Chapter 328
Chapter 328
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 328
Chapter Title: Creator Park Chan-woo (3)
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Park Chan-woo thought.
A way to definitively turn the tables.
A way to craft a new battlefield that the Divine Beasts could never win.
However, creating a Creation Abyss from scratch was uncharted territory for him.
Especially for the Lord of Pride to impose one on another territory—it came with far more "restrictions" than anticipated.
'Minimum level.'
First, the settings for the "minimum" and "maximum" entry levels.
Divine Beasts were powerful from the moment of birth.
Even compared to the other Twelve Races, they ranked among the strongest.
In other words, their birth levels started at 30 to 50 or higher.
Set an "entry restriction" below that, and the Divine Beasts couldn't step foot in the Creation Abyss at all.
But even the Lord of Pride couldn't enforce such an "impossible" rule.
He held the authority to forcibly seize territory, yes.
But 'the territory's inhabitants must be able to challenge it at a feasible level.'
They had to accept the challenge, and only upon their failure could it be taken.
Nothing was accomplished without a challenge.
This setup was war itself—mutual slaughter.
If the Creation Abyss was cleared, he'd forfeit every single coin spent creating it.
Not reclaiming even one.
Victory, on the other hand, granted the territory.
All or nothing.
It had to be made with utmost sincerity.
'Raising the level cap infinitely with Ineffable Fragments would be ideal, but...'
He pondered.
Hiking the cap sky-high to draw challenges from every Divine Beast would unleash massive repercussions.
It could elevate the Creation Abyss to unprecedented power.
Yet Park Chan-woo's aim wasn't merely crafting an exceptional Creation Abyss.
It was domination of the Rift.
War harbored no such thing as "fair play."
Thus.
'Setting it too high would backfire.'
He pegged the maximum entry level at around 80.
Adults couldn't enter; the young were too inexperienced for it.
Precisely calibrated so only Divine Beasts with "pure bloodline" qualifications—like Cygnus—could attempt it.
But leaving it there felt insufficient.
Was there no other way to leverage those countless Ineffable Fragments?
'Hidden Pieces.'
Each one was indistinguishable from a Hidden Piece.
Rules with conditions verging on the impossible.
Yet fulfilling them yielded rewards surpassing the level cap.
Park Chan-woo, having claimed them countless times, knew their worth better than anyone.
'Setting Hidden Pieces demands rewards of equal caliber.'
One slip, and bankruptcy loomed.
For a Creator, bankruptcy equaled death.
True death.
Just as he'd bankrupted fellow Creators time and again, driving them to oblivion.
Even Moon Lord Aheta had ultimately crumbled to bankruptcy and perished.
No room for recklessness.
But set them right, and the gains were immense.
They could stoke rivalry, ignite resolve, and turn the challengers against one another.
'The crux is rivalry.'
The Creation Abyss couldn't become a mere racial mandate.
It had to be an arena of competition.
Only then could clearing be delayed.
Park Chan-woo gazed at the Ineffable Fragments once more.
Then slowly extended his hand and grasped them.
He forged countless Hidden Pieces.
And set their rewards alongside them.
Tailored to what Divine Beasts craved most.
He enabled full digestion of the Ineffable Fragments.
After all, they embodied intricate rules and conditions akin to Hidden Pieces.
Those who conquered them deserved ownership.
Yet it fell short.
Coins were required for complete digestion.
Each Hidden Piece demanded at least 100 upon completion.
Arduous enough to warrant concealment as a secret achievement.
But.
Park Chan-woo disclosed every condition.
Guiding them along revealed paths would preclude extraordinary feats.
"Father. Have you settled on a name for the Abyss?"
"Sanctuary."
"Sanctuary is the name?"
"Doesn't it stir your resolve?"
"...It sounds good."
Cygnus consented.
The Creation Abyss was christened Sanctuary.
'On the board I craft, the king shall be crowned.'
No need to prolong the deadlock.
He'd culminate it all in a method none foresaw.
