Chapter 176
There are many strong people in the world.
Reclusive masters who train in seclusion.
Warriors who cultivate their own martial arts in mountains, seas, and deep forests.
They were undoubtedly strong.
…Until the Abyss appeared.
After the Abyss descended, the very definition of strength changed.
Those who merely trained could no longer surpass those who constantly challenged the Abyss.
Classes, Levels, equipment, and Skills had become the new standards of power—privileges granted only to challengers of the Abyss, and the only means of transcending human limits.
If you practiced martial arts, you could challenge the Abyss and rise quickly.
You could grow stronger at a far faster pace and Level up far more efficiently.
But if you only trained without entering the Abyss, you could never break past the limits of being human.
The Abyss was the place that allowed one to surpass those limits.
Everything you could obtain there—strength that let you soar through the sky, shatter mountains, and cleave the sea—existed only within the Abyss.
Suppose a Level 1 trainee, someone who had pushed themselves to the peak of pure training, fought an ordinary person who had simply raised their Level to 10 in the Abyss.
Who would win?
A Level 1 trainee could never defeat a Level 10 ordinary Challenger.
That had become absolute common sense.
It was also why people desperately sought to Level up.
Inside the Abyss, Level had become the supreme measure of strength.
Exceptions existed, but Lee Hyuk-soo believed they were fewer than one in ten thousand.
Therefore, the premise was simple: those with higher Levels were stronger.
And that was why this situation felt so strange.
Having a high Level meant having accumulated significant experience in the Abyss.
And having significant experience in the Abyss meant countless people would have seen you.
The Creation Abyss was something challengers tackled together.
If you stood out, it was impossible to remain unnoticed.
Most of the world’s strongest—so-called Rankers—were known to everyone.
Like an awl in a pocket, they revealed themselves no matter how hard they tried to stay hidden.
And since such people were powerful enough to be considered part of a nation’s military strength, entire governments worked tirelessly to gather information about them.
But Park Chan-woo had never been properly exposed.
It was impossible for someone to Level up quietly in the Abyss without anyone talking about it.
The name Park Chan-woo was far too unfamiliar.
Strange, wasn’t it?
If he ranked first in every test in the warrior camp, he had to be exceptionally strong.
Even Gula—Death Knight Gula—who taught the Supreme Sword Art during the second test, had acknowledged Park Chan-woo’s strength.
Gula had praised him endlessly for defeating him.
That should have been impossible unless Park Chan-woo’s Level was extremely high.
Yet such a strong person had never made a single ripple in the world?
Absurd.
You hear about Rankers even if you try not to.
Turn on the TV, glance at online communities, or walk down any street—their names are everywhere.
Park Chan-woo’s name should have been one he had heard long ago.
But he had never heard it.
Even the Abyss Safety Bureau had no record of him.
This was the first time he’d heard the name—from Han Min-oh, no less.
There was only one exception.
The Prophet.
The only powerful figure in the world who had never been identified.
The Prophet hid perfectly.
Lee Hyuk-soo himself had been assisting in concealing the Prophet’s existence.
If not for him, countless people would have already begun doubting that the Prophet even existed.
But the methods were completely different.
Park Chan-woo did not hesitate to show himself.
His behavior was the complete opposite of the Prophet.
And the Prophet was closer to a mage.
Yet Park Chan-woo had chosen the warrior camp… and defeated Gula with a sword.
Park Chan-woo. Who are you?
He had no idea.
Was Park Chan-woo the Prophet?
Or was he an entirely different strong individual who had never appeared before?
He needed to confirm it.
And then one thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
The one currently inside the Temple…
Was the Prophet.
At the very least, that much was certain.
He had cleared the Legendary Quest, achieved a Unique Achievement, and even bankrupted Ahheta, the Master of the Moon.
A series of miracles no human should be capable of.
The only one who could accomplish such feats was the Prophet.
And the Prophet should be standing before the Temple of Death right now.
If Park Chan-woo was there, then he was the Prophet.
“W–Where are you going, Master?”
“Go back first. There’s something I need to check.”
Ignoring Han Min-oh’s shout, Lee Hyuk-soo sprinted with everything he had.
Toward the Temple of Death.
He needed to see it with his own eyes.
And moments later, upon reaching the entrance—
Lee Hyuk-soo spotted a man standing in front of it.
“You are…!”
—
The Master of the Moon, Ahheta, had gone bankrupt.
The news threw the entire Abyss into chaos.
No one had expected Ahheta—who flaunted wealth and luxury more than anyone—to go bankrupt.
Hadn’t he been the one sitting atop mountains of glittering treasure, indulging in every form of extravagance?
Ahheta was among the Creators who had amassed incomprehensible riches, rumored to possess enough hidden wealth to purchase several worlds.
