I spent the entire night tearing through the Great Library, searching for any trace of the name Bephelgor. My eyes were burning, my head pounding, but the only results I managed to dig up were two miserable instances. Two.
The first was tied to the Tear's appearance—back when the empire collapsed into chaos. The second was far more recent, connected to Cassian's era. That was it. Nothing else. Thousands of years' worth of records, and his name surfaced only in those moments.
Which is precisely why my gut twisted.
Bephelgor didn't just vanish. He survived after the Demon King was slain by Ashkart and reappeared again in the next cycle. A thousand years of silence and suddenly he's back in the same breath as Cassian?
No. That wasn't coincidence.
And these weren't just people sharing a name. The documents made it painfully clear: it was him. The same Bephelgor. The same trail of shadows, unbroken across centuries.
'Demon King Fragments…'
Which left me with the question that gnawed at me: what exactly was Bephelgor hunting for? Demon Kings resurfaced every few hundred years which meant that they were elected and not designated, but his presence was rarer. Singular. Focused.
Artifacts? Bloodlines? Or maybe—something bigger.
But what is the purpose of these fragments?
"Whatever his ambition, Blessed One," one of the sages had said, his voice hoarse as parchment, "you must not ignore the words of the goddess. Looking back, it was we ourselves who fulfilled the prophecy. We built the Reality Perceiver. We opened the Tear."
And damn it, they were right. The Tear had been leaking miasma since its creation, poisoning everything. The so-called "ego of the sun" could have easily been the collective arrogance of an empire convinced it could harness creation itself.
It lined up too perfectly.
But then another contradiction gnawed at me.
"Why," I muttered aloud, "hasn't Selene been worshipped in the current era?"
That was the strangest part of all. No records, no shrines, not even whispered legends carried past the fall of the Great Empire. Nothing.
The sages shook their heads. "We don't know. We suspect their name died with the last remnants of our empire. Once we perished, so too did the memory of them."
Convenient. Too convenient.
It meant if I wanted answers, I'd have to dig deeper. I'd have to find threads outside of their neat, fragile histories. And that meant more work for me, as usual.
By the time I trudged back to my quarters, I realized something.
I'd forgotten to open the God System.
Which meant the moment I flicked it back on, I got slammed with a wall of notifications that nearly blinded me.
[Xipe: Were we being too rowdy?]
[Hecatia: I express my deepest apologies and regret to my benefactor.]
[Eros: Hell, if they can die for the dishonor they've brought—]
I groaned, dragging my hand down my face. "Guys, guys! It's fine. I get it. I'm the one at fault, alright? I wasn't considerate. I muted it without telling you. My bad."
[Xipe: Then may we ask for forgiveness?]
"Why are you apologizing?!" I snapped.
But of course, that didn't matter. They spiraled into their own drama anyway, bantering among themselves in a messy chorus until the entire interface dimmed like someone was pouting.
Gods. Literal gods. Acting like children.
And yet, despite the headache, I couldn't deny the truth that was gnawing at me: other than Jane, Peter, and occasionally Trynda when they weren't shoving sweets into their beak, the gods were the only ones who never left me.
They were always watching, always supporting, in their loud, chaotic way.
"…If I'm not entertaining," I muttered quietly, staring at the glowing text in front of me, "would you guys still support me?"
The interface froze. For one moment—just one heartbeat—it felt like the entire divine plane went silent.
And then they laughed.
[Xipe: Of course! For you are already our child.]
[Hecatia: Our star, who keeps us from silence.]
[Eros: The heavens align, and fate dances only because you walk it.]
I blinked, cheeks burning despite myself. "Ugh. Corny."
[Great Feat! The Stars Have Aligned for the First Time in a Thousand Years!]
The words exploded across the God System, glowing so bright I almost fell off my chair.
[The Prophet of the Gods has been designated!]
Eh?[Title has been added: Prophet.]
[A new prophecy has been delivered! The Empire will receive a prophecy will greatly change the course of history!]
But of course, it didn't stop.
