Chapter 248

Chapter 248
## Chapter 248

### I Exist

“…He’s been reduced to nothing but shredded flesh.”

Twitch! Twitch!

Raiga stared down at the pulsating heaps of gore scattered across the earth. It was a sight beyond recognition, something sliced so many times it had completely forfeited its original shape.

This was the remains of the man who had once reigned as the Heavenly Demon.

It was the pathetic conclusion for a titan who had cast aside his humanity, now hacked and mangled hundreds, thousands, or perhaps tens of thousands of times. The damage was so extensive that the very act of restoration had become an exhausting struggle for his body.

And yet, he breathed still.

This implied that the assailant had neither executed him nor seized his fragment; they had simply continued to butcher him as if he were a mindless plaything.

“What kind of madness took place here…?”

The Heavenly Demon was a peerless warrior. He was an opponent Raiga himself would have had to confront with every ounce of his strength just to survive. Now, that same powerhouse was merely thin strips of meat rolling in the dirt.

Observing the devastation carved into the landscape, it was clear this hadn’t been a duel—it was a one-sided massacre.

Who could it be? Who possessed the terrifying power to dismantle the Heavenly Demon so thoroughly?

*‘He is paralyzed by fear.’*

Raiga could sense it; the mangled remains were drowning in pure terror. The creature was so traumatized that even though it possessed the capacity to mend itself, it refused to do so. It knew that to reform was merely to be pulverized again. It was a choice to remain broken rather than face that overwhelming cruelty once more.

Still, Raiga found it hard to believe. The Heavenly Demon was not a being whose will would shatter simply because he met a stronger foe. Those who had survived the Abyss for countless ages possessed a pride that was nearly unbreakable.

*‘This isn’t just about losing a fight. His very essence has been rejected.’*

Raiga inhaled the heavy aura radiating from the flesh. In short, the Heavenly Demon’s entire existence had been denied. He didn’t understand the mechanics of it, but it was as if the concept of the Heavenly Demon itself had been rendered irrelevant. The attacker had treated him with such indifference that they didn’t even bother to harvest his fragment.

To think a being existed that could inflict such existential dread upon the Demon of the Heavens.

But it wasn’t just him.

“It’s not only the demon. The very foundation of the island is trembling…”

The air was warping. It felt as though something that defied the laws of nature had stepped into the world. A crushing pressure weighed down even on someone as strong as Raiga.

A figure who had broken the Heavenly Demon and cowed the entire island. At first, Raiga thought of the Unborn Being, but he quickly dismissed the idea. That monstrosity would have simply devoured the demon and his power in an instant.

The person responsible for this was likely the individual currently standing at the island’s heart.

“Could it truly be… you? Yeomso.”

The Golden Goat.

That bastard who had forcibly exiled him to the lockup through a Star Expedition. Ever since he had been banished to the Star Prison and subsequently freed, the world had turned upside down. The contest was reaching its climax.

Everything was finishing while he had been sidelined, uselessly wasting his life force after his self-destructive gambit. It felt incredibly hollow and frustrating.

*‘I won’t let it conclude this way.’*

Raiga shook himself and began to run. There was a mission more vital than collecting power-ups now. If the man at the center of this chaos was indeed the Golden Goat, Raiga had to uncover his true nature. And if that man posed a threat to the Empire… he would stop him even if it required the last embers of his life.

—

As he drew closer to the island’s core, Raiga felt a suffocating weight, as if he were sinking into a bottomless bog.

“…What in the world?”

The Heavenly Demon wasn’t the only casualty. The Unborn Being lay there, having suffered a violent internal explosion. The Star Crusher was missing his entire torso. The Master of the Tomb lay in fractured segments, as motionless as a shattered statue.

*‘Was the Storm Scaler consumed by the Unborn Being?’*

It looked as though he had detonated while being absorbed, merging their remains into a single, grotesque pile. It was a scene of unparalleled carnage.

Furthermore…

*‘The Whale of the Heavenly Axis and the Sunken Emperor. They’ve killed each other.’*

Both lay dead. Unlike the others, these two seemed to have perished in a mutual clash. Why had they fought? How had the situation devolved into this chaos? Raiga offered a silent plea that the Sunken Emperor was not actually the sovereign of the Empire.

*‘Every single one of them is gone except for me.’*

It was surreal. Only twenty-four hours had passed since his banishment to the Star Prison. In a single day, the fate of the island had been sealed. If he hadn’t been sent away, would he be lying here as a corpse too?

Raiga had never witnessed anything so staggering. Steeling his resolve, he sprinted toward the center. When he finally reached the clearing and saw the figure standing there, a cry of shock escaped his throat.

“You…!”

—

* You deny the outcome?
* You reject the conclusion?
* You will forfeit everything!
* The strength you earned, the memories of Isabella, even this triumph!
* It will all vanish into the void!

I am well aware. I understand the price of my choice. I am choosing to reset the world to zero.

“The Abyss truly lives up to its name, doesn’t it? It’s a place of constant surprises.”

I allowed a faint smile to touch my lips. I had been braced for the unexpected since the moment I stepped into this darkness. This realm always manages to produce something more bizarre than anything one could dream up.

“Randolph. You are just a reflection of me. You are who I become when I am consumed by Pangaea—the version of me that discards the real world.”

I accepted it now. That figure was just a different side of my own soul. And in that moment, I understood Level 10. Perhaps the peak of existence lay in my current, fragmented state.

Right now, I was fundamentally broken. The Park Hyunmyeong who lived in reality and the Randolph who ruled Pangaea were out of sync. That was why I couldn’t reach Level 10. I couldn’t grow because I wasn’t whole. Only by killing Park Hyunmyeong could Randolph find his balance.

However… I refuse that path.

