Cyrus lagged behind, momentarily distracted by the last notice. First of the thirteen Seals over his godhood had been undone. He clenched and unclenched his hands, wiggling his fingers. I don't feel any different.
So, he decided to deal with it later. Yaoming was with him, so this wasn't the time for it. Cyrus couldn't afford to give even the slightest hint away. The moment Yaoming found out he was Mo Tian, it was pretty much game over for the two of them.
Instead, he focused on the map enabled by [Crow Eyes] as they made their way across the village. With every street identical and every house toppling down the same way, as if a set of assets had been creatively reused and recycled in one way or another, the navigation function proved its worth. He gave his thanks to the couple of ravens roaming around the village and a promise not to hunt them down for resources—well, unless he needed them.
"Why do you call me Senior Brother?" Yaoming's voice came when he least expected it.
Cyrus hummed at the sudden question. Well, it looks like he has picked himself up a bit.
It didn't come as a surprise to Cyrus that Yaoming was willing to talk when he'd just killed himself a few hours ago. From what he could understand of Sumiya's strongest man's character, Yaoming wasn't really all that broken that Sumiya fell, nor was he in despair to the point of being suicidal entirely because of it.
There wasn't a bitter scent of sadness on him that Cyrus would recognize—just a lack of a scent at all. All his outbursts and actions seemed to come from the fact that he had a duty, and he failed. His world was gone, so his story had ended.
Yaoming didn't want to start a new one.
The Hero had called Sumiya his second home. Then what about his first home? Did he transmigrate into Sumiya? Maybe he had isekai’ed before. Cyrus wanted to ask, but he knew Yaoming wouldn't answer.
Instead, he replied with a question. "Because we're both Apostles under God Father?"
What did surprise him was that Yaoming asked a question that was somewhat related to the god. While he didn't sense that strong personal hatred directed at Mo Tian—most likely because, despite himself, Yaoming knew that even without the god, Sumiya was beyond salvation—there was undoubtedly unadulterated disgust and disapproval toward the god that served more than enough of a reason.
"Not that," Yaoming gritted. "From your bone age, I can tell you've lived four years longer than I have, and you got abducted first. So, how am I the Senior?"
Bone age? Cyrus first wondered how in the world Yaoming could tell that from an outward look, but his answer was obvious: cultivator. Did Yaoming have X-ray vision or something? Cyrus sure hoped that didn't mean Yaoming could also use it for what he was thinking of.
Moving away from that line of thought, if Cyrus were to assume that the game was keeping his real age, that meant Yaoming was only nineteen! With his level of swordsmanship and his strength, Cyrus was actually expecting Yaoming to be older than him, not that he looked that part—minus the silver hair.
Truly a prodigy, as his profile stated. If this were a novel, Yaoming would surely be the protagonist, and that would make Cyrus a villain.
"You're stronger," Cyrus answered matter-of-factly. "I regard anyone stronger than me as a Senior."
Or, boss, as he would call them back in real life. Anyone he could get something out of was his boss.
With [Mortal Eyes] pasted right onto Yaoming's face, Cyrus couldn't possibly miss the slightest twitch that revealed the Hero's displeasure with his way. Clearly, the guy had never needed to lick any boots before.
"You..." Cyrus paused, considering his words. "Don't have to be so tense, you know. At least not all the time. I don't think God Father is always watching over us. If He were that free, He would have descended to save Hollow Rift himself, no?"
Cyrus decided this was how he'd try to continue their dying conversation, thinking it'd be a bonus if he could get Yaoming to loosen up further. But the notification window he was expecting from [Blinded Sage] didn't show up.
"Is that so?" Yaoming muttered.
Cyrus nodded, though with a lack of conviction as he switched around the angles of [Mortal Eyes], hoping to catch any telling microexpression. Just when he moved to the side, Yaoming's eyes turned sharp, his gaze drawing close before it followed.
"Why has he been watching me the entire time then?" Yaoming's voice was a decisive blade. "For a busy god, he looks pretty idle to me."
Tsk. What monstrous instinct.
It wasn't a fluke back in the cave after all. Definitely a bold and meta move to allow the Hero NPC to sense the player's skill eyes, but then again, it would take that much to make a 5-Star.
"...Is that so? Maybe He likes you?" Cyrus could only quietly ramble away, acting clueless as he gave up his attempt for the time being. Some things simply couldn't be pushed.
Yaoming didn't say anything to that, and the two went back to wordless strolling for the rest of the journey.
The village was like a colony of ants occupying a giant's corpse. From the shop at the entrance to the primary resident area facing the beach took two healthy men about half an hour on foot, but they came across only a few villagers scrambling away, clearly curious but not wanting to interact with the two strangers.
"Grandpa Wu, it's me," Cyrus announced as he pushed a wooden gate to make his way into the front garden of a house.
The building could be regarded as one of the most well-maintained among those still occupied. The owner kept the walls free of moss and vines, the basin half-filled, and the walking track clear and visible. Regrettably, the aged lines in the wall, the crack in the basin where a small but steady stream of murky water leaked, and the protruding rocks that made the path uneven still undermined his efforts.
