Chapter 46: Main Line (3)

“The second match of the round of 32 is about to begin.”

A blue light enveloped Albus, signaling his avatar, Jean, was being transported to the arena. 

Albus clenched his fist and raised it high, the blue light shattering like glass under his command.

“Now is not the time to leisurely play games,” he muttered, dismissing the summon to the arena.

“Guide,” Albus called out to the AI he had just activated.

“Yes, Master,” it replied.

“Explain the current situation with Perizet in detail.”

“Her soul was beginning to fracture, but thanks to your power, it has been restored to its previous state. Her memories have returned fully, and her physical condition shows normal levels of metabolism. The treatment was successful.”

“Successful…?”

Albus scanned Perizet’s status window. 

Everything seemed fine.

“What aftereffects should we expect?”

“Based on data, 14,000,605 simulations were run. One aftereffect was identified.”

“Just as I thought…,” Albus sighed. 

Even with the power of a GM, the destruction and restoration of a soul would inevitably leave some side effects.

“What is this aftereffect?”

“Master, she is expected to develop lovesickness.”

“Indeed, that makes sense… What?”

Albus questioned whether he had heard correctly.

“A condition where one suffers from longing for someone they cherish deeply. Medically, it is closer to an obsessive disorder than an illness. Common symptoms include mild fever, blushing, headaches, indigestion, loss of motivation—”

“I know what lovesickness is! But how could it be an aftereffect? Explain.”

“During the process of restoring her soul, the person Perizet was thinking of was you, Master. This deep cognitive connection seems to have imprinted your presence onto her soul. As a result, strong emotional attachment towards you is likely formed.”

“During the treatment… she was thinking of me?”

“Correct. Due to the divine power you’ve newly acquired as a GM, those who hold faith in GMs are unconsciously drawn to you. Perizet, too, has developed feelings for you without realizing it.”

“Wait a moment…”

Albus recalled Perizet’s sudden, inexplicable approach towards him, despite his previous harsh words about the GM. 

She had no reason to keep talking to him, yet she did.

“So everything… was because of my divinity as a GM?”

Strictly speaking, it was due to her feeling the divine power of her own god, but this explained her unusual attraction towards him.

“Yes. Additionally, the overwhelming defeat she felt as she clung to you in her final moments, mixed with a sense of satisfaction, led her cognition to be overtaken by your presence. The likelihood of her developing lovesickness is about 99%.”

“So… it’s almost certain,” Albus concluded, realizing that Perizet would fall for him, not because she genuinely wanted to, but because his divine power and healing had twisted her emotions.

Manipulating someone’s feelings like this—it was no different from using a hypnotism app. 

Albus looked down at Perizet, who was sleeping soundly on the sofa. 

She was one of the only two people who had treated him like a friend. 

Unlike his sister, Carthesia, or the saintess, she felt genuinely close. 

He didn’t want to toy with her emotions.

“What should I do…?”

His dilemma deepened.

***

In the middle of the cold arena, the Lich King, Akuyuham, draped in a robe and holding a staff, awaited his opponent, Jean.

“Why doesn’t he show up?”

He thought of Jean as a kindred spirit, someone who hid their identity beneath a robe and wielded power by copying others’ unique abilities. 

Akuyuham had hoped to converse with Jean during the match, but his opponent never appeared.

“Why, Jean…?”

Ding!

“Victory! You will be transported to the winner’s waiting room shortly.”

As the message flashed, Akuyuham was enveloped in the blue light of the warp.

“Why…”

From beneath his robe, his eyes glowed an eerie blue.

***

The Prince’s Chamber

“And the next contestant for the third match is… the Republic’s Executioner, Leighton!”

Prince Linderman lay half-reclined on a sofa, staring blankly at the holographic broadcast of the upcoming match.

“Your Highness,” a voice broke through his thoughts. 

It was his loyal servant, Rugal, who looked at him with concern.

“Are you still suffering from the aftereffects of the battle? If the excessive use of magic has left you with any lingering side effects, we should call the royal healers at once—”

The prince raised a hand to stop him. 

“I am fine. There are no aftereffects. My body was fully restored as soon as the duel ended.”

He showed Rugal his intact body.

