Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: The God of Chaos
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The summit of the Tower of Job Change.
Truth be told, even Hae-jin had only heard about this place.
Only one person had ever reached it.
Nam Joo-hyuk was the only one.
Of course, under normal circumstances, Hae-jin had planned to climb it too, preparing this and that based on Joo-hyuk's advice.
But after inheriting everything from Joo-hyuk, there was no need for separate preparations.
Hae-jin cleared every floor in a single second.
If monsters appeared, he sliced them in half and killed them; if there were traps to cross, he zipped past at the speed of light; and on floors that tormented with status ailments, he shrugged them off with his unique insane status resistance.
With the specs he'd inherited—Joo-hyuk's skills and stats—it was impossible for him to take any time on these pathetic-level trials.
And so, Hae-jin reached the summit in record time, and finally, he could see it.
‘So it really exists.’
The entity said to be at the top of the Tower of Job Change: ‘Chaos.’
He saw a massive black energy gathered in a spherical shape.
Joo-hyuk had described it as:
『A mad eyeball.』
At the time, Hae-jin had wondered what the hell that meant.
A mad eyeball?
He'd asked Joo-hyuk about it, but Joo-hyuk had only said he'd understand upon seeing it himself.
There was one more piece of information.
‘He said to just approach it, right?’
Following Joo-hyuk's instructions, Hae-jin walked toward the black energy.
That was when it happened.
Shaaaa—!
Suddenly, energy burst forth from the black mass.
In an instant, the black energy enveloped the entire summit of the Tower of Job Change, swallowing it up.
Once it had wrapped around him, Hae-jin could see.
‘So that's why he called it an eyeball.’
The black energy that now enveloped the entire summit, centered on Hae-jin.
At its core, a golden eyeball with a cat-like pupil stared down at him.
Then came the mad cackling.
[Krhat! What the hell is this?!]
“Ugh!”
Even after inheriting Joo-hyuk's abilities, the laughter hit his eardrums so hard it felt like physical damage.
It was laughter from that eyeball.
Only then did Hae-jin understand.
‘The mad eyeball...’
It was a literal description of an eyeball with a truly insane personality.
Hae-jin stared straight at it.
The eyeball looked back at him, as if amused that he dared meet its gaze.
[Impressive. Just where did you get my power from?]
Chaos seemed to already know that Hae-jin had job-changed into Lord of Chaos.
Hae-jin spoke to it.
“Just hand over the reward.”
[Reward?]
“Yeah.”
[You already have it, so how could I give you a reward?]
“You already have it, so you can't give me a reward? Does that mean the only thing you can do is job-change someone you choose into Lord of Chaos?”
[Exactly. Sealed away because of those damn Celestials and Demons, all I can do is select a proxy to rip those bastards apart and job-change them. But for some reason, you've already got my power?]
Chaos said there was no reward it could give Hae-jin.
Hae-jin clicked his tongue at that.
“Tch, what a waste of time.”
[What? Krhat! Hilarious, absolutely hilarious.]
“You might think it's hilarious. I climbed all the way up here for a reward, and now I've got nothing to show for it. Talk about a letdown.”
[Kruh, fascinating. Human, where exactly did you get my power from?]
“Do I have to tell you?”
[Wouldn't it be better to tell me anyway? You'll end up fighting the Celestials and Demons using my power regardless.]
“Celestials and Demons...”
Come to think of it, as the Trials' Arena progressed into its later stages, the types of monsters they faced had narrowed down.
To Celestials and Demons.
That sparked a question in Hae-jin.
“You wouldn't happen to know who's behind this damn Survival Game, do you?”
[Who else could treat Celestials and Demons like mere monsters?]
The entity capable of treating Celestials and Demons as monsters.
Hae-jin wondered how to describe such a being.
“A god?”
[Yes, a god. But just calling them 'god' isn't enough. I mean, I'm a god too, after all.]
“You're a god too?”
[God of Chaos. That's me.]
But this black eyeball claimed to be a god too.
Hae-jin looked at it in disbelief.
“Why is a god stuck in a place like this?”
[As I said, sealed away by the Celestials and Demons. The Celestial God and Demon God couldn't beat me alone, so they ganged up. That's how I ended up trapped here. Even this place is just a sneaky escape from my original prison. Still trapped in this world, I can barely manage to appoint a proxy.]
“So in conclusion, you're just a fugitive scraping by in this sealed world, with nothing to offer me as a reward.”
[Krhum, no helping it. The one thing I could give you, you already have. So where did you get my power?]
“None of your business. Why are you so curious when you can't even give a reward?”
[Kruuuk.]
Chaos winced at Hae-jin's dagger-like words.
Watching it, Hae-jin felt puzzled.
‘Joo-hyuk called it a mad eyeball, but aside from that initial insane laughter, what's so mad about it?’
Honestly, the term 'mad eyeball' only clicked intuitively—nothing more.
That was when it happened.
[But you know what?]
“What?”
[I can't give it to you, but I can take it back?]
“What?”
Hae-jin feigned surprise.
