Chapter 492
“Hahahaha! Good! Very good!”
The Shopkeeper burst into laughter. His emotions overflowed violently, completely out of control.
Taesan judged that he wasn’t in the right state to answer any questions, so he turned to Balbabamba.
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
[Ask.]
“While that Transcendent was stealing faith from multiple planets, didn’t other gods interfere?”
[By other gods, you mean the Concept Gods, right?]
Invading other worlds and stealing their faith—anyone with enough power could do it. It didn’t seem like the kind of action that would go unchecked. Balbabamba replied calmly.
[It’s simple. Most Concept Gods don’t care about such trivial matters.]
“Trivial?”
[From the perspective of the universe, even if a few planets fall under control, it’s still a small issue. Of course, there are Concept Gods who disapprove of such things. Normally, they would have intervened, but this time they couldn’t. Because there’s a Concept God backing that Transcendent.]
“A Concept God is supporting him?”
[Not all Concept Gods who rule over concepts are noble and detached. Some seek to expand their power and influence. That’s why that Transcendent was able to invade multiple worlds.]
Balbabamba spoke with clear displeasure.
[He’s quiet for now, perhaps because expanding too much could provoke other Concept Gods into action.]
“Who is that Concept God?”
[We don’t know. He’s hiding himself.]
“I see.”
Taesan stroked his chin. Reading his thoughts, Balbabamba said calmly,
[You don’t need to worry. If the Concept God intervenes directly, the trial itself would lose meaning. The Transcendents observing you will respond accordingly.]
“That’s fine, then.”
Taesan nodded.
By now, the Shopkeeper had regained his composure. With an excited face, he approached Taesan.
“I must have shown you an unpleasant sight. Then…”
“The discussion is over.”
The Shopkeeper smirked.
“Then, Balbabamba.”
[So I have to do it after all.]
Balbabamba grumbled as he tore open space. Taesan stepped into it.
As he moved toward a new world, the Shopkeeper spoke quietly.
“I’ll be watching with anticipation.”
Taesan stepped into the world.
[You have activated Concealment [Chaos].]
[You have activated Baal’s Layered Darkness.]
First, he hid his presence. Taesan’s body was shrouded in gray mist and erased from the world. Even a Faith God couldn’t detect him unless they were nearby—perfect concealment.
He then expanded his senses.
He analyzed everything in the world he had arrived in. In an instant, vast information about the planet flowed into him.
The planet’s size was about half that of Earth. Across its lands lived small humanoids, smaller than humans.
Likely dwarves. Their individual strength wasn’t impressive—most were no stronger than average humans, except for a few.
But amidst them, he sensed an immense power.
An Immortal.
‘So that’s the ruler of this planet?’
There was no trace of a Transcendent’s presence. Taesan gathered mana.
[You have activated Teleport [Chaos].]
His body left the planet and soared into space.
Amidst the black void, countless stars shone.
The distances between them were immense. Even Taesan couldn’t fully perceive them with his current senses. It wasn’t something he could grasp with perception alone.
In that case—
[You have activated Focused Detection [Chaos].]
His gray detection energy spread through the universe, surpassing the speed of light to gather the information he sought.
And the result—
There were ten planets in total.
From those ten worlds, an enormous flow of faith poured outward.
That stream of faith converged on a single white star at the center of them all.
‘So the Transcendent is there.’
Faith from ten planets was gathering in one place. It was a sight Taesan hadn’t imagined.
“Impressive.”
After confirming, Taesan returned to the planet.
The Transcendent resided on the white star.
Meaning, this planet had no Transcendent presence. He could act freely.
Taesan moved.
First, he needed to grasp the atmosphere of this world—its people’s feelings toward their Transcendent, and what kind of Immortal ruled here.
Only then could he understand their motives and actions.
Taesan quickly arrived in the nearest city.
The city was beautiful.
Architecture unseen on Earth. Enormous statues. A structure both elegant and grand.
This must have been the Shopkeeper’s world once.
Taesan landed at the lake in the center of the city. The sun was sinking beyond the horizon, and darkness was descending.
Evening. On Earth, it would be the liveliest time of day.
But not here.
No one was visible.
Aside from the dwarven guards, the streets were empty. The entire city felt dark, sunken in despair.
It resembled a prison disguised as a city.
After a moment of observation, Taesan stamped his foot. Instantly, he appeared at the city’s outskirts.
“Kyaaah!”
A scream came from a nearby house.
Dwarven guards, their faces twisted in anger, were storming inside. The screams were loud enough for the neighbors to hear, yet no one came. Instead, muffled sounds of people holding their breath echoed in fear.
Taesan entered the house. Hidden from view, no one noticed him.
“Wait, please!”
A dwarven family desperately tried to block the guards. But the soldiers overpowered them, wrecking the home.
“Found it!”
One guard shouted, throwing something to the ground.
It was a small, crudely made statue.
“A heretical household that dares not believe in our rightful ruler, Karak!”
“No! That’s not true!”
“How can you deny it when we have proof!”
The guard drew his sword roughly.
“Take them all! Hang them!”
“Kyaaah!”
The dwarven family screamed, but no one came.
A small dwarven child being dragged away struggled in terror. Slipping from the guard’s grip, he clutched the discarded statue and whispered,
“Ah… Remidaos… Remidaos, please… save us…”
“How dare you!”
The guard snarled and grabbed the child’s hair.
