My Two Status Windows

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 97: A-Rank Awakening, Reading the Note

The condition for an A-rank Awakener: Level 200.

Others might say I climbed at an incredible speed, but to me, it felt like a long journey.

If it weren’t for Hercules’ help, it would have been difficult.

After leaving the dungeon, I checked my status window messages again.

[Would you like to ascend to an A-rank Awakener?]

Before pressing "Yes," I opened my stats window and balanced everything evenly.

Now, every time I increased my stats, it consumed 10,000 SP, but I didn't mind.

Maintaining stat balance seemed to be an important aspect of being a soul-type Awakener.

I also leveled up the Soul Transaction skill, which I had rarely used until now, to level 5.

Since my soul-type skills had significantly leveled up with each rank-up, I preemptively raised them as much as SP allowed.

Once everything was set, I pressed "Yes."

[You have ascended to A-rank Awakener.]

[Class skills have been enhanced.]

[Soul Mediation skill has reached LV.8.]

[Soul Reaper skill has reached LV.11.]

[Trait Absorption skill has reached LV.11.]

[Soul Strike Enhancement skill has reached LV.11.]

[Soul Energy Emission skill has reached LV.11.]

[Soul Transaction skill has reached LV.6.]

My skill levels surged.

[A-rank Awakener, you have reached the level of a ‘demigod.’]

[Your level will no longer increase.]

[You can now exclude a Guardian Deity.]

[The stat limit has been expanded. The limit increases based on potential and soul energy.]

So my level won't increase anymore?

And I can exclude a Guardian Deity now...?

When I was B-rank, the stat limit was 200, but now it seems to have expanded significantly.

[The Seed of the Soul God is sprouting. SP-related efficiency has increased.]

[You are a soul-type Awakener. You can only ascend to a Soul God.]

[Conditions for reaching divinity have been set.]

All attributes must be above 1,000.

Obtain the Qualification of Divinity.

God-Slaying.

Earn 1,000,000 SP per day.

1,000?

Even though the level limit is gone, the requirements are insane.

I’ll likely obtain the Qualification of Divinity by awakening the Dragon God, and earning 1,000,000 SP per day should be doable by leveling up Soul Mediation.

But I have no clue what "God-Slaying" entails.

Hmm… First, I should buy the Form Maintenance item.

I opened the SP shop, where many new items were available, but I ignored them and bought all the Form Maintenance items.

The price was high, but the SP I gathered from clearing A-rank dungeons ten times was enough to cover it.

Now, my SP balance was practically zero.

[S-rank skill ‘Heimdall’s Return’ has been unsealed.]

As soon as I opened my skill window, this message appeared.

I can use Heimdall’s Return again.

I should set a return point here.

"Settings complete..."

I had worked so hard to reach A-rank, but now that I achieved it, I felt strangely empty.

What now?

I felt lost.

I left the dungeon, reached the mountain summit, and found another A-rank dungeon had appeared.

But now, I had no reason to enter for experience.

I could still farm SP through soul absorption, but... I should take a break for today.

Hit by a wave of emptiness, I returned to Earth.

Back home, I sprawled out on my king-sized bed.

As I browsed through my system windows, I saw that my level was maxed out.

My title remained "Pioneer of Earth – Legendary Grade."

But now that I was at the demigod level, wouldn’t this title be invalid?

Normally, it should have been replaced with "Pioneer of Earth – Demigod Grade" by now… so why hasn’t it?

Did I miss the message?

"...Huh? It’s really not there."

I checked the title window.

There were other titles, but no "Pioneer of Earth – Demigod."

Why not?

Could someone else have reached the demigod level before me?

Is that even possible?

Feeling uneasy, I opened the Soul Mediation window.

Since reaching A-rank, the Seed of the Soul God had sprouted, and my SP efficiency had improved significantly.

I also gained an additional slot.

Now that I was A-rank, could I add another planet?

Let’s try adding Kevrian.

"Oh, it works."

Thankfully, Kevrian was added.

Now, I could mediate between Earth, Kevrian, and Eshtar—three planets in total.

