[21:40:00]
"By the way, there's something I've been wondering about," said Pearl as we scoured the web for a suitable place to enact our plan.
We wanted to do it right away considering we didn't have classes right now, but Cronus made a point that we couldn't possibly know what would happen when we did. He suggested we find somewhere secluded in case it might attract attention, but close to society that we could get help if something went wrong.
He also mentioned we had to hurry as we had already lost more than two hours and hadn't yet made any other preparations.
He would have preferred we waited until the apocalypse started to do this and focus on getting everything we needed first instead of scrambling during the inital stages.
Pearl had vetoed it, stating that it was better if we made the attempt to make her an acolyte first.
If we did, we could confirm whether or not we could use the system when it shouldn't be available yet and possibly take advantage of it.
She also said it would make my story more believable to our families and possibly avoid wasting time trying to convince them they had to get ready for the apocalypse.
With both our families to consider, it felt as if there wasn't enough time to get ready.
I paused my scrolling, stopping at the image of a park and looked at her.
"What about?"
"You're acting a little different than usual. Is it some sort of skill?"
Different?
I didn't feel anything different.
I was still the same old crybaby and coward.
"Different how?"
"Well, for one thing, you don't seem to be terrified of having a god loom over you. You would always cry when someone bigger than you stared at you for more than a few minutes."
Ugh.
She had to bring that up.
Cronus didn't need more ammunition to mock me with. He was bad enough as it was.
"You've gotten better of course. When we were you little, you couldn't last a few seconds before peeing your pants."
"Pearl!"
[Pathetic, but unsurprising.]
If only I could shut him up somehow. I didn't want to have a god following me around only to insult and mock me for what I already know.
"I'm serious. You've never been good dealing with pressure. What am I supposed to think when you're chatting with a god like you're close friends."
She pouted as she leaned against the table.
"I thought I was your best friend."
I instantly waved my hands in front of me.
"It's n-not like that."
"Then what is it?"
I...I wasn't sure.
I hadn't realized it until she mentioned it, but the normal sense of fear tat I should have felt when talking with Cronus wasn't there.
That didn't mean I wasn't afraid.
I was absolutely terrified about the upcoming apocalypse.
If I could, I would dig a hole to bury myself in until it passed over.
Yet, talking to Cronus did feel like I was talking to a friend or family member.
No, that wasn't quite right.
It was kind of like how I felt in the afterlife.
I glanced up.
"Cronus, did you do something to me when you resurrected me?"
[What do you mean?]
"What Pearl said was true. The only reason I can think of is you."
[It's not impossible. Death always lives an imprint on the soul. Otherwise, it wouldn't be death. However, I believe it has to do with you being my prophet.]
"So you did do something?"
[When a god selects a prophet, a connection is established between the two. It's a double-edged sword. The more a prophet does well, the more benefits a god recieves. If a prophet does poorly, it'll adversely affect the god. The death of a prophet can even kill a god depending the right circumstances.]
Why on earth would a god want a prophet?
From what it sounded, the god didn't get much out of the deal especially if they picked poorly.
What could they possibly get if their prophet does well?
They're gods!
"You're looking at it the wrong way, Harold," said Pearl after hearing my thoughts about what Cronus said.
"Can you explain it to me?"
"Instead of thinking about why would a god pick a prophet, you should be thinking about what makes a god pick one."
My brows furrowed as I wracked my brain over what she said.
There didn't seem to be any difference between the two.
[She's quite smart. It's a pity I couldn't make her my prophet.]
I crossed my arms and glared up into the sky.
"Someone just explain to the idiot here."
[We gods are forced to select a prophet.]
Forced?
I put my arms down.
"Can something really force a god to do anything?"
Pearl poked my forehead.
"I can't believe you forgot about the system."
That's right.
The system.
Cronus did say that 'Last One Standing' was created by a more powerful existence. It would make sense if the gods were forced to by the system.
But why?
"What does the system get out of making you select prophets?"
[That I do not know. What I do know is that in every iteration of 'Last One Standing', if a god fails to select a prophet, they would slowly get weaker and weaker until they ceased to exist.]
I nearly fell out my chair.
"You'll die!"
[No, it something much worse. In death, at least they'll be remanent of our existence whether by items we left behind or storied passed on by others. Instead, everything related to us is erased until there's nothing left.]
My stomach churned.
That sounded horrible.
It was like in those webnovels where one of the characters, sometimes the main character, sacrificed themselves to save everyone, but in exchange everyone forgot all about them. Their friends and family continued living on without realizing someone was missing.
I hanged my head.
"Then why..."
[?]
"Why me? It's obvious you screwed yourself over by picking me."
"Harold-"
"Pearl, don't pretend it isn't true. He even said it himself. He said it was a pity he couldn't pick you as his prophet."
I don't know why she kept insisting I was qualified to be a prophet.
In fact, instead of making her my acolyte, wouldn't it make sense to have her become the prophet and me the acolyte?
My head shot up, and I stood up, startling her.
"Cronus, since you want Pearl to be your prophet, why don't you make her your prophet right now? Instead of trying to make her my acolyte, this way is much better."
[...That's not possible.]
"Why not? She's human now."
[A god can only select one prophet once per iteration.]
"Then why don't you change it so she becomes the prophet instead of me?"
[As I said before, a god can only select one prophet once per iteration. That means we can't change our mind and take back our choice.]
I collapsed back into my seat.
So Cronus wasted his chance on someone like me.
I just couldn't wrap my head around it.
Pearl frowned.
"Harold, does it bother you that much being selected as a prophet?"
"Of course, it does. He only picked me because you said he should, and now I have to somehow figure out how we'll survive the apocalypse."
I looked at the clock.
[21:10:00]
"See. We just wasted another half an hour because of me."
I hid my face in my hands.
"I'm useless."
A hand pressed gently on my back.
"Harold, you're not useless."
I peeked through my fingers to give her a blank stare.
Yeah, right.
If this was a webnovel, it would be a very short one.
If someone else was the protagonist, they would probably had everything ready by now, and while they might encounter difficulties, they would succeed in the end.
I couldn't say as much.
"I'm sorry you feel pressured to do something about this. My future or should I say past self probably wanted you to live no matter what. She wouldn't want you to think you're obligated to be a hero."
I wasn't trying to be a hero. I was just trying to figure out how we'll survive. I didn't care about anyone else. I wasn't some hero who could act as a symbol of hope and welcome everyone with open arms.
"Besides, you're not alone. You have me, Cronus, and your family. We're not going to let you go through this on your own."
Tears leaked out of the corner of my eyes as I put my hands down.
"Pearl..."
[While I would hate to ruin this moment, but what she said was incorrect.]
Huh?
[When I made you my prophet, it wasn't without conditions. In exchange for resetting 'Last One Standing' and bringing you back to life, you must obtain the Everyone Lives Ending. If you fail to do so, you'll experience a more terrible ending compared to last time.]
Say what?!
[21:05:00]