Chapter 363: God of Hope (1)

“Is he dead?”

[No, his body is not completely burnt yet,] replied Seregia as she looked at the burning fake

.

Although completely unconscious, the fake stayed alive.

[We can’t remain here any longer, so just let him be,] said Seregia.

I refused. “That’s too cold.”

[The right thing to say depends on who the speaker is, so, sometimes, it can just be a dog barking.]

You just mean to say I’m talking shit, right?

That wasn’t my personality.

[I’m just saying what I’ve heard before.]

Seregia shut her mouth.

I scratched my head. My hair didn’t burn despite the intense heat, but it felt like the moisture in it was utterly dried up.

I knew why Seregia urged me to kill the fake quickly. Her strength was exhausted by the battle just now. Depleted energy and helplessness made humans feel languid, but Seregia viewed it differently as a weapon.

In the midst of this, she was impatient and anxious to break into the Holy Land of the God of Hope.

It would be painful to wait for that fake body to burn away.

“But let’s wait a little longer.”

Seregia did not answer.

I watched the fake slowly be consumed by the heat. I didn’t know whether I should call it a clone or an incomplete version of myself.

I thought incomplete suited it better.

That fake was still breathing, but it was already dead. It had been like that before he met me. The only time that he was truly alive was when he clashed with me. The fake would have thought so, too.

At last, all of the fake’s defenses had run out.

The body genuinely began to burn.

The fake, who had maintained his human form for a surprisingly long time, quickly became a lump of black charcoal soot.

I didn’t know if the fake would agree with me. But it seemed that even the fake liked his ending.

This alone made me quite confident that he was me from the past, dependent on self-destructive excitement and pleasure.

He was well aware that if he fought as he was, he would die soon. However, he put itself in a dangerous situation. Back then, I did not take the time to settle down and kept on advancing. I quickly climbed the floor as if I had gone mad, but I felt sad whenever the Tutorial’s remaining layers were reduced one by one.

It was not a long-term goal to live and clear the tutorial and return to Earth.

I’d only followed the sense of accomplishment that I felt by breaking through the thrill and growth walls that I felt as I broke past every moment of danger.

Even though I knew there was a high possibility of me dying, I kept going.

Instead, I hoped for more.

I hoped every moment of my life would be filled with heat, with excitement, and was ready to die when the flames of danger were shining brightly.

[You’re overly involved.]

So what if I was overly involved? He was just like me in the past.

I couldn’t help the fake. But at the very least, I wanted to watch its end.

[Very weak-minded. No matter how much you have in common, it’s never good to have feelings for the enemy.]

“That’s true.”

Acknowledged. It was a weak and foolish decision.

But… “It’s not always good to be strong.”

I didn’t know what Seregia would think about protecting herself as a weapon. I thought she might do the same.

[Do you sympathise with him?]

Well…

Maybe it’s remorse for my past self who became a monster.

Suddenly, I thought of the 20th floor. I remembered the two tribes I had met there: Chimera and Idy.

The 20th floor was the stage where I began to change most dramatically among all the stages in the tutorial.

Since then, I had started to run towards a new goal. I was still running, but I felt a lot had already changed when I thought about that time.

Maybe more would continue to change.

It may change from running somewhere to a goal completely different from the previous one. I was preoccupied with one goal and tried not to think deliberately about it afterwards. Now, I wondered if it was time to think about it again.

I whispered as I looked at where the fake had disappeared, now completely turned into ash.

May you have the peaceful ending you had wished for.

“I’ll take revenge for you.”

[Did that fake wish for the fall of the God of Hope?]

Well, probably not.

“Why does that matter? I said I’d do it.”

[That’s true.]

Seregia was also positive.

“Let’s go, then.”

The Holy Land of the God of Hope had already been found, and the fake had already been burnt.

It was easy to find because the God of Evil told me the detailed coordinates.

* * *

Part of the space cracked, and a circular hole formed in it. Beyond the hole, I could see the Holy Land of the God of Hope. Before rushing in, I looked at the Holy Land.

It was uniquely shaped like a colossal sandglass made of glass walls. Ordinary people inhabited the upper compartment of the hourglass.

Small rooms, reminiscent of a vast hive, were packed tightly in the compartments above the hourglass.

One person lived in each room. The number of people living in the rooms seemed quite large.

At the lowest estimate, it was about 10 million rooms. From a distance, each room resembled sand in an hourglass.

In the lower compartment of the hourglass… there was nothing.

I was looking into the structure when suddenly the inside of the hourglass began to shake. In the small rooms, people halted their actions and began praying. It was a desperate and sincere prayer that I could feel, even when I knew nothing about it.

