novelraw Chapter 358
Chapter 358
356-2. Childhood Friends - Reward
‘What… is this?’
Rev drifted away. It wasn’t a bad thing, but Minseo was left feeling dazed.
Every time the ending played, he and Leo would be pulled into this dark space together.
They’d gradually recover their senses as the ending credits scrolled by. Leo’s consciousness always faded slowly, bit by bit.
But this time was different.
As usual, Minseo read the credits while organizing his thoughts, and then it hit him.
He realized where all those Leos, the ones who had vanished before his eyes, had gone.
He realized why their lives had been so painful.
And then—he screamed.The Leos had been “offered as tribute.”
When they unlocked the information for {The History of Ashin}, Minseo learned how the Ashin gods accumulated power and received offerings.
They accepted anything of value.
And their sense of "value" wasn’t much different from a human’s. Anything infused with strong emotions—anything that bore the "sentiments of a created being"—qualified as a worthy offering.
For example, when a hunter offered the head and heart of his prey to Barbatos, his efforts and gratitude were contained within that offering.
Likewise, the prey itself would have felt the loss of its own heart and head as something profoundly regrettable.
And Leo's life had been just like that.
Each iteration produced an emotional "replica" of Leo. His labor, his love for Lena, and all the swirling emotions from each timeline became finely prepared offerings.
The "rewards" they received at the end of each playthrough—those were the compensation for offering up these Leos.
Minseo could no longer avoid recalling the many rewards they had received over the years.
[Leo, you became a skilled hunter... Your achievement grants Leo the {Hunting} ability.]
[Leo, you became a knight... Your achievement grants Leo the {Swordsmanship} ability.]
[Leo, you lost your beloved sister due to poverty... As a consolation, you receive {Starting Funds}.]
[Leo, you were too naive... You receive the {Rules of the Back Alleys} information.]
[Leo, you and Lena performed a joint attack... You receive the {Joint Combat Technique} ability.]
[Leo, Lena's achievements surpassed yours... Lena's {Bedroom Techniques} ability is partially inherited by Leo.]
[Due to a noble's interference, Lena's dream... You receive the {Noble Society} information.]
[Leo, you obtained the sword of a Swordmaster... You receive the {Swordsmanship.2v} ability.]
[Leo, you spent your life searching for Lena... You receive the {Tracking} ability.]
[Leo, you honed your swordsmanship to its limit... You receive the {Swordsmanship.3v: Bart Style} ability.]
[Leo, you encountered an Ashin (Child God)... You receive the {History of Ashin} information.]
[Leo, as a faithful apostle of Barbatos... You receive {Barbatos' Bracelet}.]
[Leo, you fought a fierce battle against a Swordmaster... You receive the {Swordsmanship.4v: Jacob Style} ability.]
[Leo, you wounded the strongest swordsman on the continent... You receive the {Swordsmanship.5v: Forte Style} ability.]
[Leo, you were betrayed... The achievement of 'Master-Servant Relationship' is strengthened.]
[Leo, you became the continent's strongest swordsman, but Lena... You receive the {Swordmaster Mentor} ability.]
[Leo, you became the king of the Conrad Kingdom and a great general... You receive the {Tactics} ability.]
All of it—the rewards, the skills, and the blessings—had been purchased with Leo’s life and emotions.
At last, Minseo understood why, no matter how hard they fought, they were always met with a tragic ending.
The Holy God, the true master of all creation, never received tributes.
And because of that, no one could offer anything to Him. Offering something to its owner held no meaning.
So, someone had processed Leo’s life into something worthy of being an offering.
Someone had deliberately crafted Leo’s fate to be filled with regret.
They had orchestrated his fate so that his grief would pierce the heavens, even reaching the indifferent Holy God. The system itself, along with Leo's fate, had been designed that way.
And the one most likely to have done this was none other than the God of Patience and Devotion, Namer.
“...”
Minseo stood there, dumbfounded.
His mind felt like it was about to short-circuit. His head throbbed with the weight of it all, and a shiver ran down his spine at the realization of Namer's cruelty.
The Leos had literally been "dying" to raise the Lenas.
Minseo looked around.
The dim, hollow, icosahedral space where they watched the credits roll now felt like a shrine—a bloody altar. The corpses of countless Leos, shattered into pieces, lay scattered in his mind’s eye.
They were all here.
Even now, they yearned for Lena’s happiness.
“...”
Minseo steadied himself.
He read the three photos that floated before him and scanned the ending credits once again.
Other than the part about Lean abducting Jenia and forcing her into marriage, there wasn’t much to note.
Lean never gained Jenia's love. Since she couldn’t bear children, he ultimately married Lerialia to secure his lineage. It was a tragic story but not particularly useful information.
After all, they never made it to Orville.
The more important detail was the image of Rev.
It was a photo of Rev, standing next to Lena, with a smile so bright it seemed unreal.
Minseo had never seen him look so genuinely happy.
‘...Congratulations.’
Despite how merciless the system was, it seemed that once the true ending had been reached, it released the Leos.
That must have been why they hadn’t received a reward after the last engagement ending, the one where Malhas was defeated.
At the time, since the ending occurred when Ray died, Ray's consciousness hadn’t followed him. He had found it odd back then.
He remembered how he had been furious, not understanding why there was no ending reward.
But now, he wasn’t upset about not receiving one.
He looked back on all the rewards they had accumulated so far.
This will be the last round.
With the corpses of the countless sacrificed Leos behind him, Minseo bowed his head in gratitude.
Then, he pressed forward.
To reclaim the final, happy ending for all of them.
Time began to rewind.