76. Cheer Up
76. Cheer Up
"Something's strange."
I came to a conclusion on my own.
Something was strange.
Something had clearly gone wrong with me, with my state.
"Did I originally have so little self-control?"
No.
It wasn't.
I could be certain of it.
I was definitely a person who could 'restrain himself.'
The basis for my certainty was simple.
If I hadn't restrained myself right then, I would have awakened as an NTR villain.
Even now, if I put my mind to it, I could have Yuno, Minerva, Merk, all of them. I could take them all.
But because I knew I shouldn't, I held myself back, I exercised restraint.
"But why... why...?"
Why did I have those feelings when I saw Eve?
No, having those feelings was one thing, but there was no reason to act on them immediately.
It was a situation that could have simply ended as just 'being in heat.'
But to me, this situation had been so 'ideal.'
"............."
Ideal.
It had been ideal.
Ideally, I had spat out the 'words' that could let me pounce on Eve, that could let me seduce her.
If I had truly been blinded by lust, could such 'ideal' words have come out?
No. I should have just pushed forward recklessly like a literal beast in heat.
And with my intelligence in that state, does it even make sense for me to have spoken so coherently?
...Could it actually be possible?
Since I had looped multiple times, I might remember important lines.
But even so, to accurately spit out words that perfectly fit that situation...
Tok tok
[Question for Big Brother: are you sick?]
"Huh? No. Not sick. I'm okay... huh?"
Suddenly, I felt okay.
My complicated head cleared right up.
My heart settled calmly as if all my worries up until now had been nothing.
[When are you coming out? It's about time.]
"Uh... I'll come out now."
At Mai's words, I obediently opened the door and stepped outside.
"You were in the bathroom too long. Do you have constipation?"
".........."
Mai spun her body around and looked at me.
"10 minutes until class starts. We have to go quickly."
".....Hold on."
It was strange.
A strange sensation.
A sensation of my chest calming down and becoming serene.
That strange feeling kept making my heart tranquil.
"Hold on... just a moment..."
But honestly, wasn't this weird?
It's strange.
It was strange, right?
Too strange, even.
I stared quietly at Mai, then—turned Mai behind me.
"...? Big Brother?"
"Shut up for a second."
"!,... Okay. Mai will stay still."
"..........."
Just a single word.
With just that one word, my heart sank once more.
My mind became gentle, melting limp.
This feeling.
This sensation.
I definitely knew it.
" ' When I was at the hospital... ' "
To be precise, the first time I saw 'Mai'.
For some reason, I hadn't been able to leave her alone.
I kept her by my side.
I kept wanting to look after her vaguely dazed appearance.
Just yesterday, I had continued watching out for Mai from behind.
"But..."
Now, it was my turn to be cared for.
Was the human known as 'me' really a person so overflowing with 'compassion'?
"................."
That could be the case.
Sure, it could be the case.
Maybe I was actually a person full of paternal affection without knowing it.
But if that were true, then there was another point I couldn't understand.
"My intelligence..."
was too low.
It had become far too low, even if it had dropped.
Sure, when you did stat management, certain values going up and down was a common occurrence.
But even so, was 'intelligence' a stat that dropped so easily?
".....If it were, that would be grounds for an instant refund."
If your bones broke, stamina and agility dropped.
If you sat in the library for a long time, strength dropped.
And in the case of intelligence, it decreased when you got drunk or addicted to drugs—that is, due to a specific [debuff].
But other than that, it usually didn't decrease easily.
That was a given.
In the first place, intelligence was a stat related to 'skills'.
If it fluctuated randomly like physical stats, how were you supposed to make use of skills?
"Drunk... drugged..."
Drunk.
Head fogged over.
I quietly let my mouth keep talking.
"Drunk... on a woman...?"
That phrase suddenly came to mind.
I pulled up a window.
[Summoned Creature: Pegasus][Rank: C (EX)]
-A white horse made from the blood and flesh of the Main God. Can pass through time.
-Its power scales proportionally to its master's capacity.
-It is the price for a promise, and the reward is always fair.
"...The price for a promise."
Price, for a promise.
Promise, a promise about what?
".............."
In the beginning, when I first met Cronus.
I had said this to Cronus.
[What I wish for is merely to live long and peacefully]
"and..."
[to live peacefully with a wife who loves me.]
"A loving wife..."
Loving, wife.
Wise Mother and Good Wife.
"..................."
I slowly turned my body back around.
"....Are you done?"
"............"
Mai was sitting quietly on the edge of the bed, looking at me.
"Mai, can you answer my question without a single lie? No, you'll have to answer without a single lie."
".............."
Mai nodded without a word.
Right.
It had been strange from the start.
'Transformation' and 'Time Passing' were traits I at least had some knowledge of, but the 'Wise Mother and Good Wife' trait—I had never heard or seen it before.