Hardship couldn't be hidden. Poverty dressed in well-orderedness still had its stench.
"Senior should go in first and let Grandpa Wu know we've arrived," Cyrus said as he turned his head to the basin. "I will wash my hands and follow right after."
Yaoming didn't have to be told twice, leaving Cyrus behind with a wave of his sleeves. Cyrus watched him enter the house and slid the door closed behind him before he extended his hand.
"Shovel," he called.
The shovel from before appeared in his hand just as a screen emerged.
[ Moonglade Realm (9/15) ]
He kneeled to place it down on the ground, keeping it half-hidden underneath some yellowing bushes, when his nose caught a distinct stagnant odor. The odor blended with the same metallic hint from the stream water, spoiled with something.
He spun [Mortal Eyes] toward the roof, where bamboo rain gutters run along the edges to barrels. The gutters were sloppy, put up by an amateur builder, but they looked much newer compared to the roof. It had been just two or so decades since the village began to collapse after their god had fallen, or so the villagers said.
When Cyrus took his first step past the village's entrance earlier today, his nose itched as he received an informative prompt framed as God Mo Tian's thought. There are still lingering traces of Divine—something he could feel on his skin, in his follicles, even without being told by the game.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The so-called goddess might not be as dead as Her people believed.
"It felt kind of familiar. Like I just caught a glimpse of someone I've seen once or twice during the program."
The fact that the game could actually make him feel abstract things and force very specific emotions on him with seemingly no outward stimuli was somewhat unnerving. He tried not to conjure an image of all the things his brain and body were being put through inside that pod.
"I'm acting like some boomer with technophobia," Cyrus snorted. He thought better not to be too bothered and just let himself fully get immersed in the game, as it was intended. After all, he could be stuck here for an entire in-game year before he would be woken up for a breather.
He might as well start getting used to all its craziness.
Cyrus got up and traced Yaoming's steps into the house. "Grandpa Wu?" he called as he stepped through the door and took his shoes off. Getting knocked on the head with a ladle was enough for him to remember to do so.
"Hm?" An older man with a bulky build sat in the living room threw a glance back before immediately going back to the task between his legs—namely, a basket of small, round potatoes. "Oh, it's you, Sai Lè boy. Come here. Sit down. Help me with these."
"I told you it's Cyrus, not Sai Lè."
{ Master! Helping mortals with their requests will plant the seed of Faith in their hearts! Forming relationships with the mortals and every Believer converted will raise Master's Divinity. Once their Piety is high enough, they will begin generating a steady stream of Faith every day! }
Sai Lè didn't have to be asked twice if rewards were involved, swiftly taking his seat on a small wooden stool. The old man handed him a cloth, wordlessly telling him to start wiping the potatoes clean.
"Needa cut away bruised parts from digging with my good old hands," the old man grumbled. "Whata waste. Couldn't find my wretched shovel this morning, or I can feed you two twice as many potatoes."
"Do you mean the one with a rope tied to its handle?" Cyrus asked as he placed away a cleaned potato. "I almost tripped on it on my way to wash up at the basin this morning before I left."
"Huh? Really? This old man must be going blind, then. Wasn't there when I looked."
Cyrus laughed. "It's under some bushes. I kicked it off the path, so you wouldn't trip on it."
The words came out as natural as the truth, which obviously wasn't the case since he was the one who took it and didn't bother to ask because he was tight on time. When it came to making things up in his favor, Cyrus was confident in his execution. Most of the time, he didn’t have to try, but that didn’t mean [Blinded Sage] didn’t save him the effort.
Of course, this wasn't anything special. Anyone could lie to cover for themselves, even babies could if not poorly. But he could do it even as morals and guilt tugged at him. They might affect him, but not his work. Never his performance.
Cyrus turned his head around, acting like he was sensing for something or someone. "I don't hear my Senior?"
Grandpa Wu pointed his finger up. Then, he looked up to find Cyrus's blindfolded self and said, "Upstairs. Got him fixing up the roof."
A more genuine laugh escaped Cyrus.
One moment, you are the sole warrior of humanity's final war, the next, you get kidnapped by some god, proceed to kill yourself out of spite, get revived, and now you're in some random old man's house, fixing his roof.
What a life.
It was mildly amusing only because it wasn't happening to him. It'd suck ass otherwise.
Cyrus commanded the anchor of [Mortal Eyes] to be moved to Yaoming. The world instantly blinked as he lost sight of the potato in his hand and the gray-haired NPC beside him, while their touch and presence remained.
The first things he saw after the transfer were the dark ridge beams of the roof, and the second thing after shifting the angle was the silver crown of Yaoming's head. Lowering [Mortal Eyes], he was met with a scrunched-up face as the Hero worked on applying a thick, putty-like paste into the gaps in the ceramic roof tiles with the seriousness of slaying a demon.
With a smile still on his face, Cyrus mentally called up the Divine Ledger. Since he had unsealed himself once, surely, there would be new stuff there, and indeed, the Ledger had undergone some changes. The main menu had two red dots.
