Chapter 277: Ch 277 : Job Application

"G-God... does such a thing even exi-"Merlin wanted to complete the sentence, but the words died in his throat, choked off by the magnitude of what lay before him.

He looked around. He wasn’t standing in a room anymore. He was floating in the center of a pocket dimension that was a universe on its own.

He looked at the universe swirling around him, then back at the masked figure standing calmly amidst the cosmic storm.

He gulped down his skepticism. A single thought echoed in his heart, ’A being who can create a universe with a wave of his hand... has no need to boast. If he says it exists, it exists.’

"It does," Sunny said, his voice overlapping with the hum of the stars. "And it is beautiful."

Sunny wasn’t just looking at Merlin’s physical form. His [God’s Eye] was active, piercing through the layers of flesh and consciousness.

He gazed deep into the demigod’s soul, navigating the labyrinth until he found it.

There, buried in the deepest foundation of Merlin’s being, was a static Dot of Light.

It was the mark of the Creator. It was the same spark that Lady Sansa, the Cosmic Hand, the Mother Void had planted into the God of Cards billions of years ago.

It was the seed of the entire Arcana power system, lying dormant within this reincarnation of that God.

Merlin, sensing the weight of that gaze, felt a desperate hunger to know more. To know what this Card was. To know how to get it.

But he shook his head, forcing himself to remain grounded. He knew the laws of equivalent exchange. Power like this wasn’t given on a whim.

’There must be conditions,’ Merlin thought, bracing himself.

"There is only one condition," Sunny said, his voice cutting through Merlin’s internal monologue as if he were reading Merlin’s mind.

Merlin froze. ’I knew it. W-wait... can he read my mind?’

He tried to keep his face neutral, nodding slowly as if simply curious, but his heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.

Sunny smiled beneath his mask. He was currently utilizing the [Mind Reading] talent from Adam. To him, Merlin’s thoughts were as clear as water.

"You would need to work under me," Sunny declared.

He raised his hand. Golden particles of light coalesced in the air, weaving together to form a sheet of parchment that glowed with authority.

At the very top, written in bold, casual letters were two words.

JOB APPLICATION

"Work?" Merlin blinked, his brain short-circuiting. "A... a job application?"

He reached out with trembling hands and took the floating contract. He expected blood pacts. He expected soul-binding curses.

Instead, he read terms that were... surprisingly corporate.

Role: Administrator of the Arcana Subspace.

Duties: Manage the evolution of the Card Universe, catalog new formulas, and oversee the ascension of new Card Masters.

Benefits: Access to the Divine Library, resource allocation from the Pantheon, protection under the banner of Cosmos.

Termination Clause: The employee may resign at any time.

Note: Upon resignation, all granted powers, godhood status will be revoked, returning the user to their previous Demigod state.

Merlin stared at the paper. It was easier than joining a guild in his home multiverse. He could leave? He could just walk away? The only penalty was losing the power he hadn’t even gained yet.

He began to weigh the pros and cons, but it was a farce. There were no cons.

On one side of the scale was his current life; a hunted fugitive, betrayed by his lover, powerless to stop the twenty-two Gods who ruled his home.

On the other side was this; A universe of his own to rule. A Card that would grant him dominion over all others. The backing of an Emperor who treated Demon Gods like pests.

And, sweetest of all, the scent of Revenge. With the resources of this universe, he could return to Arcana as a conqueror. He could dismantle the God of White Flame piece by piece.

"When can I join, Boss?" Merlin asked, offering a salute.

The thought of the benefits made him feel lightheaded, as if he were already ascending to the heavens.

"As soon as we are done with your Godhood," Sunny replied calmly, taking the signed contract back into his inventory.

Merlin staggered. He still couldn’t believe his ears. Godhood. It was a mountain he had been climbing toward for three thousand years.

He had seen a vague path to the peak before, but it was blocked by the requirements, the scarce resources.

But now? The path was clear.

"Do... do we need to gather resources first?" Merlin asked, anxiety creeping back in.

He still remembered the struggle to create his SS-Grade card. He had spent a thousand years exploring ruins and fighting monsters just to find those resources.

"Resources?" Sunny chuckled. The sound was low and resonant. "No. We have everything we need right here."

Sunny raised his right hand. Slowly, he reached for the hem of his glove and pulled it off.

