Chapter 187
The Transcender summoned from the ‘Transcendent Grimoire’ was a woman in her mid-twenties, with hair and eyes as red as crimson flames.
Yet she was one who had lived for an immeasurably long time—far beyond what the eyes could grasp.
For a Transcender was said to have existed since the emergence of the Abyss.
‘…Incredible Divine Power.’
The Divine Power he felt the instant she appeared was enough to make his hair stand on end.
It was like facing Divine Power itself.
That overwhelming presence trembled through the air, squeezing his lungs until even breathing felt difficult.
The only other being who had ever made him feel this way was Sephiro.
That made it all the more wondrous—and mysterious.
—How is he alive?
…And Lil felt the same wonder.
She had been sealed inside the ‘Transcendent Grimoire’ for a long time.
It wasn’t that someone had sealed her away. It was a choice she had made herself.
Because there was no other way to complete the grimoire’s magic.
So she had set conditions that could never be broken.
That whoever approached the grimoire must be an honorable one who had entered the Hall of Fame, and that it would only be released when all stats were 1.
‘…An impossible condition to meet.’
To have entered the Hall of Fame meant possessing tremendous power.
It meant overcoming countless trials and achieving unfathomable feats, again and again.
Someone with all ‘pure stats’ at 1 could never reach it.
And that wasn’t all.
Such a being shouldn’t even exist.
Pure stats were fundamental to a living being.
No curse could reduce all stats to 1.
More precisely, no living thing could exist in that state.
They would die instantly.
…Yet he was alive.
Standing on two feet, looking straight into her eyes.
“I’m alive because I didn’t die.”
Park Chanwoo chuckled as he answered.
Even he found it absurd that he was still standing.
—A state beyond my comprehension. I’d like to dissect him once. May I?
Even the way she spoke reminded him of Sephiro.
Sephiro had said the same thing the moment he saw him.
At this point, Park Chanwoo wondered if that was a common trait among those who stood at the pinnacle of magic.
“I appreciate the thought, but I’ll pass.”
He shook his head, half-joking.
—How unfortunate.
Goosebumps ran up his spine at her reply.
Her expression didn’t change, but she sounded genuinely disappointed.
Lil continued.
—Mortal who has undone the grimoire’s seal. My name is Lil. I shall test whether you are qualified to learn the grimoire’s magic.
A test.
But the conditions for undoing the seal were already beyond cruel.
He was in the weakest state imaginable.
He had no idea what kind of test she could give him from here.
Then Lil spoke again.
—I shall give you a problem. You possess an ordinary mage Class and are Level 10. If your Intelligence is 4 and your Mana is 50, how long does it take for your Mana to convert into magic when casting a common-grade Fireball without incantation?
It was a real test.
She was measuring his knowledge as a mage.
It looked like a basic question, but it was advanced.
She wasn’t asking about casting time—she was asking about the time it took for Mana itself to convert into a phenomenon.
Most mages never bothered to calculate that.
“…Are there no variables like titles, equipment, or status effects?”
—None.
“1.8 seconds.”
—Correct.
Park Chanwoo was one of the few mages who did bother.
He had dug into the marrow of basic magic.
‘Intelligence heavily affects Mana conversion.’
High Mana alone didn’t make you good at magic.
Without a decent Intelligence stat, you couldn’t use magic properly.
—Second test. Using only the pure Mana you possess, guess what is inside this stone.
Thump!
A stone appeared in Lil’s hand.
An ordinary, unremarkable stone.
Which meant something else was hidden inside.
‘I could break it to find out, but with only 1 Mana, I can’t.’
That was the point.
She wanted him to identify what was inside using Mana alone.
But without X-ray vision, how?
‘A Mana Permeation Test.’
The intent was obvious.
Permeate the stone with Mana and trace the shape of whatever was inside.
It sounded simple, but it was brutally difficult.
Even someone sensitive to Mana couldn’t easily control Mana that had left the body, much less “read” it.
Even the Magic Tower didn’t test people like this.
