542. True ending (1)
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Faster than light.
───.
In a gray world a fatal blow that violates the laws of physics is struck and the vast grassland collapses into ashes.
Tu Kahaha Ah Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
The Tower of Trials was no different.
The Tower of Trials which was originally supposed to be unbreakable by anyone looks like the entire lower part of it has been cut into pieces as if a dent has been made with an ice cream scoop.
The Tower of Trials built with the power of divinity and the soul explodes with refreshing force and a roaring sound reverberates a couple of beats later.
Kuhuung-!
Is it because the abominable Tower of Trials has always been playing tricks and deceiving us from unknown places?
[Hahaha. ]
It was fun.
Suddenly a smile appeared on my lips.
Isn’t this the source of all evil that has driven this place into a pit of tragedy for my selfish wishes?
There was no way it wouldn’t be fun to be able to beat it up so coolly.
Just like that I let out a loud laugh on the ash-filled meadow and then said in a mocking tone.
[ how is it? I remodeled it with my own care. Not bad right? Tower of Trials. ]
Eat.
It’s absolutely miserable.
The Tower of Trials was literally a mess unlike its appearance just before.
If one more hit is taken the Tower of Trials will completely collapse and disappear without leaving any trace or shape.
….
however.
Why?
Even though they are openly mocking the Tower of Trials does nothing and only sends system messages.
Beyond that there was no sign of any aggressiveness or desperate defense against this side. Strangely enough.
[The Tower of Trials offers to talk to you.]
[The Tower of Trials proposes to speak with you…]
[The Tower of Trials wants to talk to you…]
step….
[Don’t be annoying. ]
It was none of my business.
[Just keep your mouth shut. ]
I answered in a cold voice. There was no hesitation in doing what had to be done. I had no intention of being influenced by excuses or persuasion.
[ soon. Even if I don’t I plan to go beyond that. Don’t rush it just wait. ]
Next moment.
[….]
[The Tower of Trials activates the exclusive authority #A-921 [Absolute Defense] making you immune to all damage.]
[The Tower of Trials activates the exclusive authority #A-924 [Absolute Counterattack] returning all damage to the opponent.]
[The Tower of Trials activates exclusive authority #A-927 [Absolute Seal] to seal external intruders within a certain radius for 1000 years.]
Tower of Trials. A transcendental structure that was almost outside the boundaries of the ancient deity broke the trend of inaction that had been maintained so far… and moved.
The Tower of Trials which has sacred <Creation> sacred <laws> and sacred <miracles> can create a new system.
Like ‘system’ and even ‘skill’.
───!
step.
It wasn’t made just for challengers.
The Tower of Trials also planted the power of an operator within the system prepared for challengers.
Dedicated permission. A power that can only be used by beings recognized by the Tower of Trials or its transcendental structure. They exploded in hundreds.
Every single thing was tricky.
‘Even if it were the three ancient gods the God of Chaos or even me in the final battle it wouldn’t have been easy.’
A piece of transcendence. Elevating the concept of divinity which is the basis of divinity from the realm of subjectivity to the realm of objectivity. Even that is not enough.
The Tower of Trials was a quasi-transcendant and the closest thing to omnipotence. By imitating the knowledge and abilities of the transcendent it was possible to realize omniscience and omnipotence at a degraded level.
Isn’t that why the three ancient deities the gods of chaos and even me could not reach the Tower of Trials?
Because things like divinity soul or magical power cannot determine superiority or inferiority in power.
‘okay. If it were me before. …Not anymore.’
However there is no shaking.
‘Because I am the transcendent itself.’
universe. This is because everything that exists in the great dimension is the existence and part of ‘me’.
An imitation of omnipotence?
That was really just a lame imitation.
The power of the God of Creation itself who realizes all concepts that exist in the universe and deals with all concepts even reverses the boundary between reality and dreams.
Like this.
[Transcendent <Han Seong-yoon> is activated and [Transcendent Ability: <Omniscience> · <Omnipotence>] is activated.]
I held down the ‘[system]’ with my hand outstretched and ‘eliminated’ the very existence of ‘[dedicated authority]’. Absolutely out of this world.
Kkwajiik.
[ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!]
[E■?OR! ■#ROR! ■#@OR!]
[҉E҉■҉?҉O҉R҉!҉ ҉■҉#҉R҉O҉R҉!҉ ҉■҉#҉@҉O҉R҉!҉]
The power of exclusive authority in the system that filled the world disappeared at once and a crackling noise arose in the Tower of Trials.
