<863 – Faith Meta (7)>
What would happen if the mainstream 24 divine classes read such a book?
Man’s Representative realized the truth. The loss wasn’t just affecting him.
‘Provide the most advantageous battlefield to the demigods and create an opportunity for them to defeat the Mainstream God Class. It’s not just an end-time prophecy; it could as well be called the tomb of the gods!’
The danger of the forbidden book.
The rating of the forbidden book has increased.
Now, simply opening that book would trigger a crazy trap that attacks simultaneously from multiple powerful and fully equipped ancient gods.
It’s ominous, but even the gods can recognize valuable artifacts.
How could gods not understand what humans see?
If the God of Void doesn’t dare to open it, it would result in nothing but losing several powerful ancient gods for Man’s Representative.
To be honest, he was also worried.
Why would Man’s Representative want to open that book if the world after the ending wasn’t appealing?
“That’s because you didn’t change your perspective. What if you think of it this way? It’s not that the water is half empty; it’s half full! Instead of being a mere loser left alone in the ruins after the end, you can see who the final victor is!”
“…!”
“This book is also a prophecy of the divine war that shows who and by what means can become the final victor.”
It was far too grim a subject to say shyly with a beaming smile.
“Well then, shall we go throw in some bait?”
The Dark Princess’s wicked prey has stepped onto the mouse trap.
*
The Gift Academy has a treasure vault.
Strong magical substances shouldn’t be carelessly packed into the Magic Backpack, as they can cause a recoil explosion or shift the backpack’s coordinates, resulting in loss to another dimension.
Theoretically, that’s the case, but some of those explosions weren’t purely due to interference phenomena.
[God of Void]
[Authority – Forced Collection]
Modern space-expanding backpacks, known as Dimensional Backpacks, use the God of Void’s expansion techniques.
From the very beginning, the contents were borrowed from the vacuum space of the God of Void Unknown, so if the god didn’t receive the proper offerings, he could snatch whatever offering he wanted at any time.
That’s why items that piqued the god’s interest or items from merchants deemed annoying sometimes go missing.
“Does believing in the God of Void reduce dimensional losses? Fewer overlapping accidents occur too.”
“Adventurers talk about that a lot. When they’re trying to secretly transport magical tools obtained from dungeons or ruins, those who believe in the God of Void find it easier to sneak them into their backpacks without their party noticing.”
“What kind of scoundrels are they?”
“Thieves are like that by nature. If you trace down the hierarchy of treasure hunters, it eventually leads back to thieves.”
You can commonly see the magnates who couldn’t resist transporting ordinary goods and even expensive magical tools in Magic and Dimensional Backpacks at the Gift Academy.
This isn’t just any local market; it’s a globally renowned educational institution, so merchants coming and going can’t afford to just be any random people.
Those who pass through heavy scrutiny and inspections must have their offspring enrolled as students, pay large sponsorship sums, or actively assist in gathering materials to contribute to the academy.
As such, the amount of investment poured into gaining access is significant, which naturally means the items being traded are expensive and include magical tools.
Those magical tools have many people aiming for them.
To keep them safe, one must either create a special transportation method and form a loud procession, or huddle everything into a single magic backpack while praying that it doesn’t explode.
Then they’re either robbed or evaporated.
The merchants chose the latter.
Valuable magical tools attract not just the local nobles but also armed groups, hence the risk of encountering suspiciously high-level bandits or pirates.
The problem is the potential for magical tools to disappear.
If they could reduce that 1% chance of disappearance, they’d do anything.
The faith in the God of Void is also a result that hasn’t been clearly verified, but due to some hearsay suggesting effects, there are those who have faith.
“Hello, merchant uncles!”
“Gah!”
Suddenly appearing before those merchants was Oknodie.
The merchants gasped in horror at her appearance.
“Fortune in goods overflows!”
“The treasure appraisal skill is about to explode!!”
“The smell of money is radiating from head to toe!!”
For merchants, who usually carried a function to sense profitable things or items, Oknodie was nothing short of a golden magical girl.
The smell of myth-grade money that even the grand magnates of a country had never encountered guaranteed that the merchant chosen by her would rise to the top of the economic hierarchy.
Merchants, who were immediately drooling at the sight of this child, hesitated before activating their related functions.
[The Mark of the Dark Merchant]
[Dark Princess Oknodie maintains a trading relationship with the Dark Trading Company. Those wishing to trade should act without fear of the Dark Trading Company’s blades.]
A warning frequently rising and dissipating within the mana patterns of fortune recognized only by the merchants.
The merchants understood.
