Chapter 39: The Half of Me

A moment later, as if the light had passed, Khan lowered his hand.

“Wow.”

The dazzling clusters of light gathered one by one and formed a shape.

It was the figure of a somewhat familiar person.

A wide cloth fluttered in the air, and the woman who wore the cloth like a veil over her head… gave off a warm feeling.

Her face was not clearly visible because of the cloth she was wearing.

Soon, the woman opened her mouth.

「For a very, very long time…」

The voice, which resembled spring, was full of sadness.

「I have been waiting for this day.」

Rasis’s gaze, as she said that, was directed at none other than Khan.

「My other half.」

***

In fact, Paul had never seen Rasis in person before.

When using [Rasis’s Breath], the screen went black, so it was impossible for the player to see.

If Paul had been in a party, he would have been able to witness it by sharing a party member’s view, but that wasn’t the case.

So, the only time he had seen Rasis was in a promotional video on a subway electronic display.

Since it was the main god NPC, it was safe to say that a newbie like Paul had almost no chance of meeting her in person.

Not only Paul, but the situation was similar for other players as well.

However, the situation had changed a little recently.

Due to the beginner benefit event held to attract new players, there were more players with [Rasis’s Breath] than ever before.

So, eyewitness accounts of Rasis’s summoning were now commonly posted on the free bulletin board.

Paul just wasn’t interested, so he didn’t bother to look for them.

The small clusters of light floating around Rasis, falling like stardust, were mystical.

「I must express my gratitude to you.」

“Ah, me?”

When Rasis turned her gaze from Khan to him, Paul flinched and pointed at himself with his finger.

Seeing that, Rasis smiled gently.

「That’s right. I have been waiting for this day for a very long time. Yes, for a very long time, to an extent that you cannot possibly imagine. I have been waiting for the day my other half, unjustly trapped beneath that cold land of death, would open his eyes. And it seems that time is now.」

Rasis suddenly came up to Paul and brought her face close.

At that, the cloth she was wearing fluttered.

Her eyes, resembling the sun, which were slightly revealed, stared at Paul as if sizing him up.

Honestly, Paul was a little scared.

That’s because Rasis was incredibly huge.

Her pupils were the size of Paul’s upper body.

Besides, Rasis, befitting her title of the God of Light, was too dazzling.

It was so sparkly that he wondered if he would go blind, just like looking at the midday sun with his naked eyes.

Because of that, Paul couldn’t help but squint his eyes inside the mask.

「The one you brought is not an ordinary monster.」

Rasis’s gaze, which had been staring at Paul, moved smoothly and turned to Khan, who was standing next to him.

「Have you ever heard of the ‘God of Death’?」

“…I’ve heard of him.”

The God of Death.

As the name suggests, he is the god who governs death, but honestly, there were almost no players who believed in this god, except for certain classes.

Why?

Because the player’s basic setting was that they had become ‘immortals’ who could not die even if they did, living an eternal life with the ‘blessing’ of Rasis, who was also the God of Light and the God of Life.

Therefore, the beings furthest from death in <Arcana Chronicles> were the players.

Besides, in this land, the God of Death was a symbol of bad luck.

The few remaining believers were sometimes pointed at as heretics.

Just by mentioning his name, people would shudder, curse, and run away.

Therefore, the number of temples dedicated to the God of Death was also significantly small.

In this vast land, there were only about three places whose locations were known to people, so that said it all.

So, if you asked an NPC if they knew the God of Death, quite a few would say yes, but it was difficult to find anyone who had actually seen a believer or a temple, so rumors were rampant like an urban legend.

Nevertheless, the reason stories about him kept coming up from time to time was because of the specific classes related to the God of Death.

The reason Paul knew the above story was because his race was ‘elf’.

And he was an elf who served the God of Light, Rasis, so unless he had skipped the elf race story or let it go in one ear and out the other, there was no way he wouldn’t know.

As mentioned, elves are divided into two races.

One is the ‘elf who protects the forest of the World Tree’, like Paul, and the other is the ‘elf who protects the red desert’, who serves the God of Death.

These two races were the same elf, but many things were different, such as where they lived, their tendencies, and their appearance.

