God’s Toolbox (2)

I managed to put the Latens Cube into my inventory, but a problem arose.

“Suho, you said you were confident?”

That ego with a destructive personality was exercising its right to remain silent.

Rewinding time a bit to about an hour earlier.

Following Suho’s advice, I placed my palm on the Latens Cube. It began to vibrate slowly where my hand touched.

The humming that had been like a phone vibration grew louder and, as the vibration intensified, started shaking more violently.

『You bitch!! There’s no use struggling! Open up now! Spread your legs and welcome this “Suho”! Uhahahaha! Such a temper tantrum! Yes, that’s the taste when you get to eat it(?)!』

“Hey, hey!”

Just as I was about to shout at Suho’s alarming rant, the Latens Cube’s vibrations increased.

Someone else sounded even more flustered than I was.

『Huh? Oh! What’s this! You bitch! Hey, hey, this isn’t just a tantrum! You’re overreacting! Oh? Oh! Th-that place is off limits!』

I wanted to know what the ego meant by “there,” but before I could ask, my right hand on the Latens Cube was rudely flicked away.

The sensation was like a woman whose wrist had been grabbed by an unpleasant man violently jerking it free—a very “feely” feeling.

Before the unpleasant mix of rejection and triumph could settle, I asked Suho what was happening.

“What’s going on right now?”

『Master!』

Suho’s voice called urgently.

“What?”

“I said what!!”

“This bastard. Try that again and I’ll uninstall you and toss you into a furnace!”

“…What?”

“Hah… fine. From now on you’re ‘Arun 2.’”

I actually preferred the previously serious personality.

Perhaps because it believed we could avoid the situation by backing off, Arun 2’s tone turned playful.

But I had no intention of retreating. After all the trouble of dodging monster packs and getting trapped in barriers, I wasn’t going to return empty-handed.

Frustrated and angry, I channeled Deicide and struck the Latens Cube downward.

Thud―

Ignoring Arun 2’s warning, I rained down punches laced with Deicide and Destruction on the Latens Cube, which was turning increasingly red.

“Wanna die?”

I snapped at Arun 2 for using informal speech and resumed pounding the cube.

The red spread faster, as if swelling from each blow.

Even though I should have avoided it, a perverse certainty nagged that this method was right and that I was doing well.

Boom―thud―! Thump―! Kuuuuung―!

When Deicide or Destruction fully activated and struck the Latens Cube, it sounded like hitting a person with bare hands. When only partially activated, striking different parts produced a roaring noise.

Arun 2’s shouts to dodge echoed loudly in my head as mechanical beeps repeating “error” sounded continuously.

Alongside that came various impact noises.

With Arun 2’s curses, a tense, bomb‑ready atmosphere filled the air, and the Latens Cube’s top surface finally began to redden.

Now the word “error” sped up until it became a continuous “beep!”

Beep―! Beep―! Beep―! Beeeeeep―!!

When only an area slightly larger than a palm remained white on the top, I summoned Deicide and Destruction together and slammed down with both hands.

Wham―! Kuuuuuu―

It sounded like hands clasping a person’s back and slamming down; the Latens Cube kuuued like a machine suddenly shutting off. The red glow faded and it fell silent.

“…Phew, good.”

Suho, who’d been noisy until a moment ago, calmed me simply by rejoicing and acknowledging that we’d overcome the crisis.

A string of messages that further lifted my mood streamed up.

‘What kind of bullshit is this…’

The deactivated Latens Cube sat alone on the floor, and a hollow gust seemed to pass through the room.

I roughly understood the skill description, but I had no idea what the title’s explanation meant.

Whether it knew my feelings or not, Suho’s fussing continued.

It closed the message, pointed at the unlit Latens Cube, and asked, “So is this completely over now?”

I wanted to ask Suho why it defined the Latens Cube as female, but I decided against it.

I took out a communication crystal and was about to pour divine power into it to ask what to do with the Latens Cube.

Crackle―

“Huh?”

Patztsztztztz— crack!!

Blue electricity flashed and vanished before my eyes.

It felt like being slapped with a loud smack in the middle of the road just as I was about to meet my girlfriend for lunch.

“Huh? This…”

Should I blame myself for taking out the communication crystal just because Suho said so?

No matter how much divine power I poured into the crystal, it wouldn’t revive. It was already completely done for.

After that day, Suho—or rather Arun 2—remained silent for a while.

The only library in Exorsus.

Three people had gathered in the library that usually held only a single librarian.

“Still no contact?”

“Yes. Ugh… This guy—isn’t he a habitual offender?”

At Talis’s question, Shio groaned and stared miserably at the communication crystal. Even when infusing divine power, it showed no sign of connecting.

“How many days has it been?”

“It’s been three days today.”

“Hmm…”

Talis’s worry deepened.

Transcendents differ from representatives: representatives may enter the Monster Belt during a Monster Wave, but transcendents may not. Frustrating as it was, they had to wait.

