[Bonus chapter] The Birth of a God

[Ki ki ki!]

Rudy frowned his face and glared at the shadow before asking, "Are you the one trapping this girl in this tunnel and using her to hunt others?"

[Ki ki. That's right. I am the angel of death. And I exist to kill others!] the shadow declared.

"Yeah, right. You look ugly as fuck," Rudy remarked. "Just admit you are some demon trying to be an angel."

The black shadow changed its color to red as though it was angry.

Rudy smirked and said, "It looks like I hit the nerve."

[I will kill you!] a giant scythe appeared out of nowhere and cleaved Rudy into two or so would have happened if Rudy hadn't dodged by dash-jumping on the ceiling.

The shadow took a humanoid form and said, [I see. So you are not an ordinary human, are you?]

"Whatever I am, I am sure I am better than you," Rudy replied.

[I will kill you and trap your soul here! Just like this girl!]

The shadow once again swung its scythe to attack Rudy, but Rudy suddenly disappeared from its sight, and so did the girl.

The shadow glanced around and yelled in rage: [Noooo!]

Rudy had grabbed the girl and flew away as far as he could. Even Rudy had no idea where they were.

"Are you okay?" Rudy asked the girl with an anxious look on his face.

"I…"

Rudy raised his brows and thought, 'Now that I think of it… this girl is a ghost. How am I supposed to react? That demon-like thingy is far scarier than a ghost.'

"I am finally free?" the girl asked.

"I guess so?" Rudy replied.

"I was trapped there for a long time. I don't even know why I was there." the girl looked at Rudy with a curious yet anxious look on her face and asked, "Who am I?"

"..." Rudy raised his brows with a confused look on his face and asked, "You don't know?"

The girl shook her head and said, "I don't remember anything. I don't remember who I am or how I got there."

'I do remember reading an article about ghosts where it said ghosts don't have memories, and that's why they can't pass on to the afterlife.' Rudy face-palmed himself and thought, 'It's not like I believed in ghosts before that.'

"The only thing I remember is waking up in that tunnel," the girl uttered. "I used to see many people passing through in their vehicles, and I always called them out. But none of them listen to me."

"I tried to pass through the tunnel by walking, but no matter how much I walked, I couldn't reach the exit. Sometimes, I got into the vehicles or chased after them… but… that thing always caused accidents and killed them."

"What about the officers who came to investigate the tunnel?" Rudy asked with a curious look on his face.

"That thing killed them too. Whoever passed through the tunnel, that thing tried to kill them," the girl replied.

"And those who were able to see me were killed cruelly. While those who tried to talk to me… their souls got trapped in the tunnel…"

"What about me? I saw you, and I even called out to you." After the brief pause, Rudy continued, "I do remember getting chills, but when I was about to leave the tunnel, I felt warm and comfortable."

Rudy smiled at the girl and said, "It was you, right?"

The girl slightly nodded and said, "Someone passed through the tunnel after eight years. I was happy. I thought the people abandoned the tunnel, and I would be trapped in the tunnel forever. But…"

The girl looked at Rudy with teary eyes and said, "Thank you. Thank you so much for taking me out to the tunnel."

Rudy stared at the girl for a while and uttered, "So… you are going to pass on or something? Like, rest in peace…?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know…"

"So you don't even remember your name, huh?" Rudy wondered. 'Even if I knew her name or last name, I would be able to contact her family or relatives. Maybe they would have helped her pass on?'

"How about you—"

As Rudy was speaking, the girl's face turned into horror, and she yelled, "Watch out!"

Rudy flew as high as he could, but he had lost balance.

When he looked down, he saw the girl's body covered by the shadow, and then it disappeared.

"...!"

The shadow appeared in the tunnel and threw the girl to the wall.

"Argh!"

The girl grunted in pain as she stood up. But the shadow wrapped the scythe around her neck and said, [Accept your fate. You cannot leave from here. As long as I exist, you are bound with this tunnel.]

"Then, then I just have to kill you, right?!"

The shadow looked behind, only to get punched in the face by Rudy. The shadow bounced a couple of times on the walls and the ground before colliding on the ceiling and falling down with a splat.

In the moment of rage and desperation, Rudy let his powers lose. He simply thought of going back to the tunnel, and he was teleported there.

Rudy acquired the power of teleportation. He could teleport to the places he had been before.

The shadow stood up and tried to cut Rudy with its scythe, but Rudy stopped the scythe with one finger. He grabbed the scythe with one hand and crushed it.

Then, he grabbed the shadow's neck and brushed its body with the wall of the tunnel. He grabbed its leg and slammed it up and down hundreds of times.

Rudy was using his superpower strength and superspeed. He was so fast that the shadow didn't even have any time to think.

After that, Rudy smashed the shadow's body on the ground and crushed it with his feet thousands of times. However, everything happened in less than a minute.

He repeated the same process again and again until the shadow's body turned into ash.

Then, Rudy grabbed the girl's hand and carried her out of the tunnel.

Rudy stopped outside the tunnel to catch his breath.

He used too much of his superpowers in a short amount of time. While his body may not be a human body, but it felt fatigued after physical trauma and stress.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked with an anxious and concerned look on her face.

"Yeah, I am—"

Before Rudy could reply, several shadow hands came out of the tunnel and pulled the girl back into the tunnel.

After seeing that, Rudy's eyes suddenly changed their color. His hair turned white, and his body emitted a black, purple, and red aura.

Everything around Rudy began to hover in the air, and his surroundings shattered.

That day, a god was born.

It wasn't as though Rudy cared that much about the ghost girl, the reason why Rudy unleashed his rage was because it reminded him of all the despair, pain, and suffering of his past life.

In his past life, Rudy sacrificed all his happiness, his teenage life, and tried his best for a bright future. And that future was stolen from him for no reason.

Here, Rudy tried his best to save the ghost girl and he failed twice, and that unleashed all the rage he was holding inside him.