Chapter 421 - [32nd Round] Liberation

“By the way, President Kang Han Soo. Can anyone really become a god this way?”

“What’s with that question, Morality Hero?”

By sticking firmly to a philosophy, anyone could attain godhood!

… Or so I thought, but it was just a theory I came up with after I accomplished the feat myself.

I couldn’t generalize it yet since I had little knowledge about it, but that was exactly why I was curious. How did other people become gods?

“Well. In my case, I became a deity by being kind to another god.”

“Did you defeat any evil demons with them?”

ã??A certain restless demonic god protests.ã??

She shook her head.

“It wasn’t that amazing. I just cheered for a strange god while he was suffering because of my luck.”

“That’s indeed strange.”

What did she even mean by suffering because of her luck?

It was difficult for me to empathize with, I, who had a very frustrating experience after losing the universe’s love.

“Others become as unhappy as I am lucky, just like how winning the lottery meant nobody else will be able to do so.”

“Ah.”

I understood the gist of what she meant.

However, the logic behind it was so irrefutable it was actually painful.

Luck and strength were always relative. Where there were winners, there were bound to be losers.

If I kept winning, I’d be thankful for my fate, but I didn’t need to feel sorry for the unspecified people who lost. Even if I were the victor today, there would come a day when I, too, would be defeated.

“Have you ever heard the saying that being too kind can hurt you?”

“What I heard is that when one gets used to others’ kindness, they mistake it for a right.”

“Ah…”

“I think it depends on how you understand and accept the situation at hand, Morality Hero.”

“You’re not wrong…”

“That’s why I’m wandering around with you. I need to determine if this is love or obsession.”

“It’s adultery.”

“Ahem!”

A direct hit!

“This might be presumptuous of me, but I think President Kang Han Soo needs to keep an eye out for his surroundings a little more.”

“… Is it because I am a successful man?”

I had seen companions’ lives changing all at once far too many times because of Heroes.

In my first round, I never openly uttered lies like, “Let’s get married after defeating the Demon Lord!”

Instead, I resolutely cut off the princesses’ advances.

I was doing great in that regard, but every kingdom refused to support me due to my inflexible tactics.

Were my current wives any different, considering they only loved me because I was a successful Hero?

“The President also likes girls with pretty spines, right?”

“But that doesn’t mean I marry them.”

“Sure, but you don’t even look at women who don’t have good bones. That’s the problem. Name one Fantasy woman who doesn’t have a pretty spine.”

“That’s easy!”

“Then do it.”

“Let’s see…”

“Go on.”

“Uh… um…”

“Quickly, now.”

“…”

I didn’t know any of them since I was indifferent.

I could easily adapt to this situation by providing false names, but such an act went against my conscience as the Righteous GGG-Class Hero!

I squeezed the memory in my head.

“Don’t look at the students’ records.”

“I’m not!”

Even Lanuvel’s spine, which I teased for being pathetic and insignificant, was actually above-average.

In the end, I raised my white flag.

“As expected of Morality Teacher.”

“No, I’m not worthy of that title yet. I still have a lot to learn before I can proudly call myself a teacher.”

She smiled brightly.

With tears of love in my eyes, I changed the subject.

“That aside, Morality Hero, I’d like to point out one thing.”

“What is it?”

“What the Fantasy Institution desires is indeed to nurture gods, but graduating from here doesn’t mean they could immediately become a god.”

“Wait, really?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

My original goal wasn’t to pursue godhood.

It was to maintain Fantasy even if my power disappeared.

That was the path I had been traversing since I was in my first round.

“Considering Bakery and Hippolia organized the current curriculum according to my records, even if they can’t create gods, they’ll foster self-reliance.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Ah…”

However, I didn’t doubt this place’s capability to raise deities.

Amid my search for a way to live without Fantasy-based skills, I found the path to becoming a transcendental being myself instead.

Godhood was a means, not an end, but it was undoubtedly a surefire method to graduate from Fantasy.

“Take a look at your stats, Morality Hero.”

“My stats?”

“Yes. Specifically, your skills.”

“Okay.”

? Race: First Erof

? Level: 11572

? Job: Hero (Experience 500%)

? Skills: Education GG, Swordsmanship GG, Agility G, Teaching G, Preaching G, Charm G, Humor ZZZ, Enchantment ZZZ, Social ZZ, Demonic ZZ, Dignity ZZ, Immunity Z, Perspective Z, Attention SSS, Singing SSS, Fire SSS, Embroidery SS, Incitement SS, Recklessness S, Resistance S, Luck S, Stamina C, Sewing C, Bathing C, Health C, Body Type C, Energy C, Etiquette C, Faith C, Diplomacy C, Counseling C, Correction C, Alchemy C, Intelligence C, Rest C, Wisdom C, Deep Sleep C, Spirit C, Reading C, Gardening C, Love C, Friendship D, Hope D, Kindness D, Composition D, Corruption D, Bluff D, Punctuality D, Fabrication D, Fight D, Lyrics D, Patience D, Play D, Dagger D, Cooking D, Constipation D, Obscenity D, Liberation D…

?Status: Good, Moral, Kindness

Since she had been around for probably a long time now, she had gathered all sorts of skills, creating a mess out of her stats window.

She even had skills such as Corruption and Bluff, both of which seemed unrelated to her expertise.

“Which one do you want me to look into?”

“Liberation.”

“… Huh? I don’t think I have that skill…”

“You didn’t have it until recently. It’s like the Karma skill my wife created, but it’s a better version of it.”

“Wait.”

Type: Skill

Name: Liberation

Class: D

?C: Transcendent skills weaken.

?D: Divine powers weaken.

?E: Level gradually goes down.

?F: Grade gradually goes up.

Its negative effects made Morality Teacher speechless.

