Chapter 102

Chapter 102: Journey’s End (4)

「The proof of the spirit begins now.」

「From now on, all skills and powers that interfere with the spirit will be sealed off.」

I immediately fell on the floor, looking at the system message.

I tried to hold on somehow by putting strength in my legs as they told me that the proof of the spirit would begin soon, but that was completely impossible.

“Huuuff…”

It wouldn’t be strange for me to lose consciousness anytime now, but…

For some reason, I was maintaining my consciousness with superhuman willpower.

I had just been shown the gaze of a being I wouldn’t dare to even lift my eyes up to.

I was able to figure out what it was right away by looking at the log of system messages.

It was the God of Proof.

The 11th-floor stage was said to be a temple where the God of Proof was served and, at the same time, a trial of proof.

But I never really thought that God existed.

I just wondered if God really exists because there was an unknown ability called Divine Power.

However, when I directly encountered the God of Proof, I could understand why the priests worshipped the God of Proof.

More like it’d be strange not to develop faith even after seeing such a thing in person.

“I didn’t expect a situation to come where I should be glad that I didn’t go insane.”

I gave a hollow smile and pushed my trembling body up.

In any case, the God of Proof didn’t seem to have any intention to kill me directly.

Of course, it wouldn’t be strange that he didn’t have any intention of harming me.

The God of Proof sealed the power of Serenity that I possessed and knew that I was having a hard time.

However, as if the God of Proof rather wanted it, it said that he thought highly of my spirit through the message.

It had no spite, but the God casually drove me to the point where I could die.

It was dangerous.

The tower wants the challenger to climb, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t give challengers a risk of death.

It only prepares a breakthrough, and if the challenger’s skill is just around the level to die in the trial, it just lets them die.

Standing face to face with the God of Proof just now was a situation in which it wouldn’t be strange for me to die.

But I survived even in that atrocious situation.

‘The God of Proof mentioned that it’ll remember me or something…’

It was even delighted and sent a compliment to the fact that I resisted till the end not to die.

That would mean that the choice I just made was close to the right answer.

But on the contrary, it meant that I would’ve died if I had made even just one mistake.

The nape of my neck felt the chills at that fact, but I slowly regained my composure and caught my breath.

But it didn’t matter.

Either way, I survived, and I just needed to become strong enough to not be intimidated by the gaze of God.

Thinking that was all there was to it, I felt relieved.

「A most suitable test of proof will be given to the challenger Han Sungyeun.」 

「Prove that your beliefs won’t change in the future as well.」 

“…”

The surface of the large mirror in the center of the room waved at the same time the system message came up.

Prove that my beliefs won’t change in the future, huh…

When I was frowning, wondering what kind of proof would be going on.

「The proof of the spirit begins now.」

A video began to play in the large mirror in the center of the room, resembling the screen of an old television.

And—

「The assimilation level of you and yourself in the mirror is slowly increasing.」

After that message, I stopped breathing while watching the video playing in the mirror.

Before I realized it, I was being projected on the huge mirror in the center of the room.

However, my figure in the mirror wasn’t completely the same as mine.

‘Is that… really me?’

It was clear that it wasn’t the current me just by looking at the long, straggled hair— as if I had rolled around the battlefield dozens of times —and the posture with swords in both hands.

But—

Even so, I could immediately tell that it was me.

But till now, I had never grown my hair like that, nor had I ever learned dual swordsmanship.

Well, to be accurate, I was thinking about whether I should learn it or not, but…

Just as I was about to feel the sense of difference, a sharp pain pierced my heart like a flash of light.

「The assimilation level of you and yourself in the mirror is forcibly increased to 10%. 」

“…!?”

My heart was beating like it was about to explode.

‘What…? Is this pain?’

As if I had committed a great sin that couldn’t be washed away, my heart was beating furiously, without stopping even for a moment.

I focused on the screen in the mirror while feeling guilt, or a feeling close to insanity, seeping into me.

-…If I had known it’d be like this, I should’ve crossed the line a long time ago.

