The inner fortress of Edmunt was crowded with the Council for the evaluation. They were all so busy with their work that if it wasnât for the evaluation, it would be hard for them to gather in one place like this.
âWhat? He didnât come again?â
âWell, heâs very busy.â
âHeâs not the only one whoâs busy!â
Surha and Runald were quarreling. Surha was especially mad as she was now the leader of the Council.
âWe barely managed to put it in place! Thereâs no use if we donât keep it going!â
Surha snapped and glared at Chunghuh.
âAnd Teacher!â
âH-huh?â
âYou broke the [Setting] rule again! Didnât I say not to create such a stupid [Setting]? You created a [Three Wives] Setting after [Polygamy]? Are you kidding me?â
âUh, it was to answer my male Followerâs needs⊠Surha, you know 80% of my Followers are men, right?â
âDonât use them as an excuse. Itâs all because you want it that way!â
ââŠâ
âYou already have mostly men! Why donât you try making a multiple husbands [Setting] instead?!â
Chunghuh became silent. He was actually having problems because of his [Settings]. It was Runald who suggested a different idea.
âWell, you can have the men marry each other. Why would you restrict a woman as a âwifeâ?â
Karlton then cackled while he was organizing the documents. Chunghuh paled as people around them laughed. Surha sighed.
âUgh, thatâs enough. Runald, go get Jaehwan. Itâs all his fault that teacher is like that.â
ââŠWhy is it his fault?â
âDonât you know? You know what Jaehwanâs rank is now?â
Surha pushed Karlton away and pulled out a piece of paper from the pile. Everyone turned to that paper. There was the thick word for the rank.
Lowest.
Runald said, ââŠIt probably means something else.â
âNo, it is exactly what you see. Heâs the lowest rank right now.â
âBut how can he be the lowest?â
âSee for yourself.â
Everyone looked closely at the document.
Name: Jaehwan
World name: World after the fall
Follower: 1
Happiness rating: 1
Evaluated rank â Lowest
Chunghuh commented, âSo, he only has one Follower.â
âYeah. And thatâs me,â Runald said. âHow is that happiness-rating evaluated? I guess it only counts me since Iâm the only Follower, but why is it 1?â
âBecause the only Follower is depressed and always talks about nonsense? You always walk around saying an eye is looking down on you or something like a maniac. How can you be happy like that?â
Chunghuhâs words made Runald dumbfounded. Chunghuh continued, âIâm surprised Jaehwan is still in the rankings. How did he survive last time? Isnât there a rule to expel a God from the rankings if the happiness drops below 10?â
It was Karlton who replied, âOh, I opened [Gorgon Fortress] back then. If I use my unique world, Masterâs Followers increase greatly while my world is maintained.â
[Gorgon Fortress] had an effect on removing the borders of and . Even if did not have Gods, there was a lot of trust toward Jaehwan within . So if Karlton opened his unique world, Jaehwanâs Followers increased greatly. Chunghuh frowned.
âThatâs cheating.â
âYes, but we canât expel him.â
âYeahâŠâ
âIf it doesnât work out, I will do it again this time.â
Surha interrupted, âYou canât. Jaehwan should be evaluated fairly this time. We canât always make exceptions for him.â
âAre you saying you will expel him from being a God?â
ââŠWhy would I do that? I will give him a penalty of serving as a public volunteer or something⊠and fix his unique world so he can increase his Followers. Whatâs important is that he needs to follow the rules now.â
Surha and a few members of the Council nodded. What she said was right. The policy only worked when there were no exceptions in place. Even if Jaehwan was the hero of , he couldnât be treated differently forever without the other Gods objecting.
Everyoneâs eyes all turned to Runald. Runald, the only Follower of Jaehwan. He was the only one who could communicate directly with Jaehwan.
âRunald, you know where he is right now, donât you?â
Runald was staring closely at the document from Surha. They then realized Runald was looking at the âhappiness ratingâ. Everyone felt sympathetic at that moment. A few were looking at the scar on Runaldâs shoulder. Everyone who had fought in the war knew what the scar was.
From his shoulder to his thigh. It was the result of spirit exploding.
Runald was injured to the point where his spirit had no chance of surviving. It was a miracle that he even made it through. If it wasnât for Jaehwanâs [Eye of Geshtalt] and Chunghuh, Runald wouldâve died.
âIf he wasnât there, the 7th site would have perished that day.â
Everyone thought as they looked at the boy. He was a great hero. The boy gave up everything to kill the Lord. He had the right to be âhappyâ.
âYou didnât answer my question yet.â
Was it because they were deep in their thoughts? People didnât realize Runald had asked something. Surha blinked her eyes dumbfoundedly and asked back, âHuh? What question?â
âThis.â
Runald pointed at the âHappiness rating: 1â as he continued.
âThis happiness rating⊠who and how was this evaluated?â
âOh, I did that fromâŠâ
And before she could finish, Runald interrupted, âYOU did this?â
ââŠUh, yeah.â
âHOW DARE YOU?â
Surhaâs face turned cold. The air quickly became tense, however, Runaldâs face became colder.
âHow can you judge another personâs happiness? What are you to rate that?â
âRunald, thatâsâŠ!â
âWhat difference is that from the System?!â
Surha couldnât say.
âYes, Chunghuhâs right. Jaehwanâs world is depressing. It makes me go crazy if I look up at the eyeball in the sky. It even makes me feel like I want to die. But⊠that doesnât mean Iâm not happy.â
Some gasped. They didnât expect to hear that from a young boy.
âI determine my own happiness. So if you are trying to restrict Jaehwan with such nonsense, give up.â
Some council members were shocked by the declaration. Maybe it was Runald who saw reality clearly. But they were adults and they had their pride. They could not agree with the young boyâs words. And the one who represented that pride was one person. Surha declared as people turned to her, âWe need him.â
Runald grimaced.
âWhy? Why do you need him?â
âTo create a fair worldâŠâ
âFor that reason? Are you certain?â
Surha couldnât answer as minutes passed. Runald stood up from his seat and walked over to the window, opening it. A breeze entered the window and cooled the room.
There was the smell of the wind. There were many windows inside the room, but none of them were large enough to contain the entire sky. There was always a part of the sky that they couldnât see. Runald spoke as he looked at the squared sky from the window.
âYou already know where Jaehwan is and what he is doing right now. Donât you?â
Surha didnât speak but answered with a look.
âYouâre just afraid.â
ââŠâ
âWE are afraid about what we donât know.â
People shook, seemingly from the cold⊠but there were no weak spirits within the council that could feel âcoldâ from the weather. It was the year of peace that had given them comfort that made them feel cold against the reality.
âWe⊠we just want to bind Jaehwan to us.â
âItâs here.â
The 3rd site of , in the hottest region named âMusfelheimââŠ
Jaehwan was looking around as he checked the direction of the sky. Karavan asked Jaehwan, âAre we really here? Is there really an entrance in my site?â
Karavan, after a year of training, had inherited Ignisâ [Setting] and became the new God of the 3rd site. He wasnât strong as Ignis during his best days, but everyone agreed that Karavan would be a great God in the future.
âYeah.â
âI was suspicious when [Fruits] were dropping here, but⊠did you hear it from Myad?â
âSomething like that.â
Jaehwan looked up at the sky, at the giant eye that was always looking down on him. The eye was closing slowly. Jaehwan narrowed his eyes as he spoke.