Many people compare the two races and implicitly think that they must not get along, but in fact, although they have less interaction than in the past, they were not on bad terms.

Paul had often seen delegations coming and going periodically.

He had even met them in person a few times, and there was a desert elf NPC he got to know at that time.

He just thinks it’s a misunderstanding that arose from seeing that both races dislike other races and assuming, ‘Since they dislike us, they must dislike each other too.’

And this is all that the current players know.

For a long time, many people have thought of the God of Death and the God of Light as a pair.

Well, if there is light, there is also darkness, and if there is life, death is also a matter of course.

So people have been curious about the God of Death for a long time.

But no one has yet unlocked the main quest related to the God of Death.

「That pitiful god who was unjustly stripped of his name and simply called ‘Death’ is my other half.」

And the beginning of that very main quest was unfolding before Paul’s eyes.

There would be very few people who would dislike the moment of opening the prelude to the main quest.

Opening the prelude meant being the first to start the main quest, and it also meant being given a chance to make a name for oneself.

On top of that, you also get a chance to appear in the official video announcing the start of a new main quest.

Then, would Paul be happy about this situation right now?

That was something to think about.

To be honest, Paul was troubled.

He had a strong ominous feeling that he had gotten involved in a very troublesome matter.

That’s because Paul was a well-known ‘casual gamer’.

He wasn’t the type to diligently clear the main quests, and he actually preferred miscellaneous errand quests.

Furthermore, he had absolutely no desire to occupy a position that would attract people’s attention like this.

He was honestly not interested in the fame and rewards he would get from this quest either.

Paul just wanted to play at a leisurely pace, looking around here and there, occasionally grinding, playing the ukulele while walking, hitchhiking, and when night came, lighting a campfire and looking at the Milky Way spread across the night sky, saying things like, ‘Wow, the stars are amazing!’ and taking screenshots.

And if Khan was included in that, there would be nothing better.

So this situation was something Paul had not wished for.

Really!

「…I will tell you an old story. It is a story you must know to prepare for what is to come.」

“Huh? No, it’s okay…”

But Rasis didn’t care about Paul’s feelings.

She just brushed off the sincere words he had let out in his bewilderment and continued to speak.

「Why don’t you sit down in a chair? It will be a long story. Your legs might hurt if you keep standing.」

At Rasis’s gesture, a chair in the corner of the prayer room clattered and moved, and in an instant, it came up behind Paul.

When she gestured again, Paul was forced to sit down on the chair with a plop.

It was fortunate that the chair’s cushion was plush.

‘Hmm, I give up.’

Paul quickly gave up and decided to accept reality.

No matter how he looked at it, she was not someone he could reason with.

He sat in the chair and glanced at Khan, who was standing next to him.

Khan was just standing there blankly, looking at Rasis.

At that, Paul stealthily reached out and tugged at Khan’s sleeve.

Khan’s gaze turned to Paul.

“Khan.”

“What is it?”

“Do you want to sit together? There’s only one chair, and I feel bad sitting alone!”

Although only his eyes were visible because of the mask, Paul smiled his characteristic bright smile and flapped Khan’s sleeve, which he was holding.

Naturally, Khan could not refuse those words.

For him, it was a little difficult to refuse this strange elf in front of him.

So he meekly did as Paul said.

Paul got off the chair and sat Khan down in it instead.

Then he sat on Khan’s lap as if it were a chair.

He comfortably rested his back against his chest and let his large hands wrap around his stomach.

Only after doing so did Paul turn back to Rasis.

「…Are you done?」

“Yes!”

“…”

Rasis, who had been watching the scene, was honestly a little dumbfounded, but she decided to just let it go.

She just thought it would be nothing more than an imprinting phenomenon.

When Rasis gestured once more, the clusters of light that had been fluttering around her danced and formed a shape.

The next moment, the light flickered, and a gentle song played.

Soon after, an event video appeared before Paul’s eyes.

The first thing he saw was a red velvet curtain.

Swish…

The red velvet curtain was drawn, and what was revealed was a space reminiscent of a theater stage.

Then Rasis’s gentle voice began to tell a story, riding on the gentle song.