Merlin’s breath hitched.

The hand that was revealed was not flesh and bone. It was not human.

It was like Cosmos.

The skin was a deep, translucent black, swirling with the same darkness as the void itself.

what terrified Merlin the most wasn’t the darkness, it was the light.

Embedded within the skin of Sunny’s hand were several static points of Light. But these points of light produced pressure that felt unreal.

Merlin stepped back instinctively.

Sunny looked at his hands, and sighed.

He knew this day would come soon, his skin was now changing. It was turning into the hand of that Cosmic Entity, the void mother itself.

’Is he even human?’ Merlin thought, terror gripping him.

Sunny ignored the fear. He raised his hand and placed it gently on Merlin’s head.

"Close your eyes," Sunny commanded.

Merlin obeyed instantly.

Sunny began to pour his faith into Merlin. But the energy didn’t stop at just the body. It dived deeper, bypassing the brain, bypassing the mind, and plunging straight into the ocean of the soul.

Sunny’s consciousness swam through Merlin’s inner world. He saw the brightly lit cores of his current talents. They shone like stars.

But Sunny went deeper. He dove past the active talents.

Here, he found them. Dull, gray, lifeless orbs. These were Merlin’s talents from his previous incarnation; the God of Cards.

When he died and reincarnated, these talents had died, their potential lying dormant for eons.

"Wake up," Sunny whispered, as he channeled his faith into the dead stars.

To Merlin, it felt like a fire was being poured into his veins, as Sunny used trillions of faith on these dead cores.

With a burst of small energy, the cores flared to life. They didn’t burn with the blinding light of the other talents; instead they were still dull, as it would take a long time for them to heal fully.

"I guess my next talent will be one of these," Sunny noted, marking them for later copying.

But he wasn’t done. He pushed even further, to the very center of Merlin’s existence.

There it was, the Point of Light, the spark of Lady Sansa.

It was a point of infinite power. Every Void Born like Adam and the Demon Lords possessed a spark like this. It was their connection to the Mother.

Only Sunny didn’t possess something like this, but his innate talent was enough to overcome that weakness.

Sunny stood before it, he reached out with his consciousness, intending to touch it, to analyze it.

Before he could make contact, the Point of Light reacted. It moved.

With unreal speed, the dot of light tore itself free from Merlin’s soul foundation. It flew toward Sunny’s consciousness like a magnet snapping to steel.

It slammed into Sunny’s hand, embedding itself right next to his own points of light.

It hummed and vibrated. It felt... relieved. It felt like a child running to a parent or a lost traveler finding a familiar location.

Sunny stared at his hand in the physical world. A new star had appeared on his skin, shining brighter than all the others.

"I see," Sunny murmured, a realization washing over him. "These points... they are not just physical changes. They are Laws. And this one... it recognizes me."

Maybe because of his hierarchy, the Law of Cards recognized him as a superior vessel. It wanted to stay with him.

For a moment, Sunny was tempted. He could keep it. He could integrate the Law of Cards perfectly, becoming the God of Arcana himself.

But he shook his head. That wasn’t the plan.

"Little one," Sunny whispered gently, stroking the new star on his hand with his thumb. "You need to return. This is not your home. Not yet."

He exerted his will and pushed.

Reluctantly, the Point of Light detached from Sunny’s hand. It floated back down, re-entering Merlin’s skull.

But it had changed. Its brief contact with Sunny’s essence had charged it.

It dove back into Merlin’s soul, but this time, it didn’t hide.

It surfaced and connected itself to the newly revived talent cores, forging a circuit of immense power. It pumped the Law of Cards directly into Merlin’s body.

THUMP.

Merlin’s eyes flew open. His chest heaved. His heart began to beat frantically, loud enough to be heard in the universe.

It didn’t sound like a heart anymore; it sounded like an engine.

His veins glowed with golden script. Symbols; cards, runes, formulas began to etch themselves onto his skin.

"Sit cross-legged," Sunny commanded, his voice booming like thunder. "Do not fight it. This is your tribulation. This is your inheritance."

Sunny stepped back, watching the transformation.

"Overcome this, Merlin," Sunny whispered, stepping out of the pocket universe to give him space. "Only by mastering this can you truly become the God... of the Cards."