Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 82
To have capsized twice in the same ditch! [mfn]竟然在同一条阴沟里翻了两次船！; idiom similar to “falling into the same trap twice.”[/mfn]
Oliver sat dazedly in the golden temple, overwhelmed with frustration.
The blame lay with his inexplicable compulsion—that obsessive urge to drain his stamina bar down to the very last point, as if stopping earlier would mean losing out on a fortune.
Distracted by the second Ring of the Cat God, he had completely forgotten his earlier deliberate act of leaving his energy at such a critical limit.
“Poor Fosse.”
He rested his forehead in his hand, murmuring to himself.
To have witnessed him fainting twice up close… what a profound psychological shadow it must have cast upon his loyal butler.
He swore—next time, without fail, without exception—he would leave a bit more energy in reserve!
Only after making this solemn vow did Oliver finally take a moment to observe this dream.
To his surprise, although he was still in the golden temple, he hadn’t been directly “transported” to the bedroom as last time.
Instead, he stood right outside the bedroom door.
Perhaps driven by a rare desire to escape reality, Oliver felt no urgency to wake himself.
After all, opening his eyes meant facing troublesome matters—why not comfort himself by petting a cat instead?
With that thought, Oliver pushed open the door without hesitation. It appeared to be made of solid gold yet felt as light as a feather.
“Oh.”
When he clearly saw the scene on the bed, he couldn’t help but blink in astonishment.
The furnishings were still those of his familiar bedroom, only everything was crafted from pure gold—that much was expected.
But… the handsome and adorable Cat God he had imagined was not, as usual, stubbornly perched at the head of the bed adhering to “cat behavior.”
Instead, he had boldly taken over the “master’s” bed.
The bed was clearly not large enough—at least, not spacious enough for this deity with fluffy golden cat ears and a tail, whose physique was even taller and more slender than the “master’s,” to stretch out his legs.
He had to bend them slightly to lie down fully.
Even though it was his own dream, Oliver couldn’t suppress a gentle smile. He softened his footsteps and slowly approached.
Whether lost in sweet dreams or instinctively alert even in sleep, the sharp golden ears twitched slightly, as if catching his arrival.
Then, they swiftly turned in his direction and perked up.
But they only remained erect for a moment before, as if his subconscious recognized Oliver’s identity, they relaxed and lay softly flat again.
The bed was neither long enough nor wide enough—even lying on his side in the typical curled-up sleeping posture of a cat, with his back to the door.
A large portion of that long golden tail still hung over the edge of the bed.
Oliver reluctantly tore his gaze away from the tail and took a soft breath.
His beautiful blue eyes, clearly reflecting the slumbering newborn deity, were filled with profound regret.
If only there really existed in this world a cat so large, yet so adorable, willing to lie trustingly in his bed… that would be wonderful.
The handsome golden-haired lord had no idea that the reason the “Cat God” had fallen asleep before him was entirely due to the wish he had made at the time.
In truth, as the faith of Laina’s followers grew increasingly devout, the newly born deity was able to draw more and more power of faith each day, causing both his divine power and divine body to grow increasingly solid.
Even if he couldn’t resist his “greed” and wished to meet with his most beloved believer every night… as long as he wasn’t in a hurry to let the other see his true appearance clearly, he wouldn’t easily let the golden temple maintaining these encounters dissipate again.
During the daytime when he couldn’t meet with Oliver, the still relatively weak deity voluntarily chose to fall into deep slumber to conserve divine power for the nights.
Only when his only cared-for lord summoned him would he briefly awaken to respond to this prayer.
This day was no different.
When he heard Oliver personally express his desire for a ring blessed with his divine power, he didn’t hesitate to extract his divine energy to fulfill his beloved believer’s wish.
Combined with Oliver accidentally exhausting all his energy and suddenly falling unconscious, being drawn into the divine realm earlier than planned… the deity, who hadn’t yet recovered enough divine power, inadvertently fell asleep once more.
By the time he was about to truly awaken, the sky above Laina City in the mortal realm was already faintly brightening.
……
…… Oliver……
…… will be awake soon……
……
Vaguely realizing this, he quickly opened his eyes, and then… his entire body froze.
Reflected in his golden, circular pupils was a beautiful face that had just fallen into slumber – so serene and lovely it could make even a deity hold his breath.
…… Oliver
He slowly realized.
…… was lying in the same bed with him!
The innocent deity, who couldn’t yet truly understand emotions like “shyness,” remained still for a long time before making a new movement.
He slightly raised his upper body and slowly approached… his only beloved believer.
Aside from his raised tail and twitching tail tip, the only things that could betray his current feelings were his cat ears, which quietly folded downward.
He was truly happy.
The newly born deity thought vaguely.
He was happy that Oliver hadn’t worn a ring made from anything else.
He was happy that Oliver had called to him in such a pleasant voice, wanting another ring from him.
But most of all… what made him happiest was that Oliver was lying in the same bed with him, choosing to quietly keep him company.
