Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Chapter 20 No matter what hardships and adversity try to tear us apart.
*
Tutorial Year 45.
The last person in the tutorial besides me has left.
Finally, all of humanity on Earth has become Tower entrants.
'Except for me.'
Even before entering the tutorial, I was close to being a loner except for Yoo So-eun, but now I've truly become a planetary-scale loner.
Of course, this is voluntary loneliness, absolutely not being an outcast.
I'm just delaying my entry into the Tower to give Baek Ryeon time, but when the time comes, I'll enter right away.
"Once I go inside, So-eun will be there, Ran will be there, Ryeon will be there, hmm... not just Ryeon, but also... yeah. There will definitely be more. They'll all remember me."
I believe all the people in the tutorial, to whom I gave even the smallest teachings, are waiting for me.
So in order not to disappoint them, I plan to polish myself a bit more before entering the Tower.
'The harder I work, the more rewarding it is.'
Just as I spent a year filling Baek Ryeon's empty space, I spent the next year training so intensely I could shit blood.
Thanks to that, the duration of Heaven-Shattering Flame Annihilation Heavenly Diagram became 5 minutes and 30 seconds, and I could now defeat Baal's avatar in 25 exchanges.
I could now say I defeat it easily.
Not only is my combat sense improving, but I'm also copying the combat methods used by Baal's avatar to elevate my skills themselves.
Just as I once analyzed the flow of mana used by Baal's avatar to deduce the original Baal's mana usage, this time I analyzed movements to deduce the original's combat methods.
Following Baal's mana usage method, now Baal's combat method too.
Baal was truly a giving tree to me. Of course, I don't use it as is.
It's not perfectly restored, and I already have Heaven-Shattering Martial Arts, an outstanding martial art that has been with me for half my life, so I'm only adding the advantages of Baal's combat method to this martial art.
Even though it's only a partially restored version of Baal's combat method, as befitting something from a Demon God, its class is different, and just mixing its advantages into Heaven-Shattering Martial Arts was enough to birth a new martial art.
[Heaven-Shattering Martial Arts and Demon God Baal's combat method merge into one martial art.]
[Please name the new martial art.]
The meaning contained in Baal's combat method was simple.
It contained the intense will to beat both gods and Demon Kings to death with his own power.
It showed what mindset one must have to become the strongest.
Heaven-Shattering Martial Arts contained the meaning of shattering the heavens.
And the heaven I wanted to shatter was broken long ago.
For me to advance to a broader world, I need a new goal.
'You probably set that goal for me. Baal.'
"God Demon Annihilation Dance."
The strongest martial art that can annihilate and kill both gods and Demon Kings.
That was the path Heaven-Shattering Martial Arts should take.
My hands and feet will mercilessly shatter the gods and Demon Kings who have become the new heaven, as if dancing.
To get used to the new martial art, I summoned and beat Baal's avatar to death several times every day.
'Sorry... thank you.'
Baal, who gives me mana usage methods, combat methods, and even serves as a punching bag. So good!
*
Tutorial Year 46.
God Demon Annihilation Dance has completely settled into my body.
I don't know how many times I beat up Baal's avatar every single day.
Now I can defeat Baal in 12 exchanges.
The duration of Heaven-Shattering Flame Annihilation Heavenly Diagram is 7 minutes.
Having twice the duration compared to when I first learned it, I no longer think it's short.
This is enough time to end a battle.
Up to here is the usual growth, but other parts have grown too.
[Dawn Divine Art's level increases.] [Dawn Divine Art's new effect is unlocked.]
Through daily repeated training, Dawn Divine Art has entered a new phase before I knew it.
⑥ Immortality: Demon God Baal's recovery method. As long as the Demon Core remains, mana can be consumed to instantly restore damaged body parts. Recovery speed increases in proportion to the Stamina stat.
'This is really moving beyond human, isn't it.'
Now, even if my limbs are severed, as long as I have my Demon Core and mana, I can restore them instantly.
"Tutorial Monster. Baal."
It swings its fist at me as soon as it sees me.
I deliberately don't use mana and let my arm meet the fist covered in dominating mana, and my arm gets cut off like paper.
"ARGH! It hurts!"
Knowing I'm going to get hit doesn't make it hurt less.
It might be even worse because it's been so long since I've suffered such a big injury.
Since reaching the Harmony realm, there hasn't been anything that could inflict major wounds on me.
To test the power of Immortality,
I immediately concentrated mana on the severed area, and the cut arm grew back instantly. The recovery took about 2 seconds.
The mana consumption isn't light, but it's not unbearable.
If it's an amount I can recover within 5 minutes, that says it all.
"You're excited to hit me after so long? Now get back in there."
