Chapter 87
1.
The lowest level any lifeform in the Abyss can possess.
No level lower than that can exist.
For a living being—or even a non-living one—it is impossible to fall below level ‘1.’
However.
If, by some chance, one were to fall beneath that level…
What phenomenon would occur?
—Realm of Zero.
Countless alchemists and mages who pursued truth were curious.
Did a world below level 0 actually exist?
After years of research, they called that place the “Realm of Zero,” believed it to be an unreachable mirror-world, and eventually gave up learning more.
—It lies beyond the bounds of truth. It is a taboo that must never be touched.
That was why truth seekers abandoned their studies.
The “truth” they followed signified all phenomena through which the universe and its entities moved harmoniously.
Black magic reversed truth, and some other impure arts distorted phenomena by abusing it.
But this… this was on a different level.
The Realm of Zero existed entirely outside of truth.
Not within it, nor even corrupted by it—simply excluded.
Truly an incomprehensible world.
—If one enters the Realm of Zero, they cease to exist as an existence.
To exist means to have substance.
To be present, to live.
Even death, in that sense, exists within truth—because it is part of life.
But the “Realm of Zero” is void itself.
Not life, not death, but nothingness.
Of course, this was only a hypothesis.
No one had ever confirmed it.
They could only presume such a place might exist.
But now—
The gatekeeper had set foot in that realm for the first time.
It should’ve been impossible.
……But because of the impossible being named Park Chan-woo, it became possible.
A man who returned from the future to the past.
A mysterious existence who went from level 99 to –99.
A man wrapped in the cloak of the incomprehensible, standing outside truth while still following it—a paradoxical figure.
“Who am I?”
In the Realm of Zero, the gatekeeper spoke for the first time.
He knew who he was.
He remembered being the gatekeeper guarding Khan’s palace, even the name Khan had given him.
And yet, he didn’t know.
Not truly—who he really was.
Perhaps if he went further down, he’d find out.
The gatekeeper pierced the barrier of Zero and descended further.
–1 level.
A negative world.
A chill swept over him.
Darkness was everywhere, and when he looked around, something was watching him.
‘Eyes?’
They were countless “eyes.”
Eyes beyond counting—staring straight at the gatekeeper.
He immediately recognized what those eyes belonged to.
They were the “Forgotten.”
“You are… who?”
No answer came.
Naturally.
They too had forgotten.
But what was certain—
They too had crossed into the “Realm of Zero.”
Perhaps they had existed even before the Abyss was born… ancient beings from the dawn of time.
They were those who had touched the taboo in an attempt to escape truth—and this was their end.
Shiver—
The gatekeeper trembled.
This place was not where he belonged.
He had never touched the taboo.
He wasn’t like them.
And yet… he kept falling.
The gatekeeper was endlessly sinking.
He had no idea where the bottom was.
He wanted to escape.
He wanted to run.
He didn’t want to stay here for even a second.
If someone—anyone—could free him from this place—
‘I’d offer even my soul. Please!’
A warrior of Valhalla.
The sole gatekeeper guarding the entrance to Khan’s palace.
For the first time, he admitted complete and utter defeat.
—
At the end of a relentless level drop, the gatekeeper collapsed.
He lost consciousness and continued to fall.
Yet the execution of the [Reaper of the Oath] did not stop.
“……”
Lee Hyuk-soo silently watched the gatekeeper.
It was all too strange.
This was the second time.
The second time a [Reaper of the Oath] was summoned, and a mighty foe had fallen.
Both the [Game Master] Andariel and the gatekeeper had made a sincere “oath” to the Prophet—and both suffered a dreadful outcome.
Why?
Both had sworn oaths with absolute confidence in victory, and yet the result always favored the Prophet.
‘The one who forges paths, not follows them.’
Lee Hyuk-soo thought again.
Since the Prophet creates paths, those who walk predetermined ones could never win.
But… something didn’t add up.
That alone didn’t explain it all.
What did Andariel and the gatekeeper have in common?
‘…Level.’
Right. Level.
Both had encountered problems related to levels.
Andariel’s trial was to defeat an enemy who grew by 1 level after each win.
Most people couldn’t handle more than a few victories and fell.
But Lee Hyuk-soo, fighting alongside the Prophet, fought over a hundred battles.
And during that time, the enemies did not grow stronger.
For some reason, only after a hundred battles did they start leveling up.
It was the same now.
Lee Hyuk-soo recalled the gatekeeper’s words:
—“I pledge upon the ‘Abyss’ that for this battle alone, I shall fight at a level 10 below your average. If I am defeated, I shall follow you within this palace.”
The gatekeeper had clearly said he’d fight at a level 10 below their average.
