Chapter 326
Chapter 326
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 326
Chapter Title: Creator Park Chan-woo (1)
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The moment he set foot there, all his senses unraveled.
Light and darkness existed at once—and didn't. Up and down blurred together, while time stuttered between halting and flowing.
Park Chan-woo couldn't be certain where he was. He couldn't even confirm his own existence.
But soon, he sensed the world.
'Amazing.'
The vista unfolding before his eyes.
A waterfall cascaded.
From the base of the cliff upward.
Upside down, flowing in reverse.
Sunlight blazed above, while the moon's darkness lingered below, coexisting in harmony.
And that was hardly all.
'Fragments of worlds...'
Shards of the Abyss drifted by like leisurely swimmers.
Remnants of half-devoured worlds, or perhaps the corpses of the dead.
Signus, carrying Park Chan-woo on its back, spoke up.
The Divine Beasts' staple diet was Creation Abyss.
They devoured the Abysses crafted by the Demon Lords, growing stronger with each bite.
Some of those rules proved too stubborn to digest fully, spat back out.
"Can't eat those?"
"Too many for something like that."
Sure enough.
Park Chan-woo nodded in understanding.
Creation Abysses weren't limited to just one or two.
Yet the fragments bobbing aimlessly inside the rift resembled a ring of planetary dust.
Clumped together, they flowed in unison, circulating the entire fissure.
"Looks like the Sanctuary was handling these floating shards."
The Divine Beasts lacked the power to process these shards on their own.
They'd merely regurgitated the indigestible dregs, and already their world teetered toward ruin.
'The Divine Beasts devour the needlessly bloating Abyss to maintain balance. The Sanctuary cleans up the leftovers, staving off the Great Rift...'
He stroked his chin, scrutinizing each fragment in turn.
Soon, realization dawned.
'These are shards of the Abyss from the dawn of time.'
The pieces here.
These rule-laden scraps the Divine Beasts couldn't easily break down—they were the very stuff that sealed the 'Great Rift'.
"Where are they headed?"
In other words, an immediate showdown in the Sanctuary.
Park Chan-woo shook his head.
"We've still got time."
Park Chan-woo let out a quiet tut.
The Sanctuary's sacrifice as an 'offering' to seal the Great Rift was surely the trigger for this acceleration.
He got the reason.
No downside to speeding things up.
Just in case—there was always a chance Dragon God Sepiro could pry open the Great Rift.
This was a race to crown Signus as the Rift King, even a second ahead of that bastard.
'Still not enough.'
Signus had surged ahead in growth over this stretch.
Park Chan-woo was certain it ranked among the elite of Divine Beasts born around the same era.
But 'elite' wouldn't cut it.
It had to claim the singular throne at the top.
Three days remained.
How could he boost Signus in that span?
"Hmm."
Park Chan-woo eyed the floaters.
The Divine Beasts could eat them but chose not to bother.
Or even if they did, they couldn't digest them—shards of the Abyss.
Which meant, ultimately...
"Those are 'Creation Abysses,' aren't they."
Same bedrock.
More precisely, former Creation Abysses.
Not the whole lot, just a minuscule fraction of the fragments.
...So what enabled only the Sanctuary to fully dismantle and absorb them?
It meant those potent rules held power vast enough to thwart even the 'Great Rift' itself.
And simultaneously, that the Sanctuary wielded authority over every rule, breaking them down at will.
In a nutshell.
'The Sanctuary is like the ultimate admin, wielding full authority over Creation Abyss at whim.'
Demon Lords and Creators might delude themselves as 'admins.'
But Creators were no admins.
Merely players... or 'mapmakers' at best.
They used the mapmaking tools to craft rooms laced with special rules.
Far cry from true admins.
They couldn't bend the core game rules to their fancy.
So who furnished all those mapmaking tools?
'Creation Abyss originated from the Sanctuary.'
Ah.
Park Chan-woo nodded steadily.
The Sanctuary had been the very first to deploy the 'game' known as Creation Abyss.