“You dare utter that name! You heretic! I’ll execute you right here!”
He raised his sword. The child’s face turned pale. The family cried out.
The guard swung down his blade.
But it never struck.
“W-what?!”
The guard looked up in confusion.
His sword was held in place—by Taesan.
“Wha…”
The other guards and the family all widened their eyes. Taesan had appeared between them without warning.
“Who—who are you?!”
The guard tried to pull his weapon free, but it didn’t budge, as if lodged in stone. Fear crept across his face under Taesan’s indifferent gaze.
“Kill him!”
Clang!
The other guards hastily drew their swords, but Taesan moved his hand lightly.
Crunch.
They couldn’t even scream before being hurled into walls and floors.
Shaking the dust from his hand, Taesan looked at the dwarven family.
“Uh…”
They stared up at him blankly.
“Remidaos…?”
And then, they collapsed.
[They fainted?]
[It seems they couldn’t process the sudden change.]
Taesan didn’t wake them. Instead, he picked up the half-broken statue.
The statue wasn’t of a dwarf. It was human.
When he first arrived, Taesan hadn’t sensed any humans on this planet.
And yet the dwarven child had been praying to a human figure.
Moments later, the family slowly regained consciousness.
Dazed, they looked around. When they saw the fallen guards and Taesan, they huddled together in fear.
“W-who are you…”
Taesan didn’t answer. The trembling child looked up at him and asked softly,
“A-are you… Remidaos?”
Taesan didn’t reply.
Perhaps taking that silence as confirmation, the child bowed his head trembling.
“Ah… I knew it… You came to save us… please, deliver us from this suffering…”
The child already believed Taesan was Remidaos. Taesan didn’t yet know who that was or what situation this world faced.
Normally, he would have interrogated the guards or questioned the family to gather information.
But now, that wasn’t necessary.
He had [Perfect Reconnaissance].
[You have activated Perfect Reconnaissance.]
[This city is forced to worship a being called Karak.]
[This family does not truly believe in Karak.]
[This family worships someone named Remidaos.]
[This city persecutes those who follow Remidaos.]
[They worship Remidaos because he appeared in their dreams and promised salvation.]
It revealed everything—even what couldn’t be seen or known otherwise.
Their lives, emotions, and how they truly lived—all of it flooded into him.
This was [Perfect Reconnaissance].
Knowing everything wasn’t an exaggeration. Given enough power, he could understand the entire world.
Taesan quickly grasped the situation.
The Immortal ruling this planet was forcing the dwarves to worship him.
He demanded faith, killing or torturing those who refused.
‘Just like them.’
The quest on the 88th floor. Two Immortals who fought while forcing faith upon their followers. This was no different.
But such coercion could never create true faith. Those forced to worship would only rebel in their hearts. Such faith was worthless.
And in such suffering, people seek something genuine—a true savior.
That was what Remidaos aimed for.
Remidaos appeared in their dreams, saying, “I will save you. I will lead you from oppression to freedom,” like a prophet from legend.
If one person dreamt it, it might be delusion. But if many shared that dream, it became revelation.
Under oppression, they clung to Remidaos—the Transcendent—as their source of hope.
A well-crafted performance indeed. Because the one ruling this planet, the Immortal, was Remidaos’s subordinate.
The Immortal enforced worship and persecution in public, while Remidaos appeared in dreams to harvest the faith born from their despair.
Carrot and stick.
The most efficient method. Taesan had gained faith in similar ways before—by defeating tyrants and earning genuine devotion from the liberated.
The difference was that Remidaos’s version was staged from start to finish.
But the people didn’t know that, so it worked just as well.
‘Clever.’
So how could he use this?
The answer came easily.
“Um…”
As Taesan remained silent, the child’s eyes grew anxious.
“Are you… Remidaos…”
“No.”
Taesan shook his head.
“I am Remidaos.”
He silently opened his inventory. A single orb appeared in his hand.
[You have activated the Orb of Form Transformation.]
Taesan’s appearance changed. His black hair and eyes turned golden. His body glowed brilliantly, and garments embroidered with golden threads wrapped around him.
“Ah…”
The child’s eyes widened. The parents were the same.
Taesan’s appearance was identical to the Remidaos they had seen in their dreams.
All doubt vanished. The dwarven family bowed deeply before him. Their faith now flowed toward Taesan with clear purpose.
All the deep, enduring faith they had once given to Remidaos shifted to him.
‘Good.’
Making them his followers. Gathering faith. It sounded easy, but faith was not something gained so simply. It had only been possible before because the conditions favored him.
If these people had truly believed in Remidaos, there would’ve been no way to steal that faith.
But Remidaos had been using false means.
On the surface, he used the Immortal to enforce worship. In secret, he appeared in dreams to harvest belief. For the sake of maximizing faith, he had never appeared before them directly.
That meant Taesan could steal the faith Remidaos had accumulated.
Ten planets worshipped Remidaos.
And most likely, all of them were in similar conditions.
Right now, Taesan was unstable.
He was a complete Transcendent only in worlds that worshipped him. Elsewhere, his divinity weakened significantly.
To become a true Transcendent, he needed to stabilize his divinity through long-lasting faith from countless beings.
But with the faith of ten entire worlds—
He could compress the time needed to stabilize his divinity to the extreme, fully solidifying his divine essence.
Reaching the realm of a true Transcendent—
That was Taesan’s goal this time.