For that to hold true, Oknodie must possess numerous items from the Dark Trading Company, particularly high-value materials that could maintain their mana for a long duration.
The Dark Trading Company had already made a tremendous investment.
And they warned those who could recognize this investment.
To dare to approach Oknodie is to die.
‘That’s… I wouldn’t dare touch it.’
Getting dotted by the dark organization reigning over the underworld would mean getting disposed of without notice.
To the merchants, Oknodie was no longer just an avatar of wealth, but like a child who could call upon the Dark Trading Company and end up dragged into the middle of the sea or a slaughterhouse!
A walking gallows.
A mere destination for desire.
However, even if they tried to avoid Oknodie, they would be powerless when the true protagonist approached them.
“Hey? Where are you going, merchant uncles?”
“Did you call for Campbell?”
“Nope? I called for you?”
“Oh no, I have an urgent schedule.”
“Did you forget to lock the vault door?”
The merchants began passing the buck to escape before they were marked by the Dark Trading Company.
The ones who stayed were naturally only those affiliated with the Dark Trading Company.
“What brings you here, Student Oknodie?”
“Let us assist you.”
Oknodie looked over their faces.
And confirmed the notes written on the [Memo Pad] she had attached.
[Asui]
-Subordinate of Uncle Jezel.
-Jewels and elemental stone merchant.
[Shrimk]
-Subordinate of Uncle Jezel.
-Accessory and accessory-style magical tool merchant.
It is the [Memo Pad] ability obtained after surpassing 2000 observation points.
Through a memo attached to specific objects or targets that can only be viewed by oneself, one can read or update information about the counterpart in real-time!
Thanks to this, Oknodie also gained some insight.
“I have something really good with me, you know? If you have this, you can create a magical backpack inventory without believing in the God of Void!”
“Is that really true?”
“I was only going to take half the tribute given to the God of Void, but since you’re Uncle Jezel’s subordinates, I’ll let you taste it for free!”
What Oknodie distributed was a peculiar document envelope.
It was sealed with magical seals, and the grade was estimated to be at least legendary—how valuable could it contain?
Even the information on the Dark Empress Masugaki’s weaknesses couldn’t be worth that much.
“What exactly did we receive? I’m scared to even hold it.”
“Can we check its contents?”
“Oh no, absolutely do not open it!”
Oknodie flailed her hands in horror.
“That’s actually a mouse trap!”
“A mouse trap, you say?”
“What kind of mouse trap exceeds legendary grade? I’d wager it’s borderline mythic!”
She could afford to torment a malicious merchant, but she couldn’t put her close allies in trouble, so Oknodie spoke honestly.
“This is a copy of the post-ending world. It briefly shows the final winner of the divine war and some fragments of the possibility behind it!”
“Eh?!”
“What do you mean…”
“But the gods don’t live in a world friendly to humans, so if you guys see it, you might suffocate and die immediately, lose your emotions or get caught up in troubling matters that damage your spirit body, or just drop dead!”
“Isn’t that just a cursed book?!”
“No, it’s the pages of the forbidden book!!”
From just an efficiency perspective, it was indeed a dreadful copy of an unearthly magical book.
In truth, even though the name is a copy of the post-ending world, it wouldn’t be out of place for it to be classified as a magical book and sit at the very top of the empire’s list of forbidden books.
“If you possess this, any god sneaking to check its contents will hastily open the most valuable copy first!”
“Wouldn’t an extremely furious god just tear apart everything he’s stored and enact divine punishment…?”
“Oh, that’s fine. I prepared a spell that would result in being abducted by the original when you see the copy!”
That’s true divine blasphemy.
How dare they receive this?
The merchants were in despair, contemplating how to refuse it.
Oknodie noticed their hesitation.
Pouting, she twisted her two fingers nervously and asked hesitantly.
“Do you… not want my gift?”
If they answered yes, wouldn’t they immediately inform Jezel and get expelled from the Dark Trading Company along with confiscation of their property?
The merchants sweated profusely, trying to alleviate Oknodie’s feelings as much as possible.
“Hehe. Such a remarkable item belongs with someone of higher status, like the splendid leader Jezel. It’s beyond our humble level.”
“Right! Please take care of Master Jezel on our behalf. He’ll surely be overjoyed.”
“Aha! So that’s how it is!”
Oknodie’s face brightened.
“Well, that’s fine then. I gave Jezel a 20-page copy!”
“Ah. Oh. Wow…”
“There’s no need to worry about Jezel; please take it well on your behalf!”
“W-we will gratefully accept it…”
Thus, out of nowhere, the dark trading magnates each came to possess a perilous summoning scroll that would send a god to the original of the forbidden book.