First was the Incidents, clicking which opened up a screen divided into two sections. On the left was a sliding bar that only had one item on it, Divine Tribulation, which had been selected by default. On the right were the details of the Introductory Act (Shop Encounter).
So, this was where the quests he'd completed would show up.
Moving on, the second red dot stood at the corner of Empyreal Attainments.
There, his total Faith and Divinity values of fifty each were listed at the top of the screen. He interpreted Divinity as the EXP value that marked the player's progression of Godhood. On the side was a vertical script in beautiful, cursive handwriting—something Cyrus couldn't accomplish if he tried—stating he was now a Tier 0 God, after undoing his First Seal. A Whispered Legend, the game called him, which was alright.
The second boundary was still far, far, far out of reach at twenty-two-freaking-thousand. Cyrus had a feeling that he would remain at Tier 0 for a good while. There was nothing on the Seals, but he imagined the next one would be undone when he got to Tier 1.
Turning back to the screen, at the center was a brown blob-thing. It had the vague shape of a...wrench when he tilted his head to the side. Having two open jaws that were at the side of a shaft instead of the top. The other end of the 'shaft' had a little tail pointing outward. A strange shape overall.
He thought about wanting a closer look, and it suddenly zoomed all the way in until the entire screen was solid brown. He willed it to zoom out before spinning around to observe it from different angles.
This reminded him of viewing a map. Was this blot thing Verdant Promise Isle? That intrigued him a bit, but at the moment, there was nothing on it and no way for him to interact yet. Just a blank canvas.
His Divine Fragments were also listed at the bottom. A line extended upward from [Tier 0 Mortal Eyes] to the next upgrade, [Tier 1 Mortal Eyes], but the upper triangular eye icon that represented the latter was grayed out, and again, nothing happened when he tried to interact with it.
The space above [Crow Eyes] was empty, but beside it was something that surprised him. [Tier 0 Moonglade Realm]. Just like the other Tier 0, the inventory also had a shiner replica of its icon—something that looked like an island amid a misty sea where a lone tree grew—on top of the first tier that didn't react to him. Clearly, the game was merely letting him know that he could upgrade them. Soon enough.
And that was it. Nothing much had really changed. Nothing groundbreaking or enlightening. No overpowered skill or blessing.
First Seal was as good as nothing. Then again, he only gained fifty Divinity so far.
So, Cyrus got to what he actually opened the Ledger for: the Summoned Hero's Chronicle. Navigating to the Heroic Quest menu, where he could assign Quests to himself and Yaoming, Cyrus chose Yaoming since he didn't have a reason to assign himself quests.
[ Prepare Heroic Quest for Hero Ye Yaoming: Y/N ]
Cyrus pressed on, yes, with an idea. The first step was to straighten Yaoming's crooked mental image of God Mo Tian little by little whenever possible. I swear I'm not evil, alright?
He quickly filled in the quest objective, skipped the side quest, and entered the same thing for quest details since he couldn't be bothered to come up with something. After that were the Rewards and Penalty which he had a questionable range of freedom with.
His heart almost skipped a beat when he entered 'Return to Sumiya' as a reward out of curiosity, and it actually went through. He found it insane that the player could actually release their kidnapped Hero at any time, and even more insane that he almost did that as a reward for a silly quest.
He inched [Mortal Eyes] closer to Yaoming's face, which earned him a directed glare from the Hero.
You almost went back home, you know.
Cyrus didn't even know whether Yaoming would return to the battlefield, or a world long fallen to the demons. Does his home still exist? There was a small chance that Yaoming might just pop up in the middle of his space where the world had been wiped off.
Fortunately, the quest hadn't gone through. He quickly edited it to items reward. Just when he was about to poke Ollow again, Cyrus realized he could directly view and pay for items in the market for the quest's reward. That wouldn't have stopped him from calling up Ollow either way if he had been alone. But since he was with the old man, not to mention he was a bit occupied with wiping potatoes, he could only let Ollow have a longer period of peace and directly bought the rewards from the menu.
Next was the penalty for failing the quest. The first thing he tried was 'Death', and that, too, was actually accepted. If death as a punishment was passable, he imagined many other things were likely permitted too. And most were. He could inflict negative feelings and emotions along with degrees of illusory pain onto the Hero, though he couldn't directly get the Hero to do something for him.
His palms itched at the fact that he could give both of what Yaoming wanted the most with just a thought. It was a power trip, and at the same time, this mechanic came with moral dilemmas he wouldn't be addressing. Hopefully, he wouldn't need to do things that would force him to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
For now, he left the penalty empty, and the time limit as none.
+++
Quest Taker(s): Summoned Hero Ye Yaoming
Main Quest Objective: Fix Wu Jing's Roof
Side Quest Objective: -
Quest Details: Fix Wu Jing's Roof
Reward: The Unbreakable Dao Heart [Book], Vanishing the Heart-Devil: A Practical Guide [Book], Like a River to the Sea: On Accepting One's Past [Book]
Failure Penalty: -
Time Limit: -
+++
The perfect first quest for my totally perfect first Hero.
Bonus Chapter Goals:
- 100 Follows (29/100)
- 10 ratings (6/10)
- Reviews count as 2
- Rising Star Main
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