━Shall we start off lightly?
and.
Fit.
accelerated.
[Genesis ‘Grace of the Wind’ is activated.]
[All speeds increase by 10000%.]
[Current skill stack progress – [1000]]
──────.
Before I knew it I held on tightly to the handle of the Blood Heaven Demon Sword that appeared in my right hand and struck a light sword strike. Then the Honwon Demon Sword was activated.
[The exclusive effect ‘Doubling’ of the Genesis ‘Honwon Demon Sword’ is activated.]
[Consumes [───] to increase the power of all attacks by [10000] times.]
Beyond collapsing a part of space and time the concept of space and time itself is twisted and split in two albeit only for an instant and a single result is derived.
Suddenly.
Tower of Trials.
A transcendental structure that stands halfway beyond the hierarchy of divinity that faintly touches the realm of the God of Creation…
From top to bottom.
It split in half and collapsed.
Kukwaang────────!!
***
Tower of Trials.
The great structure that was the closest to transcendence in the universe collapsed in half and an abnormal reaction occurred.
Distortion of space and time. Resulting absorption reaction. An abnormal reaction similar to a black hole occurs and everything is sucked into it.
Goooo───!
Time and light and even concepts and laws flow into and are trapped in something close to the black hole created by the collapse of the Tower of Trials.
───.
It was a final offer to someone and at the same time a selfish prayer to summon a great being.
….
universe. It was a ritual to summon the being who sublimated into the great dimension itself and achieved the ultimate goal as the master of all concepts.
***
and….
***
The transcendent person went ahead with the ritual and granted an audience.
***
….
Horizon of ideas.
It took only a moment to cross the boundary of the prison that imprisoned facts and phenomena time and light and even concepts and laws.
Distortion of space and time. Convergence of concepts and laws. Locking up the very existence of thought was surprising but I couldn’t panic now.
‘Distortion of space and time. Convergence of ideological concepts. It’s considerable. It’s at a level that surpasses existing black holes.’
Of course this virtual black hole that the Tower of Trials introduced at the last moment was a hidden card beyond imagination.
Among ancient deities those who have reached the superlight speed will be able to escape without being affected by the black hole.
However this virtual black hole forcibly withdraws and traps even ideological concepts into the horizon of ideas. It was a prison that even semi-transcendents found difficult to escape from.
The virtual black hole is a power that is undoubtedly the best card if you focus on the ‘confinement’ itself.
‘A piece of the transcendent…. sublimating the concept of divinity which is the basis of divinity into the realm of objectivity. Even for the being who achieved it this must be too much.’
step.
Transcendent. To Dapcheonja who reconstructed all the concepts that exist in the universe as part of his own existence it was nothing more than a practical joke.
universe. He is the God of Creation who created a new great dimension. From the distortion of space and time to the convergence of ideological concepts. It was all interesting but not very threatening.
‘Even if I have no choice but to partially manifest the power of the transcendent is there any way that I would be subjected to something like this?’
There’s no way the Tower of Trials wouldn’t have noticed that too.
‘Tower of Trials. I would have had to guess that the transcendental structure would also be like this. This is a kind of ritual to bring in not to confine.’
In fact the Tower of Trials is closer to offering prayers to the transcendent and suggesting that he come into this virtual black hole.
‘That’s so funny.’
The reason I gave permission to the ritual to summon the Transcendent was not because I wanted to show mercy to the Tower of Trials or listen to their excuses.
‘I didn’t have to do this anyway but I was planning to reveal what I had hidden in the Tower of Trials at least once.’
While manifesting the knowledge and abilities of the Transcendent I unintentionally sensed that there was something ‘hidden’ within the Tower of Trials.
Horizon of ideas. Something beyond that. This means that something is hidden inside a virtual black hole. So it was.
It was possible to have confidence in the absolute knowledge and power of the God of Creation without the need to fully manifest and find out.
This is a possibility and a turning point that will determine what happens in the future.
‘I’m sure. The Tower of Trials… functions as a single entity. Actually if you think about it it’s been like that from the beginning until now.’
Tower of Trials.
If the guess is correct this transcendental structure does not have a personality or ego as an object.
It was the opposite. As an object the Tower of Trials is close to a being that has constructed a high level of self and intelligence. It was definitely true.
It was obvious that what was hidden inside the virtual black hole was also the core and essence of the Tower of Trials’ existence.
If so shouldn’t you go?
‘It is a requirement to use the knowledge or abilities of a transcendent to find out. There is no need for that.’