Creators were nothing more than 'users,' tinkering with the tools the 'game' provided.
No matter their genius creations, every Creation Abyss they spawned operated strictly within the systemic bounds preset by the Sanctuary from day one.
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin.
The Sanctuary.
The entity that 'operated,' 'managed,' and 'purged' all Creation Abysses.
Park Chan-woo was piecing together why it had stayed hidden all this time.
The more Creators clashed and churned out works, the faster the Abyss ballooned.
Yet when a Creator's rules grew potent enough to imperil the entire Abyss, the Sanctuary stirred.
That was when the Divine Beasts surged forth, devouring the excess rules and restoring equilibrium.
"Gathering those shards into a single 'Creation Abyss' would be a sight to behold."
Signus's voice carried unease.
It knew Park Chan-woo's temperament all too well.
Short as their time together had been, 'impossible' was synonymous with 'challenge' for him.
Dissuasion would be futile—it knew that much.
"Dueling in the Sanctuary feels too straightforward, doesn't it?"
"They're indigestible scraps anyway. If the only path is a direct 'challenge,' why not fight on a stage I create?"
"Not out of the question."
"Then I'll become a Creator."
Just as he'd forged a false qualification for Adora, turning her into one.
Park Chan-woo could become a 'Creator' too.
By way of the Black Witch's body.
He'd never attempted it before, but a perfect ingredient lay at hand.
'The Moon.'
The Moon itself.
Fashioned by Sepiro's 'absolute magic.'
Once the deal closed, it became the Black Witch's possession—and the instant she claimed it, she embedded a fragment of her body within.
Namely...
'The Black Witch's Heart.'
One key reason she fought so desperately to reclaim the 'Moon'.
A qualification bestowed via the Black Witch's Heart.
What form would it take once complete? Curiosity piqued.
'The Black Witch's power to grant false qualifications isn't omnipotent. It couldn't replicate a Divine Beast's lineage.'
Had it been able, the Black Witch would have set foot in the rift long ago.
She couldn't mimic a Divine Beast's very essence.
But he was different.
His 'Easter Egg (002)' enabled perfect fusion across all species.
Signus called him 'Father' precisely because of that Easter Egg.
"That's what makes the future the future."
Park Chan-woo's resolve stood ironclad.
Passivity changed nothing.
Another Divine Beast would claim Sanctuary status. He'd fall to Sepiro, and humanity would meet its end.
Signus might still seize the Rift King title—and Sanctuary—in its current form.
But Sepiro wouldn't sit idly by.
'Sepiro breaks free before Signus claims the throne.'
Cataclysm.
Blind adherence to the script yielded zilch.
He had to triumph with stratagems Sepiro couldn't fathom.
Stride into the impossible, the forbidden domain others shunned—and press one step beyond to pierce the heart.
He wasn't bluffing without backup.
'Sanctuary offered itself as tribute. Remnants might linger in the Demon-Sealing God's Chalice.'
Evidence abounded.
Signus, linked to him, had grown mighty. Its rift maneuvers betrayed no awkwardness.
Park Chan-woo produced the 'Moon'.
He plunged his hand inside, brushing the heart.
No deliberation needed.
'I'll become a Creator.'
Leverage Creator credentials to spawn a colossal Creation Abyss within the rift.
He knew lesser qualifications wouldn't suffice.
But the Black Witch's Heart? That would do it.
Moments later.
Ding! "Acquired 'Arrogant Creator' qualification via 'Black Witch's Heart'."
"'Arrogant Creator' is a true qualification, not a false one."
"All 'Creator'-related functions, including 'Creator Community,' are now available."
"'Arrogant Creator' can craft Creation Abysses of 'all types'."
"Additionally, 'Arrogant Creator' can create Creation Abysses outside their own territory."
"However, Creation Abysses created in foreign territories vanish upon being overcome."
"If a 'Arrogant Creator''s Creation Abyss isn't cleared within the time limit, that territory is recognized as belonging to the 'Arrogant Creator'."
"Coin cost for creating Creation Abysses reduced by 50%."
"......"