Chapter 51
101st Floor (3)
“No! It’s not a death flag!”
What do you mean, no?
It would be a death flag that anyone could see.
It would be complete if only he added the words of who he was going to confess to, and that he prepared a ring.
“It’s really not.”
Hochi looked greatly embarrassed.
He was obsessed with novels and manga, so he seems to have taken the joke of a death flag seriously.
“What were you talking about?”
“No, I won’t talk.”
What are you going to do if I don’t say that?
There are two ways to make a person angry, one is to not finish what they are saying, and the other is not talking at all.
“Just tell me. The flags are all raised anyway. It’s less embarrassing if you say something and die.”
“Because it’s not a flag! And don’t die!”
Yes, yes, I’m not going to die.
I had to soothe Hochi.
“Yeah. So who are you dating? It’s probably not one of our followers.”
The temple in Seoul was supposed to house a number of church members, including clerks.
It must have been completed by now, so there must have been some devotees who met frequently in the temple where Hochi mainly lived.
Hochi said no, and turned his head.
I thought he was going to be arrogant and angry, but his reaction was a little subtle.
It seemed that there was one believer who he was really interested in.
It was a surprise.
“It’s not like that.”
“Then.”
“Why don’t you… look for your family together?”
An unexpected story emerged.
“My family?”
He said it was my family, not my family.
I’m not talking about Hochi and Yong-yong and the giants on the 61st floor.
“Yeah. You haven’t looked for them since you came out of the Tutorial.”
Before going into the tutorial, there were only three people in my family.
My father, my sister and me.
There was no communication with relatives.
In my later documentary, we were portrayed as very close and close relatives, but in reality, we did not see each other even on holidays.
I didn’t really want to find them.
Father had long since passed away.
So had my sister.
It was during the time I was in the tutorial, but it was certain that my sister died of an illness.
There was a missing nephew.
When I first heard the news about my nephew, I was a little puzzled.
At some point, I thought he would be able to survive.
He was a brilliant kid.
However, it was not unusual to have an accident at a time when the world had turned upside down and monsters were popping up in the middle of Seoul.
Of course, he is classified as missing, but a disappearance at that time was virtually the same as death.
I had no family to visit.
“Still…….”
Even so, Hochi seems to want me to visit my family.
I knew what the reason was.
What Hochi is worried about me.
“Then, shall we visit the ossuary?”
The government kept the ashes of my father and sister.
The National Ossuary has been in operation since the National Cemetery, including the National Memorial Hall, was completely wiped out.
“Yeah, let’s go together.”
Hochi’s face brightened.
He’s a good guy
Even if I were in that guy’s position, would I be able to care as much as he did?
I must have always been thinking about getting the back of my head and neck hit.
Okay, let’s go to the ossuary.
I will apologize to my father and sister for the long delay.
I will greet them too.
I struggle with guilt and shame.
I will regret it and stuff like that
It was a decision I would never have made if I had not lost my divinity.
It was also an impossible decision.
I thought that losing my divinity was good in this respect.
* * *
“That’s right! Close the front properly!”
As I said, Hochi marked the enemies properly.
It was the responsibility of Yong-Yong and Old Man to inflict critical blows on the enemies.
Enemies here had a law of destruction.
The monsters here are exceptionally powerful.
But that ability was not enough to overwhelm our party.
It was just a matter of the gold containing the power of the God of Order.
The monster’s gold teeth and nails, swords, and spear blades could not be stopped without losing their divinities.
The reason the party was struggling is that they fought desperately while avoiding that gold, which would be very dangerous even if they were hit only once.
However, if Hochi, who is not divine but does not take any damage from gold, tanked properly, and Yong-yong and Old Man were able to safely focus on the attack, they could overcome it.
As the number of monsters decreased, it gradually became smoother.
“Great job.”
Hochi nodded his head.
This guy changed into a bizarre form every time he fought.
Rather than transforming, he seemed to change his appearance like metamorphosing.
Most of the forms that Hochi took were those of other monsters clad in gold.
Probably because he has to think of it right away, he can’t think of a more powerful form than that.
“Shall we continue?”
The party started walking again without rest.
“Yes, but.”
Hochi spoke again.
He had a lot of questions today.
“What do you mean there is no causality?”
That’s what he was curious about.
It was something to be curious about.
In fact, Hochi had been curious about this issue for a long time.
Each time I didn’t answer.
“Where do I begin to explain?”
“Is it complicated?”
“It is complicated.”
If I tried to talk about it in a complicated way, it was so complicated that there was no limit to it.
