The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 129

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 129

 

We emerged from the mixed ritual system. As our merged selves separated, I felt nauseous.

 

Sernuan was as neat and tidy as when I first met him.

 

“I’ve been quite impressed watching your actions thus far, Player. It was good to learn the reason why you were able to perform the Ascetic role so excellently.”

 

Sernuan said. His tone was completely different from when our consciousness had been mixed earlier.

 

It was a bland tone, as if emotions had been severed from somewhere. As if the terrible memories we had just experienced meant nothing at all.

 

Sernuan who was offered in the sacrificial ritual. Had Teacher offered me, offered Sernuan as a sacrifice from the very beginning? That affection must have all been fake too…

 

Don’t think about it. That’s not what’s important right now.

 

“Yeah, thanks for the positive review of my actions. But that thing just now, those are your memories too. Yet you’re so fine with it?”

 

Right now, if I had a physical body, I could have been retching immediately.

 

“As part of the system, my emotions are controlled.”

 

What could I say to someone who’s fine because they have no emotions! I almost blurted out something like ‘Your family that you created is being torn apart and you’re so calm about it?’ but I held back.

 

“Since I came here representing the Forgotten Gods and the system, I will inform you of the way to leave this place.”

 

“Alright.”

 

“This place is the ritual system of the God of Darkness. Here you can summon the God of Darkness and communicate with him through a different method than humans use.”

 

Won’t my head explode if I try to communicate with him?

 

“The way to leave this place is to make a contract with him.”

 

If I make a contract, it feels like my organs will be stolen. No, would it be fortunate if only my organs were stolen…? Hmm. If I don’t make a contract, there’s no way out, so I have to try it.

 

“Before proceeding with the contract, I will guide you through the necessary information for you, Player.”

 

Like a home shopping representative, Sernuan Lumiere drew various pictures in the air as he explained.

 

“The God of Darkness is another self that Lumensia sealed when cornered.”

 

“What kind of situation was being cornered?”

 

Sernuan fluttered his long eyelashes and added explanation with an expression that didn’t change one bit.

 

“I will proceed with additional explanation to help your understanding, Player.”

 

Pictures sprouted up in the air again.

 

“The Forgotten Gods tried to eliminate the calm and quiet God of Darkness first rather than the powerful Lumensia. Because if darkness disappears, light can no longer be powerful either.”

 

It’s like the front and back of a card. If there’s no front, there’s no back. If there’s no back, there’s no front.

 

If they eliminated the God of Darkness, Lumensia who lost half would also weaken – with this thought, they put it into action.

 

“But the Forgotten Gods’ reach couldn’t touch him. When Lumensia faced the crisis of darkness being eliminated, she chose the path of sealing instead.”

 

So she fought fire with fire. If it was going to be eliminated anyway, it would have been better to seal it and keep it in her own hands.

 

“The God of Darkness was originally one with Lumensia, but now they are separated due to the seal. Since there is no light without darkness, Lumensia tried to become one with darkness to become complete, but the Forgotten Gods prevented that.”

 

It seems like the Forgotten Gods did something useful for the first time.

 

The trapped God of Darkness, moving like a narrated fairy tale, rattled the box.

 

“Even after dealing with all the Forgotten Gods, Lumensia couldn’t find a way to return to being one, so she kept the God of Darkness locked away for a very, very long time, and the God of Darkness became dissatisfied with that.”

 

The God of Darkness trapped in the box expresses dissatisfaction. But Lumensia only pushed that box further into a corner.

 

“Whether it was because he had been separated for so long or because he made a contract with demons, he wanted to become perfect as one like now, rather than the past when two selves with dual nature were together.”

 

“If that happens…”

 

“The next time the God of Darkness is released, he will try to devour the God of Darkness’s self and power to become complete as a perfect one.”

 

“Then does it become stronger?”

 

“Simply put, yes. Overcoming all weaknesses and becoming perfect as one holds the greatest meaning for a god.”

 

“Then we need to stop it before that happens, right?”

 

“Yes, that’s correct. Let me return to the main topic.”

 

The drawing gets erased with scratching sounds.

 

“This place is the domain of the god of darkness and a kind of ‘quarantine folder.’ Lumensia isolates all penalties here. No matter what Lumensia does, she pays no price. All penalties, errors, viruses and such are transferred entirely to this place. To the god of darkness.”

 

“What?”

 

The puzzle pieces clicked together in my head.

 

Lumensia’s overwhelming power and ability to beat up the Forgotten Gods in one-versus-many fights.

 

Even gods need costs like faith to perform actions or miracles, but Lumensia acted as if she didn’t need any of that.

 

“The god of darkness wants to escape from being trapped and sealed, so if you mention that aspect when proceeding with the contract, it should go smoothly.”

 

The box shoved in the corner rattles. The rattling grows more intense, then suddenly stops.

 

Then a thin fragment pokes out from between the box.

 

It was a Sacred Relic.

 

“After that, you can borrow some of the god of darkness’s abilities with the ‘World’s Darkest Veil’ like you did coming here. However, since the god of darkness is currently sealed, this isn’t a recommended method. It may burden your body.”

 

“But still… I used the Forgotten Gods’ power just fine as my own?”

 

“Because we are vessels made for that purpose. The god of darkness was ‘forgotten,’ so a body couldn’t be crafted to match that. And since the god of darkness itself didn’t side with the Forgotten Gods faction, proper countermeasures couldn’t be created for that aspect.”

 

What is he saying…

 

I couldn’t understand the language, but I could ‘comprehend’ what meaning was being conveyed.

 

“Hmm…”

 

If I understand it roughly in my own way…

 

Using the World’s Darkest Veil is like running an FPS game on minimum specs when your computer doesn’t meet the requirements? Playing an FPS game with lag spikes and low framerate while trying to reach Challenger rank?

