<494 – The Gifted Child>
There’s a hypothesis that Oknodie might have been born from the forbidden technique [Homunculus Cultivation Technique].
If this secret reaches the Principal’s ears, she will surely die.
For the sake of world peace, it may be justifiable to eliminate this ominous child, who bears the ominous markings of the ears.
“However, So has watched that child.”
Sometimes a good child.
Sometimes a bad child.
Sometimes a scary child.
Sometimes a kind child.
She puts others in danger while living a precarious life herself.
Even Myung So could not simply label her, with her duality, as someone who could be killed, being the potential cause of an unprecedented catastrophe.
“Wow, it’s a butterfly!”
“Wow, it’s a Demigros beetle!”
“Wow, it’s a shh-sheeek-sak bug!”
A naive child who goes insect collecting every weekend with a net and a gathering box.
“Oknodie. If you don’t practice some basics like how to block the guillotine’s blade with armor, you might later end up being hanged. Let’s cover your armor with energy and raise its hardness!”
“Tito, do we really need to only emit the light of the light stand through it? It would look super strong if we also glow with our eyes!”
“Sing, while slicing the leaf eight times before it hits the ground is great, but training to float it in the air with sword pressure is also fun. This will raise your agility experience points!”
A child who actively enjoys helping train friends or juniors weaker than herself.
“Oknodie. I’m trying to make japchae-gorke, but we’re short on ingredients. Want to sneak into the seniors’ fields with me?”
“Oknodie. Don’t you have a crush? If you do, I can lend you a contract of compulsion!”
“Oknodie, did you hear? The third-year seniors have dropped items while having aerial duels! Let’s go pick them up!”
Her friends also like such an Oknodie and show kindness with their pure hearts.
He could not accept erasing such goodwill from the world, just because it is a potential bomb.
“I will bestow upon you and Oknodie my special technique. Are you satisfied with this condition?”
“If it’s your technique… it wouldn’t be [Clear Mind], would it?”
“Typically, it’s a special technique reserved for students with exceptional talent among the fourth years after much effort, but I will help you two right now, even at the cost of giving up part of my training.”
Despite such a large concession, the Destroyer shook his head.
“That’s just a temporary fix to escape a momentary crisis. It doesn’t make me trust you.”
“Indeed, it’s quite difficult to satisfy the rogue of the Warrior Party. If my knowledge of techniques and accumulated power can’t satisfy you, what more could you take from me?”
“Divinity.”
“…!”
“All gods have apostles to carry out their will. And as the boundaries with the West have crumbled, the original heavenly lords and Shakyamuni, as well as the eastern proxies, are only maintained through you, Myung So.”
Myung So wasn’t particularly a professor with great strength.
He might even have lesser combat power than the young professor Raeb, who was said to have been murdered on the Foundation’s cruise ship.
However, the mission and role he carried were heavy and serious, not inferior to any other professor.
“The 24 major divine classes of the West shredded the proxy of the East, taking over the territories they governed. Yet, the last apostle who offers unwavering faith to keep that name from crumbling remains in this world. Is that not you?”
“The secret that has never been revealed from Binseung’s mouth is leaking quite easily. Is it the Principal?”
“He said nothing. Even if you ask, he certainly won’t answer. He’s the type who would critique, saying ‘it’s more fun not to know.’”
“I agree. The Principal is that sort of person. If he were able to uncover such a big secret just with independent information, I would even respect him.”
Myung So raised his head with a dark face.
“How do you plan to use my faith?”
“Fill this vessel.”
The object placed in front of Myung So after leaving the Destroyer’s side was a book.
A nameless white paper filled completely with blank pages from cover to content.
To someone unaware, this empty book might seem bizarre and incomplete in terms of achieving its purpose of knowledge transfer.
But Myung So knew the true nature of this book.
“This book is… could it be a skill book?”
“An empty book created with the power of the [God of Void] that can hold all the knowledge and experiences of this world. It drastically increases the likelihood of enlightenment for the reader.”
“What do you wish to fill it with?”
“Capture the connection of either the Heavenly Lord or Shakyamuni.”
“That’s madness!”
Myung So, who was trying to maintain courteousness while appeasing, could not contain his anger and pointed a finger furiously.
“The overwhelming wave of enlightenment that one cannot handle could turn a human into a fool and kill them. The danger of a divine skill contained within the heart of the divine is not something you could ignore!”
The Gift Academy library does have
However, the empty skill book, which can hold any enlightenment, brings infinite possibilities, which inversely turns dangerous.
