-99 Level Archmage

Chapter 6. Sword King, Lee Hyuk-soo

Before he knew it, the world that Park Chan-woo knew of had changed. A gigantic eyeball floated in the full moon, moving left and right as it gazed down at the Earth. Cracks ran precariously through buildings as if they were on the verge of collapse, and vines and plants sprouted from the cement ground.

The cars parked on the streets were covered in dust. Either their windows were shattered, or their tires had completely deflated, there wasn’t a single vehicle in normal condition. Make others feel If hell existed, it would look like this.

‘This is a really good Abyss.’

But Park Chan-woo just admired it honestly. The state of the Abyss was simply too good. Among all the “Night Abysses” he remembered, this was by far the best. Perhaps it was because it was only the first night.

『The Twelve Divine Generals have appeared throughout the Abysses.』

『You must work together to kill them all within 10 hours.』

『Hidden quests, weapons, and tools for defeating the Twelve Divine Generals are scattered around. Find them.』

『There are also ‘warps’ that allow you to travel to other Divine Generals.』

『If you carefully work together and eliminate them one by one, you will surely succeed.』

『Estimated survival rate: 1%』

『The higher the survival rate, the better the ‘box’ you will receive upon clearing the Abyss.』

『If all Twelve Divine Generals are not killed, any participant with a contribution score below 20,000 will die.』

…Are they messing with us? They say it’s doable? But in reality, this Abyss was designed with failure in mind. The estimated survival rate being exactly 1% meant that they were certain 1.98 million people would die in the hunt for the Twelve Divine Generals.

Every single creator who had bet on this Abyss believed that.

‘Things won’t go the way you think.’

There are no exceptions. Miracles do not happen.

…Or at least, that’s what the creators assumed, but Park Chan-woo had no intention of following their expectations. Even if it meant turning every single creator against him, he wasn’t going to let things unfold as they wanted. And if worse came to worst, he could always use his Escape Coin. As long as he had it, he could leave the Abyss at any time.

In any case, among the Twelve Divine Generals, Dragon General had appeared in Seoul. In the “First Night Abyss,” all 20,000 survivors had unanimously agreed that ‘He was the strongest of the Generals.’

Even Sword King Lee Hyuk-soo was included in that group of survivors. The Dragon General had driven everyone into despair. If Park Chan-woo wanted to kill him, there was no time to waste.

“First, I need to farm.”

With that thought, Park Chan-woo kicked open the door and rushed outside.

* * *

Farming in the Night Abyss is surprisingly simple.

‘I need to find things that shouldn’t exist in this Abyss.’

What are the things that shouldn’t be here?

The answer is quite simple. Park Chan-woo started by searching the cars parked nearby. Before long, he found a skeleton strapped into a seatbelt inside one of the cars.

Thud! 

Crash!

As soon as he spotted it, he shattered the window with his World Tree Staff. He reached through the broken window and unlocked the door. Then, he unbuckled the seatbelt around the skeleton’s waist.

『You have discovered ‘Iron Shield (Lv -98, Rare)!』

Poof!

With a small sound and a puff of smoke, the skeleton transformed into an iron shield.

‘In the Abyss, corpses do not remain.’

Even though they were sitting in the car, due to the nature of the abyss there couldn’t be a skeleton. A skeleton wearing a seatbelt was even more impossible. Finding such “anomalies” was the key. Something that could never exist in the Abyss, something that should not exist. The stronger the anomaly, the better the grade of equipment or tools received. For about 30 minutes, Park Chan-woo searched through the vehicle.

“Hoo…”

There wasn’t much to gain as expected. Of course, he hadn’t even begun a proper scavenging session yet. But even with such minor movement, his entire body ached.

『Your stamina is insufficient.』

『Your body feels heavy.』

『Your whole body is heating up.』

『Your vision is blurring.』

『Muscle pain has begun.』

『Take a break immediately. Continuing to push your body may cause critical damage.』

His body felt weak. Park Chan-woo entered an empty vehicle, closed the door, and slumped onto a seat.

“…My body is in terrible shape.”

Negative Level 98. Until he returned to a normal level, this situation would repeat itself. Every second was precious, but pushing himself further could be fatal. Resting when possible was the smart choice.

‘If I increase my strength and stamina, my condition  should improve a bit.’

The body’s power directly correlated with strength and stamina. If he became exhausted from minor movements, he needed to raise his stats to compensate. His current equipment’s “unique options” provided some additional stats, but it wasn’t enough. Even the Eternal-grade “World Tree Staff” only raised his magic power by 10, which wasn’t much.

‘If things go as I expect, I can overcome this.’

It was challenging but possible. His mind contained limitless possibilities. If he could bring even a few of them into reality, overcoming his physical limitations would be achievable. The real question was, could he survive until then?

“Sa-save me!”

