CH 162. Secrets Yet To Be Spoken Of.

What the hell happened with this one last two weeks The power stone score was pretty bad and now it's the third day of the chapter and we didn't even cross 100 stones WTF Men WTF. And seven comments daily really this is the best we could do. BULLSHIT.

....

Mordred

Noble Phantasm: "This is the evil sword that destroyed my father... Clarent Blood Arthur!"

...

Today's anime meme is here. [ ]

....

Leaving aside the girls, there still exists the problems of the world itself to deal with and it's not just this world. Every time I return, my eyes and focus are at 100%. Coming here and being under of Esdeath reminds me of the future I'm fighting for — one filled with peace for me, one where I'll be able to spend all of my days like this with the ones I love, and that is a long list.

"What are you doing here?"

Suddenly, Esdeath's voice was heard as she sat beside me. Taking my head, she leaned it against her shoulder. My eyes were still focused on the rising sun as I spoke.

"Just enjoying the rising sun while musing on my thoughts."

"What's so important that you have such a serious face?"

Esdeath asked as a moment of silence fell between us.

"Just the future."

I finally said, a small moment of beauty falling between the two of us as Esdeath asked.

"Tell me what ails you, and I shall get rid of it."

Esdeath's words were filled with indulgence and love obsession, making me chuckle a bit.

"It's just about the girls in my life the worlds I to reach to get them"

I said.

"Oh? The ones whose pants you are trying to get into?"

Esdeath asked with a light teasing tone.

'That's one way to put it.'

"Yes,"

I replied.

"What about it?"

She asked.

"It's just a bit of fear about how things will unfold in the future. I fear that they might find out about what I did to get them and later hate me for it."

My reply got a few seconds of silence until Esdeath spoke again.

"Didn't you do all this to get these women in your life?"

To her question, I replied.

"Yes."

 "That means you desire them and did everything in your power to have them, and will do everything to get them right?"

"Yes."

I replied again.

"You tried everything to make them happy and you want them to be happy, right?"

"Yes."

I replied again, my face turning a bit odd.

"Then isn't everything alright? After all, they should be overjoyed at you doing all this to win their love. Just look at me"

'Somehow it sounds wrong and right at the same time.'

A chuckle left my mouth as I pondered the unique teachings of Esdeath. In a way, what she said was right and wrong. After all, I'm giving my 200% to win their love for me — understanding them, finding out their weaknesses, getting to know what they love, and more. It's through all this that I am handling their love and them.

In a way, it's romantic yet very creepy. Plus, emotions never play to rationality. Even if I did all this. 

What I did wouldn't be romantic or loving. It will just be a pure insult to their intelligence and their whole selves.

In the soft glow of twilight. She turned to him, her eyes reflecting the same constellations that shone above.

"To be with you," she began, her voice a melodic whisper, "is to embrace a life of everlasting joy. It's to transcend the limitations of mere mortals, to walk the path of eternity, to revel in an existence filled with adventures beyond imagination."

Her words were like a gentle caress, weaving through the threads of his soul. He listened, utterly captivated by her wisdom or his forced screwed up mind just like hers.

"Together, we'll forge our own destinies, wielding power beyond measure," she continued, her eyes gleaming with a fierce determination. "And the price we pay is simple – the act of sharing. After all, 'Shared joy is double joy; Shared sorrow is half a sorrow.' It's woven into our very essence as living beings. When we share our tales of triumph and happiness, we amplify our own joy, as we witness others find happiness in our shared experiences."

Her words resonated in the quiet of the day, a symphony of promises and possibilities. He felt a warmth in his heart, a profound greater connection with the woman before him.

She leaned closer, her lips a breath away from his ear, and her voice took on a seductive edge, "Even if the world were to discover the truth and unleash its scorn, Even after all this, if they find out the truth and hate you, so what? How can their status compare to yours? Beauty like theirs exists in every generation. Beauty, like theirs, is but a fleeting shadow in the grand tapestry of generations. You will live forever. My love, you can have any woman you want in the world. They would be lucky to even touch strand of your hair."

