[Achievement - Chef of Evolution.]

[This is a great achievement worthy of being recorded on a page of myth.]

[You are granted a reward for this great achievement!]

‘A reward, huh.’

The lines floating before my eyes.

Normally, I would’ve just looked at them and felt good.

But right now, the feeling was... strange.

‘Who the hell is the one giving this?’

This reward came from the [System].

And now that I’d been told I needed to dig into what that System really was...

I couldn’t stop caring about who the “giver” behind it might be.

...But still.

It wasn’t like thinking about it would hand me an answer.

‘...Fine. I’ll just take it and be happy!’

What mattered right now was simple.

This reward would help me.

[As a reward, you are granted 5 each of Stat Increase Potions - Strength, Agility, and Mana!]

The first reward was stat increase potions.

But.

My stats were already overflowing.

Just as I was thinking this was a little weak for a reward...

[Divine power increases by ‘3’.]

[Divine power: 25]

The second reward was—

divine power.

‘Oh...!’

Divine power was a stat you couldn’t raise through leveling up or potions.

And considering the absurd potential packed inside that stat...

getting three points of divine power was a huge reward.

But then.

‘...Huh? Wait a second.’

Seeing that number, I couldn’t help tilting my head.

Because—

‘My divine power before I treated Luca should’ve been 21, right?’

The increase was three.

Yet my divine power was 25.

Unless I’d suddenly forgotten how to do math...

then this was probably...

‘My divine power went up by one besides the achievement reward.’

This wasn’t even the first time divine power had increased on its own.

So I had to assume my divine power could rise in ways other than what the System directly granted.

I had no idea what factor was involved.

But...

‘Anyway... this isn’t bad.’

With that kind of terrifying power, the more the better.

Not knowing the reason bugged me a little.

But it was good news for me, so I should take it as good news for now.

Anyway.

Like the other achievements I’d earned so far, it was a pretty solid reward.

As I nodded along, feeling satisfied...

DING.

[You have succeeded in establishing a direction for divine power, and materializing its form!]

“Huh?”

After that—

another message followed.

***

[This is the first such achievement among all Awakened.]

[You have succeeded in taking one step closer to transcendence!]

[You are granted a reward for those who go ahead of others!]

[Reward]

[Skill - Swallow the Sweet, Spit the Bitter]

Even though I’d already received all the rewards for the achievement, more messages kept appearing in front of me.

Seeing them, I couldn’t help feeling puzzled.

‘So this is a separate reward from the first achievement?’

Correcting Luca’s misaligned evolution, and presenting it a proper direction for growth—

the reward for that achievement had been divine power and stat potions.

And the potions aside, just considering the value of divine power as a stat, that was already more than enough for an achievement reward.

But then.

Out of nowhere, I got a separate reward unrelated to that achievement.

The reason was...

‘Because I succeeded in materializing the form of divine power...?’

...At that, I couldn’t help sinking into thought for a moment.

‘Has it ever given a reward for a reason like this...?’

In my experience so far, the circumstances under which the System gave rewards were pretty limited.

If you count traits and skills gained through leveling up as something separate—since those come from leveling itself, not exactly a “reward”—

then the System usually gave rewards only when you achieved achievements.

But...

‘This isn’t an achievement.’

Materializing the form of divine power.

I couldn’t really explain it myself, but it did feel like the efficiency of using the divine power inside my body had increased.

For me, it was a pretty encouraging development.

But.

That was just my personal ability improving.

It wasn’t like I’d done some great deed worthy of an achievement.

There wasn’t even a line saying I’d achieved an achievement.

‘It’s giving me a reward for this all of a sudden?’

To put it bluntly—

the System didn’t hand out rewards just because my stats crossed 100.

I’d probably hit 100 far faster than most people.

If you wanted to call that an achievement, you could.

But...

‘It really didn’t do a damn thing.’

Back then, I’d actually gotten my hopes up, but the System had coolly ignored it like it wasn’t anything special.

And yet.

This time, it gave me a reward for that.

A rare exception among the things the System had shown so far.

If I had to guess...

‘The materialization of divine power’s form...’

From the System’s point of view, maybe it was something important.

Or maybe—

if I dug into this properly, I might be able to understand the System a little better...

KWAAAAAANG!!!!

Right as I was thinking that—

“...!?”

suddenly, a huge noise crashed down from above my head.

***

KWAAAAAANG!!!

“What the—”

We were already almost at the surface.

But when that sudden roar and vibration spread through everything, I jerked in panic and looked up.

And then—

“...My lord!”

“Benefactor!”

From the opening above—

from the surface—

people were coming down toward me.

“You—are you all okay!?”

Ariella and the unit members.

It didn’t look like anyone was dead, but most of them were seriously injured.

“...I’m sorry. Telling you to hold that monster back really was too much to ask.”

“No! We’re fine. It’s just...”

“Just what?”

When I lowered my head and asked because I didn’t like what I was seeing, the unit members shook their heads as if none of that mattered, despite those severe wounds.

