Chapter 666 – 666. Jang Jojun.
The final stage of the Heroes’ Festival.
A place where all survivors from the previous stage gather.
Sanctuary of proof.
One by one, the surviving transcendents began to appear here.
“This is the last time…”
The emperor also arrived at the sanctuary of proof almost intact.
The appearance of a small boy. No. 22 combat-type clone that uses a large sword on a female body.
That was the current emperor. In the first place, he was a being whose gender was meaningless.
Depending on the need, I became a woman or a man. And now I am participating as a female.
“That can’t be right.”
“Hmm. Why. Hmm.”
“What. Why is that here…”
Meanwhile, Cheshire, Mer, and Hilde also succeeded in reaching the final location without any major injuries. To be honest, among transcendentalists, there were few who were skilled enough to handle these three.
Above all, Hilde has already entered the realm of semi-immortality, Cheshire’s evasion ability is close to that of semi-immortality, and Mer has a regenerative ability that makes her revive as long as she does not die with an insane amount of healing, making her virtually semi-immortal.
In any case, everyone who could come had gathered, and everyone gathered here was terrified when they faced ‘it’.
The end of the Hero Festival, which lasted from stage 1 to stage 5. What settled there was despair.
Those who entered the ‘Sanctuary of Proof’, the final testing site, with difficulty, each with various wounds or scars, witnessed a terrible image.
“Is it darkness?”
“What is that?”
“Oh, I’m scared.”
All the transcendental people gathered at the scene were frightened by ‘something’ erected in the center of the sanctuary of proof.
Let alone whether I could win, I couldn’t even guess what it was.
It was literally despair embodied.
A pitch-black pillar that makes you lose your mind when you look at it, and makes you feel like you’ll be caught in it if you get close.
The pitch-black darkness is spinning at a slow speed like a whirlpool, rising and falling repeatedly.
That series of movements inadvertently made people around them want to reach out and touch them.
“Oh, hey!!!”
A kind of hypnosis. There was a person who reached out to the pillar of despair and stretched out his hand without any time to be stopped by the hypnosis that could pierce even the mind of a transcendent person.
“Ah.”
It was only after touching his hand that he realized that he was half possessed. He was instantly sucked into the pillar and was pulverized like topato in a blender.
Puhwaaaaagh—–!!!
One transcendent disappeared in an instant. It was eaten by a black pillar and disappeared.
Up until this point, I had gone through many trials and faced numerous threats, but this was the first time I had encountered something so incomprehensible. The transcendentalists were perplexed.
And at a time when everyone was confused, Kashou, a one-eyed transcendental man who looked quite old, stepped forward.
“Malice. That is malice toward existence.”
“Maliciousness towards existence?”
“Hey, old man. Explain it properly.”
The transcendents gathered at Kashow’s words demanded information.
Even those who have entered the path of transcendence and lived through times unimaginable to ordinary people are often unaware of its true identity.
Even the emperor kept his mouth shut.
“That is malice toward existence. In other words, it is called ‘an observer’s nightmare’. A being that makes the nightmares of those it encounters come true. You could even call it the natural enemy of intelligence itself. There is also a legend that the gods of the pantheon cleaned up what was once spread throughout the universe.”
“Hmm. Are you saying that you are making the nightmares of the viewers come true?”
“It’s a real disaster. It makes the viewer’s nightmare come to life. “You’re making the most feared object into a phenomenon?”
Just the explanation made several people tremble in fear. A substance or phenomenon that creates the being you fear.
“The problem is… It’s my first time encountering a nightmare of that size.”
This was the biggest problem.
They all died before the final ordeal.
Kashow had seen a nightmare a long time ago, but it wasn’t this big.
“No, is that really that dangerous?”
“It’s not dangerous. Because it is only created in very small quantities in places where emptiness, abyss, and chaos collide. There are civilizations that collapsed with a single nightmare.”
“…”
“There is no need to be scared that a primitive civilization has collapsed…”
“It was at a level of civilization that had advanced into space. Don’t look down on me. “That’s not something that can be solved with mortal wisdom.”
Only then did everyone silence their mouths at Kashow’s words.
It is possible in any civilization for an individual to take the path of transcendence.
Even in primitive civilizations where letters were not created, transcendent people are born.
However, if it is possible to advance into space, the story is different.
Those called Yi are actually a collective name for particularly evil people among the races capable of advancing into space. Yes, one of the prerequisites for the Yi tribe is ‘advance into space’.
Additionally, most of the Yi people have excellent technology or racial uniqueness. Because Jang Jo-jun always treated them like trash and robbed them, the black market was also a hellish place for ordinary survivors.
