Chapter 249 – Tutorial 57th Floor (8)

Multiple layers of barriers wrapped around the asteroid, creating an impenetrable shield.

“Didn’t you tell me that humans wouldn’t be able to touch this?”

[Well… yes, I did.] Ahbooboo answered hesitantly.

Previously, Ahbooboo had advised me that caution would be needed because the barrier didn’t allow human presence.

And if necessary, I would have to use either God’s divine power or an object containing divine power to defend myself.

[It’s created using superpowers.]

“With superpowers?”

[Yes? If invisible frogs can exist, why can’t we also make a barrier?]

True.

We decided to take a closer look at the barrier.

Talaria’s wings allowed us to float through the air without any unease.

But the strong wind, however, still made the ride slightly uncomfortable.

Inside the barrier lied a black asteroid.

I’d heard that an alien race thrived inside, but the rumors were difficult to confirm from just an outside glimpse.

And not to forget the superhuman in it.

The SSS-grade superhuman.

The asteroid and its contents were frozen, sealed by the superhuman alongside himself.

I’d wondered how such an act could be accomplished, but Ahbooboo wasn’t so sure either.

I touched the hard surface of the asteroid with my hand.

I tried pushing it slightly, but it didn’t move at all.

This hinted that physical destruction was impossible.

First, I asked Ahbooboobu if he could magically break the barrier.

Ahbooboo answered after using some magic against it.

[It’s hard to do, and it’ll take some time to figure out. It’s my first time encountering such a thing, so I don’t think I’ll be able to do anything about it right now.]

Ahbooboo couldn’t break it instantly.

But I couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

I swung my fist at the barrier without mercy.

* * * * * *

The noise emanating from my attack was deafening.

It’d probably awoken many people.

In my attempts to break down the barrier with physical force, a series of ear-piercing shrieks had rung out.

It should’ve been loud enough to have brought people out of their slumber.

There were people here who treated the sealed asteroid as if it were a god.

In fact, most normal people and a portion of the superhumans indulged in praying and worshipping the asteroid.

For them, the loud noise coming from the asteroid would be comparable to striking lightning bolts.

They’ll start panicking and questioning if the aliens have returned, and get anxious about whether their previous dilemma will resurface or not.

I was really sorry about it.

But for me, it was inevitable, and hence, I approached the asteroid.

Fortunately, the asteroid still floated in the air.

Near the asteroid stood a man of short stature.

Sweating profusely and struggling, he was easy to notice. His face flushed bright red, tired from overexerting his superpowers using all his strength.

I couldn’t sense any signs of people manifesting superpowers or the superpower itself, but after staying here for a few days, I’d noticed how the people already with superpowers used their abilities.

“Who are you?!” The man’s eyes fell on me and he shouted loudly, his eyebrows furrowing.

Who I was?

That was a very difficult question to answer.

It wasn’t because I didn’t know who I was, but rather because I had an ambiguous identity.

Instead of replying, I remained silent.

This was an opportunity to watch the planet’s best superhuman use his superpowers.

Maybe I could even gain something valuable from him.

But on the surface, he looked just like a constipated patient.

“God! I’ve been holding up this barrier for such a long time, yet you broke it!” He shouted.

He was definitely not a quick-witted man.

“Reply! Did you break it?!” He urged, furious.

Even if I had broken it, what could he do?

I wondered why he wanted an answer.

“Yes, I did break it.”

“What the f*ck!”

Although I answered him simply, all he did was swear.

[Maybe it was because he couldn’t repair the barrier. If a barrier loses its effect over time, it wouldn’t be able to be reused even if it was re-energized, like how the ancient order of unity was reused by future generations.]

It made sense now.

Then had the man intended to seal both himself and the asteroid forever by invigorating it whenever the barrier broke?

Perhaps he felt that over time, a great superhuman would come to rescue him.

And indeed, the Superhumans’ Association had planned to rescue him.

I listened carefully to his words and was able to decipher his cursing.

I’d initially thought that he was doing so because he was driven into an extreme situation, but now I could tell that he was referring to a particular person.

It was a name I’d heard recently.

The Vice Chairman of the Superhumans’ Association.

Did he think that I was sent by the Vice Chairman?

I was curious about the inside story.

But not curious enough to dig into it.

“Hey!” The man shouted.

“What?”

“Help me!”

I thought about it for a moment.

I wasn’t sure if I should help or not.

“I don’t know what ability you have, but now that you’ve broken the barrier, don’t you feel ashamed? Hurry up and help! If this asteroid falls, you, me and everyone under us will die!”

He sounded angry, but his words were filled with desperation.

Well, it’s natural that he’d be distressed.

This stage’s goal was ultimately linked to that man and the asteroid.

