Level -99 Archmage

Chapter 2. This is Actually Good?

Level. When the Abyss opened, awakened humans gained the ability to level up, just like characters in a game. It was both a blessing and a necessary measure for humanity. Their only chance to stand against the twelve powerful races that would soon attack.

Thanks to this system, humanity could at least put up some resistance against those monsters. Of course, it was like going from the strength of an ant facing an elephant. Despite being a hopeless gap, at least there was some room to fight back.

The maximum level was 99. Only five people had officially reached that level. In this world, level was the absolute standard and the most critical factor.

‘Everything obtained in the Abyss was determined by an Awakener’s level.’

To make an example, equipment.

Equipment imbued with mystery such as gears with unique properties or special craftsmanship and you could obtain them in the Abyss. These top-tier, custom-crafted weapons and armor were essential for fighting the twelve races. And they could only be obtained inside the Abyss.

However there was a catch.

The level of the equipment never exceeded the level of the Awakener who cleared the Abyss.

‘Damn it. Even equipment has levels.’

Equipment has two aspects of strength:

Level and Rank.

Let’s say a Level 10 Awakener obtained a level 10 sword. Even if it was the strongest weapon one could obtain at that level, if the rank was low, it might still be weaker than a lower-level sword with a higher rank. Conversely, a high-rank weapon could compensate for a lower level weapon to some extent.

But right now the issue lies with level, not rank.

In the Abyss, one could never obtain a weapon higher than their own level.

And that was exactly why Park Chan-woo was down right now.

‘…Even if I clear the Abyss right now, I’d only be able to obtain Level -99 equipment.’

…How the hell did it come to this?

Before returning, Park Chan-woo had been Level 99. Naturally, all of his equipment had been Level 99 treasures. He was called the Strongest Magic Swordsman, equipped with legendary jaw-dropping gears.

If trading or exchanging were possible, there would still be hope, But everything obtained from the Abyss was bound to the individual. If someone tried to transfer an item to another person, it would instantly vanish.

‘A lot of people had suffered because they didn’t know this rule early on.’

After barely surviving life-or-death battles, they had tried giving their hard-earned weapons or skill books to others… only to watch them disappear into thin air.

In any case.

Hoping it was just an error, Park Chan-woo checked his status window again.

[Status Window]

Affiliation: Earth / Human / Republic of Korea

Name: Park Chan-woo

Age: 27

Gender: Male

Height / Weight: 180 cm / 71 kg

Level: -99

Stats:

Strength (1)

Endurance (1)

Agility (1)

Intelligence (1)

Magic (1)

Status Effects: Weakest, Sickly, Frail, Nonexistent ,Terminal

“Cough!”

He hadn’t misread it. He let out a dry cough, only to see blood splatter from his mouth.

‘Judging by the fact that I’m coughing up blood and feel completely drained, I guess this status window is real.’

Park Chan-woo fully grasped the dire state of his body. It was absurd, but it was reality. And he had a good idea of why this had happened.

“I don’t care what it takes! If what I have isn’t enough, I’ll sell my future!

If that’s still not enough, I’ll even offer my soul as a sacrifice…!”

He had sold his future.

That was the cost.

And now, he was left with this hellish status window. Was there even any point in returning to the past? A weak constitution was already bad enough, But “Weakest“? “Sickly“? “Frail“? And what the hell was “Terminal“?

‘So I’m literally a walking time bomb.’

It was ridiculous.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to stay calm. If he got too worked up, his heart might actually explode.

Meanwhile, the people around him were reacting to their own status windows.

“Awakening?”

“Status Window?”

“Whoa! What the hell? Something actually popped up!”

While they were still confused, time continued to tick away.

『Time remaining: 20 seconds!』

『Earthlings, prepare for impact!』

『The Abyss will open soon!』

Ignoring the mumbling voices around him, Park Chan-woo quickly walked toward the lake.

“Look at that guy!”

“He’s walking straight into the water!”

Unfazed by their whispers, he stepped into the water, submerging himself up to his neck while keeping his head above the surface. Because once the Abyss opened, this park would turn into hell.

There was no escaping.

There was no running away.

Could he survive in his current state? Probably not.

But unlike everyone else, he knew what was coming. He knew how this would unfold. He knew how to clear it. The first Abyss event, The monster that would appear in this lake park was none other than…

『Time’s up!』

『The Abyss has opened!』

『Come out, come out, wherever you are~』

『Survive for one hour against the Fallen Ghost (Lv.10)!』

『881 people are participating in this Abyss.』

『Estimated survival rate: 21.7%』

『The higher the survival rate, the better the rewards.』

『Hidden quests exist—don’t give up and keep challenging yourself!』

Fallen Ghost. A Level 10 monster. A tracker.

It wasn’t one of the twelve races, they won’t be appearing for a while. But for newly awakened humans, it was already more than enough of a threat. After all, without an Abyss weapon, defeating an Abyss monster was impossible.

There was a way, though.

Find a hidden quest. Clear it and obtain a weapon. Use it to kill the Fallen Ghost. That was an option, but not for him. Even if he cleared a hidden quest, all he’d get was a Level -99 weapon. He’d have better odds cracking an egg on the Fallen Ghost’s skull. For now, all he could do was hide.

