Chapter 269: #The World of 0 and 1

“

Aaargh!

”

Fear washed over me like a

tsunami

. I was no longer a human made of flesh and blood, but a crude, 8-bit-like game character! And this wasn’t only happening to me.

-How dare you reject my offer! You’ll regret it, Son! Full force, charge! Crush the Human Union’s last hope!

-

Kyaaaak!

Even the immortal Zernard, with his incredible regenerative powers; and the hundreds of billions of alien troops swarming toward me like a hive of enraged bees, hellbent on tearing me apart, looked like nothing more than pixelated characters from a classic video game!

Had the world always been this way? Or had it already been devoured by God of Destroyer and reduced to this state? Perhaps, I too, was always...

-Snap out of it, you moron!

Yi-Shin’s voice thundered in my head, waking me from the terror and despair. My hand moved on its own, pressing my thumb against my forehead.

“Proliferating Thumb of God!”

With a blinding flash of light, a sharp-eyed man and a child with glowing red eyes appeared.

“We’ll buy you some time! You must find a way to escape from this cursed world!”

“Des...troy!”

They leaped forward, standing between me and Zernard’s alien horde as they devoured the universe.

“

Keke.

Stay out of this, Brat.”

As if saying,

“What...?”

Sam-Shin clenched his tiny fists and glared at Yi-Shin. “Des...troy! (I’m stronger than you! Besides, you’re just a resurrected alter ego who can’t live without using the aliens as sacrifices!)”

Yi-Shin sneered as he looked at the incoming alien army. “

Hmph,

worthless cretins. You call those sacrifices? Still, become the foundation to my complete resurrection! Convicting Middle Finger of God!”

Kwaaaaa!

His infernal flames engulfed the aliens.

“Des...troy!” Unwilling to lose, Sam-Shin also fired a beam of destruction.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The alien army exploded like fireworks. The overwhelming majesty of gods was unfolding across the universe.

Meanwhile, I watched everything unfold through Blind Eyes of God. Like characters in a classic shooting game, they filled the monitor and unleashed their special moves on the incoming enemy.

That’s right. The world has turned into a game.

If it weren’t for Yi-Shin, I’d have lost sight of my mission and became the main character of this world. I had to find a way to escape!

But... how?

I racked my brains. Didn’t I have to defeat God of Destroyer’s alter egos to clear the previous trials? Clenching my 8-bit fist, I focused my Blind Eyes of God. I mean, God of Destroyer’s alter ego or apostle could be hiding among the aliens?

-You fools! Did you think the two of you could go up against all of us!?

Zernard let out a roar.

“

Hmph

. We are more than enough, you insect bastard!”

Now an alien fusion entity with a transformed arm, Zernard went for Yi-Shin. He wasn’t the one I was looking for.

“Des...troy! Des...troy!” Sam-Shin did his damnedest to minimize his divine power consumption by engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the aliens.

-

Kiaaaak!

An alien dragon screamed as its head was bitten by Sam-Shin. Not that one either.

Which one is it?! Where are you hiding?!

Ding!

[Blind Eyes of God is seeking the truth.]

Drip, drip, drip—

I cried tears of blood as my power reached its limit. Despite that, I still couldn’t locate traces of God of Destroyer. Amid all of that, a bizarre change occurred.

The pixelated world broke down into a million pieces, as if I were looking through a microscope.

Tzzz!

[1000010100000000010000000000101100000001000000000000100000000010000000000011000000000001100000000001...]

W-what’s this?

I recalled that a string of 0s and 1s was the mechanical language that only a computer would recognize. Could this world originally be a fake world set in a game?

Clank clank clank!

Just then, familiar, loud hammering sounds rang in my ears. I recalled the dream I had when I first entered this world—of Guardian of Fire and Smithing.

-Is that what you really think, Young God?

Guardian of Fire and Smithing?

Kwaaaa!

The world of 0 and 1 vanished from my sight, replaced by fiery sparks that could destroy the world.

The elderly man's voice rang once more.

-Young God, think it through. Are you sure that the worlds you’ve experienced so far are all fake?

I didn’t answer and jogged my memory. Eight, Uncle Instructor, and my fallen comrades. They were their own heroes, protecting their world from devastating calamity, driven by both will and duty. They were also characters who appeared at every stage as the story progressed.

-Some gods are ranked based on what their worlds are made of. For example, since your world is composed of molecules and atoms, it ranks 8th, with 10th being the lowest.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

-Did you perhaps think your world was different from this one—the crude world where the cycle of destruction repeats itself, all according to Despair’s carefully scripted plan?

Clang! Clang! Clang!

-Let me ask you again, Young God. The world you belong to—that you desperately wish to protect by going against causality and its predetermined fate—is that world fake?

I recalled the people on Earth—my family, friends, and my followers.

The old man’s hammering didn’t stop once.

-A world without physical forms, where only souls lingered, is that world fake?

-What about a black and white world? Is that world fake too?

