Pissing Off a God

Ver's party of mostly job players and three combat players were swiftly striding down the overcrowded streets of Kassio. They needed to personally be there when these players attempted to interact with the monster levitating in the sky.

They soon entered the area below the transcendent bodyguard and they stood off to the side under the shade of a tree. It was a given that they would observe the player's who were going to attempt to converse with him before jumping in rashly.

The location was a gorgeous and lush plaza with an intricate fountain in the center. This may have been a fortress city meant for functionality and defense, but that didn't mean it could lag too far behind other cities in terms of beauty. But due to the presence of the floating transcendent, the plaza was barren and abandoned with not a single soul in sight or shop open.

A group of players that seemed to be made up of a balanced variety of different combat classes was just now entering the plaza. Despite being immortals that couldn't actually get harmed in this world, they couldn't help but feel nervous about what they were going to do.

Anxiety and tension-filled easily dominated the atmosphere because no one else other than the nervous players was present.

The players didn't seem to notice Ver's party because they were busy trying to suppress the urge to run. There was no aura surrounding the bodyguard, but it somehow felt like they were in the presence of a monumental dragon!

They eventually made it to an appropriate distance from the area below the bodyguard and they paused. Now that they've made it this far, how are they going to get his attention without showing disrespect?

After discussing for a bit, they tried numerous methods to get noticed by him. Calling out to him with even magically coated voices fell on deaf ears. Releasing their auras also did nothing, like a light breeze passing over a mountain. They even resorted to using special adventurer tools and consumables. These tools consisted of pouches that made a loud racket upon impact with the ground, beads that acted as flash bombs, and many more strange items meant to get the attention of creatures during hunting missions.

One of the warriors even bravely attempted skills like [Taunt] and [Intimidate] that were generally used to pull the aggro(1) of opponents. But not even that worked! It was as if the bodyguard was in his own little world as he slowly swept his gaze over the grand mob on the horizon.

Ver shook his head in a little disappointment, "This is getting nowhere... Why don't we give them a little nudge in the right direction?"

After receiving the "ok" from the party leader, the only stealth-type player suddenly vanished into thin air and quickly appeared behind the other party of players. He was perfectly within their blind spot so they didn't notice him assemble an item similar to a miniature colonial cannon that only reached the height of their shins. The once dormant runes that lined the barrel started to faintly glow and a few layers of magic circles materialized in front of the muzzle.

He lit the fuse and vanished again, soon reappearing next to his party who were already sinking into the darkness of the tree. The cannon's muzzle was pointing straight at the bodyguard!

The players noticed the sizzling noise of the fuse burning and they turned their attention to their backs. When they saw the cannon that wasn't aimed at them, but the monster floating above the plaza, their hearts dropped and they paled.

An archer and berserker in the party who quickly came to their senses desperately lunged at the cannon with different purposes. The berserker maneuvered to stand in the way of the cannon's trajectory while the archer tried to stop the cannon directly. They used an assortment of skills and spells to quicken their pace. They absolutely couldn't let that cannon fire!

Sadly, the cannon was placed exactly to Ver's orders. This meant that he already calculated everything with it all going as planned. The players were destined to never reach that cannon on time.

*BANG* *WOOSHH*

A projectile that seemed to be made up of pure magical energy of the electric element and it narrowly passed the berserker, giving him no time to deflect it or use it as a shield. The shot traveled at shockingly fast speeds as electric currents trailed behind it.

The unfortunate party of victims heard the deafening impact of a magic round colliding with some sort of metal. They all started at the cannon in disbelief and horror as they slowly turned around. A blinding light shone and quickly dissipated, making the end of the attack.

The entire bodyguard was releasing a dense stream of smoke due to the high temperatures of the lightning round. When the smoke finally settled, the armor was completely unscathed with not even burnt spots or a speck of dust on him.

The only real difference they noticed in the bodyguard was that he was seemingly more awake and aware now. His gaze fell on the grim party of players with his attention now solely focused on them. Immense irritation could be seen in his demeanor as he left the posture he was previously in.

As the pissed off god menacingly descended to the surface, a heavy aura of annoyance came off of him in the form of killing intent.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Kyren didn't think they actually had the gall to do something like that. He didn't take any damage whatsoever and he hardly even felt the impact. However, this didn't mean he enjoyed getting pelted by magical artillery!

He landed right next to the players as he looked each of them up and down. They were completely frozen while their unblinking eyes averted contact with Kyren. They shivered from the fear they felt and their minds were a mess.

"W-We only wished to as-ask senior something!! I apologize for rudely a-attacking you and it was at my command so let me take sole re-responsibility!!!"

The killing intent receded along with his draconic aura and Kyren turned his oppressive stare upon the man who bravely overcame the pressure. He was the berserker that was prepared to block the cannon shot with his body to stop the attack.

