Chapter 63: Chapter 63

[Translator - Night][Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 63: Hermes, Loki, Hades (1)

[Hermes! Quickly, block your ears. That one has a tongue as sly as a snake.]

Hermes.

The god who acts as a messenger?

He suits the role perfectly—minus the suit.

He bent his waist and started rubbing his hands together until they were raw.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Who are you calling a snake? Come now, let’s not pay attention to such words. Kim Jiho, the awakened one, the bearer of the seed of the Soul God."

He rubbed his palms together apologetically, bowing in a servile manner.

Though he never lost his smile, his demeanor didn’t come across as overly subservient.

His voice was so enchanting that whenever he spoke, it demanded attention.

"Now then, let’s think about a new future for ourselves. It’s a huge relief you weren’t harmed by Pollux’s little solo adventure."

This bastard is up to something.

Solo adventure?

What nonsense.

It made my teeth grind.

"Are you trying to sell me something?"

When I shot back, Hermes paused briefly before smiling again.

"Hahaha. So, when did you purchase the ability to maintain your form? My goodness. None of my words seem to work."

[Haha. Good job.]

Unbelievable.

While I was down there fighting Hades to the death, he actually seemed reliable here.

"Oh my, Uncle. Where did your dignified demeanor go? And what’s with that laugh, ‘Haha’?"

[It’s because you all have driven me mad. Haha.]

"Persephone..."

[Shut up.]

"Ah, such a hopeless romantic. So unlike a god."

[Hey.]

"Alright, alright."

Hades’ tone was so serious it sent chills down my spine.

When the God of Death gets serious, it’s terrifying.

Wait—Persephone?

Isn’t that Hades’ wife?

Looks like Olympus has pulled some crap again.

Honestly, considering it’s those guys, it’s not surprising.

"Alright then, Uncle, why don’t you take your leave now?"

[I can’t just leave Kim Jiho, the awakened one, behind.]

"Well, that’s true."

Chaos God or not, I didn’t care.

For now, this side was my best bet.

I poured all my focus into infusing magic.

The magic circle became clearer and started to expand.

Hermes clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers.

The magic circle immediately stopped expanding.

"Alright, Kim Jiho. I’ll follow your lead. I’ll just stop the expansion for now. After all, this is Olympus."

[Kekeke. Well played.]

"Tsk. I should’ve come with my rank downgraded. Alright, Loki, who’s hiding over there, come out now."

Loki?

The Loki from Norse mythology?

The one from the movies?

[Loki too? Kim Jiho, you’ve got connections everywhere, don’t you?]

"Loki? I don’t know any Loki."

"Tsk, tsk. If I hadn’t seen you in person, Kim Jiho, I wouldn’t have known. You’re practically a patron deity now."

"What? Patron deity? The only ones I’ve got are Pollux and Aurelia..."

"Oh, right. Aurelia. If not for my divine eyes, I wouldn’t have noticed. Truly remarkable."

Wait.

Could it be Aurelia?

Isn’t Loki supposed to be male?

"Of course, Hermes. Always so annoying."

Suddenly, Aurelia appeared.

Her once pure face had turned cold and unforgiving.

Uh... goddess...?

"You even cross-dress well. So pretty. Truly."

"Haha. I’ve even birthed a horse before. Gender transformation is nothing."

"You mean Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse? Truly... impressive."

Hermes spoke with a disgusted look on his face.

Wait... birthed a horse?

Oh.

I was in shock.

When I checked my status window, my patron deity had changed to Loki, the God of Deception.

No way...

Even the system was fooled?

How is this even possible?

[Wow. A god acting as a patron deity? That’s too much for a human to handle.]

"Hades, that’s why I downgraded my avatar to the God of Volcanoes. The details are a trade secret."

[Wow. Kim Jiho, are you really going to stick with these terrifying people? Come to the embrace of chaos. You could become the next Lord of Chaos.]

Hades suddenly made me an offer.

Hermes tried to stop him.

"If you go to Hades, you’ll be forcibly raised to an S-rank and dissected. I won’t be able to protect you then."

"Why does protection stop at S-rank?"

"Because you’re the seed of the Soul God. If another god interferes with a divine seed, the system retaliates."

[Haha. Would I do such a thing? Have I ever led you astray? I even protected you during that last crisis, didn’t I? Hahaha.]

"Hades will destroy Earth for sure. Don’t go."

