IRM Chapter 61

Yuan Yuan remained in the divine statue’s hands for only a few seconds. After it emerged, the statue crumbled to ash with a thunderous crash, just like the stone platform at the island’s edge.

These ashes were extremely light. Despite the enormous size of the statue, they were scattered away by the sea breeze.

Bard and Tang didn’t know what had happened and were startled, scanning their surroundings with vigilant eyes.

In the end, only Tang noticed the anomaly. On what appeared to be an empty island to them, Ji Chi’s pupils reflected a flickering point of light.

Bard clutched the crown tightly to his chest and asked nervously, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What happened?”

Tang was still watching Ji Chi, seeing his gaze clearly following something as it moved. He withdrew his attention and calmly comforted Bard, “It’s fine, it shouldn’t be anything bad.”

Indeed, it wasn’t anything bad, but Ji Chi wasn’t very pleased.

Because his original Yuan Yuan had been perfectly square, displaying geometric beauty, but now on one face of the cube, an inexplicable pale golden rounded protrusion had appeared.

The color didn’t match, the shape didn’t match either – it was enough to drive anyone with OCD crazy. Even Ji Chi wanted to reach out and pry off the extra piece.

Ji Chi stared at it with an indescribable expression. “What’s wrong with you?”

Yuan Yuan: [Yuan Yuan doesn’t understand what you’re saying…]

Ji Chi got a headache hearing this: “Enough, enough, don’t relay it to the production team…”

Yuan Yuan flew around him in confusion and continued: [But Yuan Yuan will work hard to understand!]

Ji Chi was stunned. This was the first time the artificial idiot had deviated from that fixed response.

Though it was still very mechanical and official, somehow Ji Chi could sense Yuan Yuan’s change.

Was it because of what was in the statue’s palm? A thoughtful gleam passed through Ji Chi’s eyes.

After Yuan Yuan returned to his side, it didn’t immediately disappear into thin air. It flickered a few times, spun around in front of Ji Chi, signaling him to follow.

“Are you going to take me somewhere?” Ji Chi asked while following without much hesitation. He vaguely felt that like Yuan Yuan, he had gained something, though he didn’t know its specific purpose.

Seeing nothing had happened, Bard was about to take the small boat from his toolbox when he noticed Ji Chi walking toward where the statue had originally stood, as if being lured.

He moved to stop him in confusion. “Ji Chi? What’s wrong? We should go.”

Before Bard could reach Ji Chi’s back, Tang blocked him. Tang looked calmly at Ji Chi’s retreating figure. “Let’s wait. That’s not something we can touch.”

Bard immediately understood Tang’s meaning. Those who had seen enough knew that this world contained unspeakable forces – the realm of the divine.

Bard withdrew his steps, worry in his eyes. “Is Ji Chi alright? Touching those things isn’t good news…”

Divine power was mysterious and mighty. Like Pandora’s box, it attracted people’s desires and longings while invisibly destroying everything.

Just like how the mermaid clan’s desire to explore the temple’s secrets had inadvertently awakened Chloe, leaving them under a monster’s shadow for over a century.

Or like Bard’s yearning for the legendary divine equipment set, willing to sacrifice everything to obtain it.

However, for Ji Chi, this wasn’t his first time interfering with divine matters.

Originally, Ji Chi had been full of wariness toward Them, but after the Demon King’s castle incident, he discovered that these divine powers weren’t as invincible as he had imagined.

They possessed special powers, but in reality, the Demon King’s true strength was even less than that of the great archangel Akangie.

The Demon King had later revealed to Ji Chi that the charged attack he had used against him was actually a “gift” he prepared in advance for otherworlders after each reset – it was both intimidation and awakening.

To intimidate them against arrogance, and to awaken them to the fact that this was a real world.

However, this tried-and-true method had gone awry with Ji Chi. Not only had it failed to intimidate this strange creature, but it had also let him figure out the approximate divine power level of this world…

What a loss. Demon King regret.jpg

Recalling the past, Ji Chi knew these deities didn’t have high initial favorability toward otherworlders. He secretly prepared himself – this time, he definitely wouldn’t be scared again!

He stepped into the position where the statue had originally stood. There was a pale golden light circle there, visible only to him.

Ji Chi was already familiar with the sensation of teleportation. He blinked to relieve the dizziness from transport.

