Kyle stood in front of a big gate on a seemingly random Planet. The gate was on the side of a mountain, and it looked ostentatious and expensive.
The Natural Trial was right behind the gate.
Funnily enough, this was not the actual entrance to the Natural Trial but a second entrance, which had been created by the Array of Stars.
After all, these were Natural Trials. Everyone who found it could enter.
This gate was just there to stop random people from entering, which the Array of Stars didn't approve of.
It was like putting a gate in front of a vein of iron ore.
Kyle looked at the emblem again.
Naturally, there were different kinds of Natural Trials.
There were Natural Trials for specific Realms.
There were Natural Trials for people with a lot of Karmic Luck, and there were even some designed for people with a lack of Karmic Luck.
Some of them even disappeared randomly and appeared somewhere else.
Without knowing that this entire world was created by some God, this would seem unnatural, illogical, and weird. After all, how could nature just create random trials, buildings, Formation Arrays, and so on?
'This weird God has a goal,' Kyle thought. 'That much is clear. I mean, the entire Karmic Luck stuff already tells you what he wants. From what I can see, he wants a bunch of powerful people. Why else would Karmic Luck favor helping powerful people over Mortals?'
'Is it because of the God's personal vendetta? The mysterious man said that there was a personal vendetta. He even used my car crash metaphor.'
'So, these Natural Trials probably exist to give people a chance to grow stronger.'
This Natural Trial was for people with positive Karmic Luck, but the interesting part was that it actually consumed one's Karmic Luck.
The Array of Stars called these Exchange Natural Trials.
One's chances of death were much lower when entering this kind, but one would lose a bunch of Karmic Luck. It was kind of like exchanging Karmic Luck for a direct growth in power.
Of course, there were also Natural Trials that increased one's Karmic Luck without someone actually needing to do anything to help anybody else.
Natural Trials could also have different lengths and intensities.
Some of them had many different levels, while others only had a single level.
Some would be invisible to people with a high level of Battle-Strength, while others would be invisible to people with a low level of Battle-Strength. Some were only visible to physical fighters, while others were only visible to mental manipulators like Manny.
Compared to almost everything else, Natural Trials were actually not all the same in every Dimension. Some Dimensions had some, while others had others or none at all.
There were even some in the Hell Dimension, but they were apparently just death traps.
'According to the emblem, this should be one with only a single level, and the rewards are actually pretty bad,' Kyle thought. 'At first glance, that would seem pretty worthless, but when it comes to these Natural Trials, it's often less about the reward and more about the trials themselves.'
'The trials are often tailor-made for the participant and can give significant help in comprehending things.'
'Well, I want to comprehend this weird thing, and I'm super stuck. Sure enough, this is probably the safest way to comprehend it.'
Kyle took a deep breath and infused the emblem with his Energy.
The next moment, the emblem turned into dust, and the gate in front of Kyle opened.
He stepped through the open gate and found himself in a tunnel, which led to a second gate.
The second gate didn't look nearly as majestic as the first one. In a way, it looked like the entrance to an old and worthless crypt.
'Well, here goes,' he thought as he walked forward. 'Wonder what's waiting for me.'
Kyle opened the door, and a moment later, the space around him warped.
Kyle's world spun, and his eyes glazed over.
Without thinking about anything, he just walked forward.
'I… huh? I… eeh…' he tried to think, but he couldn't create a coherent thought.
Everything was suddenly so confusing.
Where was he?
What was he?
Who was he?
He walked around in confusion for an unknown period of time.
"Wait, what?" Kyle said as he felt like he had just woken up from a daydream.
He looked around the room for a second and remembered.
"Did I fall asleep?" he uttered as he sat up on his couch. "Bro, why did I fall asleep on the couch? I must've been fucking tired."
Kyle took out his smartphone and checked the time.
'Fucking five already?!' he thought in shock. 'Lindsay is gonna be here any second now! Please, tell me I didn't forget to clean the kitchen! She's gonna go fucking crazy if it's still dirty!'
Kyle quickly jumped from his sofa and ran to the kitchen to see…
"Fuck," he said.
Empty bottles, dirty glasses, dirty dishes, full bin…
At the perfect time, Kyle heard the sound of keys entering the front door.
Kyle closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'True Battle in three, two, one…'
Kyle shook his head. 'True Battle? Where the fuck did that come from? What even is that? Is there also a False Battle?'
Then, he heard the door open.
'Well, maybe she forgot?'
"Did you do the kitchen?" a high-pitched female voice came from the other room.
"Eh, you wouldn't believe it, but," Kyle slowly said as the owner of the earlier voice entered the kitchen, "yeah, I did. I promise, I will do it immediately!"
The woman, who had just entered the kitchen, wore baggy clothing and a lot of makeup reminiscent of late 2000's goth culture. The hair on the right side was colored red and was quite long, while she was bald on the other side.
This was Lindsay, Kyle's wonderful wife.
When Lindsay saw her husband in the dirty kitchen, her eyes widened in intensity, and Kyle could feel a dense aura of absolute hatred coming from her.
'Oh, guess she had a good day. Thought she would be angrier,' he thought.
Lindsay dropped her bag in silence, and then…
She sniffed.
Her eyes filled with water, and her hands gently went to her face.
'Ah, fuck,' Kyle thought, assaulted by guilt.
"Why do you hate me?" she asked pitifully through sniffs.
"Babe, I don't hate you," Kyle said, carefully approaching her.
"Ye-yes, you do," she whispered, stepping backward.
"No, I don't," Kyle said, touching her shoulder. "I will do it right now! I promise!"
"See? You hate me," she said, looking away from him. "You would rather clean the kitchen than spend time with me."
"No!" Kyle shouted. "I want to spend time with you, but I have to clean the kitchen."
"But I'm home now," she whimpered. "If you wanted to clean the kitchen, you could've done so while I was out. Why would you only clean the kitchen when I'm home? You're trying to avoid me."
Kyle became nervous. "You told me yesterday to clean the kitchen, and I'll do just that. Sorry that I couldn't do it sooner, but I fell asleep and forgot."
Lindsay pulled away from Kyle and looked at him in annoyed confusion. "I didn't tell you to do the kitchen!"
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