NOVEL FROG Chapter 37
With the death of Yasle, the cult known as Future Hope Church came to an end.
Booom!
But the fight continued long after Yasle’s demise. Why? Because, like in a game, defeating the boss doesn’t automatically spell victory!
Duh duh duh!
In fact, things got busier afterward.
Zoom zoom!
Especially since the three kingdoms were all racing towards a single goal.
Vroom vroom!
The Ansellus Kingdom was practically in ruins, but the Rasbe and Cogni Kingdoms were still standing. The question of how to divide the spoils sparked a heated argument!
Ching ching!
Being a cult, they had a treasure trove stored away!
Gimme gimme!
You can’t just survive on faith alone, you need tangible gifts to keep that faith flowing!
Cha-ching!
So, there were plenty of valuable goodies up for grabs, including stuff from where I was living!
Snack snack!
So, what needs to be done?
Get ready! Set! Go!
Right! Time to loot!
Loot loot!
Tisah and the folks of the Ansellus Kingdom just watched it all unfold.
Ooh la la!
Rebecca, surprisingly, did not go anywhere near the kingdom. She just left silently, no words, just poof! Some in Ansellus thought they should capture her, but Tisah just let her be.
Bye bye!
Instead, they headed south to return to the Ansellus Kingdom. The heart of the kingdom was already captured, but they were none the wiser. So, they simply moved to go home.
Step step!
Meanwhile, Witga met with Andrew’s minions, bringing with him those who followed him. He offered a choice: follow this new path since the Future Hope Church has collapsed, or stick with the now-defunct cult?
Ding ding!
Those who chose the cult? They all ended up dead.
Gulp!
Sure enough, after Witga showed off a few examples by offing five of them, everyone else jumped ship to the new religion, Mirig Church.
Swish!
They had nothing left anyway, so they thought, “Why not?”
Why not?
Meanwhile, Andrew? That guy’s got some seriously strong luck. He vanished from my sight only to pop right back up again!
Surprise!
One of Andrew’s close aides suddenly called out for someone blessed. They whisked him away without so much as a clue.
Whoosh!
And where did they take him? Right to Andrew!
Ta-da!
Looks like Witga will reunite safely here.
Bonk!
And lastly, Wide.
Dum dum!
This guy is still rummaging around the capital, hoarding resources for the royal castle!
Cha-ching!
This is just before I unleash the knowledge I’ve acquired.
Bloop!
And I immediately shoved Yasle’s knowledge into everyone connected to me.
Zap!
Warmth flooded in.
Whoosh!
Fifteen people worth!
Whoa!
Wait, what?
Huh?
Can’t hold it?
Oof!
Especially those who couldn’t see or hear the unseen from where they stood clutched their heads, screaming as they dropped dead.
Ahhhh!
Excluding the blessed, the rest just felt a sense of ringing in their ears, holding their heads.
Bing!
There’s a problem!
Whoosh!
Time to find the reason and solve it!
Detective mode on!
What about the corpses?
Uh oh!
When examined until their last moments, their brains melted like soup.
Slurp slurp!
Looks like they couldn’t handle the information I shoved in!
Yikes!
Is it a problem with the size? Considering it’s part of Yasle’s memories, it shouldn’t be unmanageable!
Think think!
So, I need a different method.
Hmm…
Let’s edit the necessary memories, chop them up, and feed them in bit by bit!
Chomp chomp!
But how long will that take?
Tick tock!
Watching through memory editing, there’s quite a bit!
Uh oh!
My experience of pushing in the word ‘outsider’ remains, so short words are alright. But if they get too long, that’s where issues arise!
Whoa!
What if the amount I can push in is less?
Sweat sweat!
Experimentation!
Eureka!
We gotta conduct experiments!
Science rules!
And just to be safe, we need to increase the number of blessed people!
Jingle!
So this doesn’t blow up like last time.
Boom!
The sensation of blessing still lingers.
Ding!
Summarizing:
Drumroll!
Inject knowledge to summon me.
Bam!
Bless more people.
Cha-ching!
Two goals!
Let’s get to it!
For me, both are crucial.
Priority, priority!
Alright, let’s reach for that shimmering light floating right above the surface.
Glimmer!
Watching the stream reverse like a video, the water flows upward! And instead of just pushing me in, I recite the phrases I say during every contract!
Whoosh!
But nobody understands!
Boo hoo!
Oh, right.
Ding!
Language barrier!
Oops!
Language is crucial!
Verify!
So what do I do now?
Scratching head!
Should I try licking the light first? Cautiously, more gently than when blessing anyone before, I touch the light. And then, smack!
This guy’s name? Eunjai.
Ta-da!
Memories flooded in. This guy lives in a world very much like martial arts. There are special techniques to gather Qi, he can fly around with a sword, and sometimes light bursts forth from it!
