Chapter 301
Chapter 301
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 301
Chapter Title: Superhuman Strength Mad God 301 ? Superhuman Strength Mad God #1
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As evening fell, we built a fire near the beach and grilled various seafood.
For shrimp or crabs that looked tasty boiled, we borrowed a large steamer-like pot from nearby, filled it with clean water, and boiled them.
"These are the crabs that I caught...! There are three of them, so it's more than enough for us to share...!"
"Wow, nice job. They're fucking huge. How the hell did you catch these?"
"I just grabbed them with my hands...!"
"No, I mean, how exactly did you grab these with your hands?"
"That's a secret...!"
Eating them fresh from the sea, while listening to the sound of the waves at night, made them taste incredible.
Once we were decently full, I noticed fireworks exploding in the sky with a pop-pop-bang.
Was there a festival somewhere?
Then I realized that fireworks and rowdy, noisy voices were coming from a massive villa-like building near the city center.
Come to think of it, hadn't someone mentioned a banquet or something tonight?
That guy named Sijo had invited Elfriede, but here he was, eating shells Luna had gathered right next to us.
"You're scared of the sea but eat seafood just fine, you invasive species!"
"Shut up. Who said I was scared!"
"Everyone saw you flailing around earlier...!"
"I saw it too. Looks like the Flame Wizard is afraid of water. Or maybe it's all elves who fear rivers and the ocean. That's why they hate riding boats."
At Hippolyte's casual remark, Luna, who was peeling and eating shrimp nearby, perked up.
"Then how did you get from that Alvheim place to here?"
With so many people, everyone was chattering away, making our beach spot as lively as the villa's festival.
The constant buzz of voices.
Even at night by the sea, tons of people were milling about, so there was no chance of boredom.
Seeing so many people out at night gave me a sense of the city's security level.
A city this relaxed.
It suddenly felt like home, letting me relax a bit. There was something about this place that oddly soothed my mood.
Pop, pop-pop—.
Fireworks kept bursting overhead. Paranoia, who was picking meat from a crab leg, scowled fiercely.
"They're so damn noisy...! You'd think they owned the whole city...!"
"That's probably the Marquis of Carvillas's banquet. A man who could rent out the entire city."
Marquis who?
What a pain of a name.
But I knew exactly how impressive a marquis was.
In Sodomora, the golden-bearded Count Hawkins wielded power like a king with just a count's title, so a marquis above that had to be insanely powerful.
Honestly, I had no clue.
Like a lifelong governor or something?
Thinking of it that way made their city-wide banquet feel a bit more understandable.
"They say Marquis Carvillas loves gathering people for festivals. I even attended one here as a kid."
At Hippolyte's words, Luna's eyes widened.
"You? You've been to Delphi before?"
"Yeah, this is my second time. I came to the Room of Awakening to have my divinity recognized."
Room of Awakening.
Hearing that made me think of the bracelet the nymph trainer Sijo had earlier. Wasn't it some kind of reservation ticket?
"So, did you get a bracelet too, Lady Hippolyte?"
"Yeah, mine was number 25. The last one was around nine hundred something. My divine blood is pretty strong, so I got a high number up front. I was actually recognized as a demigod."
"Wow, Hippolyte. You're actually a big deal!"
Hippolyte furrowed her brow slightly at Luna's words.
"...Don't I seem like a big deal just looking at me?"
"You used to, but not anymore."
"I see."
"So, does that mean you could become a real Hypnos god someday?"
"Who knows. I'm a demigod now. To become a full god, I need nectar. And even that's not the end."
"No, what else do you need besides nectar?"
"A god becomes a lofty star through the faith and devotion of worshippers. To become a god, I need to build my own temple and gather followers. That might be harder than getting nectar."
She trailed off, saying countless demigods drop out there.
So, basically, to be recognized as a god, you have to start a religion?
Yeah, gathering faith to become an object of worship doesn't sound easy.
Even just leading a group project gives you headaches—what about becoming a religious focal point for followers? That's high difficulty.
Could Hippolyte pull it off?
