After Saving The Universe A Thousand Times: Chapter 18.2

Chapter 18.2: All Gods’ Descent 18

At that moment, Dong Jin, sitting on the auditorium stage, was tossing two detonators in his hands, a faint smile playing on his face as he watched the anxious villains below.

What he held in his hands weren’t fireworks detonators, but real bomb detonators.

The detonator in his left hand was connected to the bombs around the starting city that had not yet been dismantled.

The detonator in his right hand was connected to the bombs he had personally planted at various escape routes in the hotel over the past two days.

Hadn’t he said it? He was going to welcome a new opening together with these villains.

—He never jokes.

At this moment, the villains had no idea what awaited them next. Just watching Dong Jin casually toss the detonators from one hand to the other, their hearts were already in turmoil.

When Dong Jin asked them to report the total number of fireworks they had buried recently, the villains barely managed to shift their focus and began reporting, imitating each other.

Even though nearly half had died, there were still nearly a hundred people in the auditorium.

When they all finished reporting, the time had already turned to 23:50.

At this moment, the grand fireworks display that the wealthy man had previously set up with his cash abilities began once again.

As fireworks rose, exploded, blossomed, and faded outside the window, under the colorful yet dazzling fireworks filling the sky, Dong Jin smiled and waved, summoning the villain who had planted the most bombs to the front. He then spoke:

“As I promised before, I’ll give the person who buried the most fireworks an unimaginable blessing.”

When the thug nervously looked up at him, Dong Jin suddenly recognized him as one of the villains he had encountered in the corridor on the tenth floor. As for the other two thieves and con artists, they had already been killed by Duoge and Wuli.

Looking at it now, it seemed there was something special about the tenth floor of this hotel. It seemed that anyone you randomly encountered there was capable of quietly doing big things.

With this thought, Dong Jin’s smile deepened.

He lightly tossed the detonators from all the hotel’s entrances and exits into the hands of the unsuspecting thug.

“Everyone, hold on. Due to some reasons, I detonated the city’s fireworks half a day early at dawn.”

“As compensation, tonight I’ll treat you to a fireworks show. While it may not be as impressive as the ones you planted yourselves, nor does it carry any dark humor, it should at least be flashy enough to catch your eye.”

The fireworks display lasted a full ten minutes.

By the third minute of the fireworks, the Supernatural Investigation Bureau had finished browsing through the photos taken by the reporters and were speeding toward the Feng Mo  Hotel.

Along the way, they reviewed the various footage related to Dong Jin at three times the normal speed.

By the ninth minute, as their vehicle was about to arrive at the Feng Mo  Hotel’s underground parking lot, Dong Jin gestured for the thug beside him to press the detonator he had thrown out.

At the same time, instead of catching the city-wide detonator that had been tossed into the air with his left hand, Dong Jin used his right hand to pull out a dagger and pierced it.

Amidst the desperate shrieks of the fireworks, a series of thunderous explosions suddenly rang out throughout the hotel.

Before the villains could react, with each successive blast growing louder and fiercer, Dong Jin smiled at the confused thug holding the hotel detonator and said, “Enjoy your prison life.”

This was the “unimaginable” blessing he had promised earlier.

After today, both he and these villains, along with the supernatural beings who had drunk themselves to death on the 33rd floor, would all experience a brand new opening.

However, he was on the stage of the universe, while they were in an unknown prison.

At the moment when the last of the fireworks burned out, the Supernatural Investigation Bureau agents finally arrived at the entrance of the Feng Mo  Hotel, which was now a pile of rubble.

Then, the world froze at this moment.

Having passed the first trial, Dong Jin immediately heard the familiar mechanical announcement in his ear:

“The first trial has ended. The instance settlement is now proceeding.”

[Instance Name: The Descent of the Gods] [Instance Type: Single-player Instance] [Main Quest: Survive for seven days. (Completed)] [Side Quest 1: Don’t let them discover you. (Completed)] [Side Quest 2: Find “the Door.” (Completed)] [Advanced Quest: Search for evidence and expose the existence of “the Door.” (Completed)] [Ending: The Savior in the Rain (Unique)] [Ending Evaluation: Are you a mortal, a criminal, a god, or a villain? But none of that matters now. Because whether it’s day or night, the moment you raise the dagger in the rain, you have already become the unique savior of humanity.] [Completion Evaluation: SSS Level (Top MVP)] [Completion Rewards: Unknown Crystal *1; Comprehensive physical enhancement; Cosmic Resources *10; 10% total universe evaluation bonus.] [Completion Comments: You’ve walked a path never taken before and achieved an unprecedented ending. After tonight, the world will cheer for you, gods and demons will look upon you with awe, and you are already the savior of your universe.]

