Chapter 95

Chapter 95: Proving(1)

「 The 11th floor trial is starting. 」 

「 Remaining time – 7 days 」 

「 Trial success condition – Break through the seventh hurdle within the remaining time.」 

「 Trial fail condition – Challenger’s death or depletion of remaining time.」 

「 Trial success reward – A Worn Out Mirror of Proving(S-) 」 

「 Trial fail penalty – Death 」 

“…”

As the trial began, I narrowed my eyes and looked around.

I was now in a spacious, square-shaped room with nothing inside.

It was a space similar to the waiting room, but the difference was that the waiting room was always alone, but there was another person here as well.

On top of that, it was a middle-aged priest.

‘To think that there’s a person…’

Clearly, the Tower of Trials informed me through a message that this wasn’t a combined trial.

It was then that I circulated my mana to my whole body, thinking if a challenger from another world had appeared again.

“Welcome to the Temple of Proof.”

The middle-aged priest suddenly spoke his words.

“Temple of Proof…?”

“You’ll go through trials led by the God of Proof, which will continue until you die from now on.”

“I’ll not hear complaints from you. Since you came this far on your own. You agreed that you’d be tested by the Gods even if you’re nothing but an adventurer, so you’ll have to fully bear the consequences.”

“Ah…”

Looks like there was a behind story on this 11th-floor stage.

An adventurer entered the temple of proof, thinking he’d receive the Trial by God without knowing his place.

And because of that, he had to break through the seven hurdles and clear the Trial of God.

That was the situation I was in.

‘It wouldn’t be Murim or Earth. It should be a story from another dimension.’

It must be so since there are many interesting fantasy worlds, such as Callian or Ares.

Now that I knew what the story was, there was nothing more that I had to understand.

“So, how do I get through the first hurdle?”

“Do you not even know the law of trials led by the seven gods of Ares?”

“…”

“Not all adventurers would be ignorant, but… you do seem like one.”

“…You’re right.”

The middle-aged priest made sarcastic remarks at me as though he was dumbfounded, but…

Aside from his confusion, I was neither a challenger from Ares nor an adventurer who actually came to this temple where this story has happened.

Therefore, of course, there was no way that I’d hesitate to ask questions.

‘Other than that, so this is the Ares dimension, huh.’

I remembered the challenger from another world I met while climbing the tower.

That damned black knight who appeared on the 5th floor and almost drove me to death flashed through my head.

I heard that most of Ares’ challengers value chivalry and are composed of a unified nation.

Aside from that characteristic, I was currently doing a trial that had nothing to do with knights.

“I guess I can’t help it. Let me explain.”

While thinking about this and that, the middle-aged priest started his explanation.

“The trials conducted in the Temple of Proof are simple.”

I immediately pushed aside my thoughts and focused on the middle-aged priest’s words.

“Proof of the body, proof of the belief, proof of the spirit.”

“…”

“It starts with proof of the body and eventually goes to the most difficult one, proof of the spirit.”

“I see.”

“Breaking through the hurdle is simple. There’ll be a high priest in each of the trial rooms, so do whatever it takes, either persuade them or kill them and move on to the next room.”

“But that wouldn’t make it a trial.”

It’s no different from me having to move on to the next room at will.

But then I wondered if that does anything or even counted as passing through the hurdle, but.

“How could an ignorant person like you understand the will of God?”

“Proving literally means proving. Each path you choose is proof.”

“In a nutshell, it doesn’t matter what I do or how I break through the hurdle.”

“Well, something like that. So, stop asking silly questions and come at me.”

I paused for a moment at what the middle-aged priest said while taking a stance of Kenpō.

But soon, I looked into the eyes of the middle-aged priest and understood the true meaning.

“…”

He said it’s a proving of the body…

But to think that it’s this kind of proving.

“The first hurdle begins now.”

He talked as if telling me to come at him if I had the courage to do so, but…

When I actually heard that, I couldn’t help but smile in a sardonic way.

I fought with a knight of Ares and with the elders of Murim. I repeatedly fought until I almost died.

And what he presents as proof of the body is just a battle with a priest?

