Editor: Tide
Tutorial 61st Floor(5) -Part II
“Shut up and listen to me.”
The noisy area quickly became silent.
It didn’t matter that they were G.o.ds. They were behaving like chatty humans.
I had the power here.
“I’m here.”
Let them listen to me.
“I can see this world and hear all the voices.”
It was a declaration that had been delayed for a long time. I didn’t know that this moment would be this perfect. I thanked Lee Yeon-hee once again.
“My will is the will of this world, and my presence proves it. Now that I am here, this world will be my sanctuary.”
I asked the G.o.ds, who kept their mouths shut, “You know what this means, don’t you?”
But no one answered because I didn’t allow it.
“Get the h.e.l.l out of my house, you pigs.”
I forced teleportation. Even the G.o.ds from different universes could not disobey the order.
Here, my will was the truth and the law.
The G.o.ds were lifted and teleported to where they were initially supposed to be. Now the ones left behind were not 2,000 G.o.ds but 2,000 apostles.
The connection with the G.o.ds was forcibly torn apart, and the apostles began to go crazy. There was one who cried out in pain, one who was about to go mad for power, and one who ran for me. They were only moths rushing towards death.
Forced to lose the most precious thing of life, they began to run in different directions, searching for their only remaining light: death.
Of course, I didn’t want them to be freed through suicide.
The shadows of the apostles running wild shook.
The shadows moved independently as if they were living creatures.
The shadows, which rose with an appearance of mud, began to devour the apostles.
They broke out of their lock and cut off the arms and legs of their own master.
One cut off the tongue of an apostle trying to chant a spell and then cut a hole in their Adam’s apple.
Broken joints and castrated vital points. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere. But no screams were heard.
“Ahhhhhh!”
Who was the one who just screamed?
When I turned my head, I noticed that it came from the G.o.d of Sacrifice’s apostle. Oh, he must have been hit when the G.o.ds were summoned back. He was more relaxed than the others, so he was resisting the shadows.
I spoke while putting some more shadows on him, “Don’t worry too much. I’m not gonna kill you.”
Why would I kill them? All of them were my precious a.s.sets. They were of great use.
Firstly, they could be used to negotiate with the G.o.ds who came here.
How far can I tear them apart in exchange for the power of apostles and G.o.ds left in their bodies?
Just the thought satisfied me.
“Oh, of course, if your G.o.d refuses to make a deal, the story will be different. But to be honest, either instance works for me.”
Soon all the apostles sank into the shadows.
When all were swallowed up, I checked the strength, and a satisfied smile rose on my face. This was a fantastic power. The power that the G.o.ds had left behind in their apostles without being able to retrieve them.
[It’s not dangerous, is it?] asked Hochi. [Can’t you tell me that in advance? I wouldn’t have been worried.]
Hochi was still grumpy.
Yong-yong was dismantling his barriers. Although they were barriers that could be recalled at once if prepared in advance, dismantling them was not that easy. It’d take some time.
I approached Lee Yeon-hee, who was lying down. There was still something left to talk about.
“Get up.”
Lee Yeon-hee’s body, which had been half-dead, recovered quickly, and she jumped up.
Lee Yeon-hee looked at herself in a bewildered manner and opened her mouth.
“Surrender.”
Quick judgment. Quick choice.
She was a disciple whom I had taught a lot. A portal appeared at her feet, with the message.
╔═══════════════╗
[Failed to clear the stage.]
╚═══════════════╝
[Before we move to the residential area, we’ll finish talking, Lee Yeon-hee.]
The portal that appeared under her feet moved far away. Again, she put on a look of bewilderment.
“You’re done for. I adjusted the message and the portal.”
That was what happened when I waited for a capable disciple but didn’t want to let her die. I gave her an offer.
“You have three options.”
* * *
While listening to me, Lee Yeon-hee’s eyes widened, and she asked, “If you could send me up, you would still clear the Tutorial.”
“Huh, no.”
“Yes, I’m sure you can. You would have told me earlier.”
Lee Yeon-hee looked at me with her eyes dripping with tears.
Of course, I knew there was such a method, but there were chances that I couldn’t do it.
“What kind of options are those? Please tell me.”
She looked quite calm, unlike her earlier stressed appearance. She was still trembling, but she looked better.
“You didn’t kill me, and you talked about an offer. At least, I won’t die. You’ve been locked up on the 60th floor for a long time, but you won’t kill me, right?”
Once you’ve survived, you’d have finished the hardest part.
She was right.
I responded positively to her question.
Lee Yeon-hee was greatly relieved that she had confirmed her safety.
“There are three options. One is waiting for a new challenger on the 60th floor as I did, but I don’t recommend it. The second is to get out of the 60th floor through negotiations with the G.o.ds. I don’t recommend this either.”
