Chapter 188
When the third night—something closer to a war—finally ended, the world exhaled in relief.
So many people had entered.
If they had been wiped out, humanity would have sunk into despair.
But the result was the opposite.
“I heard the master of the ‘Night’ went bankrupt. Is that true?”
“They fought a war with the ‘Army of Death’?”
Curiosity flooded everywhere.
The news of Master of the Moon Ahheta’s bankruptcy—and how it happened—was irresistible.
Every outlet raced to the returnees. The internet. The news. Television.
Because the story had everything.
A war.
People of different races, different nations, countless backgrounds—becoming one to face a single enemy.
During the third night, a stage for humanity’s grand unification had opened.
And the enemy had been the dead. The Undead.
“Screams came from everywhere, but we didn’t retreat even one step.”
“Neither Ahheta nor the Army of Death could break the human will.”
“Pushing, being pushed, dying, killing… It was a horrific war.”
“In the Abyss, we were one. For the first time, I learned that if we join forces, even demons can’t defeat us.”
A terrifying experience—and a precious one.
They learned, properly, what it meant to unite.
The interviews differed only in details.
Once their testimonies confirmed the stories were true, articles exploded.
「Humanity’s outstanding warriors who struggled desperately against unbeatable enemies!」
「In times of crisis, we become one.」
「The indomitable spirit. We humans have won!」
「Who is the true leader?」
「Who led the ‘Night of the Dead’?」
Some even began calling the third night the ‘Night of the Dead’.
That was how clearly it stood apart from the other nights.
But one question dominated everything.
Who had led that unification?
Who was the true protagonist who had brought the war to victory?
Many answered in unison.
“Lee Hyuk-soo. He led us.”
“He and the Koreans were at the center. Even when the camps were divided, the Koreans tried to keep things peaceful so we could unite.”
“That’s right. Without them, people would’ve started a war among themselves.”
Lee Hyuk-soo.
The great hero of the second night.
His name once again echoed across the world.
But there were plenty of objections.
“The reason we could even fight the ‘Army of Death’ was because someone named Park Chanwoo cleared the trials first. Without that, the war wouldn’t have started.”
“Wasn’t it Park Chanwoo who cleared the ‘Legendary Quest’ this time?”
“Lee Hyuk-soo couldn’t even get near the Temple of Death. He’s a war hero, sure, but the real protagonist is Park Chanwoo.”
Park Chanwoo.
Those three syllables were burned into every participant’s memory.
Yet there was a problem with putting him at the center.
“So who is this Park Chanwoo?”
“Has anyone seen his face?”
“No one.”
“Then isn’t he a fictional character?”
Rebuttal bred rebuttal, spiraling into a debate that never ended, like a Möbius strip.
At best, people guessed from the name that he was Korean.
Naturally, all eyes turned to Korea.
“…Minister. Far more journalists than expected have camped outside. Shall we proceed with the interview as scheduled?”
The hottest seat of all was the Abyss Safety Bureau.
Rumors had spread that Minister Park Sang-min had taken the lead in driving humanity’s unification during the third night.
And there was growing expectation that he might know something about Park Chanwoo.
“Has his whereabouts still not been identified?”
His aide, drenched in sweat, answered.
“Y-yes… With only the name…”
“What about the ‘Park Chanwoo’ Mr. Han Min-oh mentioned?”
“We confirmed his last known location, but not his current whereabouts. We verified he entered the ‘Tower of Arrogance’ with Kim Byung-han and the Seoul Union.”
“Transcended Awakeners… Hmm. Then he must be capable.”
“But according to statements from some who entered with him, he fled shortly after entering.”
“……Then it’s not the same person?”
“Probably… It seems so.”
The strongest participant—someone who had taken an overwhelming, solitary first place in the third night—would have stood out in the Tower of Arrogance too.
But this man had fled.
High chance it was someone else with the same name.
“This is driving me insane.”
Minister Park Sang-min pressed a hand to his forehead.
Originally, the plan had been simple: find Park Chanwoo and use him to raise Korea’s standing.
But they couldn’t find him.
And the questions were coming, relentless as rain.
‘The world’s combat power just advanced a step. Korea can’t fall behind.’
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say the survivors had improved by leaps and bounds.
Few things in the Abyss could match the experience of uniting forces and waging a full-scale war.
And the rewards scattered upon Ahheta’s bankruptcy had gone to all who survived.
Right now, Korea was holding the spotlight thanks to Lee Hyuk-soo.
But if this dragged on, another country would seize the narrative.
So they had to find him.
Park Chanwoo—the strongest.
“…Mr. Lee Hyuk-soo. Is it true? That you saw ‘him’.”