Kyren was truly annoyed by getting attacked but not to the point where he was livid. He was only acting pissed to keep up his image as someone powerful. He was prepared to punish them to set an example for the rest but he faltered when he confronted this person with both a familiar face and a blindingly favorable personality.

He had a slightly muscular, but lean figure that seemed slightly too small for a berserker. His features were both plain and handsome, but enough for him to be a noticeable presence among the others. There was also something about his facial features that made him seem even more unique and noticeable. Although he didn't seem to be sturdy and large enough to handle a berserker job, he seemed natural and not at all uncomfortable with his combat class. His class also seemed to be something similar to a heavy samurai judging by the armor and the massive ōdachi on his back.

There was a sense of honor, pride, and extreme goodness coming off of him that didn't seem to let his still evident fear of Kyren take over, keeping up a brave and confident guise.

<Oh my, he actually has a Heroic Soul...>

'What's that?'

<A Heroic Soul is similar to the system acknowledging someone as a protagonist level character with an overall moral alignment of "good" of has done many good deeds. The benefits of either a Heroic Soul or a Villainous Soul are unimaginable for even people of your level of power. If you were able to comprehend all of the potential benefits, you would surely be jealous.>

'Ohh?'

<One of the benefits is a unique type of luck that's completely different from your straightforward and monstrous luck. Their luck is both laughable and terrifying, to the point where it's a beneficial curse that can be mentally overwhelming sometimes.>

'.....Why so cryptic?'

<Because it's incredibly tough to explain the complexity of a Heroic Soul, even for me! It doesn't seem like his Heroic Soul is completely developed yet and it also looks like he's not aware of its presence. It's similar in design to an Immortal Soul.>

'Hmm, I feel like I've recognized him from somewhere before...'

<Perhaps because he's also famous back on Earth.>

'That's right! Andrew has talked about him before. I don't remember his name or username, but I think I remember Andrew describing him as an unaligned rookie gamer with a lot of potential. He might be a rookie when it comes to experience, but he's already quite popular and talented.'

<He's the upstart celebrity gamer, Hiroki, of Japanese nationality. When he plays games, he usually uses the username, BrightHeart. He isn't super famous, yet, but as you said, he has potential.>

While Kyren was speaking with Leo in his mind, unaware of the outside world, he was unconsciously glaring at Hiroki. Everyone felt a sense of doom and inevitable death loom over them.

His party members internally screamed and cursed at him for making such a noble sacrifice for their sake. They all cherished him, but he was just too noble and heroic sometimes for them, even when it was hopelessly disadvantageous for all of them. They wanted to stop him, but they were frozen in place from the tension in the air. The only reason why Hiroki was able to move and speak, even if it was just a bit, was all because of his developing Heroic Soul.

Kyren came out of his threatening daze and looked towards the sky, seemingly in concentration on what to do with him. Hiroki winced and was about to open his mouth in another attempt to blame himself, but was stopped by Kyren's raised hand.

"I will allow you to take the blame, but you must think carefully about what you're about to do. The consequences might be unimaginable even for an Immortal Soul like you..."

Hiroki hesitated with an astonished look on his face, not because he was having second thoughts, but because such a powerful existence actually listened to him. Through experience, he's learned that powerful people in this world typically never listened to the weak. After mentally preparing himself, he bravely nodded and accepted his fate.

[Gate]

A human-sized tear in space appeared right beside Hiroki and Kyren gestured toward it, "You will have an audience with my master in a bit, so please wait in there."

The other party members made muffled cries to try and tell Hiroki not to do it. They couldn't move at all like they were paralyzed with fear! The pressure from increased gravity also didn't help things.

The pressure on Hiroki, and only him, lightened just enough for him to move around slightly. He warmly and reassuringly smiled at his party as he waved a goodby. With the resolve of a war hero, he stepped into the portal, unafraid of what might be on the other side.

'Gosh, why are they all acting so overdramatic? I'm not the devil...'

<If you could only see what you looked like in the eyes of the others at this moment...>

Kyren clicked his tongue in faint annoyance as he used extremely strong bursts of gravity and shockwaves from his aura to fling the remaining party members far off in different parts of the city. He generously let them fall gently where they were going to land, seeing no need to harm them.

It happened so fast that each player couldn't comprehend what just happened. Before they knew it, they were sprawled over the floors of alleys, streets, on top of the wall, and roofs looking completely dumbstruck. To those around them, they came in like meteors but suddenly turned into feathers as soon as they were a few feet from a gruesome death.

Now that they were all dealt with, he turned to the players hiding in the shadow. He looked indifferent and scrutinizing on the outside, but on the inside, he was even more pissed than when he was pelted with a cannon. He despised these kinds of people who treated others in such a way and manipulated people, but he didn't have much room to judge. Although he wasn't a saint himself, he definitely wasn't this bad. After all, he was also taking advantage of the situation to manipulate a celebrity gamer into considering joining him.

