Chapter 353

Chapter 353
## Chapter 353

—

-Kyakakakakakak!

The creature known as Hell was clutching a pile of objects in both hands. Though his heavy cloak obscured the view, he soon shoved one of the items into his maw.

CRUNCH!

-Kyakakaka!

He erupted into a frantic, high-pitched cackle, clearly relishing the flavor.

“Is that… an apple?”

“Stop! You can’t consume those! Those are the unfinished ‘Fruits of Good and Evil’ before they’ve even been fully manifested…!”

CRUNCH! SNAP!
Gulp, gulp, gulp!
*Buuuuurp~*

In a matter of moments, the nascent Fruits of Good and Evil were gone.

“Good grief…” Hypnos muttered, pressing a weary palm to his forehead. He continued, “The presence of the Gate’s Guardian here suggests that the ‘Gate’ has descended from the celestial realms down to Pangenia.”

“It isn’t just Hell,” I replied. “He has eleven other siblings who share his likeness.”

“Those are the twelve sentinels tasked with protecting the passage. Tell me, did he arrive alone, or was there another with him?”

“Are you referring to the slumbering ruler of the empire?”

“I am unfamiliar with that title, but whoever he is, he possesses the knowledge of the Gate’s location.”

The individual who had crashed into Pangenia while clutching the Egg of Orthodoxy was none other than the current Emperor. It was now clear he truly originated from the heavens. Having unsealed the entrance to descend, he was the only one who knew where the Gate was hidden.

However, the Emperor remained in a deep sleep. Furthermore, it was almost certain that ‘Wilhelm’ carried the Emperor’s lineage, meaning Wilhelm was the offspring of a celestial being. This explained his immense and radiant soul, as well as his body’s supernatural, continuous growth.

*‘And currently, the Demon King is inhabiting that vessel.’*

The gravity of the situation was intensifying. Because the Demon King operated from the shadows, his true power remained a mystery. But judging by the resurrected, empowered lords of Hell, he was going to be a formidable adversary.

*‘Ultimately, this is a clash between those desperate to reach the heavens.’*

If my theories held weight, then Mint Chocolate Taste, the Bluebird, and the Demon King all shared a common goal: they wanted the sky to be pried open.

But I stood against them. To me, that celestial realm brought nothing but ruin. In that brief moment of clarity, I reached a final resolution.

“I have to end the Emperor’s life.”

I made my choice. If the only person who knew the way to the Gate was eliminated, the heavens would likely remain sealed forever.

—

The second generation of Awakeners was advancing at an incredible pace. Following their trial on the Isle of Gods and backed by the resources of the Great Guilds, they began tearing through the primary objectives faster than any predecessors.

Among them, ‘Choi Kang-nam’ was reaping the greatest rewards.

《’Northern Temple’ conquered!》
《’Main Quest 6: Clear the Party Dungeon’ fulfilled.》
《Evaluating performance…》
《An astounding feat that would shock even the divine spirits of the Pantheon of the People!》
《Final Score: 370 points!》
《The ‘Hall of Fame’ is being restructured.》

“Uwaaaaaaaah!”

Exiting the dungeon caked in grime and sweat, Choi Kang-nam let out a triumphant howl. He had finally done it. He had surpassed Randolph’s record. He had trained like a man possessed just to overtake Randolph, meticulously scouring every corner of the dungeon to ensure perfection.

While Randolph had tackled the ‘Demigod Trait Dungeon’—widely considered the most brutal party trial—the ‘Northern Temple’ cleared by Choi Kang-nam was a labyrinth that demanded sheer, overwhelming brilliance to survive.

“I did it!”

The toil of his comrades and his own innate talent had finally been validated. He had proven himself the undisputed peak of the new generation. With shaking hands, he checked the rankings once more.

《1st – Choi Kang-nam (370)》
《1st – Arin (370)》
《3rd – Randolph (350)》
《4th – Wilhelm (345)》

“I am the ultimate!” he shouted.

He thought back to the dozens of times he had stared death in the face—at least twenty near-misses.

*‘You’re probably struggling with a party dungeon yourself right about now, Park Hyunmyeong.’*

But it wouldn’t matter. Park Hyunmyeong could never catch him now. Not after he had leapfrogged legends like Randolph and Wilhelm.

“Control yourself. Do not be arrogant.”

“…Master. But I—”

“I said, enough.”

“…”

Choi Kang-nam bit his tongue. The woman standing beside him, whom he addressed as Master, was ‘Arin,’ the deputy leader of the Heroes’ Alliance. She was a paragon of beauty, strength, and intellect. In truth, his success was largely her doing. Without Arin’s guidance, that score would have been out of reach.

Regardless, his heart swelled. *‘I am the strongest!’* he screamed internally. He envisioned himself growing even more powerful, earning Arin’s ultimate favor, and eventually seizing the mantle of Alliance Leader.

Uninterested in his internal celebration, Arin—actually the Seven Lord Basara—offered a hidden smirk. She wondered if Park Hyunmyeong could actually best the score she had engineered.

Strictly speaking, Basara had hijacked an Awakener’s body but hadn’t seriously engaged with the main questline until now. Surpassing Randolph and Wilhelm was just the beginning; she wanted a direct comparison with Park Hyunmyeong.

“Wait, what…?”

Choi Kang-nam’s sudden gasp broke the silence. Even Basara’s eyes widened in shock.

《The ‘Hall of Fame’ is being restructured.》

The rankings were shifting again. Someone had already reclaimed the summit. When Basara saw the name and the accompanying digits, she couldn’t suppress a dry, hollow laugh.

