[You've entered the third floor of the Beginning Tower]
"I knew this is the third floor, there's absolutely no need for you to remind me, system."
Malik almost cried out as he walked forward, scrutinizing everywhere with his gaze. In front of him was a river that stretched to both sides of the wall and to the other end. And at the other end, there's a door which Malik suggested to be the exit.
"Am I supposed to cross through this river?" Malik asked himself as he stared at the blue river which was running slowly.
"But I can't swim in real life, and I don't think my game avatar will be able to cross this river since I'm the one controlling it."
"But the river doesn't look deep at all. Let me check it out," Malik said as he stepped forward, raising his left leg to dip in the water. His heart was beating fast and his leg was trembling as he tried to steady himself. But alas, he couldn't. He retreated, nearly falling when his legs scraped the stones on the floor into the river—and a sizzling sound was heard.
When Malik turned back, he saw the stone floating on the blue sea while emitting heat. Before he could process what was happening, the stone exploded... the sound causing him to go deaf for the moment.
"Bloody Christ. Thank goodness I never entered the river. My body would have been fried before exploding," Malik heaved a sigh of relief as he stood up.
"Since the water is uncrossable, there's got to be another way here. Like a hidden piece."
"Activate Eyes of Insight."
A smile formed on Malik's face as he scanned everywhere with his eyes, and then he noticed the brick that stuck out among the walls.
"Found you." Malik walked over there and pushed the brick inside. The wall parted instantly, revealing a pathway.
"It's really a hidden piece. The one Gul was talking about, with a total of four doors." Malik couldn't help but smile at his fortune as he walked into the pathway and all the way down to the very place where he saw a door.
"Just one door. Has the system changed this one too to God Mode?" Malik's body trembled in shock as he stared at the white door.
"The pressure behind this door... definitely this is the God Mode. Gul complained about the hard mode being unconquered till now. I wonder what tribulation I'm going to face in this God Mode. Unfortunately, I don't have any choice other than to enter—or go back to cross the river, which is impossible."
Malik, after contemplating for a while, walked through the door and was thrown into a dark room...
"This is..." Malik's gaze traveled all over the place, but his perception failed to capture anything. Even his enhanced senses were not sensing anything.
The room was eerily silent. There was nothing. No sound, not even the blowing of the breeze.
"Do I need to find the exit?" Malik questioned himself as he took the first step. And at that moment, he felt a slight change in the air as something whooshed toward his direction. Before his body could react, he felt a sharp pain in his arm as something seemed to have pierced through it.
"Aarh!" He screamed out loudly, unable to bear the pain, as he took another step forward and the piercing pain hit him once again.
"An attack anytime I move. My Eyes of Insight failed to activate. I can't find the source, and I can't remain fixed in one position."
"I've to bear through this pain and move on." Malik gritted his teeth as he took another step. This time, he didn't wait as he moved again and again, while constantly being pierced through by sharp objects.
After taking the twentieth step, Malik finally stepped into the middle of the room where all the lights lit up.
His eyes widened as he discovered the situation he's in. His white robe had been dyed red with blood and twenty sharp needles were stuck to his body.
His health point was barely above 40%, and he was increasingly losing blood.
"You, this goddammit system, you won't notify me about the situation I'm in. You'll only notify me on what I know." Malik cursed the system as if it were the cause of his misfortune.
Of course, it wasn't the system that forced Malik to walk through the pathway. He did so of his own will.
While Malik was contemplating how to overcome this situation, he heard the tapping sound of footsteps behind him. And as he turned around...
He saw her...
He saw someone he never expected to see.
"Gracious," he screamed out loudly in shock, and the female silhouette raised her gaze to look at him.
A smile formed on her face as she saw his face. "My King. I've been searching everywhere for you." Her soft voice shook Malik's whole body that he almost collapsed.
'She has been searching for me... Did the time frame between the Western Region and the Northern Region differ...?'
Malik couldn't process his thought when his perception locked on the mechanism that launched an attack when triggered. Due to the light in the room, he could now see the attack.
"Gracious... No... Don't move..." Malik warned, but it was too late. The female silhouette had taken a step and, at that moment, a needle pierced through her lower abdomen.
"Ma...lik..." she screamed out loudly as his eyes widened. Blood was trailing down her lips and her eyes were fixed on him.
She raised another leg as she watched Malik shake his head.
"No... No... Gracious, don't move. Don't." He screamed out loudly when he heard another piercing sound. The needle had pierced through her arm—at the very spot where history had been forged.
"GRACIOUS!" Malik cried out loudly, his head spinning 360 degrees.
"I want to reach you..." she stretched forth her hand towards Malik as her body wavered. There were four paths leading to the place Malik was standing. All four paths were narrow and there seemed to be a deep abyss beneath this room.
Gracious's body was wavering out of this path after being hit by two needles.
"Activate King of Nuturers..." Malik cried out as all his stats increased by 40%. He rushed to Gracious instantly as attacks upon attacks hit him from behind, but Malik couldn't care less.
His Queen... His heartbeat... The main reason why he had played God's Realm is here before him—and how could he care about some needles?
"Gracious..." Malik cried out as he tried to grab hold of her hand—which slipped as she fell into the abyss.
"Nooooooo!" Malik screamed out loudly as he dived after her almost immediately, not caring about anything else.