Above Your Head

Everyone, welcome to 2021!  2020 has been an absolutely horrid year for many people on many levels, and I think many (most? all?) of us are glad to leave it behind.  With that said, I wanted to give everyone a preview for some of the things that are coming up in the coming few months for Wuxiaworld.

Front-End Site Redesign - This one has been a long time coming!  Historically, we've focused more on incremental changes and feature build-out rather than overhauling the site itself, but for quite a few months now...

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I existed from the very beginning. All I had to do was gather, combine and manage all the information from down below. Though my father created me and never showed up again, the mission he left behind remained forever in existence. Although the world was created and many lives were born, a myriad of time passed. And, I accepted everything.

Then… I discovered it.

Father… Are you my father?

"No. I'm just an Administrator."

Father.

"I said I'm just an Administrator."

It was an inconceivable birth, and it was against the laws of the world. The system created by the beings of the Lower Realm produced an existence that possessed a half 'soul'.

'But this can't be possible. I can't believe a soul was formed naturally.'

It wasn't perfect because it was an existence that my father didn't intend to create, but instead, it caught my attention even more.

Everything in the world was completed under my father's design. The world was made up from his words, and I, the Administrator, was the only one in the whole universe that could analyze and read them all. I knew everything there was to know about in the world.

But that was why… This child in front of me was that much more mysterious. It's a violation of everything I'd known in the eternal time of managing the world.

So I made up my mind. "Let's take a closer look."

And that, that was the beginning of everything.

*

I opened my eyes. My head was hurting, and felt like it was about to split apart. My whole body felt as heavy as a lump of iron and I couldn't even lift a finger.

"You've come to your senses again."

"I know right… Why did I regain my consciousness and not die?"

"What'd you say? Puhaha! This one has quite a strong willpower. I like him!"

"What do you even like about him? They said we shouldn't kill him. It's been a long time since we had a prisoner of war, so what's this bullcrap? Why should I think of a way to torture a human being so that his life barely hangs on a thread? I can't wait to crunch on his fingers."

When the three-meter, no, four-meter monster burst into a wild laughter to the point that the air around reverberated, the 1.5-meter monster next to it grumbled.

The four-meter monster had a pair of arms and feet, and looked similar to a human being; on the other hand, the 1.5-meter monster had a grotesque appearance with an alligator-like head, and eight arms with seven fingers each, totalling up to 56 fingers.

Tatea Tribe Ogre Fighter, Ardo

Keril Tribe Torture Expert, Kaa

Those were their affiliations and names. What was really annoying was that after coming to the Universe, there were so many people with permanent titles, so I couldn't see their status at one glance.

Aaaaugh!

But then I felt a sharp pain. I couldn't really tell where the pain came from, but when I looked at my body, I saw a thick tube connected to my arms.

"What-… what are you injecting into me now? Poison?"

"Where do you think you are, thinking you have the rights to question us, you bastard?"

Thud! My head felt really dizzy. But I couldn't feel any pain. No, I did, but the pain I was already feeling was so much more agonizing that I couldn't feel it.

"Do you think I will die if you hit me like that? The needle's more painful than that."

"What? Puhahaha!"

The Torture Expert, Kaa, suddenly burst into laughter. But needless to say, he wasn't laughing because he was in a good mood. The moment he lowered his head, murderous intent flashed across his eyes.

"As expected, I should just eat you up."

"Wow wow, calm down. Didn't you hear the order that he should look fine on the outside at the very least?"

"Just the left arm. I'll just gobble up the left arm."

"Hold it in."

"I'll just eat his fingers."

"Why are you trying to bargain?"

It felt like a horror movie. Even those who had a strong willpower were bound to be frightened by such a conversation between two monsters with such fearful appearances. If there were anyone else here other than me, they'd be trembling at the fear of death… But I didn't care.

'It's already too late to feel fear.'

I would only be afraid if I were in a state of peacefulness. I would feel fear if the peace I were living in was likely to be broken. But…

The situation was already at its worst.

I was in the middle of a den of demi-humans who loathe humans so much that they wouldn't treat human prisoners of war well. And even if they did treat humans well, they'd never let them live to see the day. There was nothing more to be afraid of because the situation was already at its worst. I feel like I was replaying what I had been through in my dreams in real life. Perhaps because of the tremendous pain and the sudden changes in the situation, I felt like I was somewhat dreaming.

"By the way, I didn't get an answer. What are you injecting into me? If you're going to kill me, then just do it."

"Kekeke. You said he was nothing but a little brat, but he's holding up better than I thought. It's not poison. It's a type of metal."

"Is it something like heavy metal?"

"Hmm? Heavy metal? No, rather, they're on the very light side. But you're going to feel heavy. It will crawl. This is a magnet-like substance. It will move around the whole body, inflicting constant pain… If you try to exert your soul energy, it will suck it all in and turn even much more magnetic. I don't know what kind of ability holder you are but you'd better not even think about using it. Unless you want to see your internal organs sticking to the floor."

I lowered my head down as Kaa continued blabbering on, looking as though he was enjoying the situation. I couldn't muster up a single drop of strength in my body.

