Hell’s Handbook

Both Su Jin and Durand got a shock when they approached Oscar’s world, because the entire globe was covered in darkness. They knew Oscar’s Spirit Power could create shadows, so the first thing that came to mind was that Oscar was the one who had done this on purpose.

“What the heck is going on? Everything is going to end up dead like that!” said Durand with a frown.

“Let’s take a closer look first. I’m afraid something bad might have happened.” Su Jin felt uneasy as they both landed immediately. Visibility was reduced significantly because the shadow around the globe blocked out the sun. But there were some robots with lights floating in the sky that temporarily replaced the sun.

“Are you able to locate Oscar?” asked Durand.

“Give me a second,” Su Jin nodded. But he immediately went into shock. He had found not just one, but two Oscars. Oscar’s aura had been split into two that existed simultaneously. One was in the middle of Europe, while the other was hiding beneath the ice in Antarctica.

“What’s going on?” murmured Su Jin before turning to Durand, “I’ve found two Oscars. One is in Europe and the other is in Antarctica.”

“Two?” Durand was equally surprised. He paused to think, then said, “Why don’t we split up and look for one each?”

“Sure. If you run into any trouble, just yell for me. I’ll plant a bit of my energy on you and I’ll be able to get to where you are instantly,” said Su Jin. Durand agreed, so Su Jin gave him Oscar’s coordinates in Europe, then headed for Antarctica.

When he got to Antarctica, he felt like the area covered by ice had increased quite a bit. But that was only to be expected. The lights from the robots in the sky weren’t actually the sun, so the effect was reduced somewhat.

“He’s in here.” Su Jin walked to one of the icy mountains, pressed a hand against it and pushed a door open. He called out, “Oscar, it’s Su Jin. I’m coming in, okay?”

Su Jin could have teleported himself to where Oscar was, but since something so strange had occurred to Oscar, he decided to be careful. He wasn’t afraid that he might be in danger. He was more worried that he might hurt Oscar.

“Stop right there!” Oscar called out after Su Jin took a few more steps forward.

“Oscar, is that you?” asked Su Jin. “What’s going on? I realized your aura has been split into two. How did that happen?”

“Su Jin… just leave! Regardless of why you’ve come, I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you anymore.” Oscar’s voice was filled with despair and hopelessness.

“What’s going on? What’s happened?” Su Jin marched toward Oscar, and when Oscar came within view, he saw that one of Oscar’s arms was broken from the shoulder. Also, he was wearing an extremely thick fur coat to keep the cold out, yet he was still shivering.

Su Jin couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Oscar didn’t possess the strongest physique, but his body was still stronger than most. The temperature here was definitely lower than normal, but he didn’t think it would affect Oscar this badly. And what happened to that arm? He got injured? If that was the case, the Handbook could restore him. He didn’t need to go around with a broken arm like that.

“What the hell happened here? What happened?!” asked Su Jin.

Oscar sat on the ground listlessly. He shook his head slightly and said, “Like I said, regardless of why you’re here, I won’t be able to help you anymore.”

Su Jin pulled him to his feet and frowned. “Never mind that now. I’m asking you what happened here. I noticed a shadow covering the entire globe when I came, and look at the state you’re in. Also, why is there another you out there?”

“I’ve… I’ve been robbed.” Oscar had a look of self-deprecation as he fished out a bottle of beer and started chugging it.

“You were robbed? What does that mean?” Su Jin was even more confused.

Oscar murmured, “Those geniuses. I’ve been robbed by those geniuses.”

“Geniuses?” Su Jin paused for half a second, then asked, “You mean you tried becoming a god and you were robbed? Damn it! Didn’t I warn you the last time about this?”

“I discovered another method to prevent this from happening, plus a group of owners from another world were eyeing my world. I had to become a god in order to protect my world, so I decided to use that method. But in the end, I made a mistake and was taken over by a genius. The good part about using that method was that even though my identity, my Handbook, and my powers have been removed, I’ve managed to survive.” Oscar threw the bottle in his hand on the ground and leaned against the side of the ice cave weakly. “I’m barely surviving now. I might as well die.”

Su Jin frowned, then pulled Oscar to his feet again. “We’d better hurry. Durand is headed for that genius right now, so we need to save him!”

“Save him? You can go by yourself. I’m too useless to be of any use.” Oscar shook his head. He had lost an arm and all of his powers, so he couldn’t even defeat an ordinary strong human in a fight, never mind fight a god.

Su Jin sighed and said, “Fine, whatever suits you. So what if you’ve lost your powers? Before becoming an owner, you were an ordinary person too. But you’re now throwing away something even more important than your powers!”

Su Jin did not force Oscar to leave with him and left immediately. After he had left, Oscar’s eyes reddened and his hands trembled as he picked up the bottle he threw to the ground just now and put it to his lips. But just when he was about to drink from it, his hands stopped trembling and he flung the bottle against the wall.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” cursed Oscar again and again. His voice grew louder and louder and eventually turned into “fucking damn it!”

Su Jin instantly reappeared next to Durand and found that he was on the roof of a skyscraper, quietly observing the building opposite his.

“Thank god,” Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief.

Durand glanced at Su Jin, then said, “There’s something wrong with the guy in there. He has Oscar’s aura, but that’s definitely not Oscar.”

“You noticed too?” said Su Jin.

Durand nodded and said, “He looks like Oscar, but there’s something not quite right about him. Oscar is… a human. This guy isn’t. The glint in his eye matches that of a wild animal.”

“Great instincts you’ve got. That guy isn’t Oscar at all. The one in Antarctica is the real Oscar.” Su Jin proceeded to tell Durand what happened to Oscar.

Durand furrowed his brows and couldn’t help but curse, “Fucking idiot! He should have asked us for help instead of using such a risky method!”

Su Jin sighed and smiled bitterly. “The problem with people like us is that we’re all too proud. You have the pride that stems from being the top owner of our race, while Oscar is proud to be the guardian of his world. But I agree that he miscalculated this time.”

“What do we do now?” asked Durand.

“Of course we’ve got to kill the fake one, then return the powers to Oscar,” said Su Jin matter-of-factly.

“You’re able to return the powers to Oscar?” asked Durand with a shocked look on his face.

Su Jin nodded. “I can do that, but… Oscar might not be able to take it back.”

“What do you mean?” asked Durand puzzledly.

“It’s his current mental state that’s the problem. Oscar used to be strong not just because he had a lot of powers and techniques, but also because he was very mentally resilient. He’s taken a really bad hit this time and he seems like… a completely different person now. If he’s not mentally prepared to take control of such great power, suddenly repossessing his powers might actually kill him instead,” explained Su Jin.

Durand nodded in agreement. Su Jin was right. A strong person had to be strong not only externally, but also internally.

“Regardless, our priority is to get rid of the fake Oscar, yes?” said Durand.

Su Jin smiled and nodded. “Of course!”

“In that case, I’ll attack first and you deal with the rest!” Durand grinned back, then took a step back before leaping off the roof at high speed and smashing through a window of the building across from them.

“He’s… seriously hardcore,” Su Jin couldn’t help but mutter.