Chapter 334: Chapter 290

[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: When did you reach the 80th floor? You came out from the 60th floor just a few days ago.]

I came out a few days ago, but the 80th-floor journey was still slow enough. It would not have taken this long if Yong-yong and Hochi hadn’t spent time having a reunion with Kirikiri agonizing over their wishes.

[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: No... Aside from that, what do you mean by stopping the Tutorial? Is that possible?]

If I asked myself if it was possible to stop it, I’d say it was impossible. It was nothing but Kirikiri granting my wish that stopped me from saying it was impossible.

I explained this to Park Jung-ah. I stopped the Tutorial stages using a wish I had been promised by the manager before. At this point, I gave a general explanation of the reason for the suspension and what would happen.

It was something I had known the gist of, but I had never explained it in detail.

[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: Yeah... Well, let’s say the reason is not understandable at all. What about me?]

[Lee Ho-jae, 80th floor: Huh?]

[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: I won’t be able to leave like this.]

It was obvious. Without entering the stage, Park Jung-ah couldn’t clear the 100th floor and go outside.

[Lee Ho-jae, 80th floor: I’m going to ask you for a favor regarding that. I want you to stay here for a few more years, and it’s okay if you give me a hard time. I need to take care of the floors left and need someone to take care of Lee Yeon-hee.]

I didn’t tell Park Jung-ah in advance because of this very request.

Just in case I left first, Lee Yeon-hee had been appointed as my apostle, and the 60th and 61st floors were fully protected against external attacks. But I was still worried. I needed someone to take care of Lee Yeon-hee’s mental state for a while.

Of course, Park Jung-ah didn’t approve of my plan. She didn’t like it.

“Daddy, what are you doing?” Yong-yong approached me.

I guessed that Hochi had to comfort him a lot because of the death of Wiggley.

I raised my hand to cover Yong-yong’s eyes since the message window was filled with swearing. It wasn’t vocabulary that I wanted to show my child.

[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: You’re determined to make me die an old maid, aren’t you?]

That’s not true. A challenger neither grows old nor dies easily, in the Tutorial. And I didn’t intend to leave Park Jung-ah here long enough to die of old age in the Tutorial.

Hochi peered over my shoulder at the message window and took Yong Yong Yong away. They seemed to be going to see the body of the centipede.

[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: Then there won’t be any more Awakened, what about that?]

[Lee Ho-jae, 80th floor: It’s okay because I’ll be out.]

Upon seeing my words, Park Jung-ah became even more irritated. But what could we do if that was the truth? As long as I went out, we didn’t need a new Awakened.

[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: Let’s not tell anyone about this. We should keep it between ourselves and explain it to the others in another way. No one else will find out anyway. They can’t even ask the managers because they can’t get into the stage.]

[Lee Ho-jae, 80th floor: I don’t mind telling them.]

[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: I’M NOT OKAY WITH IT! SO YOU WILL STAY SILENT, GOT IT?]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[Lee Ho-Jae, 80th floor: Yep.]

As Park Jung-ah said, we decided not to let others know. We could just tell Kim Min-hyuk later.

[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: Now that I’ve rested enough, I’m going to go work again. Damn you.]

[Lee Ho-jae, 80th floor: Please work a little harder. Above all else, please take good care of Lee Yeon-hee, as you did for me before.]

We had kept in touch every day, fighting and swearing. Although we argued with each other over useless things, Park Jung-ah always kept in touch. I didn’t give up either and tried to talk to her every time.

At that time, arguing with Park Jung-ah was my only conversation with others.

Thanks to you, I realized time was flowing, and I confirmed that I was still alive. You made me realize I was still important to someone. That someone would take time out of their day to talk to me... Even if most conversations ended up in fights.

Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to endure those difficult times. Truly, thank you for everything... Jung-Ah.

Park Jung-ah spoke ill of me for a long time, but in the end, she promised to take care of Lee Yeon-hee as I instructed.

Unlike in the past, her language had become harsh and had a hysterical irritation. But some parts were not different from the past.

[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: I don’t owe you anything after this. Not a single thing. I’ve paid it all back.]

That debt had long been settled.

I replied to her.

* * *

“Huh?”

“Huh?” Kirikiri looked at me with curious eyes.

“What?”

“You never dismantled it? Not even conducted any experiments?”

“I didn’t.”

“...Huh?”

Why are you looking at me like that? It was not surprising that I didn’t dissect the monster’s body.

“Huh... I thought you’d do it for sure,” said Kirikiri, scratching her nose.

Truthfully, I’d even thought about taking care of the source’s body, but what I felt on the body was so insignificant.

After hearing what I said, Kirikiri nodded with a convincing look. “It could be. It’s an imitation, and to add to that, a failure.”

What are you talking about? I asked her to explain.

“You know that everything on the stage was real, right?”

Of course, I knew. I nodded.

“The 80th floor is a bit unusual. It’s all normal until the monster stops moving.”

In other words, something changed when the monster stopped moving and broke its shell.

“What broke through the shell of a monster was different from what happened. It couldn’t be brought in or replaced by making a plausible imitation.”

Couldn’t replace it. That was unexpected.

“Then, what was that being that came out of the monster?”

The Hundred Gods Temple, who made the Tutorial, couldn’t even copy them? These were the gods who kept different worlds in every stage. It was not easy to accept that their designs had limitations.

“The thing that popped out of it was the same case as yours. Albeit a bit different.” Kirikiri used me as an example.