‘The Fallen Ghost hates water.’

That meant he could at least buy some time.

As for saving people?

Shouldn’t one focus on surviving first?

If he wanted to plan for the future, he at least needed to survive the first Abyss.

“H-Huh? The sky suddenly turned red…!”

“Why is the ground like this?”

“W-What the hell is going on?”

The moment the Abyss opened, everything changed.

The sky, the ground, even the trees. Nothing looked the same as before. The sky had turned red, the ground was cracked in various places, and the trees had holes resembling human faces. Countless roots burst through the ground.

“Kieeeee–”

…And then, a gruesome sound echoed as a Fallen One emerged.

“KYAAAAAH!”

“A m-monster!”

A monstrous creature, easily over 3 meters tall. It had enormous ears, four noses, and eight eyes. A truly unnatural being! It stretched out its hand toward the woman who had screamed first.

Slice!

Splat!

『The first death has occurred!』

Its elongated hand sliced through the woman’s neck. Blood spurted like a fountain, and the people around her fell into a panic.

“S-Someone just died… AAH!”

“Please, save me!“

『Seven people have died.』

『874 people remain.』

『Time left: 59 minutes and 12 seconds.』

This was a completely unfair game for humans. They had to find a way to fight the Fallen One. Until then, the only rule was to run. Even if everyone worked together, it wouldn’t be enough. And in this chaos, only a handful of people could remain calm and cool-headed.

“…Ha, this is seriously messed up.”

One of them, Park Chan-woo, frowned as he observed the Fallen One. In his current condition, there was nothing he could do. Standing still and watching was the best option.

But for some reason, just standing there felt unbearably frustrating. Eventually, Park Chan-woo moved toward the center of a lake. The water was shallow, and with a bit of swimming, he reached the middle.

“Hoo!”

Holding his breath, he dove underwater, scanning the lakebed with his eyes.

‘There it is.’

A golden box shone beneath the water. A hidden quest, a hidden piece of equipment. He dived deeper, Park Chan-woo grabbed the glowing box.

『You have found the ‘Hidden Gold Box’!』

『You have obtained a random piece of ‘Epic’-grade equipment!』

『You have acquired ‘Dragon Slayer Sword’ (-99Lv, Epic)’!』

“Huff! Huff! Ugh!”

Gasping for air, he barely surfaced. Just from a short swim, his stamina had hit its limit. A bitter taste rose in his mouth as if stomach acid was creeping up his throat.

He turned his gaze to Dragon Slayer Sword.

‘Just as I expected.’

As the saying goes, a bad feeling never fails you.

A -99 level sword.

He had hoped otherwise, but reality was cruel. Gripping the sword, which had a lizard engraved on its blade, he stepped out of the water. As he ran his hand over the blade, a status window appeared.

Name: Dragon Slayer Sword

Level: -99

Grade: Epic (E)

Description: A sword imbued with the ‘Spirit of the Lizard’. Despite its high grade, its exceptionally low level prevents the ‘Spirit of the Lizard’ from manifesting.

Equip Slot: One-Handed Weapon

Attack Power: 1

Unique Effect: Increases HP by 1.

Did his HP increasing from 1 to 2 make a difference? At least, moving around felt a bit easier now.

‘An attack power of 1? Seriously?’

He had never seen such a low number before. Even a rusty dagger would have at least 10 attack power. Should he be grateful it wasn’t negative?

‘…Every piece of equipment and object has a minimum threshold. Attack power can’t go below 1.’

The minimum threshold. Every object had a set lower limit. Weapons could not have less than 1 attack power. Similarly, the same rule applied to status attributes. No stat could fall below 1. That was an unspoken rule. The same applied to levels. No one could drop below level 1. And yet, his level had dropped. All the way to -99.

Wasn’t that strange?

No matter what he had sacrificed for the future, negative levels should not exist. Similarly, trying to fight a Fallen One with a 1 attack power weapon was absurd.

Sure, since it was an Abyssal weapon, it might technically deal damage.

But the level difference between him and the Fallen One was 109 levels.

Even if a hundred million level 1 players attacked a single level 99 boss, they wouldn’t win.

Attacking a monster with 109 level gap? His death would take a second.

“Hey! You ugly bastard!”

Yet, Park Chan-woo shouted. Among all their senses, Fallen One relied on hearing the most. By now, people had realized that these monsters targeted whoever screamed the loudest first. His voice should have been the first thing the creature reacted to.

“Kieeeee–”

But the Fallen One didn’t even look at him.

‘…Just as I thought.’

So that was really the case. Ever since he saw his status window after his regression, one thing had been on his mind.

‘Non-Existence.’

It meant he either did not exist or had no presence. He had never heard of or seen such a status effect before. But the fact that it was listed meant that it was definitely active. And now, even when he shouted, the Fallen One ignored him. How far did this effect extend?

Park Chan-woo thought to himself. ‘…This might actually be a good thing.’

If the monsters truly treated him like he didn’t exist, this fight might not be as impossible as it seemed.

Besides—

‘If I hunt a monster 109 levels above me, What kind of reward would I get?

His curiosity as a mage began to burn.