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

#159Reader Mode

T/N: Thank you “Somebody” for the coffee! May you never stub your toe on furniture again!ヾ(≧▽≦*)

#159

“He chooses to forget?”

But external mental interference should be impossible.

Even with the Saint’s relentless probing, he couldn’t find a single crack in Fabio’s mental defenses.

It must be coming from within… or maybe another Watched One is causing this.

“It’s the same with what’s in the reliquary. He begged me to take it away, but now he likely doesn’t remember having his eye removed.”

Truth.

“Trying to jog his memory is pointless. If Fabio remembers losing his eye, he’ll be overwhelmed by terror, only to revert back to not remembering anyway.”

This is also true.

Could this be a restriction placed on a Watched One?

“…So?”

“I ask that you never mention what’s in the reliquary when Fabio’s around. I never want to see my lover like that again.”

“……”

Tertius studied Athanas carefully.

What was a Watched One planning to do to Fabio, using this man as their tool?

No, before that…

What does Athanas truly feel for Fabio?

“…You seem to have a lot of questions about your lover.”

Athanas remained silent, but the vivid intensity of his emotions revealed everything.

“It’s strange,” Tertius said. “I just revealed who I really am, yet you don’t seem surprised. And you haven’t asked any of the questions that must be burning inside you.”

Even the most devoted archbishop would question things when confronted with the Lord’s will.

Is this really what He wants? Am I misunderstanding? Am I the one disrupting Order?

Even Tertius himself sometimes struggled to separate his personal desires from what God commanded.

This warmth I feel when looking at Fabio… is it really mine? Or is it what the Lord wants me to feel?

Adna questioned why such a distinction mattered at all, but for Tertius, it was important.

If these feelings were merely his own, he would strive to subdue them…

“…Most people, even when told it’s God’s will, would want explanations. They need to know ‘why’ things happen. Why did God put my lover next to an Apostle? When will I see him again? How is he doing there?”

“……”

“Yet you’ve asked none of these questions.”

“If an answer is possible, I would welcome it,” Athanas replied.

“There’s no answer for you right now.”

“…I understand.”

“That’s exactly what puzzles me. This calmness of yours… Why aren’t you upset? Most people would find this situation almost impossible to accept.”

“All I want is for my lover to live safely and happily, away from danger. As long as that’s happening, I have no issues with our current situation.”

Athanas spoke with complete calm, his face revealing nothing.

Damn it.

Being able to perceive emotions was usually helpful, but sometimes it was incredibly annoying.

Especially in moments like this, when Tertius couldn’t ignore the obvious sincerity coming from the other man.

Why do I feel like I lost when we weren’t even competing?

By the time they reached Adna’s training grounds, Tertius would experience this frustrating feeling about seven more times.

***

After Adna escorted me to bed and watched me like a hawk until I dozed off, the gravity of my situation finally sank in.

They’re treating me like I’m a critically ill patient…

If things kept going this way, I’d probably end up confined to my bed with a feeding tube shoved into my mouth… not exactly the ending I was hoping for.

This sudden reality check convinced me to keep my mouth shut and play the good patient. The last thing I needed was to raise suspicions by having my eyes dart around at random pop-up messages.

When Adna stepped out briefly, I quickly messaged Pandomonium and Sukidesu, warning them I wouldn’t be able to chat for a while.

>>「LOLOLOL SEE?? This is exactly why I told you to come with me.」

>>「This entire situation is next-level ridiculous.」

>>「Hyung… are you the tragic heroine now?」

>>「Captured and locked in some restricted area that only opens once the story hits 98% completion?」

>>「Can’t even come rescue you myself right now. What is this, a bad ending? GG~」

Didn’t expect you to come save me anyway.

>>「Wait… you can’t talk to me anymore?」

>>「Boo!」

>>「 This is so cruel. I’ve been barely holding it together not seeing you every day as is…」

「…..」

「…If it’s urgent, message me between 8 and 9 PM. I’ll be lying here, eyes closed but awake.」

>>「!!!!!!」

>>「I love you so much!!!!!!」

>>「I’ll work incredibly hard!!」

>>「I’ll find something game-changing for you!!!」

This guy is way too intense…

I had a million questions for Sukidesu, but deliberately held back.

Any sensible player would set up safeguards before sharing anything with someone this obviously careless.

Given that Reyes received a warning when he carelessly “revealed” his Othergod to Pandomonium, there was likely a system preventing information leaks.

If the Council operation falls apart after I extract information from Sukidesu…

I’d be the prime suspect.

Not worth the risk. Why antagonize other players when I had no intention of sharing anything with the Apostles anyway?

But more importantly…

I just can’t trust Order anymore.

The Saint was supposedly the person closest to God, right?

If I wanted to follow Roklem’s path, I should think and act like the Saint. But the Saint’s brilliant idea of “saving” people amounted to forced martyrdom.

No way I’m entering a heaven designed by someone who calls that salvation.

Sure, I wasn’t looking for a Game-Over right now, but becoming part of Order in a world where Order had completely won? That was even worse.

In the afterlife here, there’s not a definitive end like ‘death.’ Just… endless existence. What punishment could be more terrifying than eternal imprisonment in a world you hate, with no escape?