“Instance settlement complete, completion rewards have been issued.”

“In three minutes, the trialist will be automatically transported back to their original universe.”

“All injuries sustained in this instance will not be brought back to reality (except for some special injuries).”

“The second trial will be a multiplayer instance, and will open seven natural days from now.”

“This trial uses the Supreme Universe standard timekeeping method, so please be aware of time differences and adjust your condition accordingly.”

After hearing the broadcast from the Supreme Universe’s Cosmic Will, Dong Jin was initially planning to quietly wait for the three minutes to pass.

However, the next second, the Cosmic Will, which was supposed to remain silent, spoke again:

“Detected a bug in this instance, performing rule correction, and adding three new universal rules.”

“Rule 1: Each trialist may resonate with a god a maximum of three times per instance.”

“Rule 2: The trialist’s strength limit will be equal to the strongest NPC in the instance.”

“Rule 3: After the instance begins, the Cosmic Will of the trialist’s home universe is prohibited from explicitly or implicitly giving the trialist any information outside of the instance.”

“As compensation, those who detected the bug will receive corresponding compensation.”

“Please, trialists, do your best to clear the instance.”

“I, the Supreme Universe, await your arrival.”

These three newly added rules, though none of them mentioned “Dong Jin,” somehow seemed to carve his name into every one of them.

Dong Jin’s thought on this was: You might as well just report my ID number.

Afterwards, the three compensations sent by the Supreme Universe’s Cosmic Will silently confirmed for him that all of this was not his illusion—those three rules were indeed hastily added due to his various sneaky operations in the instance.

Is this Cosmic Will a sore loser? He just used his skills to hack the system, so why was it suddenly sealed off?

At this point, Dong Jin could only silently watch the series of compensations sent to him.

[Compensation 1: 20% increase in all-around physical enhancement] [Compensation 2: Indestructible Silver Ear Chain *1] [Compensation 3: Pure Black Custom Contact Lenses *2]

After reading the three compensations clearly tailored for him, Dong Jin’s resentment dissipated quite a bit.

The first compensation was self-explanatory—it was a necessity. The third compensation could also solve the problem of not being able to cover his eyes immediately after entering the instance.

As for the most subtle second compensation, it was likely intended for him to use with the unknown crystal. As for why it was in the form of an ear chain…

Dong Jin recalled when Kale had jokingly said he was missing an earring, and couldn’t help but click his tongue.

This damn Cosmic Will and their universe’s gods and demons really are alike; birds of a feather flock together.

After venting about the Cosmic Will from another universe, Dong Jin, now back in reality after finishing the instance, glanced out the floor-to-ceiling window, confirming that the familiar god wasn’t blocking his door in the dark. With a sigh of relief, he began contacting his own universe’s Cosmic Will.

When his universe’s Cosmic Will agreed to lend him some life force earlier, Dong Jin had guessed that they must have invested a significant amount of weight in him. However, even with that mental preparation, he was still quite shocked when he saw the final instance settlement.

Although he didn’t know the exact details of the “chosen one” weight allocation formula, the fact that his successful completion of the instance resulted in a 10% total universe evaluation bonus was truly over the top.

So, as he opened the panel to check his remaining lifespan, he directly asked:

“My dear Cosmic Will, may I ask, how much did you invest in me for the last trial?”

The response he received was: “50%.”

Dong Jin remembered that each universe’s Cosmic Will could invest a total weight of 100%, which, when distributed among hundreds or thousands of seed candidates in the universe, resulted in each person receiving less than 1% of the total weight.

But his universe’s Cosmic Will gave him a full 50%.

“Why didn’t I notice before? You’re an even bigger gambler than I am…”

“This is like having half of the universe’s burden placed on my shoulders, isn’t it?”

No wonder whatever he said in the instance was immediately responded to, and he was subtly guided in aspects like skill evaluations and tips.

At his level, he didn’t need to ask the Cosmic Will for help; rather, the Cosmic Will had already begun to actively solve his problems for him.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have spoken so negatively about the Supreme Universe earlier.

After all, when it came to going all in, he and their Cosmic Will were more or less in the same boat.

“You’re not afraid I’ll be hindered by this once you’ve so easily given me the specific data?”

After browsing through the game panel and finding that his remaining life expectancy was now down to 80 days, Dong Jin casually asked the question.

The Cosmic Will didn’t respond, nor did it need to.

Because if he were the type to crumble under pressure, he would’ve been dead in some corner by now.

Even if the Cosmic Will were crazy enough to assign him 100% of the weight, Dong Jin would still follow his own path. Simply surviving was hard enough; he would never blame himself for others’ mistakes.

While Dong Jin was conversing with the Cosmic Will, the midnight silence that had previously reigned began to give way to a rising clamor.