What kind of god did she even want to be?
God of stocks?
My head was swirling with endless questions when Luna casually tossed a fresh shrimp into the dying fire and said offhandedly,
"Can I go into that Room of Awakening too?"
"You, Noxdoty?"
"What if I'm a child of a god too!"
Crackle, crackle—.
A brief silence rippled around our campfire at Luna's innocent declaration. My heart skipped a beat. No way was Luna suddenly getting this close to the truth?
Then Hippolyte burst into hearty laughter—ha ha ha—.
"Anyone can qualify for the Room of Awakening. You'd just get a later number. Most end up with middle school syndrome, though."
"What disease?"
I couldn't help but blurt out in surprise. Hippolyte continued calmly.
"Severe self-consciousness disorder. It hits a lot during adolescence—when you delusionally think you have special powers, or maybe you're not ordinary but a child of a god."
"Ah—."
"Out of about a thousand in line, only a handful get their divinity recognized. The rest are all middle school syndrome cases."
"I see."
It somehow made perfect sense.
Normal people wouldn't travel all this way, wait in line, and get tested just because they wondered, "What if I'm a child of a god?"
I thought back to my middle school days.
Back when I was in middle school, I'd often wonder if some special power different from others would awaken in me.
Telekinesis? Teleportation? I'd spin fantasies every night.
I'd take down the bully gang tormenting me with my powers, then use Spider-Man webs to bind the ones fleeing across the schoolyard.
I was brimming with confidence that it could really happen.
But...
It was all just imagination.
As I grew older, those thoughts faded, and I had to accept I was an ordinary human.
Growing up starts with never overestimating yourself. At least, that's what I thought.
Crackle, crackle—.
As the fire crackled louder, Luna spoke up.
"Then tomorrow, I'll go get a number too!"
*
*
*
The next day.
After booking rooms near the beach, we decided to spend some personal time doing our own things.
Hippolyte headed to the upper district to report the info on Goddess Ceres she'd gotten from the 'Gateway of Autumn' rift recently.
Paranoia, who caught a cold from flailing in the sea, and Elfriede, who looked like she found everything bothersome, were crashing at the inn for more sleep.
Paranoia aside, Elfriede was a homebody who loved reading books on days off, so no helping it.
"Alright, Luna, looks like it's just you and me exploring the city."
"It'd be more fun with everyone, but oh well!"
Luna smacked her lips regretfully, but I was a bit excited at the thought of a seaside city date with just Luna for once.
Seaside date, huh. My mind went blank—I'd never done one in my life.
"Where to first?"
"Let's go get our numbers too!"
In the end, I headed off with Luna to draw numbers for the Room of Awakening, just like she wanted.
Seeing the line stretching from the Sun Temple high on the hill all the way down to the village below really drove home how many people in this world suffered from middle school syndrome.
All those people waiting for their turn? Most thinking they're children of gods—!
Of course, plenty were probably like us, just joining for fun.
"Next—."
At someone's shout, Luna and I stepped up to a man. Middle-aged, like a civil servant, wearing a bizarre feathered hat and holding a thick chart.
Working through the night? His sleepy eyes flicked over us.
He suddenly startled at my face.
"Why are you back? You already got number 6, didn't you? Your turn would've been over ages ago...."
His eyes filled with fear. He was clearly mistaking me for that Samaritan named Gloria.
"I'm probably not who you think. I'm a guy."
"Ah—, right, the voice is different. A man, huh. Ha—these Samaritans. Why do they all look so damn similar? Is that leather popular with them now?"
"No idea."
"I see. Well, you two want to use the Room of Awakening?"
"Yeah!"
Luna answered for me. The man barely reacted, just flipping through his chart.
"Then, a few quick questions. Have you often imagined you're different from others?"
"Yeah!"
Scribble—.
He checked something at Luna's answer.
"And do you think others are idiots while you know secrets they don't?"
"Yep!"
Scribble—.
"And growing up, did relatives, parents, or people around you say you were different from others?"
"Now that I think about it, yeah!"
Scribble—.
"And—."
