Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 550

Hercules looked at Su-ho and smiled.

- Good to meet you, my avatar.

A voice that rang and resonated.

Clearly, his rank should have been lower than Zeus’s, and yet strangely enough, the Hercules Su-ho was looking at seemed higher in stature than any god he had seen so far.

Su-ho hesitated for a moment, then showed him proper respect.

“Yes, I’m glad to meet you too, Lord Hercules.”

- Ha ha! I had been eagerly waiting for the day I would meet you someday. And now that we’ve met like this, I can’t tell you how glad I am.

“I’m also very happy to meet you, Lord Hercules. Though I never imagined we’d meet like this.”

- Heh heh, right? I thought so too. But it couldn’t be helped. Originally, we were supposed to meet after the Gigantomachy ended, but He changed the plan.

He.

He meant the system, presumably.

Come to think of it, this was the first time he had seen an existence refer to the system as He.

“So, why did you want to see me?”

- Why else? You resolved all those labors in my place, so I ought to reward you.

A reward!

At that, Su-ho’s eyes widened.

Fortunately, the system did distinguish between public and private matters.

Honestly, he had thought it might just cheat him out of the Hero’s Destiny reward.

‘So it does have at least some conscience.’

Su-ho smiled and asked,

“May I look forward to it?”

- Of course. I’m thinking of giving you all of me as the reward.

“All of you?”

- Yes. Do you happen to know the concept of a Quasi-Throne or a Constellation?

“I do.”

- That’s a relief. Or rather, at your level, maybe it was only natural that you would know. In any case, as you saw in the notification, I possess the qualifications of a Quasi-Throne.

At the words Quasi-Throne, Su-ho recalled what Umbra had once told him.

- Sounds like you mean the native gods. Yes, those bastards are Transcendents too, if you want to call them that. But they’re nothing more than mere tools, shaped as though they were created by the system. More precisely, they’re called ‘Quasi-Thrones.’ Think of them as game pieces hired out for gameplay, not true Constellations.

It was exactly that.

Quasi-Thrones were characters like NPCs made by the system based on that dimension’s native gods.

Of course, they were not merely simple NPCs.

Umbra had said that if Quasi-Thrones properly raised the player they had chosen and had that ability recognized, then through the player they raised, they could become another type of Constellation.

Recalling what he knew about Quasi-Thrones, Su-ho nodded.

“Then is becoming a Constellation your goal too, Lord Hercules?”

- Ha ha ha! You really do know your stuff. Yes, that’s right. My goal is to become a Constellation as well. That’s why I diligently scattered my traces throughout the world and waited for a powerful player to become my avatar. And the one born that way was you.

“But as far as I know, only one being in this world can become a Constellation. If that’s the case, then aren’t you and I competitors?”

At the word competitors, Hercules’s eyes widened slightly, then soon he burst into hearty laughter once more.

- Hahahahaha! Here I thought you clearly knew about Quasi-Thrones and Constellations, but it seems you don’t know the details all that well?

“What?”

- I don’t know who told you what and how far, but what you said is half right and half wrong. It is true that my goal is to become a Constellation, but the kind of Constellation I seek to become is different in nature from the one you seek.

Different in nature?

What is that supposed to mean?

At that moment, something Umbra had said came back to him.

- It isn’t wasted effort. If Quasi-Thrones properly raise the player they choose and have that ability recognized, then through the player they raised, they can become another type of Constellation.

Words he had let pass without thinking much of them.

But now that he thought about it more carefully, Umbra had said they could become another type of Constellation through the player they raised.

‘Are there multiple kinds of Constellations?’

Su-ho asked,

“How are they different?”

- In the difference in player rank.

“Difference in player rank?”

- Yes. I may be able to become a Quasi-Throne by earning His recognition as one of this place’s native gods, but I have no player rank. Because of that, I can become a Constellation, but I cannot become a Guardian God.

Hearing Hercules’s words, Su-ho narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.

What difference is that supposed to make?

Seeing Su-ho’s expression, Hercules let out a short laugh.

- That’s quite the face of someone who has no idea what I mean. Think of it simply. A Guardian God is a position that only one who starts from nothing and struggles up from rock bottom in order to protect their own world can reach. But I was treated as a divine existence from the moment I was born, so my very starting line is different. That’s why I was never given a player rank, and why I cannot become a Guardian God.

“That makes even less sense to me. You said your goal is to become a Constellation, so do you really need the qualifications of a Guardian God that badly?”

- More than needing it, I envy it because I can never have it.

“You envy it?”

- Yes. Because it’s something I can never obtain no matter how much effort I put in.

“Then why?”

- Because I want to gain true freedom.

“True freedom?”

- Once I become a Constellation, I’ll no longer be confined only to the land where I lived, and I’ll be able to act as a Constellation in other worlds as well. But would that really be the life I dreamed of?

Hercules chuckled.

- No. I want to fight. My existence may have been born as though it were reconstructed by Him, but even so, isn’t that still a life like a tool’s? I envy you. No matter how apocalyptic your life may be, you can fight endlessly, and because you are a player, you can do whatever you want.

“......!”

Su-ho’s eyes widened.

