Temporary Apostle
“......Temporary Apostle?”
Carpe blinked at the sudden turn of events.
‘Hey, exclude me from that “everyone.” Turns out I kinda like sudden acceleration.’
Why else would his lips be twitching like this? He welcomed this kind of sudden acceleration anytime, anywhere.
Carpe steadied his trembling lips, fighting back a grin, and asked them,
“Temporary means it's time-limited, right?”
“That's right. Our divinity is too damaged to grant eternal blessings.”
“Aigoo. It's all because of those damn lesser gods. Things without any real divinity prancing around pretending to be gods...... How did the world come to this? End times. Total end times.”
“I see.”
Carpe nodded, a mix of regret and understanding washing over him at the ancient gods' responses.
It was a title he'd snagged out of nowhere, but its effects were insanely powerful.
Boosting all stats by 20 per title was huge on its own, but the other effect was an ultra-rare probability correction—especially the one tweaking gacha odds. Just reading it made his chest swell with excitement!
‘No way something this broken drops without strings attached. Even if it's temporary, beggars can't be choosers.’
Carpe vowed to go all-out on gacha pulls and crafting while this title lasted.
But he was overlooking one crucial thing.
“So, how long does it last?”
“Hmm...... Ten years should be fine, don't you think? Plenty of time to experience an apostle's power.”
“......Pardon?”
“Too short? Then how about twenty?”
“That sounds about right. Keeping the blessing any longer burdens us too. Human lifespans aren't that long anyway.”
Title duration set to ‘20 years’.
“......”
—......
The number made "temporary" feel like a joke. Carpe's jaw dropped.
With a sliver of doubt, he asked again.
“......Just to be sure, the divine realm and mortal realm don't have different time flows, right?”
‘Like how one day here is a hundred days up there!’ That tired fantasy cliché had popped up way too often—he had to check.
“No? Time flows the same.”
“Creating separate timelines is tough even for gods. Even searching demon realms or spirit realms, places with different time axes are rare.”
His heart pounded at their answers.
Twenty years?
Who plays one game that long? "Temporary" might as well be "lifetime."
‘What a god-tier game. Yeah! Gods need that scale. Makes no sense for immortals and mortals to share time concepts!’
Overwhelmed by the generosity, Carpe said to the two gods,
“My thinking was too narrow. I'm happy with my current class, but who knows what the future holds. Something might make me want to become an apostle.”
“Exactly! You get it!”
“Since you've offered so kindly, I'll give it deep thought during the blessing.”
Of course, deep thought and final decisions were separate issues.
“Use the time for lots of gacha and gambling. Contact us anytime if you like it—we'll make you an apostle on the spot.”
“Craft a single Legendary-grade item or higher, and you won't escape the joy. I'll save the first apostle spot for you—hammer away.”
“I'd love to chat more, but time's almost up. Mortals lingering here too long risk detection by others.”
Kero approached Carpe lightly.
“Send me back where I came from?”
“Ah, yes. Please.”
“Sure thing, Carpe. Was great meeting you. Hope we meet again soon.”
“Farewell, friend! Oh, take this.”
Astel tossed something to Carpe.
“......A medal?”
“Indeed. It symbolizes me.”
Palm-sized, with an engraved hammer and anvil in the center—pretty cool.
“No special powers, but show it to dwarves on your travels. They'll treat you right.”
“Like a holy relic. Thanks.”
“Alright, see you. Next time, a cold beer would be nice.”
Snap!
With that, Kero snapped his fingers, and Carpe was back in the Magic Tower's treasure vault.
“Kyuu kyuu woooot!”
Mukhyang barreled into him, rubbing against his cheek like it'd been waiting forever.
“My lord! Are you alright?”
“Ah, you're back, Master. You good?”
The other retainers crowded around, checking on him.
“You're back?! So, Carpe, where was the holy relic connected to?”
Treasure rushed over, peppering him with questions.
Carpe gave a quick rundown of events.
“Ancient gods? Haven't heard that in ages. Fought alongside them in the War of the Lesser Gods.”
“Mm. Not fond memories.”
The dolls were impressed, but Treasure was different.
Trembling, he pressed Carpe again.
“For real?! You met Lord Kero?! I'm so jealous!”
Treasure had lived as Kero's priest for ages but never seen him in person—just a few oracles.
“The relic was the key to meeting Lord Kero...... Should've opened it myself, even if it took millennia.”
Of course, he knew that was impossible.
“What a tragedy. Passing up the chance to be Kero's first apostle.”
“I'm the Magic King's heir. Can't do that.”
“True, but still......”
“Besides, you should be Kero's first apostle. You're the Treasure Goblin King. Couldn't accept it knowing you.”
“......Hrm. Carpe, you're nothing like Dretsch. I like you.”
Treasure the Treasure Goblin King's affinity has greatly increased!
“N-Next time you meet Lord Kero......”
“Yeah. Leave it to me. I'll recommend you strongly.”
“When might that be......?”
“Around twenty years?”
“Not long at all! Thank you.”
“No biggie. We're family managing this tower together. Gotta help each other out.”
Cheonma shook his head, but Carpe solidified his bond with Treasure regardless.
“Heading out now?”
“Yeah. Treasure vault wasn't the goal anyway.”
Carpe's aim was clues to the fourth relic. The goblin's hidden piece was just bonus.
‘Pretty overpowered bonus, though.’
‘Speaking of, time to chug those nectars.’
Carpe pulled two bottles of nectar from his inventory and downed them both.
You drank Forgotten Ancient Nectar.
All stats +1. Skill points +1.
Physical/magic damage resistance...
HP increase...
That's the stuff.
As Carpe grinned at the nonstop alerts, Treasure asked,
“Where to?”
“Uh...... Floor 22, right?”
Having met the goblins on 15, seven floors remained.
“Then I can help. I'll open a gate to 22.”
“You can do that?”
“Of course. Who do you think I am? This tower's sub-manager can't skip floors?”
Treasure closed his eyes and chanted in some unknown tongue.
Crackle!
A warp gate formed instantly.
“Door to 22. May Lord Kero's grace guide you.”
“Thanks. See you.”
“You're always welcome. Just don't neglect it like Dretsch.”
Carpe and his retainers bid farewell and stepped through.
Treasure watched, then chuckled and sat on his jade throne.
“......Interesting guy showed up.”
Similar to Dretsch yet different—a fascinating human.
“What was that, anyway?”
Kero's sealed box, untouched for millennia, had opened.
To Treasure's knowledge, no 9-star skill could do that.
“......Not joking, might actually be a 10-star skill.”
Or maybe not a skill at all......
Treasure shook his head, dismissing the thought as overthinking, needless worry.
He returned to tower duties.
“Floor 22? Totally different vibe from the teens.”
Eden, one of RaSe's top guilds, had just broken 30.
Carpe outleveled them with raw power, but a 30-level gap wasn't negligible.
“Gonna get tough from here.”
“Heh. You know me best, hyung.”
Carpe started stretching slowly.
Tower climbs had felt a bit dull till now. Finally, a stage for full power.
“Plus, gotta test how much stronger two elixirs made me.”
Free gains were great, but pure freeloading bred complacency.
Time to sweat, digest what he'd earned.
“How strong am I now?”
Carpe burned with battle lust like never before.
The 10-Star Player's Lucky Draw