I narrowed my eyes as I entered the event horizon perfectly. The truth about everything exists before this.
‘I worked hard to solve the problem until the end but now it’s really inflexible to look at the answer sheet too late.’
───.
‘It’s something you have to do yourself.’
and….
‘That’s all.’
Next moment.
….
The world has changed.
***
Model garden.
The night sky is visible beyond the dome-shaped glass ceiling and the stars that use the black sky as a canvas fall like raindrops in thin traces.
The traces of stars embroidered in the night sky are increasing one by one. The inside of the dome of the model garden beneath the shower of stars was like a small movie theater.
‘uh?’
It was strange.
‘Why did I… think this place was a ‘model garden’…?’
No matter where you look this is just a small movie theater with the ceiling replaced by a glass dome.
The part that could be called a model garden would not exist anywhere.
But. I kept thinking that it was a model garden. I was even convinced.
But that wasn’t the only strange thing.
‘What is that again?’
Churrrrrr───.
The sound of an old projector running. An unidentifiable sight projected on a big screen. A roar echoing from all directions. …The black and white movie was playing.
━I will tell you straight to the point member. You don’t have to come to the gym anymore.
It’s no different….
‘her.’
me. It was Han Seong-yoon’s story.
***
It’s definitely true.
━To be honest you are nothing.
━….
━You don’t have the aptitude so how are you going to pass the hunter exam if you persist?
━….
━Do you think anything will change if you try harder? Is that possible? It’s a futile effort.
━….
‘her. This is ridiculous. What are we going to do with this again? …Now I don’t know why they’re playing old stories.’
The black and white movie shown on the big screen contained my story and no one else’s.
This is a story about a time when even though I devoted myself to training for 7 years in hopes of becoming a hunter I could not get stronger at all.
This happened because the Tower of Trials used the system as a medium to suppress my natural talent. I felt bad for no reason.
‘Will it happen? I’m annoyed. I don’t know the intention of showing something like this…’
however….
━The manager interview begins.
━We are looking for a suitable interviewee among the managers of the battle junction….
As the old projector continued to spin and the story began to climb the Tower of Trials the story took a drastic turn.
━Search completed.
━The interview with Baekhakgeomseon the manager of the battle junction begins.
‘what?’
The first manager I met was the Iron Blood Lord.
It was never Baekhakgeomseon.
However ‘I’ in the black and white movie was not like that.
In the black-and-white film ‘I’ met her white crane swordsman and bowed to her and became her priest.
━Hehehe. You know what? Seongyoon is very very very lucky! Lucky man! That’s it!
━Hehehe. Do you know why? That’s because the teacher is me. The greatest person in the entire world is your teacher? Aren’t you happy?
━Huh? …something. What about that strange expression? Don’t look at me suspiciously. I feel like there is a lack of respect for teachers.
Black and white movie.
The story continued. However it was very different from what I knew. I felt really strange in the black and white movie.
Every time I shared her story with her White Crane Sword Master and received lessons from her in her martial arts the time I spent in her manager’s area increased.
Returns to Earth were also noticeably rare. Things didn’t go particularly well on Earth either but in the black-and-white movie I strangely had no attachment to my hometown.
━Genius…. There is no other way to explain Seongyoon’s unrivaled achievement. Seongyoon seems to have a natural talent for martial arts.
━Huh? Huh? Uh huh? He mastered all of the Baekgeom and Chilsik’s Chosiks? No kidding right? That can’t be possible! Look! …It’s not a lie right?
━At most this is not something that a 10th floor level challenger can achieve…? Are you born with a natural ability? really?
It’s not even just that.
Even though he learned all the White Swords and Seven Styles in just a few days he spends his time learning trivial things in the administrator area.
Although he did not stop climbing the Tower of Trials he seemed to be wasting most of his personal time spending time with Baekhakgeomseon.
‘Why is he wasting time like that?’
The natural talent this group has is the ability to easily master martial arts and magic as well as witchcraft and black magic.
It was not difficult to understand because from the beginning the soul itself had been engraved with the talent to blossom into the divine <death> and become an ancient god.
Because of that I grew faster through repeated struggles in actual combat than through honing my skills.
‘Why don’t you become stronger and stay by Baekhakgeomseon’s side?’
But…
In the black and white movie I didn’t do that. We just continued to practice laughing and chatting next to Baekhakgeomseon.
Starting from one day I continued to practice martial arts without even thinking about leaving the managerial domain of Baekhakgeomseon.