“…You absolute lunatic.”

It was beyond a competition; it was an absurdity.

“No… this is a prank, right? This can’t be real! Gack!” Choi Kang-nam shrieked, clutching the back of his neck before collapsing in a dead faint.

—

Basara, the Constellation of Purity, didn’t bother looking at the unconscious man. To lose consciousness over a mere ranking proved he wasn’t even worth her contempt. Her focus was locked on the system alert.

The notification regarding the Hall of Fame would have reached every individual currently engaged in Main Quest 6. And surely, everyone seeing it was sharing her disbelief.

《1st – Park Hyunmyeong (1,000+?)》

The number was nonsensical. Only moments ago, she had taken the lead with 370. Now, a figure triple that size appeared, followed by a cryptic question mark.

*‘Over a thousand… and the system can’t even finalize the total.’*

It implied that he had achieved something so monumental that the established parameters for scoring couldn’t process it. The system Basara had observed was usually logical, producing results within a predictable human range. It didn’t just hand out question marks. This suggested a mountain of unprecedented data.

*‘The system tracks historical hardships and the feats of the heroes who overcame them to calculate a score.’*

Basara had dissected the mechanics upon entering this vessel. The system was a repository of eons of information. Main quests were essentially echoes of past heroic deeds, and scores were weighed against those benchmarks. Naturally, there was an upper limit.

Unless someone solved a crisis using logic that didn’t exist in this world, there shouldn’t be a “new” challenge.

*‘He either conquered a dungeon type that is non-existent in this era, or he completed it through a method that defies reality.’*

Most likely, it was a combination of both. Whatever the case, he had stepped outside the boundaries of the “normal” world. Basara felt a genuine surge of curiosity.

“…Just what kind of trial did you walk through?”

Park Hyunmyeong. What did he find in there? And more importantly…

*‘What was your prize?’*

Even her reward for reaching 370 points had been surprisingly potent. The Pantheon of the People and its system were clearly designed to accelerate human evolution. The system was bound by its own laws to provide a reward proportional to the achievement.

She couldn’t even fathom what the system would grant a man who had broken its scales.

—

Within the Pantheon of the People, the Constellation of the Most Brilliant Hero felt his reality tilting. Everything he understood was being dismantled. Unable to process it alone, he turned to the 101st ‘Constellation of Purity.’

“Constellation of Purity… was the Pantheon of the Hundred Gods the true precursor to this place?”

The Pantheon of the People was a sanctuary where the stars—the constellations—observed the human drama. Yet its origin was a mystery to almost all. Except for the one who should never have existed.

“Ah. You’ve finally stumbled upon the ‘Hidden Story,'” the Constellation of Purity remarked, the massive question mark on his face shifting as he nodded.

He had emerged following the completion of Randolph’s hidden quest at the Ascetic’s Mountain. He was the manifestation of ‘Purity’ created by the Master of All Mountains upon reaching the 32nd level of Sword Mastery. His arrival had clued the other constellations into the fact that multiple ‘Pantheons’ existed.

But they were still plagued by questions regarding their purpose. The Constellation of the Most Brilliant Hero had pieced together a theory while observing the journeys of Randolph and Park Hyunmyeong.

“You are correct,” Purity confirmed. “The Pantheon of the People is a facsimile, a reconstruction modeled after the ancient Pantheon of the Hundred Gods.”

In that primordial age, the gods issued trials and boons to mortals, enabling humanity to forge its own destiny and enter a Golden Age. But the coming of Ruin turned that world to ash. Purity knew exactly why this new Pantheon had been built.

“This place exists to facilitate the resurrection of the Pantheon of the Hundred Gods.”

“Resurrection…? Are you suggesting we are to ascend to godhood?”

“What a strange question. You are already a god.”

“…!!!”

The Most Brilliant Hero’s eyes widened. Constellations were supposed to be legends who had left behind enough “starlight” to endure. But Purity was claiming they were something far greater. They were deities who were simply…

“Simply forgotten.”

Forgotten.

“It was a pact you all made. Every constellation across every Pantheon agreed to it. You chose to be erased. Only the one Pantheon that gathers the most ‘stories’ will have its members’ names restored, giving them the chance to become whole again.”

“…What madness is this?”

“The gods who fell to Ruin were filled with regret. They realized they had failed to unite even as destruction loomed. But they also knew that if they were given a second chance as they were, they would just repeat the cycle—division, ego, and chaos.”

They were ancient, set in their ways, and far too numerous. They needed to prune their numbers and focus their power.

“So they discarded their identities?”

The choice to forget was a choice to ‘reset.’ It was a way to collaborate without the baggage of ancient grudges. By resurrecting only a select few, they could form unbreakable bonds. The Golden Age had simply been too crowded.

The Constellation of Purity nodded. “They decided that starting from zero was the only path to unity. The only way to have a fighting chance.”

It was a mission of cold, calculated vengeance. To eventually bring Ruin to the ‘heavens’ that had shattered their home. To do that, they sacrificed their names and memories—a pact the Most Brilliant Hero had once signed.

“How can you be so certain of this?”

“I’ve told you before. I have passed through the ‘Gate of Truth’ and returned.”

“Then… the ‘mouth’ I encountered… was that Truth?”

The Most Brilliant Hero recalled a moment when his light was fading, and he faced total oblivion. In that void, he had seen a ‘mouth.’ By trading his accumulated stories, he had been reborn into his current form.

Purity shook his head. “No. That is merely the key. It is unfinished, but it is the instrument required to unlock the ‘Gate of Truth’.”

The key?