Chapter 21: The Price of a Name

But anyway, at least I don’t have to worry about Dad and Mom…

After all, in the original world, my parents would be taken care of by a child who looks exactly like me.

‘Hehe… I’m feeling conflicted…’

I forced a smile, remembering the inner turmoil of that lost child from Zero Hour.

But honestly, I didn’t really feel it. I knew that if my parents ever found out what happened to me, they’d cry themselves unconscious… Just like when I was in elementary school and got cut by a knife – they went crazy, grabbing the father of the kid who hurt me.

I don’t want them to go through that…

I have to keep living…

“Then let me ask one last question. Oh, I almost forgot to say thank you. Thank you, God. Really, thank you so much!” With a grateful heart, I bowed deeply to the goddess.

“You’re welcome,” the goddess said with a charming smile.

‘Ah~ she’s really beautiful!’

“So, Goddess, one last question: what is my name?”

“Your name is…” As the goddess began to speak, my vision suddenly froze again.

Just like before, everything stopped. The world turned gray, and I could see overlapping afterimages of the goddess.

Ribbon-like faults floated in space, rolling with black-purple colors, like nightmare hues.

‘What? How is this happening again? Another skip?’

I was terrified by the sight.

Countless lightning bolts fell across the frozen space, hanging still in the air.

Behind the goddess, the sky was filled with these crimson bolts.

I strained with all my might to move, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even blink, only think.

But this time, the phenomenon didn’t end quickly like before. The fear I had just escaped from surged back into my throat.

‘Not more trouble, right?’

At that moment, the thing I feared most happened!

The goddess’s form became transparent, and like a tape rewinding, she repeated her previous actions and expressions over and over.

Countless phantom images of the goddess overlapped, all performing the same motions.

Even though my position was completely silent, even though the goddess before me was still beautiful, my heart was pounding with dread.

‘This sky… and this state…’

‘Not another accident, haha…’

Suddenly, an earth-shattering thunderclap roared from all directions.

Then, the space before me shattered like bricks, dissolving piece by piece.

The vanished space turned pitch black and surged toward me like a wave.

The goddess before me cracked like a shattered vase, fissures spreading across all her afterimages.

With a sound like breaking glass, the goddess shattered into countless fragments.

‘No!’ I screamed in my heart.

But suddenly I felt my feet slip, and I fell into the bottomless darkness.

‘Familiar ceiling…’

When I opened my eyes again, I saw the familiar brick roof and smelled the familiar stench. I was back in the starting dungeon.

But now I was completely naked, unlike the beginning when I had a shirt and shorts.

I covered my nose and whispered, “Goddess! Hey, Goddess! Are you joking with me?” I kept my voice low, afraid of being heard by the guards and punished.

After seeing what had just happened, even without watching anime, I could guess: the goddess was dead!

The god of this world was dead!!

She died just because I asked her name!

I went crazy, whispering over and over, “Goddess, Goddess.” A sour feeling of despair rushed into my nose, and tears flowed.

I couldn’t accept it. Why did this happen just because I asked her name?

I called the goddess again and again.

And the goddess… didn’t answer me.

‘Goddess… are you really dead?’

Silence.

‘Hehe.’ I laughed bitterly, powerless, and pounded the floor with my weak hands, tears streaming down.

My eyes were full of vicissitudes. I laughed bitterly, kneeling on the cold floor.

I didn’t know what to do anymore. I didn’t want to think.

But not thinking in this world full of dangers meant death.

‘Forget it, just die. What’s the big deal?’

I gave up inside. I lay against the wall, naked, collapsed.

‘Hmph, they won’t even give me clothes. That means I have no time to go back…’ I smiled wryly.

I lifted my hand, turned it, trying to see if I could cast any magic.

But nothing happened.

‘Hmph, of course not, ha…’ I sighed, feeling I might be the most pathetic transmigrator in the world.

‘So all those male leads in anime are liars!!’

I thought desperately. ‘What can I do now? No good body, no magic, and the world’s god is dead. Can I even survive in this setting? Eating bugs every day, going around naked, living in constant fear. Long-term high-pressure work, one wrong word and you die. Malnutrition, depression…’

‘What kind of life is this?’

I pressed against the corner, tears flowing. I looked at my pale arm.

‘Such a cute, beautiful body. But it can’t survive in this world.’

I put my hand around my own neck. ‘Might as well kill myself. There’s nothing to live for.’

But the moment I thought of death, the scene of being tormented by that Black Mist flashed into my mind: that pitch-black face! Those black hands! That filthy tongue! And those terrifying fiery eyes! Fresh blood…

Scene after scene surfaced in my mind.

‘Ugh…’ I couldn’t control myself and burst into tears.

I bit my lip, crying softly. I curled up in the corner, wiping my tears with the back of my hand, but they wouldn’t stop.

‘Ah! What should I do?!’

I was afraid to die…

I cried until I fell asleep.

I don’t know how long passed when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my side.

‘Cough!’ A strong kick forced all the air from my lungs.

‘Who kicked me?’

I opened my eyes and saw that golden-earring goblin.

“You’re awake but you don’t say anything? Liking to slack off, huh!” The goblin’s words were cold, and I immediately tensed up.

The intense fear made me stand up abruptly and back against the wall.

I stared at the goblin in terror, instinctively covering my private parts with my hands.

“Hehehe.” The goblin smirked wickedly, the sharp and sinister expression on his face suggesting he was up to no good.

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