Divine Heritage: Only I Can Judge The gods-Chapter 34: Psychotic System

"Well... I guess you can call me the console, the god-Console that is."

"..."

"You must really take me for a fool if you think I’m going to believe that. Now tell me really, who are you?"

"Console, artifact."

Suddenly Ark’s axe appeared in Silver’s hand. Although the weapon was considerably heavy, the petite girl held onto it with ease as though it was the lightest thing in the world.

She stood up from the bed and walked around the room, playing with the pole axe before finally turning to face him, a smug look on her face.

"Convinced?"

Ark looked from the Axe to the girl and back to the axe then he sighed.

"I’m going to die of suspense one of these days."

"Well, it’s not like it matters if you believe me or not, I’m only here because it’s time for your daily training. I need to whip you up into shape before the trial."

"What daily training?"

With a snap of her finger, a new screen appeared before Ark.

[—:Mission Notification:—]

[Task: Daily Training]

[Push ups: 0/100]

[Sit ups: 0/100]

[Jogging 0/10KM]

[Task Duration: 23:59... 23:58]

[Quest Rewards: Nil]

[Quest Failure: Trauma]

Ark stared at the screen once again at a loss for words. Silver... whoever she was, even if she was not the console it was far too certain that she had control over it.

He had so many questions but if she could not even tell him who she was, then she was not going to give him a satisfactory answer.

He sighed.

It was pretty clear from the beginning that something was off, he had the god-Console instead of the Archive, he had the potential to access all classes, he had a blight and even his trial was not normal.

Ark had known something was wrong from the start and yet... it was a hard pill to swallow.

’I’ll play along for now.’

If he were to lose the console he would be no different from a regular human being, meaning it would be back to the slums for him.

It was something he could never let happen, no matter the cost.

Even if it meant having to deal with a rather annoying spirit girl, he would have to do it, while unveiling as much as he could from her as time went by.

One by one, he would get all the answers he wanted, both from her and from his father.

’How difficult can a 10km run be anyway?’

***

"I’m going to die!"

"Don’t be over dramatic, you’re not going to die."

It turns out a 10 km jog was far more difficult than Ark had expected.

Currently, he was torn between giving up outright and just running till he dropped, but it did not start this way—

At first the jog had been nice, exhilarating even.

He stomped over the wet ground, his feet sloshing with each step, under the gentle rain which did wonders for his stamina.

But after running for an hour he felt like he might just actually die, and this was just the first part of the training!

"How many kilometers left?" Ark’s voice came out raspy and subdued.

There was a short moment of silence before Silver’s voice came from right next to him.

She had turned back invisible but Ark wasn’t even sure how she was keeping up with him, according to her, she had gone back into the console but it was hard to believe.

"You’ve only gone halfway."

"Halfway?!"

Suddenly Ark felt his motivation drop, with how much he had been running he felt he was already nearing the end.

His legs were already throbbing with pain, and his heart felt like it would burst at any moment.

"How bad did you say the punishment is?"

Silver chuckled.

"Already thinking of giving up?"

"Just tell me."

Ark almost slipped on the slick floor, only managing to retain his balance at the last minute.

"You know what, forget it."

Somehow, giving up now felt wrong. He had said to himself many times how much he would do to become a curse bearer.

How would it look if he were to give up now?

’Not yet...’

He still had a few more kilos in him.

So while panting heavily, Ark followed a path that would take him down to the park, back to the center and back to the park where he would finish his training.

On the way, he ran past many people who gave him awkward looks but he couldn’t care less, all he could think of was not falling on his next step.

And then he ran past the center, and the destroyed lobby as well.

They were currently playing it off as a structural issue but Ark and Kiera knew otherwise. Luckily, they were able to get away on time and avoid suspicion.

Explaining what happened yesterday would have not only been difficult, but it could very well affect his chances of being selected.

After all, he was not the most liked person around, they could easily pin everything that happened on him.

So they both decided to remain silent.

After passing the center, Ark’s speed was continually reducing, his body threatening to collapse with each step.

But step after step he kept going up until the point where he could no longer move.

Warm sweat trickled down his face, running down his already soaked shirt, he was breathing wildly, taking in large gulps of air with his mouth wide open.

Everything felt on fire, his hands, his legs and his chest felt like they would break down at any moment.

A strong wave of nausea washed over him causing him to retch, but he managed to stop himself from throwing up.

He wanted to try, to push out any last bit of strength but he knew there was nothing left in the tank.

He slowed down to a walk.

"Console."

[—:Mission Notification:—]

[Task: Daily Training]

[Push ups: 0/100]

[Sit ups: 0/100]

[Jogging 8.9/10KM]

[Task Duration: 22:59... 22:58]

[Quest Rewards: Nil]

[Quest Failure: Trauma]

’8.9KM...’

"Silver..."

"Mmhm?"

"What exactly is ’Trauma’?"

"Well." There was a brief moment of silence. "It’s just a tiny little inconvenience."

With his mind almost going blank, Ark then said:

"Console, End mission."

[Are you sure you want to end the mission?]

[Yes] [No]

Ark mentally clicked ’yes’.

[You have ended the Mission: "Daily Training"]

[Mission Failed]

Ark suddenly felt a feeling of lightness as he collapsed, hitting the floor hard.

It was strange because he never really stopped walking, he never even remembered closing his eyes, but he had apparently done so because his vision went dark.

When he opened his eyes...

Ark covered his mouth with his hand, suppressing a scream.

In the place of his legs, were two bloody stumps.

His legs... were gone.