Chapter 301: Seventy-Fifth Floor, the Old Man and the Spirits (7)

[Resolve the old man’s regrets. Time remaining: 9 hours 36 minutes.]

I raced through the shadowed forest, not even a glimmer of starlight piercing the darkness. Strange shapes crept between the gnarled, rotting trees that lined the blackened ground.

Though I had only replenished about thirty percent of my divine energy, my mana was nearly full, thanks to the two reservoirs, which absorbed the ambient mana.

After scanning my surroundings, I released a wave of lightning in every direction.

Rumble— Boom!

The bolts shot through the woods and pushed back the darkness.

“Kieeeeek!”

In that split-second flash, the monsters’ grotesque appearances came into view.

I sprang off their scorched and paralyzed bodies, bounding forward as I launched myself onto a nearby tree. Though it was pitch black, I could see through the darkness with ease.

The castle drew nearer, and its silhouette was now visible beyond the forest’s edge.

Another twenty minutes should do it.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Something suddenly felt off.

Without warning, divine energy wrapped around me—and not mine. I recognized the feeling and realized that someone was summoning me.

An instant later, the usual signs of teleportation appeared: a white light and a floating sensation.

What is happening?

My mind raced, but within the blinding light, I couldn’t solidly grasp my circumstances.

I was met with the sensation of solid ground beneath my feet. With my vision returned, Hyun appeared in front of me, wearing a vaguely awkward expression.

I didn’t need to ask since I could already guess what had happened.

While letting out a long breath, a rush of irritation came over me. “

Haaaaaaa.

”

I had intended to speedrun the hidden mission. However, here I was, pulled back without my consent. Moreover, the one responsible, Hyun, was just standing there silently.

A touch annoyed, I curtly asked, “What is this?”

He promptly responded, “I summoned you back after confirming that the future had shifted.”

True, the ground did look different, appearing a bit more faded and healthy. That wasn’t a good enough answer for me, though.

“And why do you get to decide that on your own?”

“I saw that you were taking your time, so I stepped in. If you’re upset, I apologize.”

I loudly let out another heavy sigh, making sure he could hear me.

“Ugh.”

The irritation in my chest settled a little, and my thoughts sharpened.

At that moment, everything clicked. I was finally certain of what the seventy-fifth floor’s trial was really about. The shared objective had caused me to formulate several different theories, but this last summoning had given me the answer.

I narrowed my eyes, staring intently at him. “Hyun.”

“Yes?”

“You’re not just a shaman, are you?”

“I don’t know what you mean...”

I didn’t reply and simply held his gaze.

He let out a forced chuckle, perhaps hoping to hide behind the mask of an old man.

“Hoho—”

He had already dropped too many hints, and I wasn’t going to let it go.

Does he think I would just laugh it off with him and move on?

“Hyun. You’re a god, aren’t you?”

“Pardon? A god?” His eyes widened in confusion, but he was undoubtedly faking it.

His performance was flawless. If I had asked this before returning from the first event, I would have believed it.

Not anymore.

“You shouldn’t have done that if you wanted to fool me. It was far too obvious.”

He remained silent.

I studied his face, but his blank expression revealed nothing.

“No matter how powerful this ‘Spirit Stone’ is, there’s no way a mere shaman could send someone into the past.”

That had been one of my earliest doubts. The seventy-fifth floor could have directly sent me to three separate stages, each tied to a different past. Therefore, Hyun’s presence and the elaborate setup with time travel had to mean something more.

At first, I assumed it was to help me utilize my divine energy, a training session disguised as a floor.

That had been my guess in the waiting room. After all, I had assumed future trials would require me to wield divinity.

Then, after hearing about the three pasts, I switched to thinking that it would have helped me unlock Divine Power if I hadn’t already unlocked it.

Hyun’s story about how saving people from the continent’s ruined past could reshape the future made the trial’s purpose somewhat clear. That was why I had tried to make a memorable impression on those I rescued.

Earning the faith of an entire continent isn’t a bad deal, right?

However, all of my suspicions centered on Hyun. I knew he wasn’t from this world. As I had just declared, no ordinary shaman could manipulate time.

Still, the idea that he was a god had never crossed my mind.

He doesn’t emit divine energy. There are unanswered questions, sure, but helping someone else awaken divinity on your own planet? That is pure madness.

That was why I had assumed Hyun was some kind of system-generated proxy. Like a dealer in a casino, or a GM in a game[1], someone who facilitated trials on the tower’s behalf.

Everything changed during his last summons.

Even now, I couldn’t sense any divinity coming from him. Regardless, the force that pulled me back wasn’t the pure divinity of the Spirit Stone. It was his.

Divinity and mana always carried a distinct signature, and though it had been masked well, I could sense the same resonance I had felt during his chants.

Hyun still hadn’t spoken, so I had no choice but to drive the point home. “And most of all, when you summoned me just now, the divine energy I felt wasn’t the Spirit Stone’s.”

Hearing that, Hyun let out a wry smile. “You’re right.”

Whether my words had hit the mark or not, Hyun, who had been silent until just now, finally admitted it.

My brow furrowed.

In an instant, his voice, expression, posture, and even the aura he gave off changed. No longer bothering to conceal himself, Hyun radiated a powerful divine presence. I couldn’t tell his exact rank, but he had to be at least a third-class god.