[When Soul Mediation reaches level 10, you can add one more planet.]

Level 10, huh?

I checked the skill upgrade cost.

It now required 50 million SP.

Sigh… 50 million...

At least the cost increase was slowing down.

It used to multiply by 5, but now it only doubled from 12.5 million to 25 million, then to 50 million.

After roughly assessing my skills, I lay back down.

Should I push towards S-rank by clearing A-rank dungeons?

Does that mean I’ll become a god?

Becoming a god didn’t feel real yet...

Come to think of it, now that I'm A-rank, can I summon Diana?

Hmm, should I try summoning her after so long?

"Inventory."

I opened my inventory and was about to access the Seal of Elprian when I noticed a memo left by my future self, Kim Jiho.

Didn’t he say I could read this once I reached A-rank?

As I took out the memo, the text became visible.

[Respect to myself for making it this far. Becoming a demigod—this would have been impossible if I had started from level 1…]

Well, I had plenty of help along the way.

[No one else must see what follows. Enter a dungeon and burn this paper.]

Enter a dungeon?

I had just left Eshtar, and now I had to go back in?

As I approached the association to re-enter Eshtar, the Valkyrie in charge looked troubled.

"Um… I’m sorry, but you’ve reached A-rank, correct?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"Then you are not allowed to enter."

"What?"

"A-rank Awakeners and above can only enter Phase 2 of the Broken World."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yes, it’s an agreement between us and the Chaos faction… Demigod-level individuals cannot enter."

What the hell.

I should’ve stayed inside longer.

"Does that mean I can never enter again?"

"I will ask Lady Aria, but it won’t be possible today."

The Valkyrie bowed apologetically.

Damn, this is unexpected.

Oh, right.

Earlier, I set a return point at the mountain summit with Heimdall’s Return.

If interplanetary travel is possible, I should be able to use that skill to enter.

"Alright. Then, I'll head home for today."

After leaving the association building, I returned home.

I should set a return point at home as well.

As soon as I set the return point and used Heimdall's Return, a list appeared.

When I selected the summit of Ishtar’s Mountain, a "Return Possible" message popped up, and my entire body started turning into light.

"You've become a demigod? How did you come back?"

As I returned to the mountain summit, I found Hercules waiting, a sword embedded in his torso.

The moment he saw me, he asked if I had become a demigod.

"Yeah, but isn't there a rule that A-rank beings can't enter the Broken World?"

"Yeah, that's part of the agreement. I was going to tell you, but you returned in a hurry."

"What kind of rule is that?"

"If you're a demigod, you can enter and exit this world as a god’s avatar. The Smiling Devil found that troublesome and suggested we just focus on earning SP instead, so that agreement was made."

Hercules spoke as if it were nothing.

Then, looking at me, he asked,

"So, what’s your plan?"

"Not sure. Is it really this hard to reach S-rank? They want me to kill a god."

"Kill a god? You got that as a condition? I've never heard of a demigod receiving such a requirement."

Hercules looked intrigued.

"You didn't get a god-slaying condition?"

"No. Gods, by nature, are immortal. At best, they can be sealed."

He tapped the sword embedded in his chest.

"My wife betrayed me, and I was attacked by all of Olympus, but I survived by throwing myself into chaos. Since there was no way to kill me, they tried to seal me, but I escaped."

"So, sealing is the best option once you become a god?"

"Yeah. But there’s an exception. You can either wipe out the planet that serves as the god's foundation, or…"

Hercules clenched his fist.

A pure white flame surged from his hand.

This is…

Soul Emission?

"Even gods will perish if you burn up all their SP. It requires a massive amount, though."

"Soul Emission can even kill a god?"

So it turns out this is an insanely powerful attack skill?

It consumes SP and can’t even absorb SP, making it inefficient, but its power is incredible.

"Yeah. Judging by your quest, it seems like that's what you need to do. But even if Soul Emission is strong, a god is still a god. It won’t be easy…"

Then, Hercules grinned.

