Chapter 80
I stepped out of the village hall and stood on a small hill.
A cool breeze blew, ruffling my black hair.
‘Indra. Are you listening? I’ve made up my mind.’
I took a deep breath.
Then, with a rather solemn expression, I muttered,
“That contract you proposed… I’ll accept it.”
Boom—!
A bright light fell like lightning from the clear sky onto my head.
A white dove carrying a clover as a messenger descended, flapping its wings.
A majestic voice resonated in my ears.
[Earthly Realm Descent. Initiating synchronization. Synchronization successful. Attempting connection with avatar.]
[Analyzing matching rate between the guardian deity seeking contract and the avatar.]
[This process will take some time, please wait a moment.]
[Analysis complete.
■ ■ ■ ■: 99.9999…%
■ ■: 99.9999…%
■ ■ ■ ■: 99.9999…%
■ ■ ■ : 99.9999…%
Total matching rate: 99.9999…%]
[The Supreme God Indra proposes a guardian deity contract to you.]
[(Messenger) < Indra’s Contract Proposal >
Condition: Salvation of humanity.
Reward: Ability to manifest Indra god’s authority on earth.]
“…Alright. That contract.”
Surrounded by white light, I solemnly murmured.
“I’ll accept it.”
Salvation of humanity?
Whatever, I’ll do it.
After all, if humanity perishes, my companions and I will die too.
Thinking this, I closed my eyes with a still solemn face when suddenly…
Beep-beep—!
An ominous warning sound rang out, and suddenly a red status window covered my vision.
[(Messenger) Error occurred!]
[Avatar’s contract qualification insufficient!]
[Contract has failed!]
What?
No, wait.
Flustered, I waved my hands in the air and muttered:
“Hey. Excuse me. Messenger-nim? Or Causality-nim?”
[(Messenger) Guardian deity-avatar contract failed. Temporarily dismantling contract area.]
The space of light shattered like a tsunami and disappeared.
I blinked with a dumbfounded face.
As the white light vanished, the hill reappeared before my eyes, and a gust of wind blew.
‘W-what is this…’
My companions who had been waiting nearby quickly ran over and looked at me with expectant eyes.
“Are you alright, Noah?”
“Wow. Did you just contract with the supreme god? Am I friends with such a person?”
“Noona! Please shoot some lightning over there!”
Looking at those bright-eyed faces, my conscience started to prick.
“Um, well…”
I awkwardly scratched the back of my head and mumbled embarrassedly.
“Well, it seems… the contract didn’t work out?”
💎
So, Indra’s long-winded explanation went like this:
[(Messenger) Indra explains that while ‘salvation of humanity’ is the condition, ‘salvation of companions or some humans’ falls short of the qualification requirements.]
In other words, the contract failed because I didn’t truly intend to save all of humanity.
“Come on, isn’t that basically the same thing?”
As I angrily protested, the Messenger’s voice continued,
[(Messenger) He asks, if you had to sacrifice a hundred people to save one of your companions, what would you do?]
“Ah, of course I’d…”
I hesitated as I was about to answer brazenly.
“Of course…”
Suddenly, a scene flashed in my mind.
Sehun was crying, standing on a railway track.
On another split track, a hundred unknown people were standing, crying.
In the distance, a huge train approaching at tremendous speed.
“Sob. Noah Noona…”
If I had to sacrifice a hundred people to save Sehun?
Then, I…
The Messenger, sensing my thoughts, immediately chimed in,
[(Messenger) ‘See! See!’ Indra shouts excitedly.]
[He laments that with such a selfish heart that prioritizes only your companions, you can never contract with him.]
“Come on, not all awakened are completely good people either!”
I shouted, pointing at the air in indignation.
“Why are you being so strict only with me!”
[(Messenger) Indra says that contracting with him, the supreme benevolent god, naturally requires several conditions.]
“Don’t you want to win this war? The other side is even making human dolls, those bastards! Where’s your desperation?”
Isn’t it because benevolent gods are like this that evil runs rampant in this world!
[(Messenger) Indra becomes sulky at your sharp criticism.]
[But he dejectedly argues that great power comes with great responsibility.]
“Is she really talking to a god like that…?”
My companions beside me were horrified and tried to stop me.
“Noah. Just listening, it doesn’t seem like that kind of talk will help with the contract…”
“Yeah. As I always say, you really need to control your temper.”
“Please calm down first, Noah.”
Finally calming down a bit, I explained, still fuming, the conversation I just had with the Messenger.
Yu, with her usual calm face, nodded.
“In a way, it makes sense… Isn’t there still hatred and resentment towards humans in Noah’s heart?”
Ouch.
After rolling my eyes for a while at Yu’s words that seemed to see right through me, I finally admitted,
“…You’re right. If I could save just you all, I’d probably choose that path even if all other humans died.”
At those words, Choi Kkang-kang and the others looked somewhat touched.
“Noah…”
Fortunately, despite the news of the failed contract, my companions didn’t seem very disappointed.
Choi Kkang-kang nodded, crossing his arms, and said,
“It’s okay. With that personality, it might be problematic if you became even stronger than now.”
“…Is that supposed to be comforting?”
The rest of the group quickly offered more plausible consolations.
“Still, you’ve grown this much in such a short time. You’ll be able to make the contract soon.”
“Noona, it’s okay! We can see lightning when it rains!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be by your side, Noah.”
It’s strange.
Lowering my slightly tense shoulders, I muttered quietly,
“…Really?”
Actually, although I tried to act like it was no big deal, I was feeling a bit discouraged after the contract I had mustered up courage for had failed.
Facing my companions’ unchanged attitudes made me feel relieved.
Seeing me like this, Yu chuckled.
“Of course. As always, Noah will realize and accomplish it.”
Feeling a bit shy at those words, I slightly lowered my head.
Of course, since I’d resolved to be honest from now on, I didn’t forget to express my gratitude.
“…Thank you.”
As I uttered those words softly, my companions nodded with somewhat touched expressions.
How should I put it.
It was like the expression of a mother witnessing her child’s first steps.
[(Messenger) Indra is shedding tears of emotion.]
[With the increased synchronization rate, ‘more active praise’ from the highest god is possible.]
[He’s going around the neighborhood bragging that his avatar (candidate) has grown up to say such things.]
This is so embarrassing, really.
…But somehow, it didn’t feel bad.
I grumbled for a moment, but then I covered my mouth with my hand and smiled broadly.
💎
A few days later.
After preparing to set off on our journey again, we boarded the camping car once more.
“Are you really leaving?”
“How should we repay this debt of gratitude…”
Seo Jae-hyun, who had come to see us off, bowed deeply and spoke apologetically.
Baek Yi-heon quickly waved his hand and began to speak.
“It’s alright…”
“Of course, you should repay the debt.”
But I was a step faster than him.
Seo Jae-hyun, who had already had his cherished A++-grade item taken away by me, flinched while keeping his head bowed.
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
