episode_0030

Lee Junseong.

A renowned veteran player in , one of the top contributors to the strategy forums with the most guides written. A man who had researched the game to that extent.

But.

He doesn’t know everything.

From the start, was so vast that no one could research everything alone. There were areas he wasn’t familiar with, and one of them was the affection & romance mechanics.

‘Well…’ ‘I know the basics, but…’

The details? No clue.

When he first started the game, his goal was to clear the Despair (Extremely Hard) difficulty. So, he only researched combat mechanics to death. After meeting his favorite character, he obsessively researched only their salvation route. Whenever he was bored, he’d look into other characters’ salvation routes too, and even researched the ultimate happy ending where all his favorite characters were saved.

But anyway.

The goal was salvation, not romance.

As a result, he doesn’t know exactly what makes them fall in love or what makes them feel friendship.

‘Blindly raising affection in this state is dangerous.’

The friendship route is fine, but if it veers into the romance route, things could get risky.

So.

He’ll raise it moderately and stop there.

‘As long as I don’t max out the affection, it should be fine.’

…Thinking that, he opened his mouth.

“Elis.” “Yeah.” “Since the mana issue is resolved now,” “your next wish is to get revenge on those fanatics who used you as a test subject, right?” “!!!!!!” “That’s pointless, so you should just give up.” “Give up?” “Why?!” “Because they’re all dead.”

“Even after Test Subject-32 detonated the frost energy and blew up the facility, there were still quite a few survivors, but…” “But?…” “When the facility was destroyed, all the defensive systems shut down too.” “Because of that, a horde of monsters swarmed in and wiped them all out.”

Elis, whose mana problem was solved by the cursed ring, had wished to know where the humans who experimented on her were. And then. She learned that every last one of the fanatics involved had been slaughtered by monsters.

Elis felt a hollow emptiness, but she smiled, thinking it wasn’t a bad way for those disgusting people to meet their end.

After that, she finds happiness by leaving the past behind, leading to a happy ending.

But just getting information from a wish feels like a waste, right? So, he told her in advance.

“Ah…” “So they’re all dead…” “To think their end was being massacred by monsters…” “Ha…haha…” “What a perfectly hollow ending for those vile creatures.”

Elis felt emptiness.

“My goal was to finish slaying the Demon King and then hunt them all down with my wish…” “But they’re already dead…”

However.

The emptiness lasted only a moment.

“Good.” “Now I don’t have to think about revenge—I can just focus on finding my own happiness.”

She was smiling brightly, just like in the game.

Good.

This much is enough for Elis.

Next is Ria!

“Ria.” “Huh… yeah?” “Before we defeat the Demon King, there’s a way for you to meet your mom.” “I can meet my mom?!” “How?!”

“Your mom’s body is durable enough to withstand even a god’s soul.” “It’s basically a holy relic of a body.” “Holy relic?” “Think of it like a divine version of a magic artifact.”

Magic artifacts. Tools that operate with mana and stop without it. Holy relics work on the same principle.

‘Priests worship holy relics and assign all sorts of meanings to them, but…’ They’re just like machines.

The only difference is whether they run on electricity, mana, or divine power.

So.

The method to fix it is simple.

‘Just supply enough divine power to make it function.’

But.

It’s not easy.

A simple machine like a flashlight can run on a single battery, but you can’t power an entire factory with just one, right?

Same logic.

The holy relic that was the Goddess of Light, Selena, operated on a massive divine power generator. Expecting a human’s divine power to sustain that is impossible.

But.

You don’t need to power the whole factory.

‘We don’t need to restore the remote control function.’ ‘Just the communication feature.’

That alone would let her talk to her daughter.

…The moment he said that, Ria, eyes sparkling with anticipation, pulled out the Sealing Dagger and channeled divine power into it.

But.

Nothing happened.

“Huh?!” “Ria.” “I wasn’t done explaining yet.” “There’s more?” “Yeah.”

He gave a light explanation.

It’s true that Ria is the daughter of the goddess, but that doesn’t mean she has an overwhelming amount of divine power.

Divine power scales with how strongly one worships their god. Ria loves her mother, but she doesn’t worship her.

So, her divine power is average. With that level of power, she can’t even activate the communication function.

“Th-then… Elis!” “Elis doesn’t have divine power either.”

Elis is a follower of the Goddess of Light, Selena. But. She’s not a devout believer. She just follows Selena because she doesn’t have any other god she wants to believe in.

‘Worshipping the Goddess of Light gives you access to all buffs.’

The effects are weaker, but the versatility is good.

…In other words, she prays to Selena for purely practical reasons. Her faith isn’t particularly strong, and her divine power is minimal.

