Chapter 2: The Wise Old Man

He wasted no time, gathering information on how to ascend to the Upper World, so he asked everywhere.

"Eh? Nope, it's impossible!" The first guy he asked

He didn't let it faze him, he continued asking others...

"Boy, it's too early to dream! Wake up!"

"Dunno, maybe you should die then you can ascend?"

The answers seem disappointing... But instead of asking randomly, he asked credible people next.

The Wise Man is basically the man who is most learned in the World of Elsia, so he went to his tower.

"Old Man! I have a question!" He didn't even knock, just pushed the tower door, but because he is well-known in the tower as an acquaintance of the Wise Man, he was let inside.

"This rude brat!" Says the old man as he bonked him in the head

"Hehe old man, do you know a way to the Upper World?"

"What?! You have business there?"

"Nope, I'm gonna pursue a God!" He seems so proud that he appeared quite foolish, so he was bonked in the head a second time.

"Brat, everytime we meet, you seem to be getting crazier!"

"Old man! Just answer me! This is really important to me" He seemed so down that the Old man patted his head to comfort him.

'Ha! He is softening!'

"Please? Old man?"

"Okay, okay I really can't win with you. There are three ways to ascend. First, after death, if you are judged to be meritorious, then you can go to the Upper World. Second, If you are chosen as a disciple of a God, then you can ascend when you're 18 years old. Both options are really unlikely to happen to you"

"Old man! You are fooling me! You said it was 3! What is the last method?"

"Sigh* It's extremely grueling and painful"

"You know me old man, I have nothing but guts!"

"The last method is through Climbing the Stairway to Heaven. It comprises of 666 steps leading to the Upper World, every step adds a weight of 1 kg so as you move upwards, the heavier you would feel, increasing the difficulty. And to make things more difficult, every step also has countless illusions and temptations which will gradually cloud your mind. Many have tried, but none of them succeeded!"

"I'll carve my name into the anals of history, by being the first one to succeed!"

"You are really underestimating it, sigh*"

"Old man, do you know where is the Stairway to Heaven?"