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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Orb of Darkness
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[Sanctuary - Olympus]
The celestial realm where the Constellations of Olympus reside.
The green fields were filled with buildings constructed from white marble.
Structures built in the Doric style of ancient Greece.
All were temples honoring the Constellations belonging to Olympus.
An owl.
An earthen jar.
A trident.
A swan.
In front of the temples, statues related to the divine names of the Olympian Constellations stood with a commanding presence.
Among them, a loud explosion erupted from the temple where a gladius statue was erected.
"No! This one is mine!"
The source of the commotion was a man wearing a golden helmet.
Blond hair flowed from beneath the helmet.
Bronze skin was visible between the strands of golden hair.
He was the legitimate son of the King of the Gods, Zeus, and the God of War of Olympus, Ares.
Ares's eyes, as red as molten rubies, glared at the crystal sphere in his hand.
The Player reflected within the sphere.
It was Yoo Jinho.
『The God of War of Olympus proposes to be Player Yoo Jinho's patron.』
『Proposing patronage to a Player currently in the tutorial is not possible.』
『The Tower System has confirmed a rule violation. The message from the God of War of Olympus is blocked.』
Ares shook the crystal sphere from side to side.
"Argh, why isn't it working!"
In his impatience, Ares repeatedly sent sponsorship messages.
But the Tower System cut off Ares's messages with cold precision.
'If only I could take him under my wing…!'
The contract of a patron.
A Constellation could form a contract with a Player.
The more a Player under contract distinguished themselves, the stronger the respective Constellation's power and authority became.
Therefore.
Many Constellations scouted for exceptional Players.
Ares was no different.
『The Heavenly Demon shows interest in Player Yoo Jinho.』
『The Heavenly Demon insists that a Player with a natural genius for martial arts should rightly contract with him.』
The Heavenly Demon.
'That being,' on par with the King of the Gods, Zeus, was continuously showing interest in Jinho.
Ares suppressed his anger.
Even he, the legitimate son of Zeus, had to yield to the 'Heavenly Demon.'
As Ares was contemplating how not to lose Jinho to the 'Heavenly Demon.'
"Brother, what's with all the noise?"
A youthful voice came from behind him.
Recognizing the owner of the voice, Ares instinctively hid the crystal sphere behind his back.
"Little brother, have I not told you not to pop up so suddenly?"
"I came because I heard a loud noise coming from your temple."
Appearing behind Ares was a young man who still had a hint of a teenager about him.
A helmet adorned with feathers.
The sandals on his feet also had white feathers.
The Messenger God of Olympus, Hermes.
He looked at Ares with a peculiar gaze.
"It's true. Nothing happened."
Ares emphasized twice, feigning composure.
It would be a headache if Hermes, of all gods, found out about Jinho.
Why else would he be called the Messenger God?
The saying 'a word without feet travels a thousand miles' was a perfect fit for Hermes.
"Hmph. And here I thought something interesting was happening."
Surprisingly, Hermes didn't press the matter of the recent commotion.
Ares let out a sigh of relief.
He didn't know. Hermes had seen Jinho's reflection in the sphere.
'Wow, my brother found something interesting again.'
Swallowing a laugh, Hermes departed from Ares's temple.
* * *
I'd taken everything I could from the Blood Mountain Army.
My business in the forest is done…
'No, wait, there's still one thing left.'
I recalled my knowledge from before the regression.
High Ranker Antonio.
A Player from Brazil, a guy who wielded shadows.
A High Ranker, said to be just below Monarch-class.
His personality was deeply flawed, but his skills were the real deal.
To be precise, it wasn't so much his skill as the versatile movements of his shadows that were overpowered.
'The ability to imbue shadows with mana and move them at will.'
He would infuse his own or others' shadows with mana to give them form.
A technique for both offense and defense.
Was that all?
He also controlled others' shadows, possessing and manipulating his targets like puppets.
-My shadow ability? It's not actually an innate ability, you know.
-The Orb of Darkness. See this embedded in my forehead? I control the shadows with this.
-Rainbow Island Forest. If you go to the biggest tree there, you'll find a pitch-black darkness underneath it.
-I went inside and was able to get the orb.
-Why am I telling you the secret to my power? I've already tested it, and no one but me can get in. Seems you can't enter without an innate darkness-related ability.
-A few of my subordinates with similar abilities tried, but the place is full of traps, and most of them failed.
-There was one guy who made it to the end, but the orb was already gone.
-Heh heh, if you don't believe me, feel free to try.
-They say this shadow thing… is the power of a nameless god.
That damn bastard.
I spat out a curse as I thought of the master of the shadow ability, Antonio.
Antonio was a High Ranker and, at the same time, the head of a Brazilian gang.
The higher the Tower's synchronization rate, the more power a Player could use in reality.
With the power of shadows, he had seized control of most of South America's underworld.
And what happened after the world was devoured by the Tower?
'He followed his patron, Loki, to the world of the gods.'
The reason he revealed how he obtained the Orb of Darkness was likely because he had already verified it was safe to do so.
Don't worry, that won't be happening this time.
'Antonio awakens a year from now. I was lucky.'