“It doesn’t seem completely wrong.”

“What? Bioss, how can you be so sure? This is the reaction when a communication crystal is completely broken.”

Shio grew agitated, more exasperated than their master, Bioss.

But Bioss and Talis didn’t scold Shio either. They knew how much Shio was suffering.

The Monster Wave itself had changed from before, but if Shio hadn’t warned Kim Han, he likely would have been finished defending against the fiends in the Monster Wave.

That realization made them feel even more responsible, and they spent each day in agonizing worry.

Moreover, Kim Han wasn’t just a representative—he could realize their hopes, and he had already begun delivering results beyond promise.

So it was only natural that the three were even more concerned.

“Tomorrow—tomorrow we’ll know. Whether something happened to the disciple or not.”

“Tomorrow? What about tomorrow…! Ah!!”

“Yes.”

Someone else was equally anxious: Violentia.

She pressed one temple as if she had a migraine while staring at a single report.

“Is this for real?”

“…Yes.”

Violentia set the paper down and coldly faced the anxious representative: Representative Neo deceased.

Just one line, but the single line felt portentous.

The cause of death was unknown. The representative had died during training under unclear circumstances.

Representative Neo had suffered severe injuries on Monster Wave day 46.

Not only was the Force Core broken, but he had received a puncture wound to the abdomen while fighting a foul‑smelling, grotesque slime fiend called Trash.

About 130 representatives were severely injured that day. Healers, mages, and priests sutured and treated them, yet this morning many were found cold and dead.

“Cause? What do the healers say?”

“They… say they can’t tell…”

Violentia sighed, and the western guard captain’s office grew heavy with tension.

Had she never taken the post defending the entire western wall? Had she wasted energy getting offended by comparisons to Benialis? She didn’t know.

So far, over a thousand representatives had been maimed. Knights dispatched by the Dark Empire and mages from the Black Tower had also lost more than two thousand lives.

At least, over time, the combat power of surviving representatives had surged.

Sometimes they finished by morning, but more often natural enemies—fiends they were ill‑suited to face—appeared and it wasn’t enough. Still, the number of dead or maimed representatives gradually decreased.

“We have to… give up, right?”

“…What?! The Benialis faction already has rumors that several representatives are dead! Why, why are we first!”

“Yeah. But that idiot Benialis hid it well while many of ours saw it, right? It can’t be helped. Probably tomorrow no one will volunteer to defend the Monster Wave.”

“…But!”

“Enough. By the way, are there any deaths on the northern wall?”

“Yes… Hah, but there are many injured there too…”

“Perhaps… perhaps we’re ignoring the most terrifying enemy.”

Violentia murmured so softly the representative across the desk couldn’t hear, and she fell silent for a long time afterward.

It was strange for a representative to die during training, but if it wasn’t hers, what did it matter?

Still, there were too many representatives who’d seen corpses due to complacent handling.

If anything, it was a relief that Monster Wave day 55 ended quickly.

Violentia lifted the crystal and infused mana.

News that Violentia would step down as western wall captain during the Monster Wave spread through Exorsus that very evening.

Above all, the rumor that a representative from Violentia’s faction had died during training spawned endless gossip.

Benialis’s faction spent the evening touting that none of their representatives had died, and many representatives flocked to the eastern wall Benialis defended.

Faced with the endless stream of representatives, Benialis pretended to open supplies and held a grand festival on the evening of day 55 to raise morale.

“That’s it!! Uha ha ha!!”

Benialis, who’d worn a gentle smile before the other representatives, retreated to his private guard captain’s office, cheered, and got drunk on the high‑end wine he’d saved.

Now he firmly believed his organization would win, surpassing Violentia and the riffraff of the northern wall.

Benialis, who had been sipping wine late into the night, woke with a frown at the rough presence shaking him awake.

“What the hell!!”

“Bi-big trouble!! Lord Benialis!”

“What big trouble? Have the monsters already swarmed?”

“Ah, no. Qu-quick! Quickly, outside!”

He glared at the representative who dragged him, but the fellow was stubborn—either drugged or still drunk.

Dragged out like that, Benialis sensed a different atmosphere on the wall than usual.

An unpleasant silence settled—stillness, cold.

Every representative’s gaze was fixed on the sky.

It was Monster Wave day 56—the 30th, the last day of November.

All month long, the sky over Exorsus had displayed the faces and names of the dead, their causes of death, and the names of their patron gods.

Thirteen names appeared.

One was a warrior from Violentia’s faction; the other twelve belonged to Benialis.

Those who had been staring up shifted their gaze like contagion to Benialis.

Faced with tens of thousands of eyes—over ten thousand pairs—staring at him, Benialis bolted into the guard captain’s office as if fleeing.

Before Monster Wave day 56 even began, three thousand representatives deserted Benialis’s faction that morning.