novelraw Chapter 78: Call me the Creator
Chapter 78: Call me the Creator
For a good few seconds, there was no response.
Rex remained slumped against the wall, barely breathing, eyes half-lidded as though teetering on the edge of unconsciousness. But then, slowly, he turned his head. One bloodshot eye peeked through tangled strands of red hair and fixed itself on me.
There was nothing left of the fiery, confident man I once knew. No strength, no pride. Just exhaustion, pain… and yet, buried deep within that hollow gaze, something flickered. A faint, flickering ember of resistance.
I stepped closer, lowering my voice to a low but firm tone. “I’ll ask again. Do you still have the will to live?”
He blinked, lips parting slightly, but no words came out. Still, his gaze didn’t waver, and that alone was enough for me.
I crouched in front of him, making sure he could see the unfamiliar face the mask had crafted. “Answer me.”
Yet, there was nothing. Only the faint rasp of his breath scraping through his throat.
“Do you want to die in this place?” I pressed on. “Forgotten in a back alley like trash, thinking that you’ve lost everything? Then use that loss. Let it burn. Let it carry you forward. But don’t sit here waiting to fade out.”
Then, a twitch. It was barely noticeable as his jaw clenched ever so slightly.
“Do you still have the will to live?” I repeated the sentence over and over, each time like a steady heartbeat echoing through the silence of the alley. A rhythm meant not just to ask, but to reach the part of him that hadn’t yet given in.
Until…
“…Do you still have it, Rex?”
Finally, a hoarse whisper escaped from his mouth. “…Yes…”
“Good,” I said simply, reaching into my inventory and pulling out one of the mid-grade healing potions I’d bought earlier that morning. Its glass container glinted faintly in the dim light, the crimson liquid inside swirling thickly.
I crouched down and placed it gently on the ground in front of him. “Drink this, then.”
He stared at the potion for a long moment, as if unsure whether it was real or just another illusion brought on by pain and fatigue. Slowly, with a tremble in his remaining hand, he reached out. His fingers barely managed to close around the bottle, but he pulled it to his lips and drank in shaky gulps, some of the contents spilling down his cracked lips.
The effect was almost instantaneous.
Unlike the low-grade potions I usually relied on, this one released a faint, soothing glow that spread across his battered body. The bruises along his arms and face faded. Even wounds all over his body closed up, returning his breath to normal. The color returned to his face, and for the first time in what must have been days, he looked human again.
“I’m not here to give you pity,” I said once he lowered the empty bottle, the glass trembling slightly in his grip. “I’m here to give you a choice. A path forward that only someone like you can walk.”
I straightened up and extended a hand toward him. “Now decide. Do you want it or not?”
His gaze rose to meet mine again, and the dying ember in his eyes began to flare with new life. He stared at my hand for a long moment before finally reaching out. Despite his frail state, his grip was firm.
“I’ll take it,” he rasped, full of determination. “Whatever this path is… I’ll walk it.”
“Very well,” I replied calmly. “No taking it back once you’ve agreed.” Then I leaned in closer, dropping my voice to a whisper. “Now, listen carefully to what I want you to do…”
His brow furrowed at first, then his eyes widened as I spoke, laying out my plan piece by piece. It was simple, really. What I wanted from him was to find others like himself—divine warriors who were on their last legs, broken and forgotten. The ones abandoned by the System, beaten down by the city’s ruthless hierarchy.
This was not out of charity or the kindness of my heart. But because I wanted to turn them into my subordinates. Of course, “subordinates” wasn’t quite the right word in the conventional sense. After all, what I truly sought was plausibility, and they were excellent vessels for it. Broken divine warriors, abandoned by the System, brimming with contradictions and regret… they were perfect fuel for my abilities if I could convert those feelings into faith, then to plausibility.
I then pulled out a pouch filled with gleaming soul coins and placed it firmly into his good hand.
“Here, one thousand soul coins. Use it as seed capital—for your recovery and to begin recruiting others like you,” I said.
He clutched the pouch tightly while nodding his head with growing resolve. “I will.”
“Oh, and…” I reached out and touched the stump of his missing arm. “Grant Plausibility.”
You have activated Grant Plausibility.
You have temporarily enhanced the target’s regenerative capability for ten minutes.
A total of 50 Plausibility has been consumed.
A dim white light shimmered across the scarred flesh. Slowly, as though time reversed itself, the ruined stump began to reshape. To the naked eye, sinew knit together, bone extended with quiet precision, and pale skin wove itself over muscle and nerve. The outline of a new arm gradually took form.
His breath caught in his throat, eyes wide with disbelief.