We have to talk about the basics of divinity.
I tried to explain it as simply as possible.
“It doesn’t matter if you touch the gold of the God of Order, right?”
“Huh.”
Beyond just touching, being stabbed, or being beaten by a weapon made of gold, you will not be affected in any way.
Normally, that’s not possible.
That gold contains the power of the God of Order.
The God of Order is special among the gods.
Although he is a created machine god and is approaching transcendence, the concept of order itself is special.
God is basically a being who can distort the laws of the world at his own will.
Maybe that’s God’s justice.
However, the divinity of the God of Order lies in maintaining and defending, not distorting, the laws of the world.
Therefore, the God of Order is very powerful against other gods.
Because it inevitably prevents the distortion of the law through divinity.
That doesn’t mean he’s weak against non-god beings.
Weapons that contain the power of the God of Order strongly adhere to the rule of attacking and inflicting damage to the opponent.
Usually, when you get hit by a knife, you get cut, stabbed, injured, and hurt.
That law is expressed stronger than anything else.
There is no way to stop it, and there is no way to mitigate the impact.
It just hurts if you get hit with it.
It was not the power to use the causal variable, but the power to eliminate the causal variable.
“It’s already complicated.”
“Yes. Anyway, you don’t have causality, so it doesn’t harm your ability.”
Because he was standing outside of causality.
Perhaps the final destination that the God of Order so longed for would be like Hochi.
“…you skipped too much. Why do I not have causality in the first place? Because I was born as an alter ego?”
“That can’t be true, wouldn’t it? If it were that easy, everyone would have thrown off causality.”
The God of Order wouldn’t have made that riot to gain freedom.
“Then why?”
That’s what I thought.
This was also a question that I could answer because I lost my divinity.
“It’s not your problem. It was mine.”
“Your problem?”
“What is my divinity? No, what was it?”
Hochi replied that it was a victory.
“Yes. To have the title of victory, at least I have to be bound by victory. I have won countless times before, and I will only continue to win in the future. I need that kind of belief. Whether it is the belief of others or my own.”
“Huh, I know that. That’s how you became the God of Victory.”
It should have been.
Actually, it wasn’t really like that.
“There was only one opponent that I couldn’t win in the end. I don’t think I can win in the future.”
“Is there such a thing?”
There was.
The guy with a blank expression right in front of me right now.
“I’m talking about you, idiot Hochi.”
“Huh?”
“In the end, you didn’t become as strong as I wanted, you didn’t become my accessory, and you ended up maintaining your ego and surviving. That was enough to be recognized as a defeat.”
Hochi was a symbol of defeat.
I didn’t even know it meant my complacency.
Thanks to that, I couldn’t have the divinity of victory.
As long as Hochi exists.
The moment I created Hochi, I became a being who could not be a god.
Another self-denying existence was too fatal to the divinity.
I had a choice.
Do I kill and absorb Hochi, who has become a family member, or give up becoming a god?
Yes, if he watched that time.
I could understand what the God of Order had expected from me.
I have transcended causation.
So I became a god.
The proof of that transcendence was Hochi.
Lee Hochi was completely out of the causal relationship of victory.
[Could you do that again?]
Seregia asked.
“No.”
I could say for sure.
It has only been successful once so far.
It was never going to happen in the future.
Artificially transcending causality.
As the God of Order says, it is impossible unless you become a transcendent God that devours the universe and exists outside of the law.
I also can’t escape causality.
I don’t know how, and I don’t understand how Hochi’s case came to be.
It will continue to be like that in the future.
* * *
“Ta-da!”
Yong-yong has transformed.
He became a little kid again.
He was wearing a military look I had never seen before.
He seems to have prepared himself to enter a dangerous place.
In fact, it was useless because he couldn’t get out of the dragon form after entering.
“Isn’t Yong-yong’s clothes pretty?”
Yong-yong smiled broadly.
As soon as the divine restraints disappeared, Yong-yong returned to human form.
I said that the hatchling looks cute too, but Yong-yong seems to like the look of a young human child the most.
He looks happy.
By the way, the fact that polymorphing became possible as soon as he regained his divinity means that Yong-yong’s divinity is closely related to the child’s appearance.
“Now what?”
Hochi asked.
The party had already reached the point where the divinity suppression had disappeared.
I already had my experience of finishing one attack.
As Hochi’s abilities grew more and more deceptive, he was able to arrive without serious injuries.
The problem started here.
To be precise, the problem was the God of Order that we would meet soon.
“What are the odds?”
“Low.”
