After Saving The Universe A Thousand Times: Chapter 18.1

Chapter 18: All Gods’ Descent

“Kai…”

Lei Ming had been sitting idly at the commentary booth, waiting for nightfall and already prepared to track down Dong Jin in the real world as soon as the trial concluded.

However, just then, a spectator looking to stir up trouble posted a message in his commentary livestream:

【Both of you are apex gods of the Supreme Universe. Kai’s out there vacationing and having fun in the instance, while you’re stuck here working. Earlier, people told you to check out Dong Jin’s stream, but you ignored them, and now Kai’s about to snatch away this prime MVP candidate! Today, Kai descended as a god and even brought on daytime rain—it’s so romantic! What will you have to compete with him in the future?】

Lei Ming couldn’t care less about the digs and flattery in the message. After a thousand midnights, he had grown accustomed to Dong Jin’s veiled taunts. Such trivial remarks didn’t even deserve a glance.

But though he didn’t care about the mockery, the mention of “daytime rain” nearly got a rise out of him.

Daytime rain? What daytime rain?

Before today, Lei Ming had never thought of opening Dong Jin’s stream.

Because he knew exactly how strong his desire to kill that little maniac was.

The more he looked, the stronger his urge to kill grew. Dong Jin was still useful to him, so Lei Ming, who hadn’t yet planned to kill him, could only take the most primitive approach: ignore his existence, avoid any mention of him.

But now that approach wouldn’t work.

He hadn’t expected that Kai, usually so quick to lose interest, had not only failed to move on from his fleeting enjoyment but was also trying to rekindle an old connection with Dong Jin through resonance?

Utterly laughable.

With this thought, the golden eyes hidden beneath Lei Ming’s mask darkened.

When he finally entered Dong Jin’s livestream and saw the storm raging under the daylight, the God of Night and Drama murmured Kai’s name in a tone that betrayed his inner turmoil.

As a god of the Supreme Universe himself, Lei Ming instantly knew that this rain was Kai’s doing.

If last night’s midnight rain was a manifestation of his own unrest for Dong Jin, then this daytime rain…

—This was Kai’s excitement for Dong Jin.

Excitement so intense that even the incompatible power of a daytime god could become so wildly distorted under Kai’s current state of mind.

Lei Ming watched in muted intensity as Dong Jin destroyed the vortex gate with a single stroke and caught the tiny, sunlight-shifting gem that fell from it. Unbeknownst to him, silence had overtaken his commentary stream.

Because Lei Ming’s gaze at that moment was truly terrifying.

In every frame, within and beyond the screen, his murderous intent surged like a dark tide, his thirst for blood almost palpable.

It wouldn’t have been surprising if, in the next instant, this god had shredded the figure on screen, piece by piece, devouring him whole.

【…I know there’s bad blood between Lei Ming and Kai, but just how deep does it run? He even can’t stand the god-chosen candidate Kai’s taken a liking to?】

No one dared respond to that comment.

Lei Ming, the only one who could answer, had already left the commentary booth.

Even though his gaze had returned to calm at the last moment, everyone could sense the brewing storm beneath that calm. Even the sight of his slowly retreating figure conveyed an unspoken, ferocious tension.

【Is he off to settle old scores with Kai after seeing the daytime rain? Ming Ge, I’d advise you to cool down. You already owe the Cosmic Will too much. If you end up wrecking more planets in your fight, you might end up stuck in the commentary booth for eternity!】

Though these remarks were laced with a hint of provocation, they also revealed the general audience’s opinion on today’s events.

Everyone believed that Kai had caused the daytime rain, yet no one suspected last night’s midnight rain was connected to Lei Ming.

Even though Lei Ming’s reactions and behavior were rather unusual, most assumed it was due to his old grudge against Kai. Hardly anyone thought it had anything to do with Dong Jin. After all, Dong Jin and Lei Ming seemed to have no connection on the surface, and Lei Ming had always been the type to remain cold and unfeeling.

Even the wildest gossip in the Supreme Universe had never hinted that he would unleash his wrath for anyone’s sake.

But in this moment, Lei Ming was indeed angry.

As the God of Night and Drama, he had witnessed too many of the world’s desires, so much so that they all blurred together.

To him, whether it was the desire to kill, to love, to devour, or to fight—they all felt the same.

Desire is desire. To Lei Ming, desire only has degrees of intensity, not distinctions of type.

So at this moment, he couldn’t even tell what exactly he was angry about.

