Chapter 104

About two hours later—

Before Park Chan-woo lay a tall pile of “treasures.”

A total of more than 200 treasures brought in by Boksil.

Every single one was the genuine article, at a level of sheer wonder!

Even at a glance, some looked far from ordinary gear.

These were priceless items beyond mere grade or rank.

But—

‘There’s a real one among these.’

He had to find the real one among the real ones.

He could only take one carefully chosen item out of here.

However, there was a problem.

‘Their mana waves all feel similar.’

The 200 treasures before him—

The thickness, the intensity of their waves—were all about the same.

There were slight differences, but nothing meaningfully distinct.

It meant that finding Ahheta’s hidden treasure using only “mana waves” would be difficult.

‘It’s definitely in here.’

Of that he was certain.

Somewhere among these 200 treasures lay the one—or ones—that Ahheta had hidden.

He had to find another way to tell them apart.

One hour remained.

Could he distinguish them in time?

He began touching each treasure again, one by one.

‘Waves and patterns. That’s where the answer is.’

It wouldn’t be easy.

He could see and know his own “mana pattern,” but identifying the pattern of another object or being was extremely difficult.

Unless he had a “Magic Eye” like Han Shin.

It was said that with the Magic Eye, one could see the mana patterns of all things.

A mana pattern was its property—its unique, individual character.

Thus, someone with the Magic Eye could break magic—they could dismantle the pattern and cut it apart, nullifying the spell entirely.

If he could see mana patterns, he could learn far more detail about an object or opponent.

Unfortunately—

‘I don’t have the Magic Eye to see others’ patterns.’

He had no such eye.

He could know his own pattern, but not those of others.

And conversely, Han Shin was clueless about mana waves.

Not just Han Shin, either—

He had met people with Magic Eyes before, but never someone who could read mana waves.

But here, to find the treasure Ahheta had hidden, he needed both abilities.

He had to read both the mana wave and the mana pattern.

“Boksil, can you read mana patterns?”

Kyuu?

Boksil tilted his head.

As if to say, “What’s that?”

Park Chan-woo smacked his lips inwardly.

Boksil’s ability to read mana waves came from him.

If he couldn’t read mana patterns, then naturally Boksil couldn’t either.

He bit his lip.

‘It’s bound to have a very special mana pattern.’

This was a treasure that the Master of the Moon, Ahheta, had deliberately hidden.

To hide it among dazzling, eye-widening treasures meant he didn’t want to give it to anyone.

He wanted it to remain completely unknown.

A treasure like that wouldn’t have an ordinary mana pattern.

If it had never appeared in the world before, it would surely carry a special pattern.

But you couldn’t tell just by looking at it.

Simply judging by appearance had its limits.

Park Chan-woo tapped his chin.

“…There wasn’t a rule against breaking them.”

He checked the rules posted on the sign again.

There was no rule saying he couldn’t damage the treasures.

While he couldn’t use equipment or tools—

Thud!

Thud!

—there was nothing against hitting or throwing them.

He began striking the treasures against each other.

If Ahheta could see, he would be appalled.

Anyone who knew the value of these treasures would be horrified.

But Park Chan-woo didn’t stop.

Instead, he smashed them together with all his strength.

Claaang—!

Thunk! Thummp!

As they collided, stronger mana waves burst forth.

In The Abyss, existences overlapped and pushed each other away.

The stronger the waves became, the easier it was to distinguish them.

He weeded out about 50 treasures with relatively weak waves.

That left 150.

“Hm…”

His thinking deepened.

Patterns were fixed, but waves could be amplified.

Amplified waves could be further refined for classification.

He scratched his head.

‘Where do mana waves come from?’

He’d always wondered.

The reason awakened humans could exist in The Abyss was that awakening gave them mana waves.

It was undeniable truth that mana waves and “awakening” were closely related.

‘Awakening… Awakening, huh.’

Then what was awakening?

A level-up system?

A structure for surpassing limits?

He shook his head.

‘Even awakened, there are limits. Humanity has never passed level 99.’

So awakening wasn’t a “system to surpass limits.”

Different species had different level caps.

If awakening were just a system for leveling up, there would be no limits—or the same limit—for all species.

Thus, awakening had to be something that brought out a species’ traits.

And if it only awakened “traits,” then everything should already have mana waves even without The Abyss touching them.

‘No matter how much it’s studied, no one’s found it…’

He shook his head.

Even lifelong researchers hadn’t figured it out; how could he so easily?

