Chapter 288: Chapter 288 – Tutorial 71st Floor (2)

Tutorial 71st Floor (2)

“Are you thinking of making another wish?”

“Not at all . ”

“Do you have any intention of taking back your wish?” Kirikiri asked .

Of course, I have no such intention .

“I could give you more power than what you have right now . I could give you the means to win the gods’ support, or I could bring your friends here from different stages, or I could call them to Earth . ”

Kirikiri’s proposals would be of great help to me: power and support of the gods, even reuniting me with people I’d met in the past . But that wasn’t what I wanted right now .

“I just want this Tutorial to stop . Don’t let the stages that are currently repeating continue to repeat over and over again . ”

I could achieve my goals and keep my promises on my own . What I wanted from Kirikiri was to put a stop to the stages that were repeating at this moment, so that one day, they flowed along to a new present, and not a recurring past .

That was all .

“Ugh…” Kirikiri pretended to groan for a long time, but I had no intention of changing my wish . Of course, I knew that stopping the Tutorial stage was meaningless as a result .

Nevertheless, I wanted it .

“Promise me one thing!” exclaimed Kirikiri, raising one hand .

“What promise?”

“You’ll be sure to clear all the Tutorial stages before you go out . ”

Uhh…

Kirikiri stressed that I had to clear all the stages . The biggest reason why I’d remained in the Tutorial was to think about the wish I’d ask from her . Of course, I could wish for information on the stage and clear compensation, but honestly, they weren’t that appealing . Likewise, there was no reason to rush to Earth .

“If you promise me that, I’ll stop all stages right now except the ones you’re going to target . All the challengers will be sent to the waiting room or a nearby residential area . ”

I couldn’t help shout out, “Cool, sounds good . ”

I never thought this wish would come true so easily . I was a little dumbfounded, but Kirikiri accepted my wish without a hitch .

I had no choice but to question the smooth acceptance . “Are you okay with that?” It was strange to ask if it was okay after saying that it was my wish, but I still asked .

Kirikiri nodded . “It’s alright,” was what Kirikiri said, but I wondered how it was possible to stop the Tutorial at her disposal .

“The Tutorial’s management is entirely in the hands of managers . Of course, we have to pay for it, but it’s possible to shut it down temporarily . ”

The control was in the hands of the managers . It didn’t make any sense .

“The system accepts that?”

Kirikiri grinned at my question . She displayed a mischievous smile . “I have no choice but to be forgiven . The system just regulates us when we act beyond the constraints . With our power…”

“Anything is possible . ”

Just how the gods usually do within their sphere of influence . So far, the system was faithful to its role as a constraint . However, it was not understandable that the Tutorial’s halting was possible just because all the managers agreed .

“And the Hundred Gods Temple?”

“The selection of the manager was with all the Hundred Gods Temple . It’s them who set our authority along with responsibilities by majority vote . As always, they can’t change what had already been decided at that time . If they’re going to overturn our decision, they would lose all of us and vote for re-election as a manager . Pick up candidates, drop someone, put someone up . Then they’ll adjust the responsibilities and authority given to the manager . By majority vote on top of all that . It’ll probably take a year . Even if you don’t like it, you’ll have to be satisfied, because that’s how much we had to pay . ”

After hearing Kirikiri’s explanation, I thought she still had too much authority as a manager . If managers came together, they could monopolize the Tutorial . What had the Hundred Gods Temple’ planned by giving managers such authority?

“In fact, in general cases, the managers’ opinions are not unified . ”

“Why?”

“We’re at odds with each other . ”

I could understand that a little . I had seen many times when the Hundred Gods Temple were unable to unify their opinions . Even if something was decided through voting, there was always a dissenting vote . Unity was indeed a rare sight .

The reason was obvious . Gods cannot compromise since their egos were huge . That’s what all the gods did . Maybe that’s why they were gods .

The God of Light does not prefer dark over light . It would go against his identity to choose dark . The God of Duel does not tolerate cowardice . The God of Devotion does not feel joy in the sight of someone suffering . It was not a matter of preference, but a matter of feasibility .

Moreover, apart from the issue of voting, relations between the gods would significantly affect the vote . The manager would, too . It would be impossible for them to unify their opinions if they had collected the opposites . If there was a condition that the opinions must be unified to give authority to the manager, the authority becomes virtually ineffective .

They had once already handed over the responsibilities and authority to the managers . It would be difficult for the gods to re-decide new ones .

It was a convincing process .

“But this time it’s different . We all know your goal . And I hope you achieve your goal . Each of us has a slightly different wish, but we all agreed to grant your wish for it anyway . Some oppose, and some agree with our decision, but they can’t argue with our final decision . ”

Kirikiri had made it clear that she supported my goal, and so did other managers . I remembered what the God of Hope once told me . I felt uncomfortable as I recalled what the God of Hope had said .

* * *

As Kirikiri said, I had decided to clear the Tutorial stages to the end, but questions still remained . Why had she recommended me to clear the stages so much?

“First, information points . Second, clearing rewards . I told you last time,” Kirikiri answered grumpily, possibly because I had questioned her advice . Clearing rewards was manageable . But was there still any more information I needed to gather?

