Chapter 275 – < Tutorial 60th Floor (0) > End

“I know.” I knew the reason why the God of the Sky was doing me a favor. I couldn’t get a favor without knowing it. I came into contact with him after I fully knew about him.

“Don’t get too close to the God of the Sky. He is a god who looks down on everything. On the contrary, everyone has to look up to him,” Kirikiri explained, ignoring my words. “If he likes you, you…”

“I have to look up at him.”

Kirikiri nodded at my words. “It may be taken for granted to look up to God, but it is not. Some need to be aware of it.”

In a way, it was natural. How many believers had never doubted the existence of God? If there was anyone who had never doubted a single thing in his life, that person would be even more strange.

“And the God of the Sky knows that you’re aware of the meaning of struggle, overthrow, and challenge. I know that and I like you.”

╔═══════════════╗

[The God of the Sky expresses his discontent.]

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“I know you do. After all, you’re telling me not to trust the God of the Sky because he’s insane,” I said.

You can tell he’s crazy just by looking at the new Ahbooboo. In fact, how many of the gods were sane? They were all idiots.

The sane ones included the God of Devotion, the God of Devotion, and the God of Devotion. Damn, there’s only the God of devotion.

Kirikiri pouted out her mouth. “Heng. No, that’s not true.”

“What do you mean no? Have some cake.” I bought a cake from the store window.

“Yes, I’ll eat!”

It’d been a long time, so I left the Kirikiri with the cake, seeing her unusually fierce behavior. I had a lot of thoughts to clear up. Perhaps the first thing to sort out was the information about the source.

The core of the source, obtained from the archmage, that appeared in the stage was not just an imitation. The beings in the stage felt that the fake core was full of source power, but I couldn’t feel any power, so I thought the core was a fake made for stage use. But while fighting with the native gods, the power of the source that had gathered in the core, which showed that it was not.

The core of the archmage was thought to be just an empty vessel, not an imitation. Indeed, when the forces of sources gathered together, the core of the archmage faithfully served the role of the vessel, and the beings on the stage just didn’t know that the core was empty. It was an interesting fact.

On the 57th floor, a monster of the source had emerged from the stage where superhumans appeared. I had seen it with my own eyes: the process of the superhuman becoming the source. It occurred to me that perhaps there was a real core inside the monster which was full of source power. If so, it was understandable that as soon as I got rid of the monster, the stage ended in a hurry. It may not be the case, but it was a topic to think about.

Something had taken away the core after I cleared the 59th-floor stage. If it was a significant power outside the stage, then the Tutorial could in fact be a fishing farm of sources. In this case, a new point was added to the design purpose of the Tutorial, the training of apostles and the eradication of monsters.

“There are many purposes. There are hundreds of gods, so there are a hundreds of purposes,” said Kirikiri while digging into the cake.

A hundred purposes. That was something I had been thinking about before. Perhaps the 100th-floor stage of the Tutorial was designed by all the gods.

Each stage had very different themes, and its goals had changed little by little. Above all, certain gods showed great interest in only one stage, and little interest in others.

“Yes. That’s right.”

If all the gods had designed the 100th-floor Tutorial stage, as Kirikiri said, they had multiple purposes. The gods, who were interested in the training of apostles, designed a stage that would help them. The god who liked the Tutorial would design a stage such that the challenger would get as much from the Tutorial as possible. On the contrary, a cruel god may design a stage as difficult as possible for a challenger to clear. The gods who weren’t very interested would have taken charge of the residential area, and the gods who weren’t even interested in that would give guidance to the Dragon. They’d divide based on source-collecting and handling the normal stages.

“Is what I thought right?”

“Uh-huh. Except we have to match the theme and the difficulty.”

If the difficulty level was not high enough, it seemed that it could be adjusted according to the theme to a certain extent.

“If I had known this in advance, it would have been very helpful.”

Just knowing which god had designed the stage would help me predict some of their goals and orientations.

“Heng, I can’t tell you that,” said Kirikiri, raising her finger. She wanted to look stern, but she didn’t look like that at all because of the whipped cream she had all over her fingers and face.

It was new information, but it wouldn’t help right now. Whether the source I collected from the 59th floor was significant outside the stage or not was what I wanted to know. I didn’t ask if making the source was possible only through the tutorial stages. She wouldn’t be able to answer me anyway. It was a matter for me to think about alone.

“Please answer me”

The nucleus of the archmage was gone, but the nucleus that the God of Remorse had given remained. Of course, all the power gained from the 59th floor was gone.

I’d been trying to deal with this power for a long time. My lack of ability had not prevented me from dealing with this nuclear power. The core given by the God of Remorse had only a tiny amount of power. It had only a small amount of power to be swayed by, so I couldn’t use it. Of course, I was able to easily adapt to the source on the 59th floor thanks to that, but I didn’t know if it was worth the punishment of the God of Remorse himself.

Next, the existence that took away my source.

“I can’t tell you about that either.”

I guessed so. Thanks to that, I had added yet another goal to accomplish. I didn’t know who or what it was, but I’d be looking forward to meeting it later.

“How innocent and reckless.”

It was not a very reckless plan compared to the original plan. It was such a reckless plan to free the world of the Tutorial stages.

“Oh, so you do know.”

Of course I knew. I set a goal while thinking about the possibility of success and the risks. I knew how tough my goal was.

