100. Terminus (2)
As soon as I entered the room of the fifth gateway, I felt perplexed.
It had to be.
“pass.”
It was because of the words spoken by an old man sitting in the center of the room as soon as he opened the door and entered.
I stared blankly at the old man in a habit for a moment and then opened my mouth.
“Passing… what is that…”
“The fifth gateway means that you have passed.”
“…?”
“Go to the sixth gateway.”
“No, why…”
I was dumbfounded.
Even the first gate focused properly on the priest giving the ordeal of proof.
At all the gates that followed, I continued to fiercely prove my body in the fight against the priest.
However, after completing all the proofs and entering into the proof of belief, you pass right away?
Unable to comprehend the current situation, I demanded an answer from the old priest.
At that, the old priest looked at me plainly and then said that there was nothing he could do about it.
“At the fifth gate, I watched you come from the first gate to here.”
I wondered why I hadn’t noticed his gaze.
“Don’t ask me why I didn’t detect it. Think of it as God-given power.”
The words of the old priest continued, as if to immediately cut off that thought.
“Originally, the fifth gateway begins with the contemplation of images.”
“But why am I not doing it?”
“That’s because, of course, it’s an area where you don’t have to contemplate images.”
“…yes?”
“As Kairan told you, you are crazy. I was engulfed in the madness of martial arts.”
“…”
“But it’s not being swallowed up, it’s being dominated by the desire for growth and endless aspirations stemming from your pitiful past.”
After saying that, the old priest let out a deep sigh as if he was annoyed.
“Isn’t your goal to win and win and win again and grow infinitely to become the strongest?”
Although I never directly thought that I would become the strongest….
Like the old priest said, I longed to grow and become stronger.
It feels like an over-interpretation to say that he wants that longing to grow infinitely soon and become the strongest.
“It’s not an over-interpretation, it’s the conclusion you’ll reach in the end.”
“…do you have the power to read minds?”
“To some extent. It has nothing to do with combat, but thanks to that, I have some other powers.”
“Ah yes….”
He was a priest with more amazing powers than he thought.
“By the way, if you intend to kill, kill quickly and pass.”
I suddenly opened my eyes at the words of the old priest.
“Your desire to kill this old man and become stronger is felt in your deep consciousness.”
“Whatever that is…”
“Whatever choice you make, it won’t adversely affect your proof, so do whatever you want.”
“…”
I hesitated for a moment at that, but then shook my head and said.
“I won’t.”
“…why?”
It was simple.
“Because it goes against your beliefs.”
Killing people casually is an area that corresponds to the loss of humanity.
If there is no will to fight each other, killing people is just killing without reason.
I had decided not to set foot in this area from long ago.
It was a different matter from recognizing each other as dueling opponents and condoning fighting without malice.
“Oh… this is unexpected. It would have been okay if I gave you the trial of the fifth gateway.”
However, the old priest did not seem to have any intention of giving them a trial.
“Then let’s go. I wish you a successful end to your proof.”
I bowed my head in silence at his calm goodbye and walked to the next gate.
However, in the corridor leading to the sixth gateway, I sensed something strange.
“…?”
It was because the more I walked down the hallway, the more the reflection in the mirror started to turn black.
I touched it myself, wondering if the material would change to a black stone instead of a mirror.
Surprisingly, the black walls of this hallway were now made of glass, like a mirror, rather than stone.
“….”
The changes that occurred while moving on to the next gateway were not meaningless at all.
From nothing at all, fragments of broken mirrors gather to form a complete mirror.
It must have been an expression of the progress of proof or the growth of a person undergoing trials.
However, seeing the reflection in the mirror turned black all of a sudden, I felt something unusual.
And soon, as soon as I opened the sixth gateway, that feeling started to get stronger.
“…”
In the ominous mirror room where all four sides are illuminated in black, I looked at the center.
“hi.”
Soon, a black-haired beauty with a black eyepatch in the center caught my eye.