Because he was surprised.

‘You’re telling me he envies me for a reason like that?’

It was hard to understand.

Here he was busting his ass bloody to bring the Gates to an end and save the world, yet this Quasi-Throne bastard was envying that very life of his?

‘So this is why everything is relative.’

A guy with a supercar envies a guy with a private helicopter, and a guy with a foreign luxury car envies the one with the supercar.

In the same vein, a guy with a domestic car envies someone with a foreign car, a guy riding a bicycle envies someone with a car, and a guy who can’t even afford a bicycle envies even a shabby bicycle. Such was human desire.

By the time his thoughts reached that point, he realized that what Hercules truly envied was not merely the ability to fight, but the autonomy players themselves possessed.

- Have you heard about the betting system?

“Yes. A Constellation has already bet on me.”

At the words that a Constellation had already bet on him, Hercules grinned.

- As expected, my eye wasn’t wrong. Then there’s no need for much explanation. If you grow further, I can become a Constellation. More precisely, if you become a High-ranked player. Of course, even if I become a Constellation, that doesn’t mean I can become a player. But unlike when I was a Quasi-Throne, one method appears.

“A method?”

- Yes. Namely, I too would gain the qualification to place bets. Of course, it would be nice if, like the Constellations who came from Guardian Gods, I could also participate in independent games, but He won’t allow me that. Instead, my betting qualifications become unlimited. Of course, even that is still limited to one person per independent game, but still, where else would I get something like that?

“Then what you’re saying is... after you become a Constellation, if you succeed in betting on a player, then at that point you too can become a player, Lord Hercules?”

- Yes, exactly. More precisely, He said He would grant absolutely any wish. So I asked Him whether it would be possible to turn me into a player in another world. Naturally, He said yes. Even in the world I want, and with all my current memories intact!

“......!”

A startling proposal.

Certainly, with an option like that, it made sense that Hercules’s interest would be stirred.

No, but out of all wishes, why would that be the one he wanted?

Personally, Su-ho couldn’t understand it at all.

But everyone’s desires were different.

Since Hercules seemed to truly want it, he decided to simply respect that.

“Your taste is really firm.”

- It is, right? That’s why even if I become a Constellation, I’m not your competitor.

“I understand now. I only just now understand what you meant by giving me all of you.”

- Then you also understand that my giving you everything comes with conditions attached.

“Becoming a High-ranked player, and beyond that, me winning the independent game. Right?”

- Yes. But right now my qualifications are lacking, so I can’t use the betting system. Of course, that doesn’t mean I have no insurance. Transcendents can leave the player they sponsor at any time of their own will.

Now that’s something I didn’t know.

Because he had never seen a case where a sponsoring Transcendent had actually left.

“You don’t have to worry about insurance. I want to win the independent game more than anyone.”

- Yes. Your desire, I know better than anyone. Then take it.

Hercules flicked his thumb and forefinger.

At once, a single point of light flicked off from his fingers, and Su-ho accepted it.

[ You have acquired Hercules’s Rune. ]

Hercules’s Rune.

Just from the name alone, he could already tell what a ridiculously good item it had to be.

“Thank you.”

- It was good meeting you. Then let’s meet again before long.

“Yes.”

A real exit portal appeared at his side.

After giving a light bow of his head, Su-ho walked into the portal.

Hwaaaa!

After the flash of light, when his vision returned again, what he saw was Su-ho’s house.

Having returned home, Su-ho dropped onto the sofa and checked Hercules’s Rune.

[ Hercules’s Rune ]

Rank: S++

# A very special rune granted by Quasi-Throne Hercules to the player An Su-ho.

# When Hercules’s Rune is used, the power Hercules placed into the rune may be inherited and used.

# In order to use Hercules’s Rune, one must have Hercules’s recognition along with the minimum required rank condition.

The description was not very different from Umbra’s Rune.

No, it was almost the same.

In other words, the rank itself was S++, but if only my rank had been higher, this would have been an SS-grade item.

After thinking for a moment, Su-ho decided to put off using it.

When Su-ho put away Hercules’s Rune without using it, Jack, who had been watching, asked,

- Why aren’t you using it?

“I used Umbra’s Rune because I had already seen what it was like, but this one just doesn’t really hit me.”

- There you go again with that bad habit. Don’t you know the saying that if you save something too much, it turns into shit?

“I’ll handle it.”

- Seriously now. Fine. What’s the next special quest?

“Ah, that?”

He had been planning to move on it right away anyway.

At Jack’s question, Su-ho opened the special quest window once again.

[ Special Quest ]

- Classification: Quest

# A special quest manifested for the player An Su-ho.

# This is a linked quest. If you fail during the process, it will automatically end.

# Quest rewards are granted by accumulating the final results, and if you fail midway, no reward will be given.

# You have completed the first quest.

# You have completed the second quest.

# You have completed the third quest.

# The fourth quest occurs in the Demon Realm.

The identity of the fourth special quest.

It was none other than the Demon Realm.

Su-ho had never once gone to the Demon Realm in his life, but he did have a connection related to it.

Su-ho immediately called up that connection.

“Grid.”