章節 2: Akashic Record
[Synchronization complete]
[Awakening God Blood….]
[God Blood Awakened]
[Registering user…]
[User, Neo Hargraves, registered in Akashic Record]
Neo's eyes widened when he saw the lines appearing in front of his eyes.
He tried to touch them, only for his hand to pass through without touching anything.
Watching the game-like screen, Neo spoke with trembling lips,
"S-status."
A screen appeared before his eyes.
[Neo Hargraves]
[Rank: Mortal]
[Affinity: Death, Shadow, Darkness, Void]
[Bloodline: Monarch of Death]
[Unique Skill: Death]
[Quest: None]
The status screen was the same as in the novel 'Son of Zeus: The Lightning Thief'.
Neo had to accept he was inside the world of the novel. This world was centred around a 'protagonist' - the Son of Zeus. The guy would become the strongest, create myths, and get all beauties. What about Neo? His body, Neo Hargraves, wasn't present in the novel. He was an extra - one of the thousands of 'side characters' who the author never bothered to name, since they had no importance.
"So this was why I could not access internet in the last two days."
In the world of 'Son of Zeus: The Lightning Thief', only demigods who awakened their God Blood could use the internet, which was also known as the Akashic Record.
He opened his smartphone and downloaded the Akashic Record(Internet) app.
With his device as the receiver, he navigated through the Akashic Record.
After an hour long search, he concluded he was in the world of 'Son of Zeus' and not in a world that was similar to it.
"Wow, fuck."
He massaged his forehead.
"Anyway, what is this 'Monarch of Death' bloodline?"
Actually, he knew what it was.
And that was the problem.
Monarch of Death was the name of bloodline of Hades, one of the three Great Gods.
Among the three Great Gods, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, only Hades had no children in the novel.
"Who is Neo Hargraves? Why didn't he appear in the novel?"
"I have the academy's acceptance letter so he should've gone to the academy. But I don't know anything about him."
Unable to find any answers at the moment, his focus went to the Unique Skill.
"Since I have the bloodline of a Great God, the skill should be fairly strong."
He checked the skill's description with a grin.
[Unique Skill: Death]
[Skill Effect: You die]
"What…?"
"It's not 'Your opponents die' but 'You die'?"
"I will die if I use the skill?"
His expression contorted.
He finally understood why Neo Hargraves, or any other child of Hades, did not appear in the novel.
All of them died after using the Unique Skill!
In this world, one had to train their unique skills to grow stronger and rank up.
After training the unique skill to a sufficient level, one could awaken more unique skills.
"Is this my only hope?"
Neo's eyes fell to the 'Quest' part.
Quest section did not exist in status screen of anyone in the novel.
It was probably an advantage unique to Neo.
However, there were no quests at the moment.
There was no guarantee when would help him either.
If it did, he did not know how long it would take for the quest to arrive.
Neo had to solve the problem himself.
"I can just give up on growing stronger, but I won't do that."
"With the bloodline of Hades, I have the potential to become the strongest. Giving up here is stupid."
"I don't want to live a mediocre life again."
Unlike his friends, Neo was not very smart or highly athletic.
He had street smart, but that was just another way of calling him average.
Average.
No one wanted to be just mediocre.
Neo was the same.
"I need to train my unique skill to grow stronger."
"But I don't want to die."
The answer to his problem was simple.
Resurrection.
He had to resurrect himself after he died.
"Revival is anything but easy."
He massaged the back of his neck with one hand and sighed.
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."
There were methods that only a reader like him could use.
Neo packed his backpack with food items and took the cash, totalling 10,000$, he found hidden in the apartment.
He left the apartment, and took a taxi to the nearest market.
"The ingredients… First, I should get the herbs."
"Lunaflame, Starshade, Emberthorn."
Despite sounding fantasy-esque, they were common herbs in this world.
He navigated through the chaotic market and entered the herb shop.
