095. Proof (1)
「Start the 11th floor ordeal.」
「Remaining time – 7 days」
「Order break condition – break through to the 7th gate within the remaining time」
「Trial failure condition – challenger’s death or remaining time End”
“Trial Breaking Reward – Worn-out Mirror of Proof (S-)”
“Trial Failure Penalty – Death”
“…”
As the ordeal began, I narrowed my eyes and looked around.
I was in a large, square-shaped room with nothing at present.
It was a space that resembled a waiting room, but the difference was that the waiting room was always alone, but there were other people in it.
It was also a middle-aged priest wearing a monk’s uniform and a sense of decadence.
‘There are people…’
Apparently, the Tower of Ordeal informed me through a message that it was not an integrated ordeal.
It was the moment when I turned my magic power to my whole body, wondering if another challenger from another world had appeared.
“Welcome to the Temple of Proof.”
The middle-aged priest suddenly spoke out.
“The Temple of Proof…?”
“From now on, you will go through trials led by the God of Proof, and this will continue until you die.”
“…”
“No complaints. You came all the way here on your own. As a mere adventurer, he said he would undergo the trials of the gods, so he must fully bear the consequences.”
“Ah…”
Apparently, there was a behind-the-scenes story on the 11th floor stage.
An adventurer, ignorant of the topic, entered the Temple of Proof in the hope of undergoing God’s trial.
Because of that, you have to break through the seven barriers and break the ordeal of the gods.
That was the situation I was in.
‘It’s not Murim or Earth, it’s probably a story from another dimension.’
Qalian or Aresni It must be because there seems to be a fantasy world that is mysterious in many ways.
I knew roughly what the story was about, so there was nothing to understand.
“So what do I have to do to get through the first gate?”
“Don’t you know the law of trials led by the seven gods of Ares?”
“….”
“Not all adventurers are worms, but… you seem to be a worm.”
“…okay.”
The middle-aged priest mocked me as if it was absurd… But
apart from his embarrassment, I am neither a challenger from Ares nor an adventurer who actually came to the temple where this behind-the-scenes story was intertwined.
So, of course, there was no hesitation in asking the question.
‘Anyway, this is the Ares dimension.’
It reminded me of the challenger from the other world that I encountered while climbing the tower.
The damn black knight that showed up from the fifth floor and drove me to half death passed through my mind.
I heard that most of Ares’ challengers value chivalry and are composed of unified nations.
Apart from that feature, I was currently undergoing a trial that had nothing to do with knights.
“I can’t help it. Let me explain.”
While thinking about this and that, the middle-aged priest started explaining.
“The trials in the Temple of Proof are simple.”
I immediately put my thoughts aside and focused on the words of the middle-aged priest.
“The proof of the body, the proof of the faith, the proof of the mind.”
“….”
“The first is to prove the body, and in the end it goes to the most difficult proof of the mind.”
“okay.”
“Breaking through the gate is easy. There will be high-ranking priests in each room of trials, so either persuade them or kill them, and go on to the next room.”
“That way it won’t be an ordeal.”
It was as if I just had to move on to the next room at will.
However, I wondered if that would not help anything and even break through the ordeal.
“How can a fool like you know the will of God?”
“….”
“Proof is literally proof. It means that each path you choose is proof.”
“In short, it doesn’t matter how you break through the gate.”
“What would that be? So now stop asking all sorts of questions and go for it.”
I hesitated for a moment at the words of the middle-aged priest as he took up his martial arts stance.
But soon, looking into the middle-aged priest’s eyes, I understood the true meaning.
“…”
They said it was proof of the body….
I never thought that proof would be this proof.
“This is the beginning of the first gateway.”
It sounded like he was telling me to come and see
him if he had the courage to attack me.
Fighting with the knights of Ares and fighting against the Great Elder of Murim, he fought repeatedly until he almost died.
But what you presented as proof of your body is a fight with a priest?