Then, watching the focus of the screen in the mirror gradually expand, I opened my eyes wide.

Myself, in the mirror, was looking down at the city from the roof of a large building.

A scene where dozens of buildings collapsed and sparks flew everywhere, full of fire.

And—

“Wh-What is this…”

I was horrified, looking at the scene in the mirror that was being projected, and at the same time, I realized why I was feeling guilt and insanity as though my heart would explode.

-…Nice. My stats have gone up quite a bit. I guess I won’t have to worry about my skill combination for a while.

In the mirror, I was absorbing the black smoke rising from the city center with my fingertips.

At first, I thought it was a cloud of smoke from the conflagration, but it wasn’t.

“…”

The black smoke flowing into the fingertips was a sign of soul absorption through Necromancy.

And what that meant was very simple.

「The assimilation level of you and yourself in the mirror is forcibly increased to 20%. 」

…Myself in the mirror committed something that no one could ever forgive.

「Due to the unbearable mental shock, you’re now under the status effect ‘Ki-Overflow’. 」

A ridiculous atrocity called a large-scale massacre.

***

[Translator – Ramen ]

[Proofreader – DVN-L ]

***

Baaaaaarf!

Even after throwing up everything inside, the spasms throughout the body wouldn’t stop.

The mana circuit inside my body was overheating as if scorching my entire body with a steel wire…

At the same time, my heart was still beating, unable to escape from guilt and insanity.

I was confused.

‘What the hell… is this…?’

Myself in the mirror and I, standing here, are just separate people.

Even if I, in the mirror, committed a massacre, this is just some sort of illusion.

Since they mentioned that this is proof of spirit, they might be testing the unfaltering mental strength.

But as if that wasn’t the case, I was receiving the emotions that myself in the mirror was feeling.

Not only the guilt that ran down my spine, but also the insanity that filled in the pleasure of growing up.

As though this disgusting feeling was entirely mine, I couldn’t wash it away.

In the torrent of emotions that pierced both of my hearts as if it really existed, I realized one thing.

At least the scene shown in this mirror wasn’t just an illusion.

On top of that…

-Prove that your beliefs won’t change in the future as well.

The system message also told me to prove that my beliefs wouldn’t change in the future.

If so, perhaps the one in the image in the mirror can be regarded as ‘myself in the future’.

‘If it’s an existence with great power like the God of Proof… it should be able to show such a thing, too.’

However, I was more confused after realizing that the image in the mirror wasn’t just an illusion.

On why I was using Necromancy to absorb all of the souls created in the city center through the massacre.

Even if I always thought I wanted to become stronger, I shouldn’t be that reckless…

But I wasn’t given time to ponder about that.

「The proficiency of skill ‘Mana Circuit’ is decreasing by 0.01% due to the status effect of Ki-Overflow.」

“Dammit…”

I was currently being penalized for the ‘status effect’ that had just formed.

「If you can’t relieve the status effect ‘Ki-Overflow’, the proficiency of skill ‘Mana Circuit’ will decrease by up to 10%.」

Due to the overheating of the Mana Circuit and the decreasing proficiency, I had no choice but to feel extreme pain.

However, as if not giving me a chance to overcome the pain, soon, a change happened in the image of the mirror.

Clang!

The iron door on the roof of the building flew away as if it was being crushed, and a man appeared.

Even though his body was covered in blood, I knew who it was as soon as I saw the hammer in his hand and a black mask. 

A challenger who’s said to be the best S-rank hunter in Korea, and at the same time, a challenger that I happened to build friendships with in many ways after meeting on the 10th-floor trial.

-Did you think you’d be alright after causing bullshit like this, Han Sungyeun?

Lightning King.

-Let me listen to your will as well as excuses now that you’ll be dying soon.

It was Kim Seunghoon.

Even though he was an opponent that even the current myself wouldn’t be able to avoid fatal wounds from if I faced him head-on, but…

In the mirror, I looked at him with a face full of boredom and scoffed.

-I don’t have anything such as… will or excuses. Well, if I had to mention one, then…

And at the same time, I, in the mirror, raised my twin swords, letting my straggled hair flutter around.

