Cook God's 'trick' suggestion was way too dangerous. If Michael actually did that, he might've died a wrongful death before even leveling up.
"Of course I know what I'm saying. Think about it. Dragon God is the top existence among dragons and also the lord of energy monsters. I guarantee Dragon God's meat is number one."
Cook God grinned as he spoke, looking extremely sly. He clearly knew Michael couldn't do it but said it anyway just to mess with him.
"Shut up. Even if I can't actually be killed, I don't like being punished. Besides, you can't even kill Dragon God, so what makes you think I can?"
Even though Michael was now a god, an immortal existence, he still had a grasp of his own abilities. He wasn't the type to act crazy without using his brain just because he was greedy.
"So boring. I thought you were braver. If my soul was immortal like yours, I'd really do it. What's a thousand-year imprisonment to a god? As long as you still have your responsibilities, no amount of years can wear a god down."
Though it sounded a bit like mocking, Cook God actually wanted Michael to pay more attention to the matter of his responsibilities.
Michael wasn't an heir of a god but a real god. Who knew if a weird god with no responsibilities might get deleted?
"I get it. I'll pay more attention to that. So when are you gonna hand over your power to me?"
Now that he couldn't even eat, Michael didn't see any reason to stick around here. He wanted to quickly 'fast-forward' time to when the chosen one turned three so he could have a new body and experience the god's talent.
At first he'd been curious about Cook God's real name, but now he didn't even bother asking. If he liked calling himself Cook God, then so be it. After all, Michael was only inheriting Cook God's power, not becoming the second Cook God.
"Here you go. Now get lost so I can disappear from this world completely."
A beam of energy shot from Cook God straight into Michael's forehead. Instantly, a massive amount of information appeared in his mind out of nowhere. It was basically a 'user manual' for Cook God's abilities.
The scene before Michael suddenly changed again without any warning. Having experienced this before, he knew for sure it was the system's doing and had nothing to do with Cook God.
When he was in that special space calling for the system, it pretended not to hear him. The moment he inherited the god's power, it immediately brought him back inside the magic lamp.
"System, you've been playing deaf with me this whole time?"
[…]
[I don't have ears, so how could I be deaf? You're falsely accusing me again.]
???
Sure enough, the system's way of talking was anything but pleasant. It completely decided its own actions and didn't care at all about what Michael wanted.
"Damn it, you assh*le. There's no way I'm accepting that kind of response. Whatever, forget it. Take me to when the chosen one turns three."
[Are you sure you want to go right away? Aren't you going to check what kind of information Cook God gave you. Oops, I let it slip…]
Michael's eyelids twitched a few times. As long as his brain wasn't just for decoration, he knew the system wasn't pretending. But this suggestion wasn't half bad. The amount of information Cook God gave him was pretty large, so he'd only skimmed it.
He focused his mind to read through the inherited memories from Cook God. At first it was fine, but the more he read, the more his mouth twisted.
"Damn! You told me I'd have god-level talent after awakening, but you didn't say how the hell I'm supposed to awaken. This counts as basic knowledge so it probably won't be hard to find, but what about the divine artifact?
You described how great it is, what it looks like… But you didn't say the most important thing—where it is. What's that supposed to mean?"
Michael was pissed off about the half-baked information Cook God had given him. He talked a lot but didn't mention any of the important points.
Suddenly remembering there was a 'know-it-all' system here, he decided to try his luck and ask. If he got an answer, great. If not, whatever. Anyway, once you reached god-level power, your lifespan was infinite, so he had time to go find the divine artifact.
"System, do you know how to awaken? And do you know where Cook God's divine artifact is?"
[Awakening isn't that hard. You just need to go to a big city and ask any random contractor. As for the divine artifact, that's yours, not mine. If you want to use it, go find it yourself.]
Michael's eyelids twitched slightly, but he wasn't too surprised. This kind of response from the system was par for the course.
"Anyway, I'm not short on time for this stuff. First, help me quickly 'skip' this boring phase."
[Ok.]
Without any warning, the system made a bronze hammer suddenly appear out of nowhere. It slammed into Michael's head, making his mind spin.
"F…"
He didn't even get a chance to curse before losing consciousness. He lay sprawled on the bed, looking more like he'd been beaten to death on the spot than like he was sleeping. His middle finger, though no longer under his control, still stuck straight up to curse the system on his behalf.
---
Whether the space inside the magic lamp was filled with high-dose anesthesia or what, Michael remained sprawled on the bed straight through until the moment he wanted to reach.
His eyelids moved slightly but couldn't open immediately. Even though nothing about his body had changed compared to when the hammer hit his head, probably out of habit he didn't want to wake up.
"You f*cking system!"
As soon as his consciousness cleared, he immediately sat up and cursed loudly. He couldn't believe the way the system 'fast-forwarded time' was using this bizarre method.
If it weren't for the fact that inside the magic lamp he couldn't actually be hurt, that hammer really could've beaten him to death on the spot.