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Chapter 122: Loki, Suspicious
Did he manifest here in person because of the SP Exchange?
"A god can just come to Earth like this?"
"This is just a very weak avatar of mine. It's for negotiations. This level of manifestation is fine."
Loki shrugged and spoke with ease.
Since this was the same guy who transformed into a goddess before, I guess this wasn’t that surprising.
"You came because of the SP Exchange?"
"Yeah, because of our deal."
"That deal was already off after Odin descended. I’m pretty sure I said no quite a few times..."
Did he really think I’d give shares to Odin, who was using his omnipotent eye to manipulate me?
While I was in Eshtar’s domain for a month, Freya, who managed Eshtar’s affairs, had sent me quite a few messages.
Begging me to sign the contract.
But I had no intention of signing a deal with the suspicious Asgardians, so I rejected all of them.
"I already established the SP Exchange. There are no shares for you."
"Don't you need our capital to upgrade the SP Exchange?"
"Hah, capital my ass. Do you even know how much is currently deposited in the SP Exchange?"
"How much?"
Loki’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as he asked.
Ah, I shouldn’t reveal the actual numbers to a guy like this.
"Just know that it’s a ridiculous amount. How much were you originally planning to give me?"
"Ahem... 200 million."
Ha, 200 million…
SP Exchange Level 10.
Deposit limit: 50 trillion.
50 trillion was a huge sum, so the deposits weren’t completely maxed out yet.
To upgrade the exchange to Level 11, I needed 10 trillion.
I could invest 10% of the deposit limit, but now that wasn’t possible.
With only 5 trillion available from deposits, I still needed to gather another 5 trillion...
There’s no way these guys, who were reluctant to even give 200 million, would hand over 5 trillion.
"Hah. 200 million… Just know that this operates on a trillion scale."
When I mentioned "trillion," Loki’s eyes widened in shock.
"Trillion? Are you sure you didn’t miscount a zero or two?"
"Miscount? No way. I never knew there were so many gods in this world."
As we talked, I naturally crossed my arms.
I steeled myself, determined not to fall for Loki’s tricks—the god of mischief, after all.
"If this were before I set it up, maybe. But now, why would I sell you shares?"
"Trillion, huh..."
Loki blinked a few times, then raised both hands.
"Well, in that case, there’s no way to get a share. I should’ve secured it when you were still clueless, but now it’s too late."
Huh?
Loki was backing down surprisingly easily.
He leaned back on the sofa and took another sip of his coffee.
"Kim Jiho, the Soul God—what exactly is your goal?"
"What else? Survival, of course."
"Survival? Who’s threatening you?"
"I don’t know. Odin seemed pretty comfortable controlling me."
At my words, Loki scratched his head and sighed deeply.
"Sigh… Why did Odin go and do something so unnecessary? He’s just made you even more wary of him."
Loki looked genuinely confused.
Hmm… Does this guy not know about Skuld’s prophecy?
Since he represents Asgard and moves around so much, I figured he would know…
Might as well ask.
"You don’t know?"
"Know what?"
"The god Odin ordered me to kill."
"That was Guan Yu, right? I personally picked him out… When I tried to bring in someone else, that guy stepped up heroically, willing to sacrifice himself. He was just a lower-ranked god, but he had guts."
Loki casually took another sip of tea.
This guy… He really doesn’t know?
"The one I actually killed was Skuld."
Clang.
Loki’s eyes widened in shock.
The teacup slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor.
Damn it, this guy is making a mess in my house.
"What…? How do you even know about her? No, wait—Skuld was taken by Odin for something important… Are you sure it was really Skuld?"
"Yeah, the Asgardian goddess of the future, Skuld."
Loki’s reaction was definitely different from Odin’s apostle, Aria, who thought I was talking about Guan Yu when I mentioned Skuld.
His expression turned deadly serious, and he gestured for me to stop.
"Wait a second."
Loki snapped his fingers.
Dark smoke started filling the room.
"Now, say that again."
"What’s this?"
"A smokescreen, just in case."
His face was unusually serious.
