Hell’s Handbook

Humans have the capacity to be kind. So many people throughout history have displayed altruism, dying without regrets for justice and what they strongly believed in. Even if they were slowly skinned to death, they were still able to face it with a smile. Some were even able to leave behind encouraging words despite being at the verge of death, etching their names in history.

Humans have the capacity to be evil. So many people throughout history have chosen profit over loyalty, shown bottomless greed, stooped to the lowest level in order to satisfy their desires. Even if thousands of people cursed at them, they continued to enjoy their lives. They continued to yearn for incredible power and unimaginable wealth even on their deathbeds, even if they left behind a nasty reputation for centuries to come.

The heart of man is ever changing and difficult to predict. Even though Su Jin had psychokinesis, a power that could read the thoughts of others, he dared not claim to be able to truly understand the hearts of people.

He would rather let them display their true beliefs instead. That’s why he gave Lv Meng the ability to create explosions. She certainly had high ideals, but they were also way removed from reality. Su Jin wanted to know if she would really do what she said if she were given the power to do so.

The group plodded on in the moonlight. Nobody dared to stop walking, because they were afraid that they would turn into a monster immediately. They had no choice but to keep walking.

At the same time, strange emotions began to fill their hearts. They were the monsters of the Challenge, so did that mean there would be no more monsters if they killed the other owners?

Su Jin wasn’t the only one with such thoughts. Li Yi was thinking the same way too, except that this thought was thrown out very quickly. He was a veteran, so he knew that the other owners were relying on him. The sense of responsibility he felt made him get rid of that thought immediately. Compared to Lv Meng’s idealistic and unrealistic thinking, Li Yi’s sense of responsibility was a lot more realistic.

But these thoughts grew stronger and stronger in the minds of the other weak owners, except that they weren’t thinking about how to kill the other owners. They were wondering if Su Jin and Li Yi would kill them. They were terrified of that possibility. If two veterans decided to turn on them, they would die in an instant.

Su Jin could even sense the fear of these people very clearly. He frowned slightly, but did not bother to talk about it. There was no point in doing so, since nobody would want to admit to having such thoughts. Even though he was a psychokinetic owner, none of these people would take his word for it.

As time passed, Su Jin felt more and more uneasy about the situation. Based on how much time had passed so far, it should have been daybreak by now. But the moon in the sky did not look like it was going anywhere and remained right above them.

“We can’t just keep walking like this. Are we going in the wrong direction or something?” asked Lv Meng.

“No idea. Maybe it really is the wrong direction,” said Su Jin with a light chuckle. There was no way to find out if this was the right direction or not. Unless they found the Moonlight Church right now, Su Jin had no way to prove if his initial conjecture was right.

“Let’s split up,” said Li Yi all of a sudden.

Su Jin was a little surprised. Li Yi explained, “Based on the current situation, it seems like the danger of this Challenge is coming from ourselves, so sticking together seems more dangerous.”

“But if we go separate ways, nobody knows how the situation will change. If any monsters appear, they might not be able to fight them,” said Su Jin.

“We’re willing to split up!” the remaining owners suddenly piped up in agreement with Li Yi.

Li Yi smiled sadly at Su Jin. Su Jin knew what Li Yi was trying to tell him. The old man knew that these owners weren’t afraid of monsters now. They were afraid of Li Yi and Su Jin. And because of that, they didn’t need the two veterans, or rather, they didn’t dare to let the veterans protect them anymore. They were more anxious to get away from them.

It was really ironic. At the start of the Challenge, these owners desperately wanted to stick to the two veterans. But now, they didn’t want to be anywhere near the two men. The drastic change in their attitude was shocking.

“If all six of us go in different directions, we wouldn’t run into each other, I’m sure,” said Su Jin with a smile.

“I want to go toward the moon!” said one of the owners. This was the same owner who had questioned Su Jin’s guess about the moonlight earlier on.