“That should be enough to get you moving again,” I said coolly. “Consider this your advance reward.”
“This… How is this possible—No, how can I ever repay you for this?” he asked, staring at me as if beholding a god.
“Do as I instructed, and you will repay me in due time.”
With those words, I turned and began to walk away.
“Sir! Wait!” he called after me, voice breaking with urgency. “What should I call you?”
I paused for a moment, letting the silence stretch.
“Me?” I glanced over my shoulder, just enough for him to see the edge of my masked face. “You can call me... the Creator or Genesis. Whichever of the two you wish.”
“Genesis…?” Rex mumbled, repeating the word under his breath like a prayer.
I didn’t look back. With the deal sealed and the name planted, I walked away from the alley and reentered the main streets of District F. The grime and rot didn’t bother me this time. My mind was already making plans for the seed I had just sown.
By the time I reached the main plaza, the sun hung high overhead. Noon had arrived, and the stone square buzzed with activity. Divine warriors and peddlers moved from stall to stall, shouting prices, haggling over gear, and chatting idly as if this world wasn’t on the verge of chaos. It was a strange sense of normalcy in a world so unnatural.
I quickly spotted Boris as his towering frame made him hard to miss even in a crowd. He stood near the edge of the fountain, arms crossed, looking like a statue waiting to be carved into motion. Michelle was beside him, flipping through a bundle of newly purchased arrows with a thoughtful expression. Her quiver looked freshly stocked.
I deactivated the mask’s effect and slipped it back into my inventory before making my way toward them. At the same time, I unequipped the cursed coat. Ever since its upgrade, its concealment had become so potent that not even Boris or Michelle would’ve noticed me unless I showed up right in front of them.
When I was ten steps away, their heads turned almost in sync.
“Lad, you sure took your sweet time,” Boris said the moment he caught sight of me.
“Had something personal to take care of,” I replied with a shrug.
Michelle glanced up and gave me a small smile. “Should we head to District D now?”
“All done with supplies?” I asked.
“More or less,” Michelle replied. “I got what I needed—specialized arrows, some string and binding thread for traps, and a few other things. Boris didn’t buy anything except the essentials, as usual.”
“I was browsing,” Boris said flatly. “But there was nothing that piqued my interest. I also didn’t spot any alcohol stores.”
I let out a small chuckle. “Then let’s head to District D. We should check out the training center while we still have time.”
We started walking through the plaza and into one of the connecting roads that led toward District D. As we passed beneath the stone arch marking the boundary between the central plaza and the adjacent district, the atmosphere began to change.
District D wasn’t exactly high-class like the upper-tier districts, but it was noticeably cleaner and more organized than District E—or the dilapidated sprawl of District F. The streets here were broader and neatly paved and wide enough to accommodate several carriages and carts, and the buildings—mostly made of stone and reinforced timber—stood upright with a sense of structure and permanence, a clear contrast to the sagging rooftops and crumbling walls of the lower districts.
If District E and District F resembled cities from the Medieval Ages, then District D felt like a transition into the Renaissance. The architecture carried a more refined touch—arched windows, stone columns, and tiled roofs—while the main plaza behind us leaned heavily into classical themes, reminiscent of ancient Greece and Rome. It seemed that each district was designed with its own aesthetic era in mind, and it wouldn’t be surprising if District C and those beyond followed this pattern as well.
The foot traffic here was noticeably lighter than in District E, but what it lacked in quantity, it made up for in presence. Being of Gimmel rank, the divine warriors walking these streets were clearly stronger and equipped with better weapons and equipment. Each of them was exuding the aura of an experienced fighter.
“What a place… Such wide streets and tall buildings,” Michelle said, her eyes wide as she looked around in awe.
She must have come from a rural village if this alone amazed her. I imagined her reactions would only intensify the closer we got to District A.
“Mhm.” Boris grinned as he scanned the area. “You can tell from the way people carry themselves. These divine warriors aren’t amateurs; they’re all battle-hardened people. This’ll be a fun place to train.”
“Oh, and hopefully someone sells vodka here,” he added with a sigh.
You’re always obsessed with fighting and vodka, huh… It had probably been a while since Boris had real alcohol. Maybe he missed it, or maybe it reminded him of home.
Soon enough, we arrived at the district’s training center. While it still featured an outdoor field similar to the one in District E, this place was clearly on another level. A two-story building stood beside the field, constructed from dark, sturdy stone with reinforced windows.
Even from just peeking through the glass from outside, I could already tell the interior was packed with all kinds of training facilities as well as… a modern-looking gym?