I get to clean up one piece of future trash and acquire a useful special ability.
Is this what they call killing two birds with one stone?
In my initial plan, this was a task I had intended to tackle in the second week of the tutorial.
But my stats had grown much faster than I had anticipated.
The essence of the Blood Mountain Army, in particular, had given me confidence.
'As long as I have my Sixth Sense, I can avoid the traps somehow.'
Antonio had said he managed to get his hands on the Orb of Darkness by leisurely avoiding the traps thanks to his innate ability.
On the other hand, I had no darkness-related traits or skills whatsoever.
Which meant it would be difficult to react if a trap sprang out from the darkness.
But now, thanks to my Sixth Sense, I can read attacks I can't even perceive.
'Since I'm in the forest, I'll get the Orb of Darkness too.'
The shadow ability.
It's a step below [Predation], but being an all-in-one offensive and defensive power, its applications are endless depending on how it's used.
Isn't it too good an ability to be in the hands of scum like Antonio?
So, I should be the one to have it.
"The largest tree in the forest."
I didn't even need to try to find it.
A tree four or five times larger than the others.
A massive tree, soaring as if to pierce the sky, was visible to my eyes.
'Not far.'
I approached the tree at a leisurely pace.
Indeed.
Just as Antonio had said, the area around the roots was stained pitch-black.
If you didn't pay attention, it would look like a simple shadow cast by the tree, but looking again, the shadow writhed in a bizarre shape.
The moment I put my fingers, tensed with strength, against the shimmering darkness.
Twang— With a repulsive force, my hand was bent backward.
"Oof."
A structure that returned the exact amount of force I exerted.
If I had tried to break through with brute force, it would have backfired on me.
Well, I expected as much.
This time, I gently placed my hand on the surface of the darkness, as if stroking it.
A faint repulsive force was transmitted from beyond the black film.
This should be manageable.
I drew upon the divine power I had absorbed from Zeus's temple.
[Divine Power: 1]
An energy far too small compared to mana or internal energy.
Though it was the size of a grain of rice, I coated the surface of my palm with that divine power.
I had experience handling it before the regression.
Connecting the myths related to [Time] in series to activate them was also possible because I knew how to handle divine power.
In fact, because the divine power was small, it was easier to control.
The divine power wrapped around my hand reacted to the darkness pooled beneath the tree.
Zzzzzing!
The darkness rippled and churned violently.
Just as I expected.
'To think that the shadow power he wielded was actually a type of divine power.'
The words Antonio had blabbered.
The hint to parting this darkness lay within them.
The power of a nameless god.
In other words, what was blocking entry into the hidden space was 'divine power.'
Divine power is a force that surpasses all 'formless' energies like mana, internal energy, aether, or mental power.
If the attributes of the divine power don't match, a Player who has just entered the tutorial has no way of breaking through!
I used that statement to my advantage.
'It means that even a little bit of divine power is enough to get through.'
A nameless god.
In other words, whatever was blocking the path to the hidden space had no will mixed into it.
The divine power dwelling in the manifested darkness was far stronger than mine, but a grain-of-rice-sized amount of divine power was enough to forge a path, not destroy it.
'I will make a path.'
Shwaaaak!
The darkness split in half, beginning to reveal its internal structure.
A spiral staircase.
It was just as that bastard Antonio had said.
'This is close.'
The concentrated divine power was being slowly consumed by the darkness's repulsive force.
After squeezing out the remaining divine power to push the darkness wide open, I used [Swift Hind Legs] to leap through the gap.
* * *
[Your current location is the Passage of ???.]
[You are the first to discover the Passage of ??? in the tutorial stage. Health and Toughness increase by 3.]
Thud! The moment my feet touched the ground, the parted darkness sealed itself shut.
If I had been even a little late, my foot would have been caught in it.
My ankle would have been severed instantly.
Phew— I let out a sigh of relief.
'So, the name of the place is marked with question marks.'
As expected.
They called it a nameless god, and sure enough, question marks appeared instead of a Constellation's title.
The god who is the master of shadows.
Could they be a manager, like the Old Gods?
'Antonio didn't talk about that part.'
Did he remain silent while knowing the nameless god's identity?
Or was he unable to say because he didn't know?
I have no way of knowing that much.
Well, either way, all that matters is obtaining the Orb of Darkness, the core of the 'shadow' ability Antonio wielded.
"I can't see a thing."
Just in case, I used Energy Bolt.
Normally, the blue sphere would have driven away the darkness, but even that light was swallowed by the darkness permeating the passage.
As I thought, this is no ordinary place.
[Using Ultrasound.]
[Reading the terrain within a 100-meter radius.]
A passage that stretched straight ahead.
It's a relief it's not a maze.
I enveloped my entire body in [Thorn Carapace] and slowly advanced.
When I had walked about ten meters.
Thump— A warning from my Sixth Sense flashed through my mind.
I instinctively ducked my head.
Swoosh!
A large blade grazed the top of my head.
If I hadn't trusted my instincts, I would have been seriously injured.
'So this is where it begins.'
A place where I couldn't let my guard down.
I started moving forward again, toward the end of the passage.