From the standards of Earthlings, the ‘Earth without awakened people’ will be resolved by a single Yi tribe subjugation unit that attacks with determination.
There is a significant technological difference between going into space and not going into space. To put it more simply, civilizations that have not advanced into space can be considered ordinary people, and civilizations that have advanced into space can be considered transcendent.
Going into space. That’s what it means to be able to escape the planet.
Being able to enter space means breaking through the atmosphere, and being able to escape from the home planet and expand and colonize the outside world. At that level of civilization, one must be exceptional in one or more things, be it science, magic, or magic engineering. It was said that there was.
In a word, it means that it is difficult to break down.
Of course, in this world, there are many evil beings and other strange beings, so civilizations are disappearing and planets are being destroyed frequently, but it is crazy that a civilization that could operate at least stellar energy with a single drop has collapsed. It was a sound.
Especially after listening to Kashow’s entire explanation, I couldn’t even dare to touch the observer’s nightmare.
I participated in the festival aiming for the legacy of the King of Heroes, but I didn’t want to get killed in the second stage.
“Getting rid of that. Surely this isn’t the goal of the final exam?”
“Get rid of it. That’s impossible. “The people here now will never be able to get rid of it.”
“Then is the ultimate goal to survive from that?”
“Maybe so. “I think it’s still possible to escape and survive.”
“The key is how many days you have to survive.”
“What if we survive until only one person remains?”
“Do we all get eaten by that thing, or do we kill each other and be alone? Hmm.”
“Hey. Everyone calm down. “There hasn’t been a specific goal yet.”
The survivors gathered for the final ordeal glared at each other.
No matter how many people take the path of transcendence and achieve enlightenment, they are ultimately mortal.
I couldn’t be free from the fear of death.
“How did I get up here?”
“How can you destroy something like that? In the end, it’s a battle of judgment and slaughter.”
The atmosphere gradually became more violent.
An imminent situation. The goal of the final ordeal was given when the idea that it was better to kill a competent person standing next to you than to fight a disaster had spread among the transcendentals.
——
[Last step]
[Pillar of Despair]
-Survive from the nightmare for 3 days.
-If more than 30 people do not survive, you lose and all are annihilated.
——
A slightly different mission than before.
Those gathered at the Sanctuary of Proof were astonished at the announcement that if there were less than 30 survivors, all would be exterminated.
“I can’t believe 30 people will survive.”
“It’s hard for me to even survive.”
“Hold on for three days while keeping half of the people gathered here alive?”
In other words, the transcendent can be called a murderer.
Those who killed and broke countless lives and rose above them.
For such people, it is not enough to cooperate with others, but to even save the weak.
“First… I think I need to slowly move away from that.”
“Uh? “Don’t you think it’s a little smaller than before?”
“No, it got bigger.”
“This! It has begun!!! It’s the manifestation of a nightmare!!! Everyone, look away and move!!! If you look at it for too long, it’s over!!!”
Kashow screamed and started running away.
From then on, those gathered in the sanctuary of proof began to leave one by one.
There are only three people left.
“I don’t know what’s going on.”
“You all have your own thoughts.”
“First of all, we have to match the rhythm, right?”
Cheshire, Mer, and Hilde also escaped from the sanctuary of proof.
Meanwhile, the continuously rotating pillar of despair was slowly taking shape.
******
The King of Heroes, the organizer of the Heroes’ Festival, thought.
What are the qualities of a hero?
Talent? Effort?
Both can be correct.
However, there is something else that is most important in becoming a hero.
That’s right…
“Luck. Luck is the most important thing.”
The King of Heroes smiled and said the biggest factor that made his life full of adversity, hardship, and trials.
It’s luck. What you need to become a hero is not talent, effort, or skill.
Just luck. You can’t be a hero if you’re not lucky.
It was luck that I survived in a battlefield raining down arrows, and it was all luck that I was able to obtain an antidote when I was bitten by a poisonous snake and was in danger of death.
Every path he took was full of luck. If he wasn’t lucky, he wouldn’t have earned the title Hero King.
The second hero created by the people’s wish to survive when Adam abandoned mankind.
He was lucky enough to have that wish all to himself and become the King of Heroes.
“If I were to express it in numbers…”
999.
999 luck.
Luck that the universe comes forward and guarantees probability.
The first owner of that fortune that everyone wanted but no one could have.
That is the King of Heroes.
It is the most important stat that allowed him to travel throughout the galaxy and collect treasures, and it was luck that played the biggest role in allowing him to survive no matter what hardships and adversities he faced and gain greater strength and power than before.
