Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 52: Doomsday Online (2)

- Stage will be open!

- Level 1. Difficulty is set at easy.

- Eliminate the enemies within 30 minutes

- Stage will begin in 10 seconds.

- 10. 9. 8. 7….

This was really happening out of the blue. I had come to the training center after eating dinner. But after blinking a few times, I was no longer in the training center, but in front of a worn-down, abandoned shack.

“Kiyaahk!”

I lowered my gaze to a cry. It was a sound similar to a beast’s cry, but also a little different. I saw a little girl standing in front of the structure as if guarding it. She was less than a meter tall, and she was dressed in a nice, pink dress. The problem was that it was not a living child.

“Kyaaaa!”

Pus was oozing all over her body. Both her eyes were covered with white like a critical cataract patient, and the tips of her fingers were devoid of fingernails, crushed into mush.

“This is it? Just this much?”

Even though it possessed a terrible appearance, it was not my match at all. Even if I didn’t utilize Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights, I could kill it with a single flick of a finger. There was a humongous gap in power between my opponent and I.

But that was when I realized that something felt a little different.

“What’s this? My power…”

My whole body felt weak. I could not feel any Life Energy, let alone any physical power exceeding a normal person.

- 3. 2. 1. Initiating battle.

“Kyaahk!”

The corpse charged towards me, not giving me any time to come to terms with the weird situation.

Puck!

“Kyahk!”

It landed right on target, but it rolled on the floor a few times before lifting itself up. Was that all?

“Hoo… What the. Why is my breathing ragged from a single kick?”

The green monster came at me once again. It was wildly swinging its arms and flung its body at me, definitely a scene straight out of a horror movie.

“Even so, you’re underestimating me too much!”

Puck! Thump thump thump!

I knocked it to the ground with a well-placed low kick. The child rolled on the floor again, then struggled to rise immediately. However,

Crack!

Before it could get back on its feet, I stomped it with all my might and broke it. Even though the monster looked quite ferocious, its physical abilities were rather poor. Moreover, it was less than a meter tall, which meant its fighting ability was only comparable to a kindergarten student at best.

- Clear!

- Waiting for all battles to complete.

“What the hell…?”

Although I felt puzzled by the vain ending, I proceeded to check the status window first.

Name: Kwan Dae-ha

Class: Elemental Summoner(1), Blacksmith(1), Strongman (1)

Title: Disaster of Mankind

Strength: 10 Stamina: 10

Health: 10 Agility: 10

Mana: 10 Magical Power: 10

Magic Resistance: 10 Regeneration: 10

Mana Regeneration: 10 Luck: 10

Condition: Normal

“What the hell happened to my stats? Why am I level 1 again?”

I couldn’t understand why all of my stats had been reset to 10 points. The numbers were even lower than when I was an ordinary person, before my extraterrestrial journey. At this level, I was only comparable to a boy ignorant to any forms of exercise, or perhaps a middle school girl. It was quite serious, to the point that my breathing became ragged after a single kick.

It seemed to be a result of something similar to a level adjustment.

“Are they telling me to use stats that are suitable for stage 1? But I’m too weak even for a level 1.”

A new line of text appeared as I mumbled to myself.

- All battles have been completed. Of the 6,786,651,249 participants, 3,345,507,765 have passed. The remaining personnel are now considered dead.

“…What the hell? Half of the entire human race died from something measly like this?”

I was lost for words. The message was telling me that the entire human race had faced the same trial in the short period of time, and that 3.4 billion people had died.

The enemy was weak.

Even though I had complained about my stats being restricted to 10, the opponent was weak even considering the constraints. Perhaps it had an average stat of around 5 at best? Moreover, being less than a meter tall served as a huge disadvantage in battle.

But modern humans were not fit for struggle. Humans nowadays would scream and run away at the sight of a single cockroach. No matter how weak it was, it would not be easy to stay alert and resist against a corpse with a terrible appearance. Besides, if all of humankind had participated without any considerations, the children and the elderly would have been involved, as well as the physically and mentally disabled.

No matter how weak the enemy was… could they really complete the stage when it required them to kill the enemy?

- Would you like to start the next battle? If you knock down multiple enemies in a row, the number of clears will cancel an equal number of death considerations. At the end of the stage, the death considerations will be confirmed and cannot be reversed.

“…..”

I became lost in thought for a moment. After all the misfortunes, it seemed that half of humanity was still not actually dead.

- Would you like to start the next battle? If you do not begin, the stage will end.

“…Will the next battle begin immediately?”

- The maximum wait time is 5 minutes.

“…Begin.”

- Level 1. Difficulty is set at easy.

- Eliminate the enemies within 30 minutes

- Stage will begin in 10 seconds.

- 10. 9. 8. 7…

“Kyaaah!”

