My Two Status Windows

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 98: An Unexpected Reunion (1)

A darkness so deep I couldn’t see even an inch ahead.

"Light."

I tried casting a spell, but my mana moved slightly before stopping altogether, making it impossible to manifest the magic.

My mana isn’t moving… What’s going on?

[The flow of mana is halted in this space.]

The same voice I heard earlier spoke again.

Even with my Dragon Heart, I can’t manifest magic…

Is this a trap?

Did I walk in too unprepared?

Well, if things go south, I can just use Return.

That’s a divine skill, so it shouldn’t rely on mana flow, right?

Athena’s Aegis Shield is still circling around me just fine.

[Please continue walking forward.]

I stayed alert, but I couldn’t sense anything unusual.

For now, I decided to follow the voice’s instructions and moved forward.

After walking through the darkness for about ten minutes, a faint light gradually appeared.

And then, I saw it—a massive round table.

In this dark space, only the round table emitted a weak glow.

There were two chairs at the table—one on my side and one across from it.

"Welcome, Soul Awakener."

A person wearing a white mask sat across from me.

Their long, neatly kept black hair draped down, and the skin visible around their mouth was of a deep tone.

That mask… It looks familiar.

Now that I think about it, it resembles the Phantom of the Opera mask.

From the voice, I could tell it was a woman.

She wore a black suit, dressed like a man.

"So the Soul Awakener Project actually succeeded… With the state of the surface, I had my doubts, but I never expected an actual Soul Awakener to emerge."

"Who are you? And what is this letter?"

"I am an incarnation of the 'Forgotten God.'"

"The Forgotten God?"

"Yes, the Forgotten God is—"

"Christianity? Buddhism? Are we talking about something like that?"

The masked woman abruptly closed her mouth.

After a brief silence, she spoke again.

"…So you knew."

Her voice carried a hint of disappointment.

Was she planning to surprise me with a dramatic reveal?

"I just happened to find out."

"May I ask how you learned about it?"

I told her I learned about it when I met the Light Dragon Arkardian in the Broken World.

She nodded in understanding.

"I see… A Light Dragon that has been to Earth… That’s valuable information. Thank you."

"Then, could you answer my questions? What is this letter? And what exactly is the Soul Awakener Project?"

Instead of answering, she threw another question at me.

"What is the largest religion on Earth?"

That’s obvious…

"Christianity, isn’t it?"

"That’s right. And who is the god they believe in?"

"God."

"Correct. Though the denominations differ, no deity has held a stronger position as the absolute god. Christianity, Catholicism, and even Islam… In the end, they all revered a single divine being."

I nodded, and she continued speaking.

"The more believers a god has, the more SP they receive. And Earth, with its exponentially growing population, accumulated a massive amount of SP."

"SP is involved in everything, huh… So what happened next?"

"With the vast amount of SP accumulated, 'God' gained the opportunity to ascend."

Ascend?

Ah, so He already achieved what Zeus and Odin are aiming for—becoming the 'Creator of the Solar System.'

Someone already got there first.

"Did God ascend as a Creator? But then why is the world in this state?"

"He did not choose the Solar System. Since this world was already complete to a certain extent, He decided to create a new one. He left to build a perfect paradise."

"Ah… Is that so?"

So He leveled up in SSS-rank and just left for another world?

"Then what happens to the people left on Earth? Will they forget about their god?"

"No, Earth continued to be managed and even expanded. However, since the base was moved to an entirely different realm, He could no longer exert direct influence here. Olympus and Asgard took advantage of that power vacuum."

I could see her biting her lip beneath her mask.

"The two worlds launched an all-out attack, sealing away the remaining deities of Earth."

That doesn’t make sense.

Even if Christianity faded, Buddhism still has a huge number of followers, and Hinduism claims to have over a billion gods.

Olympus and Asgard?

Sure, in ancient times, maybe, but barely anyone genuinely worships them nowadays.

"Wouldn’t Earth’s deities still outnumber them significantly? How did they get overwhelmed so quickly?"

"That is our greatest mystery. They were hiding an unimaginable amount of power. The deities of Earth were sealed away almost instantly."

Gods are inherently immortal, so sealing was the only option, huh?

I suppose even the Olympus-Asgard alliance couldn’t outright kill them.

But then, what are they?

If they were sealed, how are they here as incarnations?

"Then what are you? If you were sealed, how do you have an incarnation?"

"Are you aware that they can turn back time?"

"Yes, they reset all of Earth."

"Reversing time for an entire world is a great miracle. The time gods of Olympus and Asgard alone cannot achieve it. They exploit the power of a sealed deity with time-related authority. That’s why there were cracks in the seals."

"Ah…"

"Through those cracks, a deity was able to form an avatar. But because we had to focus on avoiding detection, our incarnations are only at the A-rank demigod level… However, now that you have succeeded, everything will change."

I sat down heavily in one of the chairs at the round table.

An avatar of a sealed deity…

Right now, they’re just A-rank, but if the seals are broken, they’ll regain their SSS-rank power?

If I cooperate with them, can I stop Earth from endlessly looping in time?

There’s finally hope for the road ahead.

"How many avatars are there?"

"I do not yet know the exact number. More are emerging as we speak."

"I see."

"But at this rate, we will only be able to keep up with their time resets. We will have no means to gather SP. That is why we had no choice but to attempt the Soul Awakener Project, despite its low success rate. We selected 101 individuals and placed our hopes in them. I thought they had all failed, but…"

The masked woman looked at me intently.

So I’m the only one who succeeded.