“Then I will go.”
In this way, it was no different from the easy difficulty rather than the hard difficulty.
***
Surprisingly, the middle-aged priest was not weak and was quite strong.
Shall we say that even at the global level, it is comparable to the challengers who have obtained the qualification of pioneers on the hard difficulty level?
I never imagined that a priest who served God would be such a powerful master of martial arts.
But the amazing is the amazing and the ordeal was the ordeal.
bang!
While avoiding the middle-aged priest’s martial arts, I immediately kicked him and pinned him to the wall.
“Ouch!”
Hitting the wall, the middle-aged priest vomited blood and fell to the floor.
Seeing him squirm intermittently, he seems to still be conscious…
Now, I wondered if combat would be virtually impossible.
“Thank you for the explanation.”
I thanked the middle-aged priest one last time and plunged my sword into his body.
「Absorbed the spirit of Priest ‘John’.」
「Proficiency increases by 5.8%.」 Perhaps
because it was a stronger opponent than I thought, the proficiency was quite good.
‘If the proficiency rises like this two more times, the level of Necromancy will also rise.’
It was the moment when I was feeling satisfied in my heart.
「I am astonished at your shocking actions that the administrator, the “priest of the seven gods,” happened to observe
.
And that wasn’t all.
「The manager, ‘The Swordsman Who Kills God’, nods to your bloodless and tearless actions.] 「The
manager, the ‘Hero of the Ruined World’, looks at you and praises you as a pretty funny guy.] 「
The manager, the Divine Seeker ‘ tells me not to worry because you’re proving properly.’
Suddenly, several managers even sent me messages, expressing their emotions.
“….”
Even in the common area, not so many administrators followed at once.
It was refreshing to see so many managers sending me messages like this.
Judging by the manager’s name, it seemed that I was interested in the trials I was conducting because they were related to ‘God’ or because I was from the Ares dimension.
「The manager, ‘Iron-Blooded Lord’, is embarrassed to see you undergoing an ordeal without any warning.
”
After a little while, the two managers who signed a contract with me also arrived right away, probably by word of mouth.
I was embarrassed or sad, but it seemed like it was regrettable that I entered the ordeal without saying anything and couldn’t see it right away.
‘Actually, there’s no way for me to contact the manager, so I can’t help it.’
I smiled wryly at him and searched through the belongings of the middle-aged priest John.
「The manager, ‘Priest of the Seven Gods’, is watching your actions.]
「The manager, ‘The Hero of the Ruined World’, admires your greed.]
「The manager, ‘The Swordsman Who Kills God’, nods as if he understands everything. It is.」
It seemed to be quite greedy, so it evoked messages from the managers.
Of course, I didn’t care whether it was like that or not, and I took out a small mirror from John’s bosom.
In the small mirror that was the only one he had in his arms, he even felt an unknown aura.
‘It’s an item.’
and-.
「The skill ‘Fire Dragon’s Eye’ is activated.]
I immediately used the Fire Dragon’s Eye to identify what item the small mirror was.
「Mirror containing the high priest’s divinity」
「Grade: C+」
「High priest ‘John’ mirror that contains his holy power every day.
』 There is.”
“When the sacred protective shield is opened, mental contamination is also restored to some extent.
”
「…Perhaps the divine power of the god of proof contained in the mirror may lead the holder to prove their own destiny.」
It was just a one-time protective shield item.
‘I don’t know what else to say that fate may lead you to prove yourself.’
It’s not that you can definitely prove your fate yourself, and it’s to the level that you don’t know.
It doesn’t matter if you have it or if you don’t have it, so I stood up right away with the mirror containing divinity in my arms.
‘I wish there were more physical proofs.’
At the same time I was thinking nonsense, I opened the door and walked to the second gateway.
A second gateway appeared when I opened the door at the end of the narrow hallway that one person would struggle to walk through.
