Episode 187

Each step that Su Jin took was basically time passing by. As he walked through the passage of time, his psychokinesis grew stronger and stronger. It had gone from being merely a small stream to a fountain, from a fountain to a river. This was his journey, an ordeal he needed to go through in order to become stronger.

There was no guaranteed method of training one’s psychokinesis, which was why many thought of it as a useless Spirit Power. If a veteran couldn’t increase or improve their Spirit Power quickly enough over time, they were as doomed as those without Spirit Power.

That was why, in order to survive, many owners who had awakened psychokinesis chose to give it up in hope of getting a different Spirit Power that could help them to stay alive for a longer time in the Handbook’s universe.

But while there was no sure way to increase one’s psychokinesis, this was a Spirit Power that could grow by itself with time, which was something that almost none of the other Spirit Powers could do. The only problem was that this increase was extremely slow, and most owners couldn’t afford to wait for it to grow. Many of them died in a Challenge before it could reach sufficient levels.

But in the long river of time, time wasn’t a problem. As Su Jin walked on, he looked through and experienced countless lives, which in turn helped him to grow.

His physical body was rapidly aging, but his psychokinesis was rising like a mighty river. He could see the pattern of his hair without his eyes and he could hear his breathing without his ears.

Even so, Su Jin’s brows were furrowed even more tightly than before. He could also sense very clearly that he was about to finish using up his entire lifespan.

“My physical body is very strong and I’m almost an immortal. If I just lived my life without accident, I would live for another few thousand years. But in this place, a few thousand years is nothing. It’s going to be fully consumed soon.” Su Jin sighed. If he could disconnect himself from Hell’s Handbook, he would really be considered a deity in his world. But in this place, that was nothing to boast about.

He had the resilience of psychokinesis, a long life that came with his abnormally strong physical body as well as two types of Spirit Power. He was the perfect candidate for this mission, and there was probably nobody more suitable than him even if the Mad Hatter combed through the entirety of the Handbook universe.

In other words, the Mad Hatter must have targeted him a long time ago and he was probably why his team ended up in a Level A Challenge so quickly after the last one. There was no logical explanation besides this.

He sighed heavily. He was too weak to even refuse to cooperate with the Mad Hatter, so he had no choice but to carry on his way.

Finally, Su Jin had become so old that he couldn’t walk anymore. His previously ultra-powerful body had become weak, and his breathing sounded more like wheezing now. Everything had to come to an end eventually, and Su Jin felt like he had almost reached his own end.

“Is that how it ends?” sighed Su Jin. He was really tired. Even though his psychokinesis was incredibly strong now, it was hard for it to help him with this deep physical exhaustion he felt.

He quickly shook his head. If he stopped now, he could be free of this terrible tiredness, but his teammates would be doomed. He was sure that if he failed to complete this mission, the Mad Hatter would not feel compelled to protect his teammates anymore.

“I can’t rest now!” Su Jin looked to the front wearily as a silver light enveloped his body.

Back inside the train, the Mad Hatter kept tapping the table with his fingers. He had forgotten how long it had been since he felt this anxious.

Su Jin was very powerful, and if he managed to go up a notch, he would be able to go down the same path that the Mad Hatter took once upon a time. And the Mad Hatter was certain that Su Jin would definitely go down that path. It was just a matter of time.

But Su Jin was still a mortal right now. What he had asked of Su Jin was actually almost impossible. But there was nobody else more suitable than Su Jin.

Su Jin’s psychokinesis enabled him to walk through the long river of time without breaking down, while his strong physical body enabled him to walk further down this river.

The Mad Hatter wished Su Jin was just a bit more powerful. If the situation wasn’t so urgent, he was willing to give Su Jin a bit more time to grow or even help him in the shadows.

“But… I don’t have enough time.” The Mad Hatter shook his head.

At the same time, a completely white skinned goddess sat in front of the Mad Hatter. She looked very strange and looked nothing like a human. Her four tentacles were wrapped around Kano Mai, and she looked like she was going to eat Kano Mai. Situ Jin and Wu Chen were both watching her warily.

The white goddess ignored the two men and said to the Mad Hatter, “Mad Hatter, you owe me one for this. It takes a lot out of me to restore an incomplete soul. It’s even worse than making one from scratch.”

The Mad Hatter nodded and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t lose out. Besides, I’m doing this to help all of you to leave the constraints of the Handbook. It’s only right for the rest of you to chip in when you can.”

“Mad Hatter, it’s not that we don’t trust you, but this is a really difficult matter. Counting on one owner doesn’t sound like it’ll work,” said a deity with a tiger head in a grim voice.

