Just like that?

I don’t know yet how much I’ll be earning daily from soul mediation, but that’s not a small amount.

So this is the price of immortality…

I need to see how efficient Soul Power truly is.

I checked my status window.

My Guardian, level, strength, agility, and magic had disappeared.

[Name: Kim Jiho

Class: Soul Mediator, Lesser God of the Order Faction

Title: Earth’s Strongest Human

Soul Power: 1,000

SP: 913,000]

It’s so much simpler now.

Hmm… but since it keeps mentioning the Order Faction, does that mean my Neutral Faction status hasn’t changed?

[Name: Kim Jiho

Class: Soul Reaper

Title: God Slayer

Level: 200

Body: S

Magic: S

Skill: S

Luck: S

SP: 100,104]

This side hasn’t changed.

I never fully maxed out my S-Rank stats, so I guess I still need to upgrade them separately.

As I was staring at my status window, another message appeared.

[The conditions for achieving S-Rank in the Neutral Faction are as follows:]

All stats at S-Rank.

Acquisition of Divine Qualification.

God-Slaying.

10,000,000 SP earned per day.

There are conditions here too…

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

All stats at S-Rank—almost done.

I just need to fill up the stat bars with SP.

But I need to acquire Divine Qualification again?

And god-slaying isn’t counted yet…

The daily SP requirement has increased tenfold to 10 million.

The Qualifications of Divinity—where do I get that again?

This is complicated.

Having two status windows so far has been a huge advantage, but now I have to level up even within S-rank?

What a hassle.

The 10 million income is one thing, but God-Slaying and the Qualifications of Divinity are even more troublesome.

Somehow, I feel like the 10 million won’t take too long.

Should I accept my father’s suggestion to subdue Pollux?

[If you meet the conditions for S-rank in the Neutral Faction as well, you will be promoted from a Lower God to a Soul God.]

[Upon becoming a Soul God, you will no longer be bound by any faction.]

[You are currently only half a god. The system’s protection has been reduced but will continue to exist.]

A Soul God, huh?

Not being tied to a faction sounds nice.

But what really caught my eye was the last sentence.

Since I am S-rank in the Order Faction and A-rank in Neutral, it means I am still under the system’s protection.

The very protection that kept Olympus and Asgard wary enough not to touch me.

Even though it’s been reduced, the fact that it still exists is good news for me.

Brrr—

Just as I was feeling satisfied with this realization, my phone vibrated.

I checked the number, and it was Aria—the one who lost an eye earlier because of Odin.

“Hello?”

[Kim Jiho, I have urgent news.]

“What is it?”

[Loki has contacted us. Due to Odin’s sudden descent, communication will be cut off for a month. He won’t be able to send SP during that time, but he’s asking you to keep the contract.]

Oh?

Wouldn’t that be grounds for contract termination?

He’s supposed to send me 10 million SP daily, but now he won’t be able to.

And there’s still 150 million left.

I thought about canceling the contract immediately but decided to hold off for now.

“Hmm... tell him I’ll think about it.”

[Please, Kim Jiho. We even provided Guan Yu to help with your God-Slaying quest... Loki said that if you agree to keep the contract, he will pay you an extra 100 million.]

“I’ll keep that in mind. But how can I talk to you if Loki can’t contact me?”

[I am Odin’s direct Valkyrie under Asgard. I can communicate with gods.]

So that’s the difference between being part of a faction and not.

I ended the call after acknowledging her request.

Why are they so desperate, offering an extra 100 million?

But honestly, I don’t feel like their SP is as essential as before.

And after experiencing Odin’s All-Seeing Eye, I’ve grown more wary.

Sure, I’ve reached S-rank now, but these guys have been dominating at SSS-rank for ages.

If Odin decides I’m no longer under system protection, he could just take control of the contract with his All-Seeing Eye.

The fact that they’re so eager to secure this contract makes me think there’s some hidden trick involved.

“Damn it. Being a god isn’t all good. Why are there so many SSS-ranks just lying around?”

At this point, it’s harder to find gods who aren’t SSS-rank.

Are the lower ranks just not well-known? …Tch.

In a way, it’s actually lucky that the Neutral Faction is still A-rank.

That means I still have system protection.

“Jiho, didn’t you say earlier that Skuld’s Fragment would unlock at S-rank?”

“Oh, right. I need to check that.”

There were so many changes after my S-rank upgrade that I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

But where is Skuld’s Fragment?

I absorbed it in an instant, then got thrown out of the portal and got caught by Odin’s All-Seeing Eye, so I have no idea where it went.

Would it be in my inventory?

“Inventory.”

But Skuld’s Fragment wasn’t there.

What the hell?

Could it have turned into a skill?

I opened my skill window, and among a flood of notifications about increased skill efficiency, I found something unexpected.

[D-rank skill ‘Danger Sense’ has fused with the power of Skuld’s Fragment.]

[Upgraded to S-rank skill ‘Danger Detection – Precognition.’]

Huh?

It fused with this skill?

But this is a passive ability…

[Danger Detection – Precognition]

[S-rank skill]

[Detects dangers the user is unaware of.

Vision turns red, and enemy attack trajectories become visible in advance.

Blessed by the Goddess of Time, Skuld: A random precognition will activate once every 100 days.

Precognition will primarily relate to the user’s danger.]

A spontaneous precognition once every 100 days…

The randomness is concerning, but since it’s tied to my own dangers, it sounds useful.

So, Skuld foresaw that I would obtain this skill?

That’s pretty amazing.

But if the fragment merged with this skill, does that mean Skuld’s third prophecy is gone?

Hmm… I guess I just have to wait 100 days now.

Feels kind of disappointing.

“This skill changed, so now I have to wait 100 days for a random precognition.”

“Oh… then we won’t know anything for a while.”

“Yeah. A shame, really. Maybe in 100 days, I’ll get some insight. But it’s random…”

Diana looked disappointed on my behalf.

“We need to uncover that strange connection…”

“Yeah, I know… Sigh. I’m taking a break today.”

God-Slaying, meeting Odin, ranking up to S-rank…

It’s been a tiring day.

Plus, I need to check my daily SP income tomorrow.

I’ve finally reached S-rank, so grinding A-rank dungeons on Mount Heracles just doesn’t appeal to me anymore.

“What about you, Diana?”

When I asked if she was heading back, Diana swallowed nervously and, in a small voice, said:

“…Can I stay with you today?”

Her cheeks flushed slightly as she looked up at me.

Uh…?

What’s up with her all of a sudden?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]