Chapter 20 – Origin Store
[You have succeeded in your Fated Quest.]
Cassius smiled, pleased to have cleared the quest not even an hour after receiving it.
'I was lucky.' He thought, acknowledging his situation. 'If it had been anyone other than Ananke, things would surely have gone differently.'
He didn't know why he had trusted the Goddess not to abandon him. Maybe because he was her Blessed. Or maybe because something in her had made him feel like he could open up without risking being doomed for it.
Either way, Cassius was glad he had.
'At least now there is someone else bearing the burden of my knowledge in this world.'
And most importantly, someone with whom he could be himself. Someone with whom he didn't need to worry about a knife in his back.
His smile widened, and widened further when the notifications continued.
[New Achievement! A Goddess as the First?]
[You have taken a literal goddess as your first loyal companion. You are either annoyingly charismatic for a Desdemona, or the goddess is a fool. Which one?]
[Rewards: 1000 VP (additional 500 for your Achievement!)]
Without even seeing her, Cassius could already imagine the angry, wrathful face of Ananke as she read those words.
He squeezed his eyes shut and plastered his hand over his mouth, fighting desperately not to laugh.
He had always known how snarky and arrogant the System's notifications could be from his time with the game. But experiencing it in reality was another thing entirely.
[Are you laughing at me, Cassius?] Ananke scowled.
"Do you see me laughing?" He managed to say without bursting.
[You are clearly holding yourself back.]
"Then why not appreciate my consideration for you?"
Ananke fell silent, and Cassius could practically feel her rolling her eyes.
He chuckled, shook his head, pulled himself together, and focused back on the rewards of his Fated Quest.
'1000 VP.' He thought, stroking his chin thoughtfully, casting his mind back to the game.
In the game, Emrys hadn't gained Villain Points. He had gained something called Affection Points, earned through interactions with the Main Cast and completing his Fated Quests.
Those quests didn't only help him build his large harem — the man was genuinely greedy — they also made him stronger far above his peers.
And the reason was laid out plainly by the notifications now in front of Cassius.
[You have gained Villain Points.]
[You can use VP to make purchases in the Origin Store, which opens every Saturday.]
[Origin Points are the currency of the Origin Store. 1 OP equals 100 VP. Be mindful of that.]
[Next Purchase Day: In 3 days.]
'At least that's the same as in the game.' Cassius nodded and waved the notifications away.
This was the tool Emrys had used to grow stronger faster. The items available in the Origin Store were a mix of everything that could exist in the world — from something as basic as a toothbrush to something as rare as the egg of a mythic beast.
It opened every Saturday, presenting a set of three items each time.
The three items never repeated. So if he missed something he truly wanted…that was goodbye to it forever.
'However,' he frowned, 'the conversion rate is annoying. I'll need far more than 1000 VP to afford anything truly worthwhile.'
But that was something to think about later. Right now, Cassius was deeply exhausted from everything his first day had thrown at him.
He needed to sleep. And the timing was perfect, night had fallen, draping the whole territory in a soft embrace.
Yet someone disagreed. Ananke became strangely talkative all of a sudden, her voice excited and curious.
[Now I understand how you knew all that information you promised me.] she said, sounding triumphant.
'Want me to congratulate you?' Cassius rolled his eyes. 'Can you let me sle—!'
[It's so interesting.] she cut in without care. [So, so interesting, Cassius. I've seen several things I didn't know. But many aspects of the game are… false.]
'What?' Cassius frowned, immediately abandoning the idea of sleep.
[I didn't reach the full depth of your memories. And the ones related to the game are strangely blurry. But for example, the knowledge regarding the Bloodline Origin Pool of the Kurppe Kingdom's Twelve Sears is false. The same goes for the gods watching over them.]
Cassius's frown deepened. There were things in the game that weren't true?
'How is that possible?'
[I don't know. But there are many differences and inconsistencies between our Reality and the Game you played.]
She paused, then slowly…
[I wanted to make you aware of that before you doom yourself — and me — at the same time.]
'The Main Characters…and even the Villains and True Antagonists,' Cassius hurriedly pressed. 'Reassure me. They are still the same, right?'
[I can't say much.] she said. [But given the little of their fates I can see, chances are they are likely the same.]
'If they are that heavily protected, then they still are.'
[Most likely.]
Cassius exhaled in relief. If the Main Characters were the same, that was good enough.
Still, this new information proved his point.
He was no longer in a game. He was in the real world. And he had to stop acting as though he knew everything.
But…
'I will still use every piece of information I have to get stronger and protect my family.'
[And you lied to me.] Ananke spoke again, and this time, Cassius knew immediately what she was referring to.
His lips twitched.
[You said you knew where the God's corpse was…]
'Did I, really?'
[…but that's false. You don't know it, Cassius.]
'Well, technically I do.' He shrugged, voice already growing drowsy. 'I know the man who can tell me the location of the God's corpse. That's the same thing, isn't it…?'
[…]
Ananke was speechless, caught between using her essence to strangle him and simply ignoring him.
By the time she decided…
Cassius was already asleep, snoring like metal scraping across stone.
She winced at the sound, studied his face for a moment — unfairly beautiful, even in sleep — and shook her head.
[With you, I will definitely learn patience.]
Otherwise one day she might just strangle the insolent boy in his sleep.
…
"Morning, morning, MORNING!!!"
BAAAAAAMMM!!!!
"Arghhhh!"
Cassius bellowed as a hot, searing pain bloomed from his stomach, spreading through his whole body in an instant.
He snapped his eyes open — bulging, tears swelling at the edges — coughing up spit mixed with blood. His gaze immediately settled on a strange and dreadful sight.
A woman, around twenty-one years old, white hair and black eyes, was sitting directly on his stomach. The source of his immense pain was now clear.
She looked at him impassively, not a shred of emotion visible in her dark eyes. Beside her stood a man bearing her exact features, looking down at him with a wide, devilish grin.
"Fuck!" Cassius croaked, and his siblings grinned sharply. "The Twins?"
"Yo, Youngest!" Lucian yelled, looming over him, slapping his face repeatedly — gently enough not to leave marks, aggressively enough to make Cassius furious.
Angry veins snapped across Cassius's forehead.
"I heard you wanted to be trained before meeting your wife!"
"Lucian, you bloody bastard! What—!"
"Right, Lilien?" Lucian ignored his little brother entirely, looking at his twin sister with that grin of his. "Isn't it right? Aren't we right?"
Lilien said nothing. Instead, she looked at her younger, bleeding brother, pinned him down by freezing his shadow, and smiled coldly.
"Let's begin immediately, Lucian. Father and mother said to go easy."
"Easy?" Lucian barked a loud laugh. "But of course!"
His hand whipped out, clasping around Cassius's face tight, making him yelp in pain.
"Youngest, youngest, YOUNGEST!"
His eyes darkened. The room followed.
"HERE WE GO!"
Lilien grabbed Lucian's clothes just in time, and the three of them dissolved into shadow, teleporting out of the room entirely.
—End of Chapter 20—