Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: It's Not a Cult
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"Wait... hold on a second, how do you know about that..."
Investigator Kim Junghwan's face drained of all color.
The information I'd just revealed was straight out of the wiki—his personal secret that he'd never shared with anyone.
It was the expected reaction.
Whether the investigator was flustered or not,
Awakener registration was a matter of life and death for me, so I pressed on.
"The tougher body was just a bonus. What I told you about is my real ability. The power to check a target's information. I still don't know its exact limits. I've only been awakened for three days. As for how detailed the wiki gets... five days ago, you were watching Ayase's stream and donated..."
"W-wait, stop right there. That's enough. This... what the hell is..."
Sweat beaded on Investigator Kim Junghwan's forehead.
Five days ago, the donation he'd sent to Ayase.
'GrandmaReaCarBreakerAyase' donated 10,000 won.
Yaa fart explosion bururururu so cute
...Let's respect his human dignity and leave it at that.
[You can check and edit target information in the form of wiki documents.]
This ability of mine is incredibly useful for resolving Anomalous Phenomena and using items.
The biggest danger of Anomalous Phenomena and items comes from the uncertainty of information.
For example.
Imagine handing a loaded AR rifle to ancient humans who had just discovered fire.
Would they know?
That pulling the trigger would launch a bullet capable of shattering skulls.
They wouldn't know until they tried it themselves.
Modern humans are the same.
You can't gauge an Anomalous Phenomenon's danger until it hits you.
You can't know an item's effects until you use it.
I'd have to check Anomalous Phenomena and items myself with my own hands to learn my ability's limits.
Regardless, it was undeniably an incredibly useful power, just like it was for this investigator in front of me.
...That's why I'd tried so hard not to reveal it.
I had a strong hunch it'd drag me into a world of hassle.
No, if it only ended up as hassle, I'd count myself lucky.
In the worst case.
I could be forcibly hypnotized by a mental-type Awakener from the Awakener Association and reduced to a living Anomalous Phenomenon detector...
You might call it jumping to conclusions, but that's how massive the societal impact of my ability was.
Even so, the reason I'd revealed it so straightforwardly to this investigator was simple.
I didn't want to die.
I had no choice but to disclose my ability to avoid disposal.
If I couldn't become an Awakener, I'd never get near items or Anomalous Phenomena my whole life.
So.
"Does this qualify me for Awakener registration?"
The information-checking ability had to be a hundred, a thousand times more useful than a tough body, right?
Please, just use me.
Thump.
Thump thump.
"...Yes. We'd be in trouble if you didn't become an Awakener."
G-good...!
At least I wouldn't have to worry about disposal right away.
The investigator wiped his sweat and said,
"Miss Jia, your ability isn't just some simple mental power. It's something far more advanced... like a gift from the gods..."
"Nah, there's no such thing as gods in this world."
"True enough. I'm an atheist myself... Huh? What Miss Jia just said came up as a lie..."
A careless slip of the tongue.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
I slammed my head into the desk five times.
The desk shattered.
The price of blasphemy.
I realized my mistake and apologized inwardly, but it didn't work.
Denying the existence of gods right in front of someone else...
It seemed my sin was judged too grave this time.
"M-Miss Jia?"
"Actually, gods do exist."
"You're bleeding from your head..."
"The god named Reflecting Myriad Stars! Everything is thanks to the grace of Reflecting Myriad Stars!"
"Pardon?"
"Thanks to Reflecting Myriad Stars! Oh, almighty Reflecting Myriad Stars! Your fervent devotee Lee Jia bows her head! What are you waiting for? Bow your head too!"
"..."
Damn it.
I hadn't wanted to show this side of myself to anyone else.
Apparently,
I needed to overhaul my mindset from the ground up.
Otherwise, my head really would crack open someday.
From today, I was no longer an atheist but a theist.
From today, I was a fanatic upholding Reflecting Myriad Stars.
Reflecting Myriad Stars is a god and invincible.
Long live Reflecting Myriad Stars.
Long long live Reflecting Myriad Stars.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Awakener Association investigator Kim Junghwan.