“You are the first person to come all the way to the fifth gate without resting once.”
She stared at me as if she could see everything even with the blindfold on and grinned.
“The sixth gateway can be started in any situation you want.”
“…then can I start the sixth gate right away?”
“really? Is it okay if I don’t rest? You may not know your body, but you must have accumulated quite a bit of mental fatigue, right?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I also wondered what kind of ordeal it was to prove one’s beliefs.
In addition, my mind was exhausted, but that doesn’t mean I can recover just by taking a short break.
So, just as it is said that it is better to hit the hawk quickly, it was better to start the sixth gate right away.
“If it’s your will, I’ll do it.”
The black-haired beauty continued with a smile.
“In the name of Saint Aileen, who serves the God of Proof, I will announce the beginning of the sixth gateway.”
Unlike before, his voice was a little serious in respectful words.
and.
“You should be able to properly face your image from now on.”
After those words, I fell into endless darkness, losing all sensation in my body.
***
For an instant, I couldn’t hide my embarrassment and felt my hair turn white.
It was worth it.
I was falling alone in the pitch black darkness where I couldn’t see anything.
The black-haired saintess who just introduced herself as Eileen was nowhere to be found.
I was the only one who was drowning in the bog, not knowing where I was going, feeling as if I had lost my body.
If this was real, it would be really bad, and if it wasn’t real, it would be really dangerous.
It’s nothing else, if I’ve been hallucinating to the point where I can’t feel any bodily sensations, it means that death is near.
It’s because I’m not certain that Aileen won’t attack me, and I don’t know how far I’ll have to fall without losing all my senses.
In a situation where I could die, I felt a sense of fear to the extent that my thoughts stopped momentarily…
“Thanks to the Authority ‘Clear View Index (C-)’, I do not lose my composure and the restrictions on my image become weaker.
” I groped my arm, feeling it return.
That was the moment.
―Wow… You have great willpower? I couldn’t believe I fell into the realm of imagery, but I didn’t know how to react by moving my body.
I was taken aback by the unpleasant sensation of writing words directly into my head.
– Oh, nothing to worry about. You are in your image realm and you are fine.
I was momentarily taken aback, but soon realized that this was Eileen’s power.
Just as the old priest read what I was thinking, this saint must have the power to convey words to me.
―Of course, I, who was almost in danger of dying from being struck by your sword, is fine.
Eileen almost died from being stabbed with a knife…
It’s really fortunate.
Even if I lost consciousness, I resisted instinctively, and Eileen almost died.
This means that I have reached a level where I can defend myself even in the realm of unconsciousness.
I wondered if it might be the result of accumulation accumulated over countless battles.
―No, can’t you just worry about me instead of thinking you’re lucky there?
Rather than that, I quickly pondered what it meant to be an image domain.
Could it be that this space I am in is not an ordinary fantasy space, but that I see images as illusions?
―It’s not the right answer… but it’s like that. That’s pretty close to the answer.
I immediately realized that Eileen had the same powers as the old priest in that she spoke as if she heard what I was thinking.
-Old priest? Are you talking about Henir? I’ll let that be correct too.
Rather, tell me what this has to do with proof of belief.
―Hmm… I politely changed my mind. Are you conscious of talking to me?
I’ll let that happen.
So now tell me how I must prove my convictions.
-It’s simple. The space you are in is your image world. From there, you just need to be able to see your own image world. Then the sixth gateway will be over.
What else does it mean to be able to see the image world?
―A person’s image is formed largely influenced by his or her beliefs. But no one can see the sight. Just as if you close your eyes, you only see a black scene, so is the world of images.
This black hallucination means that I have entered the world of images.
So now I just need to be able to see the essence in this world of images where there is nothing?
-Ahaha, I know it well. While you’re in there, your sense of time may be quite out of sync. But don’t worry. I’m watching your body from the outside.
No, that’s more of a concern.