The receptionist, a man with a goatee, bulky arms, and the lower half of the goat, turned to him.
"Welcome, what can I get you?"
"I need Lunaflame, Starshade, Emberthorn."
"We have them. Please wait for a minute."
Neo watched the receptionist cum shopkeeper with mild interest.
In this world, everyone had a bloodline, originating from their ancestors who lived in the age of gods.
In rare cases, some had parents who were the source of the bloodline themselves. Their parents could be Gods or Mythical monsters.
Neo did not know if he was Hades' son or if he inherited the bloodline from his ancestors who might be Hades' children.
"There are the herbs. It's 5,000$ for all three."
The shopkeeper returned.
Neo sucked in a sharp breath after hearing the price.
He could've upgraded his gaming setup with so much money!
Although it pained him, he bought the herbs.
After completing the purchase, he visited a liquor store.
The guard at the store's gate stopped him.
"You can't enter. We don't allow minors."
"I'm the student of Demigod Academy."
He showed the Id he received along with the academy's acceptance letter.
The guard's face changed from surprise, to shock, and finally to awe.
He saluted by putting his fist over his chest.
"Sir! I apologize for being rude to you!"
"Don't worry about it," Neo spoke nonchalantly. "So, can I enter the store?"
"Yes, sir! We are honored to have a student of the Academy visit our shop!"
The Demigod Academy was the biggest academy on the continent.
Only the genius' among the demigods could enter it.
The students of the academy were treated as a celebrity wherever they went.
Entering the liquor store, Neo was quickly approached by a staff,
"What can we get you sir?"
"Bahram Liquor." He thought for a bit. "The cheapest one."
The staff took him to a VIP room and told him to wait while they bought the liquor.
He entered the room.
After a few minutes, a man with golden eyes and star shaped pupils entered.
"This is the Bahram liquor you've requested, sir."
"How much is it?"
He took the bottles.
One was Braham liquor he requested and the other seemed like a high-quality liquor.
"It's free and this is Gargoyle liquor, our shop's speciality. It is a gift. There is no need to pay for it."
"…?"
"We are honoured to have an academy student visit our shop. It is unthinkable to ask for you to pay us."
Watching Neo's unconvinced expression, the man added while rubbing his palms together,
"You don't need to pay. But if you like our liquor, we hope you will tell your fellow academy students about our shop."
Neo had underestimated the Demigod Academy's influence.
While it was true only genius demigods went there, most of them were rich and had influential connections.
Everyone wanted to curry favor with them.
Noticing the free liquor in his hands, he thought back to the herb shop.
He should've revealed his identity there too.
"Thank you. I will remember to tell my friends about your store."
"It's our pleasure."
He left the shop satisfied.
"I've got the herbs and the liquor."
"Now the only things left for the revival ritual are…
"A living sacrifice and divine water."
Since he was trying to revive himself, the sacrifice had to be someone who was similar to him.
章節 3: Unique Skill
The sacrifice had to be a demigod, with the blood of a powerful god, if possible.
Divine water was harder to get than a living sacrifice.
It was a nationally guarded secret and only the strongest demigods had access to it.
Getting it was impossible for normal demigods unless they read the novel like Neo.
He checked the map on the Akashic Record(Internet).
"Dammit, why is the Okahama Beach so far?"
Neo took a bullet train.
It took him eight hours to reach the city where the Okahama Beach was located.
After getting off at the station, he visited the beach and bought scuba diving gear from a rental shop.
Before diving, he took a short break.
"I feel like shit."
He was tired.
His body was too weak.
Just travelling was enough to make him feel like he ran a 100Km marathon.
He wished he could get someone else to bring him the Divine Water.
But the place where he was going to get it was a secret that, if leaked, could start war between nations.
Divine Water was too precious.
Everyone wanted to get as much of it as possible.
"Okay, I'm ready."
Neo took the boat to the location he remembered.