Very low
Only the God of Order could know how far the power of the God of Order would go.
I watched the scene where he was subduing the God of Sky, but I wasn’t sure if that was all or if there was another power.
Hochi’s complexion darkened.
If Hochi had always asked the odds in the past, I would have told him that he would win unconditionally.
Perhaps Hochi wanted such an answer.
“Still, there’s a chance of winning.”
There was definitely a possibility.
“I can give an effective hit.”
It was certain that it would be an effective hit.
However, it was a problem because it was not possible to guarantee how effective the effective hit would be.
“Let’s get ready.”
“Already?”
This is the realm of the God of Order.
There was nothing good to waste time.
There was no need to show the God of Order more information about us and give him time to think about what to do.
If we’re ready, it’s best to jump right in.
“Yong-yong.”
“Okay, I’ll get ready.”
Yong-yong answered boldly.
I stroked Yong-yong’s head.
“I’m sorry for bringing you to such a dangerous place.”
“No, that’s fine.”
As expected, a bold answer came back.
I had no intention of raising this child to become a warrior.
Although I taught him magic, combat, and a battle attitude for dangerous situations.
I never intended to mobilize Yong-yong in battle.
Back then, that was the way of parenting.
I taught the magic of burning the sky and dividing the earth and played with the child.
I was too clumsy
We should’ve rather played with clay instead.
It was only regrettable.
Yong-yong prepared magic.
I took out Ahboobooand handed it to the Old man.
“You know what to do?”
“Of course.”
Old Man is in better condition than when he first looked.
I don’t know how his body is, but his complexion and mood have noticeably improved.
In a voice as loud as thunder, the Old Man said.
“In the end, it turned around and became like this.”
I asked what that meant.
“Even when we promised to destroy the fake world and kill the gods, we weren’t gods. We became gods and came out. Now, with only one step left to our goal, it’s no different than when we first promised.”
When I was on the 61st floor, I was in a physical condition where I couldn’t become a god.
That was correct.
“If we could have come here then, wouldn’t we have challenged it ourselves?”
“I would have done it!”
The air rumbled at that resolute reply.
His voice was still as great as before.
“Aaaah! I don’t want to be held by a giant man with such a loud voice! I don’t want to!”, I handed over the screaming Ahbooboo to the Old Man.
“Come on, let’s get ready.”
“…Me? What, what are you preparing for?”
Hochi was just confused.
Because I didn’t really explain the operation.
In the realm of the God of Order, I could not explain how to fight the God of Order.
“What am I supposed to do?!”
“You’re supposed to take care of everything when the situation arises. Don’t worry too much.”
“Huh?”
That was then.
Complex diagrams and runes were drawn on the floor.
Texts climbed through the air and enveloped us.
It is a space movement developed by Yong-yong.
When Yong-yong regained his divinity, we could immediately attack the God of Order.
I also knew that there was no reason to go there on foot because I had already been there once.
Is it necessary to knock on the door of the enemy’s house and enter politely?
Just break the window and go in.
Kukukugung!
The vibration was intense.
Because of my poor physical condition, this vibration alone made my body suffer greatly.
We are breaking into the room of the God of Order without permission.
It couldn’t have been comfortable and easy to get in.
But Yong-yong is the child I raised myself.
Even compared to me with magic, he wasn’t pushed back.
He was a genius among geniuses who had even attained divine status at such a young age.
The surrounding environment has changed.
It was not a narrow passage.
The giant eyes of the God of Order floating in the black air.
Yong-yong finally managed to break through all obstacles and put us in front of the God of Order.
[Challenger, I must tell you…….]
The voice of the God of Order was buried.
―Whoa, whoa, whoa!
A huge voice filled the surroundings.
It was a voice that sounded like an explosion from afar.
It wasn’t a strange expression.
Actually, the voice was heard from far away.
As soon as Old Man confirmed the movement move, his body grew bigger.
From the size of a giant who had a body the size of a house to the size of a building, it was large enough to overlook even a huge mountain range.
Perhaps even more than that, his body was getting bigger and bigger.
Old Man, who had grown his body to the limit, slammed his hand as it was.
Rather than swinging fists, it was a sight that looked like a planet was falling.
The God of Order blocked the appearance with a huge golden shield without any response or appreciation.
The Old Man’s fist shattered as soon as it touched the gold.
The lava that made up Old Man’s body flowed down one after another on the shield.
The God of Order seemed to have taken no damage.
But that wasn’t all the attack he had prepared.
Old Man swung his other arm.
The God of Order calmly raised his shield, but the Old Man’s fist split the air.