“Actually, about the doctor’s real body we were fighting up there... that thing stopped moving not long after you went underground.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yes. But it was such a strong monster that we ended up this injured in a short time. Honestly, it’s embarrassing to be hurt this badly from such a brief fight... but anyway, thanks to that, we were able to catch our breath.”

At that, the doctor’s true body—Luca—who was on my back, spoke.

{...From the middle on, the pain was so severe I didn’t even have the breathing room to control that body. That’s why.}

“...My lord? And who is that kid?”

“It’s complicated. I’ll explain later. So?”

They looked confused at the sight of it, but what mattered right now wasn’t that.

“...That thing suddenly started moving again.”

I’d had a bad feeling.

So the vibration on the surface really had been caused by that monster.

But...

‘The owner of that body... Luca is on my back right now.’

There wasn’t even a one-in-ten-thousand chance Luca had betrayed me.

So how?

“Still... there’s something bothering us.”

“Hm?”

“When it fought us before, it definitely seemed like it had a goal. First it tried to kill us, and then it tried to chase you underground. But... not anymore.”

Even as they explained, the unit members frowned like something didn’t sit right.

“Right now, that thing... doesn’t seem to have any purpose at all.”

“...!”

“It just looks like it’s gone mad and is rampaging. That’s how we managed to run away and move to find you, but...”

Gone mad and rampaging.

As I frowned at that—

{...This.}

It wasn’t only me who felt uneasy.

The doctor riding on my back furrowed its brow and said—

{...I’m sorry. I think I’ll have to apologize to you, Legion Commander.}

“What happened?”

{...As I told you before, whether something can accept something else into its body depends on how the person involved recognizes it. And... I couldn’t accept that body as fully my own.}

That much I already knew.

That was why it hadn’t been able to fully switch into that powerful body—

and had kept this frail one instead.

“Fine. So what about it.”

{...Before now, even if I couldn’t recognize it as my body, I could still understand it as an extension of my body. Like an arm or a leg. That’s why I could speak through the creations I made, and control them, but...}

It spoke with an expression that looked genuinely sorry.

{The current me can’t.}

“What?”

{I... know the ugly process that led to that thing being born.}

Only then did I understand what it meant.

Before, it hadn’t felt any guilt at all over its experiments or research.

That was the direction it had evolved in.

But—

{Now, after you changed me... it seems I can’t accept that thing as even an extension of my body.}

Not anymore.

Because I’d erased that evolution and made it able to feel guilt again.

{Those experimental subjects on the surface right now... if I had to compare them, they are like my old faith that lost its name—the last thing I saw.}

“A soul is gone, and only the body is left.”

{That’s right. And now... it seems a new mind has taken root in that empty body. Born from an empty body... a very young soul.}

After saying that, it frowned like it couldn’t be more anxious.

{A soul cannot help but be influenced by the body. When I think of the materials I used for that body... that soul won’t be very kind.}

“......”

{And on top of that, that thing’s state is like a newborn. And a newborn suddenly thrown into the world...}

And.

Even I could guess what came next.

“It’ll panic and start thrashing around like it’s gone insane.”

And—

just like that—

KWAAAAAANG!!!

A monster with tremendous power.

All those monsters were beginning to go berserk, rampaging like crazy.

Even down here, not far from the surface, we could feel the blowback from that rampage.

“Damn it, then what # Nоvеlight # do we do!?”

{...We have to run.}

“What?”

I asked, startled.

“You mean it’s going to try to kill us, or something?”

{No. It’s not in a state where it can think properly. It will likely keep rampaging on impulse. And since I’m gone, it won’t be able to use other monsters to achieve further evolution... so if you leave it alone, it will probably fight the monsters of this land until it destroys itself.}

“Then why do we have to run?”

{...Because we don’t know how far that rampage will reach.}

It said with a grim look.

{I know I’m the one who made it, so I have no right to say this, but that body is an aggregation of the special abilities of many monsters. And right now, that thing is spraying those abilities without thinking.}

“So you’re saying...”

{If we stay nearby, there’s a chance we’ll get caught up in one of the abilities it triggers—} 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Before it could even finish—

—WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

With a massive howl,

PAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAK!!!

around the ground of Gangnam that had been perfectly intact—

dozens of black holes opened up.

‘The Wandering Clown’s...’

Pointlessly huge, but the same black holes I’d seen when we fought that thing just a few hours ago.

A powerful special ability that could move through space freely.

Before, it had used it to move itself.

But right now, it was like a newborn with no intention at all.

So—

it rampaged and scattered that ability with no meaning behind it.

{...Looks like we’re too late.}

“Ah.”

One of those countless black holes—

opened beneath our feet.

***

The last thing I saw before my eyes closed was me and the unit members falling into a black hole.

“Where the hell—”

And when I opened my eyes...

what appeared was—

“...Where is this?”

A strange landscape I’d never seen even once in my life.