“You regained your sanity when you overcame your source and began to wield a leagues’ power above what it was before. You jumped a whole class at one go.”

I could understand Kirikiri’s words to some extent. The Spirit King had said that he could reach godhood through a source. When you get your source, you obtain a considerable power, but the moment you overcome it, you gain full control and not just power. If so, I could understand why the Hundred Gods Temple neither reproduced nor imitated the monster.

The monster that appeared on the 80th-floor stage would eventually be closer to a god. If it were possible to create it as an imitation, the Hundred Gods Temple would produce gods like manufacturing products.

“What’s the difference?”

“Huh?”

Kirikiri responded to my question with a blank look. I had asked too straightforwardly. Kirikiri wasn’t used to me asking such crude questions.

It was more comfortable for her to read my thoughts and answer them on her own. But now Kirikiri could no longer look into my thoughts. It was a good thing, but there were also inconveniences.

“You told me it was like me. That monster. But it’s not like there were no differences at all.”

“Heng, right. There was a difference.” Kirikiri smiled and explained what was different. “In your case, you overcame the desire of the source. The monster on the 80th floor was released from desire only after eating a few planets. There’s a difference. Even if you let go of desires, the reason for that desire still exists. Thus it’s control over the power would be worse.”

Indeed, the quality was worse. There was no choice but for it to be like that. Free from the source’s desire, but the purpose was the same as before, just with more power, stronger abilities, and reason.

I hadn’t thought much of the monster. I had never felt a sense of crisis from it since, in my views, the source was prey that the gods were hunting to gain strength. It was all because the monster couldn’t keep its sanity.

An enemy not in his senses cannot be above a prey’s level no matter how strong he was. But if it had its sanity...

“How come it had that low a level of intelligence?”

“The source was part of a civilization. A fairly advanced civilization. You can say that the civilization is of the same level compared to where the Tutorial stages have appeared.”

Well, that’s the worst.

“Now you know why I said you had to clear the stage and get out?” asked Kirikiri while humming.

She must have been a little disappointed that I didn’t take her advice.

“Yes, thanks to you, I know it’s important. Now here, have some cake.”

I bought a cake for Kirikiri. I bought her a bigger cake than usual, considering that Yong-yong and Hochi, who played next to her, would join her. Naturally, Yong-yong and Hochi approached. Kirikiri turned down Yong-yong and Hochi’s request to share the cake.

Of course, Yong-yong and Hochi started eating cake regardless of whether Kirikiri refused or not. Kirikiri was forced to eat the whipped cream cake without a fork since Yong-Yong and Hochi had taken it.

I watched the scene for a while and organized my thoughts. The information I had found this time was essential. There were people who had overcome the source and achieved a high level. There was someone who was moving with their senses intact at the top of the monsters.

I thought that it was strange. One day, monsters suddenly appeared on Earth, and then the fights began. Monsters who ran wild without any reason appeared all of a sudden in groups. Even strange ones that seemed to come in groups.

The monsters sometimes showed an organized appearance. There were countless hypotheses for such monsters. A few things came to mind right now.

‘The gate connected to the monsters’ home opened, causing the monsters to burst into Earth, causing chaos suddenly.’

‘Even monsters have some level of cognition.’

‘At a primitive level, communication with them is possible.’

‘It’s just that humans haven’t figured it out. Plus, these monsters breed through mating.’

‘Where do the monsters hatch?’

There were various hypotheses, but a certain fact could convince quite a few. The monster, who had similarly overcome the source as I, was training and directing the monsters.

When I turned my head, I saw Kirikiri, Yong-yong, and Hochi stuck together, busy eating the cake. Rather than being peaceful and friendly, there was a competitive and intense atmosphere. They were squeezing each other’s cake into their mouths to take another bite.

There was more I wanted to ask, but first, I decided to wait for Kirikiri to finish the cake.

* * *

“They usually call them the Completers or by their self-proclaimed title, Ruler.”

“Self-proclaimed?”

“Self-proclaimed.”

It was an ominous title. The monsters who had regained their sense of self after consuming an innumerable amount of lives who were once controlled by the source’s desire were hard to count.

“What about the gods? They left it alone?”

“Yes...” Kirikiri nodded somberly.

I asked for an explanation.

“Because of the wide range of activities, it’s hard to find. The gods bound to realms don’t move without any reason. Most of all, even if they encountered each other like that, they can’t guarantee victory, so it’s even more problematic.”

Kirikiri’s explanation left me speechless for a moment. For a moment, I thought I had heard wrong.

“Can’t guarantee a victory? The gods? How is that possible?”

“Because it has become a god, too,” Kirikiri replied.

It also became a god. What was the most necessary thing required to be a god? It was faith through the identity of a god, self-discipline, and believers’ support and trust.

There were so many conditions, but there was one that was more important than the others: overwhelming power.

I was able to draw faith from people on the 57th floor and 61st floor because I had power. Otherwise, I would have been just a nobody to them. Power alone became the fundamental base of gaining faith.

Monsters who wanted more power and ate everything visible may draw faith from others for more strength. They would have the reason, knowledge, strength, and class to do so.

Suddenly, an idea crossed my mind. I asked Kirikiri, hoping it wasn’t true.

“Is it not a part of the Pantheon?”

“Yes.”

Damn it.

“What about the Hundred Gods Temple?”

“Yes.”

This situation was very messed up.

Tutorial 80th Floor (2) Finished