<781 – As Becomes a Hero (27)>
I smiled brightly even in front of the pitiful corpse of the 332nd Round.
“Ugh, the 332nd Round really got the short end of the stick, huh? I mean, why are you shoving memories I didn’t want to recall back in my face? That’s just mean!”
There’s no need to remember every failure.
Humans regret their mistakes made in one lifetime, even kicking their blankets in frustration at night because of it.
If you experience such a life hundreds of times,
There would be no peaceful nights.
So I forgot.
I chased only joyful moments.
I went through only necessary processes.
I concentrated on every moment.
And then, the lid of joy, so to speak, burst open.
The boiling, persistent emotions stuck to the bottom surged up in a cloud of steam called the memories of the 332nd Round, forcing the lid to fly off.
“Oho. I guess the bond with my unknown siblings must be quite special. Oknodie, are you finally betraying humanity?”
“That’s not it! I always play as a human! I have no interest in playing as a jellyfish with fifty legs casting illusion magic or as a beastman wagging my tail like a nasty furry! ”
“If you still possess some human solidarity, that’s a relief, but it seems you’re heartbroken as well. Is it a sense of loss towards the Emperor? A sense of loss towards those Avatars? Or perhaps… a sense of loss towards all the lives you’ll lose from this point on?”
A cruel expectation blossomed in the Chairman’s smile, as if he was delighted. It was a smile that strongly suggested it was up to me to imagine what kind of future awaited if I did not comply.
“Papa seems to resemble me more and more the more I see him!”
“Oho. Is that so?”
“Smart, good-looking, knows how to use people well, and doesn’t even know about hidden pieces!”
“Haha. I’m so pleased to receive such honest praise from my daughter, who scarcely listened to me, like someone entering puberty early.”
“Even to the point of misreading the situation at a critical juncture and heading straight for a bad ending, you really do resemble me!”
“Oh dear, was that not a compliment?”
Papa shook his head in regret, and genuine sadness showed on his face. Did he secretly want me, at least, to acknowledge him?
“Papa has lost too many people around him to trust anyone!”
“To educate you, that’s a misunderstanding.”
“Really?”
“I don’t keep people around me. I only keep tools to carry out my directives.”
“Aha…”
“To me, the only one who can truly be called a person is you, Oknodie.”
That such a bizarrely misaligned person looked at me, and only me, as a person, recognizing me.
While wishing to fulfill my every wish, they poke at me with the tiny malice of wanting me to follow their desires.
I can’t entirely overlook that, from the perspective of a multiple-round veteran.
“Whenever I discovered a new hidden NPC that might unravel a blocked game, I felt the same, didn’t I?”
Raising the mobs diligently, playing with Titosso, teaching Jezel money-making tactics, eating Isabel’s lunch box… what were the reasons behind all of it?
Wasn’t it to stimulate the optimal growth direction tailored to them and carve out new strategies?
Papa was simply executing my attempts towards me, albeit in a slightly different manner.
But that slight difference was quite grating.
It made it hard for even someone in the veteran position to overlook.
“Well then, you should’ve shown me more affection like Seonhwang Papa!”
“Haha. I didn’t realize my daughter was so disappointed. Very well, I shall shower you with affection on behalf of Seonhwang from now on.”
“How?”
“Why not have an Empire?”
“What about Masugaki?”
“Do you think I can’t supply enough Dark Mana to dominate Masugaki?”
“Nothing changes in the end. You create means to put on a collar, put the collar on, build a dependency, and then manipulate as if wielding invisible commands. How could I trust a Chairman I wouldn’t even trust my daughter?”
The last hope was gone.
There was no slight chance left, not even the possibility of redemption for the Chairman.
“Isn’t that a bit much? You’ve already summoned three Avatars. The price for calling such beings isn’t small.”
“Do you know the summoning mechanism for Strength-All-in that Papa was trying to use?”
The Chairman leaned in with a very interested expression.
“Strength-All-in is my alternative potential and a trial that comes as a penalty for crossing a taboo. It’s a heavy responsibility that follows the convenient power that comes from intruding on possibilities one should not contemplate.”
“Responsibility. A wonderful word. There’s nothing to learn from irresponsible adults. One must become someone who can take responsibility.”
“But I’m not shouldering that responsibility right now, am I? What do you think is the secret?”
Yes.
Whether it’s Strength-All-in or Health-All-in, recklessly using cheat knowledge or future power builds up the summoning count for Strength-All-in as a penalty.
Once the third is accumulated, the Strength-All-in prompted by Dobi’s warning would dramatically appear in the world, bringing in a *super-fun event.
Yet, even after summoning three Health-All-ins, Strength-All-in didn’t appear anywhere.
“The criteria for judgment has changed.”
“Exactly. Because of Papa’s effort to explore and expand the scope of ‘contradiction’, the restriction imposed by this world.”
So that’s why I had offered the Chairman one last chance.
Now that chance has passed.
“I’m planning to test how high that raised hurdle allows us to go right here.”
“Please don’t do that. You truly think that I’ve exhausted all my potential?”
“Do your best. That might be your last resistance, Papa!”