-Just kidding. Do you really think that a saint who serves God will harm you? So that’s kind of sad.
It’s a proof of the body, and seeing that he had to fight a monster like a preliminary apostle, I think there’s a good chance.
-omg! Could it be? Wouldn’t that make you dead?
…Could this woman be making fun of me?
―Your rude thoughts were revealed in an instant. You’ve been polite all along, but you don’t think so.
I’m really sorry about that.
But if I touch it more, even if I’m not conscious, won’t my body react on its own?
-I know. Don’t worry, I’m almost cut off by the sword, so I don’t intend to touch it.
It’s a nice sound to hear.
I thought as if I were saying that, and then I fumbled with my hand, concentrating on the tactile sensation I had just felt.
As he did so, he soon became aware of his own body and regained his sense of touch.
I still can’t see my hand in my field of vision, but I can definitely feel it as I fumble my body.
-…what? No, how can you already be aware of your body? Almost nothing can be felt in the image area, so it will take time?
I’m not sure about that either.
…It was said that the restrictions of imagery were weakened by the power of the Myungkyungsuji, so it might be thanks to that.
―Myungkyung index? Did you have the power of a god too? wow this is really amazing
It’s not the power of God, and it’s nothing to worry about, so please be quiet now.
-That would be difficult. In the meantime, you might be crazy. It’s an authority that also has the effect of distorting the sense of time, so it shouldn’t be difficult to go insane.
…An authority that also has the effect of distorting the sense of time?
―While you are thinking in the image world, real time is passing very quickly.
Could it be that a day has passed now, or has time passed at that level?
―It’s not like that, but two hours must have passed.
This was pretty dangerous.
Currently, the time I spent breaking through the five barriers was one day at most.
However, at this sixth gateway, it occurred to me that I might spend most of the remaining time of the 7 days.
Even if it was serious, there was a possibility that he would die by consuming all the remaining time in this place.
You should be able to quickly see through the imagery area.
-7 days? Time remaining? What else is that?
I quickly shook my head without bothering to answer Aileen’s question.
Even in this world of images, the system exists.
I could just confirm that in the activation message of Myung Kyung Index.
You can’t hear messages from administrators, but that doesn’t mean system messages are gone either.
This means that the system exists even in this world of images.
―Do you really use a lot of terms that only you know? Are you just confusing words like passwords?
status window.
―Status window?
It didn’t even appear on the status window.
―I started to worry about your mental state… I didn’t expect you to go crazy this fast…
But I wondered if the skill would activate.
I immediately focused my consciousness and activated instant acceleration.
「The skill ‘Instantaneous Acceleration’ is activated.」
That’s it.
―What is this? How did you do it? Wow, you’re in the world of images, and you’ve turned magic on your body?
Now that the skill activation message has come to mind, the next important thing is now.
What can I do with this system and how can I break through this situation?
―I don’t know what it is, but I know you’re a crazier person than I thought.
Before thinking about it, I decided to solve this feeling of falling.
「The Authority “Wings of Steel” is activated.」
―…I have a question, but are you a human? Why do you get steel wings on your back?
Fortunately, even me in the world of images was able to fly with steel wings formed right away.
As soon as I resolved the fall, I felt an answer flash through my head.
The fact that the authority is applied to the body in the image world also means that the same applies to the skill.
Then, wouldn’t it be possible for me to fully perceive this world of images by using my skills?
Fortunately, I had the skill to perfect this world of images.
―…Have you already found the answer? No, more than that, what the hell is that skill?
Ignoring those words, I immediately activated Fire Dragon Eye.
「The skill ‘Fire Dragon’s Eye’ is activated.」
Then, the darkness around me slowly dissipated, and I smiled at the scene that unfolded.
I did it.
-…Nonsense! What the hell is this!? Why are all the image areas exposed!?
Eileen’s surprise echoed in my head, and I felt satisfied.
Apparently, the sixth gate seemed to have been passed without difficulty.
