Chapter 301: The Oracle

What even!?

Kang Chul-In was shocked by Kwak Jung’s statement . The non-existent past referred to the lost history as a result of Kang Chul-In’s Soul Backup . The one who returned referred to Kang Chul-In himself, did it not?

I’m the one who kills Vilhelm and Ao Xin?

Something was off . If Kwak Jung truly saw Kang Chul-In kill the two Overlords, he would have said ‘your Majesty will kill Vilhelm and Ao Xin’, instead of saying it in such a roundabout statement .

Clench! Kang Chul-In grabbed Kwak Jung by the collar .

“Kwak Jung!”

“ . . . !”

“What did you see?”

“Y-Your Majesty... Urgh!”

“Tell me . ”

“ . . . !”

“What did you see?”

Kang Chul-In could overlook any other prophecies, but not one that mentioned Soul Backup .

“Y-Your Majesty... kuhuk . . . ”

“All of you, leave the room . ”

Kang Chul-In didn’t care whether Kwak Jung was struggling . Since Kwak Jung spoke of Soul Backup, he decided that there was a need for a private conversation .

“P-Please let go of this first... kuhuk...!”

“Shit!”

Kang Chul-In immediately let go of Kwak Jung’s collar . He was almost about to suffocate his cherished subordinate to death .

“Kek! Y-You almost killed me . . . ”

“It’s a misunderstanding . ”

“ . . . ”

“Why would I kill you? You know for yourself how much I value you . ”

Kang Chul-In shamelessly tapped Kwak Jung’s back and smiled, pretending that nothing happened .

Urgh . . .

Kwak Jung thought .

He is definitely a psychopath, no matter how I look . . .

Kang Chul-In was certainly a great boss, but his temper was just incomprehensible .

“Anyway . ”

Kang Chul-In pressured Kwak Jung .

“What did you see? What do you mean by the one who returned from the non-existent past?”

“T-That . . . ”

“Did you see me kill Vilhelm and Ao Xin?”

He asked just to make sure .

“No . ”

Kwak Jung shook his head .

“However . . . ”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you assume that I saw you, your Majesty?”

A good point .

This bastard . . .

Kang Chul-In was caught off guard by Kwak Jung’s question, but he responded fluently .

“I wonder why?”

Heh .

Kang Chul-In smiled .

“Why did I ask that question?”

“Huhh?”

Kwak Jung’s eyes widened .

W-What’s going on?

Kwak Jung was flabbergasted . That question indirectly indicated that Kang Chul-In had something to do with his prophecy . In other words, was Kang Chul-In someone who returned from the past as well?

“Idiot . ”

At that moment, Kang Chul-In criticized his subordinate .

“Sorry?”

“Who else could kill Vilhelm and Ao Xin on this continent? Just name a few . ”

“Well that... aha?”

Kwak Jung scratched his head . The only man capable of killing the two Overlords of the Gullveig Alliance was standing right before him .

So easy .

Kang Chul-In grinned inwardly .

“So what did you see?”

He quickly changed the topic .

“T-That is . . . ”

“ . . . ?”

“I can’t remember clearly . . . ”

“ . . . ”

“I know what I saw, but I can’t remember the scene . ”

“Are you trying to play games with . . . ”

“Not at all!”

Kwak Jung exclaimed .

“I’m frustrated too!”

“I-Is that so?”

“Yes . I definitely saw something, but I can’t fathom what it was . . . It drives me crazy!”

“ . . . !”

“But in essence... I did see something . ”

How should Kang Chul-In interpret this?

Kwak Jung only remembered the crux of the story . If Kang Chul-In had not seen Kwak Jung’s strange state, he would have reprimanded him for spouting nonsense .

“A-Anyway . . . ”

Kwak Jung continued .

“My body condition... it’s a little weird now . ”

“Anyone can tell . ”

“Yes, actually... I can see a status window... I’ve never had something like this before . . . ”

“ . . . ?”

“Let me draw it out for you . ”

Kang Chul-In passed a scroll and a quill pen to Kwak Jung .

Scribble, scribble .

Kwak Jung’s hand began to move busily on the scroll .

“ . . . !”

