Rise of the OtherGod Apostle: Not a Cult Leader, but a Serf?!

#075Reader Mode

#075

“There seems to be some kind of note inside.” Athanas fearlessly reached into the coffin and pulled out a piece of paper.

Wait, [Retrograde] isn’t in there?

Before I could even wrap my head around the situation, Athanas examined the note, his brow furrowed in concentration. “…There’s some strange information scribbled on it.”

“What kind…”

“See for yourself.” Athanas handed me the paper.

I held it up to the flickering lantern light and began to read. The handwriting was a messy scrawl, as if someone had written it with their left hand. But what really caught my attention was the cheerful opening:

「Merry X-mas! 」

I forgot to breathe for a moment.

…It’s definitely a player who wrote this.

But curiously, the “X” was drawn differently, almost like the right-angle symbol of Order rather than in the Holy Text.

I took a deep breath and kept reading:

「Are you familiar with this greeting?

If you are, you’re probably in a similar situation as me. 」

This next part is written in common language.

「First, I’ll confirm through a simple test whether you found this place by coincidence or not.

There’s absolutely no way to guess the correct answer by chance.

You’re probably familiar with this animal-shaped object and have used it frequently. Keyboard = ‘keyboard’ and ‘this animal’.

What is ‘this animal’? 」

Only “keyboard” was written in holy text, probably because it was a proper noun that might not translate well using the common language.

…It’s a straightforward question, but it shows they’re being careful.

Feels like they put thought into picking common references that any ‘player’, no matter where they’re from, would instantly recognize.

After all, [Conclude] was a game serviced in various countries.

Sometimes there are fools who don’t know even the most basic stuff that all earthlings should know, like ‘the capital of the United States’…

They made it so even those guys can figure it out.

Learning to read the Holy Text can take less than a day if you’re quick, but they threw in that Keyboard hint too, just in case someone didn’t even learn that much.

The answer is mouse.

But the question didn’t end there.

「Please count how many times ‘this animal’ appears in the following list and write that number in your response. 」

…Why did they add this unnecessary part?

If you turn a subjective question into a multiple-choice one, doesn’t that defeat the whole point? It creates the possibility that someone could just guess the right answer by sheer luck.

With that doubt in mind, I quickly scanned through the list that followed.

「Elephant, Raccoon, Rabbit, Yak, Cat, Horse, Rabbit, Impala, Snake, Tyrannosaurus, Armadillo, Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Smilodon, Dragon, Frog.

*Oh, and by the way, I’ve hidden a little hint about myself in this animal list. If you think you’re clever enough to figure out who I am, write down the animal that represents me in your response.

But let me be crystal clear: It is absolutely impossible that a random guess will match the answer. Please think carefully.」

……?

I flipped the paper over, searching for ‘Mouse’ like my life depended on it. But it was nowhere to be found.

What in the world?

Is this some kind of riddle?

I glared at the paper, trying to make sense of it all.

It’s not like we’re trapped in some escape room where you have to press buttons in a specific sequence….

If the answer was as simple as scribbling ‘Mouse’ on the paper, you could just ignore the second question and jot it down to prove your identity as the player.

But then, why did they explicitly ask about the order?

Is it because only people who like riddles are qualified to be their friends?

Who are you, Professor Layton?¹T/N: ‘Professor Layton’ is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Professor Layton series of puzzle adventure video games developed by Level-5. He is a renowned archaeologist and a professor at Gressenheller University in London, known for his intelligence, puzzle-solving skills, and gentlemanly demeanor. In the games, Professor Layton, along with his young apprentice, Luke Triton, solve mysteries and tackle brain teasers in various locations around the world. The series is known for its engaging storylines, charming art style, and challenging puzzles that players must solve to progress through the game.

And don’t even get me started on the random assortment of obscure animals they threw into the mix.

What if the person tackling this riddle knows nothing about paleontology?²T/N: The simplest definition of “paleontology” is the study of ancient life based on fossils. This includes dinosaurs.

First things first, I had to figure out the reason behind this deliberate riddle.

…Are they trying to evaluate the other person’s thought process by seeing how they arrive at the answer?

Because it’s damn annoying when you pour your heart and soul into a lengthy post, only to have the other person respond with a dismissive ‘TLDR, give me the gist in 3 sentences plz.’

For someone who can’t be bothered to read the entire content and simply scribbles ‘Mouse,’ or worse, doesn’t even attempt an answer, there’s no point in sharing hard-earned knowledge and pondering questions together.

Making it so that one can only glean a hint about their identity by cracking the riddle also seemed like a declaration that they have no intention of leaking personal information to someone who is reckless and short-sighted.

Whoever this is, they think a hell of a lot.

To solve the riddle, I read the list of animals again.

…They probably didn’t make it too difficult.

After all, there’s no way to guess the other player’s language or level of education. If it were up to me, I would have made a problem that could be solved using just the most basic common knowledge.

These kinds of puzzles can usually be cracked by converting the given words into letters or numbers and spotting a pattern.

So, Elephant is E, Raccoon is R….

ERRYCHRIS…TASASDF

…It would be nice if I could solve this by writing it down somewhere.

My brain felt like it had been twisted into a pretzel.

I tried sounding out the letters in my head.

Erry, Chris…

Erry Chris…

…Merry Christmas!

I nearly let out a gasp.

It’s Merry Christmas with the M missing!

The animal starting with M is Mouse!

And in Merry Christmas, M appears twice.

If you count the order, it’s 1 and then 12….

Wow, the bastard who made this quiz is f*cking smart.

I was impressed.

