Honestly, it was a pain to get through the rest of the day because my parents and sister kept asking me about the promotion.
Dad was asking me about it because he wondered if we should have a celebration for it, Mom was more worried that it would mean I would be participating in more dangerous expeditions and kept asking me for details and my sister was just being the busybody that she was.
Thankfully, I managed to deflect their questions after I told them that they would be making an announcement about it tomorrow and I was under NDA not to talk about it until the reveal.
Of course, the thing I was referring to was that the MAM would be announcing the existence of a new Mortal God and that they would be recruiting Guardians for the new Mortal God.
To my family, I would be one of the prospective Vanguards that they would be recruiting to become a Guardian who would, of course, be selected.
I wondered if I should tell Dan the truth about this but I figured that it would be better if I let the MAM reveal about the Mortal God first before I invite him through the ministry to make contact with him.
He can keep a secret so I would extend the offer to him and let him decide if he wants to join as a Guardian or remain as an unaffiliated Vanguard.
There would be the issue about the aura thing since I wasn't gay so there's no way I would be intimate with him but I'm sure there was another way that Mortal Gods could use to grant that protection to their Guardians because there were a number of Mortal Gods with same gender Guardians. I'm pretty sure most of them are straight so they definitely could not have screwed all their Guardians.
When the next morning came along, I once again ate a quick breakfast before I was out of the house and back in the Ministry building once again, this time Olivia was there to wait for me instead of needing me to look for someone to guide me.
"My lord," She greeted as we walked towards the lift. "This might be a little late to ask but is my lord fine in front of cameras?"
"I'm assuming that you're asking if I would get stage fright in front of some reporters or something? Am I expected to speak at all?" I asked.
"Not at all, my lord. All you need to do is stand on the stage and show your divine artefact, that's all. I have already procured a mask that you will wear to hide your identity."
She reached into her coat and pulled out an unassuming white coloured mask that looked like those kinds of opera masks which covered the actor's whole face and had a single expression on it. Mine in particular looked quite serene and chill with its eyes closed and a slight smile on its face, like a person who was sleeping and having a nice dream.
I could still see through the lids of the eyes where there was a slit on each of them so there shouldn't be a problem wearing this mask.
I looked at the opera mask carefully, "This is my disguise?"
"There's also a built-in voice modulator to mask your voice, my lord, so you don't need to worry about people finding you through your voice as well."
Seems like they really took my request seriously.
Then again… I wouldn't be the first Mortal God to have their identities kept secret. Some of the other foreign Mortal Gods have never shown their faces to the public and they are only known by their aliases and not their names.
I put the mask on and it fit snugly on my face. I could still see quite clearly and it doesn't really restrict my movement so this was good.
"Are there any problems with the mask, my lord?" Olivia asked.
"No. It's perfect. Are we starting now?"
"Yes. We are heading to the conference room and the reporters are waiting for you. As we have discussed, we will introduce you and provide a cover story and all you need to do is show the Divine Artefact and take a few questions from the reporters. You do not need to answer any question that you don't wish to."
I nodded in understanding just as the lift dinged to indicate we had arrived on our floor.
We stepped out into the corridor and there were a lot of security personnel waiting outside, all of them turning to look at us as we walked past.
I overheard some of them whispering to each other along the way.
"Wait… So it's actually real?"
"I thought it was just a rumour but we actually have a Mortal God now?"
"I'm not dreaming, right?"
"Damn… How long have they been hiding him?"
Both Olivia and I obviously ignored their whispers and continued down the corridor until we reached a large double door which was opened for us by the two security personnel beside them.
Almost instantly, flashes of light bombarded my vision from various cameras that were already in the room.
Olivia barely slowed down in her stride so I followed into the conference room a step behind her, stopping just off to the side of the podium which she took position in front of.
The room was packed full of people and if I'm not wrong, I think some of these people belong to foreign news agencies. I wonder if they really flew all the way out here after getting some kind of tip off yesterday.
"Thank you all for gathering today. For those that don't know me, I am Olivia, current acting director of the Mortal God Bureau. As you might have heard from the various rumours that have been posted around, I am here to put all those rumours to rest."
Mortal God Bureau? This is the first I've heard of it… I'm guessing this was part of the protocol that Olivia had mentioned before.
Olivia leaned forward on the podium to speak directly into the microphone, "The rumours are true. A new Mortal God has awakened. May I present to you, the new Mortal God of Singapore!"
I understood that as my cue and stepped forward as the flashes from the cameras intensified, now all of their lenses trained on me.
I stood there for a moment before I guessed that an appropriate amount of time had passed and reached my senses inside me to pull out the same feeling I had back then during my spar with Olivia.
The same jade book appeared in a flash of light and floated in front of me.
That seemed to be the cue as the flashes from the cameras intensified even further and several reporters started shouting out questions all at the same time.
Olivia quickly spoke into the mic again, "The Mortal God will take questions but one at a time! The one over there please!"
She pointed at a female reporter who had her hand raised and the room quickly quietened down.
"Could we know when you had awakened as a Mortal God?"
I turned slightly to Olivia and she gave me a very slight nod that was almost unnoticeable.
"A few days ago," I answered, my voice coming out sounding quite different than usual thanks to the voice modulator.
Another reporter raised his hand, "Is it true that you are already accepting Guardian applications?"
"That is correct."
"Will you be joining in the expeditions?"
"Yes, I am."
"May we know your name?"
Olivia interjected at that moment, "The identity of our Mortal God is to remain a secret for now. Please do not ask any personal questions of our Mortal God."
There was a slight pause in the questioning before another reporter raised his hand, "May we know your abilities? Or maybe what God you have awakened as?"
Olivia interjected again, "That is related to national security. We will not answer that question. Next."
Another hand went up, this one from a stern looking middle aged man.
He paused to make sure he was acknowledged before asking me, "Were you the one that dealt with the Rift breakout incident that happened at Clementi a few days ago?"
Once again, I peeked at Olivia and she also nodded.
I guess she found no point in hiding that fact since it was something that was too big to cover up.
After all, this was already something that was reported and what really pushed them to hold this announcement to begin with.
I sucked in a breath and also nodded, "Yes. That was me."
Another reporter raised their hand, "Will you be helping your country take over the rest of this region?!"
What the heck? What kind of question is that?
Judging by how this question was phrased, this reporter sounds like he came from outside the country. Is he trying to sow discord here?
I didn't get to answer as Olivia quickly cut in, "That's all for now. All of you will receive an official statement in the coming days, thank you all for attending!"
Several reporters tried to get their own questions in by shouting it out but Olivia and I were already moving out through the doors.
Ugh… I don't want to do that again…