If an unqualified person writes a book, lacking the ability to fill even a volume, their identity could be fully extracted.
Conversely, if an unqualified person reads a book filled with immense enlightenment, they might bleed from their facial orifices and collapse, becoming a crippled vegetable.
The God of Void is one who manipulates [Void].
A god who skips the processes of causality to [Void].
A book that allows results without processes.
It may sound convenient, but without processes, once you read it, you may not be able to stop yourself.
The moment a reader flips even a single page of a skill book containing the power of the God of Void, their fate is determined.
They will either acquire the skills and survive, or fail to acquire and end up crippled or dead.
No matter what happens, once the result of acquiring enlightenment from the skill book is confirmed, it will ensure it happens, ignoring the limitations of the weak human mind or body.
Those who end up crippled or dead have met such a cruel fate for craving skills beyond their ability.
“If you were an ordinary academy student, you wouldn’t dare to seek even the ancient god’s enlightenment, though Oknodie is not an ordinary child.”
“She’s just a mere 11-year-old child, how can you gamble with lives!”
“It’s up to me as her mentor to assess that child’s limits. What you should worry about is not Oknodie’s life but yours and the ancient gods’ fates.”
The Destroyer didn’t care for the connections Myung So had built with Oknodie or the relationships formed by the Principal.
Even so, he was willing to leverage the chance of staying alive, having learned a lesson.
“Those who despise or fear evil will miss out on opportunities.”
As a result of pushing away revolutionaries and failing to gain Havi’s support, he lost his childhood friend.
He couldn’t allow Oknodie to meet the same fate.
Thus, he willingly carried out actions to use the figure classified as an enemy, Myung So.
“If that is the entirety of your reasoning, I willingly accept death.”
“…Are you serious?”
“I do not wish for the names of the Heavenly Lord and Shakyamuni to be tarnished, so I’ve endured the whispers of the 24 major divine classes. I will empower you. Therefore, offer me your divine class. Do you believe the pathetic monk who has lost his guiding god is not often hearing those who seek to take away even the remains of the god?”
He was indeed an insignificant man.
He could be killed anytime if one simply wanted to.
The moment Myung So disregarded death, a strange sense of pressure pushed back within the Destroyer’s domain.
[Clear Mind]
The most unfavorable specialized area in the world.
An area that maintains only a clear and calm heart.
An area aimed solely at stabilizing one’s mind from the whispers of all the gods in the world.
Thus, conversely, his mental resilience was ranked among the top in the world.
When labeled as the [World’s Best], even the evil dragon who collects everything would find it appealing.
“No one can force the heart of a man who is prepared for death, even if it can take lives.”
The principal, who found it amusing that even gods could not fulfill their will, accepted Myung So.
Thus, there were more than enough reasons for him to truly become the Dragon Principal’s appendage.
Such a person needed persuasion, not threats.
“The previous hero Ni’alatotep acted against the gods of the 24 major classes. My companions and I are likewise cursed by the gods. As such, we have been unable to seek the aid of the saintesses, accumulating dark mana within our bodies, facing the limits of our heroism.”
“That’s reasonable. Go on.”
“My disciple Oknodie is bound to attract the hatred of the gods eventually. If they see her talent yet cannot have her, they will feel compelled to destroy her. Just like the remnants of the ancient gods that you possess.”
Oknodie would meet the same fate as me.
And he would meet the same fate as you.
The truth of it all, with scarcely a lie, made the two men sad.
Being subjects weighed down by heavy burdens, they understood better.
The weight was too harsh for one child to carry alone.
Especially if it were a burden meant for not just one, but two.
“Then hand over half of your mission. With this, you’ll share the responsibility of what you must protect with Oknodie, and you shall gain my trust.”
Myung So sighed deeply and lowered his head.
“I shall do so.”
*
The Masugaki Princess, who merely came to play with a friend, rolled her eyes at the conversation heard outside the measurement room.
“A god class coveting the power of the Heavenly Lord seems more…”
“…The God of Corruption Anrage or the God of Contracts Mitra may show favor to Oknodie…”
“…I’ve decided. I will entrust that child’s fate to Shakyamuni.”
Is this something I’m allowed to hear…?
It seems the professors have forgotten I’m here.
Will I be killed to keep my mouth shut if I get caught?
What should I do?
I want to go home.
I miss my mom.
With a gloomy face, the Masugaki Princess curled up her legs, squatting.
For a long while, the princess had to silently tremble in fear inside the measuring device.
