Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 530

Umbrada.

That was the Shadow Lord’s true name.

And the moment Umbrada revealed his true name—

[ For the first time as a player, you have heard a Superior’s true name directly from the party in question. ]

[ You have achieved a truly tremendous accomplishment that no other player has been able to accomplish. ]

[ The system acknowledges your supreme accomplishment and gifts you 20 bonus stats. ]

Su-ho could be granted bonus stats in recognition of that accomplishment.

'What the hell is this......!'

A Superior?

Up until now, the system had been calling the beings he knew as Transcendents “Superiors.”

Then was their official designation not “Transcendent,” but “Superior”?

'But if that’s the case.......'

He remembered the time he’d first manifested the Formless Sword.

[ The system wishes to grant you, who have reached the realm of a Transcendent for the first time, an opportunity to become stronger. ]

[ Rebooting An Su-ho Player’s system. ]

The memory of the system reboot.

Back then, the system had definitely said he had reached the realm of a Transcendent.

So which was it supposed to be?

Pushing that question aside for the moment, Su-ho spoke to Umbrada.

“This...... I’m so thrown off I don’t even know where to start or what I’m supposed to say.”

- There is no need to be flustered. We have plenty of time, and you have achieved the qualifications, so ask what you are curious about. And when all of that is finished, you can listen to my story then.

That droning hum in his voice—one that could even sound holy at first glance—settled into something much calmer.

Faced with Umbrada’s consideration as he composed himself and gave him room to breathe, Su-ho hesitated briefly, then opened his mouth.

“Thanks for the consideration. I’ve got a lot I’m curious about, but like you said, I’ll start with the small stuff. What’s a Superior, what’s a High Grade, and what’s a Non-Player grade? And why is this place called the spirit world?”

- The reason this place is called the spirit world is because I named it so. Because this is a world where shadows are everything.

“Shadows are everything? But the residents here...... no, not just the residents—animals and plants, hell, even inanimate objects and objects, none of them have shadows.”

- It is not that they do not exist, but that they cannot possess them. Because I possess them all. And as I said earlier, I am this world’s guardian deity and a shadowmancer who wielded shadow magic. That is why I named this world the spirit world.

“Fine. Then what are the High Grade and the Non-Player grade?”

- Just as the words say. High and Non-Player are a classification chart of players determined by the system.

“So what the hell does that mean.”

He was asking because he genuinely didn’t know.

Because before, when he’d asked Grid something related—

“......What is that? So what does a player grade even mean?”

- Su-ho, the system’s world is broader than you think. It means the worlds the system governs are not limited to this one place.

“What the.......”

That level of an answer had been all he got.

Hearing Su-ho’s response, Umbrada thought for a moment, then continued.

- I see. You were a mid-tier—Middle Grade—so you had no access authorization to that information. But now that you have gained a certain degree of access authorization, it seems I can explain it to you.

Umbrada looked up at the sky.

He was looking at the system.

Then he nodded.

- Permission has been granted. They say your qualifications are sufficient.

“Are you using telepathy or something? I can’t hear a thing.”

- The conversation channel itself is different. If we are to speak of player grades...... then first, we must speak of the Absolute One, and of the system you know.

The system and the Absolute One.

Though the notation was different, seeing them treated as the same meaning made Su-ho’s tension rise.

Because it felt like he was approaching the “real secret” that had been shrouded in veil all this time.

- Even if your qualifications have been met, your rank is still insufficient, so I cannot tell you very many things...... but as you once heard from your partner, more worlds exist than you think, and the system governs a great many such worlds. And it weaves them together like a game, taking pleasure in it.

“......Keep going.”

- The world you belong to and the world I belong to are the same. And most worlds pass through several stages of processing that the system has laid down. For example, after a world experiences a single destruction, it selects the most outstanding being among them as a representative and grants them an opportunity to become a guardian deity—then finally presents that guardian deity with a choice. That final choice is whether to perish together with the world and be used as tools and materials for the amusement of other worlds, or to preserve the world and remain as a helper for the amusement of other worlds.

“W-wait a second. That’s suddenly too much information at once, so I need a minute to sort out my thoughts.......”

He meant it literally.

This was extremely shocking information he’d never even heard of.

Su-ho began sorting it out slowly.

Then, all at once, he knit his brow and said,

“Wait. You said it goes through destruction and then picks the most outstanding being as a representative and gives them a chance to become a guardian deity? When you say destruction, do you mean the destruction of the entire world?”

- That is correct.

“How is the opportunity to become a guardian deity given?”

- You will learn that soon. From what I have observed, the probability that you will become that guardian deity is the highest.

“But you said there are two choices. Becoming a tool or material, or becoming a helper. Wait—then are you a helper?”

- Yes. I am a helper. That is why I possess the Non-Player grade. Helpers for amusement do not participate in gameplay.

“.......”

That made him think of the Lizard Dragon.

And also of the difference between Sacred Mark and Ruin Mark that Grid had explained while looking at the Lizard Dragon’s rune.