Soon, the vibrations of the hourglass stopped. Then the room at the bottom of the upper compartment fell into the lower compartment. It was akin to sand falling down an hourglass.

Humans, of course, were not sand. The impact shattered the room that fell to the lower compartment. The man in it, of course, died. The rest of the people in the upper compartment continued their prayers, terrified by the shock.

A moment later, mechanical equipment emerged from the bottom of the compartment below and removed the body from the fallen room. I wondered what kind of crazy situation this was.

Hochi used to look at the 60th floor and ask if it was okay to decorate it like that.

I wondered what he would say when he saw this Holy Land. I turned my sight to the ceiling of the hourglass. There was another world on the ceiling.

Unlike the hourglass’s interior, it had a clear, glowing sky with a lush, green garden just below it.

That place was well decorated, like a beautiful paradise. In the middle of it was a temple built of pure white stone. It was quite a marvel from a human’s point of view. The place was truly worth being called a temple.

The imbalance between the floors was strange, but I was quite satisfied. I was very, very pleased. The Holy Land of the God of Hope was a beautiful place worth burning.

Perhaps because I looked into the Holy Land, someone noticed me and asked, [Who is it?]

It was not the God of Hope. It seemed to be a guard of the Holy Land.

[What’s going on?]

[Someone is trying to break into the land without permission.]

[I don’t know who it is.]

[The God of Hope said nothing.]

[Can you tell from where they’re trying to invade?]

[I don’t know. But beyond space, there’s a tremendous amount of energy. However, I cannot foresee the amount of power the intruders hold.]

[Strong.]

Shocked conversations broke out. There must be a lot of guards.

How fun.

[Stop! Stop spying and come forth! This is the Holy Land of the God of Hope!]

I came to the right place.

I chuckled and thanked the God of Evil.

[If the God of Hope does not allow it, no more can come in. First, reveal who you are!]

Reveal who I am?

Hmm, how should I introduce myself?

[Who are you?]

Only after a moment’s consideration did I come up with the right answer.

I told the God of Hope’s guard, who asked who I was.

“Your despair.”

At the same time, I fired at the front.

The spatial barrier was in layers, but the power I sent ripped it apart as though it were paper. Black smoke flowed into the Holy Land, and the extreme temperature differences distorted the air.

I cut through the storms created by the hot air flow and entered the Holy Land.

[An unexpected appearance of a villain. I’m glad you’re like this, Warrior,] said Seregia.

As she said, I must be the antagonist in this situation.

I heard the voice of the God of Hope. Several guards had appeared after I entered and had been trying to attack.

[Die, intruder!]

“You, too. Die.”

* * *

Ah.

It felt good to burn this place. It was worth burning when there was so much greenery, pretty birds flying around, beautiful buildings.

I didn’t want to burn places that were already in ruins.

The level of the guard was excellent. They weren’t divine beings, but they had as much power as a god.

Considering the apostles’ characteristics, the God of Hope’s apostles were the ones who could show more ability than the others.

Thanks to this, I had a taste of their power whenever I burnt them alive, one by one. It was very satisfying.

Ahhhh!

Help me!

The temple has fallen!

Oh, God!

People’s screams came from afar. There were also people in the Holy Land above the hourglass.

Basically, they were ordinary people who didn’t feel much different from those who were trapped in an hourglass.

The number of believers must have been quite high in the Holy Land, given the screams heard.

My satisfaction grew even more.

[Damn it….]

It was the God of Hope.

As soon as I heard the somber voice, I felt extremely pleased.

Hahahaha.

[I thought you both would die together…]

That’s exceptionally optimistic of you to think so.

It’s a hundred years too early to think that! You pathetic fly!

[Stop! Cease-fire! I call a cease-fire!] the God of Hope shouted in an urgent voice.

It seems that he had not recovered yet.

“Why do I have to do that? It’s over if I catch you.”

[Don’t be pretentious! You’ve run out of power!] the God of Hope pressed out.

Unfortunately, he was wrong. I had enough power left to capture the God of Hope.

I’d absorbed all the power that the fake left behind. Anyway, I used my ability again to prove that I had enough left.

“Zit pop.”

[Damn it! Please don’t use that damned skill!]

I didn’t have to use Zit Pop. Of course, I didn’t have the means to create a skill as explosive as Zit Pop right now, but I didn’t mind using any other skill at this time when no one was able to stop me.

But…

If you tell me not to do it, I want to do it more. [1]

I sent one more blow over to the collapsing Holy Land of the God of Hope.

“Yes, Zit Pop.”

(T/N: Holy Land and Temple are pretty much the same so don’t get confused if you see an exchange in terms, I unknowingly use both sometimes. For me; temple is the hourglass, and the people + temple = holy land, but doesn’t have to be that way…It’s just my way of thinking xD)