Chapter 189
Chapter 189
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: Transcender (11)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The moment the mortal's heart stopped, the item triggered its special effect.
Lil, the Transcender, knew a fair bit about the Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God.
...How ominous and eerie it truly was.
―How could you possibly possess that cursed thing...!
The instant she recognized it, Lil furrowed her brow and took a step back.
Her tone carried the disgust of someone who'd just seen something repulsive.
She stared at the mortal with near-terror in her eyes.
After all, the Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God held the Abyss's most potent curse.
'It's the goblet that devours its master in the most horrific way.'
One thing was clear: the Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God was a monster that consumed its owner.
It sacrificed everyone around them as offerings, vanishing them one by one, until it finally swallowed the owner whole in its insatiable greed.
Lil didn't know the exact details of what the Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God truly was.
No one knew its origins, when it first appeared, who it was made for, or what purpose it served.
All she knew were the people who'd fallen prey to its power and met gruesome ends.
―So you were the chalice's master. That explains everything...
Anyone possessing the Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God could account for all these phenomena.
It wasn't an item just anyone could own.
The chalice only recognized those with the most exalted talents in the Abyss as its master.
Then it intoxicated them with its power, driving them into endless despair and corruption.
In the end, it forced them to offer themselves as the final sacrifice.
The Heavenly Demon had done so, as had all the previous owners.
That's how this mortal had broken the ancient tome's seal and resolved the two problems she'd posed.
His talent for magic was simply that extraordinary.
And that wasn't all.
An unyielding thirst for challenges, a burning desire to grow stronger!
Those were the common traits of everyone who'd held the Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God.
―The chalice's curse cannot be overcome or severed.
Lil gazed at him with pity in her eyes.
As soon as his heart stopped, the Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God began to stir.
That was one of its most horrific curses.
Another trait shared by all its owners—a curse no one could escape.
......The chalice lured those the owner cherished most to become offerings.
It took them all without exception.
Inflicting utter despair, making the owner rely even more on the chalice.
―It seems you've begun to succumb to the curse as well.
There was no stopping a curse once it started.
She had stopped his heart, but in that instant, the chalice's curse activated, swiftly drawing the people around him in as "offerings."
The golems with their own egos had mana cores. Human and witch lives pulsed nearby.
The life forces offered up were being sucked into the chalice to restart the mortal's heart.
'He won't be able to endure it.'
When he opened his eyes again and realized his most precious people had vanished as offerings, the pain would be beyond words.
At first, he'd curse the chalice. Later, he'd blame himself and spiral into self-loathing.
Isolated beyond measure, he'd self-destruct in the end.
Every owner she'd known had followed that path.
So if she'd known he was the chalice's new master, she wouldn't have proposed the final trial.
Those enthralled by the chalice's power could never complete the ancient tome's spell.
Therefore...
―The trial... is a failure.
The mortal's final trial ended in failure.
Even if his heart beat again, it would be due to the chalice's power.
It was hard to call it a true overcoming with his own mana alone.
That was when it happened.
―......Hm?
For a fleeting moment, Transcender Lil tilted her head.
Another change was beginning in the mortal's body.
Park Chan-woo didn't lose consciousness.
'If it were my first time, I'd have died right there.'
But it had been close.
The instant his heart stopped, he'd nearly blacked out.
Without prior experience of death, he probably would have lost consciousness for sure.
Fortunately, Park Chan-woo steadied his mind and immediately assessed his situation.
'It's like time itself has stopped.'
He couldn't see anything.
Couldn't feel anything.
It was as if he were dead.
Park Chan-woo desperately gathered his mana, trying to restart his heart.
But his frozen mana was cooling alongside his blood.
'Normal mana won't cut it.'
He needed something purer.
The innate true qi, like the essence of life itself, that every being possessed from birth.
The problem was that no human could wield innate true qi at will.
Everyone knew it existed, but no one truly understood what it was.
It was a hot topic among mages, but one that had ultimately grown cold.
'Deeper. Down to the depths of my consciousness.'
This was something he could only do now.
Only while he still sensed his consciousness lingering.
They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die, right?
That happens as consciousness sinks, brushing past the memories etched along the way.
So Park Chan-woo plunged his consciousness deeper, into the abyss below.
Ever downward, without end.
Then his memories began to surface, one by one.