Was he angry because the Daytime godhood, which he wanted, was handed to Kai’s chosen candidate like an olive branch, and Kai had carelessly placed one-seventh of it within the door of the instance world?

Or was he angry that Dong Jin shared a similar resonance with Kai and, despite not knowing Kai’s true name or identity, could achieve such a connection with him from afar?

Put simply, was he enraged by the divine aspect of Daytime, or was it Dong Jin who provoked his anger?

Lei Ming couldn’t distinguish.

All he knew was that in the instant the daylight rain fell, the very moment Dong Jin held the fragment of Daytime’s godhood and a golden sun-like mark appeared on his forehead like Kai’s, he felt an unrestrained, undeniable fury.

And this rage was far greater than anything he’d ever felt before, far more intense than he could have imagined.

Fortunately, what Kai extended tonight was merely a temporary Divine Selection.

The difference between a temporary and true Divine Selection is that the former is a trial set unilaterally by some deities to gauge their compatibility with the candidate, and it will automatically lift after each trial. A true Divine Selection, however, requires the deity to give the candidate their true name, binding their fates together in shared glory and shared ruin.

Kai, the God of Revelry, and Kale in the instance were ultimately not the same.

With Kai’s level of arrogance, unless Dong Jin directly accepted the offered olive branch, no matter how captivated he might be, he would never grant Dong Jin a true Divine Selection.

And after tonight, Lei Ming would never allow his chosen candidate, Dong Jin, to respond to Kai’s offer.

He had suppressed his desire to kill for so long; he had held back his bloodlust for so long, not to pave the way for someone else.

When this night ends, and the first trial concludes, Dong Jin will either fully accept his Divine Selection or die by Lei Ming’s hand, tortured inch by inch—there was no other option.

Meanwhile, inside the first trial instance.

Dong Jin remained unaware that a god outside was holding life and death in his hands, awaiting his completion of the trial at the stroke of the next midnight. He was intently studying the fine gem fragments in his hand—if those could indeed be called gems.

Because at that second, his “Eye of Truth” revealed this to him:

[Unknown Crystal: Appears to be a peculiar gemstone that changes color based on its bearer’s characteristics, yet in reality, it is 1/7th of the ▉▉▉▉. It contains immense power within, which can only be unleashed by a compatible bearer.]

If Dong Jin had more life to spare, he would have sacrificed some on the spot to figure out what this thing truly was.

Unfortunately, he didn’t—this door was far tougher to destroy than he’d expected.

The two-plus days of life he had left should have been enough to take Kale down, but when directed at this swirling door, it felt like he was barely scratching the surface.

With the arrow already on the string, Dong Jin tried to communicate with the Cosmic Will, wondering if he could borrow some extra life. After all, even if he couldn’t destroy the door now, he was destined to be among the top seven MVPs in the end.

Since he was bound to receive a comprehensive reward boost, using a bit of life in advance shouldn’t be an issue.

Wouldn’t you agree, Cosmic Will?

The Cosmic Will, of course, couldn’t answer.

But when Dong Jin, with little hope, tried borrowing life to offer to the “Eye of Truth,” he unexpectedly succeeded. In exchange for a year of his future life, he struck a blow that shattered the door entirely.

As he swung, he couldn’t help but think about how absurdly expensive this door was.

When an unfamiliar crystal—clearly of great value—fell into his hand, he suddenly realized he’d somehow stumbled into a path far beyond what any audience could have anticipated, and perhaps even outside the designs of the Supreme Universe itself.

For the moment he reflexively caught the crystal, a stunned rich man, forgetting his fear, blurted out in amazement:

“What’s with your forehead?!”

At that, Dong Jin knocked out the slow-to-react rich man, then looked down at the paused screen of his phone. In its reflection, he clearly saw the flash of a sun-like golden mark on his forehead.

And that was when he glanced at the crystal between his fingers with a subtle expression.

If those brilliant red lines that emerged on Kale’s body at midnight were preludes to divine descent, then what would this crystal be, with its similar mark now appearing on his forehead? 1/7th of the godhood of that yet-to-descend god, perhaps?

“…Real or fake. Are you messing with me?”

In that instant, Dong Jin nearly saw through the crystal in his hand, feeling a surge of absurdity rise within him.

If this truly was godhood, then the door that stored it should logically be indestructible.

In other words, this instance might not have included a path to destroy the “Door” at all—since the main quest was merely to discover it.

If he hadn’t burned life and practically hacked his way through, this unprecedented outcome might never have occurred.

