Before Chi-Woo arrived at Liber, the angel Laguel had told the seventh recruits after finishing their selection process, “There’s no need for you to save that World. We don’t even expect that much.”

The goal of sending the recruits was to normalize the situation at Liber so that it was possible for one to even wish for the salvation of Liber. But what was the standard for that? It was simple. Just like how the sun set, the moon rose, and water flowed downward, a world could ever only be saved by a single hero. Of course, there were exceptions, but this was usually the case, and one could say that Liber was the exception to all exceptional cases. When the Celestial Realm learned of Liber’s situation first, they laid down their greatest card—Choi Chi-Hyun. But in the end, they judged that it would be difficult to settle the situation on Liber even with Chi-Hyun, and without much choice, they began their attrition warfare.

Of course, this tactic of wearing down their enemies by pouring thousands of heroes that could each save a World to just one planet seemed incredibly inefficient. Furthermore, the heroes they sent never showed significant results. It was like they were pouring water over a poisoned well. Nevertheless, they couldn’t simply wash their hands off the matter. The fact that it was a galaxy-level danger meant that the issue could balloon into a force that could later target the Celestial Realm. Thus, simply put, the recruits’ goal was to help Liber reach a point where it could be saved by a single hero. 

They still had a long way to go to reach this goal. The situation Chi-Woo saw at Liber couldn’t be simply described as a ‘mess’. They couldn’t go any lower, because there wasn’t even a ground to go under. It was true that things had gotten minuscule better. To continue with the same analogy, they had now fulfilled the condition for soil to be compressed to create ground. Still, they were far from reaching their goal. In their race against the other factions on Liber, in Chi-Woo’s opinion, the recruits had yet to even get to the starting line, while their opponents were already dashing forward.

“We need more. Much more.’ He couldn’t be complacent now. He needed to push himself much more than ever before. 

*     *     *

“According to you, it seems the situation in the central region isn’t too bad.”

The next day after the earlier recruits arrived at the capital, a meeting was held between both the earlier and the latter recruits by Noel Freya’s request. It was only a meeting by name, and the gathering was more of a process for them to learn each other’s situations. 

“The capital is better than we expected. It was worth risking our lives to come here,” Noel Freya said, and likewise, Zelit was impressed hearing about the central region’s situation. 

Unlike the fortress which existed for mostly defensive purposes, the capital was a place where the ruler of a country, namely the king, resided, and where cultural and economic progress had been made. In other words, it was well-prepared and geared towards human living; it seemed the economic situation had been considerably thriving in the central region. Surprisingly, the earlier recruits had enough food to last them all half a year without working at all even though they had more than 10,000 people in their group. And now that they had migrated to a new place, they had enough supplies to last them until they got things in order. At the least, they wouldn’t have to risk their lives looking for food outside.

“It’s all thanks to him,” Noel said with her jaw tilted down and her lips curved into a smile. Everyone could tell that she was talking about Choi Chi-Hyun without mentioning his name. “He always emphasized these three things: clothing, food and water, and shelter. He said we needed to have these three fundamental necessities to do anything.”

Chi-Woo agreed; he remembered how difficult it had been when they didn’t have these three necessities. Only when they had less difficulty securing the necessities had they been able to make any progress. 

“Not considering the dangers from the outside, the central region is definitely a place fit for human living. If you think about Liber’s situation, you might even consider it a paradise. But we left all that to come here.”

Creating an environment like they had done was a nearly impossible task, yet Chi-Hyun had ordered everyone to abandon the tavern they had established and go north. There was only one reason for this: there was something in the north that would make it all worth it. 

“A god.” After hesitating for a bit, Noel Freya continued, “I heard that you all secured a god in the North.” Then she looked around and asked, sounding slightly excited, “Could you show us?”

Noel had lost her hero powers after coming to Liber and was living as an ordinary person. Thus, she had been surprised when she met Ru Amuh, Ru Hiana, and Allen Leonard, and saw that they were able to use their divinity, however little they had at their disposal. And as a hero by nature, Noel wanted to recover her divinity as fast as possible. Zelit turned to Chi-Woo. Chi-Woo nodded and opened his bag.

“Yes, of course.”

“Good. Then—” A clang stopped Noel from getting up fully. Chi-Woo had placed a statue on the table.

“?”

