[The Coming Dawn has lifted the barrier separating the quarantine zone from the Abyss, freeing the gods who have suffered due to the actions of the criminals imprisoned within the Abyss.]

[The freed gods will now be granted an opportunity for vengeance.]

[During this time, ten percent of the divinity they absorb during their hunts will be offered to The Coming Dawn, who has granted them this chance.]

[Eliminate all enemies. Time remaining: 115 hours 13 minutes.]

***

「Invisible message: Hunt the gods within the Abyss and claim their divinity.」

***

Kwon Su-Hyeok read the messages that surfaced before him and immediately understood that he had made the right choice. It made perfect sense and aligned with what he had come to expect of the Tower of Ordeal.

In truth, the tower had embedded the quarantine zone within the Abyss for precisely this purpose. Locating the zone was rather difficult, but that was deliberate and meticulously calculated.

Under ordinary circumstances, a challenger would have no choice but to keep moving as they evaded the relentless gods and apostles inhabiting the Abyss. Though vast, the Abyss wasn’t boundless. If they wandered for seven days, they would almost certainly encounter the zone.

Unfortunately for Kalain, he had simply been tragically unlucky.

Of course, failing to find the quarantine zone didn’t make the trial impossible to overcome. After two days, the tower would evaluate the challenger’s progress and secretly reward them. While not generous, it offered any challenger who had reached the ninety-eighth floor just enough to survive.

Naturally, the battles were grueling beyond measure. Kalain had only managed to survive by exhausting every shred of his strength, reduced to a pitiful and desperate state.

However, the tower did truly seek someone who could open the quarantine zone—it had designed it to be the correct path for the challenger’s benefit.

Because Kalain had failed to open it, the number of gods trapped within the Abyss had increased over the four thousand years. In essence, Kwon Su-Hyeok’s trial had become far more demanding. Now that he had discovered and opened the quarantine zone, he would gain a reward that even Kalain had missed.

As expected, taking a risk was the right call.

Kwon Su-Hyeok had chosen to tackle the potential hidden mission to prepare for what was to come. After all, if all the gods had synchronized their attacks properly, he would have undoubtedly died. Moreover, he still didn’t know about the evaluation that happened every two days. He could feel his strength increasing, but he had attributed it to the Abyss’s laws.

Since he believed that the tower always provided a solution, he had assumed the prisoners’ warning referred to a hidden mission, the tower’s intended means of overcoming the trial.

Kwon Su-Hyeok had considered two possibilities. Either he would find a secret exit, or an irregular entity would emerge. Since even the disinterested gods had suddenly appeared to block his path, the latter seemed more likely.

Regardless, it all concluded in his favor.

Compared to the weakened gods trapped in the Abyss, he was confident in his speed. He had taken some hits, but the fact that he had broken through at all proved his superiority.

One against many.

Rather than meet a terrible death, slowly succumbing to the horde of imprisoned divinities, he was far better off unleashing an unknown entity and facing the consequences. Even if the irregular existence appeared, he could simply evade it and wait for time to run out.

I never thought the straightforward path would turn out to be the right one.

After opening the black gate, the tower’s explanation revealed that it wasn’t a hidden mission. Of course, that didn’t confirm anything, but the absence of anyimmediate surge in his abilities all but confirmed it.

Realistically, after seeing the updated message, expecting a stat increase would have been excessively greedy. Ten percent of any slain god’s divinity would be an incalculable amount in the first place. That didn’t seem like a lot at first glance, but accounting for how many gods would surely die, it far exceeded what he could have achieved alone.

I was absorbing a decent amount before, even if it wasn’t ten percent.

This information changed Kwon Su-Hyeok’s opinion about this floor. Initially, he had believed it would be incredibly hard, but for such enormous rewards for comparatively little hardship, it was similar to the previous floor where he had forged his weapon.

His thoughts deepened further. The idea that the tower was granting wronged gods a chance for vengeance lingered in his mind.

So that is why the tower chose me.

Both Kwon Su-Hyeok and Kalain were challengers, yet the tower had chosen him. He had long pondered why. Kalain had been far stronger in the early stages of the tower, but the difference grew smaller the higher they climbed, until Kwon Su-Hyeok surpassed Kalain. He didn’t know everything that separated him from Kalain, but the greatest divergence lay in their convictions—Kalain sought destruction, while Kwon Su-Hyeok carried compassion. He believed the tower shared that same ideology. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

It had been evident since the beginning, where trial after trial involved rescuing oppressed individuals. The ninety-eighth floor followed the same pattern.

Although the tower trapped the perpetrators in the Abyss for millennia, the victims suffered far worse.

The weak tended to endure the greatest pain, often unable to save themselves. Therefore, the Tower of Ordeal’s laws had made revenge impossible for them. Through this trial, it was offering them a rightful chance to pursue justice.

Kwon Su-Hyeok’s thoughts gradually faded as brilliant light streamed from within the open black gate. The gods imprisoned in the Abyss understood what was happening and turned to flee. Those who had already known the truth had vanished the instant the gate opened.

Kwon Su-Hyeok briefly considered pursuing them, but shook his head in the end. He needed a moment to catch his breath.

[Eliminate all enemies. Time remaining: 115 hours 12 minutes.]

Due to the change in the trial, even if the prisoners lost their will to fight, it wouldn’t end. Five days remained, so he had time to spare. He had sustained some injuries while forcing his way through and decided it would be best to recover slightly.

Just as he began to summon his divinity to heal, a radiant multicolored light descended upon him—another god had beaten him to the punch. Kwon Su-Hyeok turned his head sharply.

First to emerge from the black gate, a god with six pairs of wings approached him. “Thank you. Because of you, I can finally wash away a grudge I have carried for ages.”