It would have been natural to be curious.
Heck, it would have been natural to be suspicious, especially since it even came bundled with mind-reading.
I slowly asked 'Mai'.
"'Wise Mother and Good Wife'—what on earth is that 'trait'?"
"....Mai doesn't understand the meaning of the question."
"I see."
Then I'll ask again.
"Did my intelligence drop... by any chance... because of you?"
".............."
Mai didn't speak.
But that alone was a sufficient answer.
"In the dungeon, my 'Divinity' was clearly sealed, right? Because of that, I almost died for real... So why don't I feel any emotions about Cronus?"
It's truly a strange thing. Isn't it?
"Normally, after going through that kind of situation, you'd still hold some resentment, whether you liked it or not."
Human relationships can be torn apart over a single 10,000 won between friends of a lifetime.
But after an incident that nearly got me killed, I feel no emotion?
"Even if I'm a total pushover... fuck, does this make any human sense?"
"................"
Mai just continued her silence.
"....Fine."
This much was answer enough.
"Are you watching?"
I slowly raised my head, lifting my gaze upward.
I didn't know if he was watching or not.
But one thing was certain.
"Wow... I'm going crazy, seriously."
The situation had come to this, but I didn't get angry.
To be exact, every single moment when I was about to get angry, my emotions kept subsiding.
Only happy feelings kept arising.
Negative emotions like anger and disgust vanished the moment they appeared.
Now... it was the opposite.
Even if she's doing this because she likes me—no, fuck.
I started to feel sympathy instead.
Sympathy for Mai.
Sympathy, thinking that she probably wasn't here just because she liked me.
Even a random thought popped up: maybe since Cronus gave her to me as a gift, I should just let go of my anger and accept her.
"Well... yeah."
Fine.
Very fine.
At this point, I could be certain instead.
"If it's a [debuff], there's a way."
Ur's Harp.
No, I held Agape in my hands.
"Activating [Power Chord]."
The chord to select was B Chord — Increase Max Resistance
Difficulty — Master
Mode Additions — Full Combo, ALL Perfect
"Hoooooo..."
The instrument to use was the keyboard.
With an 8k keyboard resting on my lap, I started playing.
Like that—
[B Chord - Master]
[Full Combo]
[ALL Perfect]
[96,112 (SSS)]
"............"
After hitting every single key as Perfect without missing a single one—
[Power Chord Skill Activated]
[SSS Clear Reward]
[Max Resistance Increase (Large)]
"Ah....."
A sensation as if a thick fog was clearing.
[Full Combo ─ Reward Enhancement (Large)]
[ALL Perfect ─ Reward Enhancement (Large)]
"Eu... eugh...!"
Something that had been heavily pressing down on me was disappearing.
[Power Chord Effect Activated]
[Disease, Mental Debuff Removal (Large)]
"Heu, aaaah!!!"
──Snap, crackle.
The sound of something snapping.
Not a sound heard by my ears, but the sound of something inside my head snapping apart.
"Hah, h... haaah...?"
And at the same time, filling up my entire field of vision—
[An Oracle has arrived.]
[Main God─Ares: goingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazygoingcrazy]
"This is..."
[An Oracle has arrived.]
[Goddess Athena: wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup]
"What..."
[An Oracle has arrived.]
[Main God─Hermes:....? You woke up──?]
"Ah... yes. I woke up?"
But what on earth was this situation...
[An Oracle has arrived.]
[Main God─Hera: Hermes, I told you just a moment ago. Even if you're the God of Thieves, I won't forgive you anymore. I'll really burn both of your shoes, you hear?]
"Um......"
Main God Hera, too.
I slowly looked up at the sky.
[An Oracle has arrived.]
[Main God─Hera:....Are you looking at us right now, by any chance?]
"Uh.... Hello?"
I waved my hand towards the transparent window.
[An Oracle has arrived.]
[Main God─Hera:.............]
".............."
A feeling of facing each other head-on.
Soon, another status window popped up again.
[An Oracle has arrived.]
[Goddess─Ur: Karaoke. Private room. First drawer. Mirror.]
".............."
I rose from my spot.
I no longer had time to hesitate.
"Big Brother....."
".........."
A voice grabbed me from behind.
My ankle was caught once more by that voice.
A voice that made me feel at ease just by hearing it.
A desire to just settle down here peacefully.
Probably, if I just stayed by Mai's side like this, I could be endlessly comfortable.
But—now that I already knew, there was no turning back.
"There's still one carrot juice left in the fridge, right? Drink that."
".........Big Brother."
I changed my shoes.
Mai didn't come any closer to me.
She just spoke to me.
"Hang in there."
"....Yeah."
You too.
I too.
It seemed we had both gotten entangled with a truly disgusting god.