What kind of survey is this? After about ten simple questions, the man scratched his forehead casually as he muttered from behind the booth.
"Last one: Any high-ranking nobles or rich relatives?"
"Nope! Why?"
"If so, you can skip the line through the back door—no number needed. No connections? Wait your turn like everyone else."
Got it. VIPs get fast-pass.
"Anyway, got it. Pink-haired miss gets number 1110. You're set, miss. Samaritan sir, want a number too?"
I started shaking my head—no point wasting time.
But Luna chimed in beside me, "Hassan should get one too!" So I nodded reluctantly.
"My answers will all be no."
"Then take 1111, right after the miss."
"Whoa! Hassan! Four ones—lucky number! Swap with me!"
"I don't care, but is swapping okay?"
I glanced at the civil servant, wondering about rules. He didn't seem to care.
So I swapped bracelets with Luna. 1110. Sver, would my turn even come? I asked the guy, who probably knew the event well.
"When might our turns come?"
"Week from now for you two, probably. Ha—really. Open the gates to all guests? Whatever prophecy this is, numbers'll hit 2,000 easy—."
"Not usually like this?"
"Longest was 1,000. Now we admins pull overtime daily. Sver—."
"I see. Tough luck."
We gave the tired civil servant a casual goodbye and stepped away from the line. Nearly 1,200 ahead of us? Next week at earliest?
No way I'd wait a week.
I was narrowing my eyes at the thought when—
Crash!—
Something huge flew through the air amid screams.
"Hey, Sver. You get shit on my armor, you bastard—? Know how much this titanium suit costs?"
"Yo, calm down, Yabes. You'll kill him. Bones break from your punches...!"
"Calm? He stained my armor with ink. Hard to clean too—. Argh, Sver."
Through the crowd, I saw furious men and a guy on the ground getting beaten at their feet.
"S-Sijo, snap out of it...! Y-You scum! How dare you hit Sijo! You'll regret it...! Sijo is number 200, a demigod...!"
"Shut it, nymph—. If you can't pay repair fees, take him and make him beg for coin."
The man in shining silver armor grabbed a petite woman's scruff and hoisted her up. She kicked wildly.
"Eek! P-Put me down, you bastards! Later, when Sijo becomes a great god, he'll smite you...!"
"Ah, Alinoy...."
The blond guy on the ground, reaching out—that calm face was familiar. The nymph trainer Sijo. Why was he getting beat?
Then the man kicked Sijo's gut again and growled.
"I'm 190, idiot. Higher than you—."
What? Higher queue number?
Something flashed in my mind.
I approached the arguing group.
"How about we stop there."
"Who the hell are you, Sver? Beat it—we gotta make this nymph beg for our coin!"
The men glared menacingly, but seeing the flailing nymph Alinoy in their grip, it didn't feel like someone else's problem.
"Ah! You're that guardian of Paranoia from yesterday...! Help me and Sijo...!"
"What're you yapping, Sver? He with you guys?"
The guy whose fancy armor was ink-stained held something out to me.
What was it? A small coin-like thing. Money? Bribe to back off? But no, not money.
What?
As I puzzled, he spoke.
"Yabes of Super Strength speaking. Heard of Titanium Fold?"
He crumpled the small coin-thing like paper. Onlookers gasped.
Folding titanium steel like origami—shocking.
"Leave unless you wanna get hurt. Real titanium coin!"
Crumple, crumple—.
After folding it four times, he slapped it into my palm. I stared and said,
"Super Strength, huh...."
"Scared? If you're an adventurer, you've heard: Yabes, silver-rank from Babel's Minerva Guild."
"Cool, simple title. I'm Sver—can't shake the Samaritan label no matter what. Learn to fold these, get a cool title?"
"Not anyone can, idiot. Your bracelet's got over a thousand ahead. Run before you lose it all and embarrass yourself."
"Yeah?"
I gripped the titanium coin and squeezed.
Crumple—. It started unfolding. Yabes's face twisted.
"What if I do this much?"
Rip.
I tore the steel coin front to back like paper.