“I’m not throwing anything away.”

Isabella was the one who showed me the worth of the real world. My name, my identity, my very life. The chance to become something more.

“Park Hyunmyeong, Randolph, Wilhelm, and Isabella.”

I spoke those names aloud. A name is more than a label; it is the anchor of existence.

“I won’t abandon a single piece of myself.”

* This is madness!
* To return things to nothingness means losing everything you’ve worked for!
* You’re throwing it all away just for Isabella?
* Even if you do this, she won’t come back!
* You cannot resurrect what has been erased. She is dead! She is gone!

My shadow self screamed at me. He mocked the idea that I could save her by sacrificing my progress.

“She hasn’t been erased. She’s just waiting on the other side of the ‘Door.’”

I could see it. The Door of Truth. Behind that threshold, her essence remained. She wasn’t truly gone—not until this island’s ritual reached its final end. If I could stop the game before it finished, I could undo her fate.

* You think you can pull something back from beyond the ‘Door’?
* That is impossible!
* Opening the ‘Door’ is one thing, but retrieving a soul is an entirely different level of power!
* Even if you succeed, how do you know it will still be ‘Isabella’?
* You are ignorant of the ‘Door’s’ nature!
* You arrogant fool…!
* You will never save Pangaea like this!

The voice wasn’t lying, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. Had my instincts dulled because I tried to suppress my real-world self? The Park Hyunmyeong who plays the game is someone who explores every possible outcome.

‘The Door of Truth.’

I focused my will and forced that door open once again.

【Have you finally discovered a wish worth bringing to the ‘Door’?】

What do you want? What is your sacrifice? The voice from the void was speaking. It expected me to ask for Isabella’s life so it could strip me of everything I owned. The Door of Truth was a greedy thing; it always took more than it gave.

“I will trade this ‘Door’ for Isabella’s return.”

【……】

“The Door of Eternal Lord Randolph. That should be a high enough price for her soul.”

The void went silent. Every Hidden Trait was, in essence, a ‘Door.’ It was a path to a specific truth. By offering up the Hidden Trait of ‘Eternal Lord Randolph,’ I was offering up my very destiny.

【…I have never encountered a human like you.】

The Truth finally spoke. It had never seen a mortal willing to discard his own divine completion to save another. This wasn’t just a sacrifice of life; it was the abandonment of his soul’s highest potential.

“Is the deal struck?”

【……It is your ‘Door.’ Do as you wish.】

With those words, the presence vanished as if it had lost interest. I finally felt a sense of relief.

Kwarreung!

The island was rocked by thunderous peels. The fabric of reality began to snap back into its original shape.

* You moron!
* The true power of the Eternal Lord is the Negation of Results. It is the ‘Nullification of All Gains.’
* It’s a final authority that can only be used once!
* That is how the original Eternal Lord saved this place from ruin!
* Look at the history. He saved the land, but he was left with nothing.

The Island of God was one of the few pure places left in the Abyss. Long ago, the ‘Eternal Lord’ had warded off the end of the world here. By using his power, he preserved the land and the hope for his people, but he gained no glory. He simply faded away. His power was a double-edged sword: to save one thing, you must lose everything else.

* Do you understand what you’ve done?
* The Heavenly Demon Divine Art, every memory Isabella had of you, every feeling—it’s all going to vanish. And the monsters you killed? They will all return to life!
* How will you fight them without the power of the Eternal Lord?
* How will you survive without me?

My other half laughed at my impending doom. He saw the grim future my choice had created. Just like the ancient protector, I had saved Isabella but left myself defenseless and empty.

But I didn’t care.

* I… I still exist.
* The moment you lose it all… I will return!
* From the other side… Ah!

The voice cut off. The world around me dissolved. I was no longer on the Island of God. I stood in a vast, empty expanse that felt like a never-ending sea. It was the same void I had entered when I first arrived in the Abyss.

‘The Door.’

A physical set of doors stood before me. They were shut tight.

《Conditions cleared. ‘Star Finding’ is commencing.》

《Participants, please enter the ‘Right Door.’ Those opting out, please enter the ‘Left Door.’》

《Current Roster – ‘Raiga,’ ‘Storm Scaler,’ ‘Master of the Tomb,’ ‘Sunken Emperor,’ ‘Star Crusher,’ ‘Unborn Being,’ ‘Whale of the Heavenly Axis,’ ‘Heavenly Demon’》

Everything had reset to the starting point. But there was one difference.

Creaaaaak.

The door moved. From the right side, the door of participation, a person stepped out.

“…Uh? Randolph-nim?”

I saw the face I had been waiting for. I spoke her name softly.

“……Isabella.”

“What’s going on…? Why am I here?”

She looked confused, unable to remember how she had ended up behind that door. I reached out and gently took her hand.

“It’s alright.”

“Is it… really okay, Randolph-nim?”

“Yes. Everything is going to be fine.”

And I meant it. Even if she didn’t love me anymore. Even if she ended up hating me again. I wouldn’t let it break me.

“Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“Through the Left Door.”

“Are you saying… we’re leaving the Island of God behind?”

“Yes.”

I nodded and pulled open the left door—the exit I had ignored the first time. I had no desire to play their game anymore. I had already won what mattered. As we stepped through the threshold together, a message appeared.

《Main Quest 11 – Abyss Monster Hunt Complete.》

《Targets Slain: ‘Storm Scaler,’ ‘Master of the Tomb,’ ‘Sunken Emperor,’ ‘Star Crusher,’ ‘Unborn Being,’ ‘Whale of the Heavenly Axis,’ ‘Heavenly Demon,’ and ‘Divine Skin Hybrid.’》

《Commencing transfer to the ‘Eternal Monk (Eternal Lord).’》