chapter 6: deal

Here is the revised version with improved tone, grammar, and readability:

**Some time before MC's choice**

In the darkness, we could see a person in an all-black cloak preparing for some kind of ritual. They were standing in a room with a red magic circle beneath them. As the person was about to continue what they were doing, the room suddenly became bright. Golden particles filled the room, then converged to one point, and a being manifested through the golden light. 

She was a girl who looked to be around 20 years old, with golden hair, red eyes, and a presence that demanded respect. The cloaked figure started to talk, using magecraft to disguise their voice, "If it isn't the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh. To what do I owe the honor of having a great being like you manifest before me?" they asked while bowing their head to show respect.

"I came here to make a deal with you, mongrel, and stop your acting before I chop that tongue off," Gilgamesh replied in an angry tone, seeing through the cloaked figure's blatant lie.

"Ah, then that saves me the trouble of checking my tone. What do you want, King of Heroes? What kind of deal, and what do I get in return?" the voice asked, this time with a tone that lacked any form of formality.

"Tch, for a mongrel, you sure have quite the attitude. Maybe I should really chop your tongue off," as Gilgamesh said that, she pulled out a Holy Grail.

"Well, now you're talking. Speak of your deal, King of Heroes," the cloaked figure said, clearly excited after seeing the Grail.

After Gilgamesh and the cloaked figure made their deal, Gilgamesh dissipated in the same golden light she used to come. "Ah, I was wondering how I would get it to think it will come to me on its own. What a wonderful fool," the cloaked figure said while dancing around, holding the Grail.

"Well then, let's start another Holy Grail War that overlaps with the Greater Grail War I made," they said, suddenly revealing that they were the one responsible for every irregularity thus far. "I can't wait to finally get my wish! Hahahahaha—" As the cloaked figure continued to laugh, the scenario changed to another place, a forest, where again golden light gathered and Gilgamesh appeared.

Gilgamesh's POV:

"Hmm, damn it," I said as I held my head. Who was that mongrel? "All he did was exercise next to the river, yet I felt this unusual sadness and happiness when I saw him. What's going on, like a—" I suddenly stopped talking. "I only have one friend, and that's it." I finally stopped having a headache and decided to find the mongrel who was at fault. "Hmm, so that's where he lives, huh?"

Karma's POV:

{La la la~} As I was cooking for the user, suddenly I saw a change in the future. {Hmm, what's this? The future just got defined. That's unusual. Is this the irregularity's fault? That's interesting.} Then I contacted the admin to notify them. {Well, it should take a while for them to respond, though. Now we only have 2 days if things have changed like this.} As I was pondering what to do, the admin called me.

[Hello, Karma. How are—] Tch, couldn't she have just sent a message instead of making me hear her annoying voice?

{Tch, couldn't you just send a message instead of letting me hear your annoying voice?}

[Hey, at least filter out your thoughts. You know it hurts when you are so cold,] the voice said with a tint of sadness.

{Of course not. I only asked for your help because I trusted you, and the first thing you do is send the host to a world as complex and difficult as this one. And the worst thing is, every world after this is super simple compared to this. The order is beyond messed up,} I complained, frustrated at the current situation.

[Hah... I get you on that. You see, actually, my plan was to slowly build up the difficulty of the worlds, but I got... drunk and swapped up the quests,] the voice said, clearly with a tone of hesitation, like a child about to tell their parents they broke a vase.

{YOU DID WHAT?!} Karma shouted.

"Hey, Karma, did something happen?" she heard the user's concern from across the room, inquiring why she shouted.

{It's nothing, user. I just burned the food a bit. Just wait for me; I'll be there in a sec,} I said quickly, making up an excuse.

[You should control your voice, you know. If he knows of my existence, his mind will blow up,] the admin said as if stating a fact.

{Well, that's true. Anyway, you swapped the quests? What do you mean by that? How are we going to fix it? I tried to give infinite mana, but I later learned that this world's magic isn't even fueled by the same mana,} Karma said, realizing how deep in trouble they were.

[Yeah, I know. I also forgot about that. Anyway, how about we give him a choice, so it looks like we are in control? Basically, the second choice is something he will choose, which also fills the problem. Normally, in what you are given, there's no benefit at the start. Everything you have to learn yourself or carry from previous quests.] Then she paused for a bit and stated with a bit of worry, [Surviving this quest would be impossible, even with what we can offer. It may still be close to impossible.] This time, she said it with a hint of sadness.

{I can't believe the very first quest is like this. Anyway, I get that this world is complex, but the quest only requires him to win the Grail. Even with failure, there is no penalty, so as long as he survives, it's good, isn't it?} Karma asked, wanting to know the exact reason she was worried.

[The thing is, it's the irregularity that is the prob—] Just as the admin was about to say something important, the signal got cut off.

{Well, I guess the timer ran out,} Karma said with a disappointed look.

After story:

Junior: Well, that's actually an interesting development. So, basically, we are exploring the reason behind the choice and the future Karma saw, huh? [Junior stated, completely forgetting about her own predicament.]

Explainer: Yes, as you can see, in the first part, the author basically introduced that the character we saw at the bridge was Gilgamesh while also revealing the irregularity. Their deal is likely one of the key plot points, including Gilgamesh's headache and the revelation that the choice was to fix a mistake. MC, by not choosing mana, actually did something good. It's also interesting that they used their power to understand MC to give a choice they knew he would make, and—

Junior: Shut the hell up! Where did you even come from, Ca—

Forgotten: Close her mouth, Junior, before we have no extra words for the after st—

[With that, the chapter ends here.]