He wore the oxygen mask and dove into the water.
The sea was neither cold nor hot.
He could see schools of fish.
Some fishes were bright in colors, some had stripes, while some were large and moved alone.
Since he was near the beach, he reached the seabed fairly quickly.
He began his search for the sea cave.
By the time he found the entrance to the sea cave, he felt he was about to die from exhaustion.
After making sure the entrance was not marked, he entered the narrow space in between the coral reefs.
It was tight.
If he had been a bit less thin, he would've not been able to enter it.
Neo arrived inside a water cave.
There was air inside the cave. He removed the respirator and inhaled.
The cave was dimly lit, thanks to the glowing fungi. It had a small pond in the center.
"Looks like the mermaids haven't found this place yet."
He knew it when he saw the cave's entrance unguarded, but seeing the empty cave confirmed his suspicions.
In the novel, this cave would've been found by the mermaid kingdom and become a part of their property.
He did not know when it was supposed to happen.
This place came into play when a villain, gravely injured by the protagonist, came across it by luck and killed the guard mermaids to use the Divine Water to heal and strengthen himself.
The villain wreaked havoc on the mermaids' country and was later defeated by the protagonist.
Due to the incident, the protagonist was able to grow closer to the princess of country of mermaids.
"Now all of this Divine Water is mine."
Neo did not feel guilty for stealing the Divine Water.
No Divine Water = No way for the villain to save himself = The mermaid kingdom is not destroyed
He was solving the problem at its source by taking the Divine Water.
Moved by his own heroic spirit, he poured the Braham liquor into the pond and threw the herbs into it as well.
The herbs quickly melted, and a sweet aroma, containing the liquor's traces, wafted in the cave.
He removed his clothes and stepped into the alcohol-flavored pond.
The only thing left was a sacrifice.
Well, the sacrifice was….
Neo.
The plan was simple.
Neo would sacrifice himself to revive himself.
It was a loophole in the ritual.
But Neo believed he, the son of Hades, the God who ruled over Death, should have at least this much leeway.
The Grim Reapers would not nitpick. Probably.
"If it doesn't succeed, I'm dead."
He took deep breath to calm himself.
Truth be told, he was not using himself as a sacrifice because he did not have a demigod to sacrifice.
There was no shortage of bastards who deserved death.
However, to increase the chances of resurrection ritual's success, the sacrifice had to as close as possible, physically, emotionally and spiritually, to the soul targeted to be revived.
Who was the person who was similar to him in appearance, had similar values, and lived a similar life?
Neo himself was that person.
Hence, sacrificing himself was the best choice.
After submerging himself in the pond, Neo had completed all steps.
Now, he had to kill himself, negotiate with the Grim Reaper, and return.
"Here goes nothing."
He closed his eyes and activated his Unique Skill.
Death.
It was cold.
Neo felt he suddenly appeared in a winter region.
At the same time, his innards were burning.
The waves pulled him along.
He opened his eyes when he felt something touch his back and found himself on a beach.
The sky was pitch-black with three gigantic red eyes looking down from high above.
The sand was black, sticky, and rancid.
The air was hard. Every time he took a breath, it felt like he was pushing solid stones through his lungs.
This place was the Underworld.
The place where the souls came after death.
There was no heaven or hell, just endless pain in this hellish place after one's lifetime came to an end.
Neo looked at himself.
For some reason, he had a body.
While he was wondering why he had a body a grating voice screeched against his eardrums.
"You are here, O Child of Monarch."
A figure cloaked in darkness rowed towards him.
Its body was hidden in the cloak's darkness; only the two spheres of blue flames were visible, which Neo thought of as its eyes.
"Come with us, O Child of Monarch. We will help you cross the River."
The figure raised its hand to bring Neo over when it suddenly stopped.
"This smell…. O Child of Monarch, why do you carry the scent of sacrifice?"
Its voice turned chaotic, like the screeching of a banshee.
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