The Oracle Paths

1180  Cho Min Ho's Suspicions

Inspecting his freshly enchanted sword with expert flourishes, Jake nodded appreciatively.

The double-edged sword, about three feet long, was slightly curved, resembling a saber or katana in its design. With its black steel blade seamlessly integrated with the hilt—forged from the same block of Horizon Hardstone—and its nearly nonexistent guard, the weapon might seem unfinished. But that would be a misleading mistake. This weapon was undeniably a masterpiece when it came to dealing death.

Before this enchantment session, this sword and the other secondary weapons and accessories Jake kept in his Space Storage were no different from his armor. No special abilities, just an excellent stat boost and stupidly high durability. But after being bathed in his Lumyst, things had changed.

Now, they were fully alive. And that changed everything.

[Silver Aether Artefact (can evolve): Horizon Sword (+14) : …]

[Silver Aether Artefact (can evolve): Horizon Gun (+14): …]

[Silver Aether Artefact (can evolve): Horizon Bullets (+14): …]

[Silver Aether Artefact (can evolve): Horizon Shield (+14): …]

[Silver Aether Artefact (can evolve): Horizon Nuke…]

[…]

This was just a small sample of the assortment Jake had forged during his forced seclusion in the Dungeon Digestor, and he had all scenarios covered.

There was also a game-changing detail about their forging that didn't appear in their descriptions. If his next-gen equipment was made of 99% Horizon Hardstone, what did he use for the remaining 1%?

The answer was... his Blood Essence.

An initial choice he regretted because the sacrifice didn't translate into abilities synergistic with his combat style, but now that his equipment had come to life, all hopes were allowed. The ??? in the ability list of his newly enchanted gear was a clear indicator.

The moment their Spirit Artefacts formed would be when the plethora of Silver Aether Artefacts he had just enchanted in quick succession would manifest their full potential. And according to Claire, it wouldn't take long...

Annoyed at seeing him admire his upgraded gear with infatuation like they were his new crushes, Xi impatiently chimed in,

[Are you going to keep staring at them with that stupid look on your face, or are you going to put on your new armor someday?]

Jake wiped the foolish expression from his face, wisely refraining from pointing out her jealousy towards inanimate artifacts. Well... not for much longer. In perspective, his Oracle AI's edgy attitude wasn't entirely unwarranted.

[Hmmph!] Xi snorted, guessing his thoughts without needing to read them.

Even though they had a tacit rule not to pry into each other's thoughts without permission, their mental link was permanent. Besides, after all this time, it was a fact that she knew him better than he knew himself.

Jake quickly donned his new armor, admiring himself with a satisfied look in the mirror he had conjured by solidifying the air.

"Not bad. I've got some flair," he commented with moderate narcissism.

What? It wasn't narcissistic to tell the truth. Right now, he reeked of style!

[A bit anachronistic given the world we're in...] Xi muttered under her breath, refusing to admit she found him cooler than ever. His refined and high-end steel suit design was way too futuristic for Twyluxia.

"All you need is a red cape, and you'd look like a true Soulmancer King," Claire suddenly interjected, her eyes sparkling as she imagined the ambitious cosplay.

Jake's shoulders slumped immediately.

"No thanks... The day I want to look like a second-rate superhero, we can discuss it."

"Superhero?"

"Forget it."

With his equipment upgraded, Jake could move on to the next step of his plan: paying a few visits. Starting with a certain usurper.

*****

Cho Min Ho remained stoic as he listened to the latest messenger's report, detailing the suspicious movements of Jake and another of his trusted subordinates. Learning nothing out of the ordinary or beyond his predictions, he relaxed.

Long before Natan revealed the existence of the Oracle Hacker, the Korean had sensed something was off with his Oracle Slave. The insect man was far too proactive—a level of initiative well beyond the loyalty expected of a placid slave—but more importantly, his performance was oddly inconsistent.

On one hand, his underling could perform feats of genius, like quickly identifying the cause of a problem where all other Players had failed, but on the other, some of his 'accidental' failures had the flavor of self-sabotage.

For example, the presence of Amy in the group captured in Lustris when the theft of the Goblet of Ethershine failed. Though he was only Rank 16, Nathan could have definitely saved them without compromising his escape.

It wasn't the failure itself that had aroused Cho Min Ho's suspicions. The three Rank 17s from the opposing camp had also failed to steal the Chalice of Nethershade, so how could they blame a Rank 16 Player for that? Returning unharmed with valuable information was more than sufficient.