Noel froze, befuddled by the situation. After asking to meet their god, she thought she would be guided to the god for sure. Considering the situation, it was likely that they didn’t have a temple, but at least they would put the god somewhere most similar to one. That was the sort of respect a god warranted. Thus, she hadn’t imagined that Chi-Woo would just pull out a god from his bag and place them on the table.  As a hero with religious roots, the scene she was witnessing was blasphemous.

-…

Was she imagining it, or did the statue appear detached or completely uncaring of the treatment she was receiving?

“Are you going to the bathroom?” Chi-Woo asked, confused why Noel had gotten up.

“Uh…Um…” Noel murmured, “No.  I just…” In the end, Noel plopped herself back down her chair, quickly pushing aside her astonishment and straightening her posture. Then she faced the statue with bottomless reverence. 

—…Yes. This is the kind of attitude…

It was then Shahnaz’s bitter voice rang out. Noel almost jumped.

“A god has given us her revelations?” Noel blurted out in shock.

—I wouldn’t go so far to call it revelations. I am just sending you my will so that you all can hear me. 

“Still…” Noel’s lips opened and closed. It was very rare for a god to voice their will in person. But this wasn’t the point Noel was surprised by since the degree of divine intervention could vary from planet to planet. She was surprised that Shahnaz could speak at all, since this meant the god could exert enough influence in this world to do so.

—It’s because I got a good amount of merits from this guy.

The statue turned slightly and glanced at Chi-Woo.

—Even though he’s a bit rude, his abilities are reliable.

“What do you mean I’m rude?” Chi-Woo grumbled like he had been wronged. “I told you before bringing you here, Goddess Shahnaz.”

—Is this what you call respectful treatment then?

“Why? Is the bag too small for you?” Chi-Woo asked.

—Damn you. This isn’t about the bag’s size. You don’t even have the basic common sense about these matters. 

As Shahnaz and Chi-Woo bickered, Noel’s mouth hung wide open. She had thought they would be lucky if the recruits at the north had a holy relic, but they had found a god and revived her to the point that she could immediately do something.

“Thank you, Goddess Shahnaz. I sincerely give you my thanks.” Noel Freya bowed several times and prayed, now looking at Chi-Woo in a new light. As Zelit had said, it was now her turn to say that it was worth it to leave everything behind and come all the way here. 

“This is good.” Noel Freya felt wind, iron, and blood energy come from the Shahnaz’s statue, and while staring at it, she continued with a hopeful voice. “With this, we’ll be able to implement both the growth system and a sacred ground.”

Zelit replied, “Yes, as long as we have enough divinity.”

Chi-Woo, who had been verbally fighting with Shahnaz, turned back to look at the two of them. He could roughly guess what the growth system was, but what did they mean by sacred ground?

[You can think of sacred ground as a type of sanctuary.]

Chi-Woo heard Mimi’s voice inside his head. She had been quiet for a while, but it seemed she was itching to talk.

[The land in which a god dwells receives a type of blessing. For example, the land where the god of abundance dwells will see a good harvest every year, and the land where the god of fertility dwells will have a higher fertility rate.]

‘Something like that exists?’

[Yes, of course. It’s something that happens often in your world as well.]

‘Oh wow.’ Then what type of blessing will Shahnaz send down? Since she was the god of wind and war, she might give a blessing that would be helpful in battle. While Chi-Woo was wondering about this, Noel Freya and Zelit were deep in conversation. 

“We can wait for more divinity.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Sir Chi-Hyun will activate the system as soon as he comes back. I think that establishing a sacred ground might be too much though.” Everyone’s gaze snapped to Noel Freya as she continued, “Did you really think he hadn’t prepared anything so far?”

“Then.”

“He has been making preparations to normalize the situation as soon as we find a god. Moreover, since he defeated the main forces of the Demon Empire by himself, I’m sure he’s collected a lot of merits.”

“What, what?” Zelit was flabbergasted. He was about to ask how one person managed to do that, but his shock subsided when his eyes wandered to Chi-Woo. Chi-Hyun might have single-handedly repelled the Demon Empire’s offensive force, but Chi-Woo, who was on their side, had single-handedly crushed the Sernitas’ special force. Both of these cases were equally unbelievable.

“But even then…hasn’t he lost his powers as a hero like us?”

“Sir Chi-Hyun entered Liber as the first recruit, and since he has his family’s backing, I’m sure he entered Liber through a different route than us.” 

