As Ashok pondered how deeply entangled he was in the God's Trap, the system's voice once again delivered the grim words of his fate.
[Host, it's about time you complete your First Quest. Then you also have to go to the Academy. There is not much time left before the Gates of the Academy are closed.]
[Initiate Memory Assimilation]
[YES]
"Umm! I think there is a NO option missing."
[Host. This Quest is not meant to be rejected. This is a necessary and mandatory step that will help you adapt to this New World. You will come to know about everything that the previous owner of this body, Adlet, did before you possessed him. You will learn about his habits, his way of speaking, his gait of walking, and many other things you don't know about the previous owner of the body.]
"Won't I then lose my original self and my original personality?" Ashok spat out, his voice strained with barely controlled anger. The thought of having Adlet's thoughts, memories, and habits imposed upon him filled him with disgust. It wasn't just an invasion; it felt like a violation of his very being, a surrendering of control to someone, he could never understand that.
[You will not lose your originality. Your original will be merged with the original of the previous body, creating something entirely new. This created personality will be a mix of both Ashok and Adlet. The new one will just be called Adlet since this is his body, but it will inherit both of your pros and cons.]
'I've read about these assimilations in novels. But I still don't understand how someone could accept someone else's personality this easily. It's as if they just let go of who they are and accept a new person entirely. I can't nor will I ever do that.
What happened to the person I was?
What happens to the person I am?
I do not care about the others. But I will live and die as Ashok. I am Ashok Kumar Maurya. Getting a new personality is entirely different from getting a new name. This System can't just merge me into someone else. No matter what, I will definitely get rid of this System before it merges me with Adlet.'
"Before we proceed with this memory assimilation, can I come to know the name of the Great Deity that I am currently serving?"
[What does the name of the Great Deity have to do with the Memory Assimilation?] the System questioned him back.
"Well… Um… You see, I don't know what I will be after the memory assimilation, so is it, not my minimum right to at least know the name of the being whom I am doing all this for?"
SILENCE
The silence stretched on, thick and suffocating, as Ashok's question hung in the air. He had asked something simple, something that should have been answered easily. But instead, the system's lack of response felt like it was weighing his words, processing them far more deeply than he could have imagined. The name of God who created the System was important for the final part of his plan.
'Did this system figure out about my plan of getting rid of it?'
'Should I just proceed with something else?'
The system's voice cut through the air, breaking the heavy silence at last.
[Well, you will know of it later, so why not now. The Great Deity that you currently serve is GOD OF FATE, JUAN.]
'Juan, Juan, God of Fate, Juan. Nope! doesn't ring a bell. It meant that this god Juan had no ties to the game I had played. Then I have to make assumptions.'
Ashok's mind surged with a rapid cascade of thoughts, faster than he could track, each assumption, hypothesis, and possibility unfolding like an endless series of images and equations. As the pressure of his thoughts mounted, his body fell into a deep trance-like state. In this altered state, his mind opened up like a vast, unfathomable ocean. Every thread of information that he had gathered from the game—every piece of the puzzle—was floating before him, swirling like an intricate web.
If my assumptions are right, he should not belong to the Hell faction. The Hell faction, especially, was notorious for its raid bosses and event-based challenges. Those gods weren't about fate—they were about destruction, about power rooted in the Seven Sins. Juan didn't fit that mold. He doesn't seem of the Fallen Faction either.
The Fallen were a rare and strange breed of gods. Their numbers were limited, and they didn't operate the same way as other factions. Their power didn't emerge until specific, highly unique conditions were met—conditions that didn't seem to fit with Juan's title as the god of fate.
So, the conclusion comes that the God of Fate is either a Heavenly God or an Outer God. Those are the only factions whose nature is unpredictable compared to other factions. I am more biased towards Juan being an Outer God.'
Ashok's mind snapped back into sharp focus as his thoughts crystallized around his new, singular goal.
'It doesn't matter to me anymore even if the God belongs to the Heavenly Gods. Now that I know that he doesn't belong to the Hell or Fallen factions. The only thing that matters now is getting rid of this system.'
Ashok knew exactly who could help him get rid of this System. The very thought of her sent a jolt of warmth through his chest, a mix of longing and determination. The one he had followed throughout his journey, the one who had unknowingly been the reason he pushed through the trials, even after defeating the Final Boss. It had never been about the game itself, not really. The true reason he had stayed—why he had fought, why he had pressed forward —was her.
Ashok's feelings for her weren't just admiration or worship like the cultists, but something deeper—a one-sided love, an obsession that had bloomed over time, unspoken, unacknowledged. The Goddess, the Final Hidden Boss, and the one for whom he died in the previous world.
'This time, it won't be a picture. It won't be some image, some fleeting glimpse through the veil. She will be real. She will be here. And she will be mine'