EN CH4

Chapter 4: Creation 01

Once a mission is deemed complete, one is naturally teleported back to the Paradise.

The only reason their return had been delayed was, of course, that one zombie had still been alive. Once it died, the dungeon would end. It was a very simple problem.

As that voice faded, pure white light suddenly enveloped his field of vision.

The world blurred, then solidified once more.

People were chatting nearby, and their boisterous voices crashed into Yu Feichen’s ears.

“Back from the outside? Did it go smoothly this time?”

“Nearly got wiped out. Gods above, that hellhole was practically the end of the world.”

“Very few people have ever seen the end of the world.”

“Who cares whether it was or not? The point is I’m back. Being able to see what the center of the world looks like is already enough.”

A burst of smug, triumphant laughter erupted. Even a clown draped in a crimson cloak by the roadside let out a shrill whistle, tossing a red-and-blue juggling ball high toward the golden firmament as he cackled loudly, “The center of the world is a tower!”

Yu Feichen stepped forward, intending to bypass the spot where they were cheering and laughing, when a meteor-like streak of light suddenly shot past him. A moment later, a figure with a gleaming head materialized, clearly the captain. Soon after, the rest of the teammates, tall, short, plump, and thin, appeared as well.

“Come on, say hello to Brother Yu,” the captain called them over.

“The Tower of Creation,” the captain added, his tone carrying weariness beneath its calm, like a soft sigh. “We’re finally back.”

In a synchronized motion, they raised their heads to gaze ahead.

Before them stretched a pale golden sky, brilliant hues pouring downward as thick white cumulus clouds gathered into a massive vortex. Connected to the center of that vortex was a towering, snow-white spire.

It was an obelisk.

It was magnificent and solemn, though its lines were far from graceful. Four edges extended upward, gradually drawing closer together before abruptly converging into a sharp peak in the infinite distance, as keen as a longsword piercing straight into the heavens.

The Tower of Creation, the center of the world.

It was too massive and too tall; even exhausting the limits of human eyesight, one could never take in its entirety.

The tower stood upon the boundless Sunset Plaza, much like standing upon an endless glacier, yet not even the most crystal-clear glacier could compare to the ground of this plaza.

It was paved with Luminous Ice Stones from the Eastern Continent, which was why it was also called “Luminous Ice Stone Plaza.” Not a single seam could be seen between the stones. The surface reflected the sky, the drifting clouds, and the holy tower, refracting faint iridescence along the edges of every reflection. It was said that in ancient times, these sparkling, resplendent stones were peerless treasures used solely to adorn the tombs of kings.

Floating in the air were numerous golden orbs composed of intricate runes. Whenever pedestrians passed by them, the orbs emitted lively voices.

“Hello! Looking to buy custom face-sculpting data? What style do you like?”

“Giant Tree Inn, on sale today! Let us give you that feeling of coming home.”

“First time in the Paradise? Need a guide? Need a translation orb?”

“Resurrection Day wishing plaques, handcrafted by High Priest Iskadila, sold at a discount. Would you like one, or two?”

Clamor filled every corner as crowds bustled across Luminous Ice Stone Plaza. Meteors flashed; some people appeared while others vanished. A young girl holding flowers stuffed a sunset-colored bouquet into the arms of one of the teammates.

“It really feels great to make it back,” the captain sighed. “You worked hard this time. Drinks are on me at Sunset Street. Brother Yu, let’s go together.”

Nobody answered.

“…Where’s Brother Yu?”

Up ahead was a slender black silhouette; Yu Feichen was already walking off into the distance.

“Brother Yu! Brother Yu!” Someone tugged on the captain’s sleeve, stopping him from admiring the giant tower. “Wait up!”

Hearing the call, Yu Feichen looked back.

The golden sky cast down a soft light, which was then refracted by the brilliant Luminous Ice Stone ground, lending his silhouette a fleeting sense of unreality.

“Your sculpted face is really handsome,” said a silver-haired youth in white robes from the squad, stepping forward to stand before him. He pursed his lips in a smile, his eyes curving gently, his voice warm and refined. “You saved my life. I wanted to thank you.”

Looking at the youth’s unfamiliar face, Yu Feichen’s mind went momentarily blank.

After staring for five seconds, he vaguely recalled that this was likely the squad member named Xia Sen.