Park Chan-woo smiled and broadcast the announcement across the Rift.
"But is it alright if I clear it?"
"Think you can?"
"I have to make sure failure isn't an option. How else can I keep pace with you, Father?"
Her audacious words sparked light in Park Chan-woo's eyes.
Cygnus clearing it posed no issue.
Seoul was the only destination, regardless.
Should Cygnus conquer and "devour" this Creation Abyss, she'd eclipse rival purebloods and claim the throne.
However.
"I'm joining too. Can you truly surpass me?"
"...Creators can't enter their own Creation Abyss, can they?"
"Not by principle."
"Planning to 'descend'?"
For a Creator to wield substantial influence, 'descent' was the sole recourse.
Yet descent devoured vast coin reserves.
And more.
It notified every participant, marking him as the 'enemy'.
Join as a mere challenger?
Unthinkable.
Clearing one's own game was effortless.
But Park Chan-woo's perspective diverged.
"I can join if I don't craft it myself."
"...Forgive me. My feeble mind can't grasp your intent, Father."
Creators were barred from challenging their own Creation Abysses as entrants.
An ironclad axiom.
But.
He was no ordinary Creator.
Random.
Park Chan-woo's gambit was straightforward.
He'd randomized every rule and Hidden Piece placement.
Even he was blind to precise locations and minutiae.
Only the overarching direction and intent—as set by the Creator—remained.
'Demon Lords have infiltrated their own Creation Abysses this way.'
A pastime of sorts.
Not commonplace, but those averse to others' domains would spawn random ones for personal entry.
Or, absent an Abyss matching their vision or scale,
they'd dictate direction, pour in Coins, randomize a Creation Abyss, and fling open the gates.
Competing on equal terms with fellow entrants.
One might wonder.
The payoff?
'No real payoff.'
Pure amusement, nothing more, nothing less.
Coins were the sole expenditure.
All rewards drew from the Creator's coffers.
Self-clearing yielded naught but stagnation.
However.
Park Chan-woo was the Lord of Pride.
'Interfering' to thwart clearance secured the territory.
Moreover.
He could aid Cygnus's triumph.
Or claim victory himself.
"...You're planning to clear it personally?"
Cygnus gasped in awe.
A Creator defying their own handiwork.
Beyond imagination.
He'd framed the skeleton, then randomized the flesh.
Squandering 5,000 Coins.
Yet intrigue lingered.
The true endgame of entry.
Mere sabotage? Randomization risked easier difficulty, outweighing benefits.
Another odyssey solely for participation—baffling from Cygnus's vantage.
Park Chan-woo offered a smile.
No profit in clearing equated to no loss either.
All Coins poured into the Abyss could be recouped.
An aura of unchallenged dominance and renown would blanket the Rift.
And furthermore—
"Curiosity."
"Pardon?"
"What befalls me if I bankrupt myself."
"......"
Cygnus fell silent, at a loss.
Unprecedented in history.
'Bankruptcy'—Creators' ultimate dread.
Self-inflicted?
Who dared conceive it.
Voice it to fellow Demon Lords, and madness they'd decry.
Even in the Destroyer—Cygnus's mother—such lunacy found no echo in memory.
Whether self-bankruptcy in one's own Creation Abyss was feasible remained dubious.
It demanded chaining feats eclipsing his designs, amassing transcendent rewards unendingly.
'That's why he exposed every Hidden Piece condition...'
Cygnus marveled.
Curiosity mirrored hers.
What fate awaited a self-bankrupted Creator.
How incalculable bounties would resolve.
And one more facet.
Park Chan-woo mused.
'...I could absorb those fragments myself.'
The Ineffable Fragments were shards of truth.
He was a mage.
A seeker of truth.
Within truth, no quandary endured.
Devouring and assimilating those shards to forge new truths—that was his paramount pursuit.
Not discard, but infuse anew.
His potential boundless, those fragments were his to wield.
They formed the world's essence.
Park Chan-woo intended to embed