He had no choice.
To think it would try to take back the job he'd painstakingly inherited from Joo-hyuk—what nonsense was this?
Chaos relished Hae-jin's reaction.
[Krhat! Kid, you're scared. What, afraid I'll take it back? Not many humans make it this far—you at least can go grab those bastards with my power.]
“Those bastards... the Celestial God and Demon God?”
Hae-jin thought he knew who Chaos meant.
The Celestial God and Demon God.
Listening to Chaos, it clicked.
The black and white entities from the final Trials' Arena.
Anyone could see they were Demons and Celestials, composed entirely of energy.
Moreover, whenever they could be summoned, they brought hordes of Demons and Celestials gunning for them.
Truly formidable beings.
Even the presumed Celestial God and Demon God were immune to attacks, leaving their opponents baffled.
How were you supposed to defeat enemies immune to your attacks?
That was when Joo-hyuk had said:
『Clearing this time is impossible. Everyone, risk your lives to give Hae-jin the best shot at the next opportunity!
Joo-hyuk had declared it, and after uniting, they researched how to damage the Celestial God and Demon God.
However.
They'd found the strategy, but by then, everyone was too battered to fight.
In the end, Joo-hyuk sacrificed himself, entrusting his Rune of Regression to Hae-jin, who had now regressed to this point.
As Hae-jin recalled that, Chaos chimed in enthusiastically.
[Yeah! Those guys! To fully escape this damn world, you need to take them down too, right? Same goal, so no need for me to take my power back from you.]
A Player job-changed into Lord of Chaos.
That was what even Chaos desired.
So it wouldn't take the power back.
But Hae-jin had inherited everything from Joo-hyuk, already possessing the power this entity could grant.
‘In that case.’
Didn't that mean someone other than Hae-jin still had a chance to job-change into Lord of Chaos?
Hae-jin asked Chaos.
“Is the power of Chaos the power to job-change your chosen one into Lord of Chaos?”
[That's right.]
“Then, if you give me that power of Chaos separately, couldn't I decide to make one more person into Lord of Chaos? That would mean at least one more person to tackle the Celestial God and Demon God. Wouldn't that benefit you too?”
It seemed entirely plausible.
Chaos's response:
[Impossible.]
“Why?”
[I can only grant the power of Chaos in this space. And that opportunity vanished when you came here.]
“So now, even if someone else climbs up, they can't job-change into Lord of Chaos?”
[Correct.]
Transferring the power of Chaos to someone else for a Lord of Chaos job-change was impossible.
So Hae-jin considered another approach.
“Hmm, what if I take more of that power in my current state?”
[Asking for more Chaos power when you're already Lord of Chaos?]
“If it makes me stronger, why not?”
[Uuum, it might be possible...]
“If it's possible, do it.”
[But if you can't handle it, you'll die. That okay with you?]
“......”
Hae-jin suddenly had to hesitate.
He'd thought it'd be great to get stronger with more Chaos power, but failure meant death?
That was too big a risk.
If he died?
It would render Joo-hyuk's sacrifice meaningless and shirk his duty as the Leader to see the Trials' Arena through to the end.
And if the world ended as a result?
Was there anything more irresponsible?
But he also considered the potential gains against the risk.
“What if I survive?”
[If you survive... who knows.]
“What?”
What kind of irresponsible answer was that?
Chaos explained to the baffled Hae-jin.
[Never tried it, so even I don't know.]
It was the kind of reaction where you could almost picture the eyeball shrugging its nonexistent shoulders.
Hae-jin asked Chaos.
“......So if I can take it without dying, I'll definitely get stronger?”
[Taking in a god's power? Something's bound to happen.]
“Talk about irresponsible.”
[No choice. It's untested.]
“What a waste of a god title.”
What kind of god talks like this?
What was a god?
An omnipotent being, right?
Yet it didn't even know what its own power would do.
At Hae-jin's retort questioning if it even qualified as a god, Chaos pouted like a sulking child as it spoke.
[Truth is, neither I, nor the Demon God, nor the Celestial God are true gods.]
“Not true gods?”
[Nope.]
“Then who are the true gods?”
[Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand.]
“What's that supposed to mean?”
To claim Hae-jin couldn't comprehend talk of gods.
Hae-jin wondered what this was about.
That was when it happened.
[Indecipherable noise]
“Ugh!”
As soon as Chaos uttered something incomprehensible, Hae-jin's head felt like it was splitting open.
Seeing Hae-jin in agony, Chaos spoke triumphantly.
[See? You can't understand. Your head just hurts. So make your decision.]
“Urgh, what decision?”
Hae-jin barely recovered from the skull-crushing pain caused by Chaos's previous words.
Chaos threw it at him.
[Tsk tsk, can't even remember what I just said because of the pain. That's why I said don't ask. The decision is whether to accept the power of Chaos or not.]
“The power of Chaos...”
Hae-jin hesitated.
Accepting it might bring some change.
But failure meant death.
Lost in thought, Hae-jin.
Finally, he spoke.
“I...”