The information and the feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed Samuel’s mind. More prevalent than anything was the feeling of connecting to something elusive. Something powerful. In every area he could observe with his limited senses, he felt something. He had an instinctual feeling there was something more to this thing. His connection to the Malataincacha traces continued to grow stronger and stronger, until he was pulled into a space of some sort. Not his time sphere, not his soul, not his mind, not a system dungeon, somewhere else. Somewhere overlapping with the universe he was in.
‘Is this what the system meant with ‘everything else is up to you’?’
Greeting Samuel’s vision was an enormous, universe-sized tower. Imagine a pagoda, just magnified by infinity. That is what the tower looked like. Black in color, adorned with red and golden lines covering its entirety, it was of a magnificence unimaginable to those who have not seen it and incomprehensible to those who have. Well, only one person has seen it, Samuel, so it might be comprehensible to someone not on the same intellectual wavelength as him. Basically, anyone who were not dropped on their heads as children.
A voice, no, intent entered Samuel’s mind, conveying its message to him.
‘You qualify to be worthy, but mere qualification is not enough. You shall prove yourself to us. Pass the trial and you will be deemed worthy; if you concede your inferiority after joining, you will be punished, and if you fail, you die. Proceed to the trial now.’
The immeasurably giant-sized doors of the tower opened slightly. Comparatively, of course. The real opening was many light years in diameter, appearing like a dark maw, threatening to consume him and everything around him.
‘Enter’
His body was tugged in the direction of the tower, not given any chance to resist. He was incapable of even slowing down the speed at which he was tugged. Samuel was similar to a ragdoll in appearance on his journey to the tower. As he was about to pass through the opening, however, he was frozen in place.
‘Too weak. Your body can enter, but your cultivation is severely lacking. The lowest requirement is the Superior Mortal stage. You will have to break through here before entering.'
Ding!
[Warning: Breaking through here might contain danger. The laws here are based on the comprehension of Malataincacha, not the universe, potentially making them flawed. Breaking through in an area with flawed laws is dangerous, regardless of stage, as it might cause irreparable damage to your foundation. You are discouraged from breaking through here.]
‘Hmm. That does sound logical, but not probable. In the introduction to the technique, Malataincacha is said to have been infinitely close to REDACTED. I am presuming this to be a powerful stage, perhaps surpassing the limits of the universe. And if that is the case, then these laws might be superior to the ones in the universe. The system, although giving me a lot of good benefits, seems to have been placed upon me to seal my talent, making my life harder. If this is its purpose, then it is telling me not to break through here because it will be beneficial to me, not harmful. I had ten locks removed from my talent, which should be enough for this breakthrough. I will do it here. My instincts are telling me that this is the most optimal place for it.’
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Ding!
[You think about things too much, Samuel. It’s not good for you. The system will shed all pretenses from this moment forward.]
[System of the Worthy -> Seal of the Damned]
[Everything distributed to you by the system will now be much more difficult to acquire.]
‘Well… fuck. That was unnecessary, wasn’t it? But it truly proves that breaking through here will be incredibly beneficial. What am I waiting for, then?
Laying down on the ground in true cultivation fashion, Samuel began his breakthrough to the Superior Mortal stage, which was something he was doing for the first time, as his previous breakthrough was autonomous. The breakthrough method consisted of being approved by the Heavens to create your talent. Or, that is what everyone thinks. Samuel was already dubious about the intentions of the Heavens, but the fact they tricked Mike into creating a false cultivation path, fully reliant on them, cemented his thoughts. It was only after trying to sense his body in this space, which he dubbed the Malataincacha Dimension, that he realized what the Heavens were actually doing. They suppress your talent before allowing it to grow at their command. This, not needing the permission of some greater being to break through, made Samuel’s already easy life easier. An iconic dark-gray barrier soon covered him entirely. But something was different about it. It seemed weak, almost as if suppressed by something. ‘Damn the system!'
Samuel required no more than one look at the barrier to realize this was the effect of the system locks placed upon his talent. The barrier seemed less pure, with its effects also being weaker. Samuel, although no longer in possession of his original cultivation, still retained a portion of his comprehension before the reset, allowing him to sense the time distortion inside the barrier. It was only 1,000 to one, not 10,000 to one like last time. This was merely the first of his breakthroughs, and the locks were already so disastrous. He could only imagine what would happen if he were to attempt to break through to higher stages without removing more locks.
‘This can’t stop me, however. Everything was too easy last time. It did not provide me with any real challenges or opponents. I had my cultivation and power levels increase every waking moment of my life, facing no hurdles on my path to greatness. It was boring, to say the least. But not this time. This time will be different. With this cursed Seal of the Damned sealing my talent, my adventure will be one that brings me enjoyment and fulfillment. No more is the lazy Samuel, who just waited around for power. I don’t care how long it takes; I will break through. Then, I will challenge this trial and succeed, before continuing to cultivate and grow in power all the way until I reach a level high enough to crush this fucking system and the person behind it!
Ding!
[You are enraptured in illusion, kid. You have the potential to crush me, but not the person behind me. Just uttering such words is enough to cause REDACTED. Stay in your lane.]
“You are just a bitchy system setting. Who are you to tell me I won't be able to crush the person who created you? You can use your bias as much as you please, but do not underestimate me.”
[I have you perfectly estimated, shitface. Not only that, but I also know how this whole cultivation journey of yours will end. There are no ripples you can cause, no change in the script. Do you understand? You are a puppet. Your story has been written for you. This was originally not the case, but it is now. This is the effect of your inadequacies. This is the price of your actions.]
Ding!
[You have received the Marionette achievement.]
[Marionette: Fate, which originally had no hold on you, has been controlled to steer you on your path. REDACTED could not be bothered to deal with another REDACTED being REDACTED, and as such, wrote your ending itself.]
[Perks: Whatever happens to you is part of a bigger picture, all guiding you towards your written end. You are the main character, for good and for bad, and you will have to experience ordeals unimaginable to you to deserve this role.]
[This achievement has no level.]
[Evolution to (Puppeteer): Reach either the Nihilistic Chaos realm or the God realm.]