I'm Actually Not Overpowered!

Chapter 171 How Not To Deal With A God

According to the timeline of the original novel, Damien was killed pretty early—just a few minutes after he was summoned for the first time.

It wasn't his fault, though.

Being an average modern guy, he was thrust into a strange world of Magic. As if that wasn't enough, he was summoned amid a Demon invasion.

There was nothing he could do, and death was the inevitable outcome.

When he died, our MC arrived in this blank space—The Realm of the Foolish God. Being in a strange domain, the innocent and confused boy was left with yet more questions.

He spent an immeasurable period trying to make sense of his predicament, and no one answered him despite how hard he cried out.

It was only until he was at the brink of complete despondency that he was finally greeted with the presence of the divine being who called himself God.

You see, the Foolish God must have wanted to strain the boy's mind to the very limits, pushing him to the very edge of his sanity. That way, he would be much easier to manipulate and less suspicious of his words.

And it worked!

Damien foolishly struck a deal with the Foolish God. He sold his freedom to the God, becoming his Apostle and devour follower.

Of course, it wasn't clear what was happening on the surface, but Damien eventually found out he had been played.

Unfortunately, by the time he arrived at this realization, it was too late.

The horrid Foolish God used the MC, and manipulated a lot of his actions throughout the series.

The only silver lining was Damien's badass intelligence and how he managed to resolve the conflict at the very end.

Now... it was my turn!

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"So, what now?" I asked the white being who stood before me.

I remained seated, not intending on moving an inch from my position. If I was to give a reason, I would simply say I was too scared to move... or any BS like that.

The truth was that the Foolish God frightened me.

Knowing what he was capable of, and his true intentions for me and the world I wanted to save, caused every fiber of my being to tremble.

Still... there was no way I could show such weakness!

'At the very least, so he doesn't suspect anything.'

I was fortunate not to be a denizen of his world. If that was the case, then he would be able to read my mind and even downright control me.

Since he couldn't do all that, the most the Foolish God could achieve was to deceive and manipulate me.

I gulped and awaited his response.

"Hmmm. It's kind of unfair how you just died, especially when you were trying to protect the denizens of that city. Such a shame indeed."

I stifled my laugh and nodded in agreement, trying to appear as sullen as I could. Most people would consider my interlocutor to be sincere, but I knew him more than a lot of things about the book.

Yes, the Foolish God was a mysterious being. He was shrouded in deceit and paradoxes. However, for someone who had seen the series over and over again—plus, being an active member in the T.W.T.S.S. fandom, I was privy to more than enough Intel.

'Conspiracy theories. Canon materials. Easter Eggs.' I was aware of them all!

Including the fact that the Foolish God had no power in the current world I was in.

'The current world I have been summoned to belongs to the Demon God—this guy's sibling.'

Thus, the God in front of me wasn't omniscient or omnipotent in any way. He didn't have any direct hold on the events or events that went on in the world.

Unfortunately, there was one exception. It was the only thing that directly linked the Foolish God with me and the world I was in.

'My Arcana Call! Every time I use it, he gets to see every single memory I have and the events that occur.'

Thanks to that, he knew about the current events that were occuring in the Demon God's world.

Calculating the time it took for me to die, as well as the fact that the reboot time for using my Arcana Call hadn't been reached, the Foolish God must have surmised that I was still stuck in the same event.

'Since he's well versed in studying the respective worlds by appointing Apostles to serve as his eyes and ears, he has inflow of Intel. That's why he can plot all he likes.'

Damien became his Apostle too, giving the Foolish God an even greater hold on the world so he could further his plans.

'I don't have the ability to resist this guy, so I can only play along with him. But... I refuse to be an Apostle!'

"You know, I can probably resurrect you. However, to do that, certain conditions must be met." The Foolish God spoke, waking me from my deep thoughts.

"U-uh?" I leaked out a tone of surprise.

Of course, that wasn't really the case for me. He wasn't lying about that factor. In fact, the Foolish God hardly ever lied.

He simply twisted the truth and played on the intelligence of those he interacted with... a true personification of evil.

"The conditions are quite simple, but also difficult." He added.

I nodded slowly, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"You need an anchor from this dimension to the world you died in. Something alive. The most effective way is a contract."

'Ah, well... he's not lying.'

There had to be a medium of transportation from one world to another, after all.

To begin with, for me to even manifest in this world, the denizens had to use a Hero Summoning Circle.

In essence, a bridge that connected their reality with mine. One could call it a tether, or an anchor, but some sort of medium had to exist.

That was the absolute condition that was necessary for resurrection.

"Now, I understand that Magic so advanced isn't available to the humans. Hero Summoning is one thing—considering it even has less than a one percent chance of succeeding—but, to bring back someone dead... that would take more Magic Energy and a specialized tether."

I nodded while still pretending to be surprised.

I had no idea what kind of expression my adversary was making, or whether he already knew I was acting. However, this was the best I could resort to.

'I've gotten too reliant on [Freedom Of Expression]' Internal tears streamed down my face.

"In that case, I have a solution for you, Samuel Peterson."

Of course, he did! It was finally time for the bait.

"Make a contract with me. I will personally serve as your anchor to the world, and you'll be able to return."

I controlled my expression and refused to smile despite how great the temptation was. This was, by far, the easiest event I had ever experienced since being summoned—of course, if you didn't count the scary nature of the being in front of me.

It was just too predictable!

'I'm really happy I read the Novel and Manga—the Anime too. I would be screwed otherwise.'

"A-a contract...?" I managed to say, pushing down the annoying smile that kept trying to surface.

"Yes. I'll form a link with you, and then use my divine power to return you to the world. This bond of ours will be formed due to the Arcana Call I gave you."

So far, he was telling the truth. However, the Foolish God intentionally left out some important parts.

'He'll be able to freely monitor me thanks to this bond. Plus, he gets privileges to interfere with some of my actions. The automated System framework I have will also be influenced by him, so that will suck.'

"Your Arcana Call will get more powerful, and a new feature will also be added. That should help you out in whatever challenge you're currently facing." He added.

This was the most tempting offer. It made the Foolish God's deal nigh impossible to reject.

Why?

Because even if there was another way to return to the Demon God's world, how was I going to stop the enemy that killed me? In the end, I needed Arcana Call to win.

With the Foolish God's help, I could get the ability I required to triumph. Anyone without my knowledge would obviously jump at the offer.

'But I can't!'

If I became his Apostle, he would be able to get a hold on me. He would be able to spy on my Inventory's contents, or even observe everything I saw, did, and owned—including the T.W.T.S.S. Novel.

'I don't know why he doesn't know about it yet, but... if I accept this, there's a good chance he'll know.'

Once he found out, I was screwed!

After all, the only reason he was using this approach was because—despite all my achievements and prowess—he still thought of me as an ignorant human.

'That must not change!'