However, I’d been asked to gather as much information as possible. Even after I’d died, I was forced to take the form of another soul to continue gathering even more information.

In other words, a near-end catastrophe had been scheduled for this planet.

If I helped the superhuman or put an end to the planet’s destruction, complications could arise.

I might fail.

In the end, I came to a conclusion, and ended up watching instead of helping.

After putting some thought into it, I looked back at the man.

His whole body shivered, the exhaustion on his face visible.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t learned anything from watching the way he used his power.

“Hey! Help me!”

Instead of answering him, I opened my inventory and took out a bag of snacks I’d gotten from 1400.

[Wow … Talk about shameless …]

* * * * * *

Before I knew it, I had eaten all the snacks, and just when I got bored watching the man shiver, I saw something unusual.

His head had turned as white as a sheet, the skin was wrinkled like an 80-year-old man, and even his body looked withered.

His mouth, which had been spouting endless curses, was shut.

The fluctuating forces around him also slowly began to fade.

He was finally about to die, but something abnormal was happening.

He was gathering more power.

The problem was that this power came out of me.

Since he was about to die, he was using his power recklessly.

“You are gonna be in trouble if you continue like this.”

I warned, but he didn’t hear me.

Was he in a state of delirium?

Was his ability one that could take others’ powers?

I asked Ahbooboo, but he couldn’t answer clearly.

Perhaps because it was rare for Ahbooboo to fail in answering due to his lack of knowledge about magic that he felt awkward.

In any case, this was a ridiculous ability.

He could take the power of others and use it for himself.

It was questionable whether it was possible to violate other people’s powers so much.

I tried not to lose it to him as much as I could.

I knew his desperation, but I didn’t have the slightest intention of giving up my powers.

Without my experience of the 56th floor, I probably would have been helplessly deprived of my power because of not knowing how to resist.

Then, all of a sudden, strong energies neared from below.

To be exact, from the people who were looking up at the asteroid.

I was anxious.

Most of the people down there were normal humans, and incapable of providing the power wielded by the superhumans.

I thought so, but reality was a bit different.

The force that was gathering towards him was actually enormous, similar to a huge tidal wave entirely focused on him.

I felt it since I was connected to him.

But in my case, I wasn’t giving him any power.

His power grew stronger and stronger.

At the same time, my connection with him also become clearer.

I could feel what kind of situation he was in now.

How intensely focused and desperate he was.

I could also sense the people who were giving him strength.

The various emotions they felt were connected to their hero, I could feel their hope and motivation.

I was annoyed by this faint sense of deja vu.

The only difference was that the receiver of the power was that man, and not me.

This was a one-sided link, and through this, people’s powers were going into that man, who was at the other side of the link.

What was that?

Differing from the absorption.

[Why don’t you fall back a little?]

[… Let’s do that.]

I didn’t feel the need to take risks and stay close to him.

He was akin to a bomb.

His body contained the strength of a great number of people.

But the human body was not so grand.

It was hard to think that a superhuman’s body would be able to bear the brunt of this humongous power. The chances of an explosion were very high.

I stepped outside the barrier I had broken.

There was something strange about observing the power of the superhuman through this link.

The overall amount of power was so vast that I could not scan it immediately. Just the power flowing out from one person was a lot. Even a normal human was giving out a large amount of energy

If I really wanted to measure that amount of power, I’d have to use a planetary scale unit.

Before the overwhelming force could be handled by the superhuman, the asteroid was already half destroyed.

The alien species hiding in the asteroid also appeared to have been wiped out.

Nevertheless, the link between the people and the man didn’t sever.

Seemingly in need of more strength, he continued to suck in people’s powers even after the danger was gone.

Every second, things were changing.

The asteroid was now completely wiped out.

Only the fine dust on the ground proved it existed.

After the asteroid was destroyed, the people began to feel pain, not joy.

They were terrified of the fact that their power was still oozing out of them even though their goal had been achieved. They did not know how to break the link.

My mood was becoming worse.

Even my energy had begun to leak out little by little.

I was trying hard to stop it, but I started to see the powers slipping out of my control little by little.

Do I have to kill him?

Just as I was thinking that Ahbooboo spoke up.

[Maybe he’s about to blow up.]

It was a valid point.

However, it could not be called an explosion this time.

Instead of blasting off, power gathered in his body and started to devour it at a rapid pace.

Now his body was no longer a vessel.

It had become a source of power itself.

It continued to multiply all over, just like a cell.

There was no humane part left.

His body, which turned so grotesque that it’d be hard to even assume that it was a human’s body, was floating in the air, engulfing people’s powers.

The fleshy and bloody mass gradually began to take a shape.

It didn’t resemble a normal creature.

But it was quite similar to the shape of a bizarre monster that had already been seen several times.

It was the source.

Tutorial 57th Floor (8) Finished

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