The Outer God Needs Warmth
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Chapter 38 Table of contents

I’m gradually slicing bits of Yasle’s memories and sending them to people.

Of course, memories aren’t connected like a movie or drama that you can just watch seamlessly.

They’re more like a wiki. Human memories are a massive chunk of information composed of fragments and connections.

However, when you try to retrieve specific information from a memory, it doesn’t come out cleanly. Along with the needed information, emotions and fragments of other past experiences are tangled and dragged out together. If you cut away too much, you lose the context, and the overall meaning becomes incomprehensible.

Still, the good news is that there are sections to work with. For example, one segment might be about the first love letter, or another about a mortifyingly embarrassing incident.

From those, I’ve gathered all the fragments related to the event that summoned me. Rather than trying to extract just the necessary information, I’m sending out the entire memory, gradually increasing its portions.

But I’m not sure.

I don’t know if it’s working or not.

So, I need to experiment.

 

A lot of time passed while I was experimenting.

Let’s organize what happened during that time.

First, Tis-ha and the soldier from the Ansellus Kingdom learned of the catastrophe where the capital vanished. They also figured out that the culprit was none other than the Future Hope Sect.

Meanwhile, Wyde, though clumsy, had already begun establishing the framework of a kingdom.

He gathered people around him, demanded they recognize him as king, and used violence to seize resources. It was impossible for those nearby to remain unaware of this.

Honestly, Wyde essentially adopted the system used by the Future Hope Sect.

However, he doesn’t seem to understand that religion and a nation, while similar in appearance, are fundamentally different.

But given that the only thing he’s learned comes from that twisted reality, it’s no surprise. Tis-ha, on the other hand, who judged that system as clearly abnormal, is a complete anomaly.

Without prior knowledge, he pierces through the truth and runs toward the right direction. He’s an unconventional person, the kind that’s difficult to find under normal circumstances.

People tend to attach titles like “hero” or “great man” to someone like that.

At any rate, it seemed like Tis-ha, Wyde, and the blessed individuals under them would manage to survive somehow. Even if their methods varied slightly, overwhelming violence could smooth over the differences.

But things are creaking more than expected.

The reason is somewhat predictable. Those who could observe and navigate their surroundings all died last time, making it hard to assess the current situation.

In other words, they lost the ability to see far ahead. Like a snowball rolling downhill, it’s slowly gathering momentum.

Then, another major event coincided, becoming a steep slope for that snowball. One of the people I drove mad and killed last time mistook that as a sign of their impending demise. Now, more and more people are trembling, fearing they might die suddenly.

To put it in game terms, the fear of death is steadily lowering their mental strength, negatively affecting Wyde’s rule. In such situations, an enemy to fight becomes necessary.

It’s a method of converting fear into hatred or resentment and projecting it outward. Many rulers have used this approach in the past.

And conveniently, an enemy is coming.

To reclaim their country, to avenge fallen comrades.

Of course, not every person from Ansellus is like that. Some are purely driven by greed or self-preservation.

These are the lords. But every fief is different in terms of people, circumstances, and loyalty.

Everyone knows how difficult it is to face a force filled with extraordinary individuals. This includes not only those who went to the underground temple in the Scard Rock Desert but also the lords.

They understand that to confront this force, they need to rally soldiers from the surrounding fiefs and launch a unified attack.

And so, they joined Tis-ha.

For their own ambitions.

Of course, I, too, am acting out of ambition.

Meanwhile, Andrew and Witega established a cult called Mirae in the East. Unlike Wyde’s clumsy mimicry, they run this cult with a high degree of sophistication, using methods they learned from the Future Hope Sect.

I’m curious about what they’ll do next, but since neither of them has received my blessing, it’s hard to know immediately. It’s a bit frustrating not knowing what the two leading minds are thinking.

However, both Andrew and Witega have subordinates. Subordinates who have received my blessing.

This allows me to observe their actions. Additionally, they explain their plans to their subordinates. Even if they don’t reveal every detail, it’s not difficult to infer what they’ll do next.

