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Apotheosis Online: Birth of the Virtuous Sinner

Dropped. 滋養開運一個 Witness the best: Rin Denver Zacharein — the self-proclaimed GOAT of Esports — makes a comeback in the most thrilling ride of his life! After retiring at the top of his game, Rin had no intention of reclaiming his title and only played for fun and escapism. That changed with the release of Apotheosis Online — a virtual game with an unprecedented level of immersive reality. Rin finds out he can make the game his own reality. Fed up with life, Rin logs into Apotheosis Online with no overarching goal of becoming the best. Little did he know, Apotheosis only existed to raise a God. As the line between reality and the virtual world blurs, Rin must step up to become mankind's sole hope. Join the epic journey and witness the birth of a legend, the Virtuous Sinner. _________ ghhnl9885hhwkalq--usisia55 9 ㄊ j/h j///ff。bhh ㄘㄨㄓ ㄕㄌㄋ

EG0 · ゲーム
レビュー数が足りません
68 Chs

Nothing Left to Prove

[You're not wrong.]

Rin reacted quickly, brandishing his sword in response to the unexpected voice. It only took a second for him to realise that it had resonated in his mind.

"Never do that again when I'm in stress," he said, assuming the owner of the voice could hear him.

[Noted,] Dawn transmitted to his head.

Rin settled down, and his heart stopped racing. The battle took almost everything out of him and left his mind hyperactive. Probably due to the replication of realistic mana usage. It felt bizarre to alter body weight like that. Almost disconcerting. He probably would have vomited if it were real life.

"So," Rin asked, "are you here to info dump?"

The artificial intelligence hummed in his head. Her tone implied confusion.

"You seem to be unfamiliar with other open-world RPGs, or even sci-fi, fantasy movies," Rin observed. "It's quite common for a prominent character to deliver random expositions to the protagonist to explain things."

[You're a very odd person,] Dawn told him.

"Just speaking random truths, my lady," Rin said as he sat down on the ground. "Anyway, go on with your exposition, although I liked to explore things on my own."

[Unfortunately for you, you aren't the protagonist,] Dawn said, her voice flat and neutral. [As for the explanation of magic, I know most of what there is to know, however, I'm not allowed to utter anything to the contestant.]

"Blame Stephen for that."

[Stephen?] Dawn found herself in confusion again.

Rin liked to go on random tangents in conversation like the next person, but he wasn't in the mood for that. Not after the draining battle with those savage wolves.

"Anyway," Rin said, heaving a deep breath, "why are you even speaking to me if you aren't offering any expositions?"

[You didn't let me finish.]

"Go on then."

[Naturally, I'm not allowed to mention secrets of magic and other apotheosis-related matters to the contestants--]

"I guess here you'll say," Rin cut in, "you can make an exception for me."

Dawn said nothing for several seconds. [This is the second time you've cut me off in the last half a minute,] she transmitted. [I can clearly see a behavioural pattern there.]

"My bad, go on then," Rin said. "And please, for the love of Stephen, cut to the chase. I don't really want to spend even a moment with this amount of filthy blood on me."

[Alright, I have a proposal to discuss with you,] the NPC lady said, sounding more lively than usual. [You might not have been aware, but Avalon offers a guide for every contestant in the great game. Of course, the relationship is highly transactional, and it occurs after a few days. But somehow you managed to stand out along with a few others. As you fell under me at the initiation, I have the first pick to be your guide.]

"So long story short, you want my money?" Rin groaned.

[That's a very flat way to put it, but yes.]

"Why do you even need it in the first place?" Rin asked. "You know what? Never mind. Just pitch your offer again, making it more enticing."

For several seconds, there was no reply. Rin even thought Dawn had left, but her voice chimed in his mind again as she went on her pitch to introduce what she could offer him.

She started with a cough to clear her voice. [Foremost, you must know I'm under severe rules and regulations which restrict me from offering many things I know. However, there are many interesting things related to magic I'm aware of which can be genuinely helpful for your growth and which I'm allowed to exchange.

[Of course, you have to give something in return, something of equal value to the knowledge, or something I deem as equal.]

Rin waited for her to continue, but it seemed Dawn was finished with her sales pitch. She was awful at that. Why bother to mention what she couldn't do first, instead of glorifying what she could do?

"Still not that enticing, but I'm intrigued," Rin said, eventually. "I can't say I'm looking forward to this partnership, but I do have about a dozen coins. What kind of answer would those coins give me?"

[You have more than just a dozen coins,] Dawn said, her tone suggestive. [Anyway, shoot. If your question is simple corresponding to the price you're offering, I'll answer them truthfully.]

"Great," Rin cheered.

His mind had calmed down by then as he took an overview of his play, keeping the NPC lady waiting.

In the rush, Rin lost the roasted rabbit that he cooked a couple of hours ago. Perhaps he could find it again if he traced it back to where he got chased by the pack of wolves, but he was in no mood to think about finding food when he felt like shit.

"So my question or questions," Rin said in his utmost serious tone. "Does your state of mind ever scare you? Did you ever go into an existential crisis when you can't remember or answer a question?"

For some time, there was no reply. Rin waited.

Nope, no a reply yet.

"Dawn?" Rin called.

No reply.

"Let's hope I haven't scared her to go into an existential crisis," he muttered and stretched his body as low cranking noises came.

For all that he experienced, that artificial intelligence seemed too smart and humane. Rin would be really scared if they already managed to develop actual intelligence.

Anyway, that wasn't his problem to deal with.

The proposal she offered was something for him to consider.

Initially, Rin thought it would be a lot harder to draw mana since the game went for completely realistic gameplay. However, the fusion of the origin mark changed everything.

Rin could feel the energy intuitively and somehow could focus them on the mark on his chest. True, he was but a two-trick pony, but that was something for his first day in the game.

Imagine how much he would develop under the guidance of someone who clearly had the presence of a legendary NPC.

Rin would have taken the offer easily if he was younger and wanted to become the best. But he was the best. There was nothing left to prove.

Now that his mana pool is almost empty, he couldn't bother to play now.

Rin decided to log out, thinking his mana and health would recover in full when he logged back in again.

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