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CHAPTER 156 – ORACLE
Yamtte’s mouth fell open without her meaning to.
Saying he was going to kill an angel was that shocking.
She’d never even imagined it.
“W-why would you kill an angel?”
“Why? Don’t you want to kill them?”
“No, I mean, I know angels are bad, but…….”
“You’re asking what we gain by killing one, right?”
“Yes.”
Ryu Min snorted a laugh.
“There is something.”
As for benefits, he’d already gotten them back in Round 1.
By being the first to kill an angel, he’d received a title and a rune.
The reason he could become a Reaper in the first place was because he’d killed an angel.
After that, he hadn’t killed angels not out of fear of punishment, but purely because there was no benefit.
‘That is—only for normal angels.’
If you kill a normal angel now, you don’t get any reward at all.
But combat angels are different.
What Ryu Min intended to drag out was a combat angel.
“You just stay beside me, and when I tell you to dominate, you do it. Understood?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Hurry. Before Min Juri’s buff ends.”
When you kill a combat angel for the first time, there’s a reward you receive in proportion to your stats.
That was why he wanted to catch it before the buff ended.
As Ryu Min led the way, Yamtte trotted after him.
Soon, they arrived at the biggest temple in the Holy Empire: Luvaiah’s Temple.
They said it was the place that served the god Luvaiah, but he didn’t care about that kind of setting.
Whether it was real or fake, Ryu Min’s only interest was calling down an angel.
Before they could even open the temple doors, the Holy Knights waiting at the entrance blocked them.
“You’re unfamiliar faces. For what purpose have you come?”
If he said, “We’re here to do Sub Quests,” the NPCs would tilt their heads in confusion.
To them, players were warriors from another world, and “system” or “quests” were words they didn’t know.
“We came seeking peace for our hearts.”
“Is that so?”
The knight moved his spear aside and opened the way.
Meaning: go in.
“May you find the path you seek within Luvaiah’s sanctuary.”
“Thank you.”
The knight, having let them pass without knowing what Ryu Min might do, returned to staring forward.
Yamtte followed quietly behind Ryu Min, like a well-behaved puppy.
Before they entered the chapel, a priest approached them.
“Welcome, Brother. Is this your first time here?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’ll need to register with the temple first.”
“No. We’re only stopping by briefly.”
“Then perhaps you’d like to attend worship—”
“It’s fine. That aside, I’d like to give an offering.”
“An offering?”
Ryu Min looked at the priest and suddenly used the trade function.
A trade window appeared.
[Think freely of the item(s) or gold you wish to give to the other party.]
<Trader: Black Scythe>
└Items to Trade: None
└Gold to Trade: 1,000,000G
☞Trade☜
<Trader: Priest Valus>
└Items to Trade: None
└Gold to Trade: 0G
☞Trade☜
[After placing the item(s), press the ‘Trade’ button.]
[The trade will be completed only if both sides agree.]
‘Most people would assume it only works on players….’
But you can use the trade function with NPCs too.
Even Ryu Min had initially wondered if it would work on NPCs, but he learned after trying.
Looking at the gold, Ryu Min thought: one million.
One million gold was entered automatically, and he pressed the Trade button immediately.
As if it wasn’t a waste at all.
[Trade completed.]
[You have given Priest Valus 1,000,000 gold.]
Looking at his status, his gold—1.7 million—dropped to 700,000.
One million gold had been transferred.
At the unexpected fortune, the priest’s eyes went wide.
“Y-you’re donating this much money?”
“Yes.”
The priest looked shocked, but only for a moment.
Even though he tried to act like nothing happened, the corners of his mouth were twitching.
You could tell just from his greed-stirred eyes.
How worldly his thoughts were.
Still, he didn’t snatch it greedily.
Maybe he wanted to keep up appearances—he said something he didn’t mean.
“One million gold…… I cannot accept such a vast sum.”
‘You already took it, and you “can’t accept” it?’
Holding back a sneer, Ryu Min wore the smile of a philanthropist.
“To offer to the great Luvaiah-nim, this much is only proper. And for me, it isn’t such a large amount. You don’t need to feel burdened.”
