Neo stared at Athena.
The room was dimly lit, the flickering flames of a nearby brazier casting long shadows on the marble walls.
The scent of aged parchment filled the air, mingling with the faint aroma of burning incense.
He wondered how much he should reveal to ask her about the novel and his reincarnation. After thinking for a bit, he decided to be direct.
"I'm from the future," he said.
"I know. Ares told me through telepathy." Athena answered while her expression remained unreadable.
Athena could use telepathy.
With it, she was able to know everything that occurred during the meeting in a single second.
The golden light from the brazier reflected in her piercing gray eyes, which lingered on Neo as if she had something to say.
Suddenly, Neo opened his mouth.
"This was my favorite book."
"Son of Zeus?" she asked when Neo pointed at the notes in his hands.
Athena tilted her head, confused.
She had been with him for quite some time and had never seen him show interest in novels.
"I read it when only 10 chapters were released. The novel was a daily serialization on a novel platform."
Neo's gaze softened, and a small smile played on his lips.
"I still remember the author's notes about how they were hoping their readers enjoyed the released chapters and that they would love more feedback," he chuckled, reminiscing about the past.
"You read it when only 10 chapters were released…?"
The meaning of his words slowly dawned upon her.
"I'm a reincarnator," Neo continued. "The novel you've written contained the knowledge of the future. It helped quite a lot. That's why I wanted to thank you."
She never expected she would meet a reincarnator so early.
The faint hum of magic resonated in the air, and the shadows around them seemed to ripple slightly.
As a Child of Mana, Athena had always had prophetic dreams.
A lot of those dreams were nonsense, but some showed glimpses of the future.
True reincarnators, transmigrators, possessors, regressors—she had seen them in her dreams.
A lot of her novel plots were based on them.
Maybe Son of Zeus was the same.
"I know you didn't know you were writing about the future when you wrote this novel," Neo said. "But I still want to ask a few things."
"Go on," Athena said while trying to suppress the tremor in her voice.
She clasped her hands tightly in her lap, her composure barely intact.
She was starting to believe Neo was truly from the future.
However, whether Ares and the others would agree with her or not was a completely different matter.
"What happens in the last volume?" Neo asked, his gaze intense.
"A battle between Arthur and the [Gods of Beyond]," Athena replied.
The mention of the Gods of Beyond made his brows crease. It was another name for them.
"What were our gods doing?" Neo asked the question he had always been curious about. "Other than the problem with the Gods of Beyond, there are a ton of problems that could be solved if those gods—you guys—descended into the world for a second. Why didn't you bother helping us?"
Athena looked away, her brows furrowed in thought.
"I never wrote the reason because the serialization stopped due to the apocalypse."
"So you don't know the reason," Neo said flatly.
"I have multiple reasons, but I never decided which one I would choose and add in the novel," Athena admitted.
An author always had multiple scenarios for any arc or volume.
The same was true for Athena.
Neo sighed, knowing blaming Athena wouldn't change anything.
He asked her to explain all the scenarios to him.
"The first one was, the gods couldn't be bothered to help if the people were defeated by such low-level problems...
"The second one was, the gods had a rule of not descending into the world. If they broke it, their powerful aura could destroy the world," Athena said.
"The third was… something like the gods didn't care about their world since they have ascended to a better, higher world. It's like people leaving a village for cities for better living conditions. Then, they can't be bothered about what happens to the village."
Athena pursed her lips, her golden eyes reflecting the soft light as if they were pondering something deeper.
"But?" Neo prompted, his curiosity piqued.
"These scenarios never sat well with me. They felt lacking. That's why I never used any one of them and ended up going on an indefinite hiatus."
Neo thought about her words, the faint crackle of a nearby magical lantern breaking the silence.
'So, one of her three scenarios is true,' he pondered.
'Or there is a completely different reason behind everything. Athena didn't see that reason in her dreams, and that's why the three scenarios didn't sit well with her—because she instinctively knew they were wrong.'
"Thank you for telling me everything," Neo said sincerely, his voice carrying a rare note of solemnity. "Do you have any idea about my reincarnation?"
Even as he spoke, Neo felt a twinge of self-consciousness.
He was talking with Athena, asking about the future and the reason behind his reincarnation as if he were casually chatting about the weather with a neighbor.
"I don't," Athena said, shaking her head lightly.
The motion caused her long, silken hair to sway, catching the faint light.
"The current me doesn't know. I can't be sure if the same is true for the future me."
"Am I the only reincarnator?"
"No, you should know others like you exist if you've read the novel."
"I'm not talking about them. I'm asking if someone like me—who has read the novel—exists."
"That… I don't know," Athena admitted, her gaze dropping to the floor for a moment.
Neo didn't receive all the answers he sought, but he wasn't bothered.
Many of his doubts were cleared.
As the conversation lulled, the atmosphere seemed to shift.
The room grew quieter.
Athena suddenly changed the topic.
"...?" Neo raised an eyebrow, confused by the abrupt shift.
"That's the title of reincarnators in my novel."
"I know that. But why are you telling me this?"
Athena's expression faltered briefly.
Her hands, resting on the table between them, clenched slightly.
She was flamed hard by her fans because of the Seraphs.
She had added the reincarnators in the plot abruptly, without foreshadowing.
Characters who had acted normally until then suddenly gained memories of multiple lives, dividing her fanbase into two sides.
One part of the fandom thought Athena was destroying the novel because she had no idea what she was doing.
The others—including Neo—believed Athena had a reason for the sudden addition and had a proper plot for the reincarnators.
The two sides had engaged in an intense keyboard war.
Seeing Neo's smile, Athena's cheeks flushed faintly.
"You were a part of it too?"
"The war between your fans?" Neo asked, amused.
Athena nodded as an answer to his question.
"I was on your supporting side," Neo admitted.
She hesitated, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her sleeve.
Neo realized what she wanted to know about and decided to answer without her asking.
"I was 'Mightysword101.'"
"Ah! You were the no-lifer who spent all day on my novel's forum—" Athena stopped abruptly, realizing she had almost insulted him.
She coughed, embarrassed.
"Anyway," she continued, avoiding his gaze, "Since you are a reincarnator, you must be a Seraph too."