The Man with Hypnotic Powers Doesn’t Hold Back the Second Time Around

Chapter 226

In truth, my reunion with Hypnosis-chan was the worst.

"Ah, if this keeps up, I might slip and..."

• Ding! [Entering Administrator Mode.]

"...?"

A few hours before the departure ceremony.
A status window suddenly appeared before my eyes.

And then...

Pop.

[Master~!! How do I look? I can even appear like this now….]

Hypnosis-chan popped out of the status window like a hologram.
Our reunion was as sudden as that.

And the timing couldn’t have been worse.

[…Whoa, that's a... carrot.]

"Why now, of all times!!?"

At that moment, I was busy refilling lotion bottles.
With my "enchantment liquid."

Then Hypnosis-chan suddenly appeared in front of me?
There was no way she wouldn’t see… inappropriate things.

Sure enough, her gaze fixated squarely on my lower half.
Her mouth slightly agape as she stared, utterly transfixed.
She even muttered, “Wow, a carrot.”

It felt like she might shout, “How indecent!” any second now.

Swish.

"Little sister, isn’t this a bit of an invasion of privacy? Shouldn’t you knock before you show up?"
[Knock? Are you asking me to spank the carrot again?]
"..."

I tried protesting, but of course, it didn’t work.
She chuckled as she watched me awkwardly cover myself, clearly enjoying teasing me.

...It really felt like I had a younger sister now.
Honestly, dying seemed like a better option.

"Ahem. Anyway, you fixed the status window, right?"
[Or should I pet the carrot for you~?]
"Sta! Tus! Win! Dow! Did you fix it!?"
[If Master insists, as your little sister, I’ll just have to help you with my whole body….]
"Oh, for the love of!!!"

Grinning.

[Hehe~ You’re not going to say bad things about Mom anymore, right~?]
"..."

'So, you overheard that, huh…?'

Only then did I realize why Hypnosis-chan was being so mischievous.

My earlier “Mom is overrated” provocation.
I thought she hadn’t heard it since there was no reaction... but apparently, she did.

"I promise I won’t do it again…."
[Good~! And stop touching Mom. Touch me instead! Why go to Mom when you’ve got such a cute little sister right here?]
"..."

[Hehe. Alright, alright. I’ll stop teasing, Master~.]
"Thank you…."

It wasn’t until I was on the verge of tears that she finally let me off the hook.
Her lips curled into a teasing smile.

[Anyway, since Master is busy rubbing the carrot, I’ll keep this explanation brief!]

Hop.

[See this? I worked hard to make it for you!]

She jumped back into the status window like it was a stage.
Her finger pointed at a strange button.

[You’re going to use this, right?]
"And what exactly is that?"
[It’s the ‘Become a God’ button!]
"...What?"

Hold on. Where did that come from?

I get that I’m someone who likes clicking buttons so much I ended up transmigrating into a hypnosis game.
But becoming a god? Just from clicking a button?

My jaw dropped in disbelief.
Was this even real?

"What are you talking about…?"
[You’ve noticed, haven’t you? That divine power I installed inside you—the one Mom had.]
"Well, yeah, but still."
[When a Transcendent gathers this much divine power, they’re supposed to ascend to godhood. That’s the natural order….]

Her explanation continued as I stared at her, bewildered.
To sum it up:

1. Transcendents are beings eligible to become gods, rulers of a star.
2. To ascend, a Transcendent must accumulate sufficient divine power.
3. There are two ways to gather divine power:
   • Through countless years of hard work.
   • Or by stealing it from another Transcendent.

[You, Master, fall into the latter category. You gobbled up what Mom accumulated over tens of thousands of years.]
"..."

When put that way, it didn’t seem so far-fetched.

The power the Saintess accumulated over millennia.
Tens of thousands of years might be incomprehensible to humans, but she gave all that power to me.

So, I guess it made sense that clicking a button could make me a god.

'...But why?'

The only thing I couldn’t understand was why the Saintess chose to hand it over to me.

It was probably because of the EX-Class Gate, but still…

'Couldn’t she have just handled it herself?'

The EX-Class Gate represented an invasion by "that entity."
In theory, the Saintess could fight back without breaking any cosmic rules.

She could have dealt with it herself without transferring the power to me.

'Was she worried she’d lose? So she passed it to me instead?'

I tilted my head in confusion.

Logically, that didn’t make sense. Why me?

If the reason was that she couldn’t handle “that entity”...
Wouldn’t I lose too?

I only inherited her divine power.
Unlike her, I hadn’t spent millennia mastering it.

If she lost, I would obviously lose as well.

"Why me?"

I directed my question at Hypnosis-chan, my gaze fixed on her.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out.
I demanded an answer.

[Because I can’t say.]
"...Now you’re saying that?"
[Thanks to me fixing the status window, this is as much as I can tell you, Master~!]

She grinned shamelessly.
Her carefree attitude made me want to smack her upside the head.

'I can’t hit her, though… Ugh.'
"Fine. Then just explain what you can."

Instead of giving her a scolding, I decided to hear her out.
If I pressed further, I knew she’d just say, “I can’t tell you, Master~,” and drive me insane.

Hypnosis-chan’s smile widened.

[Alrighty! Back to the button. If you press this, you’ll immediately become a god!]
"Okay."
[But once you become a god, you can’t undo it. Unless someone steals your divine power and kills you, you’ll remain a god forever.]

She explained that pressing the button would make me a god instantly.
But once it was done, there was no going back.
The only way out was to have my divine power stolen and die.

"Forever…?"
[Yep! You’d probably live with me in the Sanctuary for eternity.]
"And what’s this ‘Sanctuary’?"
[It’s a special place for gods! Like a home base!]