If the build developed for event exploration is the Health-All-in series, then the build developed for genuine ending challenges is the Strength-All-in series.
Touching the Strength-All-in series is certainly a dangerous act that would trigger a trigger instantly.
Then, was there not any other existence between Health-All-in and Strength-All-in?
No.
There were countless challenges within trial-and-error.
Agility-All-in, who likes to dodge maxed-out thieves.
Magic-All-in, who loves awesome magical barrages as a magician.
Intelligence-All-in, who’s a cheat as a sage.
Charm-All-in, who loves to collect bosses as a dark shadow.
Strength, Health, Agility, Intelligence, Magic, Charm.
Among the six stats, builds based on abilities other than strength and health all existed.
All those possibilities poured out beyond the shattered piggy bank function.
━━━
[Legacy of the Old Gods]
[The powers of the Triple Entities – 1st Rite: All Actions are Impermanent]
[Growth Rent]
[Activity Function - Prediction]
[Activity Function - Mana Science]
[Activity Function - Memorization]
[Activity Function - Flirting]
━━━
Gathering that accompanies collection.
Overlay that allows for the alteration of spell values.
Functions used beyond the two previously opened piggy banks also held infinite potential.
Every time I avoid a foreboding future or negative event, the automatic support function [Prediction] accumulates.
As mana is stacked and operated, small and large increases are repeatedly accumulated through the Mana Flow Technique support function [Mana Science].
If I conquer the theory perfectly in lectures or exams, the gradually bulging study support function [Memorization].
The changing event support function [Flirting], which alters the favorability of main and supporting playable characters and fluctuates when I spend important events together.
Numerous functions stood on the trial stage of the taboo.
The summoning requires crossing a massive taboo to allow for the summoning of Avatars or Executioners.
━━━
[I’ve predicted the future 15 years ahead.]
[I detected the event trigger progress for 15 years later.]
[I memorized the knowledge for 15 years later.]
━━━
Of course, as always, it is hard to keep lines, but easy to cross them.
━━━
[Legacy of the Old Gods]
[The powers of the Triple Entities - 2nd Rite: All Laws are Without Self]
[Growth Rent]
[Magic Science]
━━━
The laws of without self of growth rent brings the current physical state forward to the physical state of the future and transforms the future physical state back into the current physical state as repayment.
The accelerated mana pouch challenges the unchanging state of the body by going beyond the limits of compression.
━━━
[Warning: The curse of the growth restriction of the backpack might forcibly break. If not urgently removing the backpack, the magic tool will be destroyed!]
━━━
As the delicate slope of the gentle shoulder line was added with curves and elegance, the finger that slipped free from the heavy backpack became increasingly slender and long.
The bent waist in an attempt to loosen the heavy backpack gained curves and elasticity, and the hand resting on my waist and pelvis gradually rose.
“Ugh, it’s heavy.”
In that brief moment of finally setting the backpack down, growth rent revealed just how amazing the future awaiting me decades ahead truly is.
Even the garments adjusted in size according to the wearer’s physique could not keep up with the rapid changes, tightening around my chest to the point of struggling to breathe.
The skirt that reached down to my knees barely covered my thighs.
The shirt felt like the buttons could pop at any moment, and I worried the skirt would flip over if the wind blew. Growth comes with many inconveniences.
Where had my 230 cm height gone? I’m barely 170 cm now!
“Rapid… growth…?”
Papa’s dazed gaze seemed endlessly amusing.
It was funny to call someone smaller than me Papa.
What should I call that?
“Haha. I can’t believe Oknodie has grown this much; this is truly shocking. What a splendid growth!”
“I appreciate the compliment, but now it’s time for punishment.”
“You think you can defy me just because you’re a bit bigger? Punishment is a parent’s right.”
“Sure, punishment is a parent’s right. But how can a short kid like you be my Papa? At this level… heh, am I not your Mama?”
In a state of warping future growth, power, and realms, it’s clear this state wouldn’t last long.
But even a short time was enough.
“So punishment has to be handled by me, not you!”
As the moment I spread my hands to gather mana, the sensations of my body spoke to me.
I could wield powers far greater than before.
After all, I am [Dark Princess].
No, I’ve even achieved the title of [Demon King Oknodie], transcending the qualifications of a princess!
“Taboo summons.”
The vast Mana pouch of the Demon King Oknodie allowed for numerous, heartfelt summons to heed my call.
[Agility-All-in from the 185th Round]
[Magic-All-in from the 401st Round]
[Intelligence-All-in from the 513th Round]
[Charm-All-in from the 606th Round]
Agility-All-in.
Magic-All-in.
Intelligence-All-in.
And Charm-All-in.
The number of dimensional gateways opened in response to each of the shattered piggy bank functions was four by series.
Twelve clones simultaneously descended as a total!
“…!”
“I knew this would happen.”
Papa, like me, had a bad habit of butting in on someone else’s diaries, probably flipping through my previous rounds like any nosy parent.
The fact that I opened so many rounds and yet exceeded the taboo violations proves my point.
“I’m going to punish this naughty Papa who rummages through his daughter’s diary.”
Of course, being the naughty Demon King Oknodie, the punishment might be a bit more severe.
