Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP

”Or countless other races,” Mordra replied.

”The promise placed before them is always the same.”

”Power. Purpose. A chance to become something greater than they were.” She paused. ” But those promises are only bait.”

”The System encourages them to struggle, evolve, and surpass their limits, all while quietly steering them toward the role Drugar has prepared for them.”

Her silver eyes met mine.

”To every candidate, it appears that victory leads to freedom...It does not.”

”The path has only two endings: Death...or servitude.”

I fell silent.

After everything she’d explained... I finally understood what the King’s Game truly was. It wasn’t a competition to decide a king. It was a selection process.

And everyone still competing, including me...was walking toward the same destination without even realizing it.

”The King’s Game is about to begin soon,” I said quietly. ”So...the winner of the King’s Game basically becomes his puppet.”

”Yes.”

Mordra gave a slow nod.

”Those who complete the program are assigned according to their abilities. Some are placed directly under Drugar’s command, while others become generals entrusted with leading his armies.”

She paused.

”Those who do not possess the qualifications to command are assigned beneath another general and spend the rest of their existence fighting in Drugar’s war against the Order.”

The words settled heavily over me.

I lowered my head.

Everything I’d built...would all of it simply be taken away the moment I won? Would I be forced to leave them behind...or worse, forget they had ever mattered?

I clenched my fists. Then another question surfaced.

Was it even worth participating anymore?

The thought lingered for only a moment before I dismissed it.

The alternative wasn’t freedom. It never had been.

If I refused to participate, my clan and I would simply continue surviving one day at a time, knowing there was no future waiting for us.

More Chosen would continue to arrive. Each one would come chasing the same goal I once had. Some would become allies. Most would become enemies.

Even if we defeated them all, it would never truly end.

The King’s Game would simply return with a new generation of candidates.

And then there were the garnets. I already possessed them. That alone guaranteed I would be dragged into every future King’s Game, whether I wanted to participate or not.

There was no pretending I wasn’t involved anymore. No quietly disappearing into the forest with my clan. I had crossed that line now.

”There has to be a way out of this,” I muttered, more to myself than to her.

I refused to believe the story ended with either death or becoming someone else’s puppet. Then I remembered something she’d said earlier.

I lifted my head and looked directly at Mordra.

”You said it isn’t all bleak.”

She gave a small nod.

”Yes, I did.”

For the first time since she’d begun explaining the truth behind this world, there was the faintest hint of hope in her voice.

She folded her hands together before continuing.

”The System functions as a pathway.”

I frowned.

”A pathway?”

”It extends across countless worlds, connecting them through a shared magical framework.”

She searched for the right words before continuing.

”When a resident of a compatible world comes into contact with that framework, the System recognizes them and awakens. From that moment onward, they become connected to it.”

”However, Drugar himself was barred from that pathway.”

I blinked.

”Barred?”

”The System was created by the Assembly, and access to its core was sealed from anyone who had violated the Covenant.”

I leaned forward.

”Then how did he take control of it?”

Mordra’s expression darkened.

”He found another way.”

”He killed the one entrusted with guarding the pathway. The Archmage Aster.”

The name hung in the air for a moment.

”Aster?” I repeated. ”Who is Aster?”

”Aster was a member of the Order,” she said quietly. ”And...a friend of mine.”

There was only the slightest change in her expression.

”Drugar succeeded in killing him,” she continued after a brief pause. ”And in doing so, he obtained what he had been seeking...Access.”

”But Aster did not simply die.”

Her silver eyes met mine.

”The moment his soul began to break apart, a contingency he had prepared long before his death activated.”

I listened without interrupting.

”He scattered fragments of his own soul throughout the System’s pathway.”

Fragments?

”They became indistinguishable from the System itself, concealed so deeply that Drugar never discovered them.”

She paused.

”Even the Order and the Eternal Assembly could not locate them.”

”Wait...”I looked up at her. ”So...he isn’t exactly dead.”

Ariel, who had been quietly listening from my lap the entire time, tilted her head.

”How did you come to that conclusion?”

I looked between the two of them.

”If his soul had been completely destroyed, there wouldn’t be anything left to scatter.”

”Physically, he is dead,” Mordra interrupted gently. ”His body was destroyed long ago.”

She paused before continuing.

”But spiritually...not entirely.”

I couldn’t help smiling faintly.

”I told you.”

Ariel clicked her tongue and looked away.

Mordra continued as though we hadn’t spoken.

”Fragments of Aster’s consciousness remain embedded within certain Systems, a consequence of his soul dispersing throughout the pathway.”

”They cannot converse as he once did. They cannot think with the clarity of a living mind, nor can they freely interfere with the world.”

Her voice softened.

”But instinct endures.”

”They make subtle adjustments when they can. They leave behind clues. They nudge events in directions Drugar cannot easily predict.”

”And whenever possible...they protect anomalies before Drugar can erase them.”

She looked directly at me.

The meaning behind her words struck me almost immediately.

My thoughts drifted back to that day. Back when I wanted to activate the clan’s graveyard. The overwhelming pressure. Drugar’s gaze. The certainty that I was about to die. Then...that blinding light that saved me.

At the time, I’d had no explanation for it. Now...It finally made sense.

I looked up at Mordra.

”I possess one of Aster’s fragments...don’t I?”

She gave a slow nod.

”You do.”

A strange feeling settled in my chest. So I hadn’t survived that encounter by chance.

Something...or rather, someone had intervened.

I remained silent for a few moments before another thought surfaced.

”You said fragments of Aster exist within other Systems as well. Not just mine.”

”Indeed,” Mordra replied.

I leaned forward.

”Does that mean...”

I hesitated for only a second.

”...there are other anomalies like me?”