The world seemed to fade away as her words enveloped him, and he understood.  

As Esdeath said this, she placed a light kiss on my head, and my whole self relaxed a bit as I smiled at her words.

"If you want, you can have all the world here. You can have all the women of the worlds(Multivearse) as your playthings. Just name the kind of beauty you want, and you will have it — forever loyal and loving of you."

As Esdeath said this, I could feel the lofty pride she had for me, and I could tell that she doesn't pity any of the girls that I am going to pursue.

"And if that's not enough, tell me the type of woman you need, and I shall find her for you. It might take some time, though..."

Hearing this, I chuckled again at the thought of being able to have the type of woman I want to find for me. After all, having the Goddess of Ice as your lover has several perks that I have yet to fully use, but I will use them all in due time.

"Don't worry about it, love. If I want something, I will tell you about it. Right now, all I desire is to capture the hearts of these girls with my own power. It feels like an achievement to me."

Hearing my proposition of wanting to influence girls to fall in love with me, Esdeath gave a proud nod of her head as she responded.

"Of course, my love can do anything he wants! If you want, I can give you advice, look for the Goddess of Love and get you her blessing. It might go a long way on your path."

Hearing her words, I felt it wasn't a bad idea.  

"I will think about it."

"Okay, but don't hesitate to ask me for help if you need it."

"Of course."

I said as I raised my head from Esdeath's head. This time, my hand wrapped around Esdeath's waist as I pulled her head onto my shoulder.

"This time, let me pamper my love."

I spoke.

"Oh? Of course."

Esdeath replied as she relaxed her head on my shoulder. Our eyes stared deep into the horizon, a very relaxing atmosphere settling between the two of us. Soon, the sun being to rais as a beautiful blue moon was setting in the sky. Different birds flew around in the atmosphere. Beasts of power kept moving. Even during the day, the place looked beautiful. It's in this atmosphere that I spoke.

"Esdeath, do you need to know all my secrets?"

 "Are you ready to tell them all to me?"

She asked back. To this, I stayed silent for a moment before replying.

"Not yet."

"Then I will gladly wait until the day you are ready to tell it all to me."

Esdeath replied with a cool tone, which brought a smile to my face. She, a woman who lived for who more then, seen and done more than I could think of. should have already picked up on all my anomalies — my extreme fixation on keeping my status hidden and pursuing certain girls, my 'power' of bringing things and powers from the system.

Thinking so, I hugged Esdeath tight and placed a light kiss on her cheek. My eyes focused back on the morning  sky. For now, I will enjoy this moment with Esdeath.

But eventually above all else what I need to do is to fix on myself about whether I should continue the system given by the the being I am unaware of to make life miserable for those so-called protagonists, cause I am immortal now and I can't die, why should I fear the punishment the so-called system tell me I shall receive?

But there is also the thing system doesn't force me to do anything as failing the quest only in turn won't give me the rewards and I am yet to see any punishments in the quest bar which rarely makes an appearance.

So I will wait till that appears, the only thing keeping me going is the fact that unknown existence behind the system pulling the strings I can't see into the system, giving me the fear that the system itself might be able to do something to me if I backed out from my quest.

'One step at a time I Guess.....'

***

3rd Person POV

Even before the morning sun rose up after a deep talk a new found determination.

Jin left for the meeting area after he had all the love he wanted with Esdeath in the morning. It was different from yesterday, when he had some leeway, as he only joined the crew during the middle of the raid.

'Maybe, I shouldn't have worried.'

He was worried about whether he was too early or not, but…

Well, many Hunters had gathered before the Gate already by the time he got there.

"Uh? Uhh?? Hey, Mister Sung!! Sung!"

Foreman Bae Yun-Seok greeted him first.

"Hey, it's Mister Sung."

"Heyyy, man. Mister Sung!"

Other Hunters began greeting him with a slight nod, and some even raised their hands as high as their chest to greet Jin, which was quite different from yesterday.

The work each of the miners did was important, so they'd wholeheartedly welcome a colleague with great skills any time. From the expressions of the Hunters of the mining team, their delight could clearly be seen.

