Alan was in a dilemma about what he should choose. Staying at the garden seemed like the best course of action. Who knew what kind of other games the AI might play with him if he chose to leave? After experiencing the trials of 100 lives, he had gained a deeper understanding of what the AI was trying to tell him.
But even so, his heart and brain synchronized for a moment. He felt a scream rise within him, telling the AI that he wanted to stay here. Hadn't he endured enough with humans in these past 100 lives? Didn't he deserve some rest in the end? he thought.
Just when he was about to make his final decision and tell the AI, he heard footsteps behind him. "Huh?! Who's there?" Alan asked, his eyes sharp.
Clapping sounds echoed in a congratulatory manner. "Congratulations, I never expected someone would actually complete this challenge. Though Nillen, I think you took it a bit too far. Going all out on a nightmare difficulty for a kid—isn't that too much?" an unknown man asked the AI.
["Affirmative. It is confirmed that the Gardener (Master) has returned. Welcome, Master Albert,"] the AI replied respectfully.
Alan was dumbfounded. He finally met the real master of this garden. "So, that's him, the Gardener, the true master of this place," Alan thought. But he noticed something different—he wasn't human. "Those sharp pointy ears... he's an elf!"
Alan was surprised because elves were a rare breed that lived in the Celestial Cosmos plane, a place everyone dreamed of visiting. Not everyone could go there; you needed to be at least rank X or higher. No amount of wealth could buy entry. Elves, being naturally from there, were notoriously arrogant. But they backed up their arrogance with incredible beauty and a vast capacity for mana. Their children were born as S-rank, so you could imagine how strong they were as adults.
Despite having faced countless strong enemies in the trials, Alan was sweating buckets just being in the same space as him. His brain told him to run, but his legs wouldn't move.
"Man, you are so ruthless, Nillen. Who told you to go all out on a kid? I told you to challenge a strong individual, not an underaged kid. I doubt he's higher than an A-rank. Does he even have the mental strength to withstand that harsh challenge?" Albert asked furiously.
["Affirmative, Master. But you instructed me to find a suitable individual for your mission, so I chose the shortest and quickest route. Even if the test subject had died, there would always be more to come,"] the AI, Nillen, spoke harshly. ["Finishing my master's job in the fastest and most effective way is my duty."]
"I know, but you didn't need to be that harsh. The least you could have done was give him a little break."
["But you were interested in this human when he was at his 88th life. I saw you develop a fondness for him."]
"W-well, ha ha ha," Albert tried to change the subject and finally acknowledged Alan, his golden eyes shining as if Alan existed for the first time.
In the blink of an eye, Albert moved close to Alan and put his hands on his shoulders, patting him warmly. Despite not being gay, Alan questioned his orientation momentarily, seeing Albert's handsomeness. He quickly shook off the thought, focusing on the more important matters at hand. He had many questions for Albert, but before he could speak, Albert put his finger on Alan's lips, signaling him to keep quiet.
"I am sure you have lots of questions for me, but it's dinner time now. How about you rest up a bit, and we will talk during dinner? How does that sound?"
Alan paused for a moment, then tilted his head, agreeing.
"Then that's settled. Nillen, give him a room for rest and some new clothes to wear, and prepare dinner."
["Affirmative, as you wish, Master."]
Alan took a long, relaxing bath. The painful memories of the trials still lingered. Even though those weren't real people, he couldn't shake off the feeling. What if that was his fate? But after the relaxing bath, he slowly started to feel like his enthusiastic self again.
After a long rest, Alan was instructed to go to the dining hall to meet the Gardener.
"Come on, Alan, take a seat. Today you are the guest of honor. Eat whatever you like!"
The table was presented with all kinds of rich and luxurious delicacies, but Alan didn't eat anything. Despite being hungry, his hunger could wait. He needed answers first.
Albert tried to lighten Alan's mood, but he soon realized Alan wouldn't eat until he got what he wanted. "Alright, fine, you win. You deserve an answer. Go on, ask whatever you want," Albert finally conceded. "Oh right, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Albert Vonilagish. I am from the Elven Vonilagish family, as you can guess.
As for the AI you keep hearing, that is Nillen, an AI and helper I created. I am sure you had a questionable experience with her, but she has a good personality."
Alan gave a look that said, "Huh? You expect me to believe that?!"
Alan finally spoke up and questioned the elf. "First of all, what is this garden, and why is an elf like you here? Shouldn't you people live in the Celestial Cosmos and never leave that place?"
"Hmmm, good questions. How about I tell you some history about this place to give you a better understanding?" Albert began. "As I told you before, I am from the Vonilagish family, and my family has been artifact collectors from ancient times. Out of all the artifacts I've collected in my lifetime, none come close to what I found in the northern cave in the Celestial Blades: the Pendant of Chaos. I don't know much myself, but I know the pendant was found at the Doors of Kafkan.
