Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 377 - 376 - “You done crying, boss?”

For a long while, there was only silence in the chamber.

It was the kind of silence that sat heavy in the chest and refused to leave.

The golden motes had long faded, but Raven sat there on his bed, staring at Valeria, who lay beside him—peaceful, breathing softly, her features touched by the faint glow of sunset spilling through the window.

Raven brushed a lock of her red hair away, the faintest sigh escaping him.

He knew Catherine wouldn’t return.

But still, a part of him—stubborn and irrational—waited.

"Damn it, Mother..." he muttered, his voice hoarse. "You just had to make it hurt more than it already did."

No one would ever know it, as he never told anyone, but he really missed his mother.

After all, he, who had been an orphan in his past life, had always heard a line saying, ’Mother’s love is the sweetest thing in the world.’

So, he always wanted to know how it was since he was born, and now, just when he got the taste, it was snatched away from him.

Right now, if he could see his reflection as he stared at Valeria, he would see that his own expression was caught somewhere between fondness and grief.

The atmosphere remained ambient until—

—a familiar, smooth voice broke through the silence.

"Yo... you done crying, boss?"

It was Omni, who had been silent until now.

Raven didn’t even flinch. "I wasn’t crying."

"Oh, my bad. You were just... emotionally leaking from the eyes. Totally different thing," Omni countered with a snort.

Raven’s lips twitched. "You waited till now to talk?"

As if shrugging, Omni drawled, "Figured a man deserves his mom-moment. Even I ain’t cold enough to interrupt that."

But Raven just raised a brow, not in the least believing the reason, making Omni groan.

"Alright. I didn’t wanna risk getting smacked by a divine ghost lady. I may be forged from the soul of an elder god, but I still value my nuts."

"She wasn’t a ghost, you piece of metal," Raven chuckled, then sighed despite himself. "...Still, thanks, Omni."

Omni responded with another chuckle. "Anytime, boss. So, what’s the plan now? You gonna sit here staring till moss grows on your face, or are we getting back to the grind?"

Raven exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah... You’re right. Time to stop obsessing over what I can’t control and focus on what I can."

"Who-hoo!" Omni hooted, as if hyping Raven. "That’s my guy. Classic Raven mindset: emotionally unstable, but financially ambitious."

Then, as if reading Raven’s mind, he said, "Speaking of which—are we doing ’the thing’?"

A faint smirk crept onto Raven’s lips. "The auction scam?"

"Hell yeah."

He raised his right hand, and the faint tribal tattoo etched across his forearm pulsed—dark violet veins lighting up as his system interface unfolded before his eyes.

<TRADE CHANNEL: ACTIVE>

Unread chats: 120.

"Whoa," Raven whistled as he looked at the number of gods who had sent him messages.

"Damn, boss. That’s a lot more than we thought," Omni muttered in Raven’s head, as even the sword was surprised.

Last time they checked, they had talked to around five to six gods and told them all to do one thing, and that was to gather any other close ones who could be interested in making money.

Of course, he had said that they must be close—very close—because if anyone were to betray him, then Grandpa_Hot_Pot won’t just kill them but also their accomplices.

So, he had expected there to be around 20 to 30 gods in the list, but it seemed there were way more gods who wanted to get in contact with him.

Yes, this amount was nothing compared to the millions or even billions of gods out there using the same trade app, but it was still a lot for Raven, who was a mere mortal.

Still, before talking to other gods, there was one whom he needed to give a heads-up about what he was going to do.

It was Arietta.

He began typing, only to pause as an idea popped into his head.

Then, with a grin, he began typing again.

Within seconds, he sent the message.

[Raven]: "Hey, old man. I’m starting the plan today. You ready to act like a supportive mentor again?"

The message was seen as soon as it was sent, but for a while, there was no reply.

That was until it finally came.

[Grandpa_Hot_Pot]: "A supportive mentor? I’m your eternal divine sugar mommy, you ungrateful mortal."

There was a pause, as if telling Raven that she understood the kind of game he was playing and that she would play along with him.

Then, another message came.

[Grandpa_Hot_Pot]: "Also, yes. Finally. I was bored enough to almost smite someone for sneezing near my temple."

Raven smirked. "Good to see your mental health remains stable as ever, Arietta."

[Grandpa_Hot_Pot]: "Flattery noted. Make it worth my while, Raven. I expect drama, chaos, and tears in the divine chatrooms."

