Chapter 41: When the Light Cries

「Those tears soaked the earth. The rivers overflowed. It became a great flood and swept through the city. And that flood overflowed into the sea, raising the sea level.」

The paper dolls were washed away by the water.

Houses, and countries, were thus submerged in water.

「It is also the reason why today’s Hwion stands tall like a tower, and the reason why that land is surrounded by the sea and far away.」

Rasis said so with a voice tinged with laughter.

‘So the world can be shaken just by tears,’ Paul thought.

「Without him, of course, the days without night continued. I couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t want to sleep, so I just spent my days in tears. The world gradually withered in a different sense.

A world without night was unbalanced. Plants could not grow properly, and the same was true for animals. The water that rose day by day just overflowed. The world was dying.

But they could not die. Without ■■■, how could they find a peaceful death? Their bodies rotted and they writhed in pain, but death did not come to them.

They had no choice but to continue to live by force. That was the first undead that appeared in this land.」

Zombie-like paper dolls crawled on the devastated land.

「By that time, they also realized. That death was also necessary. But they were afraid to release ■■■. They were not unaware that ■■■, enraged by what they had done, would kill them all.

So they used another method. They decided to keep the name buried and just call him ‘Death’.」

The dolls move busily.

With tattered bodies, they offered prayers at a black, black temple.

「Thus, the ‘God of Death’ appeared in the world once again.」

Finally, darkness fell upon the world.

「Although he was nothing but an empty shell. A name has great power. Just by giving him the name ‘Death’, they were able to obtain the death they had lost.

Darkness came to the world once again. This was because ■■■’s power had returned little by little. I finally stopped crying and fell asleep, exhausted.」

With those words, the red velvet curtain came down and covered the stage.

Soon, Paul’s vision turned black.

As the long video ended, a cheerful notification sound rang out, and a system message appeared before Paul’s eyes.

Ding!

[System: You have learned the hidden story of the [God of Death]!]

[System: You have obtained the [Title: One Who Has Approached the Truth]!]

[System: Fame greatly increases!]

[System: The content of the [King of the Forgotten] quest is updated!]

[System: From now on, your choices will be the most important indicator that moves the world.]

Paul, who had scanned all the way to the last message, dismissed the system window and lifted his head.

Before him was a crying Rasis.

The floor of the prayer room was already full of tears.

It was literally a sea of tears.

Paul scrambled down from Khan’s lap and strode towards Rasis.

Splash, splash, the water that had risen to his ankles quickly soaked his shoes and clothes.

“Hey, don’t cry.”

Huge drops of water formed and fell onto the surface of the water.

Droplets splashed.

A huge hand covered her face, but it couldn’t stop the tears from dripping through the gaps between her fingers.

「But… I, too… even I have forgotten ■■■’s name.」

Rasis said, wailing.

「So how can I not cry? A very long time has passed since that day. But ■■■ is still not by my side. Every day when I realize that fact, I cry from sadness.

But I am a being who should not cry easily. Just by my crying, a natural disaster occurs on the earth.」

Rasis laughed self-deprecatingly.

Her tears had already dried up and were no longer flowing.

「How is it? At some point, I couldn’t even cry properly. It’s been a long time since I cried like this. Don’t you think it’s a ridiculous sight?

Seeing me like this, someone might scold me, asking what I’m doing, just crying all the time. But paradoxically, because we are gods, we are subject to more restrictions than the beings on earth.

We may say we are omnipotent, but we are in a position where we cannot even carelessly descend to the earth.」

“The person who says that is the strange one!”

Paul waved his hand in denial.

Every time he moved, the tears pooled at his feet sloshed and made a sound.

Rasis looked at Paul and smiled benevolently.

「…Just by my crying, I have already caused many things to go wrong. As a result, the established rules of the world were broken, and I, who brought about confusion, ended up losing a lot of my power.

So all I could do was wait. I had no choice but to gather those who would solve what had already happened and wait for the right time. I was helpless.

Although I was the first god to be born, without my other half, I was just a helpless being.」

At Rasis’s gesture, her tears that filled the prayer room began to evaporate into steam.

As Paul watched the sloshing water gradually disappear, Rasis spoke to him again.

「The one you brought is his ‘incarnation’. The emperor of the forgotten empire that once enjoyed a peaceful reign is that person. The God of Death is asleep in that person’s body.」

Watching the event video that Rasis had shown, he had thought that might be the case.

That Khan was the emperor of the ruined empire and the incarnation of the God of Death.

Because in the familiar scenery of the boss room, a paper doll painted black was sitting there.

It was easy to infer from the content.

Paul and Rasis’s gazes turned to Khan, who was still sitting in the chair, lost in thought.

「You remember me, don’t you?」

“…You told me to choose.”

At that answer, Paul asked in surprise.

“Huh? When did you two meet?”

“When you came to find me, that person spoke to me.”

Saying that, Khan got up from the chair and strode to Paul’s side.

He could see his mysterious purple eyes flicker briefly.

「…O pitiful king who has forgotten much. Yes, you are called ‘Khan’ now, are you not? That name makes you exist here.」

“…”

「I told you then. You finally chose. You made the reckless choice to follow this lovely child and go outside, not the choice to stay there.

So I will make you one promise. On the day you regain ■■■’s name, your empire will also reveal itself to this world. Those who have forgotten their names, just like you, will also see the light again.」

Rasis declared grandly.

But Khan, who had been listening to her words silently, shook his head slightly.

“God of Light. I have no memory. So no matter what you say to me, I cannot understand.

I have forgotten much, and I have even forgotten what the being called ‘I’ is. So the promise you made is of no use to me now. Don’t you think so?”

In the midst of this, Paul was secretly impressed.

‘Wow, this is the first time Khan has spoken so much. Gor must have taught him really well!’

While Rasis and Khan were talking, Paul had stealthily stepped aside and was watching the two of them.

Of course, he had taken a lot of screenshots, and he was even recording now.

Why?

Because he had to listen carefully to the conversations between NPCs.

Well, it’s the same in any game, but that’s because there could be important hints to clear a quest in that conversation.

It was a common occurrence to have your head hurt later because you let an NPC’s words during a quest go in one ear and out the other.

For example, before going to a specific place, an NPC might mutter something like, ‘It’s a good idea to bring ○○ when you go there.’

But if you miss these words because you’re not paying attention and just pass by, you would have to go through the trouble of riding a horse, taking a ship, looking at a map, and finally arriving at the quest location, only to have to go back and come again because you don’t have that item.

This happens especially often in the beginning.

After experiencing such a thing a few times, Paul would immediately start recording whenever he felt like something might be important.

「That is something you can say because you have lost your memory. Once you regain your name, your forgotten memories will also return.」

“…”

「If you still say the same thing then, it won’t be too late to talk again. Everything will change when you regain your name.」

“…So be it.”

At that moment, Rasis suddenly stretched out her huge hand.

「Paul, my lovely child.」

At the hand that came right up to his nose, Paul reflexively squeezed his eyes shut.

Soon after, something touched his forehead with a ‘tap’.

「I am very happy that you have achieved something in that land of death that no one has been able to do so far. It seems you were the one I had been waiting for so long. To you, I bestow my ‘blessing’.」

It seemed to be the tip of Rasis’s finger.

With the words of bestowing a blessing, he felt a light through his closed eyelids.

「I am only sorry that this is the only thing I can do to help you for now. I cannot step forward just yet.」