‘ah.’
I just got a feel for it.
Talk.
That’s because in the black and white movie I was awkwardly holding Baekhakgeomseon’s hand.
The same goes for Baekhakgeomseon.
She was also shy but silently walked through her forest with her head down and holding her hand. They even looked at each other with a light smile.
It was something I could never have imagined.
[….]
However the story in the black-and-white movie continued regardless of whether the audience understood it or not.
also. Does this mean that even if it is rotten it is still acceptable? In the black and white movie I also became incredibly stronger.
The Tower of Trials was also successfully climbed to over 20 floors. However it still did not return to Earth.
There did not seem to be any additional contracts with the Iron Blood Lord. I was just growing up as a warrior next to Baekhakgeomseon.
I didn’t like it.
‘I’m weak.’
Peace and rest were not for me.
The only path that suited me was to continue to become stronger by putting even my own life at stake.
The only answer was to become stronger until one reached the realm of the transcendent and was liberated from the shackles of oppression that had dominated every moment of his life.
Even if I didn’t let go of my humanity such as morality and ethics I shouldn’t have stopped becoming stronger.
‘indeed. Are you influenced? It seems like he sought emotional stability by staying with Baekhakgeomseon. ‘That’s not good.’
and.
━Enter the 27th floor of the Tower of Trials.
The price of not doing so was ultimately tragic.
Shoot!
27th floor. A place where the Tower of Trials planned to turn me into a hunting dog. There I was looking down at the body of Baekhakgeomseon under the rain.
━Ah….
Sweet sweet.
━Master….
In the black-and-white movie I trembled with both hands and shook the corpse of Baekhakgeomseon but there was no response.
Perhaps the content of the 27th floor ordeal presented by Tower of Ordeals was also different from mine as the background in the black-and-white movie resembled the martial arts dimension.
The story changed drastically again.
━Ha. Isn’t it just that one girl died? Indeed me. He’s uncharacteristically noisy for a boy. It doesn’t look good.
It was a face I had also seen before. Murim lord Cheon Kang-un. It was the man I saw at Baekhakgeomseon’s secret garden.
He looked at me in the black and white movie in front of the corpse of Baek Crane Swordsman and mocked me as if I was pathetic and then ordered the warriors next to him.
━Kill me. And bury it in the mountain so no one can find it. Let that lowly girl do the same…
and.
Puhwaak-!
Blood fountain. Murim lord Cheon Kang-un’s head was blown off and blood poured out. The whole place became quiet and everyone’s eyes were shaking.
Okay.
Next was a story that was clearly known. In the night of extinction more than hundreds of warriors died.
‘There are a lot of faces I’ve seen before.’
How many people did I kill in that black and white movie? The Five-Year-Old Festival seen in the secret garden of Baekhakgeomseon also appeared.
chuck.
The enemy of the Hwasan Sect raised his sword and tried to scatter the essence of Jaha Geomgyeol but was suddenly beheaded and died.
━Tsk. I lost my human heart. I will make you regret daring to face the volcano───
Suddenly.
Tang Luo-yun of the Sichuan Tang family approached with an insidious smile on his face and died cut in pieces from head to toe.
━Tsk tsk. Is this the guy who used to pick up soybean paste and eat it next to the girl from Shandongbaekga? What happened? I will kill you───
Suddenly.
Namgung Sega’s Namgung Soo was covered in cold sweat. She looked for an opportunity to escape but her upper and lower body separated and she died.
━Now wait a minute. How about telling a story? As the head of the Namgung family I can give you appropriate compensation───
Suddenly.
It was just instant death.
In the black-and-white movie I was a great master who had repeatedly trained in martial arts and honed my technical capabilities to the highest level.
In the face of overwhelming power most of the martial arts people died miserably without even being able to compete.
dump.
The rain continued for several days without stopping and then I was back in the place in the black and white movie.
It was time to reflect on the price of my foolishness in trying to find new comfort instead of focusing on becoming stronger.
In the black and white movie I was holding the body of Baekhakgeomseon and shaking my body as if I was crying or laughing.
Suddenly with my face soaked in the rain I muttered with an eerie smile.
━Haha. Not yet. All you have to do is climb the Tower of Trials to the end. Then you can save it. Everyone can be saved….
At the end the black-and-white movie shown on the big screen began with a new scene and the story accelerated.
━He died.
what.
Of course it wasn’t a happy ending.
In the black-and-white movie I had to develop necromancy to its final stage and become the ‘god of death’ and as an ancient god I had to become strong both forward and backward.
