Chapter 320

Editor: Tide

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…”