The Unlimited Ascension: Reborn as an Extra

The world blurred as the dimensional travel led his body to the next zone of the trial. Before he could take note of the sudden feeling of dizziness, everything became perfectly still. Alen slowly opened his eyes. As his azure eyes scanned the surroundings, standing before him was a grand crystal hall. It contained several tall shelves made entirely of glowing crystals, where several books and ancient tomes were settled, containing the knowledge and information of who knows what.

Just as he was confused, not knowing if he had been transported to a simple library or the actual trial room, the system chimes popped up.

[Ding!]

[Location: Omniscient Library]

[Trial: Wisdom]

[Time Limit: 30 min.]

Alen looked at the trial prompt and felt utterly confused after finding only a single word: ’Wisdom’. What is wisdom? Curiosity? Understanding? He didn’t quite know. And even if he knew the definition, it didn’t mean he could understand the deep, hidden meaning behind the trial, even with his high comprehension skills.

The trials given by the Ascension Realm are so bizarre that even beings who possess immense power wouldn’t be able to deal with them through brute force, and he was nothing compared to them yet.

He looked around the vast library, not knowing what to do. Without much thought, he stepped forward, looking around the crystal shelves as he searched to find something interesting.

He stepped close to one of the shelves and picked up a random book. He opened it, and what he read inside the book completely stunned his expression.

”Wait, isn’t this a fantasy novel I had once read in my past life? How can it appear here?”

He checked the pages to see if the story was really the same one he remembered.

It was a romance novel in which a boy fell in love with his girlfriend, but she betrayed him for another boy. Ultimately, she realized it was her biggest mistake in life, but the main character had already moved on with another girl and ignored her. However, due to some twisted fate or bad luck, the new girl he had moved on with died due to cancer. Ultimately, the female lead, his ex-girlfriend, became his ultimate anchor and supported him. The story got a happy ending with both of them marrying.

’But still, I felt bad for the girl who died. She was so good and innocent, the very embodiment of innocence. She accepted the main character’s past and still stood with him till the very end of her life. But the guy just moved on with his ex again... it is not fair for that girl... sigh.’

Alen shook his head in thought. It was a story which touched his heart, not because it was a particularly good story, but because the protagonist had not respected her death and moved on easily, treating her as if she was just a past Chapter which was completed.

’Sigh... Is every love story like this? Betrayal, despair, hidden truths, moving on to someone else? I would prefer staying single my whole life rather than getting betrayed by the girl I will love...’

Alen closed the book and placed it back in its position. He checked the other books on the shelves. There were various novels; some of them he had read in his past life, while others were ones he was entirely unaware of. He walked toward the other shelves as time passed in a blur. Half of the time limit had already passed, but he hadn’t found anything interesting or eye-catching to solve the trial.

Suddenly, he paused. He felt a sparkling ray of light in the distance behind a tall shelf. Curiosity piqued his interest, and he decided to walk toward that place to check what was hiding there.

As he moved past the shelf, his steps slowed to a halt. He looked to the front with surprised eyes. On a long, pristine table, floating just above the surface, were three similar books emitting radiant light, completely captivating his eyes.

”What is this thing?”

Just as he was standing in utter confusion, the system chimes suddenly began to pop up, as if answering all of his expected questions.

[Ding! Omniscient Tomes have manifested in front of you!]

[Ding! You have been bestowed a chance to choose one of the Tomes.]

[Omniscient Tome 1: 100% Weapon Transcendence (Any rank)]

[Omniscient Tome 2: Understanding about your existence.]

[Omniscient Tome 3: Omniscient Knowledge about the Ascension Realm.]

[You can only choose one of them. Your choice will define your existence.]

[Choose]

[1 / 2 / 3]

Alen glanced at the glowing screen in utter shock. He could see the unfathomable, world-breaking advantages he would get if he chose even one of them.

He looked at the very first tome glowing with golden light. If he read that and then transcended his weapon, his Weapon Godless would reach its absolute peak—a peak which no one in the entire universe, not even the past wielders, had been able to use. He might instantly become the strongest human being in existence, unbeatable, as well as someone with enough power to make the whole world bow before him.

His gaze caught the second tome, which was glowing with a pure white light. If he got that, then he would know the ultimate secret of his existence. He would know his own truth, and exactly why and who had brought him here into this new world. Was it the Ascension Realm itself, or some god, or the system itself? Or was he fated to come here after dying? He didn’t know the answer, but he could easily find out through that tome.

The third tome glowed with a greenish light. It explicitly told him that if he got it, he would gain all the knowledge existing in the Ascension Realm. This clearly meant if he grabbed that book, he would become omniscient and could easily conquer the Ascension Realm and transcend it. All of his biggest dreams might immediately come true if he chose even one of them.

Alen hesitated, not knowing which item would be appropriate to choose. If he had been given the choice, he would have taken the whole table. But no, he would only get to choose one of them.

’What should I do?... It is difficult for me to choose among them... Yeah, it is true that I will get the ultimate truth and massive power, but is that what I really want?...’

He wasn’t sure how he had been transmigrated into this world. Since he had arrived, he only thought about survival, walking on his own path, and making sure he would be able to fulfill all of his dreams which he couldn’t achieve in his past life. But during this path, he had learned how to live and how to enjoy himself, even though just a little. He had met various people and made companions. He still wasn’t sure if they could be entirely trusted, or if they were similar to most of the ex-friends he had made in his past life.

He liked the thrill of finding out about new things and exploring uncharted territories. He had already been the type of curious person since his past life; he loved learning new things. So finding himself in this unknown world and exploring it from the basic level was the most amazing thing he had been given. He never asked himself if he hated surviving like this, because he never did. If life is always easy then it’s not meaningful, only the rewards earned from genuine hardship are memorable.

He remembered every single reward he had gotten since entering this realm. Not because it was a recent event, and not because he had a very strong memory, but because whatever he got during that time had made a large, tangible change in his life. Ultimately, he had to survive more to get the reward. The Ascension seemed to be unlimited. It would take years for him to reach the very top and achieve his path. But if he got to shortcut his path right now, he would lose several of the journeys which could bring him happiness, joy, thrill, survival, and even despair. And that is life. People have to get used to it and learn from it. Everyone faces problems and despair in their life; even though the extent might be different for others, the ultimate truth is that we have to surpass it and walk through the difficulties on our own path.

Alen looked at the remaining time, which now seemed of little value to him. If he chose one of them, he would regret not choosing the other one. On one hand, there was unfathomable power, but on the other hand, there was infinite knowledge about himself and where he was walking.

He took a step back, stepping away from the glowing tomes, away from the pristine table, and away from the easy shortcut which would directly make him reach the top.

’I don’t want to shortcut my path. I will eventually get to know everything myself. I will eventually get this power if I am truly capable of it. There is no reason for me to choose any of them if it will make me forget why I am choosing to walk on this path in the first place...’

’My path isn’t just to reach the top. My path is to learn how to live with the selfish desires—not as someone without any emotions, but as someone who likes caring about himself and his own things. There are nearly infinite dreams of mine. I know it is impossible to complete every single thing, but if I could complete even just a few of them, it will be my biggest pride. And that pride will only come if I gain it through my own hardship. I am a prideful person; either I want it all, or I want none. So I choose neither among them.’

He dismissed all the power and knowledge a normal person would have loved to choose. He turned around to walk away, proudly searching for the real way to conquer this trial.

[Ding! The Trial ’Wisdom’ has been successfully completed!]