Reincarnated With a SSS-Rank Hypnosis Skill in Another World-Chapter 31 - A Complicated Offer

Loneliness.

This was the path this God was currently offering me in an indirect manner. A path that would push me away from everyone I know, without a doubt.

Having to kill others to survive—that was a path that would lead me to power and also doom.

I needed to make the right choice.

There were positives and negatives to both sides, especially considering the skill I had initially chosen before coming here, which made it possible for me to hypnotize people around me.

If I had a power that required me to kill people, then how would I gain loyalty with others?

Everyone would be scared of my presence.

However, while that might be the case, I could also decide to take a completely different route than the one I had taken for the past two weeks since I had arrived in this world. I could become strong by myself, using poison as my main power.

But there was only one problem with this second option.

Having to use poison and having my body consistently decaying over time was dangerous, and just like I had made my choice back then, I didn’t want to be on the front lines. I didn’t want to be the one putting my life on the line.

I had chosen hypnosis, especially for that reason. I wanted to be the one manipulating everyone from the back, telling them what to do so that I could benefit as much as possible. That’s the truth about all this.

And that’s why, met with those two choices, I made my decision—a decision that might even anger a godlike being.

"I think I’ll refuse your offer. Using your power would simply make me lose too much in the grand scheme of things. It might be beneficial in the short term by winning the tournament, but pushing away others and killing mercilessly a lot of people is... tricky."

The God seemed stunned at first.

He looked as if he had been convinced that I would accept his offer, but the look on his face—his frown and annoyance—showed it was clear he was surprised by my decision.

"I see..." he muttered under his breath, barely above a whisper. "Maybe we’re not as alike as I thought. Valuing others is not something I have ever done in my life. I... always thought of it as pathetic," he said, the words coming out of his mouth cold and distant.

The warmth he once had vanished in the blink of an eye, as if the previous version of himself—the one I had talked to minutes ago—no longer existed.

He was angry.

Angry that I had refused his offer.

I could see him visibly clench his jaw.

"What if I force you to take that deal?" he said with a growing smirk.

My eyes widened.

That’s when I knew that maybe coming here hadn’t been a win-win situation at all. I had no idea what would be waiting for me here, and it seemed that this God wasn’t as filled with good intentions as I once thought.

"I’m offering you power—strength unlike anyone in that pitiful world holds—and you’re rejecting it as if it’s nothing worth your while. You pathetic loser. Open your eyes and gracefully accept this godlike opportunity that I have granted you, stupid human."

He began insulting me, walking closer to me, telling me all those things.

It was honestly quite strange of him; nevertheless, even then, he didn’t touch me. It was as if, while he could intimidate me, he could not go further than that.

It was a theory that I needed to test to make sure that it was true. It would be risky, but now that I had already infuriated this God, I had no choice but to go all or nothing.

"I want to leave now. This power of yours is useless. It only pushes people away from you. Just look at you, living on top of this land, alone, devoid of any company because of the very power that you are offering me. The truth is that you are the pathetic one who cannot realize the benefit of having people around you."

I took a deep breath and continued, letting my thoughts come out in an instant.

"You are alone, spending the rest of your life here, spying on people like me because you are bored out of your mind. The real loser here isn’t me—it’s you."

The God stopped talking, his eyes widening with rage. I could see it in his eyes; he wanted to strangle me. He wanted to kill me if it was the last thing he would do.

He raised his hand and tried to bring it closer to my neck. But just as he was about to, a shield made of a strange energy formed around me.

It wasn’t made out of mana; it was something different—something that even a God couldn’t defeat.

"You’re lucky to be protected. Otherwise, I would have killed you with a snap of my fingers."

The God of Poison snapped his fingers nevertheless as he stared into my soul.

"You’re going to regret refusing me."

My vision then blurred momentarily, and I was back in the gymnasium, alone, beads of sweat falling from my forehead, my heart beating like never before.

But then, the system wasn’t even remotely done with me as I received new messages.

[Multiple Gods were impressed by your refusal.]

[Many of them are considering making you their apostle.]

[However, all of them consider that it is too early to do so. Instead, they have decided to vote on whether or not to give you a reward.]

[132 Gods are in favor.]

[19 Gods are in opposition.]

[You have been granted a reward for your might and courage.]

My eyes widened.

So many Gods were watching me, and I had no idea. More than one hundred of them, and it seemed that most of them liked me, even if I was sure my actions might have displeased some of them.

[They have decided to grant you a skill...]