“You are quite wealthy. Heh heh heh.”
Perhaps deciding he wouldn’t return it, the priest kept laughing “heh heh” for a while.
Of course, there was a reason Ryu Min had slapped down such a large sum.
‘At this point, the easiest Sub Quest to clear is [Make an Offering].’
Sure enough, the message he’d been waiting for appeared before his eyes.
<Sub Quest – Make a Massive Offering>
└Condition ▶ Donate at least 1,000,000 gold to the temple
[You have completed the Sub Quest!]
[Human reputation toward Black Scythe has increased from ‘Neutral’ → ‘Friendly’.]
In the fantasy world, there are countless Sub Quests.
Even in this Holy Empire alone, there are at least thirty.
‘Taking advantage of the fact I could regress dozens of times, I searched for Sub Quests one by one and cleared them.’
As a result, he’d established an optimal quest route and the fastest quests to clear—and this was one of them.
‘If you have enough money, the quest you can clear in one second is “Make an Offering.”’
Even so, at this point in time, the enormous sum of 1,000,000 gold wasn’t something just anyone could get, meaning it was also a quest other players simply couldn’t do.
That was why the reputation jump was so large as well.
“Thank you so much for your generous offering. May Luvaiah’s grace always be with you, believer. Ha ha ha!”
“Thank you. But I dislike empty words. Rather than just saying that, I want to receive grace directly from the god.”
“Directly?”
Ryu Min spoke in a subtle voice.
“An oracle.”
“…….”
“I heard that Luvaiah’s Temple can communicate with the god through an oracle. If the god personally grants me grace, wouldn’t that be the greatest honor?”
That the temple could receive an oracle was common knowledge.
But no one demanded it.
Because only the Holy Empire’s highest leader—the Holy Emperor—had the right to receive an oracle.
That was why the priest wore an awkward smile.
“You must not know since this is your first time here, but only His Majesty the Holy Emperor may receive an oracle. A believer lacking faith cannot receive it.”
“Even after I donated one million gold?”
“Even so, impossible is impossible. An outsider of unknown origin seeking contact with the god? If His Majesty hears of it, he will be enraged.”
“Then return the gold I gave you.”
There’s nothing more petty than giving and then taking back, but Ryu Min shamelessly held out his palm.
However, the priest was no amateur at being thick-faced either.
“It is our principle not to return offerings once received.”
“I’m telling you to give it back.”
“If you’re dissatisfied, speak to the temple knight outside. He will kindly escort you to prison.”
With that threat—telling him to stop pushing—Ryu Min gave up.
“It can’t be helped.”
Persuasion ends here.
“Yamtte. Dominate.”
After dominating the priest, Ryu Min was able to proceed inside easily.
Of course, he also got back the one million gold.
Click—
When a hidden button behind the bookshelf was pressed, it opened with a rrrrrrk—, revealing a secret passage.
“From here on, it is dark, so please follow carefully.”
The priest spoke emotionlessly and led the way.
Ryu Min had only ordered him to guide them to the altar, yet he was this “helpful.”
“This is the place.”
After passing through the secret underground passage, they arrived at a pitch-black cavern.
As befits a place where an oracle descends, a faint light lingered in the air—giving it a certain atmosphere.
Though, if there weren’t any light, you could just as easily mistake it for a black magician’s site of sacrifice.
“Please wait here for a moment. I will bring His Majesty the Holy Emperor.”
“Bring him quickly. Tell him the proxy of Chronos said he must come alone.”
The priest only glanced, then ignored Ryu Min’s command.
Because the priest’s master was Yamtte alone.
“Do what he says! Hurry!”
“…Understood.”
Only after Yamtte spoke did the priest finally leave the cavern.
“Yamtte.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Put on your equipment properly. If things go wrong, we might end up in a dangerous situation.”
“Oh my, are you worried about me? Truly, thank—”
“I’m worried about losing the Rune of Charm, not you.”
“Hiiing.”
Leaving behind Yamtte pouting her lips like a duck, Ryu Min equipped his gear.
A legendary weapon. God-grade armor. God-grade helm.
He armed himself with items that would raise his stats as much as possible.
