Step Back! Master is Here! - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: My Destiny Was Forged By Me

“Are you taking advantage of me?”

Qin Menglan raised her eyebrows slightly.

“For blessings, you are actually taking advantage of me.” Tang Luo said, “If anything goes wrong in the future, remember to let me handle it first.”

Blessing was a risky investment. There was a possibility that he would end up with a deficit. If that was the case, the other party would be taking advantage of him instead.

Qin Menglan did not know whether to laugh or cry. She did not expect that he was such a narcissist.

Sure enough, men were simpletons.

When women realized that they were pretty and cute, they would become even prettier and cuter.

It was not the same for men. Once they realized they were good-looking, they would become silly narcissists.

“Try to sort out your identity. Are there any other problems?” asked Qin Menglan, skipping the topic of blessings.

From the information, it had been less than three months since Tang Luo had come into contact with the Game of Gods and Demons and became an employee.

At the very most, he was a newbie who had completed three missions.

Newbies definitely had a lot of questions about the Game of Gods and Demons.

Anything related to the Game of Gods and Demons would not appear on paper or anything readable. It would only be passed around by word of mouth among the Employees of Gods and Demons.

Qin Menglan was already seated beside Tang Luo, ready to help him with his questions.

However, she had some misgivings. Her probe just now gave Qin Menglan a feeling that this newbie’s abilities were not ordinary.

Could it be she had misjudged? Despite the fact that she had gone through six missions and undergone changes to become a first-order Employee of Gods and Demons?

“Yes, when will I be assigned a mission? First of all, I, Master Xuanzang, have a strong sense of justice, and only punish evil and advocate good. I do not participate in investigative work. It is best that you find who you want to save, and I will save them,” said Tang Luo.

“…”

Qin Menglan wanted to enlighten Tang Luo now.

‘Is he crazy! Has he been struck with eighth-grader syndrome?’

‘Wait!’

Qin Menglan suddenly thought of something and stood up abruptly. She involuntarily placed her hands on Tang Luo’s shoulders, looking down on him with an air of oppression. She then said, “You are a Destiny Bearer?”

Normally, Qin Menglan would not perform such an intimate action with a male stranger.

On the one hand, she was really agitated.

On the other hand, during Tang Luo’s journey to the west, he was a holy monk that was sought after by many demonesses and evil female spirits.

Men liked beautiful women, just like how women liked handsome men.

‘Destiny Bearer?’

Tang Luo was a little suspicious as the new term popped up.

‘Is he not, or is he not aware of it?’ thought Qin Menglan.

She believed it should be more of the latter.

If the Tang Luo in front of her was really a Destiny Bearer, that could explain why his abilities were not like a newbie’s, his eighth-grader syndrome, and his emphasis on the identity of Master Xuanzang.

“How well do you know about the Game of Gods and Demons?”

Qin Menglan sat down again and adjusted her sitting posture, preparing for a long talk.

Tang Luo briefly went through what he had learned.

Qin Menglan nodded. “Basically correct, but there is one thing to remember. All that we know is deduced by us bit by bit. Do not treat them as absolutes.”

To believe wholeheartedly in books was worse than not having a book. That was roughly the logic.

“What is a Destiny Bearer?” asked Tang Luo.

“You know, there are two ways for Employees of Gods and Demons to become stronger, one through equipment and the other through skill,” said Qin Menglan.

Tang Luo nodded.

Even if there was a broad-based improvement after six missions, it was just a passive upgrade for skills.

“In fact, there is a third kind, which is what I mentioned just now.” Qin Menglan said, “Compared to skills and equipment, destiny is almost a perfect way for Employees of Gods and Demons to become stronger.”

Tang Luo asked after giving it some thought, “Is it equivalent to a profession in the game?”

Qin Menglan nodded. “You can put it that way, but to be precise, it is a unique inheritance.”

“I roughly get the idea.”

Tang Luo’s look of realization made Qin Menglan feel that this person should be a Destiny Bearer.

He was quite a lucky person.

“Your meaning of ‘one-of-a-kind…” Tang Luo continued talking. “Are you referring to Monk’s Destiny, Wizard’s Destiny, Killing Wolf’s Destiny, which are not exclusive to anyone? Or, are you talking about non-exclusive destinies which can be obtained by only one person?”

“What we have learned so far is that there are exclusive destinies.” Qin Menglan said, “Tied to a person, an individual, not a class.”

“Isn’t that cosplaying?” asked Tang Luo.

“Uh—the way you put it seems about right,” replied Qin Menglan.

“What is a Destiny Bearer?”

To put it simply, if one got the “Saitama[1] Destiny”, they would be the Saitama Destiny Bearer and would naturally become bald.

However, they would not be transforming into Chibi Maruko-chan[2]’s grandfather.

Instead, as one was turning bald, they would grow stronger and stronger until becoming One-Punch Man.

If one got The Witcher Geralt[3] Destiny, they would become a womanizer of sorceresses, and would die if they fell from a height higher than two meters.

Of course, this was not always the case.

After receiving the destiny, one would become stronger in the direction of the destiny’s owner.

Fighting, training, cultivating, and even imitating were ways to become stronger.

One was no longer dependent or limited by skills and equipment. Whatever cooling and casting restrictions were not relevant anymore.

“That’s right, I am—” said Tang Luo.

