The Meaning of the Bet
*
‘This should be enough, right?’
His gaze had completely changed from before the bet.
What once resembled the gaze of a dead person now looked a little more alive.
For some reason, it was so intimidating that I couldn’t meet his eyes.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
The one who accepted the bet was Yusera.
And I had only won that bet fair and square.
Yusera’s final attack was one that even I could hardly block without a mistake.
‘Overload is originally that skilled.’
As I mentioned before, Sung Yoo-rang had poured a total of 12 attempts into Yusera’s swordsmanship build.
However, there was a reason why Yusera’s swordsmanship build, which nearly became the post-Allen Pleuk, ended after 12 tries.
While it could not be considered a practical formal build, the challenges had yielded some results.
‘The so-called “Sword Wielder Yusera.”’
An extreme type of build that treated relics as consumables in battle.
Originally, Overload was just a subpar version with a penalty attached, requiring multiple uses to leverage the durability of other heroes’ abilities.
However, the moment all overloads were struck in one attack, it transformed into a brutal enhancement trait with the highest coefficient.
An ultimate skill that could not be blocked no matter how hard you tried.
There was a downside of consuming one relic per attack, but from a tactical perspective, it wasn’t a huge problem.
Exchanging a relic for one demon king could be considered fairly cheap.
‘If there’s a problem…’
Such conditions had to be met.
It was questionable whether the demon kings would allow attacks knowing the destructive power of Yusera’s strike.
It was impossible for Yusera alone to create such a situation.
‘In the end, they need a leader.’
And then there was the issue of Yusera’s goal.
Her aim was to create a trade association; there wasn’t much reason to actively go after the demon king.
Of course, it wasn’t impossible to persuade her…
‘Still, it’s clearly not something I’m used to.’
Up to this point, I had mostly acted alone.
There were a few who accompanied me briefly, but that was temporary.
However, convincing Yusera here was a different story.
‘This means I’m intending to keep her as a comrade from now on.’
There’s no doubt she would be a strong asset.
But I wasn’t familiar with how to treat her.
That’s why I hesitated.
I suddenly glanced sideways and caught a glimpse of Yusera.
She was still glaring at me.
Reluctantly, I decided to apologize.
“I understand; it was wrong to hide my swordsmanship skills…”
“Divine Seat-nim.”
“Yeah?”
I mistakenly thought she called me suddenly.
When I turned my head, I blushed and quickly looked away.
It seemed she had something left to say to the Divine Seat.
“I’m calling you! Divine Seat-nim.”
Was she not?
“Did you just call me?”
Then Yusera curled the corners of her mouth.
“Yes, that’s right. Since I won the bet, you’re my Divine Seat now.”
I could feel that something was going wrong.
It reminded me of the feeling I had when I was speaking with Elsie in the cafeteria.
‘Wait, this is huge trouble!’
Having one person like Elsie was overwhelming; adding another would be too much!
I had to manage somehow.
“But whether someone becomes a Divine Seat or not is less important than hoping Yusera realizes that the title isn’t very meaningful.”
I desperately tried to clarify.
“And through the bet, my intent was also to show you that your potential is greater than you think. So the result of the bet isn’t that important.”
In reality, I was uncertain whether I could block Yusera’s sword or not, and that was why I suggested the bet.
The outcome of the bet could be considered meaningless.
But it seemed like such excuses had no effect on Yusera.
“I know. But the result of the bet is a result. You’re now my Divine Seat.”
However, I couldn’t back down here either.
If I retreated, the hell that awaited me would unfold right after.
“Then as your Divine Seat, I command you. From this moment on, I am not your Divine Seat.”
“But didn’t you say that the commands of a Divine Seat don’t carry any coercive power?”
I messed up.
It seems I always end up like this.
I constantly trip over my own words.
“Alright, I’ll be your Divine Seat. Let’s say that.”
I reluctantly admitted it.
Strictly speaking, half of me was a Divine Seat.
But this approach wasn’t good.
“How about we at least stop using the title of Divine Seat? It might cause unnecessary misunderstandings…”
“Then what should I call you?”
Well, what would be appropriate?
First, it seemed wise to change the way we spoke to diffuse the tension.
“How about we start with casual conversation?”
Using honorifics while being on the same team felt weird.
In reality, there were other team members who casually talked amongst themselves other than me.
So it wouldn’t be awkward if she and I casually communicated either.
“Okay, so I can just call you Sung Yoo-rang?”
