God of creation system : The apocalypse

Chapter 9 : The antagonist

I felt disappointed, as if I had just lost this round, but I had to accept my situation. No matter what, I needed to get help.

"Do you have a personal grudge against me?" I added.

I knew I couldn't expect anything from this cat-eared woman, who seemed allergic to humans like me, so I turned my attention straight to her leader.

"Hold on, pretty miss. You seem much more compassionate—maybe you can help me instead."

She was startled by what she heard, and her reaction suggested she felt shy being called pretty.

"Pre—pretty miss?" she muttered.

Her demeanor shifted; she acted like a shy child, unable to look me straight in the eye simply because of a compliment.

Even so, despite her dark skin and unique eyes, she was undeniably attractive, and the sweetness of her voice made her seem gentle as a dove.

"W-what is this problem you're talking about?" she asked shyly.

Just as I hoped, she asked about my trouble, and unlike the cat-eared woman, she genuinely seemed serious about helping me.

"I'm not a con artist, but I really need help because I have nothing, and to make matters worse, I have no idea if I can find Koko today."

"I don't want it to reach the point where I have to sleep outside and beg on the street just to get something to eat."

"It's hard to explain because I just ended up in this place out of nowhere, and right now, I don't have a single thing to survive on."

Upon hearing that, she didn't hesitate to act and offer assistance.

She paused, looking down at her wallet in her palm, before turning to her companions to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Nyabu. I need to fulfill my duty to help," she said.

She faced me, bowing respectfully as she held out their money.

"I'm sorry, sir, but this is all that's left of my team's allowance. I don't know if it's enough, but I hope it helps you," she said softly.

I didn't know what to think. She was handing over everything she had left just to help me. It was a huge gesture, but taking it felt overwhelmingly guilty.

Her kindness in giving away all her money made me feel like the bad guy just for accepting help.

"Are you really going to give me your allowance?"

Before she could hand it over, Nyabu suddenly screamed, bursting with anger as she tried to stop Ataparag from giving me the money.

"You can't do that!"

"If you give that away, we're the ones who won't have anything to eat or a place to stay, Team Leader!" she shouted.

Ataparag panicked at the outburst and immediately apologized.

It was awkward, watching a subordinate scream at and scold her own leader like that. I was genuinely curious about what kind of dynamic their team had.

Even so, Ataparag didn't change her mind, stating that she believed I wasn't a scammer like the others.

I was glad to hear that, but her trust and kindness were extreme enough to give away everything they owned. Her innocence and good nature made it no surprise that others took advantage of her—which explained why her subordinate fought back so hard.

"I just told you not to fall for guys like him," Nyabu muttered irritably.

Nyabu's expression showed pure annoyance, and her sharp glare made me feel like her blood was boiling with hatred toward me.

She looked at me as if she wanted to swallow me whole.

Driven by frustration, she turned to her minotaur companion, practically ordering him to finish me off.

"Toto, you know what to do with this one," she said seriously.

Her minotaur companion grew aggressive and let out a loud roar.

My skin crawled and goosebumps broke out all over my body as he glared at me with pure malice.

"Wait, just listen to me first," I pleaded, trying to calm them down.

He ignored my plea and started stepping forward.

"Go ahead, Toto. Leave no trace of him," Nyabu egged him on.

At that moment, Ataparag panicked and rushed to stand in front of Toto, blocking him from getting closer to me.

"Please, calm down, Toto," Ataparag begged.

She asked him to stop and reminded him that he wasn't allowed to resort to violence.

Encouraged by Ataparag defending me, I mustered the courage to voice my thoughts because she was right—they had no right to hurt me since I wasn't a bad person.

My situation was already bad enough as they assumed I was just trying to milk their leader for cash, which made me realize that Sei was truly my only hope.

"I don't care about your money or becoming a burden to you; I just need to talk to Sei."

"I came from another world and I'm not really from this place, so it's vital that I speak with Sei," I added.

Before I could say anything else, Ataparag cut in.

She clarified if all I wanted right now was to speak with their queen.

"Are you serious about what you're saying, sir?" she asked me.

I answered her immediately.

"Of course I'm serious."

At that moment, she went silent, deep in thought about what to say next. I knew she was a good person, but someone like her couldn't solve my problem.

She let out a heavy sigh, disappointment etched across her face as she explained that even if she wanted to help, it was impossible.

"You can't just approach the queen, especially when your background sounds so suspicious," she explained.