He did not expect the game would have such a mechanism.

It was simply tailor-made for him.

In the future, he could openly and confidently call himself Xuanzang, and no one would doubt him.

‘My destiny was forged by me.’

Qin Menglan waved her hand to interrupt Tang Luo.

“There’s no need to say anything, and that includes your skills and the like. You can keep them confidential if you want to. Also, don’t be too happy. Destiny has both advantages and disadvantages. The weakness of the destiny’s owner will also be inherited,” said Qin Menglan.

Like what was mentioned earlier, dying from a fall higher than a height of two meters.

This was not exactly a joke—the height of dying was slightly higher than two meters.

“At the same time, you will also enter into a more brutal killing field.” Qin Menglan looked at Tang Luo. “You killed Sun Ang. You should know that when Employees of Gods and Demons kill each other, the one who dies has a certain probability of dropping their skills?”

Tang Luo signaled that he knew.

It had appeared when he had killed Sun Ang but also disappeared very quickly.

Subsequently, K and Li Shufen had not dropped any skills.

Now, the killing mechanism that he had previously deduced was confirmed by Qin Menglan.

“Skills are only dropped based on a certain probability, and this is random. But destiny—no, destiny fragments have a 100% chance of dropping,” said Qin Menglan.

Destiny Bearers could only hold one type of destiny.

More precisely, what they held were the destiny fragments.

Destiny was unique, and when settled into people, there would only be Saiyan race, Kakarot·Son Goku[4]’s Destiny.

It would not exist as Saiyan Race’s Destiny.

However, one could hold a part of Saiyan Kakarot Son Goku’s Destiny, which was a destiny fragment.

Similarly, you could have one too.

When several, or even dozens of destiny fragments, were merged together, they would form a complete destiny.

Conventional combat and cultivation were quantitative changes. Thus, obtaining the same destiny fragments and fusing them to enhance the Destiny Bearer was a qualitative change.

One could imagine what would happen to the Employees of Gods and Demons with the same destiny.

The so-called holding was clearly not held in one’s hands, which could then be easily discarded.

When one received the destiny fragments, they could choose to reject them.

However, once the inheritance was accepted, there could be only one surviving victor after entering the killing fields.

Only death would bring everything to an end.

Your death, or the death of those with the same inheritance.

This was how a lot of novices were tempted into entering and realized there was no way of getting out.

“Hmm.”

Although it was not necessary, he thanked Qin Menglan for her reminder. She was a good person.

He could provide her with free blessings.

“Oh, yes, I have another question.” Suddenly, Tang Luo thought of an important question. “These destinies are destinies of fantasy characters?”

“That’s right,” said Qin Menglan.

They were all fantasy characters that everyone was either familiar with, or not so familiar with.

“However, there are many versions of fantasy characters, especially the famous ones, and some of them have prototypes. How do you account for them?” Tang Luo asked, “Using Tripitaka as an example…”

How many well-known versions of Tripitaka were there?

There was the historical version and the classic version in the novel Journey to the West.

Also, there was the muscular warrior monk version in Hong Kong comics and a hot-tempered blonde version holding a revolver and smoking a cigarette in Japanese manga.

In addition, there was the quiet fighting expert, Buddha of Sandalwood Merit version, in the spin-off of Journey to the West.

With so many choices, would there be many different Tripitaka’s Destinies?

The problem was clear but tricky to solve.

Faced with this question, Qin Menglan could only shake her head, indicating that she did not know.

She was not a Destiny Bearer.

As for information on destiny, she could only understand so much—all thanks to her identity.

She was an important liaison in scientific organizations.

Generally, veterans would not have that kind of understanding about destiny like Qin Menglan.

Had she not mistaken Tang Luo for a Destiny Bearer, she would not have told him so much.

‘Destiny, inheritance…’

Tang Luo laughed, finding it interesting.

After informing him of the relatively important issues, Qin Menglan was about to leave.

About half a month later, there would be an Approaching Science conference. She would inform Tang Luo about the time and address at a later date.

She hoped that he would be able to attend.

In addition, Qin Menglan reminded Tang Luo that any information related to the Game of Gods And Demons should be communicated face-to-face. Even phone calls should be avoided, if possible.

“I’ll make a move first. Your… identity, I will try to sort it out as soon as possible and mail it over,” said Qin Menglan as he sent her to the door.

“Got it.” Tang Luo nodded and took a deep breath. Before Qin Menglan could respond, Tang Luo shouted, “You liar! Do you think I don’t know? This kid is not mine, nor my dad’s!”

After he finished his words, he slammed the door shut before Qin Menglan could react.

‘I, Tang Luo, Tripitaka, Victorious Fighting Buddha, must recover my honor!’

Qin Menglan could barely hold back the urge to destroy his house.

‘This guy’s destiny is absolutely that of a monk’s. He’s deserving of being one, and be single for the rest of his life!’

[1] Saitama is the main protagonist of the Japanese manga One-Punch Man and the most powerful being to exist in the series.

[2] A Japanese manga that depicts the simple, everyday life of a young girl named Maruko

[3] Geralt is the protagonist of The Witcher series of short stories and novels, and is a traveling monster slayer for hire.

[4] Son Goku is the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball metaseries. Goku is a Saiyan originally sent to destroy Earth as an infant.