## Chapter 1003 – 1003. Ascension To The Light
“Sinner with the power of the stars. Die here.”
The guy muttered in a sinister voice and turned a ledger towards me.
Seong Yu-jin.
My name, three characters, was written there.
Thump!
My heart stopped beating.
[Death Resistance has been activated. You will not die for the next 15 seconds.]
I was dumbfounded looking at the notification window in front of my eyes.
Dead?
I died because my name, three characters, was written down? I never thought I’d die like this.
‘What the hell is that Death Note?’
I frowned. I had a hunch. Earlier, Bae-un’s voice echoed in the space. He called that guy a messenger.
‘If he’s a messenger of the underworld, then that’s it. A grim reaper. In the West, they’re called psychopomps, so it makes sense that he has a Death Note.’
I can revive with Complete Recovery. The problem is what comes after. If my name is written in that ledger, won’t I just die again? If not, I have to kill him before he writes my name again.
[Remaining time for Death Resistance: 8 seconds]
Sssrrrk.
The body of the guy who was staring at me while hanging upside down from the ceiling was fading. He was trying to disappear from this place. If I let him disappear like this and use Complete Recovery at the last second, I might be able to get through this safely.
‘No, you bastard. If you killed me, you should die too.’
My temper wouldn’t allow me to end it like this.
[Remaining time for Death Resistance: 3 seconds]
I used Complete Recovery before he completely disappeared.
Thump.
My heart, which had stopped, started beating again. I, who had been pretending to be dead, jumped up from the spot.
“What?!”
The messenger, startled, became clear again. He hurriedly grabbed the ledger and brush. He was trying to open the ledger and write my name again with the brush. If my name is written again, I’ll die again.
‘Acceleration, Flash.’
I ran towards him. I instantly closed the distance and swung the Hwaryeon Flying Blades. The messenger was terrified and stepped back. The blade cut his shoulder. Black blood dripped down. The messenger’s blue face hardened.
“You fool! How dare you resist the natural order! Your sins are piling up! If you don’t want to be thrown into Avici hell, accept your death calmly!”
“Natural order? Bullshit! I’m going to live for ten thousand years!”
My body fell down. Unlike him, I didn’t have the ability to hang upside down from the ceiling.
‘Lightning.’
But I do have the ability to control lightning.
Pzzzzzzzt.
Blue lightning appeared from all directions and headed towards the messenger. The messenger gritted his teeth and endured the lightning. With trembling hands, he moved the brush.
Seong Yu.
Two characters of my name were written. The handwriting was very crooked.
“Block it! Block my name from being written in the ledger!!”
Bae-un’s voice echoed. I was annoyed. If he was going to give advice, he should give some helpful advice, not the obvious stuff that just pissed me off.
‘What am I supposed to do about him stubbornly writing?’
I used Flash and jumped up again.
Yeongcheon Style (影天流) Lightning Flash (雷光).
I aimed for the messenger’s head. The messenger’s neck snapped back, dodging the blade. It was an impossible angle for a human to bend.
‘Damn it…! Flash!’
I gritted my teeth and forcibly twisted the blade’s trajectory. Crack. The muscles in my right arm tore, and the bone twisted. In exchange, I cut the arm holding the brush. The arm holding the brush fell down.
‘He won’t be able to write my name with that.’
My body fell down again. I was satisfied. After all, he didn’t have a brush.
The messenger suddenly bit his lip. Then, he stuck out his tongue and brought it to the ledger. He was trying to cut his tongue and complete my name with his black blood.
‘Shit!’
I threw the Hwaryeon Flying Blades. The Hwaryeon Flying Blades pierced the ledger and lodged in the messenger’s chest. The messenger didn’t even scream and silently wrote my name with his tongue.
‘Ah, no! I can’t die like this! Heavenly Heart!’
[Heavenly Heart (天心) is activated. It will last for 1 minute.]
I activated Heavenly Heart, thinking I had to do something.
