"Hahahahah!!! Good! Very Good!

"I didn't expect to see you, kid. But I can't say that I didn't want to."

"But this…hahahah!!! I can't just stop myself."

"You really remind me of that person."

The voice said which belonged to the God Hephaestus reverberated in the surrounding.

"Stop laughing! It hurts so much. Can't you do anything to help?" Max groaned in pain.

"Nope, I really can't. But you don't need to worry. You have already entered the cemetery. Take your time to heal. The time flows differently here. I will be back when you are healed.", the voice said with a laugh before disappearing.

"Huff! Let's enter the spirit world…", Max muttered under his breath.

But the next instant, his face turned pale. He couldn't enter his spirit world.

'F*ck! How much time do I need to wait alone in this dark place?!'

Max felt an ominous foreboding. With the grievous injuries that he had suffered, it was impossible for any person to survive. But Max had the ability to live until his life force was totally diminished. If it was only that, with the normal regeneration capability of Humans, he couldn't even begin to imagine how much time it would need to heal.

" My regeneration ability totally heals scratches and a small cut within a few hours. A deep cut needs at least 5 days of time to totally heal. A serious injury could go on for 10 to 15 days and still live scars as my regeneration ability is not strong." Max murmured as he began to calculate.

"If I have multiple injuries, it takes much longer than normal. Right now, I don't have a cut in my skin or muscles. But it's more like l lack skin and muscle itself."

" To regenerate all of the vaporized muscle and skin, it will…."

The more Max calculated, the more he felt the world turning cold.

"F*ck! Leave it be. Why do I need to count? It will happen eventually," Max shouted in the darkness trying to convince himself.

Time slowly started to tick away…..

Max laid down on the dark floor looking at the sky which was more like an abyss.

"Why the f*ck is this place so dark?!!" He cursed in anger. There was literally nothing visible except the humongous gate.

Max began a staring game with the dark ceiling. But after a while, he began to feel dizzy and gave up.

He then began to count chickens.

But after counting up till 24000, Max suddenly missed and ended up messing everything.

"Damn it! I might as well sleep."

…

Time passed and Max woke up. He felt a bit better after having slept.

"How much time has passed?", Max said. But there was no one to reply back.

He could guess that it should not be any less than 12 hours. After all, he wasn't the kind of guy to sleep for long hours.

….

More time passed and it began to take a toll on Max.

He couldn't enter the spirit world and nor could the spirit energy leave his spirit world. Without the spirit energy, Max felt his mental energy-draining rapidly.

…

" How many days has it been? A week? It still hurts….", Max mumbled lightly.

His voice sounded really tired.

….

"How...much...time...passed, a month?"

Max looked at the dark ceiling. His eyes seem to be losing his usual glow. In this darkness, the only thing which seemed to be keeping him sane was the pain.

During this period, Max tried to call the voice several times but no one answered. It seemed he was the only one left in this dark world.

….

Higher Realm, Unknown Location.

"If you were so worried, why didn't you tell him in the first place?", the voice belonged to a guy around 17.

He looked calm and there wasn't any hint of emotion on his face. But oddly, this guy had 3 huge red bumps on his forehead.

" Shut up, Vali! You already caused too much trouble.", Hephaestus said in anger.

"Old gramps, I was just stating the fact. If you would have informed him, he would have higher chances of survival," Vali calmly replied.

"Darn brat, do you think I don't know? You are a million years too early to teach me. Even though what you said was true, I still think it is better if I don't tell him. If he survives without knowing, he would be much stronger.", Hephaestus replied.

" You are making it sound really easy. The first trial has just started and he already looks like that. More than 80% of the first trial is still left. And the real trouble has yet to come. Once it starts, he would become like a broken doll. Only a body with no soul", Vali replied as he stared at the old God.

"He will survive and pass the trial" Hephaestus spoke.

"Then make a bet with me?" Vali smiled.

"Why would I?" Hephaestus frowned.

"Huh? Don't you believe your choice? Are you going back on your words?" Vali perfectly timed his words.

What could be worse for the old man then being looked down upon a junior. He couldn't take his words back.

"Fine then! I will fulfill your one wish, if the boy fails the trial."

"You are truly great old gramps!" Vali replied with a smile.

"But, bets are to be made with equal values, right? You better prepare yourself for a loss."

Those words send a chill down Vali's spine. But he was confident that Max would fail. After all, he had seen him as throne who survived till now only with luck. He was the luckiest of the five, complete opposite of the fifth one. But now, luck was of no help.

…..

Time passed….

Max slowly started to feel his pain disappearing. But he soon realised that it wasn't just that. He began to feel numb.

His senses were fading.

Max desperately tried to hold onto his senses but nothing worked. He felt being pulled into endless darkness, and his will slowly eroded.

His senses faded. It started from his skin and then went all the way to his sight.

"Where….am...I?"