In any case, awakening and mana waves were deeply linked.

This was even more important than mana patterns—

A higher-level concept.

But without reading patterns, he couldn’t solve the immediate problem.

‘…If only I could know a pattern from the wave.’

It was a thought he’d never had before.

He’d never tried to discern a mana pattern from a mana wave.

Before regression, most of his spells had been basic magic.

Basic magic had overly simple patterns, and even reading its mana wave wasn’t much use.

Honestly, he’d never known why reading mana waves was considered a quality of an Archmage.

But—

‘Amplify the wave infinitely.’

If he could amplify a wave infinitely, could he not discern the pattern too?

A mana wave was the force that came from existence itself—

The last shield protecting the being’s existence in The Abyss.

If he could amplify it infinitely… perhaps he could read the outline of the pattern it carried.

‘How do I amplify it further here?’

He’d found that colliding strong waves created stronger waves.

But smashing treasures together had its limits.

He needed something with an even stronger wave—

Like Khan’s Palace.

Khan had linked his life to his palace.

The palace itself emitted an immense mana wave.

That wave blocked the eyes of all “observers” while sustaining the sealed Khan and warriors.

They hadn’t been consumed by The Abyss over long ages because the palace constantly emitted powerful mana waves.

It vibrated on its own, pouring out amplified waves madly.

In other words—

Khan’s Palace was a mass of mana wave enforcing absolute rules.

And there was something like that here.

‘…That sign.’

The sign floating in the air—

The one with the rules written on it, sustaining this Hidden Treasure Vault with its mana wave!

It was just like Khan’s Palace.

‘It’s linked to Ahheta’s existence.’

Ah…

Realizing this sent a shiver down his spine.

This Hidden Treasure Vault contained Ahheta’s weakness.

If he destroyed it, Ahheta would die or be critically wounded.

He immediately climbed the treasure pile and grabbed the sign, as big as his own body.

Fortunately, it wasn’t fixed in place.

Tap! Tap!

He rapped it with his fist.

A sharp pain shot through his hand.

It was beyond hard—his bones felt like they’d shatter.

“…Can’t break it right now.”

He was sure—at his current level, it was impossible.

But it wasn’t “indestructible.”

If Boksil could be raised further to chip away at its durability—

Or if he himself became strong enough to destroy it—

Then, the next time he entered, he could smash it and deal a mortal blow to Ahheta.

‘This is… the mana wave of the Master of the Moon, Ahheta.’

When his fist hit it, he read the wave.

For the first time, he knew—

That even Ahheta had a mana wave.

If Ahheta had one, other Creators likely did too.

It seemed obvious, but he had never experienced it before.

‘It’s incredible.’

Just a light hit from his fist had sent a massive wave rippling across the entire vault.

At the same time, his own wave surged.

With this much power, he could endlessly amplify the waves of other treasures.

He carried the sign down from the treasure pile.

Then—

Bang!

Bang!

He struck the 150 treasures hard with the sign.

And then—

Bzzzzzzzzzt—!

The amplified waves tangled together, creating a powerful vibration.

Waves dozens of times stronger than when treasures had clashed with each other.

Within that—he could read it.

‘…I can see it.’

He could feel it—

The mana patterns.

The vibration of the waves was shaping the patterns.

As the waves amplified endlessly, the patterns embedded in the treasures began to shake, and their forms could be sensed.

And then—

Ding!

《Your understanding of ‘Mana Waves’ has increased.》

《You have awakened to the ‘Truth.’》

《Intelligence +20》

《Gained 3 ‘Class Level Points.’》

“…?”

He tilted his head at the sudden message.

Was it because he had discovered the truth—that mana patterns could be read through mana waves?

The rewards came pouring in, and among them was something unexpected.

‘Class Level Points?’

Class levels could only be raised by leveling up.

There was no other way to raise them.

That common knowledge had just been shattered.

And with the breaking of one common truth, came another beyond-common reward.

‘…I really don’t know everything, after all.’

A smile spread across his face.

Truth—

The more you learn, the more fascinating and fun it becomes.

He kept striking the sign without pause.

By the time he had checked the mana waves of all 150 treasures—

“Ahheta… are these the treasures you were so desperate to hide?”

He rolled his stiff shoulders.

His whole body screamed in pain, but it didn’t matter.

The thrill running through him was far greater.

Before him, the treasures were now clearly separated.

Not 150—

…but exactly 3.