“I don’t know how you came back to life, but it must be a fluke. Looking at your face, it doesn’t seem like you’ll get lucky twice. I’ll personally guide you to hell, so die quietly.”
The guy with the cut tongue spoke well. Then, he turned the ledger and showed it to me. Seong Yu-jin. The fact that he was showing me my name must be the activation condition of the ledger.
‘…Is this the end?’
One second passed.
A moment ago, my heart stopped and I died as soon as I saw my name, but now I was alive and well. My heart was beating normally.
The messenger was flustered and hesitated.
“This is ridiculous…! This isn’t a level you can withstand! What the hell did you do!”
What did I do? I used Heavenly Heart. An effect that increases stats and grants immunity to status ailments for 1 minute!
‘Was his attack treated as a status ailment? Maybe it’s something like a curse.’
Anyway, the important thing is that I’m safe.
The messenger put his tongue on the ledger again. He was trying to write my name again. But I didn’t feel any impatience. There were more than 40 seconds left of Heavenly Heart’s duration.
“Die, you bastard!”
I rushed towards the messenger. I deliberately cut his legs. Slash. Thud. The messenger fell to the floor.
“Kuhhh….”
The messenger didn’t give up. He spread the ledger on the floor and wrote my name, three characters.
Seong Yu-jin.
“This bastard is really good at writing with his tongue.”
I stepped on the back of the messenger’s head and took the ledger. This guy’s physical abilities were terrible. He might be an excellent sorcerer, but he was definitely not a martial artist.
“Don’t touch the ledger with your dirty hands! Give it back, give it back…!!”
“Shut up.”
Thud, thud, thud.
I stepped on the messenger’s head a few more times. I scanned the ledger. It wasn’t the first time he had done this, as hundreds of names were written there. They were all names I had never heard of.
“I’m going to take this Death Note to the modern world and become the god of the new world. The first name to be written in my Death Note is yours. You bastard, what’s your name?”
“My name? Isn’t it written there?”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at the ledger. His name was written small at the bottom of the cover.
Seol Jung-go (雪中顧).
“You write your own name in the Death Note? …Is it because it’s the cover that he doesn’t die?”
I picked up the messenger’s brush that had fallen on the floor and dipped it in his black blood and wrote his name in the ledger. The messenger didn’t die.
“Huh, why aren’t you dying?”
“You fool. I am the owner of the ledger, not you. And even if I wasn’t the owner of the ledger… you can’t kill me with the ledger.”
“Why?”
“Because I am an existence that has deviated from the natural order!”
“……Let’s kill you first and get the ownership.”
“Keep in mind. Even if I die… this is not the end. The underworld is watching you.”
“Oh my. That’s scary.”
Crack!
I stepped on the messenger’s head and crushed it. The messenger didn’t even move, so he must have died.
“Ah, hot!”
Black flames shot up from the ledger. Startled, I dropped the ledger. The ledger burst into flames along with the messenger’s corpse.
“Seong Yu-jin!”
General Bae-un came in with the soldiers. It seemed that the barrier had disappeared when the messenger died. He sighed as he looked at the dead messenger’s corpse.
“I didn’t expect such a dangerous guy to come….”
“He came?”
“Can’t you see? Originally, your trial opponent wasn’t this guy, but that fish-like guy. The messenger came directly to kill you.”
“He mentioned something about the power of the stars. Is it because of that?”
“I don’t know the details. However, the fact that the messenger tried to kill you directly means that the underworld has judged that you are interfering with their affairs.”
“Will these kinds of guys keep trying to kill me in the future?”
“This incident is rare. They don’t move around as they please without any restrictions. You don’t have to worry too much.”
“I passed the 20th floor trial, right?”
“Congratulations on conquering the Manmu Tower.”
Bae-un said indifferently. Three people died on the 20th floor, and only 6 people survived to the end.
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. I wanted to ask for compensation since an accident had occurred. But the memory of the last Manmu Tower trial came to mind. They didn’t care about the guys who died in the Manmu Tower. They weren’t responsible for accidents that occurred during the trial. The only one responsible for accidents that occurred during the trial was the entrant who climbed the Manmu Tower.
