Chapter 119

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 119: Avatar Exchange

“Hey, you’re not seriously going to seal me, are you?”

“Yeah. Let’s see how much SP it takes. Aren’t you curious? How much SP does it take to seal a true soul god?”

It’s definitely something I should know.

If this were a game, it would be like checking my max HP.

I need to know my limits so I can prepare for future situations.

But looking at that fist the size of my head makes me hesitate.

“Wait, do I really have to take that punch…?”

“This isn’t even a Soul Energy Emission, so there’s no risk of annihilation. As the Lord of Chaos, I’m just giving you a flick on the forehead.”

That fist is bigger than my head—what kind of “flick” is that?

“Yeah, no, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“What, don’t you trust me? Look, I swear. No Soul Energy Emission, just a seal test.”

As soon as Hercules swore, the system displayed a confirmation message.

This guy… Why is he so eager?

“Do we really have to do this?”

“Of course! Knowing your limit is crucial. You should be grateful I’m doing this for free. And it’s just a test. I’ll stop the attack as soon as I see the SP cost.”

He explained that when he tries to seal me, the system will display the required SP cost.

If he’s just pretending to seal me rather than actually doing it, then it’s worth testing.

Just as I made up my mind, Hercules swung his fist.

[Danger Detection activated.]

The upgraded Danger Detection showed me the trajectory.

But his fist was even faster.

Even though the skill was upgraded to foresee the future, the fist landed before the red trajectory could fully form.

Does that mean I can’t properly read an SSS-rank Lord of Chaos’s attack?

The fist stopped right in front of my face.

Up close, it looked even bigger than my head.

And as it halted, a powerful gust of wind followed.

If I didn’t brace myself, I’d be blown away.

Boom!

Behind me, everything was a mess.

I heard the sound of mountains being sliced and boulders flying.

Damn, he just casually swung his fist, and a mountain collapsed…

So this is an SSS-rank Lord of Chaos.

Even at S-rank, I still have a long way to go.

Hercules, with his fist still extended, suddenly seemed to realize something.

“Oh, right. Use up all your SP.”

“Huh? Why?”

“If you take a hit in this state, your SP will be drained first. That means you’ll just be wasting it.”

Apparently, before spending SP to seal a god, my own SP would be depleted first.

Rather than losing it from a hit, I might as well use it myself.

Right now, I have 2.5 million SP.

I invested it all into my Soul power, raising it to 1,010.

“All done.”

“Alright, here I go.”

Is he going to throw his fist again?

But instead of moving his fist, he simply extended one finger.

His index finger lightly touched my forehead.

A faint pressure followed.

This was nothing—

Crack.

I felt my bones shatter.

His finger pierced straight through my forehead.

At first, there was pain, but it quickly disappeared.

His finger had gone straight through my brain.

If I were human, I would have passed out instantly.

But I felt completely fine.

At most, it was a mild discomfort.

My physical body was just a shell.

Since my Soul form was untouched, I barely felt anything.

“…Wait, this SP cost is ridiculous.”

While I was marveling at my own body, Hercules looked astonished.

“How much SP does it take?”

“Hold on… Did I read that wrong…?”

He even rubbed his eyes.

Then, in a low voice, he muttered:

“Hah… 100 billion… Even for a soul-awakened being, that’s insane. The system really favors soul-type awakeners.”

100 billion.

That number was too big to comprehend.

“How much does it take for other lower gods?”

“At most, between 10 million and 1 billion. That’s why most gods focus on keeping their SP reserves high so they don’t get sealed.”

Other lower gods max out at 1 billion, but mine is 100 billion…

That’s at least a 1,000 times difference.

“The prophecy said Asgard sealed me, right? Does that mean they used 100 billion SP? Does Asgard even have that much?”

“No way. If they had 100 billion SP, they’d just save up a bit more and upgrade to a Creator. That’s an absurd amount. I never even considered such a figure existed.”

Hercules withdrew his fist.

As he did, my body began to regenerate.

My brain reformed, my bones reconstructed, and my head returned to its original state.