About 15 minutes into his break, a scream echoed nearby. A man holding a sword was running while screaming. But his running posture was clumsy, more like a quick shuffle using his Sheath as a walking stick. An arrow had pierced through his right leg.

“Why are you doing this to me…!”

Whoosh!

Thud!

An arrow flew from behind and pierced the man’s throat. He collapsed instantly, rolling on the ground. A moment later, a man with a black muffler covering his face stood next to the corpse. Only his eyes were visible. The man reached for the sword scabbard in the dead man’s grip.

But the moment he touched it—

Ssshhhhh!

The scabbard disintegrated into dust and scattered away.

“What? I can’t take items from someone else?”

The man tilted his head in confusion, then quickly scanned his surroundings before disappearing.

‘The Avatars are already running wild.’

Park Chan-woo slowly lifted his upper body and looked in the direction the man had vanished. If he had stayed outside resting, he would have been the one shot by that arrow. His stamina was so low that he wouldn’t have even been able to dodge. The man who had fired the arrow was definitely an Avatar. Park Chan-woo became sure of it for a few reasons.

‘The Black Lion Bow. An Epic-grade bow with homing arrows. Only high-level archers or stronger could use it. The only ones who could wield it this early were those who had made a contract with a Creator and had become Avatars.’

Avatars were puppets of the Creators. In other words, they were the enemies of humanity. Even if they didn’t intend it, their actions always ended up opposing humanity, just like what happened earlier. Avatars, drunk on power, eventually became addicted to crushing others. That’s why Park Chan-woo despised them. They were obstacles to humanity’s survival and unity. The higher one climbed the ranking ladder, the more cautious they had to be.

If someone unknowingly partnered with an Avatar, they could be stabbed in the back at any moment.

The worst part?

There was no way to identify an Avatar unless they revealed themselves.

‘Damn Avatars.’

Of course, Park Chan-woo already knew. A few Avatars would eventually cause massive disasters.

For example…

The first human to ever reach Level 99. Praised as a hero and leader of humanity, no one ever imagined he was actually an Avatar. Park Chan-woo took a deep breath and stepped out of the vehicle. To fight against monsters like that, he needed better equipment.

‘Found it. An anomaly.’

As soon as he exited the car, he approached the corpse with the arrow wound. That body was an anomaly.

‘Corpses don’t remain in the Abyss.’

Normally, when someone died, their body disappeared. Just like how the sword and sheath had vanished, a person’s body was supposed to fade as well. But this man’s corpse remained. Standing next to it, Park Chan-woo spoke.

“Stop playing dead, demon.”

Because, in reality, he wasn’t dead. If someone appeared to be dead but didn’t vanish, it meant they weren’t human.

The moment Park Chan-woo finished speaking, the “corpse” opened its eyes. But its eyes weren’t human. Its pupils were thin and slitted, like those of a lizard. A moment later, it spoke.

“…How did you figure me out?”

“You stink too much.”

Park Chan-woo pinched his nose and replied. Found it. From the start, he had been searching for a demon hiding in the Abyss. A demon disguised as a human,  Something that should never exist in the Abyss. Demons in the Abyss never take human form.

The demon frowned.

“Damn…!”

Poof!

It turned into smoke and vanished.

『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’ has been applied.』

“Phew.”

Park Chan-woo let out a small sigh of relief. The demon had left behind an entire set of equipment. He quickly put it on and glanced at his reflection in the vehicle window. Then, he chuckled.

“I look like a demon priest.”

With a staff in hand, he looked just like a cult leader. Anyone who saw him would be terrified.

Just then—

― “Welcome to ‘Cool Vibe’ Nightclub!”

― “Ask for Manager Andariel!”

― “Guaranteed success rate for VIP bookings!”

A loudspeaker van drove past, blaring advertisements. Park Chan-woo’s ears perked up.

‘…There it is.’

An insane anomaly. There was no way a nightclub advertisement van should exist in the Abyss.

This was it.

‘The anomaly where the Philosopher’s Stone was discovered.’

Just as he had heard. That nightclub had to contain the Philosopher’s Stone. Perhaps, he could even obtain a new class. He quickly moved toward the source of the sound. After walking for some time, he arrived at the flashing neon lights of the “Cool Vibe Nightclub.”

“What the hell am I supposed to do here?”

“Wow… there are so many people.”

The entrance was crowded. At least 200 people had gathered. Among them, he noticed someone familiar, the masked archer from before. But that wasn’t all.

‘…Kim Byung-han, my boss? Why is he here?’

However, his gaze didn’t linger. Because someone far more important had caught his eye.

‘…The Sword King, Lee Hyuk-soo.’

The third human to reach Level 99. A genius among geniuses who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship. The very person who had once shattered Park Chan-woo’s confidence. Now, that legend stood right before him.