But none of that mattered as Tang Gon had chosen his path. His path to the top.All of the previous paths were all doomed to fail. Meant to end in destruction and ruins if he were to follow them.
Those paths were the paths that Tang Gon"s predecessors had taken. Their paths, not his.
And for him to succeed and rise to the top one day, Tang Gon must forge his path.
Rising, Tang Gon peered into the distance.
A new path had opened up. One shrouded in darkness.
Tang Gon knew that this was another test tempting him, but he now knew that this test was one of choices and decisions, not endurance and perseverance.
Tang Gon took a deep breath and prepared to forge his path in this wild land.
Along his way, many new paths opened up, ones where anything could happen. But, Tang Gon knew that if he was to choose one to follow, he would forever continue in this lost land.
....
After pa.s.sing through peaks of endless mountains and traversing the endless terrains, Tang Gon had finally arrived. The journey he had taken made him a new man, the once weak and powerless Tang Gon of the past had disappeared, in his place was the new him.
The new him that had died and been reborn countless times on this perilous journey.
It wasn"t until Tang Got had understood the effects of his choices, did the fog finally vanish along with the illusions.
It had brought Tang Gon back to reality, and the illusions he had experienced on his journey were completely cleared. The powerful and strong image of Tang Gon had also disappeared, but in his heart, the man who had completed the treacherous journey still exists.
The same exact man who had learned many lessons on his trip across numerous lifetimes. The same man who has learned patience and understanding. The same exact man, who can now survive and react in any scenario.
Tang Gon may look exactly like he was before he started the system, but he was a changed man.
And in that place, full of forestry and land, Tang Gon descended from the mountain and stood tall in front of the island surrounded by what appeared to be water.
Squinting at what was in the distance, he was directly brought forward. The dark area in the far distance was now directly in front of him.
Tang Gon was shocked, but the many years and lifetimes in the illusions had taught him to expect the unexpected, therefore the unexpected is expected. Though, that small lesson was unexpectedly traded with many years in his different lifetimes in the illusion. But it had also taught him to control his facial expression. Hence, the lack of emotion in Tang Gon"s face when he was directly transported forth.
He was the ruler of the system, he controls the system, the system doesn"t control him. Reminding himself that, Tang Gon fearlessly continued inward the island.
He yelled out for the system to appear, but his voice was gone. All he could let out was a dried old crackling screech. But as expected, nothing answered back, he"s been trying to reach the systems for years. But that was during the illusion, so it was kind of unexpected that the system really didn"t answer back.
Silence filled the air, nothing answered back, not even the system as it had long since disappeared. Tang Gon could no longer access the system manually or in his head anymore.
Crouching down, curiosity got the better of Tang Gon. As philosophers would put it, curiosity was the l.u.s.t of the mind. It made humans pursue the unknown and Tang Gon was no exception as it brought him closer and closer to the center of the island.
He was no longer frightened, scared, nor anxious about what was ahead of him, either way, he could do nothing but continue.
Even the lessons that he had learned on the endless paths were of no use.
Then the weirdest thing of all happened, weirder than all of the things that have happened so far.
The moment Tang Gon got on the island, he was dragged forward to the middle.
In front of him was the black area he had seen earlier back from a distance. The fog that was around the island was flickering and gently swaying along with the slight breeze. Whatever was inside was controlling the dark area, making it move back and forth.
It, as if noticing Tang Gon, disappeared. Then Tang Gon felt pain in the back of his head. The black area that was ahead of him had turned into a murky mist. Making a quick circle around Tang Gon, the mist had then swiftly entered him through the top of his head.
The next thing he knew, the system that had been quiet the whole time had rung out. But the system"s usual voice had changed or rather it felt like it had been replaced. Instead of the usual robotic tone of voice, a silvery demonic voice appeared.
[Ding! Congratulations to Host Tang Gon for being the first to pa.s.s the test]
[System Update A.24]
[My name is Aeruk, I will now be your new A.I. Guide, along with the previous guide, S.39]
A chilling feeling blew over Tang Gon. His heart had suddenly felt so much heavier.
The new system guide, Aeruk had the same pressure as the ones he felt earlier, when he wanted to turn around, the killing intent, the reflection at the lake, and just now when the mist had entered him. The journey was long, but Tang Gon could clearly remember all of the terrifying moments.
But now thinking back, this might of actually of been the final test by the system. The test that he might have unintentionally entered.
Reasoning with himself, Tang Gon started to believe that the killing intent he felt earlier was most likely A.24"s disappointment with his choices. Or maybe even his thoughts of retreating and turning around, instead of going head in.
Still a little worried, Tang Gon checked the various functions of the system to make sure everything was truly all right.
All of the functions seem to work perfectly fine, but the moment Tang Gon checked on the shop, he quickly laughed at his luck.
The prices for all of the skills and monsters he had were now twice as high, everything had doubled. The previous Defantis Sword Scripture priced at 15000 Clicker Points was now priced at 30000 Clicker Points, it had doubled.
Laughing at his previous misclick, the silvery demon from the system released a reward.
[Ding! Congratulations to Host for receiving 1x ClickerMon]
For a second, Tang Gon thought the old guide had returned, but then Aeruk"s voice was heard again but talking about himself in third person.
[Due to the system"s recent consistent updates, Aeruk will be temporarily under repair. Aeruk will be unable to help the Host in his endeavors for at least 5 years. The previous guide from the system S.39 will now be in full control]
Tang Gon was slightly relieved as A.24 or better known as Aeruk would now be unable to appear.
Moving on, Tang Gon quickly clicked receive, this time a slight breeze erupted in front of him. Instead of the fancy summoning that came along with the warriors, all the happened was the little furball appearing along with a small gust of wind.
The small ball of fur with two little horns on its head and a tiny spade tail popped out of the air and approached Tang Gon in an adorable manner. It had almost toppled over when it landed, but carefully balancing itself it half-ran, half skipped to Tang Gon.
Jumping on Tang Gon, it gently landed on his shoulder. Meanwhile, a small bar, visible only to him appeared at the bottom of his screen.
[+1 Clicker Point]
[+1 Clicker Point]
[+1 Clicker Point]
[+1 Clicker Point]
[+1 Clicker Point]
A sudden influx of Clicker Points started appearing, the bar at the bottom quickly started rising up.
At the current rate, it looked like Tang Gon was earning a clicker point every 2-3 seconds. But after Tang Gon received 20 Clicker Points, the little critter vanished from his sight.
Following shortly afterward was the release of the missions.
[Ding! Host can now obtain Clicker Points by completing the Main Missions and Side Missions]
[Main Mission: ????????????]
[Side Mission 1: ????]
[Side Mission 2: ????]
[Side Mission 3: ????]
Unsurprisingly, all of them were covered and shrouded in question marks. Thinking that the mysteriousness was too expected of the system, it suddenly surprised him when it uncovered the main mission.
[Main Mission: Due to the System"s constant and consistent updates, the world of Huaxia has damaged the system, mainly A.24 who is now under repair. The host must search for the Golden Orb to hasten the recovery.
Objective: Obtain the Golden Orb
Golden Orb: Highest Healing Artifact in the Central Continent, capable of repairing the damage inflicted on the system.
Lead: ClearMarsh City
Reward: 5x ClickerMon]
The next second, a Teleportation Gate appeared in front of Tang Gon.