When he looked up, his heart jumped violently – he was immediately startled!

A figure was quietly pressed against him, golden pupils staring straight at him, their noses no more than a centimeter apart.

Ji Chi quickly stepped back, his longsword swinging out to rest against the other’s neck.

Nidhogg in his arms instantly rushed out but struck no solid form. The little fat dragon shot through a phantom like a cannonball and flew back with a bewildered expression.

Ji Chi also realized then that his sword felt empty beneath it, not like it was pressed against flesh.

“Hahaha! Were you scared!” The dwarf with golden pupils suddenly burst into laughter. He was standing on a high stool, bringing himself to roughly the same height as Ji Chi.

After laughing for a while, he stopped and sighed. “Too bad I can’t see it, or it would be even more interesting…”

The pranked Ji Chi was very angry: Are you fucking three and a half years old?!

The dwarf bore only three or four parts resemblance to the statue. His features matched up, but this short divine being who started humming and scampering about was from a completely different world than the solemn, compassionate statue.

Ji Chi put away his longsword with a complex expression. He really couldn’t understand this world’s standards for choosing deities.

Ji Chi didn’t rush to converse with Him, but first quickly scanned the space he was in.

This should be the interior of the metal island beneath the water’s surface. It looked like someone had lived here. Not far away was a workbench with many materials scattered around it. These materials were very precious – some Ji Chi didn’t even recognize, possibly unique to this world.

Except for the somewhat messy area where materials were piled, the rest of the furniture was arranged neatly, surfaces spotless, clearly well-maintained. But the wall clock in the corner had stopped moving.

The golden-eyed dwarf kept fidgeting in front of him like he had ADHD, but Ji Chi noticed that except for the initial scare, this deity had never looked directly at him again.

After not hearing any sound for a long time, the dwarf stopped his wandering and tilted his head. “Why haven’t you spoken for so long? Ah! Did you discover something?”

“How clever!” the dwarf laughed inexplicably. “That’s right! When you see me, I should already be gone from here. What remains now is just a phantom!”

He wandered to the workbench and pointed at a strange device on it. Ji Chi guessed it might be some kind of projector.

The dwarf smiled proudly. “But you can still ask me questions freely. I’ve thought ahead about how to answer everything!”

Ji Chi looked at him suspiciously and thought. “Recite the first ten elements of the periodic table?”

The divine dwarf smiled. “I don’t understand what you’re saying. Try another question?”

As expected, it’s you! This response tone was exactly like Yuan Yuan’s! Ji Chi narrowed his eyes.

When the dwarf saw he didn’t continue, he said to himself, “You should know who I am by now, right? That’s right, I’m Hephaestus, the God of Forging! But that name’s too long, just call me Phaestus.”

Phaestus walked to sit beside the workbench, lowering his gaze to stroke the grain of the walnut wood table. “Actually, I prefer to call myself just a guy who likes forging.”

He sighed. “Being a deity is too troublesome. I don’t have that ability, nor that responsibility… It makes me live without any freedom…”

“So I’ve decided!” Phaestus suddenly climbed onto the table, hands on his hips with bright eyes. “I will bestow my divine nature upon someone who passes the trial!”

Ji Chi couldn’t help frowning. What exactly was this divine nature – some two-cent-per-pound commodity that could be obtained just by passing that trial?

Phaestus seemed to know what he was thinking and waved his hand. “Don’t overthink it. No matter how unreliable I am, I wouldn’t joke about divine nature. Um… passing Chloe’s trial is quite good, but that only allows you to see the crown.”

Phaestus smiled slyly. “You can’t even take the crown away! Because the divine domain only opens when its master allows it~”

Ji Chi frowned slightly. He thought of the dwarves Bard had released. At that time, the divine domain had already opened, meaning there was already a master who had allowed the domain to open.

Was I already the master here at that time? Ji Chi lowered his gaze in thought. Then the real trial should be—

“Chloe.”

“The real trial is Chloe.” Phaestus’s voice perfectly overlapped with Ji Chi’s. He put away his smile, his golden pupils completely serious. “Bestowing emotion, inspiring contemplation, and creating life – the divine nature’s trial is making Chloe realize she is truly alive.”

Legend had it that the God of Forging had engraved His philosophy in three commonly used places: the Bestower’s Gloves, the Contemplator’s Crown, and the Creator’s Robes.

