Chapter 6
Before he realized it, the world as perceived by Park Chan-woo had changed.
A massive eye now floated in the full moon. It swiveled left and right, surveying the Earth.
Buildings were cracked and looked ready to collapse, and vines and plants had grown through the concrete.
The parked cars were caked in dust. Some had shattered windows or completely sunken tires—not a single vehicle was operational.
If Hell existed, it might look like this.
‘This is an incredibly well-maintained Abyss.’
But Park Chan-woo was genuinely impressed.
The state of the Abyss was excellent.
Among all the [Night Abysses] he remembered, this was easily the best.
Maybe because it was still the first night.
《The [Twelve Divine Generals] have appeared throughout the Abyss.》
《You must work together to slay them all within the next 10 hours.》
《Hidden quests, weapons, and tools to defeat the Divine Generals are scattered throughout—search thoroughly.》
《There are also warp zones that allow you to travel to where other Divine Generals are located.》
《If you work together and take them down one by one, it is entirely achievable.》
《Expected Survival Rate: 1%》
《The higher the survival rate, the higher the grade of ‘boxes’ rewarded upon clearing the Abyss.》
《If all Twelve Divine Generals are not killed, all participants ranked below 20,000 in contribution will die.》
…Are they joking?
Achievable?
The entire Abyss was designed with failure in mind.
An expected survival rate of exactly 1% meant they were confident that 1.98 million people would die trying to hunt down the Divine Generals.
That was the consensus of every Creator who had bet on this Abyss.
‘Things won’t go the way you expect.’
No exceptions. No miracles.
…Or so the Creators believed.
But Park Chan-woo was determined to become a complete irregular.
Even if it meant making enemies of all the Creators, he had no intention of letting things unfold according to their design.
And if the worst came to pass, he could always use his Escape Coin.
Even in this Night Abyss, Escape Coins would work.
In any case, the [Dragon God General] had appeared in Seoul—among the Twelve Divine Generals, the one unanimously regarded by all 20,000 survivors of the First Night’s Abyss as the strongest.
Of course, among those 20,000 was the Sword King Lee Hyuk-soo.
If he wanted to slay the Dragon God General—the one who had driven everyone to despair—there was no time to waste.
‘First, I need to farm.’
Park Chan-woo burst out of the house.
* * *
Farming in the Night Abyss was surprisingly simple.
‘Just look for things that shouldn’t exist in this Abyss.’
What kind of things shouldn’t be here?
The answer was simpler than expected.
Park Chan-woo began by rummaging through the parked cars nearby.
Soon enough, he spotted a skeleton strapped into a seatbelt inside one of them.
Thud!
SMASH!
He immediately shattered the window with the [World Tree Staff].
Reaching through the broken glass, he unlocked the door.
He then unbuckled the skeleton’s seatbelt.
《You have discovered a [Steel Shield (-98Lv, Rare)]!》
PONG!
With a puff of smoke, the skeleton transformed into a steel shield.
‘Corpses don’t remain in the Abyss.’
Even though it looked natural sitting in the car, by the Abyss’s rules, a skeleton had no reason to be there.
And a skeleton buckled into a seatbelt? Absolutely impossible.
This was exactly the kind of [anomaly] he needed to find.
Objects that didn’t fit the Abyss’s ecosystem—things that simply couldn’t exist here.
The stronger the anomaly, the higher the grade of the equipment or tool it revealed.
For about thirty minutes, Park Chan-woo continued inspecting vehicles.
“Huuuuu…”
The results were underwhelming.
Of course, he hadn’t even begun serious farming yet.
But even from this minor exertion, his whole body hurt.
《Stamina is low.》
《Your body feels heavy.》
《Your entire body feels hot.》
《Your vision is blurring.》
《Muscle pain has begun.》
《Immediate rest is advised. Continued strain may cause severe bodily harm.》
His body was utterly exhausted.
Park Chan-woo stepped into an empty car, shut the door, and slumped into the seat.
“…My body’s in trash condition.”
At Level -98, this would continue until he returned to a normal level.
Every second counted, but pushing himself now would only send him to an early grave.
Resting when possible was the smart move.
‘If I raise Strength and Stamina, it should get a bit better.’
Physical performance was directly tied to Strength and Stamina.
If even a little movement left him fatigued, he just needed to boost his stats.
The [unique options] on his gear helped raise them somewhat, but it still wasn’t enough.
There were clear limits to how far equipment bonuses alone could take him.
Even the [Eternal]-grade [World Tree Staff] only raised Mana by 10.
‘If things go the way I planned, I’ll overcome this.’
Still, it was doable.
He had a vast library of possibilities in his head.
Even if only a few of them materialized, it would be enough to overcome his physical limitations.
The problem was surviving long enough to make that happen.
“P-Please! Help me!”
Fifteen minutes into his break, he heard a scream.
Not far off, a man holding a sword came stumbling forward.
But his running posture was unsteady.
He was basically hobbling along, using his sword sheath like a cane.
An arrow had pierced straight through his right thigh.
“Why… Why are you doing this to me…?!”
WHOOSH!
THUNK!
Another arrow flew in from behind, piercing his throat.
The man dropped instantly, skidding across the ground.
…Before long, a man wearing a black muffler over his mouth stood beside the corpse.