Thinking of this, Dong Jin couldn’t help but recall that god with whom he’d resonated moments earlier.

When the rain started to fall in the daytime, he instinctively opened the game panel attached to his innate abilities.

He immediately noticed a slight change in the “True Name Summon” skill on his game panel—the skill once exclusive to Lei Ming now had a number ① beside it.

Since there was “True Name Summon ①,” naturally, “True Name Summon ②” had appeared as well.

The details of this skill were as follows:

Skill Name: True Name Summon ②

Skill Effect: He is Kale ▉▉, the God of Revelry.

Skill Description: Once you learn his full true name and call upon it, he will respond to your every call.

Skill Evaluation: Baby, after becoming the quickest to be chosen by a god, you’ve also become the fastest human ever to be selected as a temporary Divine Selection! Could you be the legendary gods charmer? The moment he revealed half of his true name to you, he was already willing to pay part of the price for you, clearly driven mad by his obsession with you. So, will you accept his costly olive branch and call upon his hidden full name?

Upon glimpsing the name “Kale” in the True Name of the God of Revelry, Dong Jin no longer had any doubts.

The one who attempted to descend amidst the storm, resonated with him in a temporary godly selection today, paid the price for him, and placed the crystal suspected to contain a fragment of divinity within the Door—all must be this God of Revelry.

Who knows how many resources he had at his disposal, to be able to casually give away even a seventh of his godhood.

Was he really so love-brained, or just born so willful?

Either way, it was enough to make Dong Jin mentally don a mask of despair.

—Because this meant that, once again, he had attracted the attention of a mad god he couldn’t afford to offend.

Seriously? After trading away his luck, was he really cursed with this much misfortune?

Lei Ming’s existence alone already made it unlikely he’d see the sun tomorrow, so was this God of Revelry with divinity of daylight planning to ensure he’d never see the moon, either?

Why do you gods have to torment only me?!

By the time the wealthy man Weiss had arrived at the hotel, it was already evening. Now, the sun had completely set, and the stars rose with the moon.

Under the ever-present moonlight, Dong Jin skillfully dismantled the surveillance camera and transferred all the footage onto the phone of the body’s original owner. The recordings included the comings and goings of the villains, scenes of Dong Jin taking down Wuli and Kale, Weiss’s confession about summoning the “Door,” and the final moment when Dong Jin shattered the door, revealing a golden mark on his forehead.

After storing all the videos and photos from the reporter’s camera, Dong Jin set the phone to send them at 11:50 p.m. to the number labeled “Supernatural Investigation Bureau.”

Thinking about some of the surveillance clips, Dong Jin, who usually didn’t care about others’ opinions, couldn’t help but wonder if the person on the other end of that number would think he was a ruthless outlaw double-crossing other criminals.

There were four and a half hours left until the end of the first trial.

Having destroyed the Door, Dong Jin decided to prevent the supernatural beings from discovering what he’d done. He made an excuse about receiving a shipment of fine liquor and invited all the remaining supernatural beings to the 33rd floor for a tasting.

Thanks to his innate abilities, getting drunk was merely a state that drained his health. As long as he replenished his health bar in time, he could drink endlessly without getting drunk. By the time the clock struck 9:00 p.m., every supernatural being who attended was thoroughly intoxicated, either from his prodding or gentle persuasion.

Throughout all of this, Dong Jin, sitting on the sofa in the suite, remained calm and composed.

While sucking on a hard candy to replenish his health bar, he took out the original owner’s phone and began typing away furiously, sending messages to all the villains staying in the hotel:

“Dear saviors, did you see the fireworks show at midnight?”

“It was magnificent, dazzling, sweeping across the entire city. What’s more important, it was supposed to be a bomb, but from the very start, it was tinged with a unique dramatic flair—perfect to serve as the curtain call for this deadly city.”

“Undoubtedly, your recent performances have been truly satisfactory.”

“As a reward, please gather at the auditorium by 23:00 tonight. There will be a surprise waiting for you.”

“Don’t worry, it’s a real surprise. You won’t keep me waiting too long, will you?”

“I hope we can welcome a brand new beginning together tonight. I’ll be waiting for you～”

These half-encouraging, half-threatening words forced the villains scattered throughout the city to rush back quickly.

When 23:00 arrived, they truly showed up, one by one, without fail.

If you're enjoying the story don't forget to support the author! You can also support me on KOFI for site maintenance, raws purchase or as an energy boost~ 

Join discord to get notified whenever a new chapter is uploaded since I'm  incapable of keeping up with a schedule~