So what, the perfect time to die is after Mother God’s player gets eliminated, but before Order claims total victory?

The irony of needing to kill myself just to avoid heaven wasn’t lost on me.

If only Rider’s player hadn’t abandoned the game, I might have placed my hopes there instead…

…But why did House Lizard quit anyway?

House Lizard belonged to that philosophical camp who believed if humanity faced a choice between saving our species or our civilization, civilization should win every time.

When extinction came knocking, preserving human DNA wouldn’t matter. New species would eventually evolve to suit whatever new world emerged, and someday, another intelligent species would discover humanity’s legacy and continue our story.

So humanity’s true priority should be developing data storage that could survive at least ten thousand years…

Of course he’d take that idea to its logical extreme.

House Lizard had written all that stuff before Conclude even launched—this wasn’t just him roleplaying as “Rider of Civilization.” The guy genuinely believed it.

Was it because he was wealthy enough to drop thousands on repeatedly buying copies of the same game without flinching?

I remember feeling that strange mix of respect and resentment, thinking how nice it must be to have the luxury of worrying about civilization’s legacy instead of, you know, how to pay rent this month.

…House Lizard definitely didn’t just accidentally Game-Over.

The Emergency Rescue System protected players during the Tutorial Phase, plus whatever failsafes the Othergods had cooked up.

And since he was last seen at the Cathedral’s Main Building, another player taking him out seems unlikely.

So what did he find in that Cathedral basement?

If he’d uncovered some dark secret Order was hiding, that should’ve given him even more motivation to win.

At the very least, he would’ve warned other players.

But instead… House Lizard simply vanished without a trace.

Why?

He’s exactly the type who’d commit to the experiment to the bitter end… even if he discovered this world was just a simulation, and winning wouldn’t actually change reality.

Even if time reset and memories were wiped, somewhere a record would show he attempted that experiment.

A record…

Wait. That bastard Records never once mentioned House Lizard to me.

Was that deliberate?

My head throbbed the more I dwelled on it.

Guess I’ll have to investigate the Cathedral myself once Reyes finds something worth sharing.

Not like he could tell me any discoveries through chat anyway since the system would censor it instantly.

But first, I need to convince Adna I’m mentally stable again…

Yeah, right. Easier said than done.

Since being forcibly separated from Athanas and confined to my room for “not looking well,” I’d been playing the model patient and quietly reading until I fell asleep each night.

This morning, Adna asked if I missed Athanas. When I said I was fine without him, my mental stability score apparently tanked even further.

Apparently, “inability to acknowledge my true feelings” was yet another symptom. Seriously?

I’m genuinely fine!

I literally just saw the guy yesterday!

What would we even talk about if we met again today? “Hey, remember that fascinating thing that happened… twenty-four hours ago?”

But Adna insisted on dragging Athanas over daily, claiming quality time together was “essential for our relationship.”

This is beyond awkward…

Athanas probably found it just as annoying, especially with the Apostolic Council meeting approaching.

Before all this, our daily meetings had a purpose: information exchange.

Wouldn’t these pointless “let’s pretend we’re in love” sessions feel like an epic waste of time to him too?

“Athanas…”

“You didn’t miss me today?”

“What?”

“I was hoping you’d run over and hug me again. Was I wrong?”

Athanas stood there with his arms wide open, wearing a disappointed expression.

…What the actual hell?

Was he seriously expecting me to leap into his arms right now?

I nearly choked.

Holy shit, I’m not just getting goosebumps… my skin is crawling from the inside out!

Where on earth did Athanas pick up these cheesy rom-com lines from?

I mean, logically, I got it.

Our whole “lovers act” was probably just him mimicking behavior he’d observed elsewhere.

Someone must have acted like a disgusting cockroach in front of Athanas, setting a terrible example that he was now replicating with disturbing accuracy.

He was just innocently following what he’d learned…

But seriously… isn’t this taking it a bit too far?

Just as my brain short-circuited, Athanas let out a soft chuckle and pulled me into a tight hug.

“Fabio, your face is bright red, like an apple.”

That’s because I’m internally screaming!

Tertius wasn’t even here, so there was zero reason to commit this hard to the act…

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

How do I tell him to tone it down without sounding like a jerk?

“Athanas, this is a bit…”

“Embarrassing?”

“…Yes.”

“I understand. I’ll only do this when we’re alone from now on.”

Athanas gently stroked my cheek, then added:

“I want to be the only one who sees such an adorable expression.”

Shit. I’m doomed.

It felt like someone had injected pure sugar solution directly into my veins.

When a solution with a higher concentration than blood plasma hits your bloodstream, the osmotic pressure sucks all the moisture from your red blood cells, making them shrivel up.

Basically, every single cell in my body was shriveling up in real-time.

Someone please save me…

“…Where exactly did you learn to talk like that?” I asked.

“Was it that obvious?”

“Painfully.”

“It was advice from Commander Casimir.”

When the hell did he meet her?

“She said it was important to express affection so extravagantly that your partner would truly feel loved. That’s why—”

“…Please don’t.”

Unless you want to witness me foam at the mouth and collapse.