Chapter 361: Japan (8)

[Did you expect this?] Seregia asked me.

Did I expect this? Of course, I didn’t.

This exceeded my expectations. This was something I hadn’t even considered to be possible.

First, I had to admit that I’d misjudged the God of Hope. When judging a god, the most important thing to look at is their power.

The God of Sky must reign over all beings, as his title suggested.

Some gods love everything as long as they pop, glow, and sparkle, like the God of Light.

I thought the God of Hope belonged to the former group. I only regarded him as a god who pushed people into despair and accepted their longing for hope. So I hadn’t expected this.

Until just now, the situation was one-sided.

This world of hope created by the god of hope to break the trap had become a prison that prevented the God of Hope from getting out.

The difference in combat power was overwhelming.

Apart from the total amount of power I had, the God of Hope lagged far behind me in terms of power to fight back. The beings summoned by the God of Hope were useless.

No matter how many beings gathered, they were like dust in front of a god. Likewise, ambiguous gods that did not reach any level posed no threat to me. My victory seemed almost inevitable.

On the contrary, from the standpoint of the God of Hope, there was a strong possibility of defeat.

Such a hopeless situation made the God of Hope foster a strong desire for hope.

The more desperate the situation was, the stronger the enemy, the more desperate and eager one would get.

You could even call it faith. His power significantly increased. Finally, the God of Hope gave his power entirely to his apostle.

I misjudged that, too. I didn’t care much about that fake. I thought it was a failure made by the God of Hope or a faulty replica made by the tower.

“You made plenty of preparations to defeat me.”

I was satisfied with the fake, even though it was inferior to me.

I’ll take it with me later and do experiments.

But that fake, modeled after me from the 17th floor, carried the enormous power handed over by the God of Hope. He couldn’t handle the strength. But, his body didn’t explode, nor did he lose his strength.

It was an abnormal appearance. The power at the edge of the sword held by that fake was one that condensed the amplified divine power of hope at one stroke.

Even the sun would be blown away if it burst. If it wanted to cut and stab, no god would survive. It wasn’t a power that mortals who couldn’t ascend to godhood could even grasp even more so wield.

No, even a god would probably not be able to handle it.

The fake must have been prepared for this moment.

[Your idea wasn’t that unique,] said Seregia.

I had prepared Seregia for the battle against the gods.

Since it was a battle between the gods, it eventually would return to basic fighting. So, I thought that wielding a highly-concentrated power to the limit would be the most powerful fighting method.

I had prepared for this, just like the God of Hope.

The difference was, I raised my weapon, Seregia, against them, while the God of Hope used his power as a weapon and gave it to the fake.

A giggle sounded in my ear. It was like a flying bug buzzing near the ear while one was sleeping on a hot summer night.

[We set a trap for each other, but my preparations were more thorough, right?] asked the God of Hope.

I felt so disgusted. But I had to admit it. I’d been preparing for a long time to confront a god.

But I hadn’t expected that any god would have foreseen the confrontation with me and prepared for it this much considering their innately arrogant nature.

[Do you know what the biggest nature of hope is?]

Was he trying to teach the theory of hope now?

The God of Hope spoke with excitement like he thought he had completely reversed the situation.

[It’s the last thing that’s left. I can tell you now, you who have always tried to turn away hope, and have been ashamed of yourself for longing for hope; hope softens the will, but the power that ignoring hope brings is more powerful than anything else.]

As soon as the God of Hope stopped babbling, the fake swung his sword into the air like lightning. The power that seemed unrealistic to me shot up, and it made a hole in the world.

The God of Hope escaped through the hole. It was ridiculous.

Was that just a simple physical attack? This was the mental world developed by the God of Hope himself.

It was covered with Seregia’s barrier. However, just a blow to the condensed energy created a hole.

The God of Hope was crazy. He said so much, and all he did was fly away in the end.

[Yong-yong.] I called Yong-yong.

[Yes. Can I help you?] Yong-yong was still cheerful.

A smile appeared on my face when Yong-yong said he would help me. Thanks to this, my irritation faded a little.

I just missed one chance.

It would be enough to catch him later and make him pay for his share.

[No, it’s okay. Daddy will take care of it.]

[Alright.]

[Take your uncle out and wait for me, instead. If this space explodes and you think it’s going to cause damage outside, can you move the space away?]

[What about Daddy?]

[Daddy will get out of here in the nick of time.]

The sword wielded by the fake shook the barrier. If we fought seriously, the world itself would collapse, and the aftermath might be worse.

The aftermath would be way different from that in Antarctica. Just a little leak of power would destroy Earth. It was not a desirable result.

[Okay!] Yong-yong, who replied energetically, took Hochi out.

I did send them out, but when Yong-yong and Hochi disappeared, I felt a little empty.