Average level meant taking his and the Prophet’s levels, adding them, and dividing by 2.
‘My level is 21. Even if the Prophet’s is 1, the average is at least 11.’
Subtract 10, and it’s still 1.
Level 1 is still a viable number.
And yet the gatekeeper’s condition was abnormal.
The [Reaper of the Oath] continued transferring the gatekeeper’s power to the scale.
Maybe the sudden level drop caused him to pass out, but that alone didn’t explain why the execution wasn’t stopping.
Overlaying it with the case of Andariel only deepened his suspicions.
And soon, that suspicion turned into certainty.
The Prophet.
He was starting to understand the Prophet’s level.
Maybe…
‘…Is it because the Prophet’s level is too high?’
Maybe it was overwhelmingly high.
So high that it ignored all predefined scales and measurements—making it impossible for anyone to grasp the Prophet’s true nature.
After all, minus levels shouldn’t even exist.
It was clearly a misunderstanding, but Lee Hyuk-soo thought:
‘Now I understand. The Prophet’s level must far exceed 100. This is all just a system error, a bug caused by the limits of perception.’
An entity one could never hope to challenge.
That was what the Prophet was.
His level was so incomprehensibly high, it broke the system for everyone.
Of course, it was odd that such a being would bother using the [Reaper of the Oath] to fight.
But thinking inversely, maybe he was so overwhelmingly strong that he didn’t need to use his own power at all.
Lee Hyuk-soo cautiously looked at Park Chan-woo.
Park Chan-woo was stroking his chin as he looked at the gatekeeper.
‘…Did he drop into minus levels?’
He wasn’t sure.
Even though he himself was currently level –89, he had never seen anyone else with a minus level.
What would happen if another being reached that state?
He was dying to know.
‘Beyond the Realm of Zero. The void that should not exist.’
Park Chan-woo had heard the hypothesis too.
It came from ancient civilizations, mages of other species, and alchemists of long ago.
What lay beyond the Realm of Zero?
Some called it the Primordial World; others, absolute nothingness.
Some said it was a time frozen before the birth of the Abyss; others, a place that existed across past, present, and future.
He had once thought they were just spouting nonsense due to the lack of proof.
‘But now that I’m experiencing it myself, I can’t dismiss it so easily… Even I don’t know why this phenomenon is happening.’
Even Park Chan-woo wasn’t sure what minus level truly meant.
Was it the backlash of returning from the future?
Did he truly sell off his future?
Was it some other force?
He didn’t know.
What was clear was that this phenomenon was the result of something.
Which is why he was so curious about what would happen when someone else reached minus level.
Ssssss—
That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, the [Reaper of the Oath] stopped.
It no longer absorbed levels from the gatekeeper.
[Average level has been reached.]
A message declaring the average level had finally been reached.
The gatekeeper was in a pitiful state.
He had stopped breathing, and his heart barely beat.
His complexion was pale, and he was slowly dying.
And then—
[‘Warrior of Valhalla’ has been defeated.]
[‘Challenger’ has won.]
As the message of defeat appeared—
All the levels gathered on the Reaper’s scale were returned.
“Aaaaaaaaargh!”
…The gatekeeper screamed at the top of his lungs and sprang to his feet.
Swish! Swish!
He quickly looked around, and upon realizing he was inside the palace, let out a deep sigh.
But that didn’t last long.
His gaze turned to Park Chan-woo.
Shiver—
And his body began trembling like a leaf.
His eyes were filled with terror.
There was no trace of the confidence he had earlier.
“Ah… uh…!”
He barely managed to speak, but the words didn’t come out.
Because what he had seen beyond the Realm of Zero was too horrifying.
Because he now knew the true cause of everything.
That this human challenger—Park Chan-woo—was the one behind it all.
Still seated, the gatekeeper pushed himself backward with his hands.
Like a feeble beast that had met its natural predator.
“What did you see?”
Park Chan-woo asked.
Slowly approaching the gatekeeper.
He stood before the trembling man and looked him directly in the eyes.
The gatekeeper clamped his hands tightly over his mouth.
“You won’t say?”
Shake—shake—
He shook his head.
…Then it wasn’t that he wouldn’t speak.
“You can’t speak?”
At Park Chan-woo’s question, the gatekeeper nodded.
He couldn’t speak.
What he had seen.
What he encountered as he descended lower and lower.
The gatekeeper had fallen to level –44.
There was more beyond that—more terrifying, massive things—but even reaching that far was enough.
What lay beyond the Realm of Zero, in the minus levels—
Were—
‘Gods…!’
…Beings whose names must not be spoken.
Like gods.
Or perhaps—gods themselves.