Minister Park Sang-min shifted topics.
Lee Hyuk-soo, who had been listening quietly, nodded.
“I saw him right before we were summoned back—standing in front of the Temple of Death.”
“He… Han Shin, is alive?”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
After Ahheta vanished and the third night ended, right before returning to Earth, Lee Hyuk-soo had definitely seen Han Shin in front of the Temple of Death.
He’d been smiling—creepily.
“If he’s alive, why hasn’t he returned to the group?”
“It looked like he’d gained a sinister power.”
“Sinister power?”
“I don’t know beyond that. I just… got chills the moment I saw him.”
Lee Hyuk-soo recalled Han Shin’s face.
He’d looked completely different.
Outwardly, he was still human.
But the sensation was like facing a demon of the Abyss.
Not an Incarnation. Not a Half-Human Half-Demon.
Something beyond that—something even more monstrous.
Minister Park Sang-min sighed.
“Still, it’s a relief he’s alive. He was a Transcended Awakener too valuable to lose.”
“……”
Lee Hyuk-soo didn’t answer.
‘Is it really a relief that he’s alive?’
The doubt wouldn’t go away.
Minister Park Sang-min said,
“Let’s try fishing.”
“Fishing?”
“You, Mr. Lee Hyuk-soo, will be positioned as the protagonist of this third night. We’ll say both the Unique Achievement and the Legendary Quest were cleared by ‘Lee Hyuk-soo’, not ‘Park Chanwoo’.”
“……It wasn’t me.”
“Exactly. That’s why it’s fishing. If he feels wronged, won’t he show himself? That’s human nature.”
“That’s not fishing. That’s fraud.”
“Yes. So I’ll step forward. Just stay quiet, Hyuk-soo. If the real person appears, I’ll apologize personally. If necessary, I’ll issue a national apology. Whatever it takes.”
“……Why go that far?”
“This seat is like that by nature. You sit in it expecting criticism from the start. And if that’s what Korea needs to survive, is there anything I wouldn’t do?”
They had to find Park Chanwoo.
No matter what it took, they had to secure that attention for Korea.
Because status and attention were directly tied to survival.
It was then.
“Kheuk…!”
“W-what’s wrong, Mr. Hyuk-soo!”
Lee Hyuk-soo suddenly clutched his chest and collapsed, and Minister Park Sang-min shouted in alarm.
‘What is this?’
Lee Hyuk-soo was just as stunned.
Pain swept through his body, as if his heart had stopped.
It came without warning.
Yet it was a strange pain.
A pain that felt like losing something vital.
《Party member, ‘Prophet’ has died.》
‘What…?’
His pupils shook violently.
A party member had died.
But there was a massive level gap between him and the Prophet. They couldn’t even form a party.
They had fought together countless times, but not as formal party members.
…No. That wasn’t it.
‘Was a party forcibly formed at Khan’s palace?’
Back then, he had been the Prophet’s knight.
As the goddess’s blessed knight protecting the king—protecting the Prophet—it was possible a party had been formed then.
So it couldn’t be a mistake.
“Ah, no…!”
Tremble, tremble.
Lee Hyuk-soo reached toward the message without thinking.
Prophet.
He was humanity’s hope.
Only he could save the world.
If Lee Hyuk-soo wanted a world where his mother could live in peace, he needed the Prophet.
He should have died instead.
Lee Hyuk-soo prayed with everything he had.
‘I’ll offer everything I have—so please, spare the Prophet…!’
Ding!
《Offers ‘Lee Hyuk-soo’ as a sacrifice.》
(T/N : Hey whuutttttt.. Noooooooo)
—
Inside the laboratory, the golems sensed something wrong.
They detected that the owner of the blood enveloping their Mana Cores was dying.
-The blood’s mana is decreasing.
-Our master is dying.
-I cannot hear the heartbeat.
-What should we do?
-Offer us.
-My core, my heart!
-Let us offer ourselves to our master!
One by one, the golems tore out their own Mana Cores.
At the same time, powerful mana spread from the cores, and Park Chanwoo’s blood—wrapped around them—stretched long and thin, racing toward the laboratory’s center.
Toward Park Chanwoo.
Toward his heart.
Thump!
Clunk!
The golems that had lost their cores fell still, their operation ceasing.
—
—…What is this phenomenon?
Transcender Lil faltered.
The moment his heart stopped, something occurred—a sight even she had never seen before.
But what shocked her most wasn’t the phenomenon itself.
It was its source.
Her gaze snapped to Park Chanwoo’s head.
—Don’t tell me… the Sealed Demon God’s Grail?