Andrew learned from the Future Hope Sect how to operate a cult in a more sophisticated way, and he’s now brimming with plans to put that knowledge to use.

Witega, on the other hand, wants to invade the Cogni Kingdom. Before I accidentally wiped out a few people, one of those blessed with far-reaching vision used to inform him about Wyde's activities.

As a result, they know that Yasle is dead and that there’s no one left to bestow blessings.

However, there’s no one with long-range vision anymore. No map hacks. They must once again illuminate the map as they progress.

Speaking of things left unknown, it occurred to me that I don’t know the whereabouts of Rebecca Rolf or Hyungkeshni either.

Perhaps they’re alive somewhere.

In this way, I’ve been observing people while slowly unraveling Yasle’s knowledge.

At one point, I thought I might be expanding the data volume too gradually, so I released a large chunk all at once—and failed again. This time, a few of the blessed ones broke down.

They became confused about who they were. That said, they didn’t start thinking they were Yasle. Rather, they began showing symptoms akin to severe dementia, unable to recognize people or objects and spouting nonsensical words.

Their actions became bizarre as well—they’d trip over nothing on the floor, for example.

It was as though they’d been struck by dementia.

So, I hastily revised the experiment. I drastically reduced the amount of memory I was sending.

I lost someone valuable.

But it wasn’t all bad. There were small signs of success.

Of course, no one has reached the point where they can summon me yet.

But there’s now someone who can use the magic Yasle employed. I had assumed they’d need the entire memory package before being able to do anything, but with less than a fraction of the knowledge, they’ve managed to interpret and use Yasle’s techniques.

Though primitive compared to Yasle’s standards, the important thing is that they’ve used it.

It’s one step forward.

This means that by infusing Yasle’s memories, I could climb back up there.

Heh.

I can rise again.

If I do ascend, whether it’s through a cult, an organization, or an individual, creating an environment that provides warmth will be the challenge.

Still, that’s better than being completely unable to go. Once there, I’ll need to work hard to persuade people to provide warmth.

Why not just brainwash people by implanting information directly into their minds, you ask?

Fortunately—or unfortunately—those with strong egos aren’t influenced by me. All I can do when bestowing blessings is alter their bodies.

Thus, the idea of brainwashing them post-blessing comes with considerable risks.

The biggest issue is the lack of plausible deniability if I’m discovered.

So far, I’ve been able to observe from within but have never directed anyone’s thoughts or ideologies in a specific direction.

At least, not until now. That’s how it’s been.

But from now on, if I can, I’ll twist things as much as possible. I have to, if I want to ascend again!

I’ll start small, leaving room for plausible deniability.

Practice is necessary.

So, as I contemplated how to act in the future and continued to slice up Yasle’s memories bit by bit, I watched that world unfold.

Eventually, someone reached the stage where they could attempt a summoning.

By this point, much time had passed since the Future Hope Sect disappeared.

Of course, many events took place in between.

Let me explain them in chronological order.

First, the remnants of the Ansellus Kingdom clashed fiercely with Wyde’s followers.

The Ansellus Kingdom reclaimed its capital. However, they didn’t manage to kill Wyde. During the battle in the royal palace, Wyde, seeing the tide turn against him, fled with his followers.

Superhuman abilities are often more effective for escape than for killing.

When Wyde chose to retreat, the approximately forty blessed individuals with him were all injured but managed to escape alive.

In other words, they defeated Wyde.

This made Tis-ha a hero of the Ansellus Kingdom.

He had truly fought with his life on the line to protect people during that battle. The way he moved left a profound impression on the people of Ansellus, who elevated him as a hero.

Meanwhile, Wyde harbored intense resentment toward Tis-ha. From Wyde’s perspective, Tis-ha was always a lowly loser, and the idea of being bested by him gnawed at him deeply.

However, fractures also began to appear within Wyde’s group.

Their defeat was devastating. Wyde’s authority, rooted in violence, took a severe blow.

When his strength faltered, much of the authority he held evaporated. His grip on power weakened significantly.

A defeated leader makes an ideal scapegoat. Cracks formed in Wyde’s group, and eventually, a dozen or so members took the opportunity to escape.

