I Returned as a God - Chapter 27

 

[Translator – DualDarkElu]

 

Chapter 27 – Personal Circumstances (3)

Yoo Ji-han nodded his head.

Before talking about the 3rd floor, I was able to hear from Yoo Ji-han about how he was able to clear the 2nd floor.

During the mission to protect the magic core, unlike me, who had killed all the attacking monsters, Yoo Ji-han started by setting the forest on fire.

As the forest went up in flames, the goblins started to despair.

Yoo Ji-han used that opportunity to target the captains or the leaders, breaking down their formations.

At this point, I looked like a fool for ignorantly clearing this floor.

“Even if I learned the sword from you, it was only for a short moment.”

The objective of the mission was just to hold out until the timer ran out.

Whether it be by killing all the goblins, or any other method.

But even then, would any normal person think of setting the forest on fire?

“Since you gave me some information, you know.”

Yoo Ji-han, who was pretty much a loner in the lobby, couldn’t get any information about the floors.

He had a look as if he were truly relieved that he had the information that I gave him.

[You’re not sane either, huh]

The conversation about the 2nd floor ended like that.

Yoo Ji-han hesitated, as if he had something to say.

Although I was sitting on the platform, Yoo Ji-han had no way of knowing where I was.

‘No matter how I look at it, that’s…’

He kept thinking of Kim Yoo-han. They were similar, almost too similar.

The dimension Yoo Ji-han came from was similar to the dimension that I had previously been in.

I could tell because there was no reaction from him when I asked him about hunters or awakeners.

“I heard about a god from the guys in the lobby”

[I thought you were a loner in the lobby.]

“I said I was pretty much a loner, not that I was one.”

Yoo Ji-han made a face of discomfort at the word loner.

‘What the heck? Is someone who’s pretty much a loner, not a loner?’

[Don’t do mental gymnastics. You are a loner]

“I said I’m not!”

[Yeah? Then do you have any friends?]

Yoo Ji-han, who had been screaming, shut his mouth at the mention of friends.

[See, you don’t have any friends. What else would you be other than a loner?]

“You really piss me off. I have someone who’s not a friend but similar to one. I saved him as he was about to be done in by some bastards from the Central Guild, but… That guy said that this was something like a god’s playground. What did he mean by that?”

Yoo Ji-han showed discomfort.

The lobby has a lot of lower-floor challengers mixed in one place.

There’s bound to be a difference in information.

Information was power in an unknown place.

It was a structure where the earlier runners had the advantage, while the later runners were at a disadvantage.

There, of course, was a time difference between Yoo Ji-han and I, but there was also a spatial difference.

The area between floors.

It was an area where Yoo Ji-han and I coexisted.

It was natural for someone to question whether something that happened outside the tower also happened in the past.

I still had no answer as to why I had come into possession of this tower.

[It’s similar.]

It was disappointing, but this was the most I could tell him.

Yoo Ji-han’s eyes shook at my reply.

“Why are they doing this? What meaning is there to something like this? Do they think they can do whatever they want because they’re gods? Or do they look at us like we’re their toys because we’re humans? Hey, since you’re also a god, say something!”

Yoo Ji-han’s voice rose, and his face turned red.

Although Ji-han had come out alive, there were other people from the lobby that had died.

And this was just the beginning.

This was the same Ji-han who had been surprised by a corpse, but in just over a month, his personality had changed to the point where he could be mistaken for a different person entirely.

[I don’t know either.]

“What is that irresponsible bullshit! Are you really a god? Are you just a con artist?”

[I think you’re too worked up, so calm down a bit]

I focused on trying to get Yoo Ji-han to calm down.

I didn’t know what he had heard or experienced in the lobby, however, in the state he was in, no matter what I said, he would get offended.

‘Is it because he’s young, or is it just his personality?’

Seeing as how he lost his temper every once in a while, it seemed much more likely that it was his personality.

As I stopped talking, the inside of the classroom became silent.

Sure enough, Yoo Ji-han realized I had been avoiding the question.

“Hey, are you ignoring me? Say something… What do you, no, all of you gods think you are? What do you think you guys are, huh?”

As the silence went on, Yoo Ji-han sighed as he messed up his hair.

He looked towards the ceiling and fumed for a bit, but soon let out a breath as though he had calmed down.

“Did you really run away?”

[……]

“I got it, I’ve calmed down now, so talk.”

[I don’t know anything about the other gods.]

Although I had met some gods during my time as a dimensional traveler, after becoming a god, there was no outsider on my level.

I, of course, hadn’t met any other god inside the tower, but I also haven’t ever met any god outside the tower either, so there was nothing I could tell him.

“Well, I guess if you did, then you wouldn’t have taken someone like me as your devotee. But can I ask one more thing?”

[It’s not as though you’re not going to ask even if I tell you to. What is it?]

“What do they mean when they say that you’ll get stronger the more merit points you offer to your god?”

[It’s exactly as they say.]

From living outside the tower, I could be sure about it.

Merit points were equal to the god’s power.

Hunters who were under a named god with a lot of merit points improved at a different speed than others.

Though that didn’t mean that a D-rank hunter could fight like an A-rank hunter just because they were under a named god.

To paraphrase this, as Choi Soo-hyun said, It was closer to starting off with a beginner’s package.

Something like gaining a 100% XP bonus or getting better equipment.

 

 

[Translator – DualDarkElu]

 

That was all.

“Then I’ll give you all my merit points, so make me stronger.”

[It’s not as simple as that.]

“Then what do you want me to do?”

Yoo Ji-han made a face as though he couldn’t understand while crossing his arms.

‘He’s a lot more childlike at times like these.’

[First, give me all your merit points.]