At first, Dong Jin thought it was just the inevitable noise of the trial participants returning after the first round.

However, as the noise outside grew louder, Dong Jin, who had already laid down on the sofa, realized something was off. He stopped resting with his eyes closed and instead walked back to the floor-to-ceiling windows to take a look.

The moment he casually pulled aside the curtains, the flashing neon lights outside caused him to instinctively squint his eyes.

But in the next second, Dong Jin’s gaze moved away from the erratic neon lights.

At this very moment, no matter which direction he looked—straight ahead, to his left, to his right, or even the far-off skyscrapers in the business district—the same image was being displayed on all the large screens connected to every universe involved in this “Divine Selection.”

—It was the opening ceremony of the Divine Selection, which had come late after the first trial ended.

At the beginning of the screen, the night’s curtain slowly descended, spreading silently.

Then, distant stars in a circular formation began to light up from top to bottom. The stars, in hues of different colors, shimmered like pearls or gemstones, but as they emitted dazzling halos, they also began to collide with each other in swirling patterns.

In the violent explosions generated by these never-ending collisions, fiery sparks like fireworks accompanied the constant fall of meteors. A figure wearing a half-black, half-white mask lazily sat on the dark star to the left of the screen, glancing sideways at the void.

“No matter if you’re a supernatural being, machine, insectoid, human, or whatever else, welcome to the new round of Divine Selection.”

Listening to this nonchalant tone, there was no need to ask who the speaker was.

This was the place where countless human dreams began, the unique and eternal stage for all universes.

As the God of Night and Drama, Lei Ming, how could he miss it?

No wonder this god hadn’t come looking for trouble with him tonight—he was busy hosting the Divine Selection opening ceremony.

It seemed that Lei Ming didn’t have the time to appear here for now. Fully relaxed, Dong Jin casually moved the single sofa to the window and comfortably leaned back, continuing to watch.

After Lei Ming delivered the opening line, which was entirely devoid of any welcoming tone, the collisions between the stars grew increasingly intense.

In the midst of a cloud of dust and a thunderous explosion, a figure suddenly appeared on the dark red planet on the right side of the screen, which had previously been empty.

If the Lei Ming on the left, with his gray hair and golden eyes, looked like a suit-wearing thug forged from wildness and desire, then the red-haired man on the right, scantily dressed and adorned with gold, gave off an ancient, primal barbaric aura.

The familiar red hair and golden eyes of the newly appeared deity caused Dong Jin to instinctively tense up.

What’s going on… could it really be this coincidental?

Could this be the God of Revelry who almost descended earlier?

Had he really pissed off both of the highest-ranking figures in the universe?!

Dong Jin recalled Kale’s appearance and then glanced at the red-haired god’s overly handsome face, thinking it probably wasn’t the case.

But the moment the god spoke in his low, gravelly voice with a smile, Dong Jin couldn’t deceive himself any longer. He heard the god say: “Tonight, let us embark on this grand revelry together.”

With that line, if this wasn’t the God of Revelry, then who else could it be? ¹

Even if the hair and eye color were coincidental, and the line was a coincidence, how could the adapted version of “Divine Descent” that had been playing since the opening ceremony be explained? Could there really be so many coincidences?

Dong Jin, whose hopes for luck were shattered, couldn’t help but close his eyes in frustration.

When would this terrible luck of his come to an end?

While others marveled at the appearance of gods and demons at the opening ceremony, filled with exclamations, envy, and longing, Dong Jin only felt a cold sweat trickling down his back, watching the first two figures. He had a sense that the next second, his head might be separated from his body.

Just as he was about to give up on these flashy scenes and go to sleep, the opening ceremony, which had risen from the night, suddenly vanished into daylight.

When the screen faded from white back to black, both the scene and the music had completely changed.

A familiar 《Devil King》 melody cut through the space, trembling through all the universes in the dim midnight.

On the gradually brightening screen, Dong Jin was seen sitting at a piano in a black suit.

The bizarre white bandages and the crimson corner of his mouth, marked with red patterns, combined with the eerie and strange melody, caused the previously noisy and tumultuous universes to fall into an inexplicable silence for a moment.

Later, during the extraterrestrial tea party, casual conversations and random explosions in the hall, where the villains decided to bury fireworks instead of bombs, made all the trial participants who had undergone the same instance start to question if they were really experiencing the same trial as Dong Jin.

When the song 《Devil King》 reached its climax, and the scene of Dong Jin raising a dagger to the moon in the rain appeared, everyone had already guessed what was being shown on the screen—this was the highlight reel of the MVP of this trial.

And now, what was appearing on the screen was most likely the top MVP among the trillions of trial participants from the seven universes, the only one who held the title.