I open Heaven-Shattering Flame Annihilation Heavenly Diagram, leisurely dodge all of Baal's attacks, and land 12 strikes. I also used Hellfire to thoroughly burn the remaining corpse into a handful of ashes.
'You have to check even extinguished fires again.'
I even kicked and scattered that ash powder.
"Now... who can stop me?"
Under the assumption of infinite mana, if the body is intact, the Demon Core regenerates, and if the Demon Core is intact, the body regenerates—truly no different from a zombie.
An undying monster.
Unless severe bodily damage and destruction of the Demon Core happen simultaneously, nothing but lifespan can kill me now.
I can be more reckless with my body.
'With this, more strategic combat becomes possible.'
I can act as if my body mustn't be injured, inducing the opponent to put all their effort into targeting bodily damage.
Then I can deliberately sacrifice an arm or leg to induce carelessness and gain an advantage.
Or I could charge like a berserker from the start without protecting my body, dealing major damage to the opponent right away.
Against opponents lacking regenerative abilities, even trading an arm for a hand would be profitable for me.
This single ability has ridiculously expanded the range of tactics I can use.
However, it's meaningful that I, who consider myself a martial artist, keep gaining abilities closer to those of a demon.
Honestly speaking, I'm no longer human.
"Actually, it doesn't really matter."
Haven't I grown using legitimate methods? I have no shame before myself.
If I had used human sacrifice or dark arts, I would have been ashamed, but I obtained these abilities purely through effort.
I should rather be proud of it. I plan to train more to get used to this ability.
'It's going to hurt for a while...'
How many arms and legs need to be cut off before I get used to this ability? I just hope that number won't be too high.
*
Tutorial Year 48.
Now I'm completely used to Immortality.
The pain of bodily damage hasn't disappeared, but now I can maintain 100% performance even within that pain.
'That means my combat endurance has reached its peak.'
An indomitable spirit that can continue fighting in any situation has been completed.
This indomitable spirit wasn't even limited to just combat use.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
It was also effective in work like continuously hammering in extreme heat like now.
'I never thought the day would come when I'd use this as material.'
From the moment I fully accepted Estelle as my person, my thought processes began to exceed that of ordinary people.
Ideas that normal people would find hard to conceive kept occurring to me.
"Baal's avatar really is a giving tree."
Because Baal's avatar keeps moving even with its head blown off, I always just burned it with Hellfire and never thought of using it as material.
But by partially twisting the law that it moves with dominating mana even after Baal dies to Heaven-Shattering Flame Annihilation Heavenly Diagram, it no longer moves and can be used as material.
I can now craft equipment using the undoubtedly strongest monster in the tutorial as material. Of course, just because it doesn't move doesn't mean its toughness went anywhere.
For processing, Heaven-Shattering Flame Annihilation Heavenly Diagram and Hellfire were needed simultaneously, so the amount of work I could do per day was limited.
'Even that is ending now.'
This final hammering will complete this work.
CLANG!
The moment I brought down the hammer, brilliant light filled the surroundings. As if celebrating the birth of a new legend.
[Successfully crafted Demon God Lotus Armor (Legendary).]
"A Legendary-grade artifact..?"
Armor writhing as if alive.
Just from the power emanating from it, I can feel to my bones that it's no ordinary armor.
When I placed my hand on it for engraving work and injected energy, it slowly accepted me as its master.
Very curious about its performance, I checked its information with observation while doing the engraving work.
[Demon God Lotus Armor (Legendary): A miraculous creation that no one could have conceived, made by Earth's artisan Han Yeong-min. Armor that moves alive and grows together with its user.
① Cell Manipulation: Receives very high-level correction to all physical abilities.
② Predation: Grows by devouring other equipment. Also devours some energy that adversely affects the user. Can emit devoured energy in desired directions.
③ Form Transformation: Can freely change form as the user desires. Can even transform into devoured equipment and partially imitate its abilities.
④ Self-Repair: Absorbs surrounding mana to repair damaged parts by itself. Simultaneously with repair, partially acquires resistance to the same type of attacks.
⑤ Self-Awareness: Develops in directions more helpful to the user through learning and can move by itself.]
'Definitely performance befitting a Legendary-grade artifact.'
Very high-level correction to the body from the start.
It grows by devouring equipment, can even devour and emit others' energy.
Since I can change its form as I wish, I can wear it like casual clothes to induce carelessness, and in emergencies, it can be used as a weapon.
Unlike ordinary artifacts, it doesn't use my mana for repair but uses surrounding mana, so there's no worry about losses during combat.
Like AI, it develops in directions more helpful to me and even moves by itself—I'm excited about how much it can grow when I climb the Tower with this guy.
The moment the engraving work finished, Demon God Lotus Armor devoured the training clothes I was wearing and transformed into the same form, covering my body.
