Trait Hoarder-Chapter 298: Old Father – (3)

Old Father – Part 3

world, せかい, mundus, 世界, мир, दुनिया…

It wasn’t that.

The [World] in the World Trait didn’t refer to dimensions or realms.

What it truly meant was—

‘Microcosm.’

Where had I heard that?

In a game?

A wuxia novel I read back in my original world?

Or during the desperate struggle to survive in this one?

Somewhere, sometime—I’d heard it.

Humans are microcosms.

The world is the macrocosm.

And thus, there was a belief that the human and the world are connected.

The World Trait was no different.

Now that I thought about it, what connection could “world” possibly have with “traits”?

The way it copied and fused traits was inherently unnatural.

Now I understood why.

I blinked slowly.

‘A person is a universe.’

And—

‘A life is a world.’

Yes.

My life itself was a world.

Ever since I was thrown into this broken game-world, my entire existence had revolved around collecting traits.

It began with traits.

And not for a single moment since did I take my eyes off them.

That’s why the World Trait manifested as a trait-based power.

Because my life had been defined by collecting traits.

I gently closed my eyes.

‘That’s not all.’

But still—

Could I truly be defined by traits alone?

No.

Traits weren’t everything.

The World Trait only reflected the what and the how of the six principles.

It never answered why I collected traits during my time—either in the original world, or in this one.

Only when that too was included could it be called life.

Only when life was understood could it be called a world.

Clarity flooded my mind.

A sharp awakening cut through the fog, and mana surged.

“Arrogant…”

The Old Father bellowed in fury—but it didn’t matter.

The sensation exploding inside me was distorting the very flow of time.

My hyper-accelerated senses observed the Old Father calmly—his punch drawn back and thrusting forward—like time had frozen.

FWOOOSH!

Mana flared and pierced my brain.

Visions began to flash.

My experiences, my memories, resurfaced like a movie in reverse.

The Divine Kingdom War.

The Heavenly Demon Sword.

Transcendence.

The battle with the Lich King.

The Seoul terrorist attack.

My disciples.

The Forced Baptism.

The disappearance of national health insurance.

SSR-grade Heavenly Demon.

It didn’t stop there.

The memory split into two distinct threads and stabbed into my mind.

Warrior Kim’s memories.

Kim Junsu’s memories.

Warrior Kim—an orphan who barely scraped by.

Kim Junsu—once born into comfort, but lost it all.

Two lives unspooled in panoramic clarity.

And it didn’t end at two.

The mana piercing through my brain and spirit—and perhaps the explosively evolved World Trait—pierced even the physical limits of my body.

To the deepest part of my mind.

To a place that held no mass, no substance—something beyond all matter.

There, a third memory bloomed.

A life of endless struggle and challenge.

Trait Swaps.

World War.

A war against the Demon King.

A duel with a divine being.

And finally—the moment of death, when I chose to remain human, giving up both ascension and immortality.

‘Yeah.’

I muttered calmly in my mind.

‘I was the Heavenly Demon.’

Come to think of it, there had been clues all along.

The Saintess’ cryptic remarks.

Why my body—Warrior Kim’s body—was stuck at age 22.

Why the black dome in Gwangju had only opened for me.

All of it was tied to my past life.

[That’s why life is so interesting. Twists of fate and distortions of time love to toy with small plans.]

The Saintess had said that in São Paulo.

Looking back, the truth was clear.

My past self—the Heavenly Demon—had died as a human, reincarnated into the original world, lived for decades, and only now had the Saintess’ ritual activated.

That’s why she didn’t recognize me at first.

Why?

Because I wasn’t the Heavenly Demon.

I was merely someone who used to be the Heavenly Demon.

[Without the mind as the pillar, even the noblest soul and strongest body are nothing but wasted potential.]

Right before Transcendence—

When I’d desperately tried to reach level 8.

The River Goddess had said that.

[I still can’t see the exalted soul, but I can see three lives.]

Now I understood what she meant.

The rewinded memories came to an end.

The life of Warrior Kim.

The life of Kim Junsu.

The life of the Heavenly Demon.

I opened my eyes slowly.

My brain, accelerated to the speed of light, once again perceived the outside world.

The Old Father was approaching.

With divine power and mana strong enough to crush the earth, he advanced toward me.

But despite the raging pressure, I felt nothing but peace.

Because now—I knew what to do.

What I had to do.

‘A person is a universe.’

I repeated it.

‘A life is a world.’

And the World Trait—its power was fusion, harmony, totality.

What should I fuse?

What should I harmonize?

What should I craft into wholeness?

I didn’t need to think any further.

I simply reached out my hand.

The World Trait that had spread through my entire body evolved one step further.

Like the World Tree of legend.

Like the cosmic tree that connects nine worlds.

It transcended both space and flesh to unite three worlds.

Warrior Kim’s body.

Kim Junsu’s mind.

The Heavenly Demon’s soul.

These three worlds.

CRACK!

I heard something break.

A single mana circuit rose, glowing.

I knew what it was.