Immediately following the opening ceremony, this was being broadcast on the big screens across all universes—this was the significance of the top MVP.

If the top MVP was like this, what would the final FMVP’s scene be like?

At that moment, Dong Jin couldn’t help but think about this.

At this point, his highlight reel had not yet finished.

When the divine patterns slowly emerged on Kale’s body, even though Dong Jin was on a high floor, he could hear the rising discussions and exclamations from the building below.

When he destroyed the vortex door with a single strike in the daylight rain, the genuine admiration was almost tangible.

—Winning one battle made you the center of attention, the only superstar.

—Winning it all could even grant you immortality and eternal life.

Not only could the Cosmic Will not reject the Divine Selection, but even he, as a participant, was willing to sacrifice his life for the Divine Selection.

After silently watching the highlight reels of the seven MVPs selected from the seven universes, Dong Jin suddenly felt weary and went straight to his bedroom to fall into a deep sleep.

He wasn’t sure if it was because of seeing Lei Ming on the screen before sleeping, but the dangerous memories of the past, of the midnight blade dances, seemed to be awakened in his dreams. This sleep wasn’t peaceful for Dong Jin.

At three in the morning, before dawn, he suddenly woke up in a cold sweat.

He had dreamed of Lei Ming in a rage, causing the entire world to explode—those endless dark and bloody scenes had already become an unshakable nightmare for him.

After a while, Dong Jin, who had regained his composure, took a shower but found that sleep was now impossible.

At this moment, it felt like the aftereffects of the explosion in his dream were still lingering on his retinas.

With nothing else to do, Dong Jin casually took out the unknown crystal from the first trial and the silver chain that the Cosmic Will had compensated him with, and began slowly working on a craft project.

Half an hour later, a very fine silver chain was threaded through the ear hole Dong Jin had just made.

One end of the silver chain hung loosely, while the other end held the unknown crystal, swaying gently beneath his ear.

It was only then that Dong Jin finally understood the meaning of the crystal’s description: “It will change color according to the owner’s characteristics.”

What this meant was that the crystal would change color to match the color of his eyes under the light. Even more strangely, if Dong Jin wore special contact lenses, the crystal would intelligently match the color of the lenses.

At this, Dong Jin really wanted to say: Having 1/7 of a godhood still counts as a godhood, but is it really okay for such a gift to be turned into an accessory?

After adjusting the earring and lifting his spirits, Dong Jin was ready to go back to bed for a nap. But as he was about to leave the living room and head back to his bedroom, for some unknown reason, his steps began to slow down.

Just as he was about to pass the floor-to-ceiling window, his footsteps came to a complete stop.

At that moment, the message displayed on the window read:

[Not properly closed floor-to-ceiling window: This is an ordinary floor-to-ceiling window, the only thing unusual is that there’s someone outside at this very moment.]

—It wouldn’t be strange for someone to pass by outside the window.

—Provided that Dong Jin wasn’t living on the top floor.

In this universe, where most people were ordinary humans, it was impossible for someone to fly outside a floor-to-ceiling window a hundred meters up in the middle of the night, completely still.

—The one who did this couldn’t possibly be human.

Having already concluded the identity of the visitor, Dong Jin remained silent for a few seconds before finally walking toward the floor-to-ceiling window, where the cool night wind was blowing in. He calmly reached out and drew back the curtains.

The next second, a deep, amused voice followed the night breeze:

“Buona sera (Good evening)…”

“La mia, pola farfalla (My, Little Butterfly).” 

Even though Lei Ming was just greeting him normally, the suffocating pressure emanating from him, along with that innate, unparalleled wildness, still caused Dong Jin to pause for a brief moment in his breathing.

In the dim night, Dong Jin lifted his gaze, carefully staring at the god who had appeared without a sound.

There was no denying that as the God of the Night, Lei Ming fulfilled all of humanity’s hidden fantasies at midnight.

He was dressed in the colors of the moon, yet his entire being exuded violent hormones.

From the inside out, he resembled a perfect hunter.

Dong Jin had thought many times about what he should say when this moment came, to possibly gain a chance at survival. But when the moment truly arrived, a thousand words—both good and bad—came to mind, only to be dismissed by him.

Following his instincts, the only words he could muster were:

“…Is it too late to ask for a quicker, more painless death?”

After his words fell, the god’s response was a low, mocking laugh, accompanied by a sinister and deranged look in his eyes.

Seeing this, Dong Jin couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh in his heart.

Having just acquired a fragment of the Daytime godhood, could he really see the sun tomorrow?

TN:

Chat, is it okay to refer to your greatest enemy as “My little butterfly”? Urgently online waiting for an answer.

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Translator Notes

1. Because of a statement Kale made back in chapter 8.[↩]