Lucifer's appearance was nothing like YuWon remembered. His once raven-haired
brother
now had hair as white as snow, his frame more muscular and imposing than before. It was only then that the realization struck him.
"An angel..." YuWon mumbled.
The Lucifer YuWon remembered was a fallen angel. YuWon had never seen what he looked like before his fall, but if Lucifer had returned to being an angel, he shouldn't be here. He shouldn't even remember their shared past. Yet, the malicious look in his eyes suggested otherwise.
"The gods and angels are immune to your... time manipulation," Lucifer smirked, unfurling his white wings.
YuWon cursed his luck under his breath. Having the gods eyeing was bad enough, but having an angel for an enemy was worse. The gods couldn't directly harm him, but angels could.
Fighting Lucifer wasn't an option as his strength was incomparable to YuWon's. But he didn't have a choice. If he stepped back, Lucifer would probably kill everyone associated with YuWon.
I hope Yeji's smart enough to escape with the rest.
With that thought, YuWon grabbed the minotaur's torn horns and lunged at Lucifer. Using the horns like two daggers, he didn't hold back. But Lucifer smiled and didn't even move. With a flick of his wrist, he planted YuWon face-first on the ground.
"So... weak," Lucifer snarled. "Why was I even scared of an insect like you?"
YuWon gritted his teeth and kicked off the ground. Lucifer crossed his arms, letting YuWon get comfortable before planting his face back on the ground, this time with his leg.
Frustrated, YuWon unleashed a flurry of strikes on Lucifer. But each time, the latter dodged effortlessly without breaking a sweat. He even yawned in between adding fuel to YuWon's desperation.
Then, with an almost bored expression, Lucifer plucked a feather from his wing. He held it between two fingers, inspecting it as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world.
YuWon threw a punch, expecting to catch him off guard. But Lucifer grabbed the punch without taking his eyes off the feather.
"You've gotten weaker, brother," Lucifer said.
YuWon struggled to get away, but Lucifer pulled him closer. YuWon froze as the feather brushed against his cheek. For a moment, it felt soft, almost gentle. Then a searing pain erupted across his face.
The feather had merely touched him but was enough to form a deep gash in YuWon's face. Blood gushed out of the wound and all strength left YuWon. He collapsed onto the ground, clutching his cheek.
"See?" Lucifer said. "Your pathetic self can't even handle a mere feather of mine."
YuWon could only glare at Lucifer as his body refused to move. Even Hydra's blood wasn't enough to keep him going and the wounds didn't heal. It was the end of this life and probably the rest as well.
No amount of respawns can help him beat this sack of shit.
With a sigh, YuWon resigned to his fate. But just then, someone kicked Lucifer away. The latter didn't budge from his spot, but that didn't matter. YuWon was only wondering who could be so clueless as to jump between them.
"Are you... okay?" Gina asked.
But YuWon didn't have any admiration or love in his eyes, but panic. He could die himself, but he didn't want anything to happen to Gina.
"Gina, no!" he shouted hoarsely.
However, Gina didn't move. She stood defiantly, her arms outstretched as if to shield YuWon.
Lucifer raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by the little creature. She wasn't a threat to him before and wasn't one this time, either.
"Brave. But foolish."
"You need to be more careful," she said. "
She
won't be happy if something happens to you."
"You... know?" YuWon asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sofia smiled but didn't answer. Instead, she turned to face the remaining participants.
"I applaud your efforts in clearing the tutorial," she smiled. "but there's no time to rest. Your next trial awaits."
As she said that, a mission prompt appeared before their eyes.
+++
Main Quest 1: Anomaly of the Namsan Seoul Tower.
Scenario: A series of mysterious disappearances have rattled the higher powers. Join with other survivors to investigate the anomaly and cure it.
Difficulty grade: D+
Time limit: 14 days
Rewards: Unknown
Punishment: Depending on the contribution
+++
YuWon's eyes widened. This wasn't the quest he remembered. He couldn't believe things would change from the first quest itself. He looked at Sofia, thinking she could help, but even she shook her head.
YuWon sighed. The gods were hell-bent on not letting him have any advantage based on his memories. Still, he couldn't imagine they would take things so far just to take away any advantage he must have.
Apart from my stats... I have nothing—wait! What the hell?
[The User will lose their abnormal stats.]
[The God seed converted all stat points into unallocated stat points.]
I guess it's better than nothing...
For a moment, YuWon was about to go berserk. But since he regained the stats as points, he could sigh in relief.
"All of you should work towards increasing your stats slowly," Sofia commented, looking at YuWon.
It was a hint, and YuWon didn't miss it. His encounter with the minotaur and Lucifer wouldn't go unnoticed by the gods. They must have complained about it. Hence, his abnormal stats
disappeared
.
But thanks to the goddess Ereshkigal, YuWon didn't lose his stats and merely needed to reassign them... slowly. Rushing the process wasn't an option—if he restored his stats too quickly, it would undoubtedly provoke another tantrum from the gods, and that was a risk YuWon couldn't afford to take.
"That's all for now," Sofia smiled. "May the gods protect you."