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Chapter 140: Star, The Stigma (5)

That was why the invitation was also of great significance to humans who received it. Humans were just one of the many followers who devoted their faith to the deities, so deities sometimes considered them less than bugs. Taking that into consideration, an invitation to a deity’s divine ground meant the deity thought very highly of the mortal.

Back when Chang-Sun was still the ‘Divine Twilight,’ he hadn’t really interacted with Minerva since she wasn’t really socially active despite her popularity. That was why Chang-Sun was shocked even though her invitation wasn’t completely unexpected. He had expected that if he continued to not choose a Guardian, some Celestials would bring Chang-Sun before themselves and directly try to coax him. Minerva moved faster than he anticipated, though.

‘I didn\'t think they would wait until I became a high ranker, but I thought they would at least wait until I became a ranker,’?Chang-Sun thought.

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ springs up from her seat and fiercely complains that it is always the quiet cat who climbs up to a chimney first!!]

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ corrects her, saying it is a wood-burning stove, not a chimney.]

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ jumps around in anger, saying that is not important right now.]

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ yawns hard, saying she can just invite you to dinner too.]

…

Although Pabilsag and J?rmungandr seemed to be having a silly squabble, they were just as surprised as Chang-Sun.

「Master.」Jin Prezia looked at Chang-Sun with a serious expression.

Wondering what Jin was up to this time, Chang-Sun turned back with a frown.“What?”

「Hehe. I’ll respect you from now on, Master.」

“… What the hell are you talking about?” Chang-Sun’s frown deepened, unable to understand what Jin was saying.

「The ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ is the famous warring deity, right? I didn’t know she thought so highly of you that she’d invite you to her divine ground.」

Minerva was also very popular in Arcadia. Many epic writers often wrote about her blessing the heroes and warriors going through tribulations, but only a few had actually received her blessings.

Jin already knew Minerva paid attention to Chang-Sun, but what surprised him was that Minerva had sent Chang-Sun an invitation to her divine ground. Jin had seen many astonishing incidents while he was by Chang-Sun’s side, but this seemed to be the most amazing of them all.

The Elfin Root, who had been watching everything beside them, fervently nodded in agreement. Its eyes sparkled so hard that it looked like stars were going to pour out from them any moment. Without answering any further, Chang-Sun threw the [Goddess Crown] at the Elfin.

“Stop your nonsense. Elfin, you are to assist Jin in conquering the Changgwi Cave from now on,” Chang-Sun instructed.

「Are you… really giving this back to me?」

The Elfin’s hands trembled when it received the [Goddess Crown]. The crown was a treasure that had become a divine relic when the divinity of the ‘Gemini’ had been imbued into it. Most Players would desperately want it, hence why the Elfin asked if it could really have this.

“I have no intention of becoming a Parasitic Tree or controlling trees. I’ll focus on areas which I can be good at, so you focus on the areas you can be good at too.” Chang-Sun shrugged.

Chang-Sun had worn the [Goddess Crown], but he was not going to use it ever again. Wearing it temporarily made him more powerful because of its Effect [Class Upgrade], but he could always just do that by consistently accomplishing achievements. Hence, he didn’t really need the crown. It was more beneficial to raise the Elfin as the Parasitic Divine Tree and get its help in combat.

「Thank you.」

The Elfin quietly bowed, realizing Chang-Sun truly intended to help it. The moment the Elfin put the [Goddess Crown] on its head, it exuded the fresh smell of a forest, making it seem as if Chang-Sun’s group was actually in one. Meanwhile, Chang-Sun held his hand up before Minerva’s invitation. In contrast to the time when Mephistopheles suddenly kidnapped him, he had no reason to reject Minerva’s invitation, so he intended to press ‘Yes,’ accepting it.

‘There is something I want to look into anyway,’?Chang-Sun thought.

「Bring me a melona when you come back.」Jin joked.

Looking at Jin dumbfoundedly, Chang-Sun pressed the button and asked, “… Where did you learn that?”

[Accepted the invitation!]

“See you,” Chang-Sun said. A ray of golden light shone on him.

Woosh!

* * *

[You have entered the Divine Ground ‘Owl Nest.’]

When Chang-Sun opened his eyes again, he found himself on top of a tall and wide canyon that was like a folding screen. A strong wind crashed against the steep canyon wall as he noticed a giant castle standing alone at the edge of the highest canyon. It was Minerva’s divine ground, ‘Owl Nest’.

‘I thought it was going to be flashy or dignified, but this is unexpected.’?Chang-Sun thought.

Although Minerva was famous as the warring deity who brought victories to her side, she also loved art and oversaw the concepts of civilization and wisdom, so Chang-Sun had expected her divine ground to be more quaint. The castle was far from it, though, much to his surprise.

