After all of this, I'm sure there are some of you wondering: why didn't the quest from before finish?

I don't know. But what I can tell you is that it still hadn't even after we killed the Omega Ranbi.

The only thing that matters is that we're alive. All four of us.

My new Creeper Thorn summon hasn't spoken a word since the fight, nor do I blame it. It had been summoned for the sole purpose of saving Bomber from the Omega Ranbi and had even willingly given up on life for the purpose of serving me. Yet now it was still alive, coiled up patiently at the top of the dungeon stairs.

It didn't need any further healing from Ivy, nor did I. Between both of us having Growth, we could heal our HP at intervals of 20%. After five uses of the spell, we could be fully healed.

For now, though, I had ordered him to patiently wait for Ivy to reach him and heal that way. Growth-spamming him to a larger size might seem nice but I had no idea if he'd evolve differently than I had at this point.

In my case, though, I used Growth.

It might seem contradictory but I lost a lot of my leaves from that single tackle. 8 HP may not be a lot but it was almost a third of my HP. Getting bigger might naturally lean me into more tanky stats or titles, too. Or give me STR so I could maybe resist a tackle like that without using my MP.

As deadly as my thorns are due to my extremely high INT, it's going to be better if I'm not entirely defenseless.

... But that's enough about me.

The true all-star here was Bomber.

Although he has the lowest statpools out of the three- the original three of us, he held his ground.

Today's siege had been so fierce yet I hadn't even been here for him. He held his ground alone, using the traps, his club, and his kicks to wear all the attackers down.

Even though he had been weaker, his strengths were applied so perfectly that he not only used most of the traps to full effectiveness but he even inflicted initial wounds on the Omega Ranbi. Had Bomber been stronger, it's possible we would have arrived and been able to kill the Omega without summoning a new creature.

After the battle, though, his fatigue caught up with him. After the Omega went down, he collapsed into the sand of the main clearing. His HP had taken huge hits and his SP exhausted multiple times. Bomber had been passed out for a few minutes before Ivy's licking finally stirred him.

As our designated healer, Ivy had been delivering them whenever she had enough SP.

None of us had to stand on guard for the first time since I'd arrived in Brogdar. There were no ranbi assaults... just us, picking up the pieces of our little dungeon clearing and literally licking our wounds.

Though we do have huge corpse sitting near my stairway. That's not particularly enjoyable to think about for most people but it's absolutely fantastic news for me.

Comparing bone-sizes, the Omega Ranbi's ribs or leg bones are like a larger-sized dog's bones. That means I can do a lot more with its corpse.

It also, unfortunately, means I can't get rid of it with Compost, since to get those bones would mean butchering the massive rabbit.

User Kaden!

Congratulations on surviving!

... Okay notifications, I know we're on better terms but-

Very well done, Kaden.

This isn't normal. Why does it seem like it's talking instead of notifying me?

Sorry but can you come down into your dungeon? It'd be nicer if we speak incorporeal to incorporeal.

It's me. You know.

Grey Man.

...

Everyone, stay here. The traps should be repaired but we can't let out guard down. Ivy, you handle any fights while Bomber keeps resting. Creeper Thorn... you back her up.

The ranbli pay me little attention whilst the silent plant slithers its way past me.

I don't know how we communicated before but if it can speak... then I'll find a way.

But right now, I need to find out if this is actually a god pinging me or something else coming to crash my isekai dungeon's start-up.

...

Inside the dungeon is a whole lot of nothing. At least, nothing besides stone and futon.

The other room is still housing the Mana Bonfire but I don't see anything particularly new anywhere. I even checked the storeroom and there doesn't seem to be anything different amongst the piles of bones and vines.

When I made my way back to the main room, though, something changed.

There aren't any stairs leading back out.

I don't... really understan-

[Notification] OVERRIDE DETECTED://

root.greyman.exe INITIALIZE

setvalue user.kaden.personifyRealForm 1

My body falls away and my ghostly form gets thrown forward into the main room. I turn back to look for my Manifested Form only to see another wall.

I'm alone in my main room.

Are you?

I snap my head around and spot someone else in here.

Someone who blends in perfectly with these cold, stone walls. Someone almost too tall for the chamber, bending his back ever so lightly.

Or at least, I think he's bending over. The figure's color is so flawlessly blended in that they not only look like the wall but look flattened.

What... who... are you really Grey Man?

[Notification] You have been bestowed a title: God Meeter

Thanks notifications for once again deciding to answer me.

New Title: God Meeter Brogdar's gods work in strange ways. It's even stranger to have met them.

Passive Effect

+ 2 LUCK

Equipped Effect

N/A

The massive figure snaps and all the tension in the room explodes; instantly, I see the featureless grey of his head crack and black-lined smile creep across his visage.

"Not bad," he chuckles. His voice isn't too deep or to shrill, almost unnervingly monotonous in not just its pitch but its flow. "You are an interesting one. Kaden, right? My... my my... aren't you an interesting one for picking me."

"Well, I-"

My voice sounds exactly like it did before my death.

And it's a voice. Not thoughts but an actual voice.

The face I make amuses another chuckle from him. "What's wrong? Would you prefer we speak mentally again? I don't mind. I get how the silence of Kave can be quite fun."

"No!"

This god gave me a chance to talk and I'm in my ghostly form. Right now, I feel closer to being human again than I ever did.

I can't let it end this quickly.

"Good, good! That's good! A little chaos shaking things up is nice, yes?"

The god laughs and taps an almost imperceivable cane off the floor, shrinking to stand only a bit taller than me.