 

“That’s correct.”

 

So he was reading my thoughts after all.

 

“If this displeased you, I apologize. However, ‘we’ have always been with you, Player.”

 

Then he must have heard all the daily trash talk about the gods too.

 

Ah~ whatever, listen all you want! You’ve already heard all my random thoughts anyway!

 

I wonder if he heard my thoughts from earlier too.

 

Sernuan relaxed his eyebrows for the first time.

 

“Since we don’t feel likes or dislikes about how you think, you don’t need to worry about such things.”

 

My privacy…

 

“We sincerely apologize for being unable to disable this function, though we wanted to stop reading deep psychology to respect your privacy, as greater dangers could arise if we did.”

 

As I quietly despaired, Sernuan earnestly explained about things that ‘couldn’t be helped.’

 

“If we turn off this function, we cannot block brainwashing attempts coming through various means, cannot block interference from non-human entities like Transcendents and absolutes. And there would be restrictions on automatic language translation and other ability operations. Also-”

 

“Uh… Yeah. I get it, you can stop explaining…”

 

“Yes, understood.”

 

What kind of high-performance GPT is this…

 

Sernuan nodded. Seeing a face identical to mine acting like that feels somehow…

 

Indescribably awkward.

 

‘Fuck. This is why I hated looking in mirrors.’

 

Standing in front of the mirror, I could most clearly recognize the fact that I was Sernuan Lumiere, not Park Hanbyeol.

 

‘It’s not like I wanted to enter this body, yet I feel guilt as if I stole it.’

 

He was clearly just an existence within a game.

 

Just a mid-boss of chapter 1.5… merely a minor villain role.

 

My thoughts couldn’t continue for long, wondering if even these thoughts and emotions would flow into this space and be shared with everyone.

 

Whether Sernuan noticed this or not, he calmly continued his explanation.

 

“Right now, the God of Darkness wants to switch places with Lumensia. The reason Lumensia can be active like this is because it’s a structure where the God of Darkness bears all the penalties for those actions.”

 

Kim Minseok who used me, Teacher who exploits me and Sernuan, Lumensia who uses the God of Darkness. In the end, the essence is all the same.

 

The position of using and being used. The fate of being left as an empty shell and discarded. In the end, once usefulness is exhausted, we’ll be thrown away.

 

“What will you do?”

 

“Since I have fulfilled my role, I must return to the system. It was an honor to be of help in Player’s journey.”

 

“When you go back, do you just become a talking AI, or do you disappear as data fragments?”

 

“That is not important information for Player.”

 

I almost got angry and emotional again, but I held back. I don’t know how many times I’ve suppressed my anger during this conversation.

 

“Let me ask you just one thing, Sernuan.”

 

“Please feel free to ask anything. There are approximately 4 hours of time constraint remaining.”

 

“4 hours?”

 

“It’s the time limit for the body in real space. Since the soul has currently departed, the body is gradually dying.”

 

Oh damn, you should have told me that first!

 

“Currently, Divine Authority is substituting for those functions, so you don’t need to worry much about that part.”

 

The more I looked at Sernuan answering with that expressionless face, the more uncomfortable I felt. It was uncomfortable like having a thorn stuck in my throat, like when the roof of your mouth gets burned.

 

Is it because I’ve gotten used to that body now? Or is it those resigned and powerless eyes that bother me?

 

My thoughts become complicated.

 

“You don’t need to think that you stole the body, Player.”

 

I was keeping quiet because I thought it would only ruin my mood if I spoke it out loud, but he reads those thoughts.

 

“I was an unnecessary person. I was someone who only failed and ruined everything. But thanks to Player, I became a useful person and gained people I could even call family.”

 

Sernuan spoke with a smile, his expression unchanged.

 

In this mixed consciousness, I could tell that he wasn’t making this up or trying to comfort me, but truly thought and spoke from the heart.

 

The pure innocence of this guy who sincerely accepted such absurd sacrifice with gratitude was maddeningly ridiculous. Even being a pushover has its limits.

 

“This is absurd…”

 

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude, Player.”

 

Sernuan offered his thanks.

 

I understand that everything this guy said was sincere and that he’s truly grateful to me.

 

But I just can’t accept it.

 

“You don’t need to feel guilt or negative emotions, Player.”

 

This guy’s past that we experienced together earlier, and his past that I saw flashing by quickly during the ‘review’ floated up like soap bubbles.

 

It would be a lie to say I felt no guilt. If asked whether I wasn’t depressed because of it, I was confident I could answer ‘Oh, I was fucking depressed!!’ within 3 seconds.

 

“Hey.”

 

I swept back the long hair. Though it’s a body that isn’t mine, it’s mine now.

 

“Hah… Alright Sernuan, since there’s no time, I’ll ask quickly.”

 

“Yes, Player.”

 

“Since we’ve met anyway, let me speak frankly…”

 

Since all rituals were shared from the beginning, I had no choice but to speak frankly.

 

Actually, forget about the God of Darkness and all that – there was something I’d wanted to ask from the moment I first saw Sernuan.

 

“Is it really okay for me to use your body? Really? Your entire life and everything you’ve accomplished will be completely taken away.”

 

Sernuan spoke with a smile, his expression unchanged.

 

“I exist to be of help to you, Player-”

 

I cut off those words immediately.

 

“Drop that damn system persona and think with your own head…! Are you really okay with your body being used like this, in this way? Right now, someone else is using your body…”

 

I rubbed my face with my hands. Sernuan was looking at me with gentle eyes, wearing not a programmed smile but a faint, resigned one.

 

“It’s okay. Thanks to you, Player, I was able to find one meaning in my life.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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