The conquerors of the Manmu Tower all stood in front of Bae-un.
“Congratulations on conquering the Manmu Tower. You will enjoy fame as conquerors of the Manmu Tower. Of course, we will also provide thorough compensation. But before that, we will give you one opportunity.”
“What kind of opportunity?”
I asked.
Before Bae-un could answer, the old woman standing next to him, Guwol Seonja (九月仙子) Neung So-ryeo, stepped forward.
“I will answer. I will give you the opportunity to become my disciples.”
She was giving us the opportunity to become her disciples.
If someone else had said it, it would have sounded arrogant. The people here were all strong people who had reached the Five Qi Realm. They were all qualified enough to establish and run their own sects. Their pride wouldn’t allow them to become someone’s disciple.
But if the other party was Guwol Seonja, it was a different story. She was a master of the Harmony Realm and had a connection with the Emperor.
“However, there is a condition. You must swear allegiance to His Majesty the Emperor and serve in the military. Those who wish to reach a higher realm by receiving my teachings and become generals and command others, become my disciples.”
Neung So-ryeo looked directly at me. It seemed that she wanted me to become her disciple. I understood. I was the strongest among the entrants. And I was even born with the power of the stars.
I kept my mouth shut. I had a master who was more skilled than Neung So-ryeo. I had no intention of joining the military. I wasn’t interested in Guwol Seonja’s martial arts either.
“Um, can I become Guwol Seonja’s disciple?”
Seong Ji-gon raised his hand and said. Seong Ji-gon’s eyes were sparkling. I held back a snicker. Seong Ji-gon’s goal was obvious. He wanted to knock Neung So-ryeo down and try to sleep with her.
Neung So-ryeo stared at Seong Ji-gon and nodded.
“Was your name Seong Ji-gon? Welcome to be my disciple.”
Among the six, only one person, Seong Ji-gon, wanted to become Neung So-ryeo’s disciple.
Seong Ji-gon performed the nine bows on the spot and became Neung So-ryeo’s disciple.
“I will learn with all my heart, Master!”
Neung So-ryeo smiled faintly and nodded.
After that, it was time for rewards.
None of the six chose Guwol Seonja’s martial arts. They were all confident in their own martial arts. For reference, one of the six was Jang Chun-mong, a wandering beggar (放浪乞) from the Beggar Sect.
Seong Ji-gon was already Neung So-ryeo’s disciple, so he didn’t need to learn martial arts. Following Neung So-ryeo’s advice, he chose the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
Jeong Bin chose a spiritual medicine as originally intended and obtained the Azure Clear Oil. It was only a single drop. As soon as Jeong Bin received the Azure Clear Oil, he poured it into his mouth. Jeong Bin immediately had two consecutive premature ejaculations. Immediately after, he sat cross-legged and entered a meditative state.
Hwangbo Ga-hye also chose a spiritual medicine. The Supreme Divine Pill (太極神丹). It was the famous spiritual pill of the Wudang Sect. Hwangbo Ga-hye was satisfied.
I looked for martial arts instead of spiritual medicines. I was thinking of looking for martial arts related to lightning.
‘If it’s not on the 20th floor… it would be better to choose a spiritual medicine and look for it outside.’
Fortunately, there was only one. There was a martial art related to lightning.
Heaven Severing Lightning Knot (天斷雷結).
It was the martial art of the great demon, Lightning Star Demon (雷星魔), who appeared in the Jianghu 2,000 years ago. I didn’t know what kind of guy Lightning Star Demon was, but he was said to have turned the Jianghu upside down, so it must be a powerful martial art.
‘…Actually, it’s a bit strange to call it a martial art. But it must be something great, so it doesn’t matter.’
I quickly scanned the incantation of the Heaven Severing Lightning Knot.
‘I don’t understand at all.’
Let’s pass this on to Wi Yu. She would research it on her own and teach me easily.