“But Your Highness! What about the fatigue imprinted on your mind?”

The system of Rudera healed the body, but not the mental strain from maintaining his magic giant.

“It matters not,” the prince replied, refusing treatment.

“I have found a new nobility.”

The prince recalled the radiant light of the beastwoman he had just faced in battle. 

He could never forget the horrific event from his childhood, when he and his mother, then the empress, were ambushed by a faction of beastmen. 

The prince had nearly been killed, but his mother’s sacrifice saved him until reinforcements arrived.

The emperor and his army arrived too late to save her, but they exterminated the beastmen faction. 

The survivors, however, could not be punished as they were led by the Beast King, an ally against the very faction that attacked the imperial entourage. 

The scars from that day twisted something deep within the young prince, making him view beastmen as filthy and his mother as the epitome of nobility.

The widespread belief that beastmen were a cursed race only deepened his prejudice. 

The more he despised their filth, the more he obsessively sought nobility. 

It was why, despite his extraordinary talents, he had grown disillusioned with the world, avoiding the throne and wasting his days. 

But that all changed when he met the saintess. 

He was drawn to her because she embodied the same nobility as his mother.

He could not have foreseen that the saintess would eventually bear another’s child. 

And now, the prince had found that same nobility in Perizet, the daughter of the Beast King.

The prince’s mind whirred. 

Could it be that he was wrong about beastmen all along? 

To feel such nobility in one he believed to be cursed was something he never expected. 

He didn’t know that what he perceived as nobility in Perizet was actually divine power flowing from her. 

But the prince was unaware of this.

Since that moment, he had worked tirelessly to refine his magic, rejoining the imperial succession struggle to cleanse the world of the filth he had encountered as a child and elevate it to nobility. 

But now, he had a new goal.

“The most noble among the cursed race…”

If he became emperor, and united with the sacred maiden of the beastmen, it would lead to the salvation of the beastmen, and perhaps the entire continent.

At that moment, the prince’s goal shifted from the saintess to Perizet.

***

Somewhere in the Audience.

“Yes! I knew it!”

A blonde elf woman pumped her fist in triumph as she watched the results of the duel.

“Just look at how much I’ve won!”

She beamed at the ever-growing number of Labyrinth Coins on her screen. 

This was all thanks to the new betting system that Albus had introduced when the tournament finals began.

Albus had recreated the points betting system he had enjoyed in his previous life, this time using Labyrinth Coins. 

Although it was initially planned as a trial run for a future personal broadcasting system in Rudera, it had been temporarily added to the tournament for now.

Spectators at the tournament could bet their Labyrinth Coins on the outcome of the duels. 

The winnings were split among those who had bet on the victor. 

Despite being a brand new system, the exciting matches, the immersive betting, and the absurd value of Labyrinth Coins had driven the audience into a frenzy.

“Is it really that great?” Dragon Lord Iosif looked at the elf queen with disdain.

“Of course! Do you know how many coins I just won on that match? Betting against the favorite is the best! I never expected Jean, the favored contestant, not to show up, though.”

The elf queen grinned wickedly at Iosif. 

She had once run away during her days as a princess, wandering the human world and funding her travels through gambling. 

It seemed she had developed quite a taste for it.

“Aren’t you going to bet?” she asked slyly.

“The next match is between the dictator chosen by our Elf Council and the Republic’s Executioner. 

Considering his special abilities, our victory is all but certain.”

She placed all her coins on the system’s betting screen.

“Just placing a bet will double your coins.”

Iosif hesitated, tempted by her offer.

‘Should I really be gambling?’

As the Dragon Lord, the one who should most preserve balance, he was deeply cautious about anything that could disrupt the order. 

His conservative nature was evident from the fact that he had never engaged in risky behavior or deviations until he discovered the anonymity of online communities. 

His peculiar habit of relieving stress with strange memes was a testament to his inherent conservatism.

“Are you afraid of the new era?” he remembered the Demon King taunting him in the past.

As a guardian of balance, how could he fear and avoid the new waves created by the GM?

“I… will not be afraid.”

He wouldn’t fear the new world that the GM would bring forth. 

With trembling hands, he placed his bet on the elf.

And thus began the third match of the finals.