The pendant emits a strange energy I've never seen before. It's not mana or any other conventional energy we use in our everyday life; it's something entirely different.
After doing some research, I managed to harness some of its power and create a pocket dimension, which I later named the Abyssel Garden.
As for the AI Nillen, I created it to look after the garden when I'm not around.
I guess that answers most of your questions, right?
But for Alan, the most important question remained, "What are the trials of lives, and what is their purpose?"
"Ahhh, that... ," Albert tried to change the subject.
["Affirmative. That was created so Master wouldn't have to—"]
"U-up-up, Nillen, you don't have to, ha ha," Albert tried to cut off Nillen, but he couldn't escape Alan's sharp gaze.
"Uhhhhh, fine. I guess you deserve a proper explanation. Nillen can explain it better than me. Go on, Nillen."
["Affirmative. Orders received. As you see, human, Master's family is a very powerful family, more powerful than you can imagine. And what you might not know is the prophecy of the Chosen One.
The prophecy of the Chosen One was foretold by the Grand Sage on his deathbed. According to the prophecy, the Chosen One will save us from the upcoming Celestial War. I am sure you must have heard some rumors of it?"]
Alan nodded in agreement.
["All the powerful and influential families were given the task of finding the prophesied one by the Magistrate before the Celestial War. Master's family was given the same task. Though Master had some difficulties finding the Chosen One, he created a grand system to train people and make their minds powerful enough to find the person. This way, Master wouldn't have to do the heavy lifting and could sit back and relax—"]
"AHHH! I think that is enough, Nillen. I think our dear Alan has gotten the point, right?" Albert said, but Alan still glared at him.
"You see, my dear child, I created this system to find worthy individuals to help me find the Chosen One. It is not easy to find the hero of the world, after all," Albert remarked sarcastically.
"But if you need worthy individuals, why make it such a hard challenge? Isn't it a bit too much?" Alan asked politely.
"That, my child, is the difficult part. I am an elf, and as you can guess, I have a very long lifespan. Right now, I think I am 1009 years old, so you can guess I have had lots of dealings with humans. Despite that, I haven't managed to find the Chosen One. In fact, no one in my family or even in the whole Celestial Cosmos has found a single clue about the hero.
So, I carefully crafted this little game, you might say, to train individuals and not to get persuaded and easily manipulated and bring some random dude. But even though I say that, you have my deepest apology because this system wasn't crafted for individuals like you. Your case was just pure coincidence, and my AI did take it a bit too far, so I deeply apologize."
Alan finally understood the whole situation. It was just his shitty luck again, like always. Still, he couldn't help but feel proud that he had achieved something not even crafted for him and came out unscathed.
"Anyway, I think I have answered most of your questions, right? Let's enjoy dinner, as you are my first test— I mean, child who has managed to complete the challenge without
any failures. Congratulations," and with that, Albert raised a toast.
"Cheers!" Albert said excitedly.
["Affirmative, but Master, I think you have forgotten something important."]
"Huh? What is it, Nillen? Don't tell me it's your maintenance day again. Didn't I just do it last month?"
["Negative, it's not that. The gach—"]
"Oh! Right, my dear Alan's reward. Why didn't you remind me, Nillen? Never mind that right now."
"My dear child, Alan, for your hard work and determination, you deserve a reward. And for that, I present you the—" With a flick of Albert's fingers, a giant spinning wheel appeared before them. But more than a giant wheel, it looked like a gacha wheel?!
"A gacha?!" Alan exclaimed. "But why a gacha?!"
"He he, aren't I a genius? I created this system so everyone would have a fair chance at a reward," Albert exclaimed proudly.
"With this, you can get anything that is in the gacha and get whatever you want from it. And just because you completed the challenge in the hardest difficulty, which no one has ever managed to do, your chances of getting a high-ranking reward are increased from 0.0001% to 0.001%."
"What! Then what's the point of this stupid gacha anyways? Just work me for free then," Alan remarked angrily.
"It's your choice, Alan. It might just be your lucky day, you never know, heh heh."
"Fine, just get it over with!"
"That's what I like to hear. Now you will only get three chances. Good luck!"
Alan tried to refute, but at this point, he didn't care. He knew his luck better than anyone else. He pulled the trigger without any excitement, knowing what was coming for him.
As expected, the first pull was garbage (yes, that was an actual prize). The second pull was a compressor. "Oh wow, how lucky..." Alan remarked sarcastically. Finally, the third pull—Alan didn't even look at the wheel properly, knowing—wait, what?! An unknown rank reward [Luas and Niass]?!
"Huh?!"