Chapter 310: Transaction and Consideration
Chapter 310: Transaction and Consideration
In a large, darkened cavity, larger than any sports field, with no ceiling visible above, I silently approached the 'something' at the end of it.
"......."
Surrounded by thick, white tentacles, a figure about the size of a five-year-old child sat in the center.
The only difference was that it was black all over. His face and body were indistinguishably black.
That thing was so dangerous that the heroes of old had to create such a huge space to seal it away.
One of the Sun God's creatures, the Wish Granter.
"..."
He didn't look all that intimidating, but I knew that the power he possessed was beyond imagination.
Unlike mere mortals, who are merely endowed with the power of the gods, he is a creature created by the Sun God himself.
As such, his powers are divine. He has the power to change cause and effect, to alter the course of events.
However, he has a major limitation. He can only use his power when someone else pays him to make a wish, and he grants that wish.
But even then, his power was transcendent. If the price was high enough, he could grant any wish: to destroy a nation, to make himself rich, to resurrect the dead.
However the price is very hard to meet and the problem is that the wishes are granted in the strangest of ways.
With that thought in mind, I walked on until I was within a few feet of him.
I stop in my tracks and see a small black child sitting in front of me.
Its entire body was immersed in deep darkness, except for its mouth, which was white and smiling.
And when I looked closer, I saw a small black seal that looked even more disturbing, and thick white tentacles surrounding it.
In the middle of it all, it finally opened its mouth.
"...The first human I've seen in a long time."
The voice that came out of the white mouth was like a small boy's laughter, or maybe it was the sound of a crackling machine.
Whatever it was, it was a bizarre, reluctant voice unlike anything I had ever heard before.
As if it were speaking directly into my ears, I nodded and opened my mouth to speak.
"...Greetings, Wish Granter (votum implens)."
"....."
In response to my words, it smiled wordlessly.
Looking at him, I thought about his characterization once more.
The Wish Granter grants wishes in exchange for a price.
However, the wishes are very wrong. He grants wishes in a way that makes the maximum number of people, including the person making the wish, as unhappy as possible.
If you make a wish to make yourself rich, he will kill all of your blood relatives and make you rich through inheritance.
If you wish to resurrect someone who is already dead, he will resurrect them with a curse on them, dooming you both.
The bigger the wish, the more people he entangles, and the more he can bring about the destruction of nations and even the world.
He's been granting wishes for decades, tearing the world apart, and it took the sacrifices of heroes to finally catch him.
Technically, they paid him to seal himself away, but whatever.
The problem with him sleeping like that is...
'In the original, he eventually reappears.'
The original's blackened Seo Eun caused the Great Jailbreak, a villain discovers him and things go completely awry.
As one of the final bosses, he is also the first creature of the Sun God to appear in the original, and the first one to speak about the Sun God.
Of course, now that Seo-Eun is on my side, the world has been altered, and there's nothing like the original anymore.
Still, since I already know he's dangerous, I wasn't willing to go into Part 4 with him alive, especially since all the Sun God's creatures are running amok in Part 4, and I don't know what would happen if he came into contact with them.
Of course, if you think about it, it's impossible for me to catch him. To begin with, he is immune to any physical attacks.
In fact, there are some people who can fight him.
"..."
Right behind me, looking at me with concern, is our Stardus.
As the embodiment of the Star God, she is the only one who can damage him and she actually defeated him in the original.
...but the process was horrific and gruesome.
Stardus fought him, weakening him at great cost, and was eventually able to defeat him.
The battle itself, of course, is one of the biggest moments of the entire story.
'I will pay you...in exchange for a three-second pause.'
The way she fought, giving up everything she held dear to her, one by one, to take him down, was nothing short of holy. It was the epitome of what it means to be a hero, and her self-sacrifice.
And of course, I, as always, had no intention of seeing her like that.
No, I'd rather suffer a little more. Why would I want to see Stardus suffer like that?
With that thought in mind, I stood before him.
He looked up at me and smiled a creepy smile.
"So, you've come to make a wish? Give me the price, and I'll grant it."
His words ended with a strange chuckle that rang in my ears.
With that, I sucked in a breath and went over my plan one last time.
Yes, the price.
The Wish Granter grants all wishes according to the size of the price. If you want to make a big wish, you have to pay a really big price. If you want to be fabulously wealthy, you have to give up a few decades of your life, and if that's not enough, you have to give an arm and a leg. Or if you want to give something material, you have to give nearly billions.
And I was going to give the most precious thing of all.
With that, I took a deep breath.
In a low voice, but more precise than ever, I said the price I would pay.
"I...will give all my memories of this world, in exchange."
I said so, quietly.
...And then, a dramatic reaction came.
"What? Wait! What are you talking about?"
...from behind, not from the Wish Granter.
With a thud, Stardus came flying toward us.
"In a sacred bargain, interruptions are not tolerated."
-Thud.
She was stopped by an invisible wall.
Grasping the wall, she struck it with something, but I couldn't hear her.
"...Now that we've gotten rid of the distraction, let's finish our conversation, as she won't be able to hear us."
The black child, who had so quietly reached out, chuckled and said to me.
"Yes, memories. Is that such a great price to pay?"
"Of course."
And at his question, I opened my mouth without a moment's hesitation.
"Because I know everything that will happen in the future in this world."
"...Hmm."
"You, who can put a value on everything, would know how much this is worth."
I said that with a slight upturn of my lips, trying to sound casual.
He only smiled, a white smile that only enhanced his black face.
And looking at him, I continued.
"I'm giving you all my memories of this world, including all the information about the future, which means that you're the only one who will ever know the future of this world."
I said that exaggeratedly, spreading my arms wide.
The Wish Granter was silent for a moment then, with a slight nod of his head, he said.
"...I see. I see. In exchange for the memories."
With those words, a white glow escaped from my chest.
Soon it was floating in the air, between me and him. Perhaps that is my memory of this world.
-Thump. Thump. Thump.
...As a side note, for some reason, the thumping became stronger behind me, and I started to feel a little nervous. That barrier, it's going to break, we've got to make a deal.
"Okay, okay, so for this huge price, what's your one wish?"
As he spoke, still smiling, I had one last thought.
...Wish Granter's biggest problem is that he grants wishes in bizarre ways.
That's why I had to avoid making complicated wishes, no matter how high the price I paid I never knew what I'm going to get.
Nor could I play with logical contradictions, for a creature of the Sun God, with his immense power, could bend the laws of nature and the universe to force them to come true.
Therefore, my wish was a simple, unadorned wish that would involve no one else.
I smiled and told him.
"What I wish for is....Your complete and utter death, right now."
Just go die, asshole.