“Huh, my body is healing on its own?”

“Yeah. Now that your body is an avatar, it automatically restores itself based on your true Soul form. Hmm… Avatar…”

He had been speaking nonchalantly, but then he got fixated on one word.

“Avatar… Right… What avatar-related skills do you have?”

The word “avatar” reminded me of Hades.

Back when I was protecting Elprian in Eshtar, Hades showed up to negotiate.

That’s when I got the ‘Avatar Exchange’ skill.

[Avatar Swap]

[Active Skill]

[Rank: SS]

[Completely swaps the position of your avatar and main body, free from any restrictions. The avatar left behind will move automatically based on the user’s behavior. The skill takes 200 days to recharge after use.]

I had obtained it by trading one of Persephone’s items.

But I had never used it.

Back when I was A-rank, I was only a demigod, so I didn’t have an avatar.

And I’d never been in a situation dangerous enough to warrant using it.

Hearing that I had received the Avatar Exchange skill from Hades, Hercules was shocked.

“You got Avatar Exchange?! That explains why they thought you were sealed. That skill is incredibly useful.”

“How so?”

“Here, look.”

Hercules sat down on the ground and started drawing with his finger.

“This here is Kim Jiho in Eshtar, labeled A. And this is Kim Jiho’s avatar on Earth, labeled B.”

He marked A and B, then put an X over A.

“Let’s say you’re in Eshtar and things get too dangerous. You’re on the verge of being sealed, and even using other teleportation powers would result in pursuit. That’s when you activate Avatar Exchange.”

“Is Avatar Exchange better than other abilities?”

“I think so. If you use this skill, you can switch to your B avatar on Earth. That way, you’ll be free from this place for now.”

So, I can swap bodies from my A avatar in Eshtar to my B avatar on Earth.

I get it so far.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“But what does that have to do with being sealed?”

“Even if you switch from A to B, A won’t just collapse like a puppet with its strings cut.”

“Hmm. The skill description said it moves automatically. Is that related?”

“Yeah, when you swap avatars, the one you left behind moves on its own, acting as you normally would. That avatar can still be sealed.”

So even if I escape to my B avatar, my A avatar will continue behaving as usual.

That means it won’t be immediately obvious that I’ve escaped.

That’s pretty useful.

But isn’t sealing only possible if there’s a soul present?

“Sealing only works on souls, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“But my abandoned A avatar won’t have my soul anymore, right? How can it be sealed?”

“There isn’t no soul left at all. A portion of your soul remains.”

If there were no soul left at all, the avatar would just be a lifeless puppet—according to Hercules.

Apparently, when you use Avatar Exchange, around 5–10% of your soul stays behind.

“Uh… then does the remaining soul recover over time?”

“It doesn’t fully recover. But if you return to the avatar you left behind, you can absorb that soul again. If that avatar has been sealed, you’ll have to break the seal first.”

“So, I can’t just infinitely escape by swapping avatars?”

“Exactly. Every time you use the skill to escape, you lose a small portion of your soul. Eventually, you’ll have to recover it.”

Hercules fell into deep thought.

He wiped away the A and B he had drawn on the ground with his hand and then looked at me.

“In that prophecy, you were probably in a state of having escaped using Avatar Exchange. There’s no way they’d pay 100 billion SP to seal your real body.”

“Oh… that makes sense.”

When Asgard tried to subdue and seal me, I used Avatar Exchange to escape.

They must have sealed the remaining avatar instead.

Then they celebrated, thinking they had successfully sealed me—only for me to still be alive and completely outplay them.

And as a result… Asgard goes up in flames?

Huh.

I kind of like that.

“If only 5–10% of my soul remains, does that mean sealing the leftover avatar would cost 50 or 100 million SP instead of 100 billion?”

“It’s probably not that simple. I don’t know the exact numbers either. I’d like to test it out, but Avatar Exchange has a 200-day cooldown, so I can’t just experiment recklessly.”

I agreed.

Who knows what could happen in those 200 days?

