Chapter 19 - Trail ( 3 )

I woke up due to the warm feeling I felt. I find my body back to normal again as if nothing happened to it before.

I find the flexibility of my body is a lot better compared to before. My muscle strength has also increased compared to before. Though it does not increase my rank I can feel the difference and know how to use my strength better than before.

Just as I inspected the changes a screen popped up in front of me.

[Congratulations on passing the trail of hard work. Next is the trail of bravery. Defeat all the enemies and emerge victorious. Best of luck]

As I wondered who I needed to defeat the ground around me started to shake.

At some distance away from me, the ground colour began to change from brown to purple.

The purple colour covered a large area. Soon some sand started to rise from the ground and change into various shapes. In some minutes purple sand takes a more humanoid shape while some purple sand takes shapes of mutants, monsters, and many other races.

Soon a large army may be numbered thousand appeared in front of me.

My first reaction was that I had to fight with my bare hands. A new screen popped in front of me.

[The challenger can choose any weapon and other stuff to fight the enemies.]

I asked a question immediately.

" Can I use my set of equipment instead of choosing from the list." ( David )

For some time nothing happened but suddenly a screen popped up again.

[it's okay to use personal equipment but the challenger is sure about this. In the list, there are many high-ranking equipment and weapons. It's Challenger's right to choose the items he wants]

[One-time scrolls and special equipment are forbidden from use. Potions can be obtained at any time during the battle but the effects and their side effect should be considered by the challenger.]

[Imagine what equipment you want and it will appear. Challenger has 1 hour to prepare for the battle. Challenger will not be dead even after being killed in the battle. He will be sent back to the beginning of this trial. Best of luck.]

So infinite loop of killing and reviving. I imagined my shadow hunter set and it appeared on my body.

I always doubt that I am currently in some sort of illusion or spell and that this is not my real body. This challenge proved my previous doubts true. Since I can not die let's go wild.

I get some other equipment and potions from the list the trial gives me. I practised my skills and got more familiar with them.

Time passed soon 1 hour passed. I get in position. The army also started to move. Some mutants and monsters charged at me using their speed.

While other races like humans formed some kind of battle strategy or the formation I assume.

This view may cause the mightiest of men to feel waves of fear but I faced the incoming army without any fear. I have everything in me except fear. A smile appeared on my face.

I held my sword and charged at the incoming enemies. The result is that just in 5 seconds I was brutally killed by a bunch of the mutants before I even began to feel the battlefield.

After my death, I revived in top condition, and the army also went back to its previous position. Again I have given the hour to prepare.

Well, the experience of dying is not good no matter how you put it. Especially killed by ripping into many pieces by a bunch of monsters and mutants.

I shook off the crazy thoughts and began to analyze my first battle. After spending the hour In thinking I made some plans.

Just as the hour passed army started to attack me. I followed my plan and escaped some early attacks and managed to cause some damage. 

I used my armour skill shadow spike and injured some nearby enemies but the degree of injury was pitifully low not enough to lower their battle power.

I again got killed brutally. As I get revived I let out a sigh. I realized why they named this trail Bravery.

Not everyone can march to their deaths. Not everyone can handle the continuous cycle of death and life.

Without wasting any time I started to analyze my second battle and mark the important stuff.

An hour later I again charged at the enemies.

***

I lost count of how many times I died and revived only to die again.

After many deaths, I changed my strategy and used this trail to grind my skills and get battle experience. With each battle, I become more familiar with my equipment and skills.

I became so engrossed in the battle that I lost myself in it. With each death, I gained something new. In the end, I only have one thought in my mind. Kill everything in my sight.

Before I even realized all my intermediate combat skills were raised by a subrank due to continuous battles. My swordsmanship becomes perfect.

I also learned many new ways to use my equipment skills. One thing is for sure I now am many times stronger than the one who just entered the trail.

In these battles, I let go of the suppressed emotions inside of me. Suddenly get thrown into the novel world without my opinion, given the task to complete a frictional story, survive in this dangerous world alone, and have no control over my own life. Etc.

All kinds of negative emotions burst out. All the pent-up feelings surfaced. As the battle progressed I began to let go of these feelings.

I let go of the fear and anxiety in me. I let go of the cowardness in me. Since I am trapped in this unknown world I might try my best to survive and achieve something while I am at it or else make a mess of this world.

I cut down the last enemy. For an unknown amount of time, I stayed in that blank state. After some time I let go of the crazy thoughts and managed to bring myself back from the web of the complicated and crazy thoughts inside of me.

A screen popped up in front of me.

