Chapter 268

He now understood that a complete act of goodwill, born purely from benevolence, could exist. Out of a million people, there might be one who offers such a thing. Someone like that small angel who helped a sinner, or the man sitting next to him now. That was why Sa-yoon now believed in the existence of pure goodwill. However, he knew the being who would offer it would not be the System that had pushed his life into an abyss.

How could he trust them?

The ones who had been watching for a chance to stab him in the back for years.

“To be more precise, I should ask why you are opposing the Chief Gods. Making me a villain was their plan, wasn’t it? Helping me break free from the ‘True Evil of Humanity’ disposition is an act of rebellion against them. What is your reason for wanting to wage war?”

He had figured out the why me, so now he needed to understand the System’s objective. If their goals aligned and they could be of use to each other, he could, by a great stretch, work with them. But at the end of the day, all the systems were run by gods. How did he know their words weren’t just a load of hot air while they were secretly in league with the other gods?

Sa-yoon had too many reasons to distrust the System to just blindly believe it.

We are merely trying to re-balance what has been broken.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He was not a fan of vague answers. He stared at the System, demanding a more direct explanation. It approached the table where Sa-yoon, Geon-joo, and Jaehee were sitting and took a seat. The figure that had seemed so trivial before now felt strangely immense. He was still a god, after all. A gentle pressure enveloped the table.

For you to understand balance, you must first know about the Chief Gods. How many gods do you think exist in the world?

“I thought there were seven, but I guess not. The fact that you’re starting a war suggests there are at least a few more.”

When he was being judged, he had been surrounded by seven gods, so he’d assumed that was all of them. But he had learned that wasn’t the case through the memories of his past life and the quest he had just received. He stated it plainly, and the System nodded. Lee Jaehee, whose stated goal was to bring down the gods, leaned forward, showing great interest in the conversation.

There are many gods. Very many. Some you may even know. For instance, Odin, Dangun, Brahma, Gaia… There are as many gods as there are known figures in human cultures. But before any of them were born, there was Nothingness.

The paper bag suddenly looked up at the ceiling. They followed its gaze. The plain white ceiling disappeared, replaced by something of a color that could only be described as pale, and it covered the entire space. An unsettling chill washed over them.

Unsettling.

Sa-yoon frowned at the unfamiliar feeling.

Nothingness. A primordial place where nothing existed. From that Nothingness, the first seven were born. The one who knows Life. The one who knows Death. The one who knows Light. The one who knows Darkness. The one who knows the Past. The one who knows the Present. The one who knows the Future. From the moment of their birth, they carried the burden of balance. Life is opposite Death, Light has its back to Darkness, the Past connects to the Present, the Present to the Future, and the Future back to the Past. To maintain this balance, they created a space in which to exercise their authority.

As the System’s slow explanation began, a black dot appeared on the pale ceiling.

The first creation. In that place, the primordial chaos was born, and to establish order, the gods were born. We are nothing but components of the Chief Gods.

The System’s voice sounded faintly sad.

Therefore, by principle, we cannot war with them. A war can only occur if the balance of power is even. We couldn’t even entertain the thought of starting one. Even though all gods knew from birth that the balance was breaking, we could do nothing. Because they are the Chief Gods.

“…”

A wave of disorganized emotion washed over him. Sa-yoon had to steady his mind to avoid being swayed by the other’s feelings.

A colorless despair, a distant tidal wave, swept through the Fated Tower. Sa-yoon scowled and bit down on his lip, feeling that if he let his guard down for even a moment, he would be swept away by that emotion and break down into sobs. He glanced to his side. Neither Lee Jaehee nor Han Geon-joo seemed to be faring much better.

The one who broke through the violently churning tidal wave was Lee Jaehee.

“Did you not say the Chief Gods created the world to maintain balance? How could the balance be broken?”

That guy really is something else.

Who would be curious about that in a situation like this? Still, his gaze was more serious and heavy than Sa-yoon had ever seen it, so he swallowed his retort. The System let out a voice like a sigh.

You were the ones who gave us the answer to that. A human, just like you, figured it out.

“And what was that?”

Are the gods omnipotent?

At the familiar question, Sa-yoon’s eyebrow twitched. It was certainly a question he had heard and thought about many times.