Ahbooboo was hiding in a fist the size of a mountain.
Ahbooboo, who was thrown by the Old Man, flew towards the God of Order.
It was Abubu who flew at a transcendent speed, but the golden tentacles sent out by the God of Order caught Abubu.
In the end, Abubu could not reach the God of Order.
But his purpose has already been achieved.
Abubu’s purpose is to get even a little closer to the God of Order.
That was all.
A sword prepared by the God of Sky who tried to challenge the ordeal created by Kirikiri and neutralize the God of Order.
Just like the entrance to the 101st floor, Abubu had the ability to suppress divinity.
The world, where only the black abyss existed, was brightened with color.
The blue sky spread out.
The floor was littered with a wasteland.
The sun was shining through the sky.
The darkness was lifted.
The appearance of the God of Order was revealed.
The God of Order had the face of a huge beast.
On the face of the beast, a dense mane stretched indefinitely and moved like a tentacle or a finger.
And gold was attached to the tip of the mane.
The gold moved individually, but combined with each other to become a huge shield or a spear.
“Come on, let’s go. It’s our turn.”
“Huh?!”
Everyone did so well.
More than expected, enough.
I grabbed Hochi’s neck and flew forward.
[Thalaria’s Wings]
A rare fraudulent power that increases the challenger’s ability to take on the danger in proportion to the danger of the enemy in front of him.
It’s been a while since I’ve used it, but it was still good.
When I used it against the mighty God of Order, I was able to taste the omnipotence of being a god.
In fact, there will be no place behind God in terms of simple abilities.
The manes of the God of Order recognized us.
In the end, he set up a golden weapon and flew in.
Finally, it was Hochi’s turn.
“Are you ready?!”
“What! What preparation! What preparation!!!”
It was Hochi who still hadn’t realized.
I pulled my hand holding Hochi back as far as I could and swung him straight forward.
Hochi, who flew forward like an arrow, made eye contact for a moment.
“Hey, this… you bastard!”
Hochi’s body began to change along with the swear words.
It was a more rapid change than usual.
Hochi became huge chains and nets.
He attacked the body of the god of order that seemed to cover even the world.
Manes tangled and bumped.
I flew towards the God of Order in the chaos.
Avoiding every mane.
Yes, in the past, we fought while avoiding thousands of magics raining down like this.
It has now become a completely different scale.
But it was no different from back then.
Calmly, sometimes daringly, I walked between the manes.
So I was able to get close to the God of Order.
In the face of an ugly beast.
I put my feet up
There were manes flying at me desperately.
I didn’t care.
It’s already too late.
I had already pulled out Seregia.
At that time, the sword that I forged with all my tenacity and meticulousness.
It was a weapon prepared solely for the purpose of killing a god.
[Transcendence…….]
Transcendence.
In this world, there is a way for anyone to achieve transcendence.
To stand outside the laws of the world.
In fact, this method can be achieved without having to swallow the universe.
All beings can be freed from the constraints of the world through death.
It was a truth that applied equally to everyone.
“Just die!”
Without hesitation, I thrust the sword deep into the face of the God of Order.
* * *
Kirikiri was just lying on the dirt floor.
Her dress and limbs had become dirty with dirt, but she didn’t care.
There was no one to blame in her own space where there was no one in it.
It was a mess.
Kirikiri eventually gave up on restoring the dug land and laid down.
It was only a vague thought that someday time will solve it.
Maybe she’s exhausted from all the things she’s been through lately.
It may not be a recent issue.
Maybe it’s because of all the hardships she faced in the long, long time she’s been through since she became a god.
Anyway, Kirikiri was tired now.
So she did nothing and quietly lay down on the dirt floor and stared at the sky.
Unlike the ruined earth, the sky was calm and clear.
There was a crack in the sky
The clouds were pushed away with the sound of something breaking, and black and dark light began to pour out of the blue color.
Kirikiri jumped up from her seat.
The boundary between the God of Order and her own space was broken.
It meant either one of the two.
Whether the God of Order has completely escaped her own constraints.
Or, the God of Order that existed in that space completely collapsed.
Kirikiri clasped her hand.
She couldn’t predict anything.
At the end of her long adventure, she had to wait for the result.
Unknowingly, she glanced at the remnants of the pearls that had been scattered on the floor.
The sky was pouring down
The being she had been waiting for walked out of the fully opened space.
In front of the result she finally came across, Kirikiri smiled quietly.
After kicking with her feet the pearl remnants of the floor, Kirikiri ran to welcome those who returned to her garden.