That direct, unreserved praise from a "god"...
Reached the insecure, fragile heart of Rudeus, who had never received any recognition in his previous life.
And instantly filled it with an immense sense of satisfaction and vanity!
Rudeus felt positively lightheaded.
The Human God's admiring words were like the sweetest honey.
They instantly soaked into Rudeus's parched heart, which had never received recognition in his previous life.
Being praised so lavishly by a "god" left Rudeus floating.
As though he were walking on clouds, an unprecedented sense of satisfaction and pride welled up within him.
Yet the Human God abruptly changed tack.
His ethereal, kindly tone took on an unmistakable note of "regret" and "pity":
"What a shame... what a terrible shame..."
"No matter how gifted you are, no matter how hard you work, no matter how different you are from everyone else..."
The Human God paused, as though he were sighing helplessly on Rudeus's behalf.
In a voice brimming with "sympathy," he slowly said:
"My dear Rudeus!"
"All your brilliance seems... to be effortlessly, mercilessly overshadowed by someone else, an 'outsider' who came uninvited!"
"All the limelight, all the attention, even... everything that should have belonged to you seems to have been quietly stolen by that person, too..."
If the praise a moment before had been a warm spring breeze...
Then these words were a bucket of icy water mixed with shards of ice, drenching Rudeus from head to toe and chilling him to the core!
Rudeus's heart, buoyed by the praise, abruptly sank!
Almost immediately, he realized exactly who this mysterious "Human God" meant by "someone else"!
"Y-you mean... Mr. Ciyou?"
Rudeus asked tentatively, his voice exceedingly cautious.
Though in his heart, he already had the only possible answer.
"Heh heh..."
"Who else could it be but that black-haired