[Congratulations to the challenger for passing the trail of bravery. You have come to the final trial now. The trail of the will. Climb the stairs and reach the top. Best of luck. ]

A warm feeling enveloped me and healed all my wounds. It even healed my mental wounds too.

It's not possible to remain completely sane after countless deaths so this healing helped me to restore my mental damage by some percent. A white light appeared in front of my eyes and I lost my sight.

After I opened my eyes I found myself standing in front of the huge stairs almost reaching heaven. It seems the stairs have no limit.

I also found something different about me. I realized this was my real body.

All my stuff is with me. It seems I am no longer into the illusion.

In the illusion, sometimes I feel some sort of lag in my body movements but now I can feel every part of me smoothly or even better compared to before.

I recalled the trail description and began to climb the stairs.

As I climbed hundreds of stairs things started to change. I began to feel some sort of invisible pressure around me.

At first, it was almost negligible but as time passed it became stronger. The air around me is also affected by pressure as I feel it becomes more heavy compared to before.

In my ear, many voices started to say things like give up, return while you can, and no need to take this much risk. I resisted all these voices and continued to climb the stairs.

As pressure increased burden on my body also increased. I thought of a method to resist this pressure. I started to use my will to fight against the increasing pressure and it worked.

But things are far from over. Pressure again increased. It put a lot of burden on my mind and body. I continued to use my will to resist the pressure but it became a lot harder to do so.

Suddenly the scenery around me changed and I appeared in a different location. As I looked around I found this place somehow familiar just can not remember where I saw it. I arrived in a room that looked like a classroom.

As I tried hard a memory appeared in my mind. Surprisingly it is not David's memory but mine from my previous world.

But how is this possible? My title can make me immune to all soul-related skills then how can someone know my past life?

I tried to ask the system about this but got no response. Just as I got anxious I saw something.

It was the time when I was about to graduate from high school and enter college.

I looked at myself and realized I become a transparent spirit. I looked at the place where I lost my faith in humanity.

The door of the classroom opened and a boy around the age of senior high scholar entered inside. For some reason, the face of the boy is blurred so I can not see what he looks like but I know who is this person.

The boy sat on the chair and took out something like paper from his bag. Reading the content on the paper again and again boy suddenly started to laugh. The boy began to shout out many things.

" Finally my hard work paid off. I got a scholarship to one of the best colleges in the world. All my hard work, dedication, and sacrifices were not in vain. Hahahaha" ( ????)

As the boy enjoyed himself the door of the classroom opened and some students entered the classroom.

They were the same age as the boy or maybe older at least they were wearing the same uniform as the boy. The group has 3 boys and one girl.

This group looked more like gangsters than students. Male students have various tattoos on their bodies and their uniform also has many different fashion accessories.

The girl has some tattoos too. Their faces were blurred too. It is more appropriate to call them delinquents than students. Seeing these people my blood started to boil.

Delinquents noticed the boy and a strange smile appeared on their blurred faces. They moved closer to the boy and tried to grab the paper from the boy. 

The boy tried to resist but the majority won. The two male delinquents grabbed the boy and the remaining male delinquent snatched the paper from the boy.

He grabbed the paper and read it. After reading the paper delinquent with spiky hair speaks in a very nasty tone.

" hey, bastard. Getting a scholarship does not change your status. You are just a bastard or an unwanted thing so do not become full of yourself." ( ????)

As the spiky delinquent said that others started to laugh. The boy got very angry at the words spoken by the delinquent but he could not move as the other two held him tight. The boy said in a sarcastic tone.

"The no. 1 trash of the school teaching me how I should behave. I may be a bastard or unwanted but that does not change the fact I got where I am now all by myself. Not someone like you who only knows how to use your family's money to show off will ever understand. ( ????)

Hearing this the group stopped laughing and anger appeared on their faces. The one with spiky hair spoke in a very angry tone.

" How dare you speak to me like this. Looks like someone here forgot his position in society so I will help you to remember it. You do not have to thank me for this as I love to help my classmates." (????)

Saying this the delinquent with spiky hair punched the boy in the stomach with enough force for the boy to kneel while holding his stomach.

 The three male delinquents started to kick and punch the boy. Helplessly boy got beaten without getting any chance to defend himself properly.

After some minutes trio stopped. The delinquent with spiky hair grabbed the hair of the boy and lifted his head.

He brought the boy's face closer to his face and was about to say something the boy spit the blood in his mouth on the face of the delinquent.

The delinquent gets very angry and is about to hit the boy again the only female stops him. She said something inside the ear of the delinquent.