Physical abilities greatly increased, and resistance to external threats also rose very significantly.
"You think this direction is more helpful?"
Black energy-like substance flows from the training clothes, making a gesture like nodding.
Since the training clothes I was wearing were made purely for convenience, it seems to have judged that defense was lacking.
'No sense of discomfort at all.'
It feels exactly the same as the training clothes I usually wore, but inside it's a Legendary-grade artifact with defense to match.
This alone has greatly increased my combat power.
It would be difficult just to pierce the Demon God Lotus Armor, but even if pierced, it repairs itself through mana, and even if my body barely gets wounded, it quickly regenerates through Immortality's effect.
Unless someone can obliterate me in one strike with overwhelming attack power capable of penetrating both simultaneously, it seems I could achieve at least a draw against anyone.
'If neither can kill the other, that's a draw.'
[Successfully crafting an artifact of Legendary grade or higher.] [Trait: Artisan (B) evolves to Master Craftsman (A).]
"I expected it, but it really happened."
From the moment I gained a trait by making a Unique-grade artifact, I thought the trait would evolve if I made a Legendary-grade artifact, and my prediction was correct.
At this pace, if I craft a Mythic-grade artifact, it seems it would evolve to an S-grade trait.
First, let me check the information.
[Master Craftsman (A): A trait given to creators with extremely outstanding skills.
① Legendary Creator: Receives very high-level correction when crafting artifacts. Receives low-level correction to the probability of crafting Legendary-grade or higher artifacts.
② Legendary Expert: Receives very high-level correction to performance and proficiency when using self-crafted artifacts.]
'A perfect superior version of the Artisan trait.'
Performance has been upgraded in all aspects. For comparison on the same level, I took out [Sword Imbued with Ogre's Tremendous Strength (Heroic)] and performed martial arts, and there was more than twice the performance difference compared to before. There was a considerable difference compared to high-level correction.
"You're sweeping up all the firsts there are, aren't you, Player Han Yeong-min."
As expected, Estelle can't be missing from such touching moments.
She appeared with good timing.
"Praise me more."
"Awakening traits in the tutorial, creating supreme divine arts, gaining qualification for Transcendence, reaching the Harmony realm, making Legendary-grade artifacts... and all of this was accomplished by one person? Honestly, no one would believe it."
Since Baek Ryeon left, the number of times she praises me has clearly increased. Whether she's doing it to fill the empty space, or because we've become closer, I don't know, but that warmth helps me forget the emptiness.
"As expected, there's only Estelle for me."
When I looked at Estelle and smiled brightly, she also faced me and smiled slightly.
Though her expression is clumsy, I now know how many emotions are contained in that small smile.
Having someone precious smile for me was a heart-swellingly happy thing.
"Say that one more time."
I know what she wants, but I deliberately mixed in a little mischief.
"What are you talking about? I don't really know."
I expected her to raise her fist as usual, but she turned around with a slightly sulky expression.
"Then never mind. I'll be going now."
'This is a new technique?'
It seemed like a declaration of intent that she won't just take it anymore. I approached her from behind and gently hugged her by putting my arms around her waist.
"It was a joke. There's only Estelle for me."
Estelle, whose mood seemed to improve, leaned her body weight against me. Her characteristic pleasant fragrance lingers nearby.
"There aren't many days left when we can spend time like this."
"That's right."
In two years, the time I promised myself will come.
Then I'll have to leave this tutorial and advance to a broader world.
I thought I wouldn't have any regrets about leaving this place once the moment came when I could no longer grow in the tutorial, but the feeling of not wanting to go keeps growing.
'Ryeon-ah. Did you feel this way too?'
The feeling of not wanting to leave someone precious behind keeps holding me back.
"When that time comes, don't think about me and move forward. I also don't want to become your stumbling block."
These are the words I said to Yoo So-eun and Baek Ryeon.
That I don't want to become your stumbling block.
Hearing those words myself, I understand. How much these words hurt the other person.
"Can we... meet again?"
Transcendent beings cannot become Tower entrants and can only enter the Tower if given special roles.
If Estelle cannot find such a role, there was a possibility we might not see each other for a very long time from the moment I enter the Tower.
"It might take a little long, but we will definitely meet. If you can't come find me, then I'll come to meet you."
Those words were incredibly reassuring.
Not simply promising a future meeting, but her saying she would come find me greatly relieved my worries.
"I'll try harder so I can find you before that."
"Good."
Looking up at me, she and I looked at each other once more and smiled together. Because our hearts were conveyed to each other.
We will definitely meet again. No matter what hardships and adversity try to tear us apart.
*
Tutorial Year 50. I've regressed. Everything I've built, back to before it all began.