Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Became the Gallery's Only Reptile
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"Hello! Your eyes are still as pretty as ever today?"
I dodged the goddess trying to stick to my face while lost in thought.
That tone and behavior.
It's definitely Kisine.
I never imagined she'd personally step in to give me a status window.
'And she's still after my eyes.'
A whole year had passed.
She must have met plenty of other users besides me by now—shouldn't someone like me be easy to forget?
"You're different from the others, so you stuck in my memory longer!"
[...She read my thoughts.]
Indeed, she'd read my mind before too...
'Hold on.'
The goddess can read my thoughts.
Which means all the other goddesses before Kisine could read them as well.
Everything else aside, they would've known I retained my memories of the first trial perfectly—why gloss over it?
"What?! You have memories from the last trial? My sister never mentioned that!"
[...This idiot.]
Stupidly leaking info by mulling it over alone again.
"You should've said something sooner!"
She lunged at me, overjoyed by the revelation that I retained memories from the previous trial, wrapping me in a hug.
But unlike before, my body was now far too massive to be fully embraced by her two arms.
As a result, Kisine ended up plastered to me like a cicada clinging to a tree.
"You've grown enormously since I last saw you?"
[A lot has happened.]
Yeah. Far more than you'd expect in just a year.
Especially lately, things had piled up, but in any case, I'm nothing like last year's me.
Thud.
Growing tired, Kisine soon dropped off me.
Rubbing both her arms suggested it was due to a lack of strength.
"Lemme see, lemme see~ Oh, you've stirred up some really fun stuff!"
Kisine pressed her thumb and index finger together to form a circle, peering through it at me.
She nodded repeatedly, letting out exclamations of admiration as if seeing something invisible.
"You met the Black Despair too—also called that—and even Lakea? But she's acting weird... Ah! Right, the Lakea in the world of expectations where you live is still just a mage! That explains her appearance!"
What the...?
Is she viewing my past through me or something?
I never dreamed that was possible.
"And you met the Spirit King too—even took down that bone necromancer recently? Goodness, taking on a Spirit King? No way!"
Kisine rattled off events from after last year's maintenance trial all the way to the present, her eyes widening in disbelief as she let out a gasp.
Well, who could beat Spirit Kings in under two years?
"As expected, you're a riot!"
[What the hell makes this fun.]
"Our little black dragon doesn't get it? How much interest you're drawing from us."
A being who became human yet isn't.
A blemish dropped into a different era from the others.
An irregular imoogi wielding dragon power.
And a singularity retaining memories intact, defying the spatial laws governed by the goddesses.
All those traits fit me, and given her personality, of course she'd be thrilled.
"So, ready for the exchange now?"
[First, I've got a question.]
"Shoot. Ask away."
First, the most crucial one.
[Even if I get a status window, it's different from what others have—how big a difference?]
"Beats me. The difference stems from your body to begin with."
So the extent of the loss or the functions I secure is pure luck, huh.
[Next question. Will this status window let me handle any glitches during the Valhalla transfer?]
"Yep. No need to worry about that anymore. Even a weak version should cover it."
Good. Better this way, actually.
I freaked out back then due to the circumstances, but thinking calmly, Kisine's offer is nothing but a win for me.
I lose my eyes, sure, but gain goddess eyes in exchange—and a status window to boot this time.
[Alright. Let's do it.]
"For real?!"
She's a goddess, after all.
Trusting her status, I closed my eyes as her hand drew near.
"Won't hurt a bit~."
With those final words from Kisine.
Blink.
In less than a minute, I'd acquired new eyes.
"How's it feel? No pain, right?"
[...Yeah.]
No exaggeration—not even a twinge of pain.
Popped right out and in, just like she said.
Whatever special ability she used left my nerves undamaged and no blood flowed.
Blinking felt perfectly natural, no dryness or anything—indistinguishable from my originals.
"Status window's bundled in with those eyes!"
While I blinked my right eye experimentally, Kisine fiddled with my old one, rolling it around as she explained the status window had already been transferred.
Finally, I had a status window too.
I closed my eyes briefly and uttered those words I'd spoken countless times before.
[Status Window.]
Normally, nothing would've happened.
But not anymore.
Ding.
The crisp, signature chime of the status window.
And before my eyes, a cascade of blue system windows like a game interface.
Awesome! Finally, my own status window!
Chijijijik.
[What the hell is this.]
A status window that couldn't even display my name properly.
Too corrupted to even qualify as one.
"Whoa, how'd it glitch out this bad?"
Kisine sidled up beside me, tilting her head at the severely mangled display before my eyes.
Even she hadn't anticipated this outcome.
"Argh."
Chik. Chijik.
With a snap of her fingers, the status window partially repaired itself.
Now the name and stats were legible—a few more fixes and it'd be perfect.
Just one issue, though.
"Argh. Argh."
Pajijik. Pajik.
No matter how hard Kisine snapped her fingers, the status window refused to repair further.
"What the! Argh! Argh!"
Pajijijik.
Frustrated, Kisine kept snapping away, but the window remained unchanged.
"Hoo. Fine. Let's try this then."
Kisine's eyes gleamed ominously.
Even without meeting her gaze, my body stiffened from the sheer pressure.
"Okay. I'll fix it perfectly."
Kkaduduk.
A chilling crunch emanated from her delicate fingers as light and darkness began to converge.
Chijik.
Even amid the damage, the status window dutifully displayed its message.
Though garbled, recalling what Kisine had said earlier let me roughly decipher it.
'Her domain of creation and destruction, probably.'
"Bingo! You've researched me quite a bit?"
Kisine read my thoughts effortlessly and replied.
Each goddess wields a unique authority.
Kisine's was creation and destruction.
It wasn't for nothing that rumors swirled she outpowered Raine and Irine.
Chijik.
"Totally demolish the broken parts and recreate them fresh—what's it gonna do about that?"
Right as her finger, infused with the authority of creation and destruction, reached for the status window...
"Huh?"
[Damn it.]
The time limit for staying here had perfectly expired, as if on cue.
I'd figured departure was imminent based on prior timings, but this exact moment?
"Tch. No helping it. I'll sort it out next year."
Given her personality, I'd half-expected her to force-extend the remaining time and patch it up, but surprisingly, she let me go easily.
"Obviously. We can't break the rules we set."
Chijijik.
[Can't you at least fix this static noise?]
"Just sit tight—it'll quiet down on its own. The static now is just from my power lingering."
I'd worried about endless static, but thankfully not.
Now all that was left was heading back...
"......"
[......]
Blink.
Wait.
Why am I still here?
Last time, it teleported me the instant the message appeared.
"Why aren't you leaving?"
[Why ask me?]
She looked pretty flustered too.
I was supposed to return, but wasn't.
[Any fix?]
"Uh... well... no clue...?"