Episode 545. God (2)

An unknown magical energy filling the empty space wrapped around my body.

Standing in the center of the space was a man, a dashing figure clad entirely in gold.

It was the God of Betting.

Lee Hoyeon felt a sense of familiarity seeing the God of Betting appear suddenly, but at the same time, he felt puzzled.

“… Why are you here, God-nim?”

“Sit down for now. I have a lot to say.”

The God of Betting sat on an invisible chair.

I had just as much to say, though.

Lee Hoyeon looked around before plopping down onto the floor.

The space, stretching endlessly in white, felt somehow unpleasant.

I wish he had summoned me to my room like last time. What is this place, anyway?

“You never show up when I need you, then suddenly pop out and surprise me.”

“That’s because you were about to do something strange.”

“Me?”

Lee Hoyeon tilted his head.

Lucifer was captured, and now the only remaining enemy is the Demon King.

Besides, once I sorted things out with the heroines, there would be no obstacles left for me.

I had no memory of doing anything strange.

“Are you crazy right now?”

“What?”

The God of Betting frowned and continued.

“Who gave you the right to tell the heroines your secret?”

“Ah…”

Lee Hoyeon’s eyes widened.

I never expected the God of Betting himself to show up because of that.

“But it wasn’t even in the main quest… and you didn’t say a word when we met last time.”

“I didn’t think you’d be that stupid.”

The God of Betting scratched his head vigorously with a frustrated expression.

Seeing that, Lee Hoyeon cautiously asked.

“I’m sorry, but… could you explain in detail?”

“You’re like an impurity that’s intruded into this world. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“It’s fine if the other heroines guess on their own. But directly revealing the secret that you transmigrated into this world is breaking the laws of this world.”

“… I wasn’t planning on revealing the transmigration fact anyway?”

Lee Hoyeon wore a reluctant expression.

I had intended to reveal the truth about the fake dungeon magic circle and apologize, but I never intended to mention that this was a game or that I had transmigrated.

Even for Lee Hoyeon, I couldn’t possibly handle the repercussions of saying something like that.

Naturally, I was prepared to be the bad guy.

“… Even setting that aside, it’s best not to say strange things to the heroines.”

“What do you mean by ‘strange things’?”

“There are many things. Hmm, why do you even want to tell the truth in the first place? With the affection the heroines have for you, they could probably overlook it this time too.”

“Because I believe it’ll blow up eventually if I don’t.”

It felt like it was already plenty late, but I couldn’t postpone it any further.

Just as Lucifer said, I was a hypocrite.

Lost in the thought of saving the world, I couldn’t bear to hurt the heroines close to me.

Confessing everything about this relationship right now was Lee Hoyeon’s goal.

“… This is frustrating. And the fact that you have too many heroines is also a problem.”

“Heroines?”

“Yes. Why do you have so many heroines?”

“Well, you told me that to meet the betting conditions with this world’s god, I needed to win over more heroines.”

“It’s all well and good, but it’s too many. To match the ratio with this world’s god, just three more would be enough. Do you really think you can win the bet with all the heroines?”

“I have to do it.”

Even if it’s difficult, I have to take responsibility for my actions.

If they didn’t accept my apology, I planned to keep going back until they did, even if it meant kneeling.

I had no intention of giving up on the heroines I had involved.

“No. You can’t. So, reduce the number of heroines.”

“… What?”

“I said, reduce the heroines.”

“No. Even if I fail, I’ll take responsibility for the outcome.”

Lee Hoyeon shot up from his spot.

The command to reduce the number of heroines was enough to anger Lee Hoyeon.

“You seem to be seriously mistaken. Think carefully. By giving up on some heroines and saving this world, those heroines can survive too. Right now, you’re trying to kill even the heroines because of your greed.”

“… Ultimately, I still have to confess the truth, right? Even if the heroines reject me after hearing it, that’s something to deal with then. It’s not too late to give up after trying everything.”

“Lee Hoyeon. This isn’t a suggestion or recommendation; it’s an order. You must reduce the number of heroines now. And I told you not to say strange things.”

Lee Hoyeon looked at the God of Betting, his eyes wide.

An order? Does that mean I should tell the heroines to break up with me right now?

Or does it mean I should keep only the heroines who will stay by my side even after I’ve done dog-like things?

The God of Betting’s words made my head spin.

And the God of Betting, watching me, summoned magical energy.

“Anyway, I’ve said everything I needed to say, so go back. Don’t ever forget what I told you.”

Jiiing-

A door appeared behind Lee Hoyeon.

It looked like the ‘anywhere door’ I saw in cartoons as a kid.

“You can exit through there. Time outside hasn’t stopped, so don’t panic.”

Lee Hoyeon looked at the door and thought.

I couldn’t hear what the God of Betting was saying.

Right now, only one thought occupied his mind.

‘…Something’s strange.’

Gods cannot interfere with this world.

That’s the basic rule.

‘The God of Betting said he appeared because I was about to tell the heroines the truth.’

But thinking about it again, Lee Hoyeon hadn’t actually told the truth yet.

I had only seriously considered telling the truth.

And this kind of situation had happened many times before.

I had almost confessed to the heroines out of loneliness several times.

‘…Of course, this time I was really on the verge of saying it.’

If I’d had just five more seconds, I would have told the heroines the truth, so you could argue the situation was different from before.

Still, the lingering unease filling his mind made Lee Hoyeon pause.

‘He summoned me but didn’t offer any concrete solutions.’

He recalled the flow of the conversation.

