Chapter 339: The Absolute (2)

"Enough!"

Immediately, the person who stopped the two from fighting was Seol-Hwi.

He wanted to delay the fight as much as possible. The moment the fight started, nothing could be changed.

That was why he had to say it.

There was so much he did not understand, and so he needed to find out as much as possible. Even if he died here, he had to know what happened. That way, he would not be wasting his life.

"Oh, this, this, such a precious player."

The eyes of the Absolute shone as he looked at Seol-Hwi.

Smile

Instead of ignoring him, he continued to play with his hands and lowered the weapons. At the same time, the weapons around his body rose up.

Chachachak!

"It looks like you have a lot to say?"

"..."

"A lot to say." Of course he does.

No, there was so much that he did not even know where to start.

"Hmm. Well, in recognition of your efforts to get here, let me explain things. Because I am the generous sort."

Snap

The man snapped his fingers, and a few chairs suddenly appeared.

The man was now sitting down.

"Haa...?"

The Earth Demon felt like he wanted to cry. With an atmosphere where a fight might break out at any moment, and this man suddenly out of nowhere sat on a chair that came from who knows where.

Everything felt so pointless.

His attitude showed that this being was looking down on them.

"Earth Demon."

Seol-Hwi knew how he felt, so he calmed the man with his eyes.

Leave him for now. Do not shed blood needlessly.

"...Phew."

Did he understand it?

The Earth Demon sighed in pain and took a step back. That was because he also had a question that could not be solved unless he took the opportunity now.

Even though there were these unknown terms like "player" and such being thrown out, it was clear the opponent knew them. This was because he recognized that this opponent was the one who murdered the actual sect leader and brought chaos to the Demonic Sect.

"So you are saying..."

With his resolve steeled, Seol-Hwi asked,

"You said you were involved in the world, in controlling people."

"Right."

"Then the situations I faced, the death of everyone. The fate that led to continued death... was you."

"Well, that is a bit of a different story, isn't it?"

This man, the one called Absolute, shook his head. Then he continued speaking with a face which said "you still don't get it."

"This is a world that has already been planned and created. All I do is manipulate and interfere with the world in my own way, using the system. Only God can create the world."

"Haa. If that is true, then you aren't as great as you think. Didn't you even notice the existence of Miss Cheon?"

The man smiled and laughed at Seol-Hwi's words.

"Calm down now. If you want to continue hearing the explanation...'

"..."

Seol-Hwi, whose anger was at its peak, calmed down.

"Hmm. To be honest, her appearance surprised me too. I have looked at countless universes so far... it was my first time experiencing that."

"First time?"

"Right. Again, I am no God. I cannot create life or comprehend the entirety of every universe. Unfortunately."

Shh

The absolute being looked at Cheon Miryo, who was now a corpse. And then, with a calm expression, he continued,

"It is the same with the system. When the system discovered Cheon Miryo, she was in the world. And at some point, the dead were separated. But then she vanished and the system didn't recognize her. Because it happened outside the created world. And for some reason she came back here."

"It means..."

"You, Seol-Hwi. For now, I can assume that it was you, who brought her back into the world. In a way, you lead her to her death."

"..."

Crack

Seol-Hwi gritted his teeth.

What the man said was not wrong. Cheon Miryo ultimately lost her life because she came into contact with him.

If she had not met him, she would have stayed in the mountains. Without being detected by the system, without having to fight and end up like this.

In the end, it was Seol-Hwi who brought her into this world. It was him.

"Player Seol-Hwi..."

To Seol-Hwi, who was drowning in self hate, the Absolute called out.

"You entered the Heavenly Demon training system and showed strong patience and excellent skills to adapt. And to rise from the lowest level of the game to the realm of an AI, it is an amazing achievement."

"...?"

Then, with the unusual gesture that he had never seen before, he spoke politely,

"Maybe people are given chances, but only one of them seizes it and pursues the chance to the end. You have proven yourself with your strength and determination which no one expected. Those footprints will now be engraved into the Heavenly Stone, and we have even greater expectations for the future. In that sense, the position..."

Shhh

When the Absolute held out his hand, the peerless weapons began to line up.

"We plan to provide a few small rewards and compensations. How about it? Ready to take our offer?"

"..."

Hmm...

Seol-Hwi was silent, and in the meantime, the Earth Demon watched the situation and listened to the words of the being. He did not know exactly how, but the man in front of him truly felt like a God.

He quickly concluded that he probably created a huge problem in the world and Seol-Hwi managed to solve it.

Plus those weapons he bought—

At first glance, they did not seem like weapons of the world. Of course, he thought he would use them, but were they possibly a gift instead?

That was when the Earth Demon turned his gaze to Seol-Hwi again.

"Fuck it. You bastard."

"...!"

It was creepy.

Seol-Hwi raised his eyebrows at him and swore at him.

"Now you are pretending to be the maker of the world. You bastard. I know everything you have done and how you have been doing it."

"Ugh. This rude..."

"For fear that the players might end up stronger than you, you destroyed every book related to growth and even changed the Demonic Sect's leader and wiped out all those who were trying to break past Profound Demon."

"..."

"A jerk who watches things like entertainment from behind. Don't act superior. This isn't the end. If not this time, I will try again in the next life. I will challenge you again and again and hundreds of times..."

Ruk

Seol-Hwi raised his hand, which was clenched into a fist, and then pointed the Absolute with his hand and declared,

"I will definitely kill you with my own hands."