It was the first trait I ever gained after falling into this world—[Wound Recovery], earned by stabbing a pen into the back of my hand.

Then came [Vigor], [Strength], [Treasure Hunter], [Contamination Resistance], [Extraction], [Synthesis]—rising one after another.

In the exact order I had acquired them.

The same went for all the others.

Hundreds—no, thousands of traits.

Every trait I’d obtained burst forth and painted a galaxy across the night sky.

And now—the World Trait activated.

All traits were enhanced.

[Wound Recovery] became [Wound Restoration].

[Vigor] became [Greater Vitality].

[Strength] became [Enhanced Muscle].

[Treasure Hunter] became [Treasure Seeker].

Every trait evolved, each one becoming stronger by a level.

‘Ah…’

And then came the fusions.

Dual-type fusion. Triple-type fusion. Quad-type fusion. Quintuple-type fusion…

They merged into higher traits, and then those too began to evolve.

It was like everything was thrown into a divine furnace and melted down.

At the center of it all, the World Trait, which had become a World Tree, leapt into the middle.

Was it the catalyst?

The seed?

Or the core?

The World Trait pulled the galaxy of traits into itself and condensed them into a single point.

And then—explosion.

The Big Bang.

Fwoooosh!

In the beginning, there was light.

The blinding flash burst out, pushing the universe outward as it created a new world.

A miniature world, engraved within the microcosm that was me.

There was sky.

There was land.

There was sea and forest.

Human civilization existed. Time flowed. Axes of space intersected.

This was the true face of the World Trait.

What I had nurtured like a tree.

What had connected three lives like a World Tree.

That had only been the seed.

I looked into the world.

The world looked back at me.

And I recalled, once again, something I had realized long ago.

‘Traits are life.’

A thought I’d had while contemplating divinity on the verge of Transcendence.

Traits are the result of a life.

And if that’s the case, then can’t the world be considered a trait as well?

Traits are life. Life is a world. The world is a trait.

A realization that came full circle.

That vast cycle seared itself into my brain like a divine brand.

FLASH!

With that, the tiny world I had built dissipated.

In its place, a new mana circuit emerged.

It spread across my entire body in exacting precision.

It etched itself into my mind and soul.

A circuit beyond material and magic.

It could only be called a soul circuit—a colossal, hyper-condensed network.

[World]

That word was far too crude to name this circuit.

In truth, no human language could describe it.

But still—

If I had to translate it into letters, no matter how clumsy—

[Traits] [Hoarded] [By]

[Kim] [The] [Warrior]

That would be the closest.

Trait Hoarder Warrior Kim.

The culmination of my life.

The completed form of my journey.

And right then—the Old Father’s fist came within inches of my face.

It shimmered with tightly condensed Starlight Roar.

A few seconds ago, a hit like that would’ve killed me instantly.

But now…

Thunk.

I caught the punch with my left hand.

No armor.

No defensive stance.

Just an open palm.

As if I were catching a baseball thrown by a child.

The Old Father’s mana trembled.

“What…?”

The Saintess, who had been laughing gleefully, opened her blood-soaked eyes wide.

“Huh?”

She stared in disbelief, then clenched her own fist and threw a punch.

It was casual, almost playful—but my soul circuit flashed with light.

Every move I made triggered Trait Hoarder Warrior Kim.

BOOOOM!

Explosion.

The overwhelming force detonated against the Old Father.

It pierced through his chaotic defense like paper and smashed into the Saintess’s face.

His chest blew open.

Void and Morning Star energy swirled in disarray.

The left arm I had grabbed onto was ripped off with a sickening tear.

“Ggghaaaah!”

The Old Father hastily pulled his body back.

The scattered chaos slithered back toward him—but the force was no longer the same.

His body, once towering like a god, had visibly shrunk.

Once a giant spanning hundreds of meters, the Old Father was now half that.

“You… you!”

He glared at me, eyes seething with rage.

But I didn’t feel a hint of intimidation.

He looked… small.

Pathetically small.

Because the gap in strength had reversed completely.

“Hmph.”

I stared at him calmly, almost like a bystander.

I saw it then—a line.

Not the dull lines of fate drawn across a black-and-white world.

A thick, brilliant golden line.

It started from me and stretched to the Old Father.

So this was it. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The destiny the Old Father kept rambling about.

“Vessel!”

The Old Father shouted, maddened.

“No matter how you resist, your destiny lies with me! You will end as me!”

“Oh, I agree.”

“W-what did you say?”

“I said I agree.”

Because he was right.

I’d known all along.

It was obvious with a little thought.

The Old Father’s mana fluctuated, trembling with delight.

“You’ve finally accepted your fate! Come to me now! Let us become one—open the New World, and ascend into a new dimension!”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

I pulled back my fist.

Focused everything I had into it.

An unthinkable force of mana spiraled around it.

Even the chaos spread across the Divine Kingdom responded to my will.

It rushed to me like a waterfall, amplifying my destruction.

The Old Father’s mana trembled violently.

“Why… why do you still fight? Do you not understand that you must become one with me?!”

