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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 128: Zeus's Intentions
[The chief god of the Asgardian pantheon, ‘One Who Is Ruled,’ Odin, has inflicted fatal harm upon the soul-awakened Kim Jiho and attempted to seal him.]
[‘Soul Reaper’—A Rank. Has not yet attained divinity. Since he attempted to harm a soul-awakened being who has not reached divinity, the system’s protection is activated.]
[‘Soul Mediator’—S Rank. Recognized as having attained divinity, thus reducing the penalty effect.]
Among the many messages, the first thing that caught my eye was "One Who Is Ruled, Odin."
As expected...
He really seems to be under Zeus’s control.
And then, there was a message stating that Odin was penalized as an A-rank ‘Soul Reaper.’
Luckily, the neutral faction doesn’t qualify for an S-rank.
Checking my status window, I saw that all conditions, including god-slaying, were fulfilled, except for obtaining divine qualification.
This was cleared when I was with the Order faction...
So I have to fulfill a separate condition for the Neutral faction?
Since that condition isn’t met, I can still impose a penalty.
[Would you like to impose the penalty?]
If I impose the penalty now, will things turn out the way I saw?
Like the burning Asgard and Odin’s ruined form?
Considering how he forcibly summoned and bound me, there’s no reason not to press "Yes"...
[Kim Jiho. You must save Asgard. Otherwise, you’ll just be playing into Zeus’s hands...!]
Loki’s last words weighed on my mind.
If I penalize Asgard now, the only one who benefits is Zeus.
But it also bothers me to completely let it go.
If Odin remains as Zeus’s pawn, isn’t it better to deal with him now?
Judging by his actions, he’s basically Olympus’s second unit...
“Can I put this on hold?”
[Would you like to defer the penalty?]
A new system message appeared in response to my mumbling.
Oh.
So I can defer it.
I pressed “Yes” to put it on hold for now.
[Kim Jiho, did you use Avatar Exchange?]
A voice called from within the tunnel.
“Yes.”
Then, the dirt within the tunnel began to rise.
The clumps of earth took shape.
In the blink of an eye, the dirt formed into Elprian.
She looked at me with a worried expression.
“You used Avatar Exchange... That means you were in danger.”
“Yes. Odin forcibly took me and almost sealed me.”
I tried materializing my soul form.
My transparent body wasn’t intact.
Not only was my physical form damaged by Odin’s binding magic, but even my soul form was wounded.
“Your soul has taken significant damage. You were in real danger.”
“Yes. A little later, and I would’ve been sealed.”
“Good timing, then. The Supreme Commander of the Undead wants to speak with you.”
“Hades?”
That guy again...
Is it because of the SP Exchange?
I’ve been steadily eating into his loan market.
Reading my expression, Elprian gave a slight smile.
“I kept rejecting requests to talk about the SP Exchange. But this time, he mentioned Zeus. So I thought I should ask you. What do you want to do?”
"Zeus...? Then I have to hear it."
"Understood. I'll summon Hades to the conference room. Please come with me."
At Elprian’s gesture, a blue portal opened in the tunnel.
Following her inside, the space shifted.
The narrow tunnel transformed into an open, forested garden.
A large wooden round table stood in the center, surrounded by beautifully blooming flowers.
Lush greenery filled the air with a fresh scent.
When did they set up this place?
Across the round table, Hades was leisurely admiring the flower garden.
"Hehe. A place overflowing with life."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"I feel an urge to taint it... If this weren't an important matter, I might have given in to the impulse..."
Hades eyed the flowers like he wanted to devour them.
Then, suddenly, he got up and sat at the round table.
"It’s been a while, Kim Jiho."
"Yeah."
"I'd like to talk about the SP Exchange... but let's handle the important matter first."
He scanned me from head to toe.
His eyes flashed with interest.
"Your soul is quite damaged."
"Odin bound me."
"Sigh... Odin? Without just cause?"
"He summoned me, accusing me of unsealing the Gods of the Seal."
"Heh, that alone shouldn't have been enough to forcibly summon a god of souls. This isn’t like Odin... He’s usually the cautious type. And yet, he acted like he didn’t fear penalties..."
"Cautious? Not at all. He was reckless. Anyway, what’s the issue?"
I felt like we were talking too much about my situation, so I prompted Hades.
He dropped his smirk and spoke seriously.
"It's about Odin and Zeus."
"What about them?"
"Zeus listed an item on the SP Market."
"What item?"
"Nothing particularly special. Just a fragment of Gungnir."
"Gungnir? That’s Odin’s weapon, isn’t it?"
Elprian asked beside me, and Hades nodded.
"Yes. It’s an SS-rank weapon, quite well-known. I don’t know why it’s fragmented, or how Zeus got it, but... Regardless, this is the first time Zeus has personally listed something on the SP Market."
"Hmm... That is unusual."
"Until now, Olympus handled most transactions. At the divine level, trading through the SP Market offers better fee advantages."
So there's a difference in transaction fees between personal sales and bulk trades at the divine level.
"Do you know how much Zeus listed Gungnir’s fragment for?"
"No."
"5 trillion SP."
5 trillion...?
Elprian looked dumbfounded.
"5 trillion? That’s absurd. Did the SP Market even approve that?"
"Normally, we would reject such transactions... but Zeus strongly insisted. Not only did he negotiate for a 5% transaction fee, but he also made it clear that even if it doesn’t sell, he would still pay the fee. The SP Market manager agreed without hesitation."