"So to put it bluntly... I should let you know, I didn't let you finish that quest earlier. That's a pretty chaotic thing to do, even for me."

It's like he's almost bragging about it like an edgy teenager.

"So," he continues, stepping... closer, I think. "It's customary for me to tell you why I interfered in our world of Brogdar!"

"Okay... why did you interfere?"

The Grey Man's smile and silence says more than he eventually chuckles out. "For fun, of course. And... to test you."

"Test me?"

The notion of this encounter and stalling my quest reward is a little baffling; if he wanted to test me, why did he not just give me the quest reward and make the fight still happen? What difference could the reward have made?

"Simple," he answers, indiscriminately reading my mind.

"I wanted to test you... to see if you had the resolve to do what you had to do to ensure you kept shaking things up in Brogdar."

Wait.

"Shake things up? What are you talking about?"

All around us, the walls fade away. Instantaneously, the grey becomes a projecting of the clearing.

It shows the Omega Ranbi and all of us fighting it.

"Isn't it obvious, Kaden?"

The god extends his cane, tapping it atop the head of the Omega Ranbi. In particular, he points at its good eye.

"This one here: what do you think of it? Did you find it strong, Kaden?"

"... No."

The god's smile makes me know that was the answer he wanted, even if I hated admitting it. Although the Omega Ranbi had put us on the ropes, it had been not only a higher level but clearly an advanced evolution of ranbi. It had been sending its minions all this time to fight us yet not until its arrival did I have any trouble.

Even against a powerful threat like this, we were able to kill it without any casualties.

"I am glad you agree," the god finally replies, rousing me from my thoughts.

"Kaden, do you remember the choices you received when you came here? When your soul met our world and you chose me over the others?"

I recall them.

"Do you know what my benefit was?"

Chaotic Instability.

"Right!"

At this point, he doesn't care that we're not conversing. Instead, his smile turns into a frown and he pokes the Omega Ranbi with his cane perfectly in-sync with Bomber's kick popping its other eye.

"Kaden... I loathe this world. I despise those two louts. In this world, we had three gods who stood at the top."

He taps his cane three times, each tap destroying the world and replacing it with beautiful blue, grey, and red that encompasses every part of my view.

"Each of us," he starts, tapping his cane harder for emphasis. "Blue Pillar, Faceless Red, and myself... we represented Good, Evil, and Neutrality. This world had balance."

Grey Man swings his cane at the blue side and all of it erupts with cracks; black lines tear through space and render it broken.

"But the Blue Pillar ruined that. He saw Good as a lost cause... and in turn, he sought law. Order. That sole decision shook the balance of our world harder than you can imagine. One moment, we had purposes to our own... and the next, his people caused wars. Wars that brought my worshippers into the middle and slew them in droves."

The blue surges forward, pressing and taking over the grey dividing line. And then the angered god snaps his cane to the red side.

"Faceless Red answered him; her worshippers saw no difference in their foes but fought more fiercely against them in their new zeal."

The red slips closer. Within the two colors, the grey divider pinched into a thin line. It's obvious what he's trying to say.

"Both of them... they pushed you out of your place."

Grey Man's frown fades and instead the god puts on a warmer smile.

"Yes," he whispers, laughing under his breath.

"Kaden... you will become my Champion. You will restore balance: you will shatter the rule of law so that good and neutrality can become just again. And to do that... I will give you something that will help you no differently than my benefit. Chaotic Instability gains its power the further and longer you exist, but there are problems when you can't control anything right?"

As much as he has talked, I haven't had much time to get a word in. But now, he obviously waits, smiling at me and expecting my reply. Even if he knows the answer, he wants to make it seem like this isn't an offer or gift I can turn away.

From how this sounds, I don't want to turn it down anyway.

"That's right. And... you'll help me do that?"

Grey Man nods and flicks something toward me. As it sails through the air, the walls and space collapse into their familiar shapes and he vanishes. Once I catch it, my head rings and the sensation of being able to speak is torn out of my very being once more. In my hand is a metal card that doesn't phase through me: a card that vanishes and appears in my Inventory a moment later.

[Notification] Inventory has been modified.

User Kaden acquired: Chaos Queller Card

After acquiring 10 Random Choices, this card allows the user to opt-in or out of choosing a random outcome instead. [Notification] System authority restored.

User Kaden is re-initialized and connected. [Quests] Quest Completed Resources and options are the beginning of many new adventures! But they also provide opportunity for new dungeons! To do that, you must extend not just your reach but your control over your territory!

Acquire Dungeon Edge Constructor

[Build 5 structures within your dungeon's claimed zone. 5/5]

Spend 50 Favor on improving the Dungeon.

Acquire a Dungeon Landmark.

Bonus Condition: Learn/Acquire Ability Magic Theorist. Completed! Reward: Teleportation Chamber Construction (Dungeon)

Bonus: Choice of any Elemental Affinity + 1 Basic Spell attached to it.

So its reward was actually... pretty impressive.

If that reward is to be believed, then it might be a way to leave the Great Plains behind and search beyond here for resources.

Of course, I'd need to build it first. And to do that, I'll no doubt need materials. A new spell or affinity might give me the ability to do it, too. Grey Man may be difficult but his words so far rang true. This could have let me abandon my dungeon and possibly left all of this behind.

But with this card, he gave me a tool to not just control my destiny to some degree.

Grey Man gave me the power of choice to go anywhere I want every 10 random choices. In short, I have the eventual potential of his Benefit but a card that allows me to combat its drawbacks.

Some of you might scoff at this but I refuse to.

I finally have something that might qualify as an isekai's cheat.