#1 Living in another world 7

Grim felt that he might have been overthinking things. He had heard from the woman that no matter what, a human could never become a god. So, he assumed that the divine aura emanating from the man was simply a result of being in close proximity to the woman for too long. 

"I am human, but only half." The man continued. 

"Half? What do you mean?"

"I am a demigod. In other words, I am half-god and half-human." 

"Is that even possible? I thought humans couldn't become gods." 

"If someone is born a full human, then yes, it is impossible for them to become a god. However, I was born as a demigod." 

"I see."

Grim started to understand what the man was saying. It was like trying to create a person with one head and two bodies—an impossible feat. But if someone was naturally born that way, then it would be a different story. 

Although both true gods and demigods possessed divine blood, their existences were vastly different—like the sky and the earth. The sky stretched infinitely, while the earth was bound by limits. 

Compared to true gods, demigods were more numerous—perhaps twice as many as the true gods. This was because demigods were born more frequently. Within a span of 100 years, two or three demigods might be born. 

But true gods were different. Their birth rate was extraordinarily low. In fact, if even one true god was born within 100 years, it would be considered a miracle. Typically, a true god was only born once every 50,000 years. Because of this, their numbers were slow to grow. 

Despite their greater numbers, demigods could never match true gods. A true god was born with an innate power they could control at will—a gift inherited from their parents. 

For example, if a god was born from the union of a fire deity and a death goddess, they would inherit the powers of one of their parents. There were also extremely rare cases where a true god inherited the powers of both parents, but such occurrences only happened once every tens of thousands of years. 

On the other hand, demigods were not born with any inherent power. While some were, they were far weaker than true gods. The probability of a demigod being born with divine power was only about 1%. In other words, even if 20 demigods were born in 1,000 years, there was no guarantee that any of them would possess divine abilities. 

Demigods born without powers were nearly indistinguishable from humans in many aspects. They had to rely on their own strength to accomplish things, just like humans. 

Furthermore, the lifespan of demigods was significantly shorter than that of true gods. True gods possessed an unlimited lifespan. Even those who could die of old age would take millions of years before finally perishing. 

In contrast, demigods had a limited lifespan. Though they lived longer than humans, their lives were still far shorter than those of true gods. A demigod without powers typically lived between 100 and 1,000 years, while those born with powers could reach up to 3,000 years. 

After walking for quite some time, they finally arrived at their destination. Grim saw a rather large building. However, its size did not particularly impress him, as it was similar to the military buildings he had lived in before. 

They continued walking and entered the building, passing through staircases and corridors. Eventually, they stopped in front of a room on the fourth floor. The man retrieved a key and unlocked the door. 

"From now on, this will be your room, sir." 

Grim stepped inside. The room was nothing special. Its layout was simple—there was only a bed, a small round table, a wardrobe, and a desk with a chair. It looked no different from an ordinary teenager's room. 

Grim felt a little disappointed. Since this was the underworld, he had imagined his room to be somewhat extraordinary. However, that wasn't the case. Even so, he saw no reason to reject it. It wasn't a bad room, after all. 

"How do you find the room, sir?"

"It's fine. No problems." 

"That's good. In that case, I shall take my leave." 

"Ah, wait."

The man was about to leave, but upon hearing Grim call out to him, he immediately stopped and turned around. 

"Is there something you need, sir?" 

"May I know your name?"

"My name is Hingel Ariabls."

"Hingel, huh? Well then, Hingel, I sincerely thank you for guiding me here." 

Grim was not someone with excessive pride. He always expressed gratitude to those who helped him. To Grim, kindness should be repaid with kindness, and cruelty should be met with cruelty. 

"It's no trouble at all. This was simply my duty. Since there's nothing else, I shall take my leave now."

With that, Hingel resumed walking. With each step, the distance between them grew until he finally descended the stairs and disappeared from sight. 

Now, Grim was alone. There was nothing for him to do at the moment. He re-entered his room and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. 

He began to think—what kind of life did he truly desire? 

He kept pondering deeply, and before he realized it, he had fallen asleep.