It would have been better if she had seen it in advance, but since she was also a student now, she was provided with no explanation.

I didn’t miss it in my first round because I reviewed my overall skills once every few days, but no law forced others to do the same.

“Since when?!”

“Since I came here. In case you haven’t noticed, the natives and monsters of the 7th and 8th grades both have nearly the same levels.”

“If so, then it’s not the world that’s changing. It’s me…”

“Exactly.”

Morality Hero pondered about it deeply until she finally came to the correct answer.

“If a student were to keep prolonging their stay here to become a god, they’ll inevitably find themselves in a gigantic predicament.”

“That’s right. Haha!”

“If so, then wouldn’t there be a huge number of students who can’t reach the 8th grade since they’re stuck on the 7th grade?”

“it doesn’t matter because of this.”

â??Graduation: Congratulations on your graduation. It’s a pity that you didn’t reach the end, but we refuse to waste your efforts. We hereby give you the freedom to go out into the world and spread your Righteous Hero’s Wings. However, when your alma mater calls for your help, you are required to return and protect it. Failure to comply would result in your precious wings being broken.”

“What is this…?”

“It’s a draft of an early graduation diploma.”

“Is the Righteous Hero’s Wings that’s mentioned here… a skill?”

“Yes.”

From now on, I no longer forcefully held onto students who disliked me.

Instead, I simply confiscated the skills and materials they borrowed.

“President Kang Han Soo has always been cautious since he was a student.”

“That’s right.”

Graduates absolutely obeyed the orders of Goddess Parmael in the past out of fear of losing their precious abilities.

Although it wasn’t comparable to the factory-produced Mollanroid Corps, Fantasy’s potential, which had produced numerous graduates over a long period of time, couldn’t be ignored.

After all, its alumni were infiltrating all parts of society.

Since I had them under my complete control, it wouldn’t be difficult for me to throw the universe into complete chaos.

If I could afford it, that was.

“If one wants to live without being bound by the school, they must reach 8th grade and graduate normally. But to do that, they’ll have to learn how to graduate first.”

“You’re right again, Morality Hero!”

“Your expression reminds me of the old days. Please stop making fun of me already.”

“It’s an instinctive reaction.”

I would no longer be a man if I could keep my mouth shut even after witnessing her beautiful spine and pelvis.

“I’m so lost. Due to Liberation, I’ll inevitably lose all of my stats sooner or later, but I don’t even know what I should do here…”

“Don’t worry. I invited a teacher to save the wandering young Mollan.”

ã??A certain righteous divine being calls a carrot over.ã??

ã??A certain perfect sword god pauses his lecture for a while.ã??

ã??A certain perfect sword god claims he’ll be arriving soon.ã??

ã??A certain kind goddess grows astonished.ã??

“No way!”

“Your reaction tells me you already know who Uncle Carrot is.”

“How can I not know him?! He’s not as well-known here since we’re in a rural area, but on the days the rumors of his arrival spread, the planets he’d visit would be crowded with ignorant beings trying to make him accept them as his disciple.”

Morality Hero’s statement was much more credible than my cowardly wife’s explanation, despite studying abroad.

While she was making a fuss, Uncle Carrot crossed the border as if going out of one house and into another.

Pop!

“Why did you call me over, President… Huh? You’re…”

“Hello, Sword God!”

“Please call me Uncle Carrot here, Kind Senior!”

“Oh! I can’t believe I’m your senior… This is embarrassing.”

“Hahaha!”

Amid their friendly atmosphere, I went straight to the point.

Definitely not because I was jealous.

“I called you to help this pretty girl since she’s worried she’d be forced to live in this world without her abilities.”

“Ah, I see…”

Carrot Teacher, who understood the situation only with my brief explanation, nodded.

“… Do you really understand?”

“You want me to impart my swordsmanship to my senior, right?”

“That’s right.”

It seemed I didn’t need to think too deeply about this situation.

“My 628 Trillion Swordsmanship can cope with any situation. If you can master it, even if you lack Providence, you should be able to push your way through even the most difficult situations with relative ease!”

He sounded like he was selling medicine.

However, Morality Hero still looked like she finally met the superstar she had idolized since she was a kid.

“Is it possible even with my body?”

“Yes. It’s not that difficult, so you have nothing to worry about. Let’s begin.”

“Yes.”

Uncle Carrot and I stood facing each other.

I immediately launched a surprise attack!

“There are 69 possible ways for married male Heroes to launch a surprise attack. Since the President is in a harem, that number is reduced to 34, and since he’s a fair-skinned handsome man, his options are further reduced to three. As a result, I can easily predict his offensive even before he’s executed it.”

“What…”

While conducting a lesson, he blocked my surprise attack, including the Righteous Hero’s Wings rising from my back.

He then launched a counterattack!

“My 628 Trillion Swordsmanship techniques are endlessly linked with each other. Although the President blocked my 95th technique, he had to pull his right foot away to do so, which is a response I had already expected from the beginning. In line with this, I pulled my right foot forward in advance and pressured him again, this time using my 174th technique.”

“Agh!”

“Such is the basics of my swordsmanship style.”

Whooosh!

Carrot Teacher’s carrot slapped me on the shoulder amid his lecture. He could’ve aimed for my neck but chose not to.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Hmm?”

Carrot Teacher’s eyes widened.

“I’m a bit sturdier than you think.”

“What do you mean…”

Interrupting his words, I asked him a question now that he had narrowed the distance between us.

“Do you have any technique for when you’re up against a skeletal system made of Romantium?”

“Huh?”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

There weren’t many beings in the universe who had as many Romantiums as I did, after all.

Craaaack!

“Argh!”

The only technique I had been using since my first round overwhelmed his 628 Trillion Swordsmanship Techniques!