No, what finally burst his bubble of delusion was Jake's appearance shortly after and the 'timely' encounter with Amy's group, an acquaintance he was supposed to have lost track of long ago.

The Korean tended to ignore the pasts of his members now that his faction counted millions, content with a basic background check. However, because his faction was still in its infancy when Amy joined, her naive groupie behavior had particularly stood out to him.

Her desire to prove her usefulness and her irrational faith in him were handy at first, as expected of a hardcore K-Pop fan, but it quickly bored him once the faction grew and more competent members joined. The virtuous image she projected onto him soon became more of a burden than an asset.

So naturally, like many other early members, Amy ended up discarded, replaced by Evolvers more aligned with his mentality and plans. Without becoming a mere member, the young woman and other problematic members like Lee Yoon saw their disillusions about their leader fall one by one as the faction grew, until they were almost entirely sidelined.

Rank 13 and 14 Evolvers remained somewhat valuable, even in a faction of Sixth-Ordeal Players, and the vile, barely veiled way he had gradually removed them from important positions left no doubt about his change in vision.

If at this stage there were still a few naive idiots in denial, Amy and the other groupies enlisted early on were no longer among them. Not that it mattered.

What they thought of him, all the members for that matter… never had any value in his eyes. He didn't even expect loyalty from them, as long as they recognized his authority...

As long as he had that and his faction continued to grow, his power would follow.

Chorus Resonance, that was the exact name of the ability he had awakened by chance upon arriving on B842 and which had almost entirely determined the trajectory of his future—besides his highly manipulative personality, of course.

Cho Min Ho had been a frail idol since childhood and never thought this deficiency would lead him to be blessed by the Oracle System. He had spent his life cursing his poor health, preventing him from living a normal life and promising an early death, but now he was grateful.

By chance, fate had granted him a charming face, a superior brain, and abundant talent. Even his background placed him far ahead at the starting line, being born as the heir of one of Korea's wealthiest and most influential companies.

Perhaps because he suffered from an inferiority complex due to his physical frailty since childhood, he developed resentment towards the whole world, his personality becoming more twisted over time. The care from his family and the love from his fans and classmates quickly turned into condescension in his eyes, fueling his disdain for humanity without falling into hatred.

It was crazy how just by looking pitiful or cute and innocent, you could make the whole world eat out of your hand. Beauty privilege, halo effect, plus fragile health preventing others from envying and even making them sympathetic, was the winning combo to rule the world.

That was all it took for young Cho Min Ho to use his acting talents and exceptional IQ and EQ to fall into the bottomless pit of narcissistic perversion and eventually acquired sociopathy.

Sorry again for the radio silence these past few days. The last fifteen days have been pretty chaotic at home, partly due to the Olympics and visits from relatives during their vacations. I won't be able to write under good conditions until Saturday, although I'll try to publish something. I initially planned to wrap up the Fifth Ordeal last month, so it's a total failure with only 13 chapters published. Far from my ideal, but surely better than last month.

What's not helping right now is that due to writing so little (totally my fault, I agree), the income from writing isn't keeping up, even when I do publish chapters. So, even from a motivation standpoint, I don't even have the financial carrot to spur me on. As some of you know, a novel's popularity depends heavily on momentum (I publish, people come back to read, they give golden tickets and power stones, the novel climbs the rankings, gains visibility, which brings in more people who then spend money, and so on). Even though, on paper, it just takes writing to restart the engine, the problem, unlike a salaried job, is that I have no idea how long it will take or even if it will pick up again. I don't know how other authors handle this, but personally, it's a significant source of anxiety that I obviously didn't have in my previous job, although I much prefer writing to that. It adds performance pressure on my part that doesn't help at all, and it's part of what killed my motivation these past few months, aside from other completely unforeseen personal circumstances that didn't help at all.

Nevertheless, being a author is a source of happiness and fulfillment that I find nowhere else. Seeing my work progress little by little and an entire universe come to life chapter by chapter brings great satisfaction. I also love reading your comments and reactions, whether here or on Discord, even though compared to The Oracle Paths' popularity peaks, they have significantly decreased. I know this is the fate of many authors, but there are moments when it's easier to endure than others. A silent comment section is the saddest thing.

Back to maintaining a writing pace, writing under pressure with a knot in my stomach is obviously not the solution, and the lack of instant gratification and uncertainties about the future make establishing and maintaining a sustainable rhythm particularly difficult for me because it triggers a number of insecurities.

Therefore, I ask for your understanding. Ironically, I already have most of the plot for the Sixth Ordeal prepared, so it's not like I lack content for the coming months' chapters. Arkinslize

Creator's Thought