I tensed and prepared to leap into combat.

He merely shrugged, unbothered. “Allow me to reintroduce myself. I’m Hyun, a fifth-class provisional god also known as ‘Defier of the Current.’”

“A fifth-class provisional god?”

I was honestly a little surprised. Ha Hee-Jeong had once told me that fifth-class gods weren’t strong enough to hold dominion over a world.

If I had to guess, Fenrike was probably a fifth-class god, and the feeling I got from Hyun was completely different than what I had experienced from Fenrike.

Hyun clicked his tongue with a bitter smile. “For now.”

For now? Does that mean he used to be something else?

“For now? Then—”

I was about to press further, but Hyun cut me off. “That’s enough. I’d rather not talk about it.”

I responded with a nod.

He was a god. Whether first-class or fifth, I couldn’t afford to antagonize him recklessly. I didn’t know who I would become in the future, but for now, any god was far above me. There was no need to make enemies needlessly.

Better to focus on my original question.

“Then why did you pull me back? And why are you helping me obtain divinity on your planet?”

Hyun raised an eyebrow. “I figured you’d already picked up on it, given how you’ve been acting. You’re quite bold, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t tell whether he was referring to my fights or the questions I had directed at him. Regardless, something told me that he would answer that, so I remained quiet and waited.

As expected, Hyun glanced at me briefly, then continued, “I can’t share much. There are quite a few restrictions placed on me.”

“I understand.” I nodded, thoughts spinning.

If he was bound by restrictions, then the tower was likely involved.

Did he run into trouble regarding ownership of this planet? Perhaps he is a climber who didn’t view the status window like me?

His divinity was far too dense for that to be the case, however.

While I puzzled through the possibilities, Hyun explained, “First, the reason I summoned you back so soon was because it ultimately benefits you.”

Benefits me, huh?

Rather than ask outright, I mulled it over myself. Then, it clicked.

“So, you figured it out.”

“Yes.”

Whether or not Hyun was a god, the seventy-fifth floor was designed to grant me divinity. This meant the more people I demonstrated my strength before, the better.

If I rushed through it like it was a speedrun, I wouldn’t have that chance. With the first and second events focusing on small-scale rescues, the third was likely a large-scale battle.

I hadn’t considered that, as I had been too focused on the possibility of completing a hidden mission. Even with skills like Clarity of Mind or Scientist Do’s Composure that buffed my mental processes, not every decision I made was necessarily the right one.

Sure, in some ways, stat gains and items from hidden missions could be considered more useful than a flat increase in my total divinity. However, Hyun’s reasoning made perfect sense, as well.

If I stormed the castle and slew the corrupted divine entity right away, I wouldn’t have received much recognition, and through that, divinity, at all.

Cruel, when you think about it.

By calling me back, Hyun had extended the war. More lives that could have been saved would now be lost.

Put bluntly, he had orchestrated the deaths of countless individuals just to increase my divinity. Since they didn’t even know an early end to the war had been a possibility, they wouldn’t even realize what had been taken from them.

Tch.

It didn’t sit well with me.

Unless the circumstances left me with no choice, I didn’t want to gain power this way. I would still choose to charge the castle in a heartbeat, given the opportunity.

Seemingly unaware of my inner turmoil, he added, “Secondly, I’m helping you gain divinity due to my current situation.”

He lifted his gaze to the sky. His eyes, distant and shadowed, carried a quiet bitterness. “I used my planet as collateral in a deal with the tower.”

That answered one of my questions. So it wasn’t that he didn’t have ownership of this planet. Like a gambler wagering on borrowed time, he had risked his own planet as collateral in a desperate bet.

Based on how he had mentioned that he was a god for now, he had likely been demoted.

“Judging by how it turned out, you lost.”

He let out a heavy sigh that seemed to sink into the ground.

“Haaaaa.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond.

This was a side of a god I had never seen before. Despite their predicaments, even Fenrike and Paraktus had clung to a certain majesty.

On the other hand, Hyun felt strikingly human, like an ordinary person one could bump into on Earth.

Then again, once I reach the top of the tower, I will be a god too. It isn’t that far-fetched.

Gods weren’t born divine.

Image management could be considered an essential virtue for gods, but whatever failure he endured had clearly eclipsed that. Or maybe he had never cared about such things in the first place.

I waited for him to continue. After a long pause, he looked at me again.

Something about his expression unsettled me. It reminded me of a certain look, one I had seen too often from senior soldiers during late-night shifts. The kind that came right before some long-winded, uninvited advice.

“

Ugh,

don’t go making deals like I did.”

As expected. Right on cue. This guy is nuts.

I cursed inwardly.

It wasn’t like I had any intention of doing such a thing, yet here he was, handing out unsolicited advice like some eccentric uncle.

I inhaled deeply and resisted the urge to frown.

***

「Invisible message: The princess has released a proclamation, spreading the tales of Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s endeavors throughout the world.」

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok holds eight percent of the world’s faith. A restriction on the fifth-class god candidate ‘Defier of the Current’ has been lifted.」

...

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has uncovered the true identity of the shaman Hyun, completing the hidden mission ‘Insight.’ All stats increased by 2.」

「Invisible message: The hidden mission ‘World Unlock’ has now commenced.」

1. GM means Game Master—someone who helps run and manage a game without actually playing in it. ☜