"So you do have the books," I said, ignoring the maid.
I myself was a virgin by choice, I had decided my first time belonged to Cecilia as hers belonged to me long ago but Jack was a playboy. I wouldn't let that bother me.
"Did you think I was lying, kid? So anyway, I am pretty hyped. Use the magic words and enter your book fast, I want to see what ends up happening."
"No. I won't use my book. Let's use yours."
"Why? Aren't you hard pressed for time? Use yours and give them mine if yours becomes faulty. You have to read the entire book to activate it, right?"
"What if they know the book I have? What if they have methods to know if it got used?"
"Paranoid… huh."
"Cautious," I corrected.
Thus, I kept my book to the side and with him on the side, began reading one of his books. It would take me 4 hours to read it so I will not have any sleep tonight.
The book looked the same and from a certain page, it also had ink made of gold instead of normal ink. With a deep breath, I began reading for real.
The story in this book was different from the one I had.
Long long ago, a goddess and a god were cursed to become carps by the Overgod. And then said to live their eternities in a small pond. In love, the couple agreed to do exactly that.
It was their punishment for falling in love.
But the thousandth year of their curse, a Demigod named Shangu came to fish in the small pond. And the couple were caught.
In fear, they begged Shangu, asking him to let go of them due to their godhoods.
Shangu was indifferent and ate them.
In return, Shangu was cursed to give birth to 10 billion children before he could die. Until he does that, he is immortal. But Shangu was a suicidal man!
He wanted to die.
So, he began using the power of both gold fishes he ate, Yin and Yang, to give birth to children. And these children were humans.
Shangu was the ancestor of humans.
I rubbed my nose while reading the book. What was this nonsense?
After the world reached 10 Billion people in popularity, dead or alive counted, Shangu died. And a passing human ate his flesh, believing him to be a large beast. And the human became a demi god.
And that demigod was the Mandhravaadhi.
But due to eating a Demigod, the gods shunned Mandhravaadhi, and in his resentment, he buried a magical seed in an underwater cavern. Anyone who got his hand on this magical cavern would not only eat a demigod, but the frozen bit of the Gold Fishes that Shangu ate before dying.
And Mandhravaadhi then announced this news to the world.
Even Gods were enraged.
To make mortals eat a god!
But soon, the Gods had to bow their heads in shame. Even among Gods themselves, there were people who wanted a taste of other gods. And just as Mandhravaadhi wanted to show, it was made clear that even Gods are not completely pure.
Gods can be evil too. And if their believers believed his acts are righteous, the evil of us would be the righteous of them.
And due to the seed of the god that Mandhravaadhi left blessing the waters, and due to it never being found, the waters became divine. And people who drank from it all started gaining supernatural abilities.
The more one drinks, the stronger they become. But they only had one chance to drink. And to get that one chance, one must prove oneself worthy.
Mandhravaadhi says only one thing.
Let yourself be consumed by the seven sins and you shall find in yourself the river from where to drink the divine water.
Do sin.
Sin happily.
And in that sin, you will find freedom.
In freedom, you will find divinity.
In divinity, you will find power.
There, the book ended. It was a weird book and it didn't have many stuff that I wanted from within the book, but the divine water intrigued me. What would happen if I drank it?
"You finished?" He asked.
"Yep."
I moved to the cover and saw the words I was looking for.
"Book Title—The Divine Water of Gods.
D-rank difficulty. Say the words (Endhragon Sanastel, Ful Shangu Mandhravaadhi) to enter the book's world."
"Summarize the story for me will you?" Jack asked and I summarized the story for him. He hadn't slept all night and had been playing angry birds all along. It was not a help, but he had been of tremendous help overall.
Indeed I had called the best man for it.
"So are you entering?"
"I am hesitant. What if I enter and can't return in time… my family."
Jack cut me off, his expression turning serious for once. "Look, even if you're here, you're stuck. Rock and a devil. Give them the book? They kill you. Don't give it? They kill your family anyway. You need an edge. Something they won't see coming."
I blinked. He wasn't wrong. I was trapped. But if I could somehow return with power, real power, maybe I'd have a chance. It was a gamble. A dangerous one.
Jack leaned forward, voice low. "Think about it. You appear in their stronghold with superhuman abilities. At least you'll be unpredictable. You might actually win this thing. You just need to take the plunge."
The words weighed heavy on me. He was right. There was no way out of this mess without something drastic. My sisters, my family… they were all counting on me.
I nodded, swallowing my doubt. "Alright."
We could use someone else to try the book, but it was also something very valuable. We were somewhat the greedy sort of men. And I did wish for power now more than ever. So it is a gamble I will plunge into.
Yes. What could go wrong? Maybe it might not work at all. And even if it did, it did show D rank difficulty.
I am a great gamer!
How can I be defeated in the beginner levels?
How can I cower when my sisters are in danger?
"Endhragon Sanastel, Ful Shangu Mandhravaadhi…"
The room spun violently, and everything blurred.
Then, silence.
I will save Cicilia and finally make her my own this time. I will.