She went on to explain the “Sanctuary.”

Gods couldn’t live among mortals because their presence alone distorted nearby souls.

So they created Sanctuaries to live in isolation.
Alone. Lonely.

"..."

'Maybe I should just run away with my wives right now.'

My expression darkened.
Being a god or whatever didn’t matter if I couldn’t live with my wives.

Honestly, running away seemed like a better option.

[It’s not all bad! The cosmic laws don’t apply in the Sanctuary, so you’d be truly omnipotent there!]
"..."

[And I’d be with you, so you wouldn’t be too lonely….]

Seeing my face, Hypnosis-chan started a weak attempt at persuasion.

But what was the point of being omnipotent if I couldn’t be with my wives?

Such power was utterly meaningless to me.
Becoming a god would be a bad ending.

[I could pet your carrot every day if that helps! Or even take other forms if you’d like….]

'Is she even trying to convince me?'

At this point, Hypnosis-chan’s persuasion felt more like a warning.

She might as well have been saying, “Don’t become a god. It’ll only bring you misery.”

"…I’ll think about it."
[Hehe. Good choice, Master~.]

I reluctantly nodded, and Hypnosis-chan beamed with delight.

I let out a deep sigh.
It really felt like dealing with an irresponsible little sister.

[Anyway, that’s all for my role! I’ve explained everything I can!]
"Alright. Then go back in. Your brother is busy."
[Busy making carrot juice? Should I flash you my panties for motivation~?]
"Get lost."

And that was what happened a few hours before the departure ceremony.

***

Though I had thought Hypnosis-chan was just a clueless rice cake...

Flap.

[Master, this way, straight ahead~!!]
…I’m sorry for underestimating you, my soulmate!!!

The situation changed once we entered the EX-Class Gate.
Thanks to her guidance, we found the shortest route to the boss room.

Honestly, I’d been a bit suspicious.
She seemed overly eager for me to press that button and become a god.
I half-expected her to lead us astray, wasting time and forcing my hand.

But, to my surprise, following her instructions brought us straight to the boss room.

The scale of the Gate had suggested a much longer clearance time,
but we arrived in record time.
I couldn’t help but feel grateful.

[We’ve arrived before Master’s carrot juice ran out~!!]
"..."
…I was getting nervous, but seriously, thank you….

There was another reason I felt thankful.
The lotion bottles I’d filled to the brim were nearly empty.

With everyone slathering it on every time its effects waned,
we were running through it at an alarming rate.

I’d even started debating whether to slip away and refill them
or have them restocked on-site somehow.

But Hypnosis-chan’s efficiency saved me from having to worry.
I couldn’t thank her enough.

You’re undoubtedly the MVP of this Gate raid, Hypnosis-chan…!!
"Boss room up ahead!!"

My gratitude didn’t last long, though.
I quickly raised my voice to alert the party that we were approaching the boss room.

Before long, we stood before a crimson teleport portal.

"This is it! Master and I will hold them off here, so everyone take a moment to prepare—"
"…Yujin, they’ve stopped chasing us."
"What?"

It was only then that I realized something strange.
The monsters that had been pursuing us as if they wanted to devour us
now stood at a distance, simply watching.

Roughly 100 meters away from the portal.

We all knew what that meant.

…The final boss must be ridiculously strong.

Sometimes, Gates have a safe zone just before the boss room.
And in my experience, the difficulty of the boss fight in such cases
is off the charts.

Both Kkong and I stiffened simultaneously.

"Kkong, can you use foresight?"
"No, even with the enchantment liquid you gave me, it’s blurry at best.
It’s at least a Transcendent level."
"Fantastic."

The atmosphere surrounding the boss room was undeniably ominous.
Even Kkong, whose abilities had been enhanced by my divine essence,
couldn’t clearly see the future.

That said it all.

…Still, at least we have time to prepare.

The one saving grace was the opportunity to prepare before entering.

For a party ready to dive straight into the boss fight,
this was a rare piece of good news.

We could make the most of this time:
relieving the party’s fatigue, ensuring everyone was well-rested,
and comforting my daughters and wives, who had never faced something this terrifying.

And even sneak off to restock the nearly empty enchantment liquid if necessary….

Plans started forming in my head.
Plans to ensure we were ready for the final showdown.

That was, until Master suddenly reached out to me.

"……!!!!?"

Flash.

Master?

She reached for me abruptly.
The afterimage left by her movement, visible even to my Transcendent reflexes,
showed just how urgent the situation was.

And the reason became apparent immediately.

Swish.

"……!!!!"

I felt something grab hold of me.
A slithering sensation that made my skin crawl.
And then, at the edges of my vision... a mass of tentacles.

Chills ran down my spine.

When did this thing appear?

Neither Master nor I had let our guard down.
We were poised to react instantly to any threat,
our superhuman reflexes ready.

But despite all that, neither of us had noticed the attack.
It had gotten this close without us reacting.

Which meant…

Crack.

…It’s faster than us. Far faster.

Realization hit me like a freight train.
But it was already too late.

Before I could even blink,
I was hoisted into the air by the mass of tentacles.

Whoosh. Flash!

[…Yujin!!!]

My vision was filled with the frantic face of Master,
her expression growing distant as the teleport magic circle’s crimson glow
swallowed me whole.

And then...

Ding.
[The entity of the Abyss reacts to the target’s divine power!]
[To consume the divine essence, the Gate expands….]

This was just like the A-Class Gate Alice and I had once tackled.
The red barrier that had surrounded the Gate,
preventing reinforcements from entering.

And now, it was back.