Chapter 2: Receiving the Power of a god
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Absolute Darkness. That was all I could see. Well— not as if I could see in the first place. I couldn’t feel either, nor hear. In fact, none of my five senses were working at all.
All I knew was that I had been floating in this void since I died. For how long? I really don’t know. I lost count.
I sighed. To think I had gotten asked out just to die the very next moment. No matter how I put it, it sounded funny in each and every scenario. It just reminded me of how other main characters died and reincarnated.
Except I hadn’t reincarnated; instead I was stuck in this dark space. Maybe authors and directors usually skipped this part because of how BORING it was.
Honestly, this boredom is way worse than what I felt on Earth. In fact, I began to appreciate the boredom I felt then at some point.
"Dammit!" I screamed, the boredom finally getting to me. "When the f**k are you going to let me out of here!?"
Silence.
Not even an echo. Just silence.
I sighed. At this point I just wanted to give up. It would’ve been way better if I had woken up a cripple instead of being stuck here forever after death.
Suddenly, a blinding light flashed in front of me— well, I wouldn’t say blinding. Perhaps it’s because I was stuck in darkness for so long, that was why it seemed that way.
"What the hell is this?" I whispered to myself as I read the glowing message flashing in front of me.
[Welcome, Host, to the Realm of Succession]
’Perhaps I have run mad... That is why I am seeing this.... Realm of Succession!? What is that? Are the beings that sent me here really trying to mock how pathetic I am right now?’
The message suddenly changed.
[The God of Lightning and King of Olympus, Zeus, has chosen you as his successor]
[The God of Death and Ruler of the Underworld, Hades, has chosen you as his successor]
[The Goddess of Night and Darkness, Nyx, has chosen you as her successor]
’What really is going on? gods and goddesses? Successor? What really is this place?’ I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
[You will now undergo the trial of the God of Lightning, Zeus]
Before I could voice out my thoughts, or even think of anything at all— a huge thunderbolt struck me. The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt before.
I could feel my body getting torn apart, while also being burnt to a crisp at the same time. I let out a blood-chilling scream. Before my thoughts could even finish processing the pain, another bolt struck. This one even felt stronger and faster than the last one.
I struggled to stay conscious, before another one hit again, tearing nerves I didn’t even know existed. This time it felt like my mind was burning as well as my body.
Another bolt struck once more. Then another. And another.
At this point, I couldn’t count how many times I had been struck by the bolts of thunder. And no matter how many times I got struck, I never got used to the pain or became numb to it. Instead, it was always a fresh feeling of being torn apart and burned.
Finally, the bright message I had been waiting for was displayed once more.
[Host has successfully passed the trial]
[Host will now go through a recovery and strengthening process]
I stared blankly at the floating screen as my body began to recover at a quick rate. Truth be told, it took me a while to actually process what the system message was about, as my mind was still recovering from the pain that I had gone through.
’Just what the hell was that!?’ I thought to myself silently, still afraid to speak aloud due to the fear of feeling pain from even moving my lips.
Another message flashed.
[Recovery process complete]
[System will now begin the strengthening process]
’Strengthening process? What is that?’ I questioned, but was just answered with dead silence. Then, a sharp pain hit me, causing me to scream.
I could feel my muscles tearing apart and rebuilding. I could feel my bones getting shattered into dust just to be regrown once more.
The process didn’t take too long, but it felt like an eternity to me. I wanted to complain, shout and throw a tantrum at the person doing this, but I couldn’t.
Finally, the pain seized. Relief hit me.
I thought that was the end, just to see those damn floating letters again, causing me to grit my teeth.
[Strengthening process complete]
[Next trial will begin now]
"What the fk do you want from me!?" I screamed at the floating message while pointing at it. "Haven’t you done enough!! You fking roasted me for f**k’s sake."
I was ignored once more.
The damn message flashed again, causing my eyes to widen.
[You will now undergo the trial of the God of Death, Hades]
"F**KKKKK!!!!!" I screamed as the next trial started. If the God of Lightning’s trial was that bad, then how worse would the God of Death’s own be?
And I was right. I already guessed what the trial was, but I was still shocked.
The trial was simple. I was required to die. Not once. But countless times.
Worst of all, each experience felt new. You would think that there would be no other way to die, just to die in the most unexpected way. It was literal torture.
I could feel my mind breaking apart. It was shocking how I had held my sanity for this long, because honestly, I had already lost count of how many times I had died.
A 100 times. A 1,000. 10,000.
Those were just numbers now.
After what felt like an eternity, the floating letters I had been eager to see finally appeared once more.
[Host has successfully passed the trial]
Relief washed over me. But I knew that was not all. I was selected by three gods after all— I had only done two trials. They were literal hell, and I didn’t even know if my body or my mind would be able to handle this last one.
I could feel it. Just a little push was all that was needed for me to break down completely.
I patiently waited for the floating window.
Its bright light appeared once more.
[The Goddess of Night and Darkness did not create a trial for the host]
[Host has automatically passed the last trial]
I stared blankly at the words written in front of me, then I chuckled. It was finally over. The long torture I had gone through was finally over. But something had changed within me, and I knew it.
After that second trial, I could feel the aura of death constantly hanging around me.
I sighed lightly.
The floating window appeared once more, its message causing my eyes to widen and my jaw to open slightly.
[Host will now be teleported out of the Realm of Succession]
[The Goddess of Night and Darkness wishes you good luck on your future endeavors]
[The God of Death hopes you won’t disappoint him]
[...]
My eyes shone with excitement. I was finally going to be released from this stupid place. The torture. The pain. The boredom. All of it would be over.
What excited me the most, though, was the journey ahead of me.
I couldn’t help but smile as the system message flashed in front of me once more, before a bright light engulfed me completely.
[Teleportation will begin now]
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