Just because he was lucky, he was able to gain incredible strength and authority. Of course, if he had continued to win like that, he would have already become a god by now.
Due to his unbelievable luck that caused the balance to collapse, the gods eventually stepped in to seal his luck and even took away part of it.
If he had not received the attention of the gods due to overwhelming luck, then he would also have taken a place as a god and commanded the universe.
Because he was so good, he was jealous, and because he was so outstanding, his life was short-lived.
No matter how great the luck, the limitations of mortals were clear in the end, and it could not enable one to overcome the barriers of immortals.
“The limits of mortality. I wanted to go beyond that limit. “He died before that.”
The King of Heroes lamented.
A lament for dying just before achieving the goal.
“What. It’s not that bad. Thanks to that, I have the opportunity to get a better body without any effort.”
Hero Festival.
A competition created by the spirit body of the King of Heroes, whose body had collapsed.
The King of Heroes was excited to see the numerous transcendental people participating here.
Because you will be able to make the most outstanding being among them your body.
“The emperor of the time also caught my eye. That prosecutor over there is also quite desirable. Wouldn’t it be bad to try becoming a woman…? “What is that?”
The problem is that an uninvited guest came to the first hero festival held after Enkidu’s resurrection.
“…”
The King of Heroes was speechless.
That one. It’s a monster.
“The strongest man of his time…?”
I realized. I knew it as soon as I saw it.
That is probably the strongest of the present era.
The problem is that we have already acquired enough divinity and probability to surpass the limits of mortals.
He was literally no different from a god disguised as a mortal.
“How can a guy like that be in the children’s playground…”
The King of Heroes felt dizzy for a moment.
To commemorate Enkidu’s resurrection, I was planning to catch a suitable transcendental and steal his body for fun.
How could such a monster come in and ruin the game board?
What was more serious was that he had a premonition that if he encountered that being, he would most likely be eaten.
As the King of Heroes was the owner of 999, he has good instincts and excellent senses.
If this eerie premonition sent shivers down his spine, there is a greater than 99 percent chance that it will come true.
“You’re screwed.”
The Hero Festival is like a contest where the Hero King, whose body was destroyed by the jealousy of the gods, selects those who will become his vessels.
Jojun Jang was a natural enemy to the King of Heroes, who secretly stole the bodies of the winners and lived their lives for them, so secretly that even Enkidu did not know why the Heroes’ Festival was being held.
“More than anything, luck…”
Luck of 666.
An extremely disturbing number.
Moreover, he seemed to be a servant of the disaster gods. It must have been created with some intention.
If you approach too hastily, you will end up getting eaten.
‘Is this something created by my luck?’
The spirit body of the King of Heroes wiped its face several times in shame, as it was believed to have been created by ripping off 999’s good luck.
With the resurrection of Enkidu, he appeared in this world for the first time in a long time. We faced difficulties from the beginning.
‘Now that it’s like this. There are only two ways left for me.’
There is a way to contact the emperor who appears to be a clone and use the luck of 777 to get 666 Jang Ajo-jun and press it. There is also a way to contact Jang A-jun and ask him what he wants and then give it to him.
‘If you’re at that level in the first place, there’s nothing you can gain by participating in the Hero Festival. ‘What on earth do you want?’
The King of Heroes sent his minion to Jang Jojun.
I couldn’t bring myself to face it directly. It may be that he was in his prime when 999’s luck helped him, but he felt like he would be eaten if he were to meet him as an old man in the backroom like he is now.
I had to make a move.
“Huh?”
Jang Jojun, who had left the ruins of the ancients in shambles and was entering the second stage of the test, woke up in an unknown location with the feeling that his body was floating.
Someone intervened during the transference. Although he could have been angry, Jang Jo-jun, who had half-aware of the identity of the person intervening, meekly gave in to the intervention.
I thought they must have contacted me for some reason.
“Paimon.”
[Already analyzing… Hmm. I think he’s probably the organizer of the game.]
“As expected.”
[Do I have something to say?]
“Well. Why did you bother to call me out separately? But are you going to give me a gift? “It’s not that expensive, is it?”
[In the first place, we are not in a position to be punished.]
“That’s right.”
According to Paimon’s analysis, it was the King of Heroes who brought Jang Jojun here.
Jang Jo-Jun was soon transferred to a pure white space. A being who appeared to be a servant of the Hero King appeared in front of him and knelt down.
“What are you? Why did you call me to a place like this?”
“I am the messenger of the King of Heroes… I have something to tell you…”
“Hmm. Enkidu said he wasn’t even sure if he was alive or dead. I guess he was alive. “What do I have to say?”