Zelit seemed to accept Noel’s explanation and nodded. 

“Of course, since the World had disappeared, he can’t get any special benefits, but it’s Sir Choi Chi-Hyun. Please have faith and wait.” Noel talked like a fan who was extremely proud of Chi-Hyun’s achievements.

“Um…there is something I want to ask you.” Chi-Woo, who had been quietly listening, carefully raised his hand. “Are you saying that if we have enough divinity…or in other words, merits, we can immediately activate those two functions?”

“About that…” It was possible if there were enough merits to replace it with divinity. However, who other than Choi Chi-Hyun would have obtained so many merit points?

“If it’s alright with you, I want to be the one to activate the growth system.”

“…What?”

“I can use the merit I earned this time.”

Noel Freya couldn’t believe her ears. She quickly recovered from her shock, though, and she looked around, blinking. Zelit was nodding like he had expected this from Chi-Woo, and Ru Amuh looked deeply moved. Ru Hiana had a worried look on her face and seemed like she wanted Chi-Woo to step back. Judging by their reactions, it didn’t seem like Chi-Woo was lying. 

Noel had heard a thing or two about Chi-Woo’s achievements, but she hadn’t believed all of them—they were all too unbelievable to just easily accept as true. “Did you really collect that much merit?”

—It’s enough. 

Shahnaz was the one to reply. 

—He has enough merit to either 100% activate the growth system or create the sacred ground. It’s not enough to do both, but one is possible. His achievements have made enough impact on the world’s flow. 

That further steered how Noel Freya saw Chi-Woo. If everything she heard about him was true… They might have finally appeared—the hero that Choi Chi-Hyun had so desperately been waiting for.

“Hmm…why?” But there was still one part that Noel couldn’t understand. “Sir Choi Chi-Hyun will soon arrive here. He’ll then activate the growth system immediately. When that happens, you’ll be able to grow significantly stronger than everyone else.” In other words, Noel was saying that if he just waited and kept the merit points for himself, he’d be able to make progress leaps and bounds over everyone else. 

Chi-Woo knew that was a possibility. “I’m aware of that, but…I’ve sworn to the god I made a contract with.” He softly continued as if it was a small matter, “That I’ll reinstate the balance on Liber.” This was the promise he’d made to the goddess of scales, La Bella. “I think reinstating a system that’s nonexistent right now will be part of fulfilling that promise. It’ll be a different story if I can’t do it, but I don’t want to just stand still when I’m able to do something.”

“Ah.” When Chi-Woo mentioned god, Noel Freya, as someone from a priest background, immediately accepted his explanation. Whether or not it was because of pure faith or a vow, fulfilling a god’s will was definitely a compelling reason.

“Moreover…” Chi-Woo glanced around and continued, “I don’t feel too good about using bro...Sir Choi Chi-Hyun’s merits. There are many areas where we need divinity.” Chi-Woo flinched when he almost said ‘brother’ before pushing through. “With this, I want to ease the burden on him by at least a little bit.” In a way, Chi-Woo thought he should help out Chi-Hyun as a younger brother.

“…Oh my.” Noel Freya’s mouth slightly widened. She became speechless in a good way. She was a little touched; her first impression of Chi-Woo hadn’t been bad, and she liked him more the more she saw him. She thought she should tell Chi-Hyun about what Chi-Woo had said as soon as he came back. Bowing her head, she briefly prayed. This was the highest form of respect she could show.

“Then, we just need to frame the basic structure of the system.” As their conversation progressed, Zelit seemed to be getting excited if the way his shoulders shook was anything to go by.

—There’s no need for that. The growth system has been made way before. You can just use that growth system, but you’ll have to tweak it a bit.

Silence fell upon the room at Shahnaz’s sudden words. Noel Freya slightly narrowed one eye, and Zelit frowned. Ru Hiana and Ru Amuh also looked a bit taken aback. Only Chi-Woo looked around in confusion. ‘What’s with their reaction? What did Shahnaz’s words mean?’

“That means…” Zelit suddenly looked extremely fatigued as if a hammer had hit his head, and he took off his glasses. According to Shahnaz, a system had already been made. The growth system was an exclusive product from the Celestial Realm, and there were remnants of it on Liber. In other words—

“Liber…this world has been saved at least once in the past.”