In the zombie world, Xia Sen had been a medic with virtually no combat ability. Flesh and blood had been flying everywhere in that place, and everyone had been covered in grime and soot. There had been no time to pay attention to anything else, much less someone’s appearance. Besides, people’s appearances varied drastically across different worlds, and even upon returning to the Paradise, they could freely alter their looks in a process they called “face-sculpting.”

Perhaps because he was being stared at for too long, Xia Sen blinked.

A faint glint flashed across his face.

Yu Feichen suddenly noticed a tiny, dark red mole beneath the corner of Xia Sen’s right eye. It was a peculiar shade, like congealed blood.

Yu Feichen suffered from a mild case of face blindness. He could tell beauty from ugliness, though actually remembering faces required a bit of effort. Since he couldn’t be bothered to exert himself, he mostly recognized people by their hair color, eye color, and voice, or by distinct key features, such as the captain’s bald head.

That dark red hue flickered before his eyes once more.

Where have I seen that color before? he wondered.

Xia Sen asked, “Brother Yu? Are we heading to the tavern together?”

The thought was too elusive and vanished in an instant. Yu Feichen shifted his gaze away from the tiny mole.

“No need.” His tone lacked any emotional inflection. “I’m leaving.”

With that, he turned and walked toward the silently standing Tower of Creation.

“Hey! Brother Yu!” Xia Sen called out. “Are you upset?”

“No.” His pitch-black irises turned back. Perhaps too little light had been rendered into his pupils during face-sculpting, leaving him with a pair of chilly, aloof eyes. Being glanced at out of nowhere by them was enough to make a person shiver.

He said, “I’m going to the Gate of Eternal Night.”

The moment those words landed, the surrounding area fell abruptly silent.

The group froze in place, staring wide-eyed at Yu Feichen as if he were marching straight into a pit of blades and sea of fire that swallowed people whole without spitting out the bones. A group of people who had barely known each other managed to stare at him with all the gravity of a final, life-or-death farewell.

After a long pause, the captain spoke hesitantly, “Your… rank is high enough?”

Yu Feichen replied, “Just promoted.”

“No, wait, y-you…” The captain stammered for a moment before saying, “Don’t do anything rash.”

Yu Feichen looked at him, seemingly unable to comprehend why the man would ask such a question.

“Goodbye.” He turned and walked away.

Behind him came a quiet mutter: “That’s probably the last time we’ll ever see him.”

Yu Feichen knew why they said that. As everyone knew, the Gate of Eternal Night was an extremely dangerous place of no return. Those who went there were either fanatics or desperados.

Yu Feichen walked into the Tower of Creation.

The tower was a colossal structure, pure white from top to bottom. High above, it was covered in golden magical symbols and thick white clouds, with no end in sight.

With the once-per-era Resurrection Day approaching, more and more squads were eager to venture into the outside worlds. The Tower of Creation was far livelier than usual, its first floor even more bustling than Luminous Ice Stone Plaza.

Crowds flowed hurriedly past Yu Feichen. They belonged to various races, boasting diverse appearances and attire, either crossing from one side to the other or ascending the wide spiral staircase built flush against the tower’s inner wall. Countless gold-trimmed cedarwood doors lined the tower walls, with an endless stream of people coming and going.

In the Paradise, all activities related to contracts and laws took place on this floor. Standing quietly in the center of the level was a divine statue. It was massive and striking, its highest point reaching into the clouds. The sculpted deity wore ancient vestments, bore a stern and cold expression, and held a floating inscribed stone tablet in his right hand.

This was Mogrosh, the God of Contracts, who oversaw the first floor of the Tower of Creation. His sanctum lay at the very end of the spiral staircase, a place Yu Feichen knew very well.

As Yu Feichen walked forward, two people approaching him from the opposite direction were deep in conversation.

“I just got back from seeing Mogrosh. He invited me for tea and said he was so disappointed in me, and that he’s terribly troubled.”

“You got hit with another complaint?”

“Nitpicking is simply a client’s nature.”

“If it were just nitpicking, Mogrosh wouldn’t say things like ‘I’m terribly troubled.'”

“There are too many things in this world that can trouble Mogrosh.” At this, the speaker burst out laughing. “When I walked in, Mog was handling a complaint filed against Little Yu. You should have seen his expression. He looked just like someone was tattling to him that his own son had slept with another man’s wife.”