Silence

The cold atmosphere brought the clouds signaling war around them.

"Hehehe. Huhuhuh..."

Despite Seol-Hwi's harsh words, the man did not look worried, as if he had experienced this countless times. Rather, he was an absolute being who smiled.

"Such bright ways of speaking... so cool. And it is a shame. The name... was it Sa Yu-kang?"

"...What!?"

As Seol-Hwi reacted to that, Absolute spoke leisurely,

"Even after being reincarnated thousands of times, he didn't give up hope until the end. It is something to be admired and to aspire to. But what was his end? You know it right?"

"..."

"In the end, he failed. He couldn't get over the wall and collapsed, and so in the end, he turned into this leech that latched onto players and barely stayed around."

"You..."

Seol-Hwi gritted his teeth.

It was far away. What he was saying was absolutely true. Because of that, the future seemed even more bleak.

Sa Yu-kang—

The strongest person Seol-Hwi had ever seen. His ability, attitude, and even his thoughts.

In a way, he was the most ideal image of a strong person which Seol-Hwi was trying to pursue, having lived thousands of lives, over and over again.

However, in the end, he was unable to surpass the Absolute and ended up being a stage lower than him.

But would he be able to overcome Sa Yu-kang and defeat this man? Regardless of his intention to do so, he could tell from the realm of instinct that it was close to impossible.

Looking down on people, experimenting on them, and causing them pain.

Sa Yu-kang's life, which actually faced the intervention of the Absolute, was a life of such pain.

"Kuahahah! Hahaha! Now why? It looks like you are scared to attack."

"..."

Seol-Hwi glared at him as he bit his lip.

"Then come now. If you receive the small prizes and rewards that I give. You will surely live a long and happy life. No, perhaps as certain players did, if you unlock one secret within, you can gain infinite lives. I will live my days out happily if that happens."

"That is... how can you live?"

Seol-Hwi answered calmly.

The anger that had been blooming wildly subsided calmly, like that of aging and purification.

"They turn people down, stab them in the back, kill those who offended them. The blood spilled increases by eliminating people who aren't liked. Is living at the cost of someone else's life, truly a human life?"

"..."

"I lived like trash once, but I am not like you. Being able to hold your head up proudly even if you live just one day, that is life as a human being."

"Tsk, tsk... so far away now. You speak like some noble being."

The absolute being clicked his tongue at those words. And the smile on his face had faded a little.

"Humans are ultimately beasts too. Now you also say that you don't have material greed, or worldly values. Since when have you been like that? Ultimately, it is because of power. Isn't it prideful to use such a thing if you have it?"

"..."

"Once you lose your strength, your pride... Like you said, if I were such a bastard, I would barely be able to survive a life which wasn't even worthy of being a bastard."

"Yes, it might happen as you said. That is all human instinct. That is why I am saying this. Like now, at this moment, we move with reason, not instinct."

Seol-Hwi clutched the chest and screamed,

"That is the true self."

"I think the same."

And just then, the Earth Demon intervened. He, who had been observing in silence until now, seemed to think that now was the right time.

"Seol-Hwi. I don't know the full extent of the ordeal you have been through, but now I know roughly."

"..."

"I don't know what kind of future you are aiming for, but I can tell you this. I will help with everything I have. If you are who you are now, you can create a world different from them."

"Kekekek."

The Absolute smiled. He nodded as if he did not like this situation.

"A true romantic. Right. Since I chose to die to avoid being pursued, I have no choice but to show the result. How much of a difference in power there is..."

Thud

When the Absolute stepped on the ground, the ground began to shake.

Dududud

Seol-Hwi thought the shaking would soon subside, but it did not. As the range gradually expanded, the ground began to crack and distort the terrain.

"What is this...?"

Seol-Hwi looked at the Earth Demon, his face showing how absurd he thought it to be.

They felt that it would not be easy to fix it with their own strength.

"Do not worry."

The Earth Demon waved the hand telling him to not worry. Then he shouted something and soon the energy seeped into the body and came out suddenly.

Swish—

"Ahem!"

Seol-Hwi felt the powerful force extending out from him. The Earth Demon was said to be able to control the energy of nature which a Peak God could control. Probably the third level... could this be the power which lifted the shackles?

Thuung!

And when the Earth Demon hit the ground, the ground sank in. The ground was shaken by this huge force.

"Hoo. As expected, a miracle."

The Absolute was surprised and praised him.

Euk. Euk.

The Earth Demon lowered his head and held both hands out like he was trying to control the energy.

Was it because he concentrated too much strength at once?

His long, white hair was faded, and his face looked a little haggard. But the look in his eyes was different.

Rather, his eyes were shining blue, as if burning the final flame of his life.

"How much is left?"

Seol-Hwi asked him a quick question. Since he mentioned earlier that the remaining time was half an hour, he was curious about exactly how long it would be now that he had brought out his strength entirely.

"Just one."

"...This."

It felt as if the corner of his chest had sunk — A time restraint.

That was because he could feel how little remained of the Earth Demon's life alongside his determination.

"Then I will be back after this fight."

"..."

Tuk

The Earth Demon walked a few steps. And then with a few words,

"Take some rest."

He ran towards the Absolute at the speed of light.

Fit—

The movement was so fast that Seol-Hwi missed it.

And so, the fight between the two Absolutes began.