Do it? Or Don't do it?!
Night, who seemed to have just discovered a path that was insane and bold, yet brimming with infinite possibility, had long since forgotten the original reason he came to the Simulated Universe in the first place.
If he could end the Trojan War in one fat decisive sweep, the final reward would be more exciting than just about anything else.
If, right under the gods' noses, he killed the very person they wanted to protect, and then, after one good taunt, chose to return to the real world.
Hmm...
That's a death wish!!
But also incredibly thrilling.
And being a man of action, Night went straight ahead and asked Hector directly. "On my way back, did anyone else see my face?"
Hector was talked back to and asked in confusion. "What?"
If Night remembered right, the way he looked at the very end, burned out and drained dry, was heroic, sure, but definitely not pretty.
Even if someone who knew him saw it, they'd have a hard time recognizing him.
Though he wasn't sure why Night asked that, Hector confirmed that indeed no one got a look at his face.
This further validated the latter's thinking, but even so, it still wasn't safe enough.
He saved quite a few civilians inside Thebes.
Those soldiers and civilians might remember his face.
Though if he really went to infiltrate the enemy side, he generally wouldn't show up among the Trojans anyway.
As long as the higher-ups on Troy's side didn't recognize him, that was fine.
Best case scenario, if there was some way to swap faces entirely.
Once, on English soil, someone changed their appearance and successfully fooled the upper class multiple times while posing as a senior official.
The military even mistook them for a high-ranking officer.
But in the end, they got exposed one after another by a journalist who knew them personally.
Any perfect disguise, the thing that causes a crack in it, is almost always that one least likely, most overlooked, seemingly insignificant small figure.
Thinking about this...
Night started to feel his plan was too absurd, full of holes.
Sure, he could restart.
Just try it; worst case, he dies and starts over; it's not a big deal.
But since he wanted to challenge a trial as grueling as hell itself, he needed to go in with maximum resolve, striving for perfection even in the smallest details, if he was going to seize that fleeting sliver of possibility.
And just like that, Night's mind sank into rapid, furious thinking, weighing pros and cons.
Hector and Chryseis both watched the young man with blank expressions, having no idea what he thought of.
But seeing how serious and focused he looked, neither of them disturbed him.
In the midday sunlight, the inside of the temple was especially still, quiet enough to hear the sound of breathing clearly.
Until a beam of light broke the silence.
A ray of radiance poured in through the open-air dome and slowly tilted toward where Night and the others stood, and in the next moment, his mind suddenly received something like a voice.
"No."
Not a voice, but more like a thought that appeared out of nowhere inside his head.
That thought carried a faint trace of interest, as if questioning what he was thinking, as though it knew Night was about to do something rather entertaining.
Night: ...!!
At this moment, the golden blessing within him that represented Apollo stirred faintly, flickering with points of golden light, as if it sang out in welcome of the god's arrival.
Night's heart jumped.
The thought surfaced in his mind before he even knew it: ...Apollo?!
And in the next moment, a miracle appeared!
His guess was confirmed, and he instantly felt a chill run through him.
Right in front of Night and the others, the statue of Apollo, bathed in sunlight, suddenly opened its mouth and spoke:. "There is no need for doubt, the hero of humankind.
I am the great god Apollo...
What you perceive now is merely a divine thought that happened to notice what was unfolding here.
It seems you ran into some trouble and need my help."
...
Night: ...!!
Hector and Chryseis, who lived in the age of gods and held absolutely no doubt about their existence, immediately dropped to their knees. "Great Lord of Light, Apollo! That your august crown deigned to send down a divine thought over such a trifling concern of us lowly mortals, we are deeply humbled!"
Apollo, however, seemed entirely uninterested in the two who knelt before him.
Even though Night showed him no reverence and was inwardly calling him by name without any title, Apollo seemed to favor him in particular, not the slightest bit offended, and instead continued to press the young man about what was going through his mind right now.
Night's heart began to beat nervously.
The instant Apollo descended, even though Night thought he had long since prepared himself to face a god face-to-face inside the Simulated Universe, when a god truly descended, even if only as a single divine thought-
That vast, mysterious, boundless, and profound presence struck his mind all at once, leaving his consciousness completely blank.
First-sight kill!
His body's instincts, faced with that immense and overwhelming power, screamed and recoiled frantically.
Even though Apollo carried not the slightest ill intent, he still found it impossible to muster even a shred of resistance against him.
Let alone achieving something like the feat of slaying a god, as some epics described.
Just standing directly before a god's divine radiance was enough to make a human feel as though they were melting in lava.
In that kind of environment, forget entertaining a thought as terrifying and defiant as godkilling; even speaking to a god at all required extraordinary courage.
Him not dropping to his knees like Hector and Chryseis in reverence was already his limit.
He took a deep breath, pressed down the storm inside him, steadied himself, and gave a slight bow.
"I salute you, good afternoon, great Lord of Light, Lord Apollo!"
"Good afternoon, no need for formalities, son of man. Now tell me, what exactly were you just thinking about..." Apollo skipped all the pleasantries without even pretending otherwise.
He was basically saying:
I'm curious; satisfy me—
Tell me everything about your plan.
Actually, Apollo noticed what was happening here from the moment Night woke up.
After all, this was a blessing he personally gave.
How far could this human hero go?
Naturally he wanted to see.
When Chryseis prayed to him, Apollo did not respond.
He was too lazy to respond just to save one ordinary human woman.
After all, he would not get anything but a priestess returned back, but he might even end up offending the sea nymph Thetis on account of this woman, that is, Achilles' mother.
After all, that demigod just ran to the sea to cry his heart out, and Thetis already went to find Zeus.
Right now whoever touched Briseis was asking for trouble.
She was a powder keg that needed only a spark.
But then Apollo noticed that Night's emotions suddenly shifted dramatically.
It seemed that because of this situation, something different stirred in his mind.
Especially that strange question he asked Hector: How many people saw his face?
Apollo, who vaguely sensed Night was about to do something big, saw that the other party seemed to have run into trouble and so took the initiative to respond.
In order to fully draw out what was on Night's mind and watch a good show, Apollo didn't even mind being the one to make the first move.
After all, these days, if you want a god's help, do you really still need to go and beg for it yourself?
Isn't it always the gods themselves who come bustling over, handing out people, handing out gear...
Going to find them yourself?
How cheap!
And if the devoutly praying Chryseis ever found out what her patron god was actually thinking, that he was being this... cheap?
A massive double-standard dog (god), her reverence and the glorious image of Apollo in her heart, would probably shatter completely.
At this moment, Chryseis and Hector still genuinely believed Apollo only noticed them by chance.
.
.
.