‘Interesting.’
Park Chanwoo closed his eyes.
He released a faint amount of Mana like threads, splitting it into dozens of strands.
But that alone wouldn’t be enough.
‘I need to color the Mana.’
He needed the strands to be clearer—like Sword Qi or Sword Aura—so he could “see” what they touched.
But with only 1 Mana, he couldn’t materialize it.
If he could, he would just shatter the stone.
What he needed wasn’t force.
It was definition.
‘There isn’t nearly enough Mana.’
He didn’t have enough to both split it finely and keep it vivid.
A misjudgment.
In the end, he returned to the beginning and kept only a single thread.
Then he colored that transparent Mana and extended it toward the stone, inch by inch.
‘It’s too thin to tell what’s inside.’
To properly map the inside, he’d need hundreds of strands.
Calling it a thread was generous—it was thinner than hair.
Still, he focused everything onto that one strand.
Three hours passed.
“There’s a coin inside.”
Park Chanwoo answered, face drawn.
The moment he spoke, exhaustion crashed over him from the sheer concentration.
—…Correct.
Lil paused before replying.
To be honest, she hadn’t thought he would succeed.
The first test confirmed his understanding of magic.
The second probed his aptitude for handling Mana.
What was required for magic wasn’t talent alone.
It demanded understanding—and effort.
And the mortal before her had shown all of it.
Especially that focus…
‘Transcendent concentration.’
Mana scattered the moment it was released externally.
That was why it was best to convert it into magic quickly and use it.
Yet he had clung to it for three hours—and still identified what lay inside.
Even Lil would have found that difficult.
Ting!
Lil took the coin from inside the stone and flicked it.
Park Chanwoo instinctively caught it as it floated toward him.
《‘Transcender Lil’ has gifted you 100 coins.》
Park Chanwoo’s eyes twitched.
A hundred coins for answering two questions.
Could there be a better deal?
—Then, the last question.
Lil said.
‘He’s talented… but he won’t pass this one.’
Those 100 coins were Lil’s farewell gift.
Passing the third test was impossible, even with perfect control of Mana.
—The last question requires your consent. Listen, and choose whether you will proceed.
“…Now this is exciting.”
—I will stop your heart. The test is to move your heart using only the frozen Mana at that time. If you fail, you will die.
“……”
Park Chanwoo went silent.
‘Is she calling that a question?’
To restart a stopped heart with only 1 Mana?
The moment his heart stopped, blood flow would stop—and Mana would freeze with it.
Worse, he’d lose consciousness within seconds.
In other words, it was the same as saying, “I’m going to kill you now.”
She was asking whether he would accept death.
—Think carefully. But if you take too long, the ‘Transcendent Abyss’ will disappear, and I will return to the grimoire.
“I’ll do it.”
—…You’ll do it?
“A mage is someone who turns Mana into a phenomenon. If you start by deciding it’s impossible, magic can never be complete.”
There was no such thing as impossible.
You had to keep every possibility open to use magic at all.
Failure?
You wouldn’t know until you tried.
—Mortal. If you fail, you will die. If your heart beats late, permanent damage will remain. You only have a few seconds. Will you still challenge it?
“Isn’t it a test you gave because it’s possible?”
—…Reckless. But admirable.
Lil nodded.
In theory, it was possible.
But only in theory.
To make it real required a willpower beyond imagination.
Not only that—he would have to force all the frozen Mana to move.
To drive even the Innate Mana and make a stopped heart beat again.
The final test was whether he could move the Innate Mana.
…Those who could move the Innate Mana were rare among mortals.
And even those few would struggle to control it with their heart stopped.
A trial that should never be survivable.
‘He’s worthy of the Hall of Fame.’
That unbreakable spirit.
Reckless, but undeniably honorable.
Still, a mage also needed to know what could and couldn’t be done.
Only by grasping one’s limits could Mana be handled properly.
But words, once spoken, could not be taken back.
Lil raised her hand.
At the same time—
“Cough…!”
Park Chanwoo’s heart stopped.