The Mad Hatter laughed. “I’m pretty confident in this boy. When it happens, all of you are going to owe him a big favor.”

“As long as he can help us get out of this place, owing him a favor is nothing.” The one who spoke was the Goddess of Harvest from before.

Situ Jin and Wu Chen looked at the deities in the carriage and did not dare to move at all. These were deities whom the Mad Hatter had gathered from all the different carriages. All of them were sentient, and they knew about the Handbook. Also, they were all definitely characters from Level B or even Level A Challenges.

Just then, the Mad Hatter suddenly turned to Situ Jin and frowned. “There’s even one fellow on his team who doesn’t have Spirit Power yet.”

Situ Jin felt a little embarrassed after the Mad Hatter pointed that out. It was true that he was the only one without Spirit Power, but that wasn’t something he could do anything about.

“What sort of Spirit Power would you like to have?” asked the Mad Hatter.

Situ Jin blinked in surprise at the question. Wu Chen understood the implications of that question faster and answered on Situ Jin’s behalf, “He wants a Spirit Power that can make him a good assassin.”

“An assassin type Spirit Power?” The Mad Hatter stroked his chin and looked at the other deities in the carriage. His gaze finally landed on a squirrel that was a meter in height.

“Fermos, if I remember correctly, your power lies in controlling shadows, right?” the Mad Hatter asked the squirrel.

The giant squirrel didn’t say anything. It flicked its fingers and a few smaller squirrels appeared on the table, except that they were merely silhouettes.

These supposedly 2D silhouettes were like a 3D inky mass as they jumped and flipped about on the table.

Fermos the squirrel pulled its fingers back, and the inky squirrel shadows jumped into Fermos’ shadow and disappeared without a trace, like a drop of water in the ocean.

After that, Fermos sank into its own shadow as well. Once it had completely disappeared into its own shadow, the shadow began to move on its own. When the shadow hid among other shadows, it was impossible to find.

Situ Jin’s eyes lit up immediately. This was the perfect skill for an assassin to have. Being able to control shadows and fade into a shadow was like a dream come true. If he had a skill like this, then nobody would be able to preempt his attacks. Even if he couldn’t kill the other party, he could ensure that he would be able to escape.

“This Spirit Power should be quite suitable for you, but you have to become a believer in Fermos to get it. But since you’re Su Jin’s teammate, you don’t have to be a believer. You can just be a protector of Fermos’ believers,” said the Mad Hatter as though he could decide everything on Fermos’ behalf. At the same time, Fermos didn’t object and just looked at Situ Jin for a response.

Situ Jin didn’t care if he had to become a believer or not. He just wanted to possess a skill or power that could make him stronger. Besides, all he had to do was to be a protector of the believers and not an actual believer.

Fermos could see that Situ Jin was agreeable, so it leaped onto Situ Jin’s head and two black crystalline tears flowed out of its black eyes.

The tears rolled onto Situ Jin’s head and went right in. He could feel the power of the teardrops instantly.

“Thank you so much!” said Situ Jin gratefully. It was so important for owners to activate their Spirit Power. If the Mad Hatter hadn’t helped him today, he had no idea when he would get one, and there was no guarantee that the one he got randomly would be suitable for him either.

“There’s no need to thank me. I owe that fellow, so helping you is the same as making it up to him.” The Mad Hatter looked up at the roof of the carriage. The only thing he could do now was to pray that Su Jin succeeded, but as a god himself, there was nobody higher for him to pray to.

If Su Jin succeeded, he could carry on with his plans. But if Su Jin failed, he had no choice but to leave with Pinocchio and wait for the next time the Handbook erased these deities’ memories.

But if he waited for the next time, he wouldn’t be able to get Su Jin here again. Owners were not allowed to go through the same Challenge twice.

The white goddess let go of Kano Mai. She felt more relaxed than ever before, and she could sense that her soul had been fully restored.

She thanked the white goddess and the goddess nodded in response. Just then, the train suddenly shook violently.

KABOOM! The loud blast put a maniacal smile on the Mad Hatter’s face. Su Jin had succeeded! That mere mortal had actually succeeded!

“Get ready, everyone! We’re going to get out of this accursed cage soon! But the Handbook isn’t going to just let us get away like that, so a big fight is unavoidable. Let’s get ready to fight, my friends!” yelled the Mad Hatter loudly.

Loud roars could be heard from all parts of the carriage, and the deities began to transform. The white goddess’ four tentacles turned into spears, and a golden armor formed around her body. Fermos was also dressed in a deep black armor, and the sword in its hand was nearly as long as itself.

“Everyone, fight with everything you have and we’ll gather again once the battle is done!” cried out the Mad Hatter. The train shook violently again and the train derailed from the long river of time.