“I do.”

I spoke sincerely.

“I will become one with you.”

But not the way you think.

Why should I be devoured?

Why should I be the vessel?

Why can’t it be the other way around?

Why can’t I devour you—and become a god?

“Hand over the shard of divinity!”

I lunged forward.

At a speed approaching light itself.

In the blink of an eye, I was already bursting through the Old Father’s body.

CRAAAACK!

Time and space collapsed together.

A stretched afterimage of me extended like a sugar string behind the impact.

“GRRAAAAAGH!”

The Old Father let out a monstrous scream.

He whipped his newly regenerated arms wildly, chaos raining down from them.

Starlight Roar crisscrossed.

Shadow of the Abyss surged upward.

Ignored.

Didn’t dodge, didn’t block.

Didn’t have to.

His attacks couldn’t even scratch me now.

They couldn’t touch a single hair.

“This… this makes no sense… This is impossible! You’re a human! How could a human possess this kind of power!?”

The Old Father wailed.

He cried out like a frightened puppy.

If Heavenly Demon Art was the divine martial art forged by humanity—

Then my power had gone beyond that.

I had surpassed level 9.

In terms of combat capability alone, I was no longer just a 9.5—I was close to 9.9.

‘If I keep collecting shards of divinity… maybe…’

Maybe I could even reach level 10.

A rank beyond ordinary divinity.

The level of the prime gods, like Thor or Gaia.

CRACK!

I smashed the Old Father with a punch.

BOOM!

Then followed with a kick.

KWA-KWANG!

Kneed him in the gut, then slammed him with my shoulder.

“Guh! G-KAHK! GURGH!”

The Old Father staggered like a rag doll.

Every hit ruptured a part of his chaotic form.

Light and darkness spilled out as he grew smaller and smaller.

But he didn’t die.

Because the power of chaos was being reabsorbed.

I was also devouring that power—but unlike him, I wasn’t born from chaos.

“I… I won’t end like this!”

The Old Father shrieked.

“Let’s see who can endure the infinite war! In this world, in my Divine Kingdom, I am immortal! I am already dead—though I suffer and suffer, I cannot be killed! But you… you, who shall become my Third Throne… you will be broken down and digested, until you become my vessel!”

Still clinging to that?

He wasn’t entirely wrong.

His chaotic form was nothing but a temporary body built from sacrificial offerings.

Destroying that body wouldn’t kill him.

To truly end him, I’d have to steal all of his chaos power or erase the Divine Kingdom itself.

“Ahahahaha! Ahahahaha!”

The Old Father burst into laughter.

“Just thinking about absorbing your immense power fills me with joy!”

“Hmph.”

I kicked him away and turned my back.

There was a way.

Crush the Old Father and the Divine Kingdom together.

That would erase the source of his power, strip him of identity, reduce his rank—

He’d no longer be a god. Just another half-spirit.

Like the false gods worshipped by Kim Saje’s cult.

Srrrng.

I drew a sword.

The Black Tiger Sword, still sheathed in the golf bag.

Snap. It clung to my hand.

The weapon I’d used more than any other since falling into this world.

It felt awkward at first—but now, it was like an extension of myself.

With this blade, I struck harder than with any gun, heavy weapon, or fist.

“Ha! Hahaha!”

The Old Father laughed in my face.

“You think that lump of metal changes anything? Try it, then! Even if a thousand years pass—even if I’m tortured for ten thousand—I will devour you!”

I ignored him and gripped the Black Tiger Sword.

Mars Swordsmanship.

Nephilim Sword.

Kalaratri.

The traits that occupied the greatest portion of my soul circuit.

The three sword arts I obtained after personally raising the three warrior-class disciples to their peak.

They shone like sun, moon, and stars.

The blade had become part of the heavens.

The power of the mountain-sized giant flowed into it.

Mana soul like a great river surged through it.

[One-Man Army], [Sacred Crown Knight], [Dragon Knight], [Finisher], [General], [Evolution], [Wish], [Lightning Strike], [Our Home], [Insight], [Sixth Sense], [Air Raid], [Vajra Body], [Indomitable], [Undying], [Magic Resistance], [Mastery of the Gun], [Magic Brain], [Artisan], [Rapture], [Dragon’s Roar], [Supreme Flame], [Ultimate Ice], [Celestial Wall], [Sacrifice], [Iron-Blooded]…

Reverse Skyblade, obtained after defeating the Wraith King.

Hero, passed down by the Legion Commander through hand-to-hand combat.

Each trait radiated its own light, in its own place, in its own shape.

As if they had all been waiting for this moment.

Was it Sword Qi?

No.

That term couldn’t capture this.

This was the cosmos.

Perhaps even the world itself.

A transcendent light beyond even transcendence.

I assumed my stance.

The most fundamental of basics: an overhead slash.

“You…”

The Old Father’s voice reached me in a whisper.

That was the signal.

I swung.

FLASH!

A single slash of swordlight tore the world in two.

The Old Father—

And the Divine Kingdom along with him.