Chapter 170
“My wish means you will get more time as well.”
Do-Jin continued his explanation with a calm voice that clashed almost comically with the contents of his wish.
“After I came to this world, I learned that Lostania exists under two stars. Bella and Laves. This world changes depending on which star shines brighter and which star endures longer. And from where I’m standing, the blue light looks like it’s dying out.”
The blue radiance, which was either Bella herself or something deeply tied to her, flickered with a startled tremor. Do-Jin’s request had clearly blindsided her.
“That is... the reward you seek?” Bella’s voice carried both surprise and disbelief. Her reaction made sense because even a star that had witnessed the rise and fall of countless races and civilizations found this situation unfamiliar.
Some sought strength and power, while others begged for miracles or salvation. Hardly anyone asked for a god’s well-being, yet here stood a human who’d come face to face with a divine existence, gained the right to speak his desire, and used that moment to ask for the star’s safety.
“There are people who claim that Lostania keeps getting overrun by monsters and that human lands keep turning into monster territory because you abandoned this world.”
“That is not—” Bella said defensively, but Do-Jin finished that thought.
“But that isn’t true. When I look back on everything I’ve experienced in this world, I can’t believe you abandoned us.”
He wasn’t talking about the short year of his current life. He spoke with the weight of everything he had seen of the future, which had already become his past.
“If you had abandoned this world or given up on it, there wouldn’t be so many traces of you left all over it. You wouldn’t keep shining your light whenever you had the chance. That’s why I think the situation now sits outside even a Star of Creation’s control.”
Seeing the entity waver a bit, Do-Jin paused, then added, “I see you as something that’s slowly fading out. And even while you’re fading, you still haven’t turned your back on us, so you keep shining until the very end.”
Do-Jin said what he had learned from the future and what he had felt while living through it. Then, a long silence followed. When the silence finally broke, Bella’s will flowed through the trembling light.
“Is that truly your desire? You want my time to stretch longer. You want that as your wish.”
Do-Jin nodded. “In the end, that’ll help this world a hell of a lot more. I don’t want to watch this place fall apart. I actually like it here.”
His straightforward words carried genuine sincerity. He knew that getting stronger would’ve been nice. Stopping future disasters would’ve been easier. Protecting Lostania through sheer power would’ve worked too. But trading a wish like this for a weapon or a trait felt painfully wasteful. He refused to burn such a rare chance on something so small.
If I contribute in a way only I can, it will pay off eventually.
Karma always comes back around like a pissed-off debt collector, and Do-Jin figured the goodwill he stacked up would eventually return to him the same way.
There’s no reason to go hunting for something far away when I’ve already laid the groundwork right here.
He only managed to clear this quest because the favorability of the Grand Duke and Karin had been raised sky-high. When he thought about it that way, that should’ve counted as its own reward.
“Please state your wish once more, with full clarity.” Bella’s voice echoed with firm authority.
“I want the power gathered here and my wish to help the Star of Creation Bella shine longer and brighter.”
Once he made his wish clear, his words carried real weight, and that weight lent them strength. Bella could no longer project her full will onto the world, but Do-Jin’s wish gave her a brief window to use her power freely, even if it came at the cost of her remaining lifespan.
“I have a request.” She spoke quietly.
Bella should’ve disappeared already, but Do-Jin’s wish gave her the strength to stay a little longer. She chose to use that strength and that remaining time right here. “I intended to observe longer and choose carefully. However, I doubt further waiting will lead to a better choice than this.”
Do-Jin blinked. “What do you mean by a request... and that last part made even less sense?”
He froze for a moment as he realized a “request” meant a quest. He’d hoped his earlier actions would turn into profit later, but apparently he wouldn’t have to wait long at all.
“Before I speak further, I wish to apologize. You used your one chance to make your wish for the sake of this world and for my sake, yet I’m about to place a heavy burden on you.”
“I’m listening.” Do-Jin braced himself.
“Please become the spark that changes this world’s fate.”
Do-Jin fully expected a quest notification to pop up, but something else appeared.
[The Star of Creation Bella is attempting to choose an Apostle.]
[Will you accept the offer?]
[Upon acceptance, the Fate Class, Apostle of the Star, will be added.]
A new class notification floated in front of him.
Not even a subclass, but a goddamn Fate Class?
He’d heard of them. They weren’t exactly classes but long-running fate quests that tied into massive storylines. They acted like required licenses that allowed a person to participate in a vast quest chain.
But... I’ve never heard of this thing called Apostle of the Star.
In his past life, Bella had been far too weakened to speak with anyone like this. Thanks to the world events that players had butchered from launch day onward, the Star of Creation was already half-dead back then. This world had long diverged from the one he remembered.
If I’m the one causing these changes though, I might as well keep changing it for the better.
“I’ll take that request,” Do-Jin finally said.
[Fate Class, Apostle of the Star, has been added.]