"Ha... 5 trillion..."
Elprian shook her head in disbelief.
But Hades looked at me with a serious gaze.
"5 trillion SP is an astronomical amount. That kind of money doesn’t just appear out of nowhere... Not under normal circumstances."
"Ah!"
Elprian gasped and turned to me.
"Kim Jiho. As the owner of the SP Exchange, you must know something about this..."
5 trillion SP.
The maximum loanable SP from the SP Exchange was 10 trillion.
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Among them, Odin of Asgard had taken out an enormous loan using the names of all the other deities.
Ah...!
"Odin."
"Odin?"
"Odin took out an enormous loan from the SP Exchange, using the names of all the deities of Asgard. He’s going to buy the fragments of Gungnir."
"Why would Odin do something so insane? With 5 trillion, he could build a factory to mass-produce Gungnir."
"Because he's lost his mind. It looks like he's under Zeus' control."
I explained everything that had happened to the two of them.
How Odin had taken out a full loan using the names of Asgard’s deities.
How he had subdued Loki and forcibly summoned me to seal me away.
And how, despite hearing the third prophecy, he still intended to execute Skuld, who could see the future.
Hades let out a deep sigh.
"Hah. Zeus… He really knows how to manipulate people. I don’t know how he managed to control Odin, but now that he has, he’s squeezing every last bit out of him."
That was exactly right.
Zeus was milking Odin for everything he had.
By selling the "Fragments of Gungnir" through the SP Store, he secured 5 trillion SP.
"Just taking the 5 trillion would be enough, but of course, he wouldn’t miss the chance for a double win."
"He must have heard Skuld’s prophecy and is using it to his advantage. Making sure the prophecy comes true."
"From Zeus’ perspective, gaining 5 trillion SP would guarantee his ascension in divine rank. Moving up from SSS-rank to becoming a Creator. At that point, Asgard would no longer be worth keeping as an ally—it would just be in his way."
So that’s why he ensured Skuld’s prophecy would come true.
He kept asking about the third prophecy because he was worried that I might change my mind after hearing it.
A burning Asgard.
And Odin.
He intended for this outcome.
Get 5 trillion SP, and then erase Asgard with the system’s help since it’s no longer useful.
A perfect double win.
"Can’t we cancel the 5 trillion SP transaction?"
"Impossible. I’m not the owner of the SP Store. The manager overseeing Zeus’ transactions is the ‘Smiling Devil.’ Now that I think about it, this bastard must be colluding with Zeus too. Always covering for him…"
Gritting his teeth, Hades seethed with frustration.
A look of pure defeat was clear on his face.
"That idiot Odin. What the hell did he do to get himself into this situation? If you’re not capable, just stay still! What the hell did he do with Zeus to let things get this bad? That one-eyed bastard always acted like he was so smart, but in the end, he got played by Zeus!"
Hades started cursing furiously.
It was a completely different side of him—his rage was boiling over.
Given that he had thrown himself into chaos to defeat Zeus, it was only natural for him to lose his composure.
Hades continued to hurl every insult imaginable, then suddenly went silent and bowed his head.
"Heh… We’re doomed."
"What? No way."
"The transaction is complete. Zeus has secured 5 trillion SP by selling those worthless Gungnir fragments. Well, after a 5% transaction fee, he actually got 4.75 trillion. Heh. The SP Store made 250 billion out of this. Haha. Wonderful. Fucking wonderful…"
Whoosh.
The chair Hades had been sitting on was instantly engulfed in black flames.
The same happened to the round table.
The black flames flickered intensely before reducing the table to nothing but ashes.
"Hades!"
"Heh, Zeus becoming a Creator… That means I’m the first one to be erased. Hahaha… Might as well burn the whole damn garden before I go! Hahahaha!"
Hades had lost it completely.
Rumble.
Suddenly, skeletons and zombies started crawling out of the flowerbeds.
They began tearing up the garden and wreaking havoc.
What… what is he doing?
"Just burning it down would be boring. Might as well destroy everything before I go. Hahaha! Hahahahaha! Persephone, I’m sorry… I wasn’t strong enough…!"
Hades kept laughing like a madman as he summoned an endless horde of undead.
I turned to look at the garden’s owner, Elprian, but she simply shook her head and said,
"Just leave him be."
Sigh.
If Zeus becomes a Creator, what happens next?
Is Earth going to be left with only women?
I fought so hard to restore Earth to its original state, but… is this really how it ends?
Feeling completely drained, I just stood there, watching Hades’ undead circus.
Zombies chewing on flowers.
Skeletons swimming through the garden.
Yet Elprian silently continued to restore the crushed and uprooted flowers.
As if in response, the undead rampaged even harder.
What the hell is this ridiculous scene…
I had no idea how much time had passed as I watched this bizarre spectacle.
Hades had been cackling, sobbing, and calling out Persephone’s name while tears and snot ran down his face.
Then, suddenly, he snapped back to reality.
"Heh… Heh… Hmm. But I’m still alive?"
"Yeah… Could it be that Zeus actually has some brotherly love for you?"
"As if. That bastard said he’d erase me the moment he became a Creator. Heh. This is weird."
Hades frowned, looking down at his own body in confusion.
"Why am I not dead? What’s going on?"
Before I could even respond, a message appeared before me.
[The God of Deception, Loki, is requesting a communication link.]
Huh? Loki… is alive?
But the next message made my heart race.
[The God of Messengers, Hermes, is requesting a communication link.]
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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