“Hey! Cheater! I want to walk toward the moon too!” grumbled another owner.

Lv Meng didn’t say anything, but she clearly felt that Su Jin’s guess made sense. The owners began to quarrel among themselves over this.

“If all of you want to go in the same direction, then there’s no point in wanting to split ways, right?” Su Jin chuckled. After pausing to think, he said, “Why don’t we draw lots? We’ll go whichever way our lot says.”

Everyone exchanged glances. Su Jin’s suggestion sounded a little childish, but it seemed like the best way to resolve this. Su Jin ended up writing on six pieces of paper and let everyone pick one.

“What the…” All of them were filled with jealousy when they saw that Li Yi had picked the lot to head toward the moon.

They were jealous firstly because they felt that Su Jin’s guess was the most likely to be correct, and secondly, they had already walked toward the moon for such a long time, so any other direction they took would force them to take a roundabout way for nothing. But no matter how disgruntled they felt, none of them dared to make any comment since Li Yi had picked it fair and square.

After the rest had picked their lots, they left in the direction stated on their lots reluctantly. Su Jin was heading south, so after bidding Li Yi farewell, he started walking southward.

“Hey, young man!” Li Yi called out to Su Jin.

“Yes? What’s the matter?” asked Su Jin.

“You messed with these lots, didn’t you?” asked Li Yi.

Su Jin nodded without hesitation. “Yup. I prepared yours specially, because I still think that heading toward the moon would give you the best chance of surviving, so I left that one for you.”

“Aren’t you afraid that they might realize that and create unnecessary trouble?” asked Li Yi with a laugh.

Su Jin burst out laughing. “And did you think none of them realized at all?”

Li Yi froze. Su Jin went on, “And so what if they did realize it? Since they didn’t want to believe our conjecture, then they have no reason to want to head in this direction. I was just giving them what they asked for.”

The old man didn’t know what to say to that. He could only thank Su Jin, “Thanks then, young man!”

“No worries! We’ll meet again if the fates allow it!” Su Jin waved and turned to leave.

“Actually, I don’t mind walking with you,” said Li Yi.

But Su Jin shook his head. “You don’t have to. Actually, I was thinking that we ought to try a few different directions. The result might give us a pleasant surprise!”

“Alright then, since you’ve already decided, I won’t insist on walking with you. Like you said, we’ll meet again if the fates allow it!” Li Yi did not hold Su Jin back and turned to walk toward the moon.

After Li Yi left, Su Jin continued southward. He had taken a liking to the old man and sincerely hoped they would be able to meet again.

He was travelling all alone, but Su Jin was not afraid that he would run out of energy and allow the moonlight to turn him into a monster. He was like a perpetual machine now, so this degree of movement was as good as resting to him.

After a long time, he felt as though he had left the moon behind. And perhaps it wasn’t just a feeling. He had really left the moon behind.

“In other words, this world doesn’t go on infinitely. It’s just way too big and the terrain looks about the same, so it feels as though it’s never ending,” murmured Su Jin. With that thought in mind, he used his psychokinesis to envelope the entire world he was in.

He quickly made an incredible discovery. The moon in the sky they had been following wasn’t the moon at all. It was the fruit of an ancient tree. But because the ancient tree was gigantic, its fruit looked like a moon.

Su Jin was really surprised. He had seen such a tree before. The Tree of Life in the world of fairytales had been equally huge, as though it was as big as this world itself. He didn’t expect to see another ancient tree like that.

“So, Moonlight Church is actually on the moon, and the moonlight… is actually this tree?” he murmured. He felt that he was probably really close to the truth now. And actually, if he wanted to, he could use his maniacal power to observe this world remotely, but he was afraid that he would attract the Handbook’s attention by doing so and create unnecessary trouble for himself.

He decided to start by taking a look at the so called moon they had been following. But when he was about to retract his psychokinesis, he sensed a violent presence. That presence felt like Li Yi’s.

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