It’s true that it’s a square-shaped room, but it didn’t have the dullness of nothing like the previous room.
The space where the second gateway exists is a bizarre room with broken mirrors sticking to the walls.
‘I don’t know what the God of Proof is, why there are so many mirrors.’
That was the moment.
“…I never thought that an adventurer whose name I didn’t even know would reach here.”
The blonde beauty who was sitting quietly in the middle of the room at the second gateway muttered as she opened her eyes.
“I guess it’s not right for Yohan to be active like an active soldier now.”
“Are you the priest of the second gateway?”
“Yes, I am an adventurer. I am the priest of the second gateway.”
“…”
“The proof of the body is not over with the fight against John.”
“That would be proof of the body again this time.”
“answer. So there is nothing more to talk about.”
She answered lightheartedly, got up from her seat, and asked while fluttering her nun’s uniform.
“This is high priest Jane. I’ll ask you well.”
Contrary to Yohan who was gloomy, the atmosphere was cheerful.
“I am Han Seong-yoon.”
I wondered what would be the importance of saying my name if it was a world amid trials anyway.
Looking at Jane’s name, I replied calmly.
“You don’t intend to have mercy in your hands, do you?”
“doesn’t exist. I will kill you.”
“I expected it from the moment John’s presence disappeared, but it’s quite extreme.”
“…”
It is true that it is radical, but it is not possible to overlook the ordeal or something.
There would be additional breakthrough rewards the more certain it was, but it was too much to give up.
「The manager ‘Iron-Blooded Lord’ feels satisfied with your cool-headedness.」 「
The manager ‘Baekhak Geomseon’ smiles and says that that’s your charm.」
「The manager ‘The Hero of the Ruined World’ says to be careful of those crazy bitches. I advise you.”
Also, the necromancy proficiency increase is quite high to go without killing.
“Are you thinking of taking me or something?”
It was the managers who were watching me who reacted immediately to Jane’s grinning words.
「The manager, ‘The Hero of the Ruined World’, waits patiently for your answer.」 「 The
manager, the Iron-blooded Lord, looks at you with his eyes narrowed.』
I am restless at this unimaginable question.”
Jane who asked such a question must have been Jane, but the reaction of the managers was also considerable.
Even though he seemed embarrassed enough to send a message saying that Baekhakgeomseon was restless.
It wasn’t much different for me either, so I answered the question as soon as I was perplexed.
“…I don’t have any hobbies that disgust me.”
“Ahaha, that’s really fortunate.”
And at the same time the words were over, messages from managers poured in like a flood.
「The manager ‘Ironblood Lord’ greatly agrees with Jane’s words.」
「The manager ‘Baekhak Geomseon(白鶴劍仙)’ believes in you and sends you his trust.』
「The manager ‘Sacred Seeker’ confirms your choice. Watching with interest.”
I skimmed the message, then turned my attention away and turned to Jane.
“More than that, it’s a temple, so are you asking where the guy who did that kind of thing is?”
“there is. People who come in from time to time like you are like that.”
“…Ah yes. okay.”
“For an adventurer, he’s pretty pure. Judging from the fact that he defeated John, his skills are good and he doesn’t have any mercy in his hands, so he must have been quite sluggish on the battlefield.”
“…”
“I never thought that the adventurer who came this far would be a person from a fairy tale.”
To say that he would kill people without hesitation is an adventurer like something out of a fairy tale.
‘It’s a really crazy world.’
Indeed, the idea that the Earth dimension is at least normal is firmly imprinted in my mind.
“Let’s end our small talk here.”
After that, she took out the sword from the scabbard at her waist.
and-.
“Now it is the beginning of the second gateway.”
The moment when pure white sword energy emanated from her three swords.
I felt the corners of my mouth, which had been immobilized for a while, rise all the way up regardless of my will.
It was a laugh that stemmed from the anticipation that he might be able to learn a new type of swordsmanship skill after a long time.