Aurelia—or rather, Loki—also tried to stop me.

Hades only raised his voice in response.

[What use is Earth? Kim Jiho, think bigger. You’ve been blessed with divine potential. You even bear the seed of the Soul God! Don’t be tied down to Earth. Join us and create your own world. I’ll help you with all my heart.]

"Create my own world...?"

[To get rid of those bastards, destroying Earth is essential. But after destroying it, you can create an identical world. Join me!]

Ugh.

After getting backstabbed so many times, I was tempted to lean into chaos.

But creating a world?

That’s far too grand a task for me.

And honestly, given the way he talks, if I go, I’ll probably end up dissected.

Hermes clapped his hands.

Clap clap.

"Kim Jiho. At this rate, you won’t be able to maintain yourself. Creating even a small world requires an SSS-rank, if not higher. Think about it—didn’t you invest so much just to maintain your form? How can you suddenly become a creator? Just stay as part of Earth."

"That’s true. But you can’t trust Olympus either. They’ve backstabbed you badly before. How about Asgard? Come to us. I, Loki, swear on my name to protect you."

"Oh, please. Swearing on Loki’s name is just like saying, ‘I’m going to scam you.’"

"And you, acting all righteous after betraying us?"

"Hahaha. Betrayal? No, no. That was just Pollux overstepping his bounds."

[Oh, come on. Trust me. I’ll create a planet just like Earth for you, without those jerks.]

Aaaaaagh.

Listening to these three gods argue from different factions was giving me a headache.

Let’s sort this out.

"First off, I don’t think I can trust the faction of order, given what happened today."

"Tsk..."

"Hades, I appreciate the help, but you’re way too unsettling."

[Oh, come on... I’m such a nice guy. Should I become a woman too?]

"Ugh, no thanks. And Loki... gah, my back still hurts from all the backstabbing."

"Tsk. If only it weren’t for Hermes."

This really is a chaotic mess.

A god who looks like the ultimate con artist—Hermes.

The god of deception.

And the god of death gone mad.

How does it make sense to choose between the three?

Honestly, I was really leaning toward neutrality, but to think it’s Loki...

Sigh...

All gods are scammers.

I need to keep my wits about me.

If I make the wrong move here, I’ll really get chained up and doomed.

Though my heart burns to set Olympus on fire, I painfully realize now is the time to hold back my anger.

Sure, I’m the strongest Awakened One on Earth, but here in the divine realm, I’m nothing.

If it weren’t for the uniqueness of my soul-related abilities, I’d have been erased a long time ago.

Still, because of this uniqueness, even those high-and-mighty gods are treating me like an equal. I should take advantage of that.

“So, I don’t want to side with any faction. Instead of that, why don’t you clever folks tell me what I should do next?”

“Us? Hahaha. You’ve got quite the sense of humor.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Yeah, you bunch of scammers, figure it out yourselves.

I’m curious to hear what you come up with.

“Come on, give me some hints yourselves.”

[Hehehe, clever move.]

“Sigh. I could’ve seduced you with beauty, you know!”

Argh!

If I’d fallen for you, Loki, I’d have been so ashamed I’d give up on everything.

Aurelia...

The Aurelia who was so kind and considerate to me...

The betrayal stings.

“Hm. If I were in your position, Kim Jiho, the first thing I’d do, of course, would be to return to the embrace of Olympus...”

“Shut up before I lose my temper.”

“Hehe. Then the second option is networking. Honestly, I get that you don’t trust Olympus or me. But! Look at the neutral and chaotic factions too. Do they look trustworthy? Anyone can see they’d betray you at the first chance. Haha! Loki, a goddess of volcanoes? Even a passing dog would laugh at that.”

“Unbelievable. You guys who collect divine spirits like this are scarier. Are you sure you’re the Order faction? You’re not demons? Offering sacrifices because someone didn’t trust Olympus? Tsk tsk. These spirits worshipped your faction so devotedly. This spirit looks like it’s at least of a pope’s level...”

Loki, in Aurelia’s form, strokes the spirit pitifully.

What?

A pope-level spirit?

“Oh dear, oh dear. Pollux, you idiot! Acting on your own like this, what a waste of those spirits!”

Hermes waves his hands dramatically, and the spirits vanish into thin air.

Wow.

They’re really dumping all the blame on Pollux.

What trash.