Though his ability to distinguish truth from lies was too far removed from resolving Anomalous Phenomena for him to become an Awakener,
it was so useful that he'd risen to a position of considerable influence within the Association.
However.
No matter how influential Kim Junghwan was inside the Awakener Association,
he couldn't unilaterally decide Lee Jia's disposition.
After sending her home, he thought.
'She's at least an S-rank ability user.'
The power to check target information.
An unprecedentedly rare ability.
He didn't know exactly how potent it was.
'If she can even figure out that I'm Adong, it'll definitely be a huge help in resolving Anomalous Phenomena.'
Right after finishing the investigation, he reported to his superior.
They'd hold an internal meeting tomorrow and decide her fate.
Probably.
She'd become an Awakener without much issue.
There were a few odd points, though.
First, her claim that 'if she couldn't become an Awakener, she'd die' had rung true, surprisingly.
He'd asked if someone was threatening her,
but her vague reply was,
"Uh... well, there's some compulsion, but it's not exactly a threat... Ah, no, wait! That was a slip! I-I'm doing this because I want to, yes!"
...'There's compulsion' was true.
'Because I want to' was a lie.
Second.
Her declaration that 'gods exist' had also checked out as true.
Well, believing in gods wasn't strange.
Anyone religious would naturally believe they existed.
The problem was.
The unfamiliar name of the 'god' from her lips.
Not Jesus.
Not Allah.
Not even from Indian mythology.
A god named [Reflecting Myriad Stars].
'Never heard of it.'
Some new cult religion?
A search turned up only crap posts from the VTuber Gallery, no real results.
He didn't bother reading the posts.
Gallery info was 99% crap anyway.
Whatever.
It didn't matter what god she believed in.
The key point was that she was vital talent for the Awakener Association.
'First time meeting an Adong outside, though.'
He wanted to dive into a heated debate with her about 'why Ayase Mitsuko is so cute,'
but work and personal life had to be kept separate.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Haa..."
Back home, I collapsed onto the bed without even washing up.
Exhausted.
Drained dry.
The investigation ended with them saying they'd contact me later.
I'd left the house around lunchtime, for sure.
But now it was already 11 p.m. when I got back.
Obviously starving since I'd skipped dinner, my stomach was glued to my spine.
I was about to settle for my usual triangle kimbap and ramen,
but remembering my fattened bank account from yesterday's stream, I splurged on chicken today.
The chicken arrived in 30 minutes.
Tearing into a drumstick happily, I thought,
'Life sucks.'
My forehead still stung.
I'd bashed it into the desk hard enough to draw blood, so it was only natural.
This body of mine.
Tough as it was, its natural recovery transcended human limits.
The gash on my forehead from the desk was now perfectly healed.
"Ow ow ow... Hiss."
There was a nasty bruise, but... this counted as fine, right?
It'd probably heal by tomorrow.
What the hell was I going to do with my life, anyway.
Fucked.
Now that I was actually going through with Awakener registration, fear was starting to creep in.
Even famed top Awakeners dropped like flies to Anomalous Phenomena—could a normie like me survive unscathed in one?
...No idea.
With the Archivist's Duty imposed on me, I had no choice anyway.
To avoid disposal, I'd do it whether I liked it or not.
I'd have to beg them to pair me with veteran parties, what else could I do?
Beyond Anomalous Phenomena,
streaming was a problem too.
Having to stream once a day was no joke.
Hell,
Even on days I was bedridden with illness.
Even when out of the house.
Every single day, stream or else.
Ah, already anxious.
Someday I'd forget once and get disposed...
"...Oh."
Wait.
Hold on.
Thinking about it...
Me.
Today.
I didn't stream.
"Wha-wha-what?!"
A weird gurgling noise leaked from my mouth.
They say extreme shock stops you from speaking properly, and damn if it wasn't true.
"Kyaaaaaaa!"
Realizing my life's biggest screw-up, I shrieked at the top of my lungs,
and
Bam, bam, bam, bam!
Reactions poured in from the neighbors above and below: quiet down.
Sue me.
Noise complaints were a big deal, sure, but I had no bandwidth for that right now.
Current time.
11:51 p.m.
Nine minutes left.
If I didn't start streaming...
Disposal.