Just then, they walked directly opposite Yu Feichen, and six eyes met.

“…”

“…”

One of the two grabbed the other, and they swiftly vanished behind the door of a magical lift.

Yu Feichen stepped into one as well. It was an enclosed, semi-transparent cage-like compartment, with a column of numerical symbols on the side corresponding to the floors of the Tower of Creation. Different floors corresponded to different colors. He pressed the pitch-black XIII, the thirteenth floor.

An invisible force vibrated inside the cage as it shot upward through the clouds at a steady yet blistering speed.

The second floor was equally packed with people; that was where missions were accepted.

Aside from those, the only other place Yu Feichen frequented was the seventh floor, the domain of the Goddess of Strength.

Her statue was clad in a long golden gown, resting her hands on a greatsword with her eyes gently closed and a serene expression on her face. The statue’s billowing locks of hair formed the pathways and bridges of that level, connecting to seven relief-carved stone doors on the tower wall. Each door bore a name corresponding to seven tiers of danger in the outside worlds.

After selecting a mission on the second floor, a squad would come to the seventh floor and walk along their designated path, where the goddess’s power would open the gate leading to their mission world.

Once a mission in any world concluded, rewards were settled in Luminous Ice Stones, one of the Paradise’s currencies, which could be withdrawn on the third floor.

The amount of rewards each person earned from executing missions was recorded in the mind of the Goddess of Wisdom, representing that individual’s accumulated merit.

Remuneration earned from providing assistance or guidance, having been witnessed by the God of Contracts, was also counted toward merit after a ninety-percent discount. Once merit accumulated to a certain threshold, one could rank up and gain the qualification to enter higher-tier worlds.

Higher-tier worlds meant heightened danger, as well as far richer rewards.

Yu Feichen’s rates were steep: thirty thousand cubic Luminous Ice Stones for a “guaranteed clear,” and double for “damage control,” a term specifically referring to worlds that allowed external aid where an Executor botched things up and had to hire someone to clean up the mess.

Because of this, his merit had surged rapidly, and his rank had climbed just as fast.

After the rewards and payment from the zombie world were settled, he had finally earned the qualification to ascend to the thirteenth floor: the Gate of Eternal Night.

The Gate of Eternal Night offered no fixed rewards.

Yet legends about it circulated throughout the Paradise. Legend had it that as long as you survived inside, you could obtain anything you wished for, no matter what it was.

The magical cage came to a stop, its color having shifted from its initial pure white to absolute pitch black.

The door did not open right away.

Yu Feichen reached out his hand.

The instant his fingers touched the door:

Everything vanished, and he found himself plunged into boundless darkness.

From the void, echoing from all directions, came a deep male voice.

“Guest,” the voice spoke, “why have you come to the Gate of Eternal Night?”

“Why have you come to the Gate of Eternal Night?”

The echoes reverberated layer upon layer, taking a long time to finally fade.

Yu Feichen didn’t particularly want to answer.

First, he disliked pitch-black places. Second, he hated excessively loud noises. Finally, he didn’t like answering other people’s questions.

He said, “Because I have enough merit.”

The voice suddenly boomed several times louder, brimming with wrath and majesty: “Why have you come to the Gate of Eternal Night?”

It seemed his perfunctory, surface-level excuse had been seen through. Admonitions like one must never lie before the Gate of Eternal Night were widely known in the Paradise as well. He lowered his eyes slightly, organized his words, and spoke.

“Because the Main God is the King of Kings, the God of Gods. Wherever the sun shines, all is under his rule.”

“Why have you come to the Gate of Eternal Night?” Before he had even finished speaking, the voice rang out again.

“Behind the seven gates lies nothing but the Main God’s territory.”

“Why have you come to the Gate of Eternal Night?”

“God is omnipresent.”

Assistance obtained by paying Luminous Ice Stones, hints received before entering a world, physical enhancements brought from the Paradise into outside worlds, along with countless other things: everything sustained by the Main God’s power, known as the “Main God’s Grace,” was everywhere. It was as though the Main God were right there, constantly looking down upon them.

Yet he was not a believer. To this very day, he had never even seen a single statue of the Main God.

“Why have you come to the Gate of Eternal Night?” The voice was deafening.

“Someone else’s turf.” Staring straight ahead, he enunciated every word clearly and firmly.

“I don’t like it.”

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Author’s Note:

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