-I just thought that they were useful for my growth. There’s no more or less value than that.

As though I regarded the people in the city as mere stepping stones for my growth.

At that, Kim Seunghoon looked at me in the mirror for a moment and then opened his mouth.

-…Why are you trying to become stronger even by killing innocent people?

-You should know better about that.

-…

-No, it’s no use talking to each other at this point.

「The assimilation level of you and yourself in the mirror is forcibly increased to 30%. 」

-Because there’s nothing that can be undone after coming this far.

Due to the forcible increase in the assimilation level, I received the emotions I felt in the mirror and realized something.

I was feeling intense fury, forgetting about feelings of guilt or insanity.

An unstoppable fury that wants to tear apart everything I can get my hands on.

「The proficiency of skill ‘Mana circuit’ is decreasing by 0.07% due to the status effect of Ki-Overflow.」

Because of that, the skill proficiency of the Mana Circuit dropped even more, but…

‘How come?’

More than that, I wanted to know why myself in the mirror was so furious.

It was natural since I realized that this was the kind of situation I’d face in the future.

-Even if you do this, the dead won’t come back. It couldn’t be helped back th…

But before I could find out the source of that anger, myself in the mirror roared.

-You better keep that mouth shut. It’s too late for you and me to go back now.

-…Now that you’ve done this, the International Hunter Association will be making a move. Are you saying it doesn’t matter even so?

-It doesn’t matter. Since I was planning to destroy the International Hunter Association soon, one after another.

-…

-There’s nothing to worry about as challengers or hunters from the Earth dimension aren’t a threat to me now.

As if myself in the mirror didn’t want to have any more trivial conversation, I raised the two swords.

Then, a transcendental battle occurred where the two hunters, who had reached the pinnacle, fought with all their might.

The building where the two were standing was split in half with a single slash, and all the buildings in the area were devastated.

On top of that—

‘Don’t tell me… Is that Namgung Hyuk’s swordsmanship….?’

As if I copied the swordsmanship Namgung Hyuk used, myself in the mirror unleashed a technique that resembled his sword.

It wasn’t a skill or power but sharp techniques that seemed to have been fully learned on my own.

A scene that reminded me of the battle against the Sword Dragon of the Blue Sky, Namgung Hyuk, was played, but…

The difference from that time is that the technique I used in the mirror was more flashy and powerful than Namgung Hyuk’s technique.

As though I had surpassed Namgung Hyuk’s swordsmanship, which I had fought in the past.

Of course, Kim Seunghoon also fought desperately, parrying those techniques not so badly, but it didn’t lead to victory.

It was understandable.

Because of the souls I absorbed through the massacre, I wouldn’t get tired using the shield from Necromancy or stamina replenishment, but…

On the other hand, Kim Seunghoon was thoroughly pressured without any time to recover.

The battle of the hunters who had reached their pinnacles eventually ended with a disappointing result in the area of endurance.

Soon, Kim Seunghoon, who was completely deprived of the initiative in the fight, exposed his vital point, which led to his death.

Kim Seunghoon, who was stabbed in the heart, fell to the ground without being able to resist much.

Then, while watching the mark of Necromancy flowing out from Kim Seunghoon’s body, I muttered calmly.

-As a matter of fact, I was wondering what skills and powers the Lightning King would give… I guess I’ll be finding it out now.

With those words at the end, the mirror screen made a static noise.

And soon, the fog-like noise dissipated, and another scene appeared.

However, the background this time was the center of a building that seemed to reproduce the appearance of medieval China.

Dozens of Murim people gathered at the center of a building in medieval china.

With their weapons pointed at a single man.

-I don’t like wasting time.

A man in a black uniform with his ponytail neatly tied back spoke.

I immediately noticed that the man was me.

And…

-Call the leader of the Martial Artists’ Alliance right now.

Looking at the video in the mirror, I soon realized one thing. 

-Then I shall spare everyone in this place at least.

Final stop.

The image in the mirror dealt with the future I was about to reach.

——