What Kwak Jung had written utterly surprised Kang Chul-In:

[Notification] Job advancement was successful!

Adventurer Kwak Jung’s class changed from ‘tactician’ to ‘Oracle’!

Penalty Option: Muscle Strength -30% / Endurance -30% / Agility -30% / Defense -30% / Magic Resistance -30% / Attack -50%

“What is this bullshit . . . ”

Kang Chul-In cursed . What kind of job advancement decreased so much physical attributes?

Maybe the job advancement was not a wise decision .

However,

“What in the world!?”

Kang Chul-In was shocked once again .

[The Oracle]

Predicts the future .

Cool time: 72 hours .

Penalty Option: After activation, all attributes are decreased by -5% permanently (increased penalty with larger-scaled prophecy)

If Kwak Jung could gain the ability to foresee the future, then the penalty option was understandable .

“Why are you randomly named the Oracle?”

“I-I have no idea myself . ”

Kang Chul-In and Kwak Jung, the king and his subject, stared at each other with puzzled expressions .

“Something seems . . . ”

Kwak Jung spoke .

Immediately,

“Huh?”

His vision began to blur .

Thump!

He then foamed and collapsed onto the floor .

“Kwak Jung!”

Kang Chul-In hurriedly helped Kwak Jung to get up .

***

Kwak Jung struggled to recover .

Sometimes he tossed back and forth with foam at his mouth, and he pulled his hair as if he was having a bad headache . He also had seizures like an epileptic patient . No treatment was successful . Nilus and Arshelly’s mental treatment, Alfred’s Blood Heal, and even Skadi’s occult treatment failed to work .

“God damn it!”

Kang Chul-In cursed as he left the sickbay .

“What the hell am I supposed to do?”

He was frustrated . Kwak Jung was his most cherished subordinate and also the pillar of the Valhalla Kingdom . If Kang Chul-In was the symbol of brute strength and power, Kwak Jung was the control tower that efficiently commanded his army . That Kwak Jung was sick . Apart from its impact on Kang Chul-In’s emotional state , this news led to a great loss in Valhalla’s national strength .

“Argh . . . ”

Nilus, who left the sickbay together with Kang Chul-In, mumbled as he passed by Kang Chul-In .

“It seems like there’s some problem with the brain... but it’s not like I can open up the skull and pour potions into it... argh . . . ”

“The brain?”

Kang Chul-In turned around to face Nilus .

“What do you mean?”

“Your Majesty... what I meant was . . . ”

“ . . . ?”

“Isn’t prophecy a product of the brain’s capacity?”

“It is?”

“Well, maybe it could be a spiritual thing, but we magicians tend not to believe in that kind of fluff . ”

It was an interesting remark . Wasn’t magic fluff as well? It was ironic for Nilus, who had devoted his entire lifetime studying magic, to not believe in the spiritual realm .

“In fact, magic may seem unrealistic . ”

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Nilus seemed to have noticed Kang Chul-In’s amusement . He began to explain further .

“However, magic is a field of study that becomes more realistic as one delves deeper . This is especially so for elementary mages like myself, who do not acknowledge non-magical entities like black magic and sorceries . ”

“ . . . ”

“If I were to elaborate on the details of the mechanism of magic . . . ”

“No, it’s fine . ”

Kang Chul-In hurriedly waved his hand to interrupt Nilus . Why would he want to know about the mechanism of magic? His brain was already about to explode .

“Anyways, you are saying that the problem lies not in the spiritual realm, but more in the brain?”

“Yes, your Majesty . ”

“The cure?”

“Regarding that... a human brain is more complicated than what you think, your Majesty . Even a spell that erases or alters just 5 minutes of memory requires a high-ranked magician who is capable of chanting level 8 spells proficiently . ”

“Why is that so, Nilus?”

“For a mind control magic to work, the spellcaster’s mental and computing power must be overwhelmingly better than the target’s .

Thump!

Kang Chul-In could feel his heart drop .

In other words, there was nobody who could treat Kwak Jung .

“In that case . . . ”

“Yes, your Majesty . . . ”

Nilus replied regrettably .

“Only an ancient dragon from the archaic texts may alleviate tactician Kwak’s condition... However, where can we find an ancient dragon . . . ”

“ . . . !”