He was not bound by modern people’s views on morality or ethics and did not choose any means or methods to become stronger.
However despite using the ‘simple ascension device’ at the end of the Tower of Trials he could not reach the realm of the transcendental.
That was it.
Churrrrrr───.
The movie film in the old projector was automatically replaced and a new story unfolded on the big screen.
━High–great–god-level-! The god of death and infinity am I? …I hear you say that you are a planet destroyer with a name like this?
red giant. An incredibly grotesque being with three eyes. It appears on Earth as its true self and conveys its will.
━Do I have no intention of being with Dirmoa the god of birth? God of death and infinity—!
God of epiphyte. He was an ancient deity who accepted the Pantheon’s request and killed him on the 27th floor. He was a memorable person.
━Well. Why? There’s no reason to be with someone like you. Well the concept of divinity itself seems good. I’ll use that.
step.
Han Seong-yoon the ‘god of death and infinity’ who appears in black-and-white movies was close to a madman.
Following the sacred <Death> a great mage who uses the sacred <Infinite> as the framework to handle thousands of magic books.
He was also a being who was obsessed with efficient growth at some point and did all kinds of inhumane things.
A person who created even the earth into a world to draw on his divine power and supply faith. In front of him the god of birth cried out and faced death.
However despite this he too could not go beyond the realm of ascension at the last moment.
━He died.
A new story emerges.
Churrrrrr───.
━Hmm. …I see. Are you Han Seong-yoon the god of enlightenment and death? My name is Baal. Also called a demon god.
Churrrrrrrr───.
━As expected. …You are too dangerous. Han Seong-yoon the god of death and immortality. In the name of the God of Light I will seal you forever.
Churrrrrr───.
━Yes. It’s as they say. After the God of Time died there were almost no beings who could predict the future. However I the god of proof see your outcome through my eyes. You will never reach the sky. God of death and reverse.
…
….
…….
Dozens or hundreds of stories are shown continuously in black and white film format.
The hierarchy of divinity that I reach as I climb the Tower of Trials and the concept of divinity that serves as the basis for divinity have changed many times but the ending is always the same.
I always died without ever reaching the end of the Tower of Trials or even if I reached the top floor I never passed the realm of ascension and ended up disappearing.
[….]
I sat in the audience seat and watched the various stories for about an hour.
The death of the Iron Blood Lord. Or the death of Baekhakgeomseon. There were frequent cases where one of the two caused a personality defect.
Occasionally Catherine Bennett or Lee Ha-yeon would also act on that occasion but the frequency was significantly less. Now I thought I knew what those black and white movies meant.
Chrrrrrr───! Chrrrrrr───! Chrrrrrr───!
The black-and-white films currently shown in this model garden were not fictional stories made up of predictions of the future or the number of cases based on the assumption of ‘what if’.
It was real.
I realized it because I am a transcendent. That everything was true and had already happened somewhere.
and….
Again and again.
It was then.
“Parallel world. It’s a story about a world where time and space axes are different. Unlike the God of Time or the God of Proof it is possible to see all kinds of possibilities and branching points.”
A woman’s voice sounds familiar as if I’ve heard it somewhere before and the sound of her footsteps gets closer.
“You know what? If you cross the horizon of thought twice the space axis and the time axis become distorted. “Time and space will be able to extend anywhere.”
chuck.
“You saw the results… right? That’s it. It is possible to see the possibility and branching point of a parallel world where the axis of space and time is off. Originally external and internal information should have been cut off but here───”
[ -okay. Because it is a sacred area. In a world created according to your will what are the importance of things like common sense and providence? I know. ]
I buried myself in the movie theater seat shook my body and answered in a cold voice.
Squeak squeal───.
[Because I am a transcendent person. There are things you realize without intending to. For example about the reason for the existence of this singularity. ]
“….”
[ also. I thought you were alive and not dead. I thought that if there was an ego or intelligence as an object in the Tower of Trials it would be you. ]
“It’s an honor. I heard that from a transcendent person. “Well this is actually my first time meeting you.”
[ I know. ]
Okay.
I got up from the movie theater seat and looked at a woman with blonde hair wearing a brown dress who came next to me with her eyes shining coldly.
[ long time no see. ]
It’s no different….
[God of creation. ]
God of creation.
He is the one who started the War of the Gods created the Tower of Trials and created the creation laws of the system and causality.
Originally a dead person from the distant past who had met death along with two ancient gods to build the Tower of Trials stood here.