If there had been a blessed individual with long-range vision, it might have been possible to prevent this, but they had all died earlier. So, Wyde could do nothing but watch.

In response, he began to rule those who remained with even greater violence. And Wyde shifted all the blame for his predicament onto Tis-ha, the one who had reduced him to this state.

Somehow, Andrew managed to approach Wyde during this time. Wyde was already prepared, his mind primed for manipulation.

A person consumed by a single idea is easy prey for a cult. Moreover, Andrew had once held a position above Wyde in the past. Accepting Andrew was an easy decision for Wyde.

Thus, Wyde joined the Mirae cult.

There, he reunited with Isula, who had been following Witega all this time.

It felt just like the old days of the Future Hope Sect.

Andrew wanted to expand the cult, Witega wanted to destroy the Cogni Kingdom, and Wyde wanted to annihilate the Ansellus Kingdom.

To the point where you could say they had become the spitting image of the remnants of the Future Hope Sect.

The only differences were that Witega had experienced betrayal once, and Andrew now occupied the top position.

This was not long after the collapse of the previous cult. No matter how effective their old methods had been, it was difficult to rebuild their influence so quickly.

The Mirae cult lacked manpower. With such a short history, there weren’t many people deeply indoctrinated into the religion.

The cult was on shaky ground, fraught with divided opinions and liable to collapse at any moment. Yet, Witega didn’t care about any of that.

Witega had no other options left. His country had fallen, and he’d vowed revenge in his mid-thirties. The man who had spent years preparing for vengeance within the Future Hope Sect had lost everything by his late forties.

So, he pressed Andrew hard, promising that if they attacked the Cogni Kingdom now, Andrew could claim it as his own.

With their existing superhuman forces, he argued, it was enough.

In this way, Witega openly revealed his ambitions and confronted Andrew. If Witega had been a strategist rather than a general, he might have approached this more tactfully or exercised restraint.

But Witega was a clumsy general.

Andrew manipulated Wyde into assassinating Witega.

It was simple to provoke Wyde. He pointed out that if Witega led an attack now, it would make it impossible to strike the Ansellus Kingdom. More time was needed to gather forces, but Witega wouldn’t listen to reason. He even hinted that Wyde would make a better leader for the blessed ones.

Andrew designated an enemy, provided reasons, and promised rewards.

Of course, Witega didn’t die immediately in the ambush. He fought back fiercely.

But defeating Wyde was beyond him. Even with Isula fighting by his side, Witega was ultimately killed.

And Isula fled.

In truth, as Witega’s death approached, he tried to leave behind something, and that something turned out to be Isula.

It was either good luck or terrible luck.

In his final moments, Witega saw both his wife and child in Isula and foolishly acted to save her. If Isula hadn’t cared and simply fled, she might have had a better chance of surviving.

As a result, Wyde let Isula slip away.

But he didn’t care much. To him, Isula had always been a lesser figure, far beneath him. He saw her escape as nothing more than a foot soldier fleeing.

Wyde reported to Andrew that he had dealt with Witega, and Andrew rewarded Wyde for it.

Wyde was delighted to receive a high rank, and Andrew was pleased to have removed a threat while gaining a useful pawn.

No one paid attention to Isula’s escape.

There’s something truly amusing about this.

Where do you think Isula went?

She headed to the Ansellus Kingdom. Determined to avenge Witega, she resolved to inform Tis-ha about the Mirae cult, Wyde, and Andrew.

Isula, broken in body and spirit from her battles with Wyde and Witega’s death, began talking to herself more often. This allowed me to glimpse her thoughts.

Isula didn’t die pointlessly along the way. She made it to Ansellus Kingdom’s hero, Tis-ha, carrying crucial information to someone who could use it.

The chain of cause and effect continues to loop.

While watching this unfold, I’ve been conducting my experiments to reenter that world and observing what lies ahead for them.

If I can cross back into that world, moving into other worlds afterward won’t be difficult.

Yes.

The experiment is nearing its end. And I believe it will conclude in success.

See you again soon, everyone.

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