Cosmic Awakening: Ascension of the Cosmic God

The beam hitting the walls only to destroy it immediately before proceeding to destroy the next one on repeat.

The aftermath of the unintended devastation left me trembling. The cosmic energy I had just begun to harness had acted like a tamed beast, obeying the smallest nudge of my will but with devastating consequences when I did not fully restrain it.

Just like the saying: "Fire is a good servant but a bad master."

As the dust settled, I stood in the midst of the room ravaged by my experiment---or rather, my mistake.

Through the gaping view in the half-destroyed building, I caught glimpses of other explorers and receptionists, their wide-eyed expressions torn between awe and terror.

Everything the beam had touched simply went out of existence. I did not even want to think about anyone caught in its path.

Murmurs began to rise, like whispers of wind through the ruins:

"Who's powerful enough to do that?"

"That's no ordinary skill..."

"I thought you can't die in the first floor?"

"What in the world is that?"

"It was most-likely created by that person? Who is that?"

I felt like an endangered animal on display at the zoo. Even the receptionists were looking around in complete panic. There were screams everywhere.

At that moment, the world lost color and I felt an illusion that time stopped. No, this is not an illusion.

Time. Has. Stopped.

People no longer moved, the wind was not blowing. It was a creepy silence, as if the world was trying to calculate the magnitude of my actions.

[Ding!]

[You have killed a large amount of people in the safe zone!]

[You have achieved the impossible! A lot of gods are interested in what just happened!]

[Goddess of Space is interested in you!]

[God of Reality is interested in you!]

[Goddess of Power is interested in you!]

[Goddess of Light is interested in you!]

[Tower Master is interested in you!]

[Various constellations are interested in you!]

The system began to display texts I could read but did not want to understand.

The notifications blurred as my vision clouded with tears.

My hands trembled uncontrollably, still faintly glowing with the remnants of the energy that had unleashed this nightmare.

The echoes of their screams---if they even had time to scream---and then instant death bounced inside my head, relentless and haunting.

I felt the guilt of my actions.

"I... I didn't mean to..." The words felt hollow, my voice barely above a whisper. Each syllable choked me. "I didn't mean to do this..."

The weight of my actions settled in my chest, suffocating. No apology, no explanation, could ever undo what I had done.

The realization struck me like a thunderclap: there was no going back.

The cosmic energy I thought I could control perfectly had turned me into something unrecognizable---a murderer and destroyer.

My legs were trembling as if I could anchor myself to reality and escape the tidal wave of guilt.

Tears burned down my cheeks, hot and unrelenting.

My body shook, wracked with the ache of something irreparably broken inside me.

"I killed them," I croaked, my voice cracking under the weight of the truth. "They didn't deserve this. They didn't---"

"Damn it!" a voice cursed at my back. Alice was here; she had appeared immediately when the world lost color. "I was having a peaceful nap before someone spoiled my day!"

Her casual tone clashed violently with the chaos in my mind, but I turned toward her, desperate. My voice cracked with panic, raw and pleading.

"A-Alice, h-help me! What should I do about it?" I asked, stammering in panic. I remembered she claimed herself as our guide, so if she was here, it meant she probably had something to do about it.

[Alice Rabbithood has used administrator privileges!]

[Protocol #0001 has been activated!]

The air around me grew heavy, oppressive, as if the universe itself was holding its breath.

The system's notifications still floated before my eyes, cold and unfeeling, their indifferent glow mocking my despair.

[Ding!]

[Emergency Protocol: World Integrity at Risk.]

[Reverting to the Last Stable Temporal Anchor...]

I didn't understand, but before I could process the words, the very fabric of reality began to twist.

The world darkened, the colors draining like spilled ink on a canvas. The air hummed with an otherworldly vibration, sending chills racing down my spine.

Shadows rippled unnaturally, merging and unmerging as if the space around me were folding in on itself. If I claimed to understand what was happening, then I was a fool.

And then, it happened.

A deafening *crack* echoed through the air, like the sound of glass shattering.

The ground beneath me buckled, and I felt as if I were falling---though my feet never left the floor.

Time itself seemed to dissolve, splintering into fragments that swirled around me in a chaotic storm.

I saw moments play out in reverse, each fragment glowing faintly with a silvery hue. A receptionist, her eyes wide with terror, stood frozen before she flickered backward into a casual smile.

An explorer running away suddenly stood whole, his expression rewinding from fear to curiosity.

The building itself seemed to breathe in reverse---broken walls knitting together, dust and debris retreating into their original forms.

My heart pounded as the system's message seemed to speak directly into my mind.

[Reconstructing World State.]

[Restoring Casualties.]

[Stabilizing Temporal Continuity.]

The voices I had heard---the screams, the cries---they warped and reversed, fading into the low murmur of normal life.

The destruction I had unleashed disappeared entirely, leaving behind pristine walls and unblemished floors.

The people who had died... they were alive again, moving as if nothing had ever happened.

As the final pieces of the world slotted back into place, the oppressive hum stopped. Time resumed its natural flow, and the vibrant colors of life flooded back into the space around me.

I was back in my room facing the undestroyed wall.

The system delivered its final message:

[Ding!]

[Temporal Reversion Complete.]

[World Integrity Restored.]

Alice's voice broke through my daze, sharp and sarcastic. "Wow. You really went and forced me to use my privileges, huh? Do you know how rare that is?"

I turned to her, my voice a raw whisper. "What... what just happened?"

She smirked, crossing her arms. "The situation warrants me to do that, and since I checked the records for any hostility or intentional act and found none, the right thing for me to do is to rewind time---reset everything to how it was before you decided to play god and mess it all up."