“Huh?”

Nilus tilted his head sideways .

“Y-Your Majesty?”

The only being who could treat Kwak Jung was the ancient dragon that was now being held captive in Kang Chul-In’s training room .

“I just happened to have a dog shit . ”

Kang Chul-In smirked . He was right .

They say when you need a dog shit for medicine [1], there isn’t any . However, Kang Chul-In had the perfect dog shit in his hands .

A gigantic dog shit called an ancient black dragon!

***

“Ah, this . ”

Desdemona, who was still tied up in Podolski’s perverted style, recognized Kwak Jung’s condition at once glance .

“What is this?”

“His brain’s calculation ability improved exponentially, what else?”

Desdemona shrugged .

“Hmm?”

“What I’m saying is that . . . ”

Desdemona began to explain the mechanism of prophecy briefly .

“In this guy’s case, he is highly specialized in analyzing whatever he sees, hears or feels . A great insight, I must say . ”

“And then?”

“A human brain has a definite limit . It fatigues very quickly . ”

“Are you looking down on humans?”

“Don’t be mad . It’s the truth . ”

“Where’s your evidence?”

“Humans go crazy, don’t they? That’s the proof . ”

“That . . . ”

“We dragons never go crazy . ”

“ . . . !”

“We never kill, scream, or run around frantically because we have lost our minds . ”

“Hmm . . . ”

“If you don’t get it, just listen . ”

Desdemona critiqued Kang Chul-In and continued her explanation .

“Anyways, the limited human brain relies heavily on subconsciousness . It’s often termed an instinct . This is a good example . The brain couldn’t sustain the powerful insight, and hence introduced a type of subconsciousness . ”

“And what is that?”

“Survival instinct . ”

“ . . . !”

“This guy’s ability keeps on activating against his own will, so his survival instinct felt a need to control that . To put it simply, it’s like how one exercises to dissipate his/her overflowing energy . ”

“Continue . ”

“His survival instinct created the prophetic ability to pacify the overworking brain . His brilliant insight is now contained in a dish called ‘Oracle algorism’, which analyses the present and predicts the future . It’s because the prophetic ability consumes a heavenly amount of brain power . ”

“Ah!”

Kang Chul-In could finally understand the mechanism behind prophecy . Nilus was right: prophecy had nothing to do with the spiritual realm . It was a sort of deduction, created by a highly developed human brain’s computing power . In other words, Kwak Jung was now a kind of supercomputer!

“Oh well, but it’s unfortunate . ”

Desdemona shrugged .

“Unfortunate?”

“Sigh . . . ”

“ . . . ?”

“Think about it, you idiot! It’s only a temporary measure! Even if this guy’s survival instinct has created the Oracle algorism to suppress his brain power, a mere human can never control it . He will spontaneously look into the future every now and then . Then he will be chronically fatigued, and his body will start to break down . Then he will die . People like him never live long . ”

Kang Chul-In realized .

“Prophets are short-lived . Even if they do live long, they are constantly plagued by sickness . The oriental saying that ‘if one reveals God’s plan, his lifespan shortens’ probably originated from a similar context . ”

Skadi was right .

Moreover, it explained the penalty option that popped up when Kwak Jung had his job advancement from ‘tactician’ to ‘Oracle’ .

“I won’t let that . . . ”

Kang Chul-In was about to continue his sentence .

“H-Honey!”

Lee Chae-Rin hurriedly rushed into the sickbay .

“Something appalling happened!”

Kang Chul-In thought,

Damn it, something appalling this time?

His face crumpled from fatigue .

What did she mean?

Kang Chul-In was sick and tired of the constant flood of problems .

“What is it this time?”

He asked with an irritated voice .

“O-Overlord Albrecht Vilhelm and... Ao Xin . . . ”

“ . . . !”

“They are dead!”

“ . . . !”

“It’s chaos now, honey!”

Kwak Jung’s prophecy had come to fruition .

[1] There is a korean saying: ‘when you need a dog shit for medicine, there isn’t any’ . In other words, when you are in a desperate situation, even the most common/useless thing happens to be unavailable .