THE CURSED GAMER

Chapter 481: Celestialsapien? Well.

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Not all trials pushed the mind, most of the others focused on the physique. On battles, and on endurance trials where he survived within omniversal-scale black holes.

He endured the suffering of these trials to a degree where he knew his body couldn’t withstand anymore. The trials caused his body to fail a dozen times until he finally succeeded. He spent an entire year trying to solve the seven trials and only succeeded in six.

Just the Twin World trial had taken a long month. The others took longer.

But, he was finally here. Playing the chess game until it came to the point where he said, “Checkmate.”

The trial was completed.

The Will of the Omniverse clapped with a small smile, “Congratulations. You did it.”

[The Quest is 80% complete.]

He did do it, but it wasn't finished yet. He had two more points to finish. First, attune to the Heart of Balance, and second, he had to synchronize his existence with the pulse of the Omniverse.

“To acquire the heart of balance, you have to walk down this path.” The Will pointed at the dark hallway that stretched inside the hut that was the temple. “Sadly, I can't go with you for this one. It's all up to you.”

Neji nodded and walked inside.

…..

The Heart of Balance was fairly easy to get, though he was sure many else would have found it the hardest.

When he walked through the dark hallway for a long time, he found a light. When he walked out, he found his mind inside the body of someone else, someone in front of a dire choice. Neji had to choose in his stead.

Likewise, after he made the choice, his mind was sent to some other body. His mind crossed time and space many times to experience the greatest of hard choices that have been recorded in history.

He lived through a few dozen of them, having to make choices that decided on the biggest incidents in the Omniverse.

Anybody else and that'd have been a lot harder for them, but Gamer's Mind kept his mind clear so he knew all of these choices wouldn't make any difference, he knew he wasn't actually deciding anything, as history would not change. So he breezed through the choices with ease.

At last, he saw the system message flash.

[The trial has been completed. Your heart has evolved.]

[The Heart of Balance has been acquired. Your mind is rewarded with a level of calmness never heard before.]

[Gamer's Mind is benefited by the heart.]

And that was… it. There was only one more trial remaining.

* * *

Walking back through the dark hallway, Neji didn't find himself back in the white room where the Will of the Omniverse was. No, instead, he found himself in front of a room.

It was blocked by a metal door, with the sign [Dangerous] written above it. Despite being air-locked, there was visible blue light leaking out of it.

There was something in there that let out such intense blue light. He hesitated and then approached the mysterious room, a profound sense of anticipation filled him.

Pushing the door open, Neji was immediately engulfed in an ethereal blue radiance. He had to cover his eyes for a bit, it was that bright. Once his eyes became less trained, he opened them to lay eyes upon the source of the light.

“Whoa…”

It was a massive orb of energy, hovering in the center of the room, with threads of blue leaking out of it and merging into the air. It seemed like a circuit connected by a million wires, except it was much more than that. It pulsed rhythmically, each beat radiating waves of vibrant blue light that painted the walls with a kaleidoscope of shimmering patterns.

[The Core of the Cube Omniverse]

This was no ordinary object, surely. It was this Cube Omniverse's core, the heart of all existence. It appeared as a mythical object, a cosmic jewel exuding an aura of ancient lethality and boundless power.

Although it was very blue in tone, the orb's surface was a canvas of swirling galaxies, nebulous clouds, and star systems in miniature, all moving in a harmonious dance. It was as if Neji was staring into the very soul of the universe.

And most of all…

- Dub… Dub… Dub…

It had a pulse to it. It was like a heart.

When his quest said he had to synchronize his existence with the pulse of the Omniverse, it probably meant this.

“Huh,” Neji wondered how to, though.

How could he match the rhythm of the Omniverse?

Then again, he had matched its will, its mind, in chess and defeated it. Perhaps this wouldn't be that hard either… maybe?

Neji stood silently, pondering. The room pulsed with the heartbeat of the Omniverse as reality shifted around him. After a long time, he approached the core slowly.

“Let's see,” Neji extended his hand, drawn to the core’s captivating rhythm. He was unsure how else to match his existence with the core other than touching him, even if this might be a bad idea.

“Oh, ak!” But as his fingers brushed the surface, a sharp zap of energy recoiled through him.

Yet undeterred, he reached out again, his resolve as unyielding as the stars. There was the zap still, but he let it pass through him while ensuring the tingling pain. After a few seconds, the core calmed down, it didn't hurt. It welcomed him with a gentle hum, an acceptance that resonated deep within his soul.