“Don’t talk like a scammer when you’re a god.”

[I said give it.]

“Alright.”

Yoo Ji-han opened his status window while grumbling.

It seemed much more natural compared to back when he couldn’t open it and stuttered around.

I took a peek at Yoo Ji-han’s status window.

[Yoo Ji-han(Soter)]

Class: Guardian

Strength : A- (31%)

Constitution : B- (71%)

Magic Power : C+ (90%)

Healing Power : B (45%)

Merit Points : 40,390

Skill

Talent

‘No matter how I look at it, those stats are off the charts.’

From the beginning, his stats were on average almost B.

It was to the point where if I were to fight him in the body of Kang Han-kyul, I wasn’t certain that I could win.

Although I probably would since I had more experience.

Yoo Ji-han pressed the [Sponsor] button by the side of the status window.

[You have received 30,000 merit points from Guardian ‘Yoo Ji-han’.]

[Currently, Yoo Ji-han is sponsor ranking No. 1]

I gained 30 thousand merit points in a single moment.

I had gained less than 20 thousand merit points while working over the past month, yet I had gained over a month’s worth of merit points in a single day.

‘But why are you holding back on me?’

[I said to give all of it.]

Yoo Ji-han made a fuss as though he didn’t want to hear me.

He had already had a strong suspicion that I could see his merit points.

“Give me potions and items. Especially that shower bomb thing or whatever.”

[What am I, a shop? You think if you ask for it, I’ll just hand it over?]

“I sponsored 30 thousand points. I’ll buy it with the remaining merit points.”

Although I had felt it after hearing about how he had stalled for time by setting the forest on fire and killing all the goblin leaders, but this confirmed that Yoo Ji-han was a really clever brat.

It was to the point where worrying about the sword I had given him seemed meaningless.

Although it didn’t matter since I was planning on giving him potions anyways.

[What will you do with the shower bombs?]

“After the 3rd-floor ends, I’m going to set up shop.”

[Set up shop? What do you mean? Say it in a way I can understand.]

I had no idea what went on in the lobby.

Yoo Ji-han explained the situation in the lobby.

According to his words, the challengers in the lobby showered using an item called a ‘waterball’.

‘To think that waterballs exist here too.’

To be honest, I was a bit surprised.

As the name suggested, a waterball was a ball with water in it.

Depending on the volume, It could hold almost 100L at once.

You could also use a waterball as a source of drinking water, so it was a very useful item.

The item was simple to use.

You could put a straw into the rubber-like surface and drink, or poke a hole in it and use it as a makeshift shower.

The waterballs available on the lower floors were the smallest ones that held around 1-5L.

“The problem is that the Central Guild bastards monopolize the devotees of the gods who actually give waterballs.”

Showers weren’t very necessary, but the fact that they held all the drinking water was a huge problem.

He told me that although it wasn’t a complete monopoly, thanks to them, waterballs had been selling for quite a large sum.

[You can trade merit points?]

Yoo Ji-han nodded his head.

‘It seems like they use merit points almost like a currency.’

[And there aren’t any challengers who get shower bombs?]

“There aren’t any for now.”

The items I could give Yoo Ji-han were items like potions, painkillers, and shower bombs; Items that were needed for survival purposes.

[How much are you going to give me?]

Yoo Ji-han muttered about how I was unbelievable.

“Aren’t you my god? And it’s not as though there’s a limit to how many you can get. This is daylight robbery.”

[How much are you planning to sell them for?]

Ji-han raised 2 fingers.

[Double the price?]

Upon hearing my question, Ji-han made a dumbfounded face.

“200 each.”

[Do you know how much it is per shower bomb?]

‘The one who should be dumbfounded is you, not me, you brat.’

If it’s 2 merit points for each, then they might as well just be free.

Gaining 100 times profit.

Yoo Ji-han looked down at the empty sports field.

Unlike me, who was dumbfounded, Ji-han seemed shameless.

“I still set the price pretty reasonably.”

[Seeing you, I finally understand how much of a mess things in the lobby probably are.]

“Just hurry up and give me the items. It’s all going to come back to you anyways.”

That was true.

[Using 400 merit points, you gifted 100 x 2 sets of shower bombs to ‘Yoo Ji-han’.]

[You have received 400 merit points.]

The items I gifted went into Yoo Ji-han’s item window.

[Take some potions and painkillers too.]

Yoo Ji-han scratched the back of his ear and seemed uncertain.

“They don’t seem to take those often.”

[It’s probably still better to have them.]

‘Yoo Ji-han’s growing faster than I expected…’

“I guess it’s better than not having them.”

Yoo Ji-han additionally bought potions and painkillers.

We went in circles for a while, but I think we were finally ready to talk about the 3rd floor.

“They said there was a train. I heard a bit about it in the lobby, but I don’t know any of the details.”

The 3rd floor’s topic revolved around a train.

It was a simple task where you had to assassinate someone on the train.

Although the details were fairly simple, there was one thing that worried me.

[Have you ever killed someone before?]

“If it’s a person, do you mean murder?”

[That’s right.]

After clearing the 3rd floor, as information got tossed around, there was one thing that I discovered.

‘…And that information is regarding what happens if you fail the assassination.’

In that situation, not only does the difficulty increase by a lot, but the clear method wasn’t simple either.

‘Murder every single person on the train’

This was the hidden route if you failed the assassination. I personally wished that Ji-han wouldn’t have to go through this route.

Ji-han looked around in response to my question.

Considering the situation in the lobby, he had probably at least witnessed one or two murders.

But witnessing a murder and doing it with your own two hands was a completely different story.

Ji-han replied after a long pause.

“I haven’t.”