I can’t waste my chance on an experiment.

Hercules stood up from the ground.

“There’s no guarantee the prophecy will come true, but just in case, I recommend preparing an avatar. Store it somewhere safe. Not on Earth.”

Somewhere safe?

If not Earth, I don’t really have many options.

“Here, maybe?”

“Hmm… I wouldn’t recommend it. Freya is keeping an eye on this place. I don’t always have my Soul Barrier active either.”

“Good point.”

“Yeah, Eshtar is firmly under Asgard’s control. They’ll notice even the smallest change. Another planet would be safer.”

Another planet, huh…

The only one that comes to mind is Kevrian.

Elphrian seems to be an expert at making hideouts.

I’ll ask her for help.

“Thanks for the advice. Avatar Exchange is a pretty useful skill. But how do you know so much about it?”

“Any Lord of Chaos has this skill. It’s standard.”

“So it’s not exclusive to Hades?”

“Nope. It’s an SS-rank skill, but it’s important enough that we rarely let it leak outside. …Honestly, even if you have a fragment of Persephone, this seems like too great a gift.”

Hercules studied me closely.

Then, he smirked meaningfully.

“Maybe someone on our side wants to make you a Lord of Chaos.”

“What do you mean, ‘Lord of Chaos’?”

“Being granted Avatar Exchange means that much to us. Nothing is certain yet, but for now, just buy an avatar and store it somewhere safe.”

That powerful of a skill, huh?

That bastard Hades—always laughing like a madman, but at least he gave me something useful this time.

“Do they sell avatars in the SP shop?”

“Yeah. You can also create one yourself. Don’t you have a skill for it?”

I searched through my skill list, but I didn’t have an Avatar Creation skill.

When I told him, Hercules tilted his head in confusion.

“Huh. It usually unlocks once you reach S-rank… Maybe it’s different because you’re a Soul God? Just buy one from the shop, then. The SP cost is about the same anyway.”

I checked the SP shop and saw that avatars were indeed for sale.

The variety was insane—not just human forms, but even different species.

“Why are there so many options?”

“You can descend as different species. In the end, though, your soul is what matters, not the avatar itself. But you should buy a human-form avatar with high compatibility.”

“Compatibility?”

“It means how well your avatar’s wavelength matches your soul. To use Avatar Exchange, you need an avatar with at least 90% compatibility.”

So I have to buy a human one, after all.

I kind of wanted to try being a dragon, but their compatibility barely reaches 30%.

Even humanoid races like elves max out at 70–80%.

So it has to be human, huh?

If I’m buying one, I might as well go for 99% compatibility.

I selected it.

Then the price popped up.

[100 million SP.]

“…Why the hell are these all in the millions?”

“An avatar costs a billion?”

“Yeah, the 99% compatibility one is 100 million.”

“A billion? It’s just a human avatar, that’s way too expensive. Mine was only around ten million. Must be because you’re a Soul God.”

Damn, I thought being a Soul God came with perks, but now I have to pay extra for things like this?

I was planning to buy it right away and stash it in a hideout, but this messes up my plans.

I earn 4 million SP per day, so I could gather the amount in 25 days…

But who knows what could happen in those 25 days?

As I struggled with my options, my eyes landed on Hercules.

Right.

I have a rich guy right here.

I can borrow it.

“Hey, Hercules.”

“What?”

“Lend me 100 million SP.”

“…Do I look like your personal bank? Do you even understand how much 100 million is?”

“I’ll pay you back with interest. 5% in a month.”

“5%? Hmm…”

Hercules wavered instantly.

A 5% return in just one month was a huge deal.

After thinking for a moment, he let out a deep sigh.

“This is the last time.”

Wow.

I asked without really expecting him to agree, but he’s actually lending it.

Even though I’ll owe 5% interest, this is still a win for me.

“But there’s a condition.”

“What condition?”

“You don’t have to pay me back right away. Instead, hurry up and open an SP exchange.”

“SP exchange?”

“Yeah. Within… three months, at least.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]