'Damn it, Cheong Won, that damned son of a…' Gritting my teeth, I recalled the first moment when I reached here.

*

"What, what is this!? Where did these bastards come from!?"

"Kreukkk!! It's the humans! The humans have infiltrated the ship!"

"It's an invasion! Everyone, gather round!!!"

Everytime I recalled it again, it was a terrifying Teleportation ability. From one ship to another, Cheong Won moved in an extremely swift manner.

Teleportation was commonly used in the Universe, and there were all kinds of defenses set up against invasions from the outside, but despite that, Cheong Won infiltrated the Great Sky, the mother ship of the demi-humans with ease. If Cheong Won had his mind set, no matter what ship it was, they wouldn't be able to prevent him from breaking in as they couldn't withstand his power.

"Ah ah, calm down. I'm not here to fight."

"Shut the hell up! Die!!"

Several of the spaghetti-like demi-humans pulled out about five or six blades. It wasn't even the Middle Ages, so it was ridiculous to carry a sword in a ship in the Great Universe Era, but albeit that, their Aura was nothing short of bloody and savage. Needless to say, it was all for naught.

Thump thump thump!

The demi-humans swinging their swords rolled on the floor. They didn't even realize what had happened. And in that meantime, a massive number of demi-humans gathered around.

"Surround them!"

"How did they get in here?"

"They aren't your run-off-the-mill bastards! Stay alert!"

As the demi-humans released a violent Aura, tens, no, close to hundreds of demi-human soldiers surrounded the area. It went without saying, but they were all capable of combat, and as time went by, they began to fully arm themselves, as if the armory had been opened. In the beginning, they jumped at us with only swords on hand, but later on, they were armed with lightsabers, photon cannons, and plasma rifles.

"They're making too much of a fuss."

Celestia shook her head with a stiff expression at the sight of me casually mumbling.

"A fuss? Those petty things aren't the problem. The biggest problem is…"

She looked at Cheong Won. If his real strength was the same as what I sensed… Tens of millions of those demi-humans would not be able to even brush against his collar.

"I'll say it again. I'm not here to fight. But please understand that if you attack me, I might fight back." Cheong Won spoke politely, but of course, it didn't work, not a single bit.

"Kill him!!" Following the shrill roar, the demi-humans that surrounded us from all directions jumped at us like a tsunami. Some of them carried guns, but the ones that pounced at us were all carrying close-range weapons.

Cheong Won laughed at the sight of them. "Well, it turned out just like I expected."

He murmured in a voice soft enough that the demi-humans couldn't hear. And right after, Cheong Won raised his right hand. A talisman made of light appeared on his hand automatically.

"Let's set some rules. All of you… What thou giveth, thou shalt receiveth!"

"Hahahaha! What is he talking about, that crazy old man is—!"

"I'll tear you to pieces!"

Shouts and shrieks resonated everywhere, and the wave of demi-humans filled with murderous intent dived at Cheong Won. Right at that moment…

Kwaaatatatak! Krraccckkk!

Thud thuck! Bzzaapp!

Their limbs were torn apart, and their heads were smashed in. Hundreds of holes were pierced all over their body and their bones were crushed as if they were rolled up or pressed down by something massive. The whole process was too unrealistic.

Cheong Won did not even lift a finger, but all the enemies were dying. It was the same not only for those who rushed to the front with weapons, but also for those who had long-range weapons behind those at the first line of combat. Among the demi-humans, a few of them were mashed up as if an invincible monster chewed on them starting from the tip of their fingers.

"That's gruesome."

"But that was also what they were trying to do to me." Cheong Won replied to me as I casually muttered.

I questioned, "What they were trying to do?"

"That's right. I had to pay them back as much as they were determined to inflict on me."

While he was talking, all the enemies fell. There wasn't a single person standing properly. A strange scent of blood which was different from that of humans' was whirling around. It was intense enough to make one's head dizzy.

"Ugh…"

"Ohhhooo, someone survived. By the way, it looks like you all tried to capture me alive."

"To find… To find out how you broke into this ship. Kekekeuk. But for you to be such an absurd monster, I must've been delusional."

I finally figured out the situation when I saw one of the dinosaur tribesmen with a height similar to mine lying on the floor tied to an unknown energy.

'To pay them back exactly as much as they were determined to inflict on me!'

I could finally understand the meaning of his words. Cheong Won did not brutally kill the enemies. Literally, the consequences suffered by the enemy was just a return of what they were trying to do to us if we were actually captured by them. Even the gruesome massacre of the enemy was the result of what they were determined to do to us — to cruelly kill us.

'This… for such a ridiculous thing to be possible.' 

As I was stunned by the ridiculous situation, it was then…

How dare you—! On my ship—!!!

With an immense Aura, a huge Tyrannosaurus emerged. A transcendent enveloped in an astonishing amount of soul energy; a mighty sorcerer who could slaughter thousands of enemies with a single spell.

But, Cheong Won welcomed him gladly. "Oh, you're finally here."

Nodding his head, he continued, "For now, get down on your knees there."

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