Raven chuckled, shaking his head as another message came.

[Grandpa_Hot_Pot]: "Also, I wouldn’t mind if you used my name to swindle male gods, but remember, no goddess—especially not the tall ones."

Raven blinked, and for a second, he said nothing, then he asked. "What if I accidentally did trade with a goddess?"

Arietta’s reply came within seconds.

[Grandpa_Hot_Pot]: "You don’t want to know~"

Raven gulped inadvertently, while Omni whistled.

"This is why I say that having a yandere and controlling a yandere are different things. Now, keep asking for the gender of each god you talk to."

Raven sighed. "I can’t even be mad because I would be a fool to chase after another goddess when I have her."

He swiped open the public divine chatroom, and immediately, his screen exploded with messages.

[God_of_Lonely_Stars]: "Hey! You online?! When’s the auction event you promised?"

[Divine_Scribe_of_bed]: "I brought more than five gods to you, and all of them are tight-lipped. Do I get some kind of discount?"

[Squirt_Queen_42]: "When’s Grandpa_Hot_Pot releasing another limited-edition item? The last one made my husband faint from awe."

[Trickster_God_Yoink]: "Brooo Raven, my man, I got three mortal souls, one divine sword, and a questionable coupon from Heaven’s Brothel. What can I get with that?"

"There’s already a goddess in my chat," Raven pinched the bridge of his nose. "And I still have more than a hundred unchecked messages."

The tattoo on his arm flared as Omni’s voice echoed in his head.

"Forget about her, man. Push her in the block list. The one I like is that Yoink guy. He’s got hustler energy."

Raven, ignoring the second part of what Omni said, scrolled further, lips quirking as he saw the nickname beside his name.

[Tags: My Life, My God-Scammer, I Miss You.]

Nicknames are usually the names your friends have put up for you, and those names show as nicknames to the user.

Even without asking, he knew that it was Arietta who had named him like that, and looking at the second tag, he rubbed his forehead.

"...You know, I should feel guilty about the scam I’m about to perform," he murmured.

"Nah, boss. You’re not scamming them—you’re educating them. Big difference," Omni scoffed. "Besides, if they’re dumb enough to buy ’Raven’s Premium Jar of Air,’ they deserve it."

Raven laughed softly. "Fair point."

Just then, a soft groan interrupted his amusement.

Raven blinked, glancing down.

Valeria stirred, her eyelashes fluttering. "Mmm... where... am I...?"

She rubbed her eyes, blinking the blur away—until her gaze landed on Raven, sitting right beside her, sleeves rolled up, an ethereal golden glow still faint on his fingers.

Her eyes trailed to the bed.

To her own position.

To him again.

Her mouth opened slowly. "W—What did you do to me?"

Raven blinked. "...What?"

Omni, the ever-smart sword, understood the situation quickly. "Oh, she thinks you—"

"Shut up," Raven muttered quickly, shooting the sword tattoo a glare.

Valeria’s face turned as red as a cherry. "Y-You better start explaining right now or I’ll—!"

Raven held his hands up defensively. "You passed out! I didn’t do anything!"

Omni, as if a detective gangster, nodded his non-existent head. "Technically true. He just cried on you and used your body to hug his dead mom. Nothing weird at all."

"OMNI," Raven growled, but Omni merely chuckled.

"What? I’m providing context."

Valeria’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You... Who are you talking to? And what do you mean, I passed out? Why would I pass out here?"

Her hands, on the other hand, kept hugging her body as if she were a victim of something terrible.

But just then, before Raven could say something, Valeria frowned, sniffing the air and then her own body, her eyes going wide.

"Wait... Why do I have your smell on my body?!" She shot out of the bed, her already red eyes now burning with something else—terror.

"Wait..." Omni, as if side-eyeing Valeria, spoke in Raven’s head. "How does she know what you smell like? Even if she do know, how could she smell it through the air? Is she a dog or what?"

Omni’s questions were rational, as anyone would wonder about that, but Raven groaned, rubbing his temples. "...This is going to take a while."

Because he knew that asking those questions right now wouldn’t be the best choice.

Outside, the sun was setting—casting long shadows through the quiet halls.

Inside, the grief of loss slowly melted into faint laughter, embarrassed shouting, and the familiar chaos that always followed Raven wherever he went.

And somewhere in the endless divine chatrooms, gods awaited their new trader’s plan to be disclosed...

Unaware that they were about to be part of the grandest cosmic scam yet.