Argh!

I really want to stick it to these Order guys.

But for now, let’s just hear them out.

“Networking?”

“That’s right. There’s soul mediation, for example. Don’t you have any other usable skills?”

“Yeah. Spill it.”

[I’m curious too. Hehehe.]

Sigh.

These guys fight like cats and dogs but cooperate perfectly when it comes to this stuff.

Is it even right for Order, Neutral, and Chaos to be at war?

Still, as for skills...

I did gain the Soul Trade and Soul Energy Emission skills.

Soul Energy Emission doesn’t seem like a trading skill, so I’ll keep it hidden.

Soul Trade, on the other hand, might be a useful trade skill like Soul Mediation.

I examined the Soul Trade skill.

[Soul Trade LV1]

[Facilitates SP transactions for all entities regardless of rank. Summons a trading window and takes a 0.1% fee on transactions. Can trade up to 10 million SP per transaction, 10 times a day. If the skill level rises to S-rank, it can establish an SP Exchange.]

Huh.

This is totally a business skill, isn’t it?

Is it even good?

Well, if I don’t tell anyone, it’ll just rot uselessly.

Might as well share it.

“I got a skill called Soul Trade that facilitates SP transactions.”

“Facilitates SP transactions?”

“Even between gods of the same rank?”

[Well, well. That’s an interesting skill. Did you guys at Olympus come up with this too?]

“No, we only planned for Soul Mediators. We never even thought of such a skill... I’m curious about the detailed conditions.”

Since I’ll have to sell this to them, I explained the skill’s details.

Hermes and Loki, in her goddess form, nodded in satisfaction.

“10 million SP with a 0.1% fee.”

“Not bad at all. You can exchange up to 100 million SP a day, and the fee is way cheaper than the SP Store.” S~eaʀᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

[No, no, no! That’s a shady skill. They’ll use you!]

“Haha. We’re not interested in the opinion of the SP Store manager.”

“Exactly. We’ve been grinding our teeth over the 3% fees we’ve been paying.”

Wait, Hades is the SP Store manager?

That’s unexpected.

So the SP Store belongs to Chaos?

“Is SP trading usually not allowed?”

“Yes. We can only bestow it to subordinates or receive offerings from them. Trading among equals isn’t allowed.”

“Actually, even among higher beings, there’s rarely a reason to trade. So when we do, we’ve been placing items in the SP Store and trading through that, paying the 3% fee.”

“3% is way too high. And if you give SP to a subordinate and they switch their allegiance, it’s gone. The system’s pretty unfair.”

[Oh, come on. Do you know how hard it is to maintain the store? We need to make a living too.]

So until now, trading among equals wasn’t allowed, and they had to use the SP Store with its 3% fee.

“I like this skill. Even though we’ve had some unfortunate incidents, I’d like to maintain a good relationship. It’s a shame to burn bridges over one person’s mistake.”

“This skill could benefit the Order faction too. But Soul Mediation is better suited to us. After all, how many gods are already trading with you on the other side? You need balance.”

“Didn’t you say last time you couldn’t afford to pay enough?”

“Well, now that you’re at B-rank, things are different. Plus, the time is almost right...”

Loki, still in Aurelia’s form, smirked.

The sweet, innocent goddess from before was gone, replaced by someone incredibly sly.

Speaking of Soul Mediation, that skill leveled up too.

[Soul Mediation LV3]

[Facilitates soul absorption among gods. Generates 60% efficiency, and the user can take up to 20% as a fee. Can mediate for up to 12 guardian gods. Allows access to the Soul Mediation window, where contracts can be terminated for valid reasons.]

Mediating for 12 guardian gods, huh.

Currently, I’m mediating for six.

Pollux, Aurelia, Apollo, Hephaestus, Zeus, and Athena.

Five are from the Order faction.

If I keep supporting Order, I might end up being subjugated by them.

[Those two are in cahoots anyway. Honestly, you’d be better off mediating for us! The Lords of Chaos are always ready!]

“If you side with Hades, Earth is doomed.”

“You should be careful about this.”

Even though they’re allies, their opinions align on this...

More importantly, contracts can be terminated for valid reasons.

Opening the Soul Mediation window, I saw the six gods listed, with “Terminate Contract” next to each of their names.

Aurelia’s name even had an X mark on it...

Good.

“I’m terminating all contracts with Order.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]