“Then here I go.”

At this point, it was no different from an easy difficulty rather than a hard difficulty.

***

[Translator – Ramen ]

[Proofreader – DVN-L ]

***

Unexpectedly, the middle-aged priest wasn’t weak— he was quite strong.

Should I say that he’s as strong as the challengers in the earth dimension who achieved the qualification as a pioneer in the hard difficulty?

I never imagined that a priest who served God would be such a strong master of a Kenpō.

But what’s unexpected remains unexpected, and a trial is a trial.

Bang!

While dodging the Kenpō of the middle-aged priest as if observing him, I immediately kicked him and rammed him into the wall.

“Kuhugh!”

The middle-aged priest vomited blood as he slammed into the wall, then fell to the floor.

Looking at him wriggling intermittently, it seemed that he still had consciousness, but…

I thought that the battle would be practically impossible now.

“Thank you for the explanation.”

I finally thanked the middle-aged priest and thrust the sword into his body.

「 You have absorbed the soul of the priest ‘Johann’.」

「 Proficiency increased by 5.8% 」 

Because he was a stronger opponent than I expected, the proficiency I gained was pretty sweet.

‘If the proficiency increases like this two more times, the rank of Necromancy would go up too.’

It was then that I felt somewhat satisfied inside.

「 Administrator ‘Priest of Seven Gods’ is appalled by your shocking behavior that they happened to come upon.」

Such a message came up, conveying someone’s shocked feelings towards me.

That wasn’t the end of it.

「 Administrator ‘God-slaying Swordsman’ nods at your cold-blooded action.」

「 Administrator ‘The Hero of the Collapsed World’ looks at you and praises you for being a pretty interesting fellow.」

「 Administrator ‘Seeker of Divinity’ tells you not to worry, as you are proceeding with proving yourself properly.」

Out of nowhere, some administrators even sent me a message to express their feelings.

Never before had this many administrators tagged along with me, even in the public area.

It was refreshing to see so many administrators sending messages to me.

Judging by the names of the administrators, it seems that they were interested because the trial I’m undergoing has something to do with ‘God’, or because it’s related to someone from Ares dimension.

「 Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ is perplexed to see you undergoing trials without any warning.」 

「 Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ feels disappointed as you entered the trial without saying anything.」 

After some time passed, the two managers who had made a contract with me also arrived quickly, probably through word of mouth.

They seemed to be bummed that they couldn’t spectate right away as I entered the trial immediately without saying a thing, mentioning things like they were perplexed or disappointed, but—

‘I can’t help it since I don’t have any means to contact the administrators.’

I smiled bitterly at that and searched the belongings of the middle-aged priest, Johann.

「 Administrator ‘Priest of Seven Gods’ is watching your actions without saying a word.」

「 Administrator ‘The Hero of the Collapsed World’ admires your greed.」

「 Administrator ‘God-slaying Swordsman’ nods as though they understand all of your actions.」

Perhaps it felt quite greedy. It evoked messages from administrators.

Of course, I didn’t care whether it did feel greedy or not and took out the small mirror from Johann’s body.

I could feel unknown energy from the small mirror, the only thing he had on him.

‘It’s an item.’

And.

「 Activating the skill ‘Fire Dragon’s Eyes’. 」 

I immediately used Fire Dragon’s Eyes to inspect what kind of item this small mirror was.

「Mirror with the Divinity of the High Priest」

「Rank: C+」

「The mirror that high priest ‘Johann’ placed his divine power without missing a single day.」  

「You can spread a divine shield only once by consuming the divine power towards the God of Proof.」

「When you spread the divine shield, mind contamination is also restored to some extent.」

After that, there was a phrase revealed through the Fire Dragon’s Eyes.

「…Perhaps the divine power of the God of Proof filled in the mirror may lead the bearer to prove their fate by themselves.」

It was none other than just a single-use shield item.

‘I didn’t understand what the phrase meant that says the bearer to prove their fate by themselves, too.’

It’s not like it can certainly allow me to prove my fate. It’s uncertain.