The Soul Awakener Project… In the end, it was also about SP collection.

Everything ties back to SP.

"Why was I chosen?"

"After reviewing the records, I found that you were not originally chosen. However, at that time, you were carrying a fragment of Chronos. Because of that, you could reverse time without us needing to expend power. Since we had nothing to lose, we decided to reach out to you."

I remembered the guidebook mentioning that I should obtain Chronos’s fragment.

Because I had it, this avatar group didn’t have to waste resources on my time reversal.

She continued speaking in a calm tone.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

"You willingly aligned yourself with our cause. So we implanted the necessary knowledge for your soul-based awakening and adjusted your memories to make the transition easier. We also prepared all the necessary items for you."

So all the gifts I received from the future—including my two status windows—were arranged by them?

That’s strange.

I thought Aurelia and Loki were the ones who gave them to me…

"What is Loki’s connection to you?"

"Loki? You mean the Asgardian Loki? He is our greatest enemy."

The masked woman, who didn’t understand why such a question was asked.

What, she doesn’t know?

Oh, wait…

"Does Aurelia know?"

"She knows. She was one of our collaborators... She also played a big role in the Soul Awakener Project."

Oh dear, these people.

They’ve been duped.

"Aurelia is Loki."

"What?! What do you mean?!"

The masked woman stood up abruptly.

She looks like she can’t believe it.

"Aurelia is Loki? That doesn't make sense…"

"She transformed herself. You all have been deceived, haven’t you?"

"No… that can’t be…"

I then told her what had happened to me.

Olympus trying to turn me into an angel.

Then Hermes came out to stop it, and he told Aurelia to transform too.

So, Aurelia revealed her identity as Loki.

The masked woman trembled, biting her nails.

She first appeared like a hidden mastermind, and now, what's with this attitude?

Are these people even useful?

"It can't be… But if that’s true… Is that why the project failed…? Everyone fell into Loki’s hands…"

"I don't think so. I saw them try to make more Soul Awakener by resetting time for all of humanity."

"Is that so? There’s nothing to worry about? Phew, that’s a relief."

The masked woman sighed in relief.

Then, she changed her attitude and spoke to me.

"I'll handle the Loki problem. By the way, have your memories returned?"

Memories?

Is she talking about Kim Jiho from the neutral faction who sent me a gift?

The one who played with Diana in Kevrian?

Now that I think about it, it’s a bit strange.

If it’s from the time travel reset, doesn’t that mean the future Kim Jiho and I are the same person?

But I don’t seem to have any returned memories.

"Memories? No."

"It seems the seal on your memories hasn’t been lifted. May I use my power?"

"It won’t harm me, right?"

"If it does, the form maintenance will protect you."

The form maintenance really is the best.

I agreed to her suggestion.

Then, the chair I was sitting on and the round table started shining bright white.

The light started pulling me in.

I felt refreshed.

It feels good.

My mind had been complicated, but now it felt like everything was cleared away.

Hmm.

I feel good.

Very good.

"Are you back?"

"No. I just feel refreshed."

"Uh… that’s strange. Let me try again."

Another flash of light.

My head feels cool.

But did the seal on my memories break?

That didn’t happen.

I’m just me.

I stared blankly at the masked woman, and she flinched.

Though her face was hidden by the mask, her surprise was clear.

"This can’t be… What’s going on?"

"Why are you asking me? Well…"

"This is impossible…"

She started biting her nails again.

Why is she so clueless?

I really don’t trust these avatars.

I was considering supporting their vision if I liked it, but I got tricked by Loki, and now this masked woman seems like an amateur too.

Should I really team up with them?

At that moment, someone appeared in the chair next to her, wearing the same white mask.

A tall, thin man with a sports-style haircut and a black suit, his presence was far more intense than the masked woman’s.

"…Michael."

"Still unable to handle unexpected situations, huh?"

"Ugh, didn’t you hear? Aurelia is Loki. And he doesn’t even have his memories."

"Think about the time he joined our project. Wasn’t it last November? This year it’s June. He’s been through over 200 resets. His memories might have been worn down after so many cycles."

Is that so?

It’s been seven months, so maybe.

I really don’t seem to have any traces of it in my head…

"His memories aren’t important. What matters is that he became a Soul Awakener and came to us on his own."

"That’s true, but…"

"It seems persuasion isn’t your strong suit. Even though you were chosen as the avatar of Avalokiteshvara… Tsk. You’re lacking, very lacking."

Huh, the Avalokiteshvara of Buddhism?

That woman?

I’m not very familiar with Buddhism, but I know the mantra "Namo Amitabha Avalokiteshvara."

So, she must be a high-level deity.

But her avatar… isn’t in great shape.

"Is she really the incarnation of Avalokiteshvara?"

"Yes."

"Then why does she seem…"

"She was chosen from the deeply devout humans, so there's nothing we can do. Even if she's a little lacking, you’ll have to understand, Jiho."

It seems she’s not directly the incarnation.

But what’s with this guy?

Why is he speaking so casually?

And, "Jiho"?

When did we become so familiar?

"When did I ever…?"

"Hmm… That’s right, I was wearing a mask. I shouldn’t be mocking the Avalokiteshvara avatar either."

He took his hand to his mask.

But something about his silhouette and vibe seemed familiar.

Where have I seen this before?

"Do you recognize me now?"

"No…"

I’ve seen this middle-aged face somewhere before.

It looks a bit smoother and younger than in my memory, but it’s mostly the same.

Wait, how is he here?

"Father…?"

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]