[Ding!] His system flashed. [The core of the Omniverse is trying to stabilize your existence by aligning you with itself.]

Another holographic prompt materialized, but it wasn’t from his system. It floated over the core, suspended in the air.

[Soul 799 has met the requirements for evolution. However, the Core is unable to channel the required power to start the evolution without the Will's guidance.]

[Will of the Omniverse lacks the power to guide the power.]

“....” Silence fell in the room, only broken by the light hum of the core.

Confusion clouded Neji's mind, his brow furrowing in frustration. How could he be so close, yet so far? He had done all that he could, the first prompt meant his body and existence were ready, and it wouldn't blow up. Yet, the problem now relies on something else entirely.

Did the Will know this would turn out like this? Why hadn't it told him then?

The room grew hushed, the Core's pulsing momentarily subdued. A moment later, to his surprise, another prompt appeared.

[The Will of the Omniverse is pondering.]

Neji's heart skipped a beat.

[...The Will has decided to sacrifice the baby Celestialsapien hibernating for eons to pour into Soul 799’s existence to start up the evolution.]

[However, the mother Celestialsapien’s multiple personalities will end up making her decision to eradicate you by the time the evolution ends. So you'd be up against a mature Celestialsapien right after your evolution ends.]

[Even if you win against her by some miracle, all the other Celestialsapiens in the realm would also make their decision to hunt you. Your chances of survival are… negligible.]

Neji stared at the text in silence and finally let out a cold laughter. “I'm too used to battles like these to back off… Alright, bring forth.”

While the Omniverse’s Will was being excessively kind, it was doing so for its own sake too. If Neji survived, he'd surely become a big powerful force in this entire realm. Perhaps one day he'd reach out to help fix it. It had hope. That's why it was doing this.

[Thanks.]

The Will of the Omniverse knew that Neji knew it. It thanked him, and he nodded.

[The power surge begins… now.]

The baby Celestialsapien that he had seen for the first time when he stepped into this realm, teleported in the room. It floated in the air, and Neji felt a little bad looking at its innocent face. But the Core didn't care, it began to radiate a light that was both ethereal and overwhelming.

The light touched the baby, and black and white energy blasted out of it, rushing toward Neji. Neji pulled one of his hands away from the core and touched the baby. His fingertips touched the two bubbles of power, and two surges of cosmic energy flooded his being.

In an instant, his body began to change. A transformation took place, guided by the Omniverse's will. The center point in his chest turned white. The point expanded in a millisecond, and his body lost all its features. He was just white, humanoid, and colorless.

Until color bloomed like a flower from the top of his head. Black spread across his body, his skin was colorless black all of a sudden, until dots of stars filled it. It took on the appearance of a star-filled night sky, a canvas of the universe itself. His form expanded, growing in scale, and his size grew to be truck-sized.

His very essence became one with the celestial beings he was about to join.

The transformation paused at that, until three horns grew out of his head, and then ethereal long silver hair flowed out like streams of stardust, cascading over his shoulders.

His eyes were sharp bulbs of blue, with the light of suns in them. Both his eyes and hair had regained their original color. Only for a moment though, as his eyes turned red again. With that came a triangular shape swirling in his chest, and in that spot, his body looked red.

Two rings of white formed around the circle just as the room was illuminated with a blinding light, a brilliance that transcended physical sight.

He floated in empty whiteness, with only the system prompts keeping him company.

[The evolution is complete.]

[Image Here]

[You have completed the Class Mastery Quest. You have gained a treasure box of levels! You're currently Level 29,085.]

[Your achievements are incredible! All of your sleeping Tales have reacted and awakened. The Tales have played a part in your evolution.]

[You have walked the Balanced Path.]

[Rewards for the quest completion have been deposited in your inventory. You have received the title, “Celestialsapien, the Cosmic Enigma”.]

[Your race has changed due to the Title as well as due to the transformation. Due to your Tale: “Dragon among Dragons”, you have awakened a unique race.]

[Race Draconic High Human has changed to Celestialdraconicsapien. A new race has been introduced to the Omniverse.]

As the white light gradually dimmed, Neji found himself standing outside the hut, his form still as he floated. His body was a perfect embodiment of the cosmos, just like the Celestialsapien he was right now.

This was a big event in Neji's history. It was the turning point of everything.

For once… Neji felt that the whole world was within his grasp, and nobody could take it away.

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Author Note: It looks seriously empty to my eyes without the Omnitrix icon in the chest, so I just added that red thing. Hopefully it looks nice.

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