“Well, that is… This game is made with the purpose of recruiting transcendental people…”
The King of Heroes’ messenger hesitated to explain the situation and tried to make Jang Jojun understand the situation as much as possible.
And the result.
“The winner has already been confirmed for me. If we fight more, only the innocent transcendents will die. “I’m telling you to turn it off.”
“… That is…”
“That’s right.”
“Yes… To sum it up, it seems like the right thing to say…”
The Hero King’s servant could not reply to Jang Jo-jun’s words.
Looking at that reaction, Jang Jojun stroked his chin.
“What is the reason for gathering transcendents and opening a game like this? The real reason for giving compensation. What Enkidu said, he doesn’t even know if he’s alive or dead. And there is a high possibility that it is systematized. And then you tell me to leave? Indeed.”
Jang Jojun realized.
“What are you trying to do with the transcendents? Are you trying to make me a scapegoat? Why should you replace your old body? Or something. Are you like the Arcans? If you eat it, will you become stronger?”
“Well, that is…”
“And you think you’ll just go away if I tell you to go away? Transcendants are also a valuable resource. Do you think I should back down to your orders with food in front of me? Hero King. Are you confident? Do you want to die?”
“Well, that’s not it.!”
The Hero King’s servant spoke gibberish about the rewards that would be given if he backed down.
Zhang Zhaojun, who had been listening for a while, stroked his chin.
‘I guess I can just get the reward first and then defeat the King of Heroes, right?’
Avarice. Jang Jo-jun’s infinite greed was speaking. Anyway, it’s a benefit.
“What. I roughly realized what the purpose of this festival was. Good. “I’ll do it on your terms.”
Jang Jo-jun took the paper handed out by the servant and held it in his arms. What was written on the paper was that all the King of Heroes’ legacy and championship compensation would be paid to Jang Jo-jun.
Instead, the condition was that Jang Jo-jun would be automatically eliminated from the Hero Festival.
“For a moment. “I also have some conditions.”
“Yes?”
“There is someone I must kill. So, have me be the final exam administrator. If you don’t meet this condition, I will go kill the King of Heroes right away.”
“Please contact me for a moment… King of Heroes, what should I do in times like this… Ah, yes. He said he would understand.”
“Good.”
Jang Jojun has already noticed that the emperor’s clone has entered the hero festival.
No, he had nothing to do except notice. There is no way that an emperor who was cornered would not have held such a big event.
“Oh, I understand. “I will adopt you as the administrator of the final exam.”
Jang Jojun smiled. Indeed, what kind of expression will the emperor’s clone who made it to the end make when he sees himself in the final test?
I was so excited.
******
As Jang Jo-jun expected, the expressions on the faces of those who encountered the pillar of despair were spectacular.
It was so funny to see the transcendental beings running away in fear.
At least Jang Jo-jun’s women seemed to have noticed what the Pillar of Despair was, but none of the remaining members noticed that the Pillar of Despair was Jang Jo-jun.
“What kind of bullshit is the symbolism of nightmares?”
In particular, Kashou was the most like one who was constantly picking up information that he had not properly consumed, calling it a nightmare or something.
“I guess I should start playing tag.”
Jang Jo-jun, who soon changed from a pillar to a pitch-black human-shaped monster, relaxed and began hunting the transcendent.
The number of transcendental people gathered in the sanctuary of proof is approximately 66.
Three of them are Hilde, Mer, and Cheshire, and one is the emperor’s clone.
The goal is to kill the emperor’s clone. Furthermore, the transcendental people who reached this point were pretended to be dead, devoured and kidnapped.
“Let’s eat our fill.”
Using predatory activities, he kidnapped the Transcendent and also found and killed the emperor’s clone.
Furthermore, Jang Jo-jun was excited at the thought of beating up Hilde, who was being sneaky again, saying that he had gotten a little stronger these days, beating Mer up until he became half-immortal, and playing tag with Cheshire as well.
They even planned to kill him off and devour the King of Heroes.
Since you made it to the finals, you have to eat the King of Heroes to be able to say you ate cleanly.
“Haa. Haa.”
Meanwhile, the emperor was on the run.
The emperor, who participated in the Heroes’ Festival as a combat-type clone, felt a strangely familiar energy somewhere in the Pillar of Despair.
‘That is clearly…’
Apostle of disaster.
A similar wavelength to the magic power that Jang Jo-jun exuded.
The emperor ran.
We have to escape from here. However, you cannot go out until the third and final day.
‘I have to survive. You must survive without being detected.’
Jang Jojun doesn’t know who the emperor’s clone is.
So, he planned to catch and kill them all, including the emperor’s clones.
The game of tag of death has begun.