It’s the perfect way to filter out NPCs trying to pass as players.

See, if an NPC doesn’t know the hidden meaning behind this riddle, they might think they can guess the right answer by chance, since it’s multiple choice.

The options seem to be numbers from 1 to 16, right?

But here’s the thing: there are actually two correct answers – 1 and 12.

Even with Retrograde, you couldn’t guess this.

Even if they sneakily watch the quiz-taker’s reaction and rewind time to change their answer, there’s no way they could get it right by trial and error. They wouldn’t know from the start that there are two answers.

The quiz maker can be totally sure that nobody can stumble upon the right answer by accident.

So, the remaining letters are…

ASDF….

…Isn’t that just random keyboard mashing?

You know, the kind of thing people use for lazy usernames or passwords.

I read the explanation one more time.

「*…Oh, and by the way, I’ve hidden a little hint about myself in this animal list. If you think you’re clever enough to figure out who I am, write down the animal that represents me in your response. 」

Could this be a clue about the person behind the quiz?

I wrinkled my forehead, deep in thought.

Plenty of people have usernames like “asdf” followed by random numbers.

Even my main account nickname is “qwerasdf”…

…Wait a minute.

What are the odds that a quiz maker who can weed out NPCs with [Retrograde] through this riddle also happens to like prehistoric animals and has “ASDF” in their username?

「…It is absolutely impossible that a random guess will match the answer. Please think carefully. 」

I read that sentence over and over.

It sounds like something I would write, but I don’t remember writing it, which means….

“Do you understand what it means?”

My heart nearly leaped out of my chest at the sound of Athanas’ voice.

“Ye-yes?”

“You’re thinking for so long because something caught your eye, didn’t it?”

In the dim lamplight, Athanas’ face was ghostly pale.

“Oh, no. I was staring at it for a long time just in case something stood out. Haha…” I tried to keep my voice light, but inside my mind was screaming.

Stay calm stay calm stay calm stay calm…

I don’t know anything.

I didn’t notice anything.

Not a single thing…

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I kept reading it over thinking it might mean something, but I’m completely lost.”

“I see.”

Athanas nodded slowly. “…But that’s not how you reacted when I wrote that list of meaningless words before.”

F*ck!

The second I realized my mistake and reached for the necklace, Athanas moved like lightning. In a flash, he had my arm wrenched behind my back.

“Aargh!”

I couldn’t help crying out and immediately regretted it.

Because the next thing I knew, Athanas shoved his fingers into my mouth, muffling any other sounds.

F*ck f*ck f*ck!!

Keeping my arm pinned, Athanas pushed me against the wall. With my face pressed against the wall, I couldn’t move my head at all.

Think! I need to think of something, think of something…

“Guh, urgh….”

I tried to thrash free from Athanas’s iron grip, but the more I struggled, the tighter he held me. It was like being caught in a vise, his body pressed against mine, making it almost impossible to breathe.

They say suffocation ignites the most primal terror in any living thing.

I gasped for air, but each desperate breath only made my head spin more. Black spots swam before my eyes and I felt myself starting to slip away.

“Relax… just take slow, deep breaths,” Athanas murmured in a maddeningly calm voice.

Rage flared inside me.

Who’s the one making it difficult for me to relax in the first place!

“I’m not choking you. You’re hyperventilating because you’re breathing too fast. Inhale deeply, then exhale slowly.”

He started counting, guiding my breaths. One, two, three…

I tried to focus, to match my splintered gasps to his steady rhythm.

Hyperventilating can definitely make you dizzy and it’s because of the carbon dioxide levels in your blood dropping too low…

It’s a tricky cycle too—the more you attempt to breathe, the worse it can get. The solution may seem counterintuitive, but you actually want to try and breathe less. I tried controlling my breaths with a simple number game: exhale on even numbers, inhale on odd. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten…

Slowly, grudgingly, the dizziness began to recede as my breathing evened out. Athanas’ voice drifted to me, tinged with what almost sounded like relief.

“I thought you were going to faint again.”

Again?

This f*cking bastard?

It’s ‘again’ for you?!

Infuriated, I sank my teeth into the fingers shoved into my mouth, biting down with all my might.

But I didn’t hear any agonized screams.

…It should hurt like hell, right?

Why is there no reaction at all?

Confused, I bit down harder, putting every ounce of force into it. But all I got was a soft little sigh.

“….Stop it. It doesn’t even tickle. You can bite all you want, but it won’t do any good.”

What the f*ck did you just say?

I stopped biting for a moment.

But the hardest part of the human body is the teeth.

And it doesn’t even tickle?

Does that make any sense?

Does your skin texture change when your endurance increases?

I swear, this bastard wouldn’t get infected even if he got bitten during a zombie apocalypse.

Seeing no point in gnawing anymore, I just screamed in frustration around his fingers.

“Fuhhing bahstuhd!”

Seriously, how many reloads did this take you?

How many times did you have to restart to make this possible?!

“I must admit, I’m impressed. You never once wrote down the real answer.”

How the hell do you know that too?!

Did this bastard read off every possible answer while restraining me like this, gauging my reactions by checking my pulse or something?

“After all the effort I put into memorizing everything…” Athanas sighed again, his breath prickling my neck and sending icy shivers down my spine.

“Luh muhguh! Lemme spheah!”

“…Believe me, I’d love to have a proper conversation with you too, but the moment I allow you to speak freely, you’ll start shouting the Apostles’ names.”

Fuuxxxxck.

Just how many times had this bastard done this?

No, it’s not important how many times it is ‘now’.

How long have you been deceiving me?

From the very beginning?