I clenched my teeth and hands and barely stopped myself from attacking these monsters.

A wicked smile appeared on the face of the delinquent after he heard what the female said to him. He said something in the ear of his friends who soon had the same wicked smile on their faces.

The boy seemed to realize something bad gonna happen.

Before he can do anything the female delinquent begins to tear her clothes. She also disarranged her hair and ruined some of her makeup.

The boy realises what is happening but due to all the beating, he can not move. The boy tried to beg for forgiveness but the gang just laughed more.

Things go as the boy imagined. The girl reported that the boy attempted to rape her but fortunately, her friends arrived on time and saved her.

Police arrested the boy. The boy continuously tries to tell everyone that he is innocent but others remain silent or ignore his pleas.

Even the high school staff despite knowing the boy is falsely accused choose to remain silent.

The boy was sentenced to 3 years in prison. His dreams, ambitions, and sacrifices all get wasted in a single day. Nobody comes to his rescue.

I clenched my hands and teeth so tightly they began to bleed but it amounts the very little compared to the pain I was feeling in my heart.

After 3 years boy got released from prison but his orphanage and the high school refused to accept him.

Devasted the boy joined the third-class college and did part-time jobs to pay for the fees and living expenses.

After graduating in computer engineering the boy started to earn the money as a self-employed person and complete small tasks for the money. He also did some illegal things too. 

Years of hard work made the life of the boy a lot better compared to before but the boy is not satisfied with these much. The fire of revenge is not easy to put out no matter how much you try.

The boy used the money he saved so far and hired some contracted killers for some tasks. The contracted killers kidnapped the 4 people and kept them in some abandoned house away from human habits.

The boy who has grown into a man entered the house. He saw four people 3 male and 1 female tied to the chair with ropes. Their faces are covered with black cloth and their mouth are sealed by tape.

The man took off the black clothes on their faces and unsealed their mouths. Suddenly seeing the light again all of the prisoners closed their eyes and slowly opened their eyes after somehow adapting to the light.

They did not recognize the man and started to use all sorts of methods to free themselves. They threatened, begged, and tried to offer money to a man.

The man who quietly listened to all this nonsense began to speak.

" don't you guys think it's funny that you are begging in front of the person whose whole life you ruined just to show off your authority and fun? Do you remember the orphan boy in senior high school? Remember how you ruined his life. Remember it." (????)

All the colour drained off the faces of the all prisoners as they realized that the past had come to collect some debt.

They tried many ways to appease the man by begging, giving compensation, and finally using their family powers to threaten the man but it does not have any effect on the man.

The man tortured these people for days and killed them after they were fully broken. After killing all the people and removing all the evidence the man burned down the whole house to destroy all the remaining evidence.

The man used some illegal ways and successfully left the country. A man started to live in different countries and try to live a normal life. Suddenly the space around me breaks into many pieces.

A magnetic voice sounded in my ears.

" was it right to take revenge on your own instead of using the laws and legal ways?" ( ????)

I was shocked by the question but I began to recall the things I had seen till now. After some time I give my answer.

" if the law can not give me justice then I will take it myself regardless of the methods and consequences. Even if I was born infinite times and faced the same treatment from those people I will choose revenge every time." ( David)

I said my true feelings without hiding anything. Space stayed still as if to process the answer.

A white light flashed in front of my eyes and I found myself on the stairs but I appeared a lot closer to the final stop.

I began to climb the last couple of stairs the pressure again appeared and this time it was many times stronger than I imagined.

My body began to make a breaking sound with each step I have taken. As I get closer to the final stop the pressure surpasses my body's limits.

Various amount of injuries appeared inside and outside of my body. My brain feels like it will burst if I continue. Despite my situation, I did not stop my legs and continued to climb.

As I almost reached the point of death I stepped onto the final step. The pressure disappeared and a warm feeling enveloped my body.

My wounds began to heal. I also find that my thinking has become a lot clearer compared to before.

As I was checking the changes in my body a screen popped in front of me.

[Congratulations to the challenger for completing the trial of the will. The challenger has completed all the trials and can claim the reward. Step into the door.]

The ancient-looking door appeared in front of me. This door has many strange letters and symbols on it.

This door also has that seven-pointed star diagram with that unique infinity symbol in the middle.

 I gathered my courage and pushed the door. The door also opened without any difficulty. Inside the door is the same purple-coloured gate I used to enter this trail.

I walked into the gate and it sucked me in. After a roller coaster-like ride, I arrived at the other side of the gate.

What I saw shocked me to the core.