"Looks like the system is trying to recruit you to our side. Do you really think you can take down the Lord of Chaos by staying on their side? At best, you could eliminate an S-rank minor god."

"Ugh…"

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Is this really the will of the system?

The Lord of Chaos is an SSS-rank deity.

There’s no way they expect me to eliminate a deity with this.

"Since things have come to this, why not join us? I can throw you a minor god."

"You have one?"

"Well, if we push hard enough, we can find a way. If we fully bring the Soul God to our side, it won't be a loss."

"I’ll think about it."

"Tch, acting all high and mighty…"

Hercules clicked his tongue and started to disappear.

His body turned to dust from his feet upward.

Then, just as only his upper body remained, he asked,

"I'm leaving now. What about the dungeon?"

"Keep summoning it for now."

"Alright, then. Think carefully… about what it means to be given god-slaying powers."

Hercules completely vanished.

I pondered the meaning of the god-slaying condition but decided to check the note in the dungeon first.

After all, the reason I got this far was thanks to the strategy guide and notes sent by the future Kim Jiho.

I needed to figure out exactly what was written.

As soon as I entered the dungeon, I stepped onto an icy surface.

Beyond it, I saw three ice towers leaning like the Tower of Pisa.

The distance was quite far, so it didn’t seem like they would attack right away.

"Let’s check the note first…"

I took out the note from my inventory.

Just like before, it only had a message telling me to burn it.

Since I was already in the dungeon, I set it on fire immediately.

Whoosh.

Despite the flames, the note didn’t burn.

Instead, it emitted a lemon-colored light and floated into the air.

Then, a firm female voice suddenly spoke.

[Demigod confirmed.]

[Earthling confirmed.]

[Please exclude the guardian deity.]

Exclude the guardian deity?

Why all of a sudden?

I hesitated, and the voice spoke again.

[Please exclude the guardian deity. Entry is impossible with a guardian deity present.]

Hmm…

Loki and Hermes—they were troublesome guardian deities anyway.

I had been planning to deal with them at some point.

Maybe now was a good time.

When I opened my status window, I found that I could now click on the guardian deity option.

Before excluding them, I noticed my bonus stats.

Would they disappear if I removed my guardian deity?

Just in case, I distributed them first.

Order faction bonus stats: +160.

Neutral faction bonus stats: +134.

I evenly distributed everything.

Then, when I excluded the guardian deity, a message appeared:

[You have reached the realm of a demigod, deactivating the guardian deity slot.]

My guardian deity slot disappeared from the status window.

[Name - Kim Jiho

Class - Soul Mediator

Title - Earth's Number One

Level - 200 (MAX)

Strength - 253

Agility - 253

Magic - 254

SP - 11120]

[Name - Kim Jiho

Class - Soul Reaper

Title - Earth’s Pioneer - Legendary Grade (Unavailable)

Level - 200

Body - S

Magic - S

Technique - S

Luck - S

SP - 84]

The status window looked much cleaner now.

Without a guardian deity, I felt freer.

Anyway, now that I had excluded them, I should be able to proceed.

Vrrrrr…

The golden note emitted a bright light and scanned me from head to toe.

[Guardian deity exclusion confirmed.]

[Detected a soul-type class. Conducting a precision scan…]

The light intensified, completely engulfing me.

Since there was no hostility, I let it happen, and soon, the light subsided.

[Your wave frequency matches the participant of Project ‘Soul Awakener.’]

[No surveillance authority detected.]

[Opening the gate.]

The flames consuming the note expanded dramatically.

The ice beneath my feet melted away, leaving no footing.

I used a command spell: "Rise."

As I floated in place, the flames rapidly spread, incinerating the distant ice towers.

Strangely, the fire didn’t come near me, nor was it hot.

As I watched the flames consume the world, they suddenly stopped.

Then, where the note had been, a portal suddenly opened—glowing purple.

Purple means…

According to the color spectrum order, this must be an S-rank portal.

[Please enter.]

With that final message, the note burned to ash.

Only the purple portal remained.

I stepped inside.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]