I stared at her, my chest tight with a whirlwind of emotions---relief, guilt, and fear all tangled together.

She had undone my mistake, but I couldn't escape the memory of what I'd done. The people I had killed might not remember, but I would never forget.

The glowing notifications lingered, a grim reminder of my recklessness:

[You have caught the attention of the higher order beings.]

[The tower master is inviting you for a forced meeting!]

[Warning! You cannot resist!]

[Tower Master power has been consumed to satisfy causality!]

The world around me twisted violently as the last notification blinked in my vision.

Before I could even think, a crushing force yanked me from reality. The ground beneath my feet disappeared, and I was hurled through a blinding, endless void.

Colors and shapes blurred together, spinning in impossible patterns, until---

Everything stopped.

I landed on what felt like solid ground, but when I looked down, there was nothing.

A pure, endless white stretched in every direction, an empty space that somehow felt oppressively full. My breath hitched as I realized why: I wasn't alone.

The presence of very powerful beings surrounded me, each one a towering entity whose very existence radiated power.

They were bigger than the entire space I was currently standing on. I couldn't see them in full; their forms shimmered, too immense and incomprehensible for my mortal mind to grasp.

Their combined essences pressed down on me like an avalanche. My knees buckled, and I fell to the ground, gasping for air.

I started getting suicidal thoughts immediately, but I couldn't even move.

"Pathetic," a voice boomed. It was deep, cold, and sharp as a blade. The God of Order. I didn't need to see him to feel his gaze---judgmental, unrelenting, and piercing through my very soul.

Just merely sensing his presence was enough for me to know what concept he dominated over. The same was happening with every other god before me: space, light, chaos. There were too many concepts for me to take in at once.

I clenched my fists, willing myself to breathe, but his presence grew heavier.

My body screamed in agony, every cell crying out as if it were being unraveled. The cosmic energy in me resisted but was effortlessly crushed and trampled upon by his gaze.

"This boy is a blight upon existence," the God of Order continued. "His recklessness and power shattered the sanctity of the safe zone. His very presence is a threat to causality and the current order."

A bright golden light flared before me, shielding me from the suffocating weight of the gods. Two voices---soft yet wild, chaotic yet harmonious---spoke in unison.

"Now, now, Order," the Twin Goddesses of Chaos chimed, their voices layered like a song out of sync. "Isn't it our domain to revel in chaos? This boy... is intriguing. Still at the first floor and already causing this amount of chaos. This is a prime situation for us."

Their golden barrier shimmered around me, a shield that gave me just enough room to gasp for air.

"Enough." The Tower Master's voice cut through the tension, calm yet carrying an authority that silenced even the gods. His authoritative voice was a blessing to me at this point.

His presence was no less overwhelming, but it lacked the malice of the God of Order. Instead, it felt like a cold, unyielding judge standing before a condemned man.

"Boy," the Tower Master began, his tone even. "Your actions have disrupted the balance of the tower. Lives were lost, and the sanctity of the first floor was broken. You stand accused of reckless misuse of power even if it was unintentional. What do you have to say for yourself?"

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. My throat was dry, my mind a tangled mess of guilt and fear.

"There is no need for his words," the God of Order interrupted. "His crimes are clear, and so is the punishment. He must be eliminated to prevent further catastrophe."

My heart dropped as his words resonated in the space. His cold words' certainty felt like a death sentence.

But another voice, warm and calm, rang out---a stark contrast to the others. "Elimination is unnecessary," the Goddess of Light said, her tone gentle yet firm. "The boy acted out of ignorance, not malice. He deserves a chance to redeem himself."

The Tower Master nodded, his expression unreadable. "What do you propose, Light?"

"A trial," she replied. "Let the tower itself decide his worth. Double the difficulty of his journey until he reaches the fifth floor. If he survives, he will prove he can control the power within him. And the system judged him as not guilty. That should suffice as a punishment."

Murmurs rippled through the space, the voices of gods debating the fairness of her suggestion.

"Ridiculous!" the God of Order spat. "You would gamble the lives of countless others on this boy's survival?"

"Enough." The Tower Master's voice silenced them all again. "Let us vote."

[Number of beings who vote in favor: 327]

[Number of beings who vote against: 66]

[Number of beings who are neutral: 4,679]

"The proposal is accepted. The punishment is fitting. If you die during the trial, you won't be allowed to revive," the Tower Master concluded.

A presence moved closer to me.

The Goddess of Space stepped forward---or at least, her presence did. A shimmering orb appeared before me, pulsing with a soft, silvery light.

Her voice was cold but not unkind. "Take this. It contains the knowledge of spatial control. Use it wisely, or your journey will end far sooner than you hope. Having power without knowledge leads to disaster."

The orb floated toward me, and as it touched my skin, a rush of incomprehensible information flooded my mind.

My head throbbed, but I held on, clutching the orb tightly. Knowledge of space control flowed into my very being with little bits of information about cosmic energy too.

"T-Thank you," I squeezed out.

The Twin Goddesses of Chaos chuckled, their voices layered with amusement. "Good luck, little mortal. The chaos ahead will be... entertaining."

The barrier around me flickered, and the presence of the gods began to fade. But as the white space dissolved, the God of Order's voice cut through, colder than death itself.

"Die gracefully, boy. It will save you the trouble."

With those words hanging in the air, I was hurled back into the void.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my accommodation room, clutching the glowing orb.

My body trembled, not from the journey, but from the weight of what had just happened---and what lay ahead.