"…."

Jin wordlessly lifted his head as his greeting with a nod. 

"One, two, threeee…."

Foreman Bae counted the number of miners present today and jotted it down on the memo.

"Eighteen, Nineteen…. Well, it's almost everyone."

This should be more than enough. Well, it was fine for one or two to miss out on a day like today.

'Because, we have two aces in our midst now.'

Foreman Bae's gaze met those of Mok Jin-Su and Sung Jin. Bae grinned like a fool, causing Mok Jin-Su to hurriedly avert his gaze, while Sung Jin was tilting his head in confusion. As he thought man would have been over with his own interactions. 

It was then.

"Excuse me, Foreman Bae."

"Argh?! You surprised me!"

Foreman Bae flinched and shuddered grandly from the voice suddenly coming from his side.

Moving around without revealing one's presence was clear evidence of one's excellent skills.

And as expected….

The one Foreman Bae's resentful gaze was directed to was the leader of today's raid team, Sohn Ki-Hoon.

"Aigoo…. My heart nearly stopped from fright just now, Sohn Hunter-nim."

"My apologies. It's a bad habit I picked up from working in the dungeons for too long."

Sohn Ki-Hoon grinned sheepishly.

It was then, the foreman of the retrieval team suddenly revealed himself from behind Sohn Ki-Hoon.

"An old man not acting his age…"

"What the? Even you? Why would you two be here where the mining team is?"

"What do you mean, why? We are here because we've got business with you, obviously."

Foreman Bae stared at Sohn Ki-Hoon with a puzzled expression.

Meanwhile, Sohn Ki-Hoon was scanning the Hunters of the mining team as he opened his mouth.

"The thing is, our team's porter decided to not show up today. Looks like I'll have to borrow someone from the mining team."

"Ehhh?"

Foreman Bae's eyes went round in surprise.

"But, why from my team? When you got the retrieval team with lots of strong people who can carry luggage better than us….?"

As if he was waiting for that reply, the foreman of the retrieval team flew off his handle.

"My boys had to work overtime for three more hours just to finish our operation. They even missed dinner, too! But now, you want to use them as a porter, too?"

The reason why the retrieval team had to put in overtime while missing supper – because the mining team had finished their operation far too early. 

'Well, it's true that we finished our operation which should've normally ended around nine in the night, by around five o'clock all thanks to Mister Sung….'

When the foreman of the retrieval team glared daggers with veins popping up in his neck, Foreman Bae forgot what he wanted to say.

Perhaps he thought that this would be enough of an explanation, Sohn Ki-Hoon then addressed the miners.

"Is there anyone among you who wishes to accompany the raid team? Once the raid is over, we will furnish you the additional hazard pay immediately."

"….."

Soh Ki-Hoon's pleading eyes darted from here to there, but no one stepped forward. Either they looked down on the ground, or stared at the heavens, deliberately avoiding meeting his gaze.

That would be obvious, really.

'I ain't gonna risk my neck for a couple more bucks.'

'Won't do it, even if you beat me up….'

The highest ranked Hunter among the mining team was only a rank C. Most of them were rank Ds. Heck, they even had a rank E among them, too.

However, the place Sohn Ki-Hoon wanted to take them to was a rank A dungeon, seen as perhaps the most dangerous of the lot, realistically speaking.

The miners would still hesitate greatly even if the dungeon in question was rated B, yet it was an A!

Even a gentle graze would kill these Hunters there. No, just stepping on the wrong spot would result in one's death.

That dungeon was not a place where low ranked Hunters could survive.

Sure, porters only had to lug around the raid team's gear, but still…. Compared to the job of mining, it was still far too dangerous.

"Is there… no one?"

Sohn Ki-Hoon's expression became more and more crestfallen.

Who knew how much more time and effort he needed to waste in order to find another porter? Probably the whole morning, or even till the afternoon; or, if he was really unlucky, then the entire day might go down the drain.

.....

What the hell happened with this one last two weeks The power stone score was pretty bad and now it's the third day of the chapter and we didn't even cross 100 stones WTF Men WTF.