“Ahem, ahem,” Kirikiri coughed. When I came out of my thoughts, Kirikiri had already eaten up the whole cake, and was standing up from her seat.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Yes,” Kirikiri spoke with a serious face.

Whenever Kirikiri, who was always smiling, looked serious, I always got nervous about what was going on.

“It’s about the next stage.”

Next stage? The 60th floor was just a residential area, right?

* * * * * *

Oh, come to think of it, the store window would be updated on the 60th floor. I once asked if there were any items that could restore Ahbooboo. Kirikiri only answered that it was possible, but she didn’t tell me exactly what was needed.

“No, no. That’s not it.”

“What do you want to say then?”

Was there anything new to celebrate going up to the 60th floor? Like a new system window? I’d like to have liked a personal skill window. There was a stat window that didn’t help, but the skills on the bottom were so long that it was uncomfortable to read.

“Uh… it does change. First of all, after the 60th floor, the level of difficulty will increase significantly.”

That was good news. Very good news.

“There’s going to be a stage with 50 people and not just 10 people.”

That wouldn’t be a party stage, but a raid stage. A raid boss worthy of fifty men’s strength. I was already excited.

“The stage concept will change a lot too.”

“How?”

Kirikiri scratched her chin. “The 40th floor had a lot of stages about the role of apostles, and the 50th floor was about apostles, gods, and sources, right?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed.

“So, the combat difficulty wouldn’t have been so high. From the 60th floor, the concept changes back to what it used to be.”

What it used to be?

“Any kind of information you needed to get through the stage, will be gone. You’ll have to struggle to survive the moment you enter the stage. Instead of having to just follow the story of the stage, the difficulty of attack and survival will be greatly increased.”

It sounded great. I wanted to get more information, and there were still a lot of new things that I could get with the information. However, I had a greater desire to be stronger.

“The problem is… the 61st floor after that comes after the 60th floor.”

“The 61st floor is a different sort of stage.”

Honestly, I was confident. Confident that I could clear the 61st floor. It wasn’t that Kirikiri had never been anxious. Every time I had a hard time, I did not fail to clear the stage.

“Heng….” Kirikiri wriggled her fingers.

What kind of stage was that? My curiosity and enthusiasm surged.

“That’s… a stage that needs more than two challengers…”

“Two-Party Stage?”

“No. It’s a stage for 50 people, but we need at least two people to proceed.”

My body suddenly got cold. It was as if someone poured cold water on me.

“How can I clear it alone?”

“Not possible. The progress itself is blocked.”

Ah, God damn it. I couldn’t help but swear.

“What makes you think that?”

“As I’ve told you before, we didn’t know a human being would come all this way alone. And when someone reaches a floor, naturally more latecomers follow. Usually, the 30th and 60th floors are the same residential areas where those latecomers pile up… So…”

Are you talking about stagnant challengers? Certainly, there was such a section for Normal difficulty and Hard difficulty. In a residential area, or just before a particularly difficult stage, a section of challengers huddled together.

In Hell difficulty level, the 60th floor was like that. In the second half of the 50th floor, the Dragon designated the right stage for each, so the attack itself wasn’t difficult. From the 61st floor, the level of difficulty was rapidly rising. Of course, it was expected for stagnant challengers to gather on the 60th floor, and for the 61st floor to have a theme.

“That’s how it is.”

Only me and Hyung-jin were seriously targeting the stage in Hell Difficulty, but the difference in our stage levels was huge. I knew the Hell difficulty wasn’t designed to be expected for humans to clear it even more so just one human alone, but this was too much.

[Lee Ho-jae, 60th floor: Hyung-jin, what floor are you on?]

[Lee Hyung-jin, 13th floor: 13th floor, Hyung.]

Why was he still on the 13th floor? Damn it.

[Lee Hyung-jin, 13th floor: As you said, the 13th floor is good, so I challenged it many times. I can get to know the monks quickly. They like to teach and study together, so I’m learning hard.]

Hyung-jin was growing steadily. He was steady but very slow, so it was hard to complain. I was the one who told him to practice because the 13th floor would be a great help for growth.

Anyway, if what Kirikiri said is true, Hyung-jin was actually needed to clear the 61st floor. Damn it, the more I thought about it, the angrier I grew. It may take a few more years for Hyung-jin to come up to the 60th floor. A year? It was obvious that two years would be enough. I could just train myself to death for the rest of the time.

I let out a deep sigh. I should sort it out right now. Going up to the 60th floor, settling down in the residential area, and training will be my only daily routine. In my spare time, I should focus on Hyung-jin’s growth. I should not only give advice from time to time but also raise Hyung-jin. I needed to make sure he could get to the 60th floor safely as soon as possible.

[Lee Ho-jae, 60th floor: Hyung-jin, are you free now? I have to talk to you…]

I tried to send a message to Hyung-jin, but Kirikiri grabbed me by the arm.

“I’m not done yet. Don’t send that message.”

Once again, I felt my heart pounding. It was very rare for Kirikiri to go beyond advising and restrain my actions.

“…What is it? What else is there?”

“First of all, I’ll explain more about the 61st floor.”

“Does that explanation have to be heard before sending a message?”

“Yes,” Kirikiri answered firmly. “You need to know about the 61st floor before you send the message.”

“Tell me.”

“The theme on the 61st floor is sacrifice.”

< Tutorial 60th Floor (0) > End

[1] It’s “0”and not “1”because this is the past Hojae, and “1”was used for Present Hojae already.

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