‘Anyhow, It’s big.’ Chang-Sun quietly looked up at the castle gate, which appeared to be over dozens of meters tall.

For a moment, he pondered if he should wait until somebody came out or enter the castle on his own. As he did, the tightly shut gate slightly opened, and a middle-aged man, who was wearing a fancy ceremonial suit, came out and bowed elegantly. “Are you Mr. Lee Chang-Sun?”

“Yes,” Chang-Sun confirmed.

“The goddess is waiting for you inside. Please come in.” The middle-aged man, who seemed to be Minerva’s butler, guided Chang-Sun into the castle.

‘It’s really big.’?Chang-Sun silently marveled as he walked across the inner ward of the castle.

From its garden to its inner ward, everything looked neat and organized, but they looked soft-edged, rather than sharp-edged. All the things inside the castle appeared to be generally harmonious. While walking across the long hallway with a dome-shaped ceiling, he felt pressured, allowing him to get a rough idea about how much Minerva would have agonized between her identities as a strict warring deity and a free-spirited deity of civilization. Although Chang-Sun had been on countless divine grounds, this place was one of the best.

After some time, Chang-Sun reached the end of the hallway with the butler and arrived at a room located on the highest floor of the castle. Through the large hallway window, Chang-Sun saw an open view of the canyon area.

“I brought your guest as you have ordered, ma’am,” the Butler reported.

“Enter.”

The butler stepped aside to make way for Chang-Sun, then turned the doorknob and opened the door wide. Chang-Sun took a quick look around the room, which had a really long table in the center. At the head of it sat a long-haired brunette woman so beautiful she could pass as a marble sculpture. As if she had sprinkled fine jewel powder on her long hair, it dazzlingly sparkled. However, her sharply-edged eyes and lips made her look like a strong warrior.

Unlike when Chang-Sun met her in Mephistopheles’ divine ground, she was wearing comfortable clothes instead of her golden armor, so she looked like a totally different woman. Still, her arms, which were revealed through her sleeves, were nicely tanned and muscular.

‘Minerva,’?Chang-Sun thought.

From the moment he had seen her, he could already tell that the woman was the owl that defeated the twilight, which was full of ignorance and illogicality, and brought a light-named civilization to the world. Many other people of different genders, ages, and occupations were sitting at the long table. Some were wearing armor, and some were busy reading thick books even though they had a guest. Each and every one of them wore different clothes and had distinct characteristics, but they all shared one similarity.

‘They’re all powerful.’?

Although they were suppressing their power, Chang-Sun could see how strong they were from their eyes.

‘They’re probably the heroes Minerva had blessed while they were alive. She must have taken them under her wing after they died,’?Chang-Sum assumed.

Most of the heroes who had been deified or transcended after being blessed by Minerva swore their loyalty to her even after they died. In return, she gathered them up and gave them shelter. Those heroes were called Atrytone, the ‘army of victory.’

‘They’re quite strong.’?Chang-Sun’s eyes shone faintly as the subordinates exuded too impressive energies to be considered ordinary.

Some even seemed as powerful as demigods or low-level deities, which meant they were capable of building their own divine grounds.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Minerva faintly smiled as she looked at Chang-Sun. The eyes of some of her subordinates shone because she usually stayed expressionless and nonchalant, so seeing her smile was rare.

“Thank you for the invitation,” Chang-Sun said.

“Come, sit. We should eat before the food gets cold.” Minerva instructed, and Chang-Sun quietly sat down on the seat nearest to Minerva.

“Then let’s eat,” Minerva told everyone, signaling the start of the dinner.

* * *

Although Chang-Sun had expected that everyone would eat in solemn silence, they were quite talkative—no, they were pretty uproarious during dinner.

“I told you you should twist your mana in spiral form and instantly release it after you narrow the spiral!”

“If you release it all at once, your mana will take the shape of particles, so you should widen it instead—”

“You’re wrong, you idiot! Doing that would overuse your mana! You’ll become so exhausted that you’ll be killed!”

“That method is more useful in defense… Wait, what? Idiot? Did you really just call me an idiot?”

“Yes, I did, so what! How many times should I repeat myself before you finally understand?! I really can’t have a proper conversation with someone whose brain is made out of muscles!”

“I really don’t want to hear that from a nerd who looks like her head is going to be blown away if I smack it!”

“What did you just say, you bastard? Do you want a piece of this?”

“Yeah! Let’s go!”

On one side, some were having a dispute that turned into an exchange of verbal attacks, which then didn’t take long to turn physical. Chang-Sun momentarily wondered if it was okay to leave them alone, but the other subordinates just continued to eat as if they were used to the commotion.

Hence, he also didn’t pay attention to them and just focused on dinner. After all, it had been a while since he tasted food made in Heaven. He had been quietly wondering how the food would taste since he received the invitation to this dinner party.