It was too dangerous to recommend to Lee Yeon-hee. Above all, there was no reason for the G.o.ds to do so. The use of spying on me was gone. In the past, we could have come out with all G.o.ds’ consent in the Hundred G.o.ds Temple, but it was hard as long as the Pantheon G.o.ds also intervened.
The thoughts of 10,100 beings were bound to be different.
“The last offer is to be my apostle.”
Lee Yeon-hee remained silent for a while.
It was a critical moment, so I decided to wait for a while.
After thinking about it, she asked in a monotonous tone. “If I refuse, you’ll kill me, right?”
“Yes.”
Answering so naturally made me feel slightly guilty since she had asked me calmly.
[Really? h.e.l.lo? Where’d your conscience go?] asked Ho Chi.
I didn’t know what to say. If Lee Yeon-hee didn’t become an apostle, the 60th and 61st floors were exposed to the G.o.ds. I’d have no choice but to kill her.
“I’ll do that.”
I gave my power to the accepted apostle. There was no need to be formal. I made her an apostle.
“Is it done?”
“Yes.”
“Now… what should I do? Do I just spend time on the 60th floor? Forever?”
“Go back for now. You remember my room, right? There are things I have left for you. What you need to do will be written there. You’ll be quite busy, so hurry up.”
Lee Yeon-hee nodded.
Even after being able to get out of the Tutorial, I had no choice but to wait for her because my sanctuary, the 60th and 61st floors, remained. I needed someone to protect the place. So I waited for her.
“Mister.”
“Uh, yes?”
“Nothing…”
Lee Yeon-hee seemed to have something to say, but she soon shut up.
She had a lot to say.
I also knew why I couldn’t talk right away. Later, when time had pa.s.sed, there’d be a chance to speak again. Lee Yeon-hee climbed onto the portal.
I finally spoke to her without saying any greetings, “You’ve had a hard time. Good job, Yeon-Hee.”
I didn’t know how comforting my words would be, but Lee Yeon-hee quietly nodded and moved to the 60th floor.
“It’s over.”
“I know,” said Hochi, who had come to my side before I knew it.
It was over.
It’d been a long time.
When I came up to the 60th floor, I knew the wait would block my way.
I didn’t know it would be this long.
After entering the Tutorial, I’d been through all sorts of hardships.
But in fact, it wasn’t so painful.
I was rather excited and happy.
The only thing that always bothered me was the helplessness that came from waiting, and the loneliness that came from isolation. For each of these two things, I turned my gaze and avoided it each time I was confronted. I didn’t have the confidence to endure it or overcome it.
For me, the 60th floor forced me to face what I had always wanted to avoid.
In the end, we had reached this moment.
Now, A G.o.d could even compare me to a sword.
It was hard to call me a sword before.
I was an arrow back then.
I had already been shot and was flying.
I hoped to hit the target, but it was too far away.
I was an arrow that ran out of power, got blocked by a wall, and then splintered.
I was not perfect now.
The limits of my ability still existed.
My emotions still swayed them.
I didn’t have as mature a personality as I had strength.
My behavior was inconsistent.
If Hochi, Yong-Yong, and the others disappeared from my side right now, I might not withstand it and return to the past.
I’d make many mistakes in the past, but I was still not finished blundering.
But as I kept learning, I changed.
And when I looked back, I was sure I was getting better than before.
I was growing.
That was what was important.
That was how it happened, and we were finally over the threshold of the 61st floor.
“Are you going straight to Earth?”
“No.”
Before going to Earth, there was a place to stop by.
“I have a friend to meet before I go out. I promised to grant your wish.”
I stood on the portal. Hochi and Yong-yong also stood on top of the portal. The old man and the old lady couldn’t stand on it, so they put their fingers together.
The portal’s light brightened the view.
When the white-colored vision gradually began to regain color, I could see the green fields spread out under the blue sky and a rabbit smiling clearly.
“KiriKiri.”
Tutorial 61st Floor(5) > Finished
(T/N: I wanted to mention that previously, what had been translated as the Vaccination War/Pre-Vaccine War, was actually Hundred G.o.ds Temple. A reader Kriellz pointed out that Hundred(백) G.o.ds(신) Temple(신전), 신 should appear twice but it doesn’t. That was why I kept reading 백신전이 as “Vaccine”. Also, from what I made out, there are two kinds of G.o.ds: Hundred G.o.ds Temple(ones that are in control of a certain Tutorial) and Pantheon G.o.ds(this will be explained in the future chaps). I apologise for the inconvenience, and I’ll be correcting these terms in previous chaps. If there are any more changes, I’ll be sure to inform y’all.)