[WARNING! You are now a person of great interest!][WARNING! Your actions may now directly alter the course of the story!][WARNING! The ̸̥̙̜͐̀̽̂͑͒͌̅̀̽O̵̢̧̡̙͍͓̳̬͈̠̜͈͕̝̦̭̣͇̬̿̅̏̔́̀̈́̌͗̇̃̓̈́̀̋͆̓̂̍́̄̓̀͑̃̀̀̆̏̍͒̈́͗͗͆̉̐͆̌̕͜͜͜͠͠l̷̢͍̰̥̤̹͔̘̫͖̞̇̔d̷̡̟̼̜͈́̉̋̌̈́̄̇̀̀̆̊͌̈̍́͐̓̋̾́̽̍͑̋̿̕̕͝ ̸̥̙̜͐̀̽̂͑͒͌̅̀̽Ǫ̴̧͉͓̮̪̭̣̺̻̱̝̬͉͖̮̣̜̰͈̦͓̠̦̙͉͕̬̯̫̙͉̲̳͎̺͉̻̖̘̮̥̰̎̿̓̐͑̿̍̄̆̃̆̚̚͝ͅͅͅn̸̨̢̨̞̣̱̮͇̣̯̬͖͔̲̙̯̥̼̰̜̯̗̱̤̬͙͒̏͋͜͠ę̸̢̢̧̨̨̛̛͖̻̼̣̮̮̳̜̱͈̞͔͇̣͍̯͎̬̲͍̇̏̓̇̉̎̈́̂͑̂̍̐̇̾͆̃̎̏́̋̓͊͆͊͌́͒̓̉͛̐̽̐̎̌́́̎̚͝͝͝͝ş̶̡̞̦̯̰̼͓̥͉͖̖̠͚̻̯̣̻͖̖͉͇̥̀̔̾̇̚͜ͅͅͅͅ is now interested in you. You will receive (-) Negative Affinity upon meeting them.]
"Excuse me?! Negative what?!"
The notifications kept piling on.
[The Hero, the Saint, and the Prophet have all been designated!]
[An anomaly has been detected.][All designations have been assigned to a single person!?!]
Are you confused as well?!
[Searching… for possible solution…]
[Initiating FATE Correction…]
[Error! The being Josephine Von Konrow/Kim Yoo-ra is outside of system scope!][Searching for alternate solutions… ]
[13.07% overlap detected. Adjustment applied.]
"What adjustment—?"
[A new [Hero] has been designated!][Due to unique requirements, of [Saintess] and [Prophet] of Josephine Von Konrow/Kim Yoo-ra, It cannot be removed!]
[Notice: These roles cannot be separated. Please work together with each other to defeat the Demon Lord!]
"…"
[Hecatia: Do not worry, Blessed One. Even if you carry all burdens, we shall support you.]
[Eros: This is fate's irony. A lone soul forced to embody three destinies.]
"Oh, shut up," I muttered. "Don't make it sound cooler than it is. This is a nightmare."
And yet, beneath the flood of sarcasm, my chest felt tight. Warm. Like something buried was starting to thaw.
"Hahahaha!!!
For once, I wasn't just "Josephine" or "the cursed child" or "the outsider chemist-NEET."
I was… chosen. By someone. By something.
I swallowed, my throat strangely dry.
"Nothing's wrong," I said quietly, almost to myself. "It's just… I realized something stupid. I've always been like a child who never received anything. So when I finally do—when I'm given something, even if it's insane—I get weirdly… attached. Overwhelmed."
The glowing words flickered like they were listening.
"I never really knew what it felt like… to be cared for," I admitted. My voice cracked on the last word, but I didn't care. "But this—this warmth—it's new. And it's… nice."
For the first time in years, maybe even in this second life, I let myself smile. Really smile. No mocking grin. No sharp sarcasm. Just something genuine, spilling out before I could stop it.
"Thank you."
[Critical Hit!][System Overload! Rebooting…]
The whole interface sparked and collapsed in a shower of digital starlight.
I sat there, dazed, watching the fragments scatter like fireflies.
"…I should probably prepare an offering later," I muttered, wiping at my eyes. "They'll be insufferable if I don't."
Still, I couldn't deny it. For the first time since waking from that cursed slumber, I felt something other than exhaustion, paranoia, or irritation.
I felt… alive.