The existence of its hidden phrase didn’t make any difference, so I got up from my seat after putting away the mirror filled with the divinity.

‘I wish there were more proofs of the body.’

While thinking nonsense, I opened the door and walked to the second hurdle.

A second hurdle appeared when I opened the door at the end of the narrow hallway that only one person could barely walk through.

It was still a square-shaped room, but there was no dryness, nothing like the previous room.

The space where the second hurdle existed was a room with a bizarre sight— a broken mirror was attached to the wall.

‘I wonder what in the world the God of Proof is to have this many mirrors.’

It was then—

“…To think that a nameless adventurer from outside would reach up to here.”

At the second hurdle, the blonde beauty sitting quietly in the middle of the room opened her eyes and muttered so.

“It seems that Johann is no longer able to be in service.”

“Are you the priest of the second hurdle?”

“Yes indeed, adventurer. I’m the priest of the second hurdle.”

“The proof of the body didn’t end with the fight with Johann.”

“Then that means this must be the proof of the body again.”

“Correct. So there’s nothing more to talk about.”

She answered unaffectedly, got up from her seat, and fluttered her nun’s habit.

“I’m high priest Jane. Nice to meet you.”

Contrary to Johann, who was gloomy, she had a cheerful atmosphere.

“I’m Hang Sungyeun.”

I wondered how important it would be to say my name in the midst of trials when I’m in a world of trials, but when I saw Jane’s eyes demanding my name, I answered flatly.

“You have no intention of putting any mercy in your hands, are you?”

“None at all. I’ll kill you and move on.”

“I expected it from the moment Johann’s presence disappeared, but you’re pretty aggressive, huh.”

“…”

It’s true that I’m aggressive, but I can’t just wing it when it’s a trial and all.

There would be additional breakthrough rewards the more I certainly do things. It was too good to give up those.

「 Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ is satisfied with your sobriety.」 

「 Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ smiles and says that such a thing is your charm.」 

「 Administrator ‘The Hero of the Collapsed World’ is advising you to beware of those crazy bitches.」

And to go with killing, the rise in proficiency of Necromancy is also quite high.

“Are you thinking of having me or something like that?”

The administrators observing me reacted immediately to what Jane spitted out while grinning.

「 Administrator ‘The Hero of the Collapsed World’ waits patiently for your answer.」

「 Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ looks at you with squinted eyes.」 

「 Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ is restless at questions she couldn’t have imagined.」

Jane throwing this kind of question was also shocking, but the response from the administrators was also quite something.

Even White Crane Sword Saint was bewildered to the point that she even sent a message saying that she was restless.

But it was no different for me, so I immediately answered her question with a sense of perplexity.

“…I don’t have such a disgusting hobby, you see.”

“Ahaha, that’s a huge relief.”

And at the same time as her words ended, messages from administrators flooded in.

「 Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ strongly agrees with Jane.」 

「 Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ is sending trust to you, saying that she had believed in you.」

「 Administrator ‘Seeker of Divinity’ fascinatingly observes your choices.」

I skimmed those messages, then turned my attention away and looked at Jane.

“Moreover, why are you asking that when we’re in a temple? Who in the world would do such a thing?”

“There is. People like you who come in occasionally do.”

“…Ah, Ok. I see.”

“You’re pretty innocent for an adventurer. Judging from the fact that you even beat Johann, you’ve got good skills and looking at you being merciless, you seem to have spent some time on the battlefield.”

“…”

“I didn’t expect that the adventurer who came this far would look like someone out of a fairy tale.”

An adventurer who says he’d kill someone without hesitation is like someone out of a fairy tale.

‘It’s a crazy world, for real.’

The thought that the Earth dimension is at least quite normal is firmly engraved in my head.

“Let’s end the chatter here.”

With those words as an end, she pulled out her sword from the scabbard on her waist.

And—

“The second hurdle begins now.”

The moment when pure white Sword Ki erupted from her rapier.

I immediately felt the corners of my lips, that weren’t budging an inch, rise straight up regardless of my will.

It was a smile that came from the expectation that I might be able to learn a new type of Sword Ki skill after a long time.

——