That was the first doubt you offered to the great creation. A doubt that we, as their components, could not dare to have. You were right. The gods are not omnipotent, and the long eons have clouded the minds of the Seven Gods. They have made right and wrong unclear. As the boundary between good and evil blurred, the balance was broken. Because the gods have fallen. Because their judgment, their wisdom, their absolute perception has declined. Even when we realized this after an eternity of denial, thanks to you, we could do nothing at the time.

The voice, which had been so childlike it could only be described as gleeful, became that of an old man, then a woman, then a man, before finally becoming divine.

The System’s paper bag was still on, but Sa-yoon could feel it now. That even as it poured out its despair, even as it curled into a tiny ball, a being as immense as a mountain was sitting with them. They were meeting a god.

Lee Jaehee clenched his fist on the table.

“Why did you do nothing, even when you knew the balance was breaking? If you had corrected it then, things might have turned out better.”

I know. But we could not defy our fathers, our mothers. We were born with the roles they assigned us, and we exist only for that purpose. That is why we called you. Unlike us, who exist to fulfill a role, you were born with only the duty to live.

The voice, which had been steeped in sorrow, slowly regained its calm.

That is why humans live without the duty to create anything, or to kill anything, or to watch over the light, or to peer into the darkness, or to look back on the past, or to be aware of the present, or to be mindful of the future. Therefore, unlike us, you can face the gods, you can turn your backs on the gods, you can walk toward the light, or you can walk toward the darkness. Purely by your own will.

Though he couldn’t see its face, Sa-yoon could feel from its voice that the System was smiling fondly. The raw emotion resonated with the sound and reached him. Sa-yoon, along with the others, remained silent. In the solemn atmosphere, the System’s voice echoed.

You realized this ability, which even the gods envy, and gave it a name of your own.

“…Free will.”

At Lee Jaehee’s quiet utterance, the paper bag rustled. In that moment, a wind blew through the Fated Tower, a place with no visible openings to the outside. A soft, gentle breeze, one that seemed to soothe the soul, brushed against Sa-yoon’s cheek and playfully tousled his hair.

Yes. That is why we helped you. Because you possess an ability we can never have: the ability to judge the gods. That ability will be the key to the war. It will be the core of the beginning and the core of the war.

The System spread its hands before its chest. In the space that formed, large enough to hold a basketball, a silver scale materialized from thin air. It was a scale tilted heavily to the right.

This scale shows the difference in power between the Chief Gods and us. It is quite tilted. The quest I sent you earlier was not a quest of the present, but of the future. A quest I could only send because this is the Fated Tower. This is why I called you here.

“To balance that scale?”

Yes.

The System enlarged the scale. Sa-yoon slowly chewed on its words. The war can only happen if the balance of power between the gods who want war and the Chief Gods is even. A realization struck him. He thought he finally understood what the System meant by ‘qualification.’

They had to help them balance the scale. Only then would they receive the quest he had just seen and earn the right to ‘see.’

Tap. Tap.

Sa-yoon drummed his fingers on the table out of habit.

So, if I want to get back at the Chief Gods who screwed me over, I have to balance that scale first.

As he stared at the heavily tilted scale, just as the System had described, Lee Jaehee spoke.

“What is the method to balance it?”

You must place something on it with a weight that can match the power of the Chief Gods.

As the System answered, the scale creaked and moved slightly to the left.

So we have placed our godhood on the other side of the scale. If we lose the war, we will lose the achievements we have built over tens of thousands of years, fall, become humble creatures, live a thousand lives, and finally become human. We will be starting over from the very beginning.

“…”

The stakes were higher than they’d thought. Sa-yoon exchanged a look with Geon-joo and Jaehee. The System slowly looked at the three of them. Finally, its voice echoed within the Fated Tower.

The gods who have resolved for war have already wagered their godhood. If you wish to join us, you too must put up your value. Only then will the balance be met.

“What can we offer?”

The cycle.

“…”

Birth is connected to death. Every soul has received the blessing of that cycle. The blessing of balance that allows one to be reborn and atone for their karma, no matter what sin they have committed. That is what holds a weight equal to godhood.

The hall fell silent. Fortunately, the System seemed to have expected this and did not rush them.

“Ha.”

A hollow laugh escaped Sa-yoon. No wonder the failure condition for the quest was ‘Annihilation.’

As expected of gods, the scale of their bets was on another level. The price for a human to join this game was the annihilation of their soul.