-What about the spirit world, made with elements?

He went on asking about the concepts of worlds. What answer could I possibly give when I couldn’t even begin to understand any of it?

Clang! Clang! Clang!

-Young God, in order to save your world and attain true godhood, you must smelt your divine weapon in the Trial of Steel and Fire. You could either forge a sword that destroys the world, or a shield that protects it from every trial. Or, like the twin sisters, a sickle that could feed thousands and a whip of nightmares. No matter what you choose, the price will be steep. To gain immense power, one must be ready to pay the price.

Finally, the hammering stopped.

Kwaaaaa!

Fire engulfed the world that was once filled with suffocating silence.

-Fire represents both creation and destruction. Now, it’s time for you to make your choice, Young God. Will you let yourself be swallowed by the fire, or use it to forge your very own divine weapon?

Ding!

As a familiar notification echoed in my ears, the old man’s illusion vanished. I returned to the world I was in.

“What are you doing, you moron?! Hurry up! Even I can’t stop that thing!”

“D-des...troy!”

Both Yi-Shin and Sam-Shin yelled in despair.

Sss—

Buried in a ginormous chunk of flesh, the being that was a mere slave to the aliens’ reproduction opened its eyes.

Ding!

[Birth of the Machine God STAGE 5: Clash Between the Corrupted Hero and Humanity’s Last Hope! was forcefully skipped. Proceeding the last stage.]

[FINAL STAGE: Descent of the Queen of Destruction!]

The sun? The remnants of Guardian of Fire and Smithing’s illusion? No. That wasn’t even close.

What I believed to be mere illusionary flames may be the final boss of this trial. A fireball made of Unique Talent.

-

Kieeeek!

-

Kyaaak!

The flames engulfed everything in their path without distinction.

-

Aah

, great Queen of Destruction!

Aaargh!

Even Zernard was burned alive and disappeared without a trace.

“

Keugh!

”

“

Des...troy!

”

Even Yi-Shin and Sam-Shin were not spared. The flames of destruction consumed all organic living beings, and in the end, only my Soul Mecha and I remained on the battlefield. I faced the Queen of Destruction, whose sheer size defied all comprehension.

Her eyes, as large as the sun, looked at me.

-The time has come for us to become one, Partner. Zernard Il-Shin.

I recognized that voice. I discovered a fragment of my comrade and lover, Eight, within her colossal vessel. Her divine power easily surpassed that of a High-tier god, even reaching the pinnacle—the Top-tier god.

However, Eight was neither God of Destroyer’s apostle nor alter ego.

Suddenly, a thought occurred. How was this world like before my arrival—before they spiraled down the path of destruction?

Ding!

[Blind Eyes of God is seeking the truth.]

My power allowed me to witness this world’s original scenario. This Soul Mecha originally belonged to No. 82825, my partner. He awakened when the Human Union first faced their catastrophe, while his corrupted father, Zernard, fought alongside the alien army. Yet, by himself, he could not prevent the downfall of the Human Union. In that critical moment, the all-powerful AI Mother offered him the very same proposal she made to me: sacrifice the whole Human Union to ensure the race’s continuation.

Of course, Eight had rejected the offer, but in his case, the all-powerful AI won. Caught by Mother, Eight’s soul was extracted and transferred into the Soul Mecha, eventually turning into her puppet.

Afterward, 99% of the people were sacrificed. Soul Mecha Eight, who’d become the Machine God, engaged in a final showdown against the resurrected Zernard and his alien army. He emerged victorious after burning Zernard to death.

-It was a great time-killer.

Despair, who was enjoying all of this, made her descent into Eight’s world.

-But I’m sick of it now.

Psss!

The world that Eight had sacrificed everything to protect was shattered in the blink of an eye, crumbling to dust and fading into oblivion. Despite having attained godhood and narrowly escaped the same fate, Eight had lost his divine power and memories, doomed to wander through eternity in a corrupted state. Finally, he arrived on Earth and met Gal Joong-Hyuk—and then me.

Such was the ending to the Birth of the Machine God.

Craaaack!

I gritted my teeth hard. What a shitty scenario! If it were me, I wouldn’t have let things go this way.

-Come and be one with me.

The Queen of Destruction, who had devoured everything in this world, extended a massive hand of flames toward me.

“You’re just as shitty as the rest.”

I summoned all the divine power I could muster.

[Detected three types of transcendent divine energy: Karma (evil deeds), Subhūti (good deeds), and Vinaya (extinction)! Link established!!]

[Soul Sync On... Sync rate 999%!]

Rooooar!

The Soul Mecha absorbed my divine power and burst forth into the universe as a golden light.

Eight, I’m going to save you from this trashy scenario!

“Go! Lazenca Savior[1]!”

Maximizing Soul Mecha’s output, I threw myself into Queen of Destruction’s flames.

1. MC spoke in English, like Korean-romanized English. So it’s either “savior” or “saver” here ☜