I Became the Apostle of an Evil God Chapter 36

Title: [Analysis] Let’s Explore the Manufactured Evil God, Orma – The Divine Liquor Chapter (Spoiler Warning)

Hey there. Today, I’m going to explore our final boss, Orma—the man who is personally breaking the heads of not just the Nox Gallery, but Nox players all over the world.

This isn’t a strategy guide, so if you’re going to ask about that, use that time to raise your mechanical skills instead. Just saying.

If you hate spoilers, hit the back button right now… but you already read this far, didn’t you? Just sit down and watch the rest.

(Image of Pepe holding a glass and smiling)

Now, let’s first look at the entrance to the Sanctuary of Siol, which you can visit in the very early stages of the game.

If you turn left here, you’ll find a mural painted on the wall, presumably depicting Banan.

(Mural illustration of Banan pouring something into a large jar)

Why does this matter?

Since Banan is the god of abundance, you might think, ‘Isn’t she just brewing wine, which is a common symbol of abundance in mythology?’

(Image of Pepe with a question mark, looking lost in thought)

But hold on! There isn’t a single grape anywhere in the painting?!

Then what… is she just brewing a different kind of alcohol? Haha.

Actually, it makes sense since they say Siol was famous for wheat beer before its ruin.

But does the golden powder near Banan in the mural really symbolize wheat?

We all know that in this game, Mox Nox, ‘gold’ symbolizes something else entirely.

It strictly symbolizes divinity, or a god.

Wait… then isn’t that a bit strange?

Banan creating something assumed to be alcohol, combined with gold, the symbol of a god…

If you connect this combination…

(In-game illustration showing a cup and liquor shimmering with golden light)

That’s right!

It connects to the divine liquor that Orma drank!

In short, we can deduce that the divine liquor is a beverage created by Banan.

Huh? Then does that mean Banan intentionally turned Orma into a god? Why on earth would she do that???

(Image of Pepe shrugging with a questioning expression)

Of course, nothing has been revealed about that part yet.

We don’t even know the relationship between Banan and Orma in the first place, but if you go to a corner of Serca’s temple—which can be called the starter village—you’ll find old scriptures.

If you read the scripture on the leftmost bookshelf among them, this content pops up:

[…The hero is a being of duality. He can be the savior who rescues this world, or the destroyer who brings it to ruin. Keep in mind that a calamity greater than the one before your eyes is squirming, and always remain vigilant…]

What we need to pay attention to is ‘a calamity greater than the one before your eyes.’

You’ve probably all guessed that the hero mentioned here equals Orma, and the point when this scripture was written was back when Orma was a hero.

Then what about the ‘greater calamity’?

It’s exactly the present moment in the story where destruction is currently underway—the one we players are facing!

Hoh… Serca isn’t the chief god for nothing; he accurately prophesied the very distant future. He’s got some skills…

But another question arises.

Why did Serca just leave Orma alone?

When Orma was first condemned for allegedly stealing and drinking the divine liquor, Serca flew into a massive rage and stormed over, but after having a conversation with Orma, he just left! What the hell? What is this even?

What we need to focus on here is exactly ‘how far into the future did Serca look?’

Isn’t it strange that he knew another calamity would come, but didn’t know what kind of entity Orma would become???

He didn’t know Orma would end up stealing and drinking the divine liquor? He didn’t know Orma would become an evil god??

He really didn’t know Orma would become a being that threatens the world like this?!

Here, I came up with a hypothesis.

What if all of this was just a single gamble played by Serca?

Could it be that Serca saw Orma as an ambiguous entity from the very beginning?

A being that could either save the world or destroy it… like a sort of Schrödinger’s cat.

But what we can be sure of through the scripture is that the calamity happening now is completely unrelated to Orma.

Meaning it’s a calamity that would have occurred whether he became an evil god or not.

However, the game explicitly states, ‘Ironically, the only one who can bring an end to this calamity is the evil god.’

Alright, then all the clues for our deduction are out!

(Image of Pepe wearing a relaxed smile)

Serca wrestled with a dilemma from the very start regarding the appearance of the hero named Orma.

Because he knew that even if the destruction was averted now, a calamity would return someday.

And he also knew that the only entity capable of stopping that calamity was none other than Orma!

But? Orma was a human.

How could anyone know when that calamity would arrive?? Was there any guarantee that Orma, a human, would be alive until then??

No way! Humans, damn it, die when they get old, die when they get sick, and basically die far too easily.

So we arrive at the conclusion that he ultimately took a gamble.

In other words, Serca made Banan brew the divine liquor, tricked Orma into drinking it, and…

‘Manufactured’ him into a god!

As if it had never been dark, sunlight began to pour into the room. Van grimaced, slowly blinking his eyes open, and fell into thought.

If we keep going like this, my ribs might actually break one day…. He had never thought of running away, nor had he ever given off an air of insecurity, so why did Orma always sleep while tightly hugging him? Even while feeling drowsy, he grew curious about Orma’s sleeping habits from back when he was human.