- Sacred Mark has several meanings, but on our side we usually express it as a trace of a god. The trace of gods who were extremely powerful—or sometimes the trace of a star. But among those gods, if they cooperate with the system and become transcendent beings, they leave a Sacred Mark. If they cannot, then they fall into becoming nothing more than the system’s toy, like an item, and come to be called a Ruin Mark.

“Then ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the fact that the Lizard Dragon’s rune is called a Ruin Mark means.......”

- It chose annihilation without cooperating with the system until the end. More precisely, it is closer to sealing, but.

Only now did the puzzles click into place.

After thinking for a while, Su-ho asked,

“What if you refuse both?”

- That cannot happen. In the first place, making another choice is the same as deciding to do things your own way, and that act itself is the privilege of the strong, is it not? But up until now, there has never been a precedent of anyone from any world defeating the system.

“.......”

He was right.

Making another choice itself was the privilege of the strong.

Then, like Umbrada said, did that mean I had no choice but to follow one of the two paths—Umbrada’s path, or the Lizard Dragon’s?

Umbrada continued.

- For reference, High Grade is also a grade automatically granted when one becomes a Non-Player. Because to serve as a helper, you need qualifications at about the level of High Grade to be able to do most things.

“I’d roughly guessed that, so I wasn’t curious. It pisses me off, and I don’t really want to know, either. No, forget it, so.......”

Mid-sentence, Su-ho let out a deep sigh.

They hadn’t exchanged that many words, but what was contained in them was quite weighty and heavy.

Separate from the feeling that his head might burst, the fact that in his current state he couldn’t take any measures at all came at him as intense psychological pressure and stress.

'How did I claw my way up here, with what kind of mindset, just to get to this point......!'

He breathed out again, a long breath that was practically another sigh.

Hot.

It was a lava-like sigh, melted with heat and stress.

He needed to calm down.

Even if he got worked up now, it wouldn’t help him in any way.

There had to be a way.

Even if the sky collapses, there’s still a hole to crawl through, and isn’t there that saying that even if you’re dragged into a tiger’s den, you can live as long as you keep your wits about you?

Then, all of a sudden, that thought occurred to him.

Su-ho asked Umbrada,

“Wait. But in a situation like this, why are you saying I’m the only hope that can save you? You’re already in the helper position, so isn’t there nothing you can do?”

- Are you finished with all your questions now?

“More or less?”

- Then I can tell you my story now. Yes, like you said, it may look like I can do nothing because I am in the helper position. But there is a fact you do not know. If you choose the path of becoming material and a tool...... in other words, as you have also seen early on, if you choose the path of becoming not a “Ruin Mark,” but a “Constellation,” several options are given.

“Constellation?”

- The owner of a world, and the owner of a star, is called a Constellation. And only that world’s guardian deity can become a Constellation. The one who cannot is called a Ruin Constellation. Therefore, I am a Constellation.

Constellation and Ruin Constellation.

At that moment, a thought occurred to him.

“Then does that mean only one Constellation exists per world?”

- Yes. Only one Constellation exists.

“I don’t think so? Sorry for cutting you off, but since it came up, I’ll ask just a few more things. What’s the difference between a Transcendent and a Superior? The reason I thought Constellations weren’t limited to one was that you said only a guardian deity can become a Constellation, but in the world I lived in, the gods that had been passed down from the beginning were all acting like Transcendents through system notices.”

For example, gods like Hera and Shiva.

At that, Umbrada narrowed his eyes.

- You mean indigenous gods. Yes, those things are Transcendents if you want to call them Transcendents. But those things are nothing more than tools, shaped as if created by the system. Strictly speaking, they are called “Sub-Constellations.” Think of them as chess pieces hired for game playing, not true Constellations.

“Sub-Constellations? Then I went through all that suffering because of Sub-Constellations? They aren’t even Constellations?”

Hera came to mind first and foremost.

However, Umbrada denied that.

- It was not wasted suffering. If Sub-Constellations raise the player they chose well, and that player’s ability is acknowledged, then through the player they raised, they can become another form of Constellation.

“Huh?”

- And you asked the difference between Transcendents and Superiors. Superiors refer to players who have formally received High Grade. Transcendents have only received the High Grade as a grade, but have not received a player grade. That is why they are called Transcendents, or Sub-Constellations.

He understood it in one shot.

Then among the Superiors, Umbrada—who was also a Constellation—was the highest-ranking existence in the world he belonged to.

'He looks different to me, all of a sudden.'

No, wait—then this guy said he wanted salvation from me, didn’t he?

“Ahem. The story’s gotten kind of long. So, I’ll listen to the story you were going to tell earlier. Of course, if I get curious about something again in the middle, I’ll ask. That’s fine, right?”

- It is. We have plenty of time. Before that, do you know why a Constellation, unlike a Sub-Constellation, can receive a player grade?

“Hell if I know. I don’t, obviously.”

- Because there exists a qualification to participate in the final game that can sever one’s world from the system’s control.