It should have felt awkward, but her bold demeanor made it not feel awkward at all.
Rather, it felt strange how confidently she approached it.
While it was true that I was a Divine Seat, it didn’t give me a sense of superiority.
“Yes, no… it’s fine to call me that.”
Strangely, I seemed to be the one feeling awkward.
Seeing me like this, Yusera even burst out in laughter.
‘This is not right.’
I tilted my head in confusion.
Then Yusera stopped laughing and gradually turned serious.
She asked, “So, what should I do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Aren’t you the Divine Seat? Shouldn’t you provide me some guidance on what direction I should take?”
I realized it.
I was beneath her.
But it didn’t feel bad at all.
“You saw it earlier. Your swordsmanship has plenty of potential. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
Since I had the memories of the Divine Seat, I was familiar with this role.
It felt almost natural.
The only difference was that the subject was an actual person, not a game character.
“I understand my swordsmanship is strong. But can this swordsmanship truly create a trade association?”
That was definitely a topic that needed to come up.
It was a problem I had to solve to bring her on as a companion.
I understood her concerns.
To revitalize the association, strength was needed to defend against the ongoing assaults from the Chaos Beasts.
Yet her Overload wasn’t particularly cost-effective for that.
But it was okay.
“Of course. Strong people gather under strong ones. Unless the enemies are exceptionally strong, you probably won’t need to step up at all.”
“That’s true.”
She looked at me.
I wasn’t sure why she gazed at me that way.
But the conversation wasn’t over yet.
“However, there’s one prerequisite related to those strong enemies.”
“Prerequisite?”
“I’m talking about the demon kings when I say strong enemies.”
I could see her expression harden at that.
“There’s no need to be scared. If you focus solely on the trade association, the demon kings probably won’t mess with you.”
“Then why is it related to the demon kings?”
“Your association won’t be safe, you know. Rather, this whole world won’t be.”
Yusera had a puzzled expression.
Well, this was quite a colossal narrative.
I sometimes felt the same way.
But I couldn’t explain this without bringing her in on it.
“It might be a bit lengthy. But before that…”
I had one thing to promise.
Though it might have come a bit late.
“I command you. Don’t let anyone know about what you’ve seen and heard here, including the fact that I know how to use swordsmanship.”
There were many things I could let slip, but not that.
Yusera appeared a bit pale for some reason.
It wasn’t much of a threat, but it felt as if I had given quite a bit.
“Did you understand?”
“Yes, I understand…!”
She suddenly switched back to honorifics.
‘I don’t get it.’
I ignored it and began explaining how the world was in the process of being destroyed by the demon kings.
Since I was explaining based on the knowledge gained through the game as Sung Yoo-rang, I didn’t have details about the finer points, but I was sure the general information would be accurate.
Though it wasn’t perfect, once I wrapped up the broad explanation, Yusera asked,
“But if they’re that strong, what can I do…?”
For some reason, she had reverted back to the earlier title.
And unlike before, there was no playfulness in that title.
I decided to address that later and initially answered her question.
“I’m not as strong as you think. Your attack earlier was only blockable because it was swordsmanship; if it had been another type of energy, I would’ve been erased immediately. Even if you held a relic of 3-star rank or above, it would be the same.”
“Hmmm…”
“Don’t look at me like I’m pathetic all of a sudden. You’re the one who’s abnormally strong. And just like you, if you get hit in the head with an arrow, it’s one shot for you too.”
In fact, she has a record of getting hit by an arrow during our first mock battle, going down in one shot.
On the other hand, I could distort ranged attacks using Wind’s Power.
“In short, I plan to stop the demon kings. If you help me, I’ll help you in raising your trade association.”
I did my best to explain to her why she needed to assist me.
If after all this she still wouldn’t budge…
‘I’d have no choice but to ask a god to erase the memories.’
Given what the God of Reality does, erasing memories within the trial shouldn’t be that difficult.
I had a contract with him, so he would surely comply.
However, fortunately, it seemed unnecessary.
She nodded seriously.
“Alright. I guess I have no choice, so I’ll follow your command, Divine Seat-nim.”
This was good.
There was only one thing left.
“But the matter of titles and honorifics was already discussed, wasn’t it?”
“Was it? But still, you feel like a real Divine Seat…”
“That won’t do.”
Yusera looked dejected and nodded.
This was somewhat settled.
I spoke to the empty air again.
“Now please let us out.”
Saying that, I silently added a line.
‘But first, let’s have a little chat.’
There was something I needed to clear up.
*