‘Woah?’ Chang-Sun’s eyes widened. The food was much better than what he had expected.

The rare steak was so juicy that he felt as if it was going to melt as soon as he put it in his mouth, and the glass of red wine beside the steak was pleasantly sweet and nice. However, there were other dishes that surprised Chang-Sun more.

[Consumed the ‘Swordsman-Blessed Steak’!]

[Your Strength has increased by 0.1.]

[Your Strength has increased by 0.4.]

…

[Consumed the ‘Wise-Wizard-Made Wine.]

[Your Intelligence has increased by 0.3.]

…

‘The food permanently increased my stat points?’?Chang-Sun thought in surprise.

Among the foods made in Heaven, some dishes buffed the Celestials to boost their abilities, but the buffs were only temporary, not permanent like the ones Chang-Sun just ate. Even if they were, the ingredients to make them had to be very expensive, so it was almost impossible to have a ‘feast’ with so many guests and serve this kind of dish to all. Wondering if Minerva had only served Chang-Sun such a dish, Chang-Sun quickly stole a glance at the dish beside him. It looked like the others were also eating the same dish. That wasn’t all.

[All of your fatigue has disappeared.]

[All of your curses have been undone.]

…

[Your vital force has been completely replenished, quickly healing your injury.]

[Your stamina has been completely replenished.]

[Your mana has been completely replenished.]

…

[You have completely recovered!]

The food had not only healed the injury he had taken in ‘Blue Jewel Island’ but also the ones he had sustained during the fight against the ‘Gemini’—no, he didn’t just get healed. He felt better than usual in some ways.

‘Maybe I should have expected this from Minerva,’?Chang-Sun thought.

Although she was considered less influential due to the <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology>, she was still a great deity of <Olympus>, the group that had once ruled Heaven. Holding a feast like this didn’t seem to burden her at all. Perhaps Minerva wanted to look after Chang-Sun in this way.

‘I should express my gratitude privately later,’?Chang-Sun thought.

The moment Minerva quietly laid down her fork and knife on her plate, the noisy room immediately became quiet.

“How is it?” Minerva asked Chang-Sun, wiping her mouth with the napkin. All her subordinates naturally turned their heads to her and Chang-Sun.

“It’s good.” Chang-Sun nodded.

“I was worried that it wouldn’t suit your palate, so that’s good to hear.” Minerva smiled again.

The burly man who was just in a fistfight with his colleague for having different opinions suddenly raised his arm in the air as if he wanted to say something.

“What is it, Batu?” Minerva asked.

“Ah, boss! You gotta be kidding me! I requested you to ask a certain question on my behalf several times!” Batu shouted.

“We’re already having a feast with him, so you can just ask the question yourself now.” Minerva crossed her legs.

“I was planning on asking it anyway even if you didn’t!” Batu slammed the table with his hand, huffed and puffed like a bull, and put his head right before Chang-Sun. Even though he was glaring at Chang-Sun, the latter remained composed. The other subordinates watched the staredown between Batu and Chang-Sun with interest.

“I want to ask you something,” Batu said.

Chang-Sun wiped his mouth with a white napkin and nonchalantly stared back at Batu. “What?”

For a moment, Batu raised one of his eyebrows when he heard a mere mortal from the Saha world talking very casually to him. He considered teaching Chang-Sun manners, but he was more interested in getting an answer to his question. Holding back his anger, he asked, “The thing you have right now! How did you recognize it?”

“What are you talking about?” Chang-Sun tilted his head in confusion.

“What do you think I’m talking about?! Of course, I’m talking about the [Yuchang Sword]!” Batu angrily slammed his hand on the table again.

Thump!

With his brilliantly shining eyes, Batu growled as if he was going to swallow Chang-Sun any minute, but Chang-Sun wasn’t sure if Batu was hostile or had the desire to fight him.

“That sword looked no different from an ordinary bronze sword—no, it actually looked more like trash, but you acted as if you knew it was the [Yuchang Sword] right off the bat. How in the world did you know that?”

Chang-Sun’s eyes turned cold. “Why do you want to know that?”

“Of course, it’s because,” Batu curled up one end of his mouth, “We have one too.”

Zinng!

At that moment, the [Yuchang Sword] tattoo on the back of Chang-Sun’s right hand faintly trembled.

1. The raw is ??? ???? ?? ?? ?? ????. It’s a wrong version of a Korean idiom that is similar to an English saying ‘It’s always the quiet ones.’ It has been modified a bit in order to allow J?rmungandr to tease Pabilsag.

2. The cat climbs up to the wood-burning stove to steal food.

3. This is a popular Korean meme, and melona is a very famous Korean ice cream. The speaker knows the listener is going to come back soon, so the speaker is asking the listener to get them dessert.

4. This one is actually Athena’s epithet