But few knew that the most precious thing wasn’t these three items, but the meaning conveyed by the God of Forging.

“I only gave Chloe the most basic emotions. The one who could give her true life must be someone who respects life.” Whether by coincidence or not, Phaestus happened to look in Ji Chi’s direction. “I’ve always been searching for such a person, but unfortunately… it seems many people treat Chloe as an emotionless monster.”

Phaestus complained. “And I gave her such a beautiful name and designed her appearance so prettily…”

Ji Chi: “…” Wait, wait, wait, do you really have no self-awareness about your aesthetic sense?

After complaining, Phaestus clapped. “So, congratulations! You’ve obtained the divine nature of creation! You’re barely a god now! But don’t get too cocky – I said it’s more like a constraint… Honestly, I think calling it a curse wouldn’t be too much.”

Phaestus reminded him. “The power of divine nature is indeed very strong, that’s absolutely right. But you must never forget – they can all be consumed. The strongest thing is only your own soul.”

Ji Chi found the last sentence familiar – the Demon King had said something similar to Saintess Coralie.

“Alright, heavy topics end here. Now it’s Q&A time!” Phaestus smiled. “I only have five minutes left here, so I hope you don’t have too many questions~”

Ji Chi actually didn’t have many questions. Come to think of it, he had encountered quite a few divine natures: the God of Light’s [Control], the God of Knowledge’s [Time], the Demon King’s [Rules], and now [Creation] in his hands…

These powers somehow gave him a subtle sense of familiarity.

Ji Chi’s gaze drifted, catching a glimpse of blue light at the corner of his eye. He instantly cast aside his jumbled thoughts, knowing what he wanted to ask. “Did you create Yuan Yuan? What’s really going on with this world?”

Hearing its name, Yuan Yuan came over and spun around. It seemed to determine that Ji Chi wasn’t talking to it and remained quietly silent.

As soon as he finished speaking, Phaestus’s expression suddenly became strange. “Hm? This time’s master is actually an otherworlder? Wow… that really surprises me. Good thing I considered this 0.01% possibility.”

Ji Chi: Just how obsessed are you with this 0.01% probability?

Phaestus laughed. “Are you thinking about how the probability could be so low? Haha! Because… most otherworlders don’t even treat people in this world as human, so how could they possibly care about my cute Chloe?”

“So you really surprise me!” Phaestus looked expectant. “This is the lowest probability, but also the most ideal development. Because you’re already prepared for how to properly be a god.”

He explained, “In all my time as the God of Forging, I’ve only used divine nature power twice. Once was creating Chloe – she will continuously grow and steadfastly guard her mission. The other time was creating Yuan Yuan. As for it… how should I describe it? You could call it a pseudo-divine nature. It can limit power or concentrate power, depending on what kind of otherworlder you are.”

Ji Chi wasn’t satisfied with this ambiguous answer and wanted to ask more, but saw Phaestus raise a finger. “Shh, I can only say this much about Yuan Yuan. Any more would increase the risk probability you bring, and I can’t allow such an oversight.”

“There’s only one minute left. Do you have anything else you want to ask?” Phaestus glanced at the wall clock, though it would never move again.

Ji Chi gave up pursuing the matter further. He thought and asked, “What do I need to do to gain your recognition?”

Only now did he notice that his hidden quest hadn’t budged. Even though he had become the master of the creation divine nature, his engineer skill still hadn’t lit up.

Phaestus made a surprised expression. “My recognition? Of course, you’d have to make equipment that I’d acknowledge! You didn’t think obtaining the divine nature was my recognition, did you? No way – the divine nature is something I’m dying to give away. It has nothing to do with my recognition. Besides, I said from the beginning that I’m just a guy who likes forging.”

Ji Chi couldn’t help frowning. Are you sure there’s no problem with this recognition? I need engineering skills to start making equipment, but to get engineering skills, I need to make equipment that a god acknowledges… Isn’t this a chicken-and-egg problem?

Phaestus didn’t care about Ji Chi’s current confusion. He jumped down from the workbench and walked away with his hands behind his back. “Alright, that’s all the time we have. I’m disappearing now!”

“Oh, right.” Phaestus suddenly turned around and winked at Ji Chi. “The divine nature is just what you deserved. I’ve prepared another little gift for you – remember to look for it~”