Just like before, the corpse of a girl in a red dress appeared. I examined its title.

End Project

Level 1

Bitter Alice

Puck!

This time, I swung my fists. The corpse rushed at me fiercely, then collapsed to the ground after taking a heavy blow to its temple. No matter how weak I had become, I was a trainee of Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights. It was much too simple to deal with such a weak opponent.

But there was a problem.

“Wow, just with one punch…”

My breathing was ragged, and my right arm was trembling. Examining it, I seemed to have sprained my wrist.

- Would you like to begin the next battle.

“Wait a minute.”

I collected my breaths. Unfortunately, it appeared that my strength would not be restored after fighting a battle.

“Ares.”

I called out, but there was no answer. Surprisingly, this world seemed to be completely blocking any connections with the outside. It was impossible for me to converse with anyone else in the world

Are you all right, Captain-nim?

Well, myself in the real world, at least.

“Ah, you don’t have to worry.”

It was a little different for me in the Unique World.

What’s going on? I can’t see you in the real world, and I can’t contact the outside either.

A spirit in the shape of a small toy figurine approached me and spoke. Ares’ true body was also stored in a waiting room in a corner of my Unique World, so there didn’t seem to be any additional problems.

“I’m killing a zombie right now. One every five minutes.”

You’re spending an entire 5 minutes killing a mere zombie?

“There\'s nothing I can do about it since my stats dropped to the levels of an ordinary person. Let’s see… Ugh!”

I tried to lift a dumbbell randomly rolling on the floor, but it didn’t budge an inch. It seemed that the restrictions placed on my body in the real world were reflected in here as well. My body in the Unique World had been adjusted to the level of an elementary or a middle school student.

It was probably happening because the two bodies were linked together.

Is it possible for you to take objects out of here?

I attempted it at Genie’s words, but to no avail. When I relayed the results to Genie, she blinked her eyes as if she was surprised.

That is surprising. A Unique World is an authority that only gods of higher ranks can possess… This is a power that defies the laws of the world. It is able to interfere with space and time, and breaking such rules with force will not be easy, even for the Untouchables.

“I knew about space, but time?”

I expressed my confusion. Genie answered promptly.

Yes. Currently, reality’s time has been put to a stop. To be exact, the time of all the beings in the test have been stretched to infinity.

To put it into perspective, it’s similar to an ultimate magic like time stop.

“Still, I can’t believe that it’s able to interfere to that degree with the entire human race…”

I repeatedly destroyed the child’s corpse while my consciousness travelled back and forth between the stage and my Unique World. It was closer to labor than a battle. After a while, I had destroyed over 80 corpses.

“Heugh… Huah…”

I was struggling to breath, and my arms and legs were shaking uncontrollably. My fist was swollen and my wrist felt limp.

“Ah, that was my mistake.”

Only then did I realize that I had utilized an ineffective fighting style. Knocking down the enemy with a single punch was unsuitable for the weak body I possessed. Considering that my wrist had been sprained after defeating a single corpse, the problem was quite serious. It was only made worse by the fact that I was a trainee of the Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights. My feeble body and pathetic stats could not utilize it properly at all.

“I should have used my feet instead of my fists. It was pretty slow anyways.”

Actually, it would have been even better if I had a weapon. With nothing but my weak body, I could not continue to battle consecutively. It was when I knocked down my 90th corpse, finally feeling that I was nearing my limits.

- All death considerations have been cancelled!

- Congratulations! The stage has been completely cleared! Compensation will be given based on contribution.

- Your ranking is 4,999,147.

“…Wow.”

I laughed in disbelief. I had killed 90 zombies by myself, but I was only ranked 5 million. Was this really the Earth that I was familiar with?

It’s probably because of the parallel world.

“I guess even if their stats were weakened, mere corpses would not have posed a challenge to the people of the parallel world.”

In fact, my original version of peaceful earth never existed. Here, Earth-34, possessed a parallel world, and there were 10 million ability users who fought fiercely, dancing between the boundary of life and death. Considering when I first became an ability user, I was nothing but a beginner.

Pat!

A large vending machine suddenly appeared in front of me. Then, a message followed along.

- You have earned 90 points as a clear reward.

- Points are a means of transaction and you can purchase Awakening Potion, Experience Potion, Equipment, Tools, Materials, Etc.

I looked at the vending machine. When I pressed on the Awakening Potion button, a detailed option popped up. There was an Ability Awakening Potion, Skill Awakening Potion, and Stat Awakening Potion.

I tried pressing on the buttons.

- You have already awakened a number of abilities! You cannot purchase a(n) Ability Awakening Potion!

- You already possess a large number of stats! You cannot purchase a Stat Awakening Potion!