He didn’t know her name, but from her presence alone, she was clearly a second-class god. The second-class god, Wing of Freshness, met his gaze, inclined her head briefly, and spread her wings.

“Now then, where are they?” Her divinity spread thinly through the Abyss and illuminated the darkness.

When she had been a fifth-class god, she had nearly lost her world. With the help of some friendly gods and the tower, she had narrowly escaped.

At that time, she had been unable to exact her rightful revenge due to a lack of power. Five thousand years later, she had finally been granted that opportunity, thanks to Kwon Su-Hyeok. Feeling sincere gratitude, Wing of Freshness propelled herself into the air. Her wings illuminated the Abyss with their bright glow.

Behind her, an endless tide of gods began to pour forth, one after another.

***

[Eliminate all enemies. Time remaining: 92 hours 46 minutes.]

Almost a full day had passed since I had opened the gate to the quarantine zone.

To be honest, there was little left for me to do. Perhaps because they could claim any slain god’s divinity for themselves, the gods scoured the Abyss with fervent, almost burning, eyes. They were desperate to seize whatever power they could.

Seeing the vengeful gods in person, I felt the gap all the more sharply. Even the third and fourth-class gods would easily overpower any single god in the Abyss. Still, I didn’t feel like hunting down those who had lost their will and fled.

Blame the hesitation on my morals.

Besides, it was somewhat out of consideration for the avenging gods. If I killed the enemy they had dreamed of destroying for millennia, I could picture how hollow their revenge would become.

Ugh, whatever.

Rationally, scouring the Abyss like the others made sense, but I simply didn’t want to. It just wasn’t in my nature. Perhaps that was another reason the tower chose me.

While the other gods roamed the Abyss, I took short naps, ate, and let myself recover.

Of course, I wasn’t carelessly resting. Although none of the gods trapped in the Abyss dared show their faces near the quarantine zone, I could relax because I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like wandering aimlessly through the dark.

“How is it?”

“Wow, this is really delicious.”

The fourth-class god Ecstasy of the Senses, a god of cuisine, was supplying me with snacks. He had come to me after killing his sworn enemy, and he was surprisingly polite. Before leaving to search for his foe, he had thanked me and insisted on repaying the favor with a meal. I hadn’t declined.

When he returned and asked what I wanted, I eagerly responded, “Korean-style pork ribs.”

Perhaps because of the tower’s translation, he didn’t ask what they were. In the end, he didn’t make the exact dish, but it was similar enough—and most importantly, delicious.

“Do you like it?”

“Of course. Saying that I like it is an understatement. I have never tasted anything comparable to this.”

It truly was the best thing I had ever eaten. That wasn’t all, either.

“Huh?”

“Looks like it is starting to take effect.”

“This is even stronger than an elixir!”

At my surprised reaction, Ecstasy of the Senses smiled, pride softening his expression.

Unlike the many times I had consumed an elixir, the need to sleep or rest didn’t overcome me; it simply enhanced my abilities automatically. A surge of strength coursed through me in real time. For someone at my level, such a stat increase was almost unbelievable.

Honestly, when I had first heard that his divine domain was cooking, I had wondered how it was possible to attain divinity through it. Now I could understand how.

“You let me end a long-standing hatred, so this is the least I can do.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. Besides, I won’t be long. I am looking forward to leaving the Tower.” He winked playfully as he realized that talking about the world outside the tower could come across as rude. “Sorry for bringing up future matters so often.”

“Oh, it isn’t a problem.”

I had taken the opportunity to ask a few gods about the tower and what lay beyond it, but without fail, they had told me they couldn’t answer my question. Still, I wasn’t disappointed. Even Thunder Axe was unable to disclose that knowledge as my sponsor, which meant these gods would be subject to far more stringent restrictions.

He had apologized simply for stirring my curiosity without being able to satisfy it.

Hmm.

As silence settled between us, I continued eating and let my thoughts drift to the vengeance-seekers who had already left. Many remained within the Abyss, but hundreds had already returned. Despite my excellent memory, the constant introductions meant I couldn’t remember all of their names.

Some had grumbled or complained, while others had been distant or cold. That was merely a reflection of their personalities, however. In the end, every one of them had expressed their thanks to me.

Perhaps this was also part of the tower’s plan. This way, the gods would be indebted to me, opening the path to form a relationship in the future. Moreover, from the tower’s perspective, the trial bolstered a challenger’s growth while fulfilling its own greater mission.

Looking back, I hadn’t really had much time to wander the Abyss. I had been occupied talking to the gods who had sought me out. Even now, countless others were still waiting to greet me. It was like an endless series of handshakes and greetings. I had experienced similar situations before, but receiving such gestures from gods carried an entirely different weight.

Anyway, divine energy continued to flow into me even as I rested, and it had already far outstripped my wildest estimations.

Rather than wasting time pondering aimlessly, however, it seemed wisest to build rapport.

As if sensing my resolve, a hulking figure approached me. “So, when are you going to finish eating?”

“Ah, almost done.”

This was the third-class god Hammer of Namsuri, a warrior god who wished to test his strength against me. In truth, he wasn’t being pushy and simply wanted us to refine our skills together.

Ecstasy of the Senses muttered under his breath, “You’re far too impatient.”

Hammer of Namusri cleared his throat while maintaining a neutral expression.

I stuffed the remaining food into my mouth and turned toward Ecstasy of the Senses. “Thank you for the meal.”

“It’s good to see someone eat with such satisfaction,” he replied with a faint smile.

“Well then, I’ll be off. Hopefully, we’ll meet again someday.”

“Yes.”

After meeting my eyes and briefly farewelling the others, Ecstasy of the Senses crossed the black gate.

I picked up Soulbound and turned to face Hammer of Namusri. “Then, if you don’t mind, please show me your skills.”