Chapter 188: The Old Child

Will, the Snake of Mercury of Sequence 1 from the Wheel of Fortune Pathway, has lived from the Second Epoch until now. Despite his long life, he loves to act young and has a particular fondness for ice cream. He is Ouroboros' old rival.

Though both belong to the Wheel of Fortune Pathway, Will is evidently smarter than Ouroboros. It's this intelligence that allowed him to survive until the end of the original story, even becoming Klein's angel investor, promising a bright future.

Lynn genuinely thinks that Will might not be the best fit for the Wheel of Fortune Pathway, not because of anything else but because this Snake of Mercury doesn't seem to have much luck. Otherwise, he wouldn't have struggled so long to integrate the Uniqueness of the pathway until the end of the first book.

Lynn quite admires Will's decision at the end to consider Klein's state and abandon the integration of the Uniqueness. But comparing Will's experiences with other genuine lucky individuals—like the God of Steam and Machinery or Antigonus—highlights the differences among individuals.

Some people don't even fully digest their Sequence 1 potion and can become gods with a single gulp of Paragon Potion, even receiving support from a 'Transmigrator' later on to perfectly digest the potion.

Others repeatedly escape death and even get saved when they lose control. Although they might wake up feeling like they had a dream and dare not move, their luck cannot be underestimated.

As for Will, despite holding the Uniqueness of the Wheel of Fortune, he couldn't find the opportunity to integrate it for years. He was often chased by another Snake of Mercury, which is genuinely heartbreaking and pitiful.

'But looking at it another way, this seems to be the underlying theme of the entire story: the conspirator dies from loyalty, the witch dies from love, the traveler gets lost in the journey, the knowledge seekers loses control due to knowledge... Considering this, it seems quite reasonable for the Snake of Mercury from the Wheel of Fortune Pathway to have bad luck.'

Thinking about this, Lynn couldn't help but marvel at the underlying rules of this world, which seem filled with a certain dark humor.

While Lynn was lost in thought, Will began to sob again. At this moment, he resembled a child who couldn't stop crying after a major outburst, trying hard to control his sobs but failing.

One couldn't help but feel that Will looked more pitiful now than when he was wailing, more like a child. Even Bethel, who was silently watching from the side, couldn't help but glance over.

What kind of people had he associated himself with...? Bethel's expression was slightly peculiar. Whether it was the coquettish child-like Amon or the obviously sympathetic-crying Will, they made Mr. Door feel like he was gaining new knowledge.

Before meeting Lynn, Bethel had never seen his old friends in such... peculiar states.

Even though he had occasionally met the young Will during resets, Bethel had rarely seen him behave so childishly, usually maintaining his Sequence 1 demeanor.

This made Bethel almost instinctively look at Lynn. The ancient boy was evidently a bit lost in thought, but his mischievous smile was still as familiar to Mr. Door as ever.

After spending this time together, Bethel naturally understood that despite Lynn's mature and steady side, he was fundamentally like a mischievous child. He even showed a well-behaved side occasionally in front of his butler.

Although Bethel didn't understand why Lynn acted so obediently in front of his butler but displayed his mischievous nature freely in front of him, he was even more puzzled by another question: why did all his old friends have such childish sides?

Could it be that becoming a child really helps maintain one's humanity?

Bethel fell into contemplation. Always mature, steady, serious, and rigid, he now had a subtle thought: should he also change his image to something younger?

Otherwise, he felt somewhat out of place.

Even though he couldn't change his appearance as easily as those on the Fool Pathway, for Bethel, who was a worm of the stars, changing his form wasn't difficult.

"Be bold. I think you can definitely change to a child form of yourself, and relive your childhood." Lynn, snapping out of his thoughts, encouraged Mr. Door as if he knew exactly what Bethel was thinking, speaking with great confidence,

"As the saying goes, some people spend their whole lives healing their childhood, while others heal their whole lives with their childhood. Childhood is important to many people, so reliving it might help you maintain your humanity."

"You wouldn't want the Will of the Lord of Mysteries, to awaken too much, would you? So why not experience life more?" Lynn's expression was quite expectant as he finished speaking.

He had already seen child Medici, child Amon, and even pinched child Will's cheeks. He was really curious to see a child Mr. Door.

It sounded very interesting.

Maybe I could even invite Antigonus to join the fun in his child form, and host a tea party with the child versions of the Cowardly Three... Just thinking about that scene gave Lynn the urge to paint it.

He even thought this scene would be perfect for his diary, to be shared later as a gift for Roselle and Klein—Lynn never intended to spread his diary just once. After all, the diary is updated daily, and if interesting things happened in the future, he would naturally write new diary entries to spread.

Seeing Lynn's expectation, Mr. Door felt bitter inside. For someone who is usually serious and stern, putting up with Lynn's mischief without trying to stop him already took all his energy. He really didn't want to become Lynn's amusement.

To be honest, Mr. Door felt that his humanity had become much more stable during this period. Mainly because running with Lynn required a strong heart, and with fluctuating emotions, Mr. Door's humanity naturally stabilized.

"Even though, Bethel, you can't reset to wash away madness and divinity like me... hic, but experiencing childhood and acting as a child for a while might really help you maintain your humanity," Will said at this time, still hiccupping from his earlier sobbing but speaking earnestly.

It was hard to tell if he genuinely wanted to help Mr. Door maintain his humanity or simply wanted to drag someone else down with him.

Bethel then looked at Will. After a brief eye contact, both saw the same message in each other's eyes:

—If I have to suffer, you will too.

The friendship among the high-ranking angels of the Fourth Epoch was indeed genuine, just like the plastic camaraderie among the Cowardly Three, truly admirable.

(End of Chapter)

TN: Check out the new translated fanfic: Life of a Villain Starting from The Naruto World.

If you want, support me on Patreon and get access to all of the translated chapters in advance:

p@treon.com/IHaveNoNamingSense