Although I couldn’t answer properly, pressured by the God of Betting’s authority, he hadn’t actually offered a proper solution either.

He told me not to say strange things, yet didn’t provide any criteria for what constitutes ‘strange.’

Then he changed the subject, telling me to reduce the number of heroines.

If there was a clear criterion like ‘three people,’ why didn’t he mention it during our last meeting?

‘He definitely said we’d meet again after everything was over.’

I had asked him to kill this world’s god.

If he could meet me again like this, there would have been no need for me to say that.

Back then, the God of Betting must have used every last bit of his strength to meet me.

But the God of Betting standing before me now seemed completely at ease.

He didn’t fade away slowly; he just sat there, looking at me.

“What are you waiting for? Time outside isn’t frozen, so you should hurry back.”

“…”

Lee Hoyeon clenched and unclenched his fist.

The magical energy filling his hands slipped through his fingers.

What was this unsettling feeling?

It felt like I was missing something important.

If I left through this door now, I felt like there would be no turning back.

Finally, Lee Hoyeon stood before the door and spoke.

“There’s magical energy in this space… I can feel it. It’s very foreign.”

“Of course. I’m a god.”

The God of Betting looked at me with a bored expression.

Right.

That expression and tone.

The God of Betting before my eyes felt incredibly awkward.

Lee Hoyeon remembered the appearance of the God of Betting from last time.

He had exuded a god-like dignity.

And the God of Betting was, after all, just a mediator of bets.

He wouldn’t issue ‘orders’ like reducing the number of heroines.

“Did you, God of Betting-nim, get involved in the bet just to contact me? You clearly said it was our last meeting last time.”

“As if. I just poured all my remaining strength because you were doing something strange. Communication won’t be possible from now on.”

“…”

Lee Hoyeon felt the magical energy surrounding him.

My ‘memory enhancement ability’ allows me to recall everything I’ve brushed past.

Even brushed-past magical energy wouldn’t have been missed by me.

If there had been magical energy when I met the God of Betting, I definitely would have remembered it.

But the magical energy filling this space now was unlike anything I had ever felt.

‘Eye Opening. Mind.’

Lee Hoyeon read the magical energy filling this space.

Although it was the first time feeling this energy, I could point out something similar.

It was Lucifer’s magical energy.

A faint scent of the Underworld emanated from the energy.

Perhaps, if it were my past self, I wouldn’t have noticed.

My awakened Eye Opening clearly caught the faintly diluted scent of the Underworld.

“… It was a space like this last time too, so I guess this place consumes less energy.”

“This space is the ‘Mindscape’ that all gods possess. When summoning someone, bringing them into one’s own Mindscape is standard procedure.”

“Aha… Tch.”

Lee Hoyeon let out a hollow laugh.

I’d caught a big one.

The place where I met the God of Betting wasn’t some strange space like this.

It was my own room before I transmigrated. There was no magical energy to be felt there.

The God of Betting had summoned me to a familiar space, despite the high energy cost, to put me at ease.

Unlike the guy standing behind me.

Lee Hoyeon turned and glared at the God of Betting sitting on the chair.

The God of Betting, who had been looking at me, frowned upon seeing Lee Hoyeon’s Eye Opening.

“What are you doing?”

Through the Eye Opening, I could see the power the God of Betting possessed.

Immense magical energy with no discernible end, and overwhelming power.

And countless unseen elements.

It was truly the power one could call divine.

However, Lee Hoyeon welcomed this fact.

The Eye Opening is fundamentally similar to Lucifer’s Demonic Eye.

It can read everything, but it cannot perceive things related to transcendent beings.

For example, my power, which Lucifer couldn’t read.

It couldn’t be read because a transcendent being had bestowed it.

And the God of Betting is a transcendent being himself.

It’s strange that it’s visible through the Eye Opening.

From that fact alone, my thoughts began to branch out.

It was strange when I first arrived in this space.

‘Magical energy’ wrapped around my body.

Why was it magical energy, not the power of a transcendent god, that wrapped around me?

‘Using a god’s power would constitute interference in the bet.’

That would also explain why time outside flowed normally.

This isn’t a Mindscape at all.

It’s a space of magical energy mimicking a god’s Mindscape.

And the Underworld’s magical energy flowing within the magic… If it’s similar to Lucifer’s, it wouldn’t belong to a mere demon.

It should at least be comparable to Lucifer, or even greater.

However, all the successors of the Demon King had already appeared.

Only one remained.

“Eclipse.”

Hwa-reuk-!

A blazing black sun incinerated the space.

Eclipse, having devoured the magical energy within the space, rapidly grew in size.

Lee Hoyeon glared at the black sun hovering above and his opponent.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“That’s what I should be asking you, you son of a bitch. No, calling you that would be an insult to dogs. How about this?”

Lee Hoyeon gritted his teeth, looking at the God of Betting before him.

The very fact that he could mimic that appearance revealed his identity.

“The Demon King. And this world’s god.”

Knowing the God of Betting’s appearance, and the existence of Mindscapes.

Possessing knowledge about gods while wielding Underworld magical energy comparable to Lucifer’s.

The fact that Lucifer, who was originally the Demon King, is no longer the Demon King.

His blatant attempts to obstruct my actions.

If the opponent before me is this world’s god who transmigrated into the Demon King, all the mysteries fall into place.

Lee Hoyeon swallowed hard and glared at the enemy before him.

And then, the God of Betting’s expression, which had seemed flustered, slowly curled into a smile.

“… This is why I hate guys who catch on too quickly.”