The fake was still staring at me. The disappearance of my family seemed not to affect him. Even the fact that the God of Hope had left him seemed unimportant to him.

He was different from me.

If I had been in that guy’s situation, I would have put a knife in the back of the God of Hope as soon as I gained strength.

There was a big difference, not only in strength and ability but also in internal aspects. Like Hochi, he shared the same memories of the past as me, but he was different than me.

The fake was still staring at me with his powers, in preparation to clash.

Admirable.

Even in the midst of this, the image of me focusing on my opponent. The power that the fake was carrying was not controllable.

A moment’s disruption alone would cause the fake to explode, get swallowed up, and die. Even if he fought me with all his strength, he would die.

Still, that madman remained entirely focused, apparently having no choice but to kill me. His head was almost devoid of all thought except or the instinct to kill. He was not worthy enough to be a god.

I didn’t think there was anyone better to use as a weapon and tool. The Hundred Gods Temple was not crazy about me during that time.

[Sad,] Seregia said.

Did she not like me praising my opponent as a weapon?

“Of course, not as good as Seregia.”

[Correct.]

She laughed at my reply, which seemed to be satisfactory.

The fake must have responded to the laughter and opened his mouth.

“I am real.”

Who said that?

That’s ridiculous.

I asked him.

“Hey, don’t you realise? The God of Hope just left you.”

“God of Hope had created a moment for me. I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

I suppose so.

He was different from me in many ways, but the essentials were not different.

He’s more like me than Hochi.

“Have you ever thought of finding any other goals besides this?”

“…….”

The fake moved his lips soundlessly. He hadn’t thought about it as I had.

“Then, have you looked for anything other than your goals?”

“What…?”

I had found mine.

Yong-yong and Hochi were waiting for me outside. There was also Grandma and Old Man from the 61st floor.

There was Kim Min-hyuk, who was working hard in Seoul, and Park Jung-ah, who remained in the Tutorial.

And there’s Seregia.

[Correct,] Serejia said again with a pleased voice.

On the contrary, the fake had a blank face. For a moment, I recalled the memories that he and I would share.

“How do you think Jung-ah would feel about this?”

“…Jung-ah?”

“You know… Park Jung-ah.”

The fake had a confused look.

“Who is that?”

So, there was a lost memory. The fake on the 17th floor should have the same memory as mine. Perhaps some memories had been erased or distorted by the God of Hope.

“I don’t need anything else. In the end… I have to become real. Otherwise, my life is meaningless. I will become real.”

There was madness in his eyes while he murmured the same words over and over again.

I could understand.

Idy, Old Man, and Grandma had the same worries. I had seen it all because I had the same problem.

“I will be real!” the fake raised all the power given to him at once.

He aimed for a one-shot. It was the right decision. Because of the gap between me and the fake, even a little bit of time added would become my victory.

As there was no difference in the total amount of power he had compared to mine now, it was the right decision to throw all his power at once.

But that was if it was possible. That fake couldn’t handle the aftermath.

With all his might, the fake would die when our powers collide.

Win or lose.

Only then could I understand a little more of the fake saying that he would be real.

The god of slowness had commented to me at that time.

A moth that ran into the fire to attempt to become fire. It was an astonishingly perfect remark for who I was at the time.

Not even aware of how bright he was, the moth began to rush at me with all its might.

“I have to be real!”

He was shining so brightly, but he looked so pathetic. I could sympathize with that feeling because I remembered myself from the past.

“Yes, I will be the fire for you.”

I rushed to face the fake.

* * *

“What happened?” asked Hochi.

As the situation turned worse, Yong-yong took Hochi with him and escaped from the world.

Lee Ho-jae also seemed unable to afford to pay attention to them, and in Hochi’s case, he ran away without any problems because he knew well that he would be a burden even if he were there.

In the end, however, he was also confident that Lee Ho-jae would come back after cleaning up the situation.

So until just a moment ago, he was taking Lee Joon-suk out of the subspace and looking at the outer view of the world.

From the outside, the world was covered with a black hemisphere. As he was looking around in wonder, the black hemisphere began to twist around. It resembled a tin can that had been melted under high heat and morphed.

Yong-yong saw it and started to use his power. Hochi was so serious that he stayed quiet beside him.

After a while, the black hemisphere gradually shrank in shape, and soon, it completely disappeared.

“The power inside was so strong that I sent the whole space away after I got out.”

“What about Ho-jae?”

Yong-yong was silent for a moment.

Hochi didn’t want to, but he had no choice but to prod Yong-yong.

“Yong-yong.”

Yong-yong looked perplexed.

His eyes, which looked as though they were about to burst into tears, made Hochi more worried.

“I thought Dad would get out in time…”

“And?”

“I don’t think he got out…”

(T/N: Damn, I actually feel bad for the fake T – T)