The message appeared instantly. The Status Window gained a new section beneath his existing class.
“Should you really accept something like this so easily?” Bella questioned him softly.
Naturally, the answer was yes. This was a lottery where the prize might be completely unusable or utterly world-breaking, but no sane person would hand a winning ticket to someone else. And he’d already decided the jackpot was worth the risk.
“I already said it. I like this world. If this world needs me to stay intact, then I’m going to do it. There’s no way around it.”
“I’m relieved. I doubt you’ll regret this choice,” Bella replied.
Even if everything still collapsed in the end and the world crumbled anyway, at least it would not be because of the choice he made here. As he held on to that thought, Bella’s light stopped trembling and grew still, as if she gathered every emotion she had shown so far and folded it away for the last time.
“I cannot promise when we’ll meet again, nor can I promise that we’ll ever meet again at all. I only hope that each step you take in pursuit of truth will carve a path that defies cruel fate,” the light said in a fading voice before vanishing without a trace.
Do-Jin stood alone on the snowfield, staring at the spot where the starlight had fallen. He stayed there for a long time, his thoughts knotted between the future he remembered and the present he was stuck in. He needed to sort that shit out before he moved again.
***
Karin had broken Do-Jin’s order without hesitation. He had told her to wait quietly, but she couldn’t even imagine doing that. She followed him from a distance where he wouldn’t easily notice her.
If an Elder Vampire hid her presence and moved in silence, almost no one could detect her. Karin kept far enough away that there was no chance of being noticed. When Do-Jin stopped, she stopped as well, maintaining a steady gap.
“I still have some things I want to ask, although it seems like you don’t have much time left.”
Do-Jin’s voice carried over from far ahead. Karin flinched and perked her ears like a startled cat. Even with the wind sweeping across the mountain, her frighteningly sharp hearing let her pick up the conversation from a great distance.
“Are you Bella?”
Karin froze as she wondered who in the world he was speaking to, and then she jumped straight up on the spot from shock.
If it’s Bella, then that’s a god. No, that’s the Star herself! Is there really a chance Do-Jin is connected to the Star...?
She remembered the sanctum, the relic, everything she had seen there, and the texts she had studied about the Saintess once speaking prophecy with Bella’s borrowed voice. Karin shook her head hard, trying to shake loose the flood of thoughts crashing through her mind. This was not the time for book trivia.
“You said you’re running out of time, so I’ll get straight to the point.”
Karin bit her lip. She couldn’t hear Bella’s voice at all.
I guess Bella really doesn’t like vampires... Her shoulders drooped in disappointment.
“When you say you’ll give me what I want, do you really mean anything?”
Karin felt relieved when she realized Do-Jin was at least receiving a reward from the Star.
I want to know what his wish is, Karin thought as she sharpened her hearing.
“Can you suppress the vampires’ bloodlust?”
Karin’s eyes widened. She hadn’t imagined he’d make a wish like that.
“Why... would you...” Bella’s voice floated over.
Karin did not understand why Do-Jin cared about something like that. Something tightened in her chest, so suddenly that it caught her off guard. She had thought she knew a lot about the world, but maybe she hadn’t learned anything at all. She tried to recall a phrase from her books that matched what she felt now, but nothing came to mind.
Then, Do-Jin’s response drifted back faintly. “That’s disappointing...”
It seemed like it wasn’t possible for Bella to grant him that wish, but Karin didn’t feel a deep sense of loss. What mattered more was the fact that Do-Jin used a wish like that for her sake and felt disappointed when it couldn’t be granted. That alone made her happier than she expected.
“I’m sorry,” Karin whispered into the air.
She should’ve listened to someone like him. Instead, she just followed him around like a child chasing after a shadow. Trying to block out the conversation, she instead focused on the wind. She wondered what wish he’d make next, but it no longer mattered.
He practically used one wish for me already.
In any case, Karin only wanted to remember the wish he made for her sake. She turned around and walked back the way she came.
***
Do-Jin was about to head back after finishing everything when a message popped up in front of him.
[Karin Tirund’s favorability has increased by ??? points and has reached ???.]
“What the hell?”
He blinked because the timing made absolutely no sense. He had just been talking with the Star of Creation, yet somehow the vampire princess’s favorability went up. He had to wonder if the system was messing with him.
Her favorability still shows as question marks...
If he tried to rationalize it, the only explanation he could think of was that Karin had some emotional turmoil while he was gone. That might be why her numbers stayed hidden behind question marks.
Although, knowing this game, there might’ve been a different reason entirely. The sudden increase and the question marks both fit the pattern of this game’s most convoluted system. After all, favorability never played nice.
“Thanks for being patient and waiting for me.”
Do-Jin finally reached the place where Karin stood and called out to her. Karin greeted him with a bright smile that could’ve fooled anyone who didn’t know her. “No problem! I stayed here and waited quietly the whole time!”
It was a total lie, obviously.