―Am I seeing wrong?
―Ahheta went bankrupt?
―Not dead, not vanished—bankrupt?
―And all this in just the Third Night of a new dimension?
―His body and soul were even put up for auction.
―Demon King Asura bid 1,000,000 coins.
―…What the hell happened?
―Did the human who took the Second Night’s territory do this?
Of course the Abyss was in an uproar.
Especially on Earth.
Ahheta had gone bankrupt within three months of arriving in a new dimension.
But what people found even harder to believe was something else.
―But here’s the strange part. Ahheta manifested directly in the Third Night.
―If he used all his invested coins for manifestation, he shouldn’t have been defeated by a human.
―But he lost.
―And the human received double the invested coins back.
―How is that even possible?
―It sounds like punishment for breaking the rules.
―Wait—Ahheta went bankrupt because he was punished?
―Impossible. Only the Demon God can punish a Creator.
―Even if Ahheta broke rules, he’s the Night Administrator. They look the other way!
That was exactly how Ahheta had accumulated so much wealth.
Night Administrator.
A position granted directly by the Demon Gods.
Managing the Night was troublesome work, far more demanding than most assumed.
Opening the Night in each new dimension to maintain balance required constant oversight.
Thus most rule violations were quietly overlooked.
Fraud to attract investment, manifesting directly inside one’s own Creation Abyss… such things usually ended with a warning.
But what if—
What if a Demon God personally punished Ahheta?
“…You’ve all heard the news.”
Inside a colossal castle, demons gathered around a long circular table.
A man with an eagle-like face and razor-sharp teeth looked around the room.
“It is true. Ahheta was punished. Demon God Gremory moved directly.”
“Demon God Gremory?”
“The Shut-in?”
The table erupted.
Among Demon Gods, Gremory was especially notorious for never appearing in public.
Only a handful of demons had ever seen her.
Yet Gremory had personally intervened?
To punish Ahheta?
“The exact reason remains unknown. But it seems the other Demon Gods are troubled. Because of that—”
He smiled.
“We have the opportunity to select the next Night Administrator from among ourselves.”
“Ooh!!”
“Finally!”
The demons burst into excitement.
Night administration was something every demon coveted.
But since Demon Gods selected administrators directly, no opportunities had existed until now.
Even lords more capable than Ahheta could only lick their lips in frustration.
Touching Ahheta recklessly could be seen as opposing the Demon Gods themselves.
“This incident is the Demon Gods’ admission that choosing Ahheta was a mistake. Ahheta was easy to control but too foolish. He squandered that immense Night authority for his own greed, and he never used it properly.”
Ahheta was known as a “new dimension hunter,” but that was nothing more than ridicule.
He had butchered the golden goose far too many times.
The authority of the Night was far more powerful than most realized.
It granted periodic opportunities to create expansive Creation Abysses—and tremendous influence along with them.
The election of a new administrator would shake the Abyss to its core.
Since Demon God Gremory had personally punished Ahheta, the other Demon Gods would hesitate to interfere with the election.
“Then let us begin the Demon King Council.”
The Demon Kings finally began to move.
—
It wasn’t only demons who reacted.
“The Abyss is noisy.”
“That arrogant Master of the Moon, Ahheta, died?”
“Puhaha! Serves him right!”
Across all dimensions connected to the Abyss—
even among the Twelve Species, the strongest beings of all—
the news spread.
Ahheta’s bankruptcy was shocking.
Not a single creature mourned him.
If anything, countless species celebrated his downfall.
And among those who heard this news was—
“……”
Dragon God Sephiro.
Fragmented into tens of millions, hundreds of millions of perceptive strands, all analyzing simultaneously—
Sephiro opened his eyes.
Instantly, he grasped every change and rumor rippling through the Abyss.
Ahheta’s bankruptcy.
Demon God Gremory’s intervention.
The convening of the Demon King Council to elect a new Night Administrator.
He understood it all the moment he opened his eyes.
“It’s all meaningless noise.”
Such rumors held no interest for him.
Even news about the Great Nine Lords could not stir him.
Only something truly extraordinary could interest him.
And right now, what fascinated him most—
Was himself.
“…Found it.”
He found the error.
And surprisingly, it was close.
A change so drastic he had not even sensed it.
A change he should have known… yet somehow missed.
Something that should have been there had vanished.
Vanished the very moment he recognized it.
Sephiro grinned.
A pure, delighted smile.
He was feeling a level of curiosity he hadn’t tasted in an eternity.
Because—
“Where did one of my hearts go?”
(T/N : Wait so maybe thats one of the reason why Chan-woo regressed? He got Sephiro’s heart? If I remember correctly in the earlier chapters he was able to defeat one of his hearts and got acknowledged, right? )