Chapter 201: Divine Shard! Two Paths to Godhood!
.....
"JOJO~!!"
Iori Kitahara burst into a manic laugh upon hearing the answer. The Crimson King was truly invincible!
"It's finally ending."
Seito stretched his arms, waiting for the final question to appear on the screen.
[Question 50]
["Shinra Tensei, Banshō Ten'in! Clap-clap-clap-clap... Konan~", what does this mean?]
"Cough! Hack!"
Seeing the prompt, Seito suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit. Beside him, Iori Kitahara was doing the exact same thing.
Even though the question was presented in text, the two of them could practically hear the audio in their heads. They shared a knowing, silent look—their expressions instantly morphing into the "Doge" meme.
"What does this even mean?"
"No idea, never seen it before," the surrounding non-otaku players muttered, completely lost.
Outside the Game... In the Safe Zones.
Seeing the fiftieth question, the world chat exploded.
[How is it possible to post a voice message in a text prompt? Doge.JPG]
[Ahem, I don't understand the meaning at all. Can some kind lady explain it to me?]
[Screw off! You're just fishing for a reaction!]
[Just search it on short-form video apps. Some guy dubbed this specific line, and it's absolute gold.]
Most of the otaku players understood it instantly. For those who didn't, they took the "educational" advice and logged off briefly to search for the viral video.
Back with Seito.
Ding—!
Seito pressed his buzzer and called out,
"Can I input the answer manually?"
[Permitted.]
As the system's voice faded, a tablet appeared in front of Seito. Without hesitation, he typed in the answer.
[Correct Answer.]
[The 'Ultimate Brain' event has concluded.]
[Distributing rewards...]
[Player 'Sei', your Mysterious Gift Box has been issued.]
Whoosh—!
The moment the announcement finished, everyone in the hall vanished.
30th Floor of God Domain, Snezhnaya Imperial Capital Palace.
The members of the Fatui had just returned and immediately headed for the Great Deliberation Hall behind the main palace. After all, the courtyard was no place for serious discussion.
A few minutes later, everyone was seated in their designated spots, their eyes instinctively turning toward Seito.
"Seito-kun, hurry and see what your reward is," Maple urged.
"Alright." Seito nodded and opened the Mysterious Gift Box.
Whoosh!
A tiny fragment, barely a tenth the size of a fingernail, appeared floating before them.
[Divine Shard]
[Option 1: Upon use, the player can nurture this shard with their own Divine Power. When the total Divine Power reaches 50,000, the shard will be repaired, and the player will ascend as a Deity.]
[Option 2: Alternatively, the player can absorb the power within the shard to transform it into their own. When Divine Power reaches 500,000, the player can forcibly manifest their own Divine Core and ascend as a Deity!]
"This..." Seito froze. It really was a Divine Shard! And more surprisingly, the reward offered two distinct paths.
Both options clearly led to godhood. Seito lowered his head in deep thought.
"Now that's a treasure," Sora couldn't help but exclaim.
"Ni, this reward is useless for us~" Shiro said, shaking her small head as if she had realized something.
The others nodded in agreement. The reason was simple: the most crucial requirement for godhood was Divine Power. For players like them who could only gain Divine Power through leveling up, using a shard like this would take an eternity. Giving it to them now wouldn't mean much.
But Seito was different. As long as he absorbed the shard and used his Space Set's set effect to plunder Divine Power, it wouldn't be long before he reached the threshold.
Haruno Yukinoshita looked at the contemplative Seito and asked, "Well? Have you decided which path to take?"
"Yeah." Seito nodded. "I'm going with the second option."
The group didn't look surprised; it matched their expectations. While repairing a pre-existing shard was easier, a Divine Core forged by one's own power would undoubtedly be the most compatible and powerful. For Seito, the second path was the only real choice.
"I'll absorb the shard first."
Under their watchful eyes, Seito began to draw in the energy. The fragment slowly began to fade. Ten minutes later, the floating shard vanished entirely. Seito opened his eyes and summoned his status panel.
[Nickname: Sei]
[Level: 78]
[HP: 950,000,000 / 950,000,000]
[Divine Power: 5,100]
[Divine Core: Pending Manifestation]
[Divine ATK: 145,000+ | Divine DEF: 145,000+ | Divine MAG: 145,000+ | Divine SPD: 70,400,000+]
[Talent: Space Mastery]
[Skills: Speed Space (Exclusive), Spatial Shift (Exclusive)...]
[Equipment: Space Dragon Blade (Artifact), Space Divine Raiment (Artifact), Space Dragon Ring (Artifact), Space Necklace (Artifact), Dimensional Cube]
His Divine Core status had changed from "None" to "Pending Manifestation." This meant he just needed to gather 500,000 Divine Power to achieve true godhood.
He could already feel a faint, indescribable change occurring within his body—a sensation he likely wouldn't fully understand until the process was complete.
"How does it feel?" Maple asked curiously.
"I feel a strange shift inside me, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is yet," Seito answered honestly.
The others fell into thought. After a moment, Haruno asked, "Any changes to your stats?"
"Yes," Seito replied, detailing the shift in his panel.
"So basically, once you collect enough Divine Power, you can condense your core?" Chairwoman Minami mused.
"That's the gist of it," Seito replied.
...
Thank you for reading.