It was denying my purchase, but I was not disappointed. I was getting a sense of how things worked as I observed the different options. Besides, I was able to purchase a Skill Awakening Potion.

Skill Awakening. Current average level 1. One skill available.

1. Fast metabolism: Increased stamina, increased hunger

2. Herculean Strength: Strength increased by 30%. Speed is reduced by 30%

3. Gunman: 30% increased damage when using firearms. 30% reduction in close combat damage.

4. Lucky Energy: The number of consumables will double when found. Enemies will sense the energy of good fortune.

5. Twice-eating Mouth: Effect of eating food is doubled. You need to sleep more frequently because you get tired easily.

6. Perfect Sleep: 50% reduction in sleep time. Significant increase in stamina after sleep. A significant increase in hunger.

7. Isolationist: Can assimilate into the surroundings when standing in one place for more than a minute. Visibility is limited to 5 meters.

8. Inhibitor: One clear will be judged to be two clears. 100 points debuff will be applied to the highest stat.

9…

10….

“this is kind of cool.”

There were a considerable variety of skills. I counted more than 30, and they only cost 10 points each. In other words, clearing the test 10 times would net you enough points to purchase a skill.

However, there was a problem.

“I can’t believe all of them have attached debuffs.”

Of more than 30 skills, there were no unilaterally good skills. An increase in strength was accompanied by a decrease in speed. With increased gun damage, close combat damage decreased. The skill of concealment had a penalty of limiting one’s visibility. The skills all presented ways to enhance certain aspects by risking penalties.

Five or six ideas came to mind, but I put them on the back seat for now and moved on to the next item. The difficulty of the stages was still too easy for me to consider using the system.

“Next we have the equipment… Why are there so many?”

The screen scrolled down endlessly as I manipulated the screen. All sorts of weapons and equipment were available. Options ranged from cheap kitchen knives to expensive magic tools. The variety was enormous.

‘But the price is too high.’

Even the cheapest kitchen knife cost 10 points. When I picked out a decent-looking long sword, the price exceeded 100 points. Considering that each stage only required one clear per person, it seemed quite impossible to afford such luxury at low levels.

“Next we have tools.”

It took me a long time to scroll through the equipment but looking through the tools took even longer. There were common items such as wristwatches, lanterns, camcorders, and other random objects, as well as unidentified articles such as Mysterious Diary, or Safety Zone Chalk.

There was even a category for spiritual medicines. When I navigated to the inner qi section of spiritual medicines, a list popped up.

1. One Hundred Years Root: A root grown for a hundred years.

2. One Thousand Years Root: A root grown for a thousand years.

3. Ten Thousand Years Root: A root grown for ten thousand years.

4. Honey of Gold Stick: Honey collected by a gold stick.

5. Taegeukdan: A pill created from a secret Taoism recipe.

6. Daehwandan: A pill created from a secret Buddhism recipe.

“They sell all sorts of things.”

I glimpsed at the points cost. The price difference was truly heaven and earth compared to the skills that only cost 10 points - especially the price of Daehwandan.

“Wow, 25 million points.”

It was expensive. Jokes aside, didn’t it mean that I would have to kill the corpse an equivalent number to half the population of Korea if I wanted to purchase it?

It was definitely something I could not touch at this level, so I passed it and opened the Materials section.

“Of course. This is a must-have when it comes to materials.”

Just as I expected, it was available – iron ore.

- You have purchased 90kg of iron ore!

I tried something. As soon I made the purchase and the surroundings became distorted, I changed my consciousness from reality to me of the Unique World.

Roaarr!

Huh? Captain-nim?

“It works!”

The iron ore I purchased fell into the Unique World. It would not have been possible if the vending machine dispensed the goods physically, but it seemed that the goods purchased would appear in front of the target.

“Moreover, it completely ignores the mass limitation.”

Unbelievably, I did not feel the burden of moving inorganic objects into the Unique World. It meant that the stage space could distort even the laws of the Unique World.

“Genie. Smelt these for me.”

I instructed her before coming back to reality.

“…I’m back.”

“So that wasn’t a dream.”

“Hey, you too?”

“Oh, you as well?”

I checked my stats while listening to the murmurs of the Lee Family’s practitioners. Fortunately, everything had been returned to normal.

‘As expected, the stat adjustment is only applied in that space.’

But then how would the stats and abilities acquired with points be applied in real life?

‘Genie, status update.’

There aren’t too many deaths.

‘Figures. The stage was cleared completely. It was a bit weak considering the name Project End. The difficulty was low.’

Naturally, that was just the beginning.

Exactly 24 hours later, so Monday at 7 P.M. To someone’s expectations, or to another’s anxiety,

- Stage will be open!

- Level 1. Difficulty is set to intermediate.

The next test began.