Only his eyes were visible as he bent down and grabbed the dead man’s sheath.
Then—
SSSSSSHHH—!
The sheath disintegrated into dust.
“Tch. So I can’t take stuff someone else already claimed?”
The man tilted his head in mild annoyance.
After scanning the area, he quickly vanished into the shadows.
‘So the Incarnations are already making their move.’
Lifting his head, Park Chan-woo looked in the direction the man had disappeared.
…If he had stayed outside to rest, he would’ve been the one struck down by that arrow.
He didn’t even have the stamina to dodge it.
And the man who fired the arrow and committed murder was undoubtedly an [Incarnation].
Park Chan-woo had several reasons to be sure of it.
‘[Black Lion Bow]. An [Epic]-grade bow with a homing effect on its arrows. Only classes above Advanced Archer can use it. If someone’s already using it this early, they must’ve formed a contract with a Creator and become an Incarnation.’
Incarnations were the puppets of the Creators they’d contracted with.
In other words, they were enemies of humanity.
Even if that wasn’t their intention at first, they would inevitably act against humanity.
Just like that bastard moments ago.
Drunk on power, trampling others would soon become second nature.
Which was why Park Chan-woo could never view Incarnations favorably.
They were obstacles to humanity’s unity.
The higher you climbed on the ranking ladder, the more deeply you questioned them.
If you accidentally teamed up with an Incarnation, you could never be sure when they’d stab you in the back.
The problem was that unless they revealed it themselves, there was no way to tell who was an Incarnation.
‘Damn those Incarnation bastards.’
Of course, Park Chan-woo knew.
He knew which Incarnations would cause massive disasters in the future.
For example… that guy—humanity’s first to reach Level 99.
Praised as a hero, a leader of mankind—no one ever imagined he was an Incarnation.
Park Chan-woo steadied his breath and stepped out of the vehicle.
To face off against bastards like that, he’d need more definitive loot.
‘I found it. An anomaly.’
The moment he exited the car, he approached the corpse struck by the arrow.
That body itself was an anomaly.
‘Corpses don’t remain in the Abyss.’
Normally, they vanished upon death.
Just like how the sword and sheath disappeared, the body should have too.
But this man’s body remained.
Standing right next to it, Park Chan-woo spoke.
“Stop pretending you’re dead, demon.”
Because he hadn’t actually died.
If he’d stopped breathing and yet hadn’t died, it meant he wasn’t human.
Flash!
At his words, the “dead” man opened his eyes.
They weren’t human eyes.
Thin pupils—like those of a lizard.
The man spoke.
“…How did you figure me out?”
“The stench was too much.”
Park Chan-woo answered, pinching his nose.
He’d found it.
From the beginning, he had been looking for demons in this Abyss.
Demons in human form—an impossibility within the Abyss were true anomalies.
Demons in the Abyss never take human form.
The demon scowled.
“Damn it…!”
PONG!
The demon vanished in a puff of smoke.
《You have obtained [Demonic Helmet (-98Lv, Epic)]!》
《You have obtained [Demonic Armor (-98Lv, Epic)]!》
《You have obtained [Demonic Boots (-98Lv, Epic)]!》
《You have obtained [Demonic Gauntlets (-98Lv, Epic)]!》
《Set effect [Demonic Heart] activated.》
Whistle.
Park Chan-woo let out a low whistle.
The demon had left behind a full set of gear upon death.
He quickly equipped the items and glanced at his reflection in the car window, chuckling.
‘Looks like I’ve turned into a demon priest.’
With the staff in hand, he looked just like one.
Anyone else who saw him would’ve been terrified.
Then it happened—
― “Now inviting you to the Pretty Faces Nightclub!”
― “Look for Manager ‘Andariel’!”
― “100% booking success rate!”
A flashy promotion vehicle rolled by with loud music blaring.
Park Chan-woo’s ears perked up.
‘…That’s it.’
An enormous anomaly.
Something that, no matter how you looked at it, absolutely didn’t belong in the Abyss.
That was it.
‘The anomaly where the Mage’s Stone was discovered.’
Just as he’d heard.
That nightclub had to be where the [Mage’s Stone] was hidden.
Possibly even where a class could be acquired.
He quickly headed toward the source of the sound.
After walking a while, he arrived at “Pretty Faces Nightclub,” glowing with dazzling neon signs.
“What am I even supposed to do here?”
“Wow, there are so many people…”
The entrance was chaotic.
By rough estimate, around two hundred people had gathered.
Among them was the muffler-wearing bastard who’d fired the arrow earlier.
Thanks to the body he’d left behind, Park Chan-woo was able to identify the demon—so in a way, he owed that bastard a small debt.
But he wasn’t the only familiar face here.
‘Why is Team Leader Kim Byung-han here?’
Team Leader Kim, clad in armor and wielding a sword, was also present.
Why had that coward crawled into the Abyss?
Still, Park Chan-woo didn’t linger on him for long.
Because his gaze was soon caught by a far more overwhelming figure—someone who made Kim Byung-han irrelevant.
‘…Sword King Lee Hyuk-soo.’
The third human to reach Level 99.
A genius who glimpsed the pinnacle of the sword.
His overwhelming talent had once filled Park Chan-woo with despair.
And now, that man stood right before him.