It was strange seeing someone who was always so playful with an expression like this.
"You really didn’t know?"
"Of course I thought it was Guan Yu."
"When I arrived at the place Odin had prepared, Skuld was there. I heard she had made a prophecy about Asgard’s fate, and Odin had her locked up instead."
I then explained Skuld’s execution.
How Zeus attacked Odin.
How Skuld had another prophecy.
How she was imprisoned for revealing it.
And how she was eventually sentenced to death.
Of course, I didn’t tell Loki everything.
I left out the third prophecy and only mentioned that Odin had interrogated me, asking if I knew anything.
Loki was still on Asgard’s side, so there was no need to mention that debt collectors would soon set Asgard on fire.
Hearing my story, Loki’s expression turned grim.
He kept shaking his head, muttering, "No way…"
"Was that prophecy really accurate?"
"How should I know? I just heard about it."
Yeah.
I thought taking out a god would be easy money…
…Until Skuld showed up, and Odin mind-controlled me, and I got caught up in all this nonsense.
If it had just been Guan Yu, things wouldn’t have gotten so complicated.
"Sigh… If what you’re saying is true, I can’t trust Odin anymore."
Loki’s expression was dead serious.
"You said Zeus attacked Odin, and Odin lost, right?"
"Yeah."
"A battle between gods… If Odin lost a fight of that scale, then it was already over for him. If even a mid-tier god like Skuld could see that he was losing, then he’s already completely defeated."
Loki nervously bit his thumbnail.
I’d never seen him this shaken before.
"In that case, maybe that fight between the two supreme gods already decided the fates of Olympus and Asgard."
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"Well, yeah, but it was just a prophecy. Isn’t it something that happens far in the future? If one of them is going to become the creator god, they’ll have to fight in the end anyway."
"True. But if the battle was meant to happen in the distant future, why did Odin purge Skuld? Shouldn’t he have been grateful? She was giving him a warning about his loss—he should’ve been preparing for it instead."
Hmm… That’s a good point.
If someone predicted I’d lose an important battle, I’d be doing everything I could to overturn it.
But I don’t think I would have gone as far as executing the one who made the prophecy.
How would I know what other futures they might predict?
“Hearing you say that, a possibility I didn’t want to imagine is coming to mind.”
“What possibility?”
“The possibility that Odin—no, Odin already lost to Zeus.”
Loki, who had just said it was a possibility, was now dropping the honorifics when referring to Odin.
There was a strange sense of certainty in his voice.
Odin already lost to Zeus?
That can’t be right.
He’s still walking around perfectly fine...
He even used his Mimir eye just recently.
But Loki had already convinced himself, regardless of my doubts.
“Between Olympus and Asgard, who do you think has the upper hand?”
Loki suddenly threw out an unexpected question.
“How should I know?”
“Just take a guess.”
“Well... In my country, Olympus is definitely more familiar than Asgard.”
I don’t know about other places like Northern Europe, but in my country, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are definitely more well-known than Asgardian gods.
Even planetary names are mostly taken from Olympian gods.
Loki nodded in agreement.
“You’re right. In terms of recognition, we fall behind Olympus.”
“To me, the Olympian gods are just more familiar. Even Hermes—well, Hermès—is a famous luxury brand, after all.”
“Hah, you’re not wrong. Olympus is definitely more widespread on Earth. Honestly, we’re at a disadvantage compared to them.”
Loki hesitated briefly before continuing.
“Actually, this grand plan of regression was originally their idea.”
“What? Seriously?”
“Yeah, Odin accepted Zeus’s proposal. Some voices in Asgard opposed it, but in the end, we all agreed to walk the path of the Creator God...”
So this whole infinite regression thing started with Zeus?
Asgard just went along with it after being persuaded by him.
“So Asgard really hasn’t been leading anything on its own?”
“Compared to Olympus, that’s true. Looking back now, it feels like we’ve just been dragged along by Zeus’s schemes. I told Odin several times, but he brushed off my concerns, saying it was fine… It was not like the cunning Odin I knew.”
Loki frowned as he recalled how Odin had been strangely lenient when it came to Olympus.