That way, the reward for killing the combat angel could be maximized.
Then—
Step, step—
Footsteps sounded from within the darkness.
Judging from the steps and the detected presence, there were two people approaching.
One was the priest who’d gone to fetch him, and the other was the Holy Emperor—the ruler of the Holy Empire.
“You’re saying the proxy of the god is truly waiting here?”
“Yes. He is right there.”
When the priest pointed at Ryu Min, the Holy Emperor stared with eyes like an old tiger.
“That man is Chronos’s proxy? Are you playing games with me? I can’t feel even a hair’s breadth of holy power from him.”
“Oh. You can’t feel it?”
Ryu Min snickered and brought out the title he’d been hiding.
The one that would be considered hostile in human reputation: [Last Time Reversal].
The moment he switched the title to “Visible,” the Holy Emperor’s eyes widened enormously.
“Well? Feel it now?”
“Y-you vile wretch! How dare you in this place! You shameless bastard who impersonated a proxy of the god and killed an archbishop—so brazen, you’ve walked right in!”
The Holy Emperor instantly unleashed murderous intent, holy power surging from his entire body.
An ordinary person would’ve had their knees give out from that pressure, but Ryu Min scoffed.
An NPC is an NPC.
It’s not even comparable to a combat angel.
‘Still, the reputation effect really is huge. The moment he saw me, he radiated killing intent and tried to kill me.’
Well, he’d killed an archbishop, so to every human NPC, he was a public enemy.
‘But.’
In an instant, Ryu Min closed the distance and drove his fist into the Holy Emperor’s abdomen.
Wham—!
“Khuhk!”
The Holy Emperor’s holy power, which looked like it might explode, shrank at once.
‘You’re no match for me.’
Then Ryu Min seized the back of his head and slammed it down into the floor.
A heavy impact transmitted into the Holy Emperor’s skull.
Ryu Min kept pressing down on the back of his head, applying force.
Like a faucet shut tight, no holy power leaked out.
“With that level of skill, you think you can square up to an 89?”
“Krrrgh!”
The Holy Emperor was strong, but still just an NPC.
If you compared him to a player, he was around level 60.
Against other players, maybe—but against Ryu Min, he couldn’t deal even a speck of damage.
“Yamtte. Dominate this one too.”
“Yes, Master.”
After the priest, even the Holy Emperor was dominated.
When domination finished, Ryu Min removed the hand that had been pressing down his head.
“Give your orders.”
The Holy Emperor looked at Yamtte; Yamtte looked at Ryu Min.
“Master. What should I command him?”
“Send the priest back. And tell the Holy Emperor that you want to receive an oracle.”
“Understood.”
An oracle.
It means the god delivers their will into the world through a human.
In other words, a channel of communication between god and human.
In the Holy Empire, only the Holy Emperor can do this.
‘But in reality, it’s not the god. It’s an angel you talk to.’
Ryu Min raised his gaze and watched the Holy Emperor.
Before the massive altar, the Holy Emperor released holy power.
The procedure to summon an angel.
‘Any moment now, the angel will respond to the call.’
The angel that appears here is a normal angel.
Not a combat angel, so there was no need to tense up.
Of course, ordinary players would be terrified because of divine punishment, but Ryu Min had no reason to fear.
Because he had the title he’d obtained in the Tower of Trials: Supreme Being.
‘Threaten a normal angel and make it summon a combat angel.’
That was the simple plan Ryu Min had prepared.
Then a flash of light burst before him.
Flap—
A being with wings spread, showing off a beautiful figure, looked down upon the Holy Emperor, who was bowing low.
[Why have you called me, old human?]
“Ah, th-that is….”
“And he’s not the one who has business with you.”
The angel’s gaze landed on Ryu Min as he cut into the conversation.
[Who are you? A player?]
“So angels can see what a ‘player’ is.”
The angel’s delicate brows twisted sharply.
[Insolent bug. Do you want your head to explode and die?]
Those eyes were filled with killing intent, like it wanted to kill him on the spot.
Ryu Min sneered and spat out a line.
“Go on, then. Try and kill me, you bitch.”