We had to clear the stage .

“There still is,” Kirikiri said with a grim look .

I couldn’t understand it right away, and I couldn’t ask more because of the lack of information points, but I decided to move on . The advice Kirikiri gave had always been beneficial and would continue to be .

“You’re going to go now, right?”

“No, I’m planning to stay a little longer . ”

When Kirikiri asked if I was going to leave, I answered no . Kirikiri sounded surprised at my answer .

“Huh?”

Typically, I moved on to the next stage as soon as I heard all the advice, so Kirikiri had a strange look on her face when I said I would leave a little later .

I pointed to the side where Seregia and Yong-yong were . Seregia was lying still on the bed . Yong-yong had been playing by himself . As soon as Kirikiri and I began to talk seriously, he wandered around and dozed off next to Seregia . Once they both lay down, they didn’t get up easily, so I decided to let them take a little rest and then start off .

“I see you still have a soft spot,” Kirikiri remarked .

Of course . How could I have survived this long if I didn’t? Of course, there’d been many crises .

“It’s all thanks to me . ” Hochi chimed in with self-praise .

I was going to say something to him, but Kirikiri spoke to Hochi first . “That’s right, Hochi deog-iyang . ”

(T/N: I’m not quite sure what the author was trying to imply…Either way, Deog/Deok refers to virtue/moral, and yang meaning sheep . . )

Kirikiri’s smile and her answer left me with a bad feeling . It was not because of her actions, but because of Hochi’s name, which had been pronounced by Kirikiri .

“How did you just pronounce his name?”

“Huh?”

She pronounced my name as Hoo-ouh-woo, stretching it out, unlike when she called Hochi . Somehow I felt disappointed .

“Oh, right . Kirikiri, I have a question . ”

Hochi had met Kirikiri for the first time after leaving the 61st floor, but he was comfortable with Kirikiri . Perhaps it was because of his memories .

Kirikiri treated Hochi as if she knew him for a long time . To be fair, Kirikiri would do that no matter whom she met .

“What on earth does Ho-jae mean? Why does everyone laugh when they hear it?”

At Hochi’s question, Kirikiri tilted her head . “I’ve answered this before . ”

“Really? Why don’t I remember?”

Why? Because I didn’t put it in .

“No way, what do you mean? You even touched my memories?” asked Hochi, glancing at me .

That’s right . I didn’t think I needed to put all my memories into Hochi . If I had put all the shameful memories in, neither Hochi nor I would have felt comfortable .

“Heng, do you want me to tell you?”

“Oh, tell me . What does it mean?”

Kirikiri and Hochi whispered softly as if they were plotting something dangerous . It was necessary to stop them .

“Oh, you shouldn’t try to invade other people’s privacy . ”

The meaning of my name was strictly personal . This had been confirmed long ago .

“You know, that privacy may or may not apply to Hochi . Ahahaha!”

“Right! I’m your clone . I’m you in a way . Privacy’s nothing . Hurry up and tell me what it means . ”

Hochi tried to find my name’s meaning, arguing that he and I were the same person, having thrown away his identity . Extra measures needed to be taken and quick .

“Kirikiri, would you like another cake?”

* * *

╔═══════════════╗

[The 80th-floor stage begins . ]

Explanation: A source has been drifting in outer space on a planet whose name is unknown . It recently crashed onto it . The source quickly devoured everything in the area, and the planet was destroyed .

The Hundred Gods Temple’s investigator reported something dubious about the source, unlike the usual ones . The Hundred Gods Temple wants to send you to retrieve the source and find out what is unique about the source .

-Clear Conditions:

1 . Eliminate the Source .

2 . Investigate the source .

╚═══════════════╝

When Seregia and Yong-yong woke up, I headed for the 80th floor with my party . The 80th-floor stage was set in a plain wasteland . I could see the source in front of the summoned place .

“It’s a different stage than usual,” Hochi mumbled .

I thought the same . It was easy to see the strength of that centipede-like creature from its strange appearance .

The clear condition was the killing and investigation of the source . Perhaps after killing the source, something worth investigating would come out .

“I’ll do it!” Yong-yong stepped up with enthusiasm .

In fact, there was no one but Yong-yong ready to deal with the source . The old man and the old lady had little interest in the stages . The same went for Seregia . Actually, I was the same as well .

After leaving the 61st floor, Hochi and Yong-yong took charge of the stages, and I rarely did anything . All I did was give advice from time to time . It was the same this time .

So even when Yong-yong stepped up, I just told him to do what he felt was right . The problem occurred shortly after Yong-yong fired his mana at the source .

A bright energy barrier was wriggling near the source . It was an energy barrier made to protect itself .

And the mana that Yong-yong had fired destroyed the source’s protective layer, and the body of the source was reduced to powders .

╔═══════════════╗

[Stage failed . ]

[Returning to the waiting room . ]

╚═══════════════╝

…What the heck, man? They told me to kill the source, so I killed it . Why did I fail?

Tutorial 71st Floor (2) End

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