His expression was already twisted in frustration.
“I need to investigate Odin myself.”
He was already fired up, even though I hadn’t even told him about the third prophecy yet.
Well, I wasn’t planning to share that anyway.
The SP Exchange deal was already completely out of his mind.
“So... does that mean the SP Exchange contract is off?”
“Well... About that. Can’t you at least give me 1%?”
This guy is really trying to pull a trick on me.
“Nope.”
“Ah, come on. Aren’t you curious? I need to show some results if I’m going to conduct my investigation properly. I’ll share all the intel I find with you.”
“My shares are more valuable than that. Fine, I’ll sell for 5 trillion.”
“If I had 5 trillion, I’d already be a Creator God.”
So 5 trillion is that much, huh?
Well, a trillion is still a trillion...
Either way, my answer is still no.
Loki clicked his tongue at my firm rejection.
“Che, fine. Then how about this?”
“What now?”
“Release the sealed gods.”
Loki suddenly brought up the sealed gods.
“Huh? What do you mean, sealed gods?”
“Don’t play dumb. I know.”
Hmm... So he figured out that I’ve been in contact with them, huh?
I decided to feign ignorance.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t even try to lie. Your eyes are shaking like crazy. You think you can deceive the God of Deception?”
“Ugh... How much do you know?”
“I know the sealed gods are desperately trying to break free.”
Loki smirked at me.
“I also have a pretty good guess about your connection to them.”
“Ha... How do you figure all this out?”
“I’m Loki.”
“Then why haven’t you done anything to stop me?”
“Olympus is the one mainly managing the seals. If something happens there, they’ll take most of the damage. Since we’re still allies for now, I was planning to wait and let things unfold, but I’ve changed my mind.”
Even if Odin hadn’t lost to Zeus, the gap between them was already too wide.
If Asgard wanted to catch up, Loki figured they had to overturn the entire board.
“Right now, the one guarding the seals is Pollux. He may be a lower god, but since he has Zeus’s blood, he’s pretty strong. The only reason he hasn’t ascended to a mid-tier god is because the requirements for promotion are ridiculously high. There are some powerful martial gods among the sealed ones, but they’re low on SP, so defeating Pollux won’t be easy. That’s why I need you.”
“Hm...”
“If you don’t want your identity exposed, you could just unseal them quietly. But if you fight, Pollux will probably figure out who you are. Just kill him. Once the seals are broken, things will descend into chaos, and no one will care about some lower god.”
Killing him, huh... That reminds me of the “Godslaying” quest.
To become a god of the Neutral Faction, I needed to fulfill a condition—killing a god.
Maybe eliminating Pollux would complete the quest...
But what exactly would happen if all the sealed gods were freed?
“What happens if the sealed gods are released?”
“Humans will fall into turmoil. The beings they were forced to abandon will return. The gods will be weak at first due to being newly unsealed, so they can be suppressed again—but they won’t go down easily this time.”
“Hmm... Would that stop this infinite regression cycle?”
“No idea. It’s a fifty-fifty chance. But shaking things up is necessary. If time keeps flowing like this, Zeus will become the Creator God. It’s not just because of Skuld’s prophecy—the power gap is already obvious.”
Man...
Loki wasn’t just trying to stop Olympus; he wanted to throw the entire system into chaos.
I could sit back and reap the rewards in the chaos, but...
Alliances really don’t last forever, huh?
“If you break the seals, won’t Asgard suffer losses too?”
“We’ll manage. Olympus will take the bigger hit. I’ll personally make sure no one interferes, so go and stir up some trouble. Pollux is strong, but you’re a god of souls. You can win.”
“Hey! We need a contract. You can’t reveal anything about this to anyone.”
“Hah. You really love contracts, don’t you, Kim Jiho? Depending on Odin’s situation, I might seriously consider switching over to your side.”
“Who said we’d take you in? Just sign the damn contract.”
Loki grumbled but complied, sealing the agreement to keep quiet about the seals.
“Well then, I’ll be looking forward to it. I’m going to investigate Odin.”
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