"...I've really come back, huh." YuWon sighed.
He felt conflicted. In his haste to [Load] before losing his life, he carelessly picked the first checkpoint. Either that or Ereshkigal intentionally threw him at the start to undo his mistakes.
Either way, YuWon checked his stats first. Everything remained the same, with a couple of changes. He had new options right under his name.
[Community] and [Special Store].
These were the surprises Ereshkigal had prepared for him. Although it wasn't his first time in such a scenario, it seemed the goddess had gone all-out to help him, though he didn't know what [Community] meant.
YuWon tried clicking it, but nothing happened. As for the [Special Store], it didn't take a genius to figure out what it was. A store made just for him.
"I bet the other gods also got some privileges," YuWon sighed.
From what little he knew about the gods, they wouldn't let Ereshkigal allow YuWon to have such stuff without something in return. The first thing he could think of was their involvement in the game.
Earlier, their involvement depended on the world tree's growth. But now that it was gone, they must be compensated. Allowing them to intervene early on would be the best and the easiest option for the angels.
Another thing was the new stat, [God Seed: 0.00% progression]. Since Ereshkigal had already explained it to him, YuWon bothered a little about it. But a last surprise was waiting for him.
"I greet the master."
A feminine voice appeared behind YuWon. He smiled, knowing who it was.
"Good to see you too, Lilith," YuWon said, turning around.
Lilith wasn't the small fairy YuWon remembered. She was now a fully grown woman, carrying a sword—YuWon's Noir blade. She handed him the blade and YuWon inspected it before handing it back to Lilith.
"Use it well," he said.
Lilith already knew YuWon would say something like that and didn't offer him the sword back. He won't need the sword soon. Why? Because he wasn't planning on killing any beast that would require him to use a weapon.
The goblin's corpse twitched. Soo-Ah jumped back and raised the bat again, ready to strike. But then she stopped. As the creature stood up, its flesh and skin slipped off, leaving a bare skeleton behind.
The skeleton looked at her for a moment, then to her astonishment, it kneeled before her.
[You have gained a subordinate.]
"What the...?" Soo-Ah gasped, lowering the bat slightly. Enjoy exclusive content from m v -novelhall.net
As she stared at the skeleton, she realized it wasn't menacing at all. It tilted its head in a way that reminded her of a curious puppy. Despite herself, she found it oddly... cute. Still, she had to be sure.
"You will not attack me, would you?" she asked hesitantly.
The skeleton shook its head—or at least; it seemed to. Soo-Ah let out a laugh. This was insane. All of it. But she couldn't help but remember a teddy bear she'd cherished as a child when she looked at the skeleton.
"Mickey," she whispered. "I think I'll call you Mickey."
Suddenly, the ground shook. Then it shook again. Something big was headed her way. She carefully peered outside and saw another goblin, but it was different.
Not only was it bigger than Mickey, its skin was a lighter shade of green and it seemed to be heading her way.
"Oh, crap!"
She didn't want that thing to get anywhere close to her. Soo-Ah quickly adjusted her sneakers and made a break for it. The hobgoblin roared when it saw her, but she didn't dare look back.
But the sound of a shattering floor caught her off guard. Soo-Ah risked a glance over her shoulder, expecting the worst.
To her surprise, she saw a pile of desks and benches crashing down onto the hobgoblin. But that wasn't all—next to the heap of debris stood a couple.
Before she could ask them anything, the man grabbed her hand.
"Don't stop, run!" YuWon yelled.