“Th-then… Master!” “Sorry.” “I’m non-religious.” “Non-religious?!” “You’re non-religious?!”

Both Ria and Elis were shocked.

Well…

That’s a natural reaction.

The buffs you get just from believing are significant. Not believing is a loss.

Unless you’re a heretic, dark mage, or demon—enemies of the gods—almost everyone follows a religion.

So, being non-religious is practically the same as being one of those people or allied with them.

‘Not entirely wrong.’

Since his favorite character is part of that faction, it’s better for him to be non-religious too.

‘If I’m non-religious, the gods can’t borrow my eyes and ears.’ ‘And I won’t have to worry about my favorite character’s identity being exposed.’

But.

He couldn’t say that outright.

So, he phrased it differently.

“I’m from another world.” “Another world?” “I’m someone from another world who possessed Cain’s body.” “Possessed?!” “Then what about the real Cain?!” “Don’t worry about that.” “The real Cain was going to commit suicide in Ruben Village, and I formally took over his body after talking to him.” “Suicide in Ruben Village?…” “Then…” “You were already possessing him when we first met?” “Yeah.” “I was already possessing him when I first met Ria.” “Then it’s fine.”

Elis looked relieved as she spoke.

“So?” “Is that why you don’t believe in gods? Because you’re from another world?” “Do you believe in the gods of your world?” “No.” “I was non-religious there too.” “In my world, there’s no proof gods even exist, let alone blessings for believing in them.” “There are worlds without gods?” “I don’t know if they really don’t exist, but…” “At the very least, I lived as someone who thought they didn’t.” “Wow…” “So worlds like that exist too…”

Elis murmured in awe, finally understanding.

“Makes sense…” “If you’re from a world like that, it’s natural not to believe.”

She accepted his reason for not believing. How she reached that conclusion, he didn’t know, but as long as she accepted it, that was enough.

So.

Back to the main topic.

“Anyway.” “None of us have enough divine power to restore the communication function.”

Ria’s expression darkened.

“But.” “It’s not like there’s no one who can restore it.” “Ah!”

Elis’s eyes lit up in realization.

“The Saintess.” “If it’s the Saintess, who has the strongest divine power, it’s possible, right?” “Bingo.” “S-so…” “If we just find the Saintess, I can talk to my mom?…” “Exactly.” “The Saintess who worships the Goddess of Light, Selena, is also one of the Hero Party candidates.” “Once we recruit her as an ally, we can ask her for help.” “Wooow…”

Ria gasped in awe.

And.

He was satisfied too.

‘This should be enough.’

He framed a special event that could skyrocket affection as just an info dump. If he’d set the mood while explaining, it could’ve led to the marriage route, but he kept it as plain as possible.

He made sure the tone was one of gratitude, not romantic feelings.

Good.

A perfectly handled situation.

“So.” “Let’s untie this and start planning our next move.” “Next move?” “Yeah.” “Meeting the Saintess should be our priority.” “You’re not thinking of doing anything else?” “Nope.” “My goal is for everyone to get the best happy ending possible.”

As a last-ditch effort to get the ropes off, he added:

“I’ve worked this hard because I want to see all of you smiling happily in the end.” “So.” “Can’t you trust me on this?” “……” “……”

Ria and Elis exchanged a silent glance.

Then.

They nodded in understanding.

“Okay.” “We’ll untie you.” “Thanks.” “But.” “Don’t you dare try to run.” “I won’t.” “Really?…” “Really.” “Okay…” “I’ll trust you…”

Ria slowly undid the ropes.

Phew.

Finally, some relief.

After that, they planned their next steps, and night fell.

“……?”

It was time to sleep, but neither of them showed any sign of leaving.

‘Ah…’ ‘Right.’

They’d rented a large room, so it made sense for the two girls to use this one.

‘I’ll just get another room.’

…Thinking that, he tried to leave, but—

“Master?” “Where are you going?” “It’s time to sleep, so I’m going to bed.” “You can sleep here.” “?”

Ria pointed at the bed.

There was only one bed.

“Ria.” “We can’t sleep together.” “Why not?” “An unmarried man and woman sharing a bed is improper.” “Then we can just get married.” “Uh…”

Her sheer confidence left him speechless for a moment.

But.

He had plenty of counterarguments.

“Even if you’re okay with it, Elis isn’t.” “I’m fine with it.” “……?” “It’s fine, so let’s share the room.” “??????”

Even Elis was insisting on sharing the room.

Huh?

Why are you like this too?

Ria’s just naive and wants to stay close, but you know better, don’t you?

…Or so he thought, until—

“To offer a sacrifice to the Chalice of Sacrifice…” “Um…” “I’ll need a woman’s help…”

Elis began removing her outerwear as she spoke.

Huh?