While the beautiful soul of Laina’s lord slept peacefully in the golden divine realm, he remained completely unaware that his beloved “Cat God” was clumsily imitating his movements.
What he was imitating was the action Oliver had performed toward him last night that had made him… the most ecstatic.
In the golden temple, the thick golden mist suddenly dispersed.
In that brief moment when his emotions were most turbulent, his handsome divine countenance – no longer blurred by golden light – was completely revealed.
The deity was bashful, yearning.
Yet still pure and unaware of these complex feelings.
When his falling golden hair could already touch those slightly curled, equally golden soft strands, he gently lowered his head.
Like an ancient dragon carefully guarding its most treasured possession, like a devout believer receiving divine favor with sincere purity, like lovers swearing vows before a majestic divine statue in the temple.
While the believer was still immersed in true slumber, he pressed the lightest of kisses upon that delicate, pale earlobe—a kiss imbued with pure divine power, sincere yet clumsy.
—Just as the believer had done to him yesterday.
“Mmm.”
When Oliver opened his eyes, dawn had just broken.
As usual, he awoke before the bell tolled…
An ordinary day.
The next moment, he instinctively sat up from the bed, and this movement quickly roused Fosse, who had been resting beside the bed.
“Your Highness.” Fosse bowed respectfully with lowered head. “You’ve awakened.”
To Oliver’s slight relief—perhaps because Fosse had witnessed his collapse firsthand, or perhaps because he had developed deeper trust in the ‘Cat God’ who protected him—this time his bedside wasn’t surrounded by a crowd of servants and quack doctors like last time.
Aside from Fosse, only the valet Johan was present.
Before Fosse could speak, the relieved Oliver offered a reassuring smile and proactively said, “I’m fine. This time I was too careless. I’m sorry, Fosse. I promise I won’t make you worry like this again.”
He would absolutely never push his remaining energy to such dangerous limits again.
To Oliver’s surprise, after a brief silence, Fosse nodded seriously and said, “Yes, I am eternally grateful to the great Cat God.”
Oliver: “……”
For a moment, he almost thought he was either hallucinating or that Fosse was being sarcastic.
Fosse gazed at his young master’s bewildered expression with complex emotions.
When he saw the young lord suddenly collapse, he had indeed been nearly scared out of his wits.
Yet in the very next moment, a warm, brilliant golden light—before Fosse could even react—caught Oliver just as he was about to fall into the river.
That divine light, which left all witnesses stunned and speechless, then gently placed the unconscious lord securely into Fosse’s outstretched arms.
After hearing Fosse’s detailed account, Oliver quickly understood what had happened.
However, his interpretation was completely different from Fosse’s.
—So when he fainted from energy depletion, if he wasn’t immediately caught by those around him, the game system would ensure his safe return to the castle bedroom—which the system recognized as “home”—in this manner?
Last time, when he was engrossed in coal production in his bedroom and accidentally collapsed near the coal kiln, he had woken up in bed instead.
It must have been the same situation.
Oliver felt relieved immediately.
This was acceptable.
If he had been escorted all the way by that “golden light,” the level of attention it would draw…
Just imagining the scene made him reluctant to go out for the next few days.
Seeing Fosse’s increasingly devout belief in the “Cat God’s” existence, Oliver had a sudden thought and decided to take the opportunity to propose: “Actually, the reason I fainted was because the great Cat God urgently delivered a new oracle to me.” He wishes me to quickly accept a trial to eliminate monsters that may be lurking in the caverns…”
Truthfully, after their semi-candid conversation last time, Oliver hadn’t wanted to lie to his most loyal Fosse anymore or invoke the Cat God’s name.
What Fosse valued more was undoubtedly Oliver’s own wishes.
But this time was an exception.
Fosse had already witnessed the anomalies surrounding him firsthand and attributed them to divine miracles.
If he didn’t strike while the iron was hot, the butler—who always prioritized his safety above all else—might remain uneasy about him engaging in “dangerous” activities for a long time to come.
He wanted to resume his mining and monster-hunting—or rather, his bat-slaying mission—as soon as possible.
The deity, who had been secretly observing his follower through divine sense with unconscious fondness, froze at these words.
……
…… I……
…… I never said…… anything like that……
……
A look of confusion flickered in his eyes.
But the only request he had ever made to his follower was… “Don’t keep cats.”
Fosse pressed his lips together.
He quickly suppressed the slight dissatisfaction he felt toward this deity—who, despite possessing immense divine power and willingly offering his young master strong protection, also seemed excessively strict with him alone.
Bowing his head with renewed reverence in addition to gratitude, he murmured softly, “I understand, Your Highness.”
Oliver breathed an inward sigh of relief.
As he reluctantly allowed Fosse—who still treated him as extremely fragile—to assist him in changing clothes and washing up, he casually checked his stamina bar.
But the moment he saw it clearly, his eyes widened in surprise.
Strange.
When one collapsed from exhaustion, the stamina bar should only refill halfway. So why… this time… was it completely full?
