CHAPTER 84: FEAR OF ASURA: END

"K-kkhhh..."

Johan observed closely as James choked on his own blood, crimson pooling out from the gaping hole in his windpipe—and the culprit of that wound was still there.

James clutched the dagger tightly as if it provided some sort of comfort. Sensing that, Johan kicked at the palm holding the dagger, making the blade—already buried in James’ throat—twist harshly, drawing even more pain.

James stared at Johan with eyes that said, "Show some mercy. I am you, and I am also dying."

To which Johan just chuckled.

"If you weren’t me, there might’ve actually been a chance for mercy."

Johan firmly pressed down on the hilt of the dagger with his boot.

"You’re my ugly. Everything I want to leave behind... That’s why I deserve the worst."

James died on the spot, and Johan took a deep breath, trying his hardest to remove the last two hundred years from memory.

He watched the body closely as, over time, it vanished into the sand. James’ words still gave him nightmares, but he just didn’t care anymore.

’System... What did you do? Tell me the truth.’ Johan asked in a voice that hinted he’d finally figured something out.

[First of all, congratulations on winning to the host!!]

Firecrackers exploded on the blue screen, the words glowing golden, then white, then golden again—flickering on beat like a smart bulb.

[Now, what does host mean by this? Gambler’s Gambit is only usable if the host has points.]

"Heh, Melodis had already gathered back more than 10% of his holy aura, making the ratio of holy aura inside my body 60–40." Johan scoffed with a frown, continuing in an even louder voice:

"My mental state was already fucked due to the solitude and that bastard’s yapping... And for the entire last week I’ve been tryna figure this out—why did I instantly gain clarity of thought?

I didn’t even try thinking of resisting James before, maybe because of some condition in the trial, or because I was breaking due to multiple factors." Johan’s voice slowed, becoming more deliberate.

"And now I’ve noticed... it was right after that weird warning you gave..." Johan’s voice lowered, eyes narrowing at the blue screen.

The flickering animation and firecrackers stopped. Instantly, the interface became more plain—just white text slowly typing itself in the center of a dark blue-bordered box.

[There was a loud siren sound that rang at the warning. I believe that was the reason for the host’s sudden clarity.]

The message sounded cold. Then the blue screen instantly vanished, leaving only the same old sandcastle in front of Johan.

Johan sighed, exasperated, leaning back into the moist black sand.

*’So the sudden sound woke me up?

From over two hundred years of constant verbal and emotional torture... and the literal God Tree’s corruption? A siren sound? Bullshit. At least lie better. It’s embarrassing for me to have such a bad liar as my system.’*

Suddenly, the blue screen reappeared—

[Host is overthinking. Mental illness detected. Please get therapy after getting out.]

Johan smiled softly, completely ignoring the jab.

"I don’t care about your reasons. But thank you. If not for you, I would’ve definitely died—and in the worst possible way for me too. Thank you for saving my life."

He genuinely felt grateful to the system at this moment. Even though it was pretty useless most times, in the moments that mattered... it always came in clutch.

The blue screen vibrated slightly, as if blushing—then vanished again, trying to suppress it.

’Aww!!’ Johan felt like he’d finally encountered a tsundere after coming to this world. Even though it was just his system... a tsundere was a tsundere.

100 years later~

"I see... so I can make perfect clones even while casting a spell. And this can also duplicate the spell as well... interesting."

Johan thought of thousands of ways to catch enemies off guard with this discovery, his lips curling upwards with satisfaction.

"I can teleport too... Like, let’s say the enemy is right in front of me. I use a black hole. The enemy’s focus should be on the incoming spell... and then, right behind him, the black hole just manifests, destroying him to atoms instantly—without even knowing what hit him!"

Johan laughed with an evil face.

He didn’t know how much time had passed—and he didn’t care. Instead of wasting this hyperbolic training chamber opportunity, he chose to make the best of it.

He already felt like an old man after transmigrating... and now, he felt like a wise grandpa who knew everything about the world from overthinking so much. From physics theories to transforming medicine from back home, to healing spells, to new spells similar to [Defuse]. He had thought of everything.

He didn’t have access to all the research notes of Velmire, but his sharp photographic memory came in clutch. With the little he remembered, he was able to make massive discoveries in [Defuse].

’In theory, it’s possible to "defuse" biological life!’

’Everything is made out of Aether, and Aether is basically binary code too—just like spells. Let’s say, 010101. And what [Defuse] could do was transform these numbers to 000002—or anything other than 01—which should theoretically make it crumble on its own.’

’Now what if this was done to a living man? Will he just be erased out of existence? This place must also be made of Aether too, right? What if I try to defuse it?’

The black sand and purple sky seemed to tremble, as if they sensed Johan’s thoughts.

Suddenly, an extremely strong gust of wind blew toward Johan, startling him to full alert. He sharply sat up from the soft sand—his new bed.

But the gust moved unnaturally toward Johan’s lower body—then crashed into the black sand right beneath his feet, raising a whirlwind of sand, forcing him to shield his eyes.

Johan suspected this was a message from the trial and instantly began clearing the grains from his mouth and eyes.

Suddenly, his eyes widened to the limit at what had been revealed. But it wasn’t fear or discomfort. What he felt was... relief.

As if the timer he had set before a three-minute plank had finally rung.

"Johan Von Matilda, Congratulations. You’ve successfully passed the Trial: Fear of Asura."

But before Johan even had time to celebrate, his mind went blank—As if his consciousness had been yanked directly out of the place where he stood.