-Safety first, play it safe.
-Park Chan-woo, you're hopeless.
-Your swordsmanship is pathetic.
-What a disappointment.
-Are you scared of Han Shin?
-What? Dual class? You idiot!
-What's the point of level 99 if you're useless to the raid party?
-Haha! He can barely cast basic spells?
-His swordplay's mediocre, and his magic's even worse.
Ever since the Abyss appeared.
Park Chan-woo had never truly felt happiness.
He'd leveled up frantically, challenged endlessly, clawed his way forward in desperation—only to despair at his limits.
Even as people pointed and mocked him, he never gave up.
He just kept delving into the Abyss ceaselessly.
Believing that someday he'd reach the pinnacle.
Thinking that persistent effort would pay off.
Park Chan-woo ignored the resurfacing memories.
They were in the past; they couldn't despair him anymore.
Besides, this wasn't his goal.
Deeper still.
To the end of his consciousness.
How much further did he descend?
Whooooosh!
A fierce, cold wind howled.
His very soul trembled.
...This was the depths of his consciousness.
A boundary between life and death.
But perhaps he was already dead.
He no longer felt alive.
As if he'd become nothing at all.
Thud!
Suddenly, two doors appeared to his left and right.
He knew instinctively.
'The right door leads to life, the left to death.'
He had to choose.
Live or die.
It really was the boundary between life and death.
Of course, no one wanted to die.
If survival was possible, the right door was the obvious choice.
'I want to live.'
Park Chan-woo's consciousness drifted slowly toward the right door.
His awareness had sunk so low it was faint, reduced to near-instinctual sensation.
Going there meant survival.
Through that door, onward...
'My heart will beat again.'
His stopped heart would restart, and he'd live.
Just like it had so many times before.
Whenever he'd died—or tried to—he'd survived by a miracle.
The reason was simple.
He had the Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God.
Somehow, it always carved a path to survival for him.
It had even regressed him through time upon death.
Sure, he'd become level –99, riddled with debuffs and wretched states.
Yet what immense power it was.
Thanks to it, Park Chan-woo was rewriting a future filled with despair.
On just the third night, he'd destroyed Moon Lord Aheta, grown stronger without limits, and now eyed the Interracial War.
A hopeful future.
For humanity's salvation... no, for his own happiness, he had to live.
This time, he had to prove it!
To the people, to the Abyss's demons and creators alike!
This time too...
Drip!
Suddenly, Park Chan-woo's consciousness halted.
Right before the "Door of Life" on the right.
'What is my happiness?'
To overcome.
His past powerless self, the despair.
Humanity's salvation?
That was merely one step in the process of overcoming.
More importantly...
...Isn't something off?
He'd come to the depths of his consciousness not just to survive.
He'd faced Lil's final trial, steeling himself for death.
A desire stronger than his stopped heart burned within.
'Become an archmage.'
To do that, one thing was absolutely necessary.
'...Learn the Transcender's magic.'
Interesting.
What magic had Transcender Lil been trying to perfect?
If he couldn't master the Transcender's magic, he'd regret it even in death, pounding the ground.
His aspiration to become an archmage couldn't be broken by mere death.
Therefore.
"Don't interfere, God of Offerings."
Park Chan-woo spoke from the depths of his consciousness.
He was certain this phenomenon was tied to the God of Offerings.
This "Door of Life" was probably its creation too.
And crossing it meant he didn't know what would be offered as sacrifice.
Perhaps everything he'd achieved so far.
His gear, tools, or something even more precious.
This time, he might lose himself entirely.
Of course, if surviving that way was possible, he'd choose life.
...But death was fine.
If it meant surpassing the trial and learning the Transcender's magic.
His desire for magic was obsessively transcendent.
"I'll do this alone. I don't need your help."
He made his intent crystal clear.
In this trial, in matters of his life and death, he needed no aid from it.
Swooooo...
The "Door of Life" gradually blurred and faded away.
Park Chan-woo slowly turned around.
Then headed toward the "Door of Death."
A door filled with countless razor-sharp teeth.
It looked brutal at first glance.
No sane person would cross it.
But.
Park Chan-woo stepped inside without hesitation.
At the same moment.
―......You're the first I've seen to cross this door of your own will.
'Death' appeared.