Prologue: The King of Aberrations Falls Silently
The King of Aberrations met its end without so much as a final scream.
Despite the ferocious battle that had raged until moments ago, its demise was utterly silent.
Its colossal body, towering higher than the world's tallest mountain and seeming to scrape the heavens, collapsed to the ground.
Rumble...
The earth shook and cracked like an earthquake, but there wasn't a single living creature left in this Dark Heavenly Realm to leap in fright at the sight.
In the <Dark Heavenly Realm>, the [King of Aberrations] has met its death at the hands of [Kang San].
Glistening letters floated before his eyes.
The King of Aberrations... was dead.
For real this time.
It was truly over.
"Haaah..."
I let out a long sigh and flopped onto the ground.
I'd poured every last drop of energy from my body into that fight—barely enough strength remained to even breathe.
Of course, I'd thought it a hundred times every time I hit a wall up until now, but damn—
If it was going to make me suffer this much, couldn't it at least give me something in return?
The aberrations had invaded the Dark Heavenly Realm to devour it whole.
To stop them, a being from outside the realm was needed—not one of the Dark Heavenly Realm's own—and that's how I, Kang San, was summoned.
Pulled into this world out of sheer necessity, I lacked even the cheat abilities or skills a typical summoned hero should have. Hell, blinking my eyes felt like a Herculean effort.
At the time, I was an 11-year vegetative state patient in a nursing hospital after a traffic accident.
They said even the Immortals/Sages who summoned me were thrown into panic when they saw my state.
The entity they'd sacrificed offerings to summon was a cripple.
They'd beaten the ground and wailed in grief, or so I heard.
But the Immortals/Sages had no choice.
They'd scraped together every last material from across the entire Dark Heavenly Realm to build the altar, offered the sacrifices, and as a result, I'd arrived.
With their help, my mind awakened, my body began to move, and grueling training followed...
Plop, clatter.
The jewels that had hovered protectively around me fell to the ground.
The jewels of Ge (Earth), Su (Water), Hwa (Fire), Pung (Wind), Gong (Void), Gwang (Light), Am (Dark), and Sim (Heart).
Gifts from the eight Great Immortals who had fallen one by one, clearing the path to the King of Aberrations for the final battle.
Jewels they'd entrusted to me, saying I could do it—or that I had to.
Drained of power, the jewels crumbled.
A breeze scattered them, not even dust remaining.
The sight reminded me of my comrades' deaths, and heat welled in my eyes.
At first, I resented the Immortals/Sages for dragging me here against my will.
As time passed and I could walk on my own, I came to trust and rely on them.
And in the end, tears soaked my face amid grief and loss.
In their stead, I'd endured, fought, and finally triumphed.
Yet there were no comrades left to share the joy of victory—not even a single ant.
The sole survivor of the <Dark Heavenly Realm> is [Kang San].
[Kang San] must select a reward for slaying the [King of Aberrations].
All accumulated karma points (good and evil) will be consumed.
1. Regression: [Kang San] returns to the time before the aberrations invaded the <Dark Heavenly Realm>.
2. Ascension: [Kang San] forgets everything and becomes part of the <Superdimension>.
3. Return: [Kang San] returns to <Earth> at the moment of summoning.
Select your reward? And it's not even free?
Ridiculous, but I lacked the energy to argue—and even if I did, it wouldn't listen.
I stared blankly at the options before speaking.
"Won't you tell me what happens with each choice?"
Unable to respond.
Figured as much.
That text had never been kind to me anyway.
Regression. No way in hell I'd pick that.
Go back and suffer through it all again? My comrades, always muttering things like "If I were just ten years younger" or "If I'd known this five years earlier," would've jumped at it without a second thought.
But not me.
I didn't want to relive the hardship, but more than that, I couldn't bear losing my comrades again.
Ascension. This one's ambiguous.
If it meant heaven as a reward for my toil, I might've bitten.
But forgetting everything to become part of some superdimension...? No clue what that entails...
Return. This one... well... haha...
Back to Earth at the moment of summoning...
I gazed vacantly at the sky and let out a bitter laugh.
That meant returning to the most wretched period of my life.
Bedridden in the nursing hospital, unable to move.
Flipped every two hours to prevent bedsores, fed through a nose tube, phlegm sucked from my throat with an aspirator, diapers changed by caregivers, ass and groin wiped clean of shit and piss.
Back then, I was trapped in my own body.
I could hear voices around me, smell odors, faintly feel sensations, and think—but never move. A true vegetable.
For 11 years, I'd heard it all.
Mom's sighs.
My little sister's resentment.
The muffled sobs by my bedside.
That bastard father had squandered everything, not leaving a single pillar standing.
He'd set up a second family, piled on massive debts, and bolted. Mom raised us alone, hounded by creditors.
She'd hoped to catch a break once I started working, but then her son became a vegetable in an accident.
How hellish must her life have been?
Thankfully, it wasn't my fault—the insurance and compensation came through. Mom protected that money even when the bastard showed up at the hospital, spewing filth, yanking her hair, swinging fists.
Better to die before that precious sum vanished on my hospital bills.
Damn right.
And if I'm dying anyway, better to do some good on the way out.
Who knows? Maybe that karma would bless Mom and my sister.
A hacking cough brought up thick fluid dribbling from my mouth.
I'd clung on this long, but this body was truly done.
I made my choice.
"I won't choose any reward. I—"
I drew in a long breath and exhaled.
With what little strength remained, I raised a hand to my necklace.
I gripped the shriveled wooden shard—smaller than a knuckle—tight in my right palm and continued.
"—will revive the Heavenly Wood of the Dark Heavenly Realm."
[Kang San] has not selected a reward.
[Kang San] wishes to revive the [Heavenly Wood] of the <Dark Heavenly Realm> using his accumulated karma points (good and evil).
Is this correct?
"Yeah."
The King of Aberrations was dead.
Still, the Dark Heavenly Realm's future remained bleak.
Mountains of aberration corpses, seas of their blood.
Land polluted and cursed by aberrations wouldn't nurture new life for thousands—maybe tens of thousands—of years.
But with the Heavenly Wood, it could.
Rooted at the Dark Heavenly Realm's heart, it would purify everything.
Yeah.
When it's time to go, pay your debts.
The Immortals/Sages of the Dark Heavenly Realm had nurtured me when I could do nothing.
They enabled me to walk, run, fight for others—to save the Dark Heavenly Realm.
And countless sacrifices were made to keep me alive.
[Kang San] wishes to revive the [Heavenly Wood] of the <Dark Heavenly Realm> using his accumulated karma points (good and evil).
Is this correct?
"Yes. Before I change my mind... do it quick..."
[Kang San] revives the [Heavenly Wood] of the <Dark Heavenly Realm> using his accumulated karma points (good and evil).
The Heavenly Wood in my hand grew scorching hot.
My palm sizzled as if burning away, but I didn't let go.
This body was about to rot in death anyway—might as well serve as fertilizer for the Heavenly Wood.
Thank you for your sacrifices and efforts.
By [Administrator] authority, a modest reward is granted to [Kang San].
A reward? When I'm dying—
Then, everything went white.