He was aware of what they just did and he was not pleased. They framed those innocent players right in front of him and they treated him like he was blind. He was pretty deep in his own little world so he wasn't sure of what truly happened, with only a vague idea from the way they were trying to stop the cannon. They might've gotten away with it if Leo didn't tell him the whole story.

Ver put up a friendly facade as he walked out into the open, "Greetings sir bodyguard. I hope you don't mind that we watched how you dealt with those criminals that have wrongly attacked you."

"....."

"Do you think we could ask a few questions about the organization behind you? We wish to learn more about the grand power that started this event." Ver internally grinned like a supervillain as he externally smiled friendly while he adjusted his glasses.

He was exceptionally glad about how easy things seemed to be going. Who would've known that the heroic nitwit would take the blame for doing such a thing? The plan was going incredibly well, not that he expected any less from his vast intellect. If he didn't enjoy playing games so much, he would've become a global figure by now.

Using the other players to get his attention while also taking him out of the race was thrilling. Now he could take the lead when it concerned information.

While Ver internally gloated and ranted about his genius, Kyren walked over to the stealth player in the party. He was suppressing his presence so the party didn't notice his approach until he was right in front of the stealth player.

In his hands was the same magical cannon that was used to attack him. He handed it to the stunned player nonchalantly and looked towards the other equally stunned players, "I believe this was yours. I'm letting you off the hook this time because I gained an important potential pawn, but I suggest you run back to the dark and grimy corners of the city from where you crawled out from. I hope for your sake that nothing this disgraceful happens again."

Although he was mad and disgusted by their behavior and way of thinking, his rage was canceled out by Hiroki and how bright his future under him would be. Maybe he could put him under Krista's direct command? They're both berserker type classes so maybe he could be her apprentice or something like that?

Ver flinched as his triumphant mindset shattered into millions of pieces, "E-Excuse me?!"

Kyren turned around and started to float back to his spot in the air, completely ignoring the party's existence. They didn't know what to do. Even if he was a transcendent being, they knew for a fact that he wasn't paying attention to anyone else other than the big shots!

As if it all finally clicked, a theory as to why this powerful NPC behaved so oddly popped into Ver's head, 'Was this a test? Was he actually watching us all this whole time and waiting for someone to catch his interest?!'

A dreadful and sinking feeling penetrated his soul like a hot knife as his mind continued to race, 'Does that mean he was impressed with that berserker samurai player! I... I did this. I gave him that opportunity to prove his honesty and bravery!! That insignificant muscle head is going to reap all the benefits and play me for a fool!!! ME OF ALL PEOPLE, A FOOL!?!?!'

Ver was having a mental breakdown and his expression turned ugly and twisted because he felt like he was an idiot for acting so rashly. Not once, has he ever failed to surpass those around him, at least intelligence wise. This was the first time in his life that he failed so miserably to get what he wanted.

'No, I haven't failed yet!! I can still get the inside information! Although it will be weaker if I don't make direct eye contact, this should work!'

He glanced at the ascending back of the bodyguard and he activated his glass's special ability. The aura and glowing eyes effect were deactivated so no one could tell that he used the ability.

Kyren was ignorant of what just happened despite his transcendent power and he would've stayed like that if Leo didn't stop him.

<That player put some type of magical tracker on your soul that will constantly monitor you. Do you wish for me to wipe it?>

He flinched and stopped moving in the air.

The departing players also flinched when the gravity around them suddenly crashed down onto them like a dam just broke on top of them. Their bodies soon hit the floors and suck into the pavement, creating a small crater from the pressure. Their hearts palpitated at dangerous levels that even the system was having difficulty calming. They couldn't even voice their surprise or anguish.

Ver happened to fall at an angle where he could arduously turn his head to peek at the source of the assault.

What he saw would probably mentally scar him for the rest of his life, if it weren't for the system giving him some mental aid. Even though it helped, he was still terrified to his very core at what he was looking at. Nothing could be more inhuman than what he was witnessing.

Kyren stayed stationary as he death glared at Ver who tagged his soul with magic without permission. Brazenly attempting to invade his privacy.

The air around him began to twist and fold as reality bent to his anger's every whim. Immeasurable amounts of killing intent were coming off of him that made the atmosphere radiate a weird but violent heat that felt more like a blizzard and a volcano combined, generating an odd feeling. His body began to unconsciously morph into a draconic abomination after [Dragon's Anger] activated, making his figure warp like a true monster among abominations. It seriously didn't take much fuel to activate the curse, but he didn't care so he ignored it.

All he focused on was stupid and cocky four-eyes right below his feet as he crouched down.

If he wasn't really considered angry before, he was totally pissed now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1: aggro) Hate is a mechanism used in many MMORPGs, as well as in some RPGs, by which mobs (enemies controlled by the system) prioritize which characters to attack. The player who generates the most hate on a mob will be preferentially attacked by that mob. (Pulled this from the web)