Was he always like this? Was his sleeping habit just to hug whatever was in sight, regardless of who was next to him? If nothing was there, would he sleep hugging a pillow instead? Or was he holding onto him like a substitute teddy bear, like a young child? The curiosity that started there led him to recall Orma opening up and speaking so sincerely last night.

…In fact, maybe even gods get drunk. He hadn’t expected Orma to share things in such detail. Even though he pretended otherwise, Van could feel that Orma was opening his heart to him.

Well, considering his god, he wasn’t sure if that was entirely a good thing. Had it turned out this way simply because Orma was so utterly broken that he had reached a point where he would rely on anyone who extended a hand? What if Van had approached him with truly wicked intentions? Strictly speaking, Van was ultimately using Orma’s power to recklessly resolve calamities as he pleased. In the process, even though he knew Orma hated using his divine authority, he was practically turning a blind eye to it anyway.

It was the same regarding Banan. Even if he had heard that story beforehand and known the truth, would anything have changed? Wouldn’t he still have begged Orma to save the people of Siol? And he had a feeling that Orma, despite grumbling, wouldn’t have been able to ignore his request.

Ah, Lord Orma…. To be called an evil god, yet be this soft-hearted and kind. What would he do if another human, and not Van, had approached him with the intent to harm him?

…Of course, no matter how much a mere human harbored wicked thoughts against a god, how much harm could they really do? Even so, his mind was still unstable.

Van felt a complicated mixture of emotions, guilt, and a creeping sense of self-contempt welling up within him. Letting out a faint sigh, he stared intently at the face of the soundly sleeping Orma.

“….”

Proving he wasn’t a god for nothing, Van had never once seen a single speck of sleep crust on this remarkably handsome face. Even the scruffiness from when they first met must have just been because the clothes he wore were so old and tattered that he was covered in the dust bursting out of them. Suddenly recalling how Orma had merely fiddled with his clothes and grumbled with eyes filled with utter embarrassment at Van’s scolding for looking like a beggar, a smile spread across his lips.

And right then, Orma, whom he thought was asleep, asked in a raspy, locked voice, “What’s so funny?”

“…Ah, you’re awake, sir?”

When Orma opened his eyes slightly, the golden irises visible beneath his lids sparkled more than usual as they caught the sunlight filtering through the window. After staring endlessly at Van with the outer corners of his eyes sharply slanted upward like a predatory feline, Orma slid his eyes shut again and mumbled a bit, still sounding drunk with sleep.

“There’s no need to wake up early today….”

“Well, that’s true, but.”

“….”

“I’m suffocating quite a bit here, man. Do you have any intention of loosening your grip? If you adjust your posture and just hold my hand comfortably while you go back to sleep….”

Unable to take it any longer because he felt his ribs might snap if things continued this way, he asked carefully, but Orma pretended not to hear. Instead, he buried his forehead against Van’s shoulder and nuzzled into him. Right, that meant ‘No.’ Van quickly gave up and, signaling for him to do as he pleased, managed to raise his left hand to pat Orma’s forearm.

Even though his god hadn’t been particularly inclined to do so yesterday, he had defeated the calamity of Siol. Finding him so admirable and precious, Van did it with the intention of indulging his morning crankiness today and letting him sleep more. Fortunately, it seemed to have an effect, as he soon heard Orma’s breathing turn peaceful again as he drifted back to sleep.

Well, anyway, what am I supposed to do now… To be perfectly honest, Van found this physical contact a bit more flustering than Orma did. Born an orphan who never knew his parents and having never properly dated a lover who whispered sweet nothings to him, intense embraces like this were just awkward.

Of course, he didn’t think Orma was hugging him to sleep as a romantic or sexual expression toward a lover. If he had to classify it, wouldn’t it be closer to the ‘substitute teddy bear’ he had thought of earlier?

Van glanced at Orma’s hair visible right under his nose. Catching the sunlight, the sleek hair possessed an enigmatic color that wouldn’t come out this vividly even if one dyed their hair black. His shadow was exactly this color, and every time he saw it, he found it fascinating that such a color could even ‘exist.’

As his thoughts and gaze drifted, Van’s hand naturally moved toward Orma’s hair as well. His hesitation lasted only a moment; Van soon began to gently stroke that fine hair. He’s asleep anyway, so he won’t care, right?

Hmm… why is his hair so incredibly soft? Is it because he’s a god? It’s fascinating no matter how much I look at it. Even the parts catching the light are distinctly black…. By the time his continuous thoughts verged on deep contemplation, Van’s hand hadn’t stopped playing with Orma’s hair.

Did that end up waking him from his slumber?

Orma flinched, snapping his head up, and went so far as to raise his upper body halfway. Having bolted upright, the strange, conflicted expression on his face was bizarre. Looking down at Van—who was still lying down meekly—with a resentful gaze in his flushed, bloodshot eyes, he hesitated before asking:

“…Is this another one of your checks, or what?”