Shiny shiny!
A world with those kind of people.
Pop pop!
But the language? I got it!
High five!
Was language this easy to learn?
Huh?
I’m not so sure.
Shrug!
But since it doesn’t hinder me right now, let’s use it as is! I adjusted to speak in the language he knows and asked,
Question time!
“I’ll lend myself to you. In return, when you’re done with everything later, I’ll take all that you own. Sound good?”
Deal!
He said he’d agree to anything if I granted him strength for revenge!
Boom!
What? I never said I’d grant strength! Where’s he getting this from? Sure, when I bless him, he does get stronger, true.
Whoosh!
I thought I’d have to persuade him if he hesitated, but immediately he says he’ll take me up on it!
Yes!
Alright then, it’s a contract!
Sealed with a kiss!
I bestowed a blessing upon him.
Fingers crossed!
Please don’t explode!
Please!
Aha! Done!
Cha-ching!
Our sights connected! Through his eyes, I can see the world; though I can’t tell how it’s changed, his skin has certainly grown pale!
Whoa! White!
So, it means things are similar to before!
Same same!
He murmurs to himself, wondering if he turned into a ghost. Then, he moves his body a few times, shocked he’s transformed.
Whoa whoa!
Was that it?
Thinking cap on!
Indeed, there’s a similar concept in martial arts literature!
Wowza!
But this is some genuine martial arts! Truly amazing!
Woohoo!
He grabs his sword and gathers strength from his abdomen.
Ready, set…!
Is that the dantian?
Hmm?
While I’m observing closely, suddenly he clutches his head.
Yikes!
Is there something wrong with my blessing here?
Uh oh!
Did I miscalculate the capacity?
Brain freeze!
Wait, what?
Uh oh!
This time something descends from his head. And his dim light-infused sword turned into a massive, purplish great sword!
Brrrr! Nice!
He’s grinning with immense power. What a character!
Giggle!
If he’s satisfied, well…
Huzzah!
Surprisingly, the issue with granting blessings got resolved quickly.
Shazam!
Now, all light near the surface will be handled like this!
Zoom zoom!
More gainful warmth than an explosion!
Hot stuff!
More than anything, when someone on the brink of despair and resignation gains a healthy body and immense power, it’s bound to lead to chaotic mischief!
Chaos incoming!
He will certainly wield that power!
Watch out!
That leaves me with one remaining goal.
Checkmate!
Transferring summoning techniques to myself!
Connecting the dots!
Simply passing on memories failed. Since the size seems to be the issue, I need to compress the knowledge as much as possible!
Compress, compress!
Analyzing is necessary. But I don’t know how to analyze! How do I do that?
Shrug!
I can edit that part of the memory directly, but after that, I have to read, interpret, and organize it.
Brainstorming!
Someday, far in the future, I might have to do that, but that sounds exhausting. I need something simpler and more efficient!
Keep it simple!
First, let’s see what I have.
Looking around!
I can let others have a piece of me.
Generosity!
If it’s too much, it explodes!
Boom!
If I hand it over at just the right size, it transforms into a more powerful form!
Transform!
I can twist reality!
Twist, shout!
That means I can edit reality. A powerful ability sometimes referred to as reality manipulation, but there’s an issue.
Uh oh!
Maybe if it’s a simple form, but when I tried to create a phone, the space cracked! A shape showing nothing but a deep crack, like something heavy pressed against a glass window!
Ouch!
It’s right to say you can’t do what you can’t do!
Word!
So why can’t I do fire or light? That’s strange; I can never do those! Maybe my imagination just isn’t enough.
Ugh!
And I can convey what I know to others, but I can’t tell if it’s in the same category as this power or something completely different.
Question mark!
Two experiments!
Experiment time!
First, when I pushed in the short word ‘outsider,’ it was like everyone began using it as if I’d always been called that!
Ding ding!
I suspect this isn’t just a blessing tied to me; it seems to be based on reality-bending abilities.
Whoa!
Because, even those who haven’t received my blessing used it naturally!
Amazing!
Based on what I gathered so far, it seems the deceased among the blessed had the ability to detect where ordinary folks couldn’t see!
Eureka!
They were people who knew another’s intentions better!
Think think!
So did they overload their capacities and, like when the world shattered while I was trying to create a phone, did their brains shatter too?
Snap!
That’s quite a plausible hypothesis!
Hmm!
So let’s reduce that capacity!
Chop chop!
If I simplify the memory shared, it should shrink!
Snip snip!
Chop it down to the smallest bits and push them in! Check how much can go in, and how quickly I can repeat, so I can teach the summoning technique!
Time to play!
Now is the time to experiment!
Yay!
We have plenty of time here!
Time travel!
I hope a whole bunch of people can summon me like crazy!
Whee!
Hehe!