I furrowed my brows and clutched my head, completely frustrated by my streak of bad luck. I knew telling people I came from another world would sound unbelievable, and that's exactly what happened.

Worse, they now viewed me as a suspicious individual, making my predicament even more hopeless.

Soldiers like them followed strict Eskapa security protocols, so I figured I couldn't force the issue.

"But wait," I stopped them.

I wanted to appeal and try pleading a bit more, but Nyabu suddenly screamed, angrily telling me to shut up.

"Stop it!" she yelled.

"You've got a lot of nerve trying to fool us and sweet-talk an Eskapa officer," she added.

She was furious, and her terrifying gaze made it feel like she would kill me if I uttered another word.

In all my life, I had never felt so chilled by someone's hostile presence, leaving me with no choice but to stay quiet.

She turned around, preparing to leave while firing a final warning.

"I don't want to waste time on the likes of you, but if you persist in trying to get close to our commander,"

"I'll make sure you die," she said coldly.

I couldn't do anything else and just let them walk away, knowing it was risky to test her patience—or worse, get killed by an active-duty soldier.

They were way too overprotective of Sei.

I couldn't really blame them since it was their job, but calling me a beggar was crossing the line.

"I don't have money, but I'm not a bad person!" I yelled after them.

They kept walking away, and I didn't bother pursuing them further because there was no hope of getting help when they refused to believe a single word I said.

Then again, my story was hard to swallow, and I wouldn't convince anyone by just telling them the truth.

END OF NATHANIEL'S POV

As Nyabu and the others walked away, Ataparag couldn't shake off her guilt for failing to help someone in need, bound tightly as she was by Eskapa's rigid rules.

She also found herself growing curious and full of questions about Nathaniel due to his bizarre behavior and unusual clothing.

"There's something strange about that guy. Did you notice, Nyabu?"

"His way of speaking is weird, and his clothes aren't normal either, but people like him are all the same."

"They're all just desperate to survive here, so they make up all kinds of wild stories and nonsense," Nyabu replied.

Ataparag wasn't blind to the behaviors of vagrants roaming the streets and cities, but something about Nathaniel felt entirely different from her usual expectations.

To her, there was a unique quality that set him apart from ordinary people. Still, she had no time to look into it due to her heavy responsibilities as a leader.

So, even though she worried about the young man's welfare, she had no choice but to push it aside.

Meanwhile, as they retreated into the distance, Nathaniel remained rooted to the spot, trying to figure out his next move.

He knew everything would be much easier if Eskapa helped him, but he accepted that getting close to Sei was no longer an option.

Even though he was the creator of this world, no one recognized him as its author, and he possessed no special attributes that could change a normal human's perspective.

Sei is an important person in this world, and as a weapon of the divine, her life faces countless threats, which is why her security is so tightly guarded for her safety, he muttered to himself.

At that point, Nathaniel had no clue what to do. Aside from having zero help, he was deeply anxious about whether he could even find Koko today.

Amidst his despair as he stood stranded in the middle of the street, he unexpectedly spotted someone walking past him.

"Huh? Wait, am I seeing things?"

A major character from the story he wrote—someone he least expected to see right now.

With long red hair and matching red clothing, the soul eater Khan Zhui walked barefoot past him, the faint scales of a snake visible along her arms.

A green snake tail swayed rhythmically behind her as she walked.

Nathaniel was left completely dumbfounded. Aside from Sei, here was yet another character he had written, manifesting right before his eyes.

Wait, is that really Suwi?

Since she didn't know who he was, suwi simply walked past him without a second glance, heading straight toward town.

" She is the antagonist of the story I wrote, " he whispered to himself.

The phantom serpent, Khan Suwi, he added.

Nathaniel knew Suwi played a massive role in the plot; the entire narrative revolved around her carrying out her ambitions and causes, which would ultimately trigger a massive tragedy in Endoryo.

If I think carefully about my mission to stop the Great War—which is projected to cause the deaths of over ten billion Endoryrians—I have no choice but to stop Suwi.

To Nathaniel, the key to stopping the Great War was crystal clear: he had to stop the very person who started it.

His earlier anxiety vanished, replaced by a laser focus on Suwi as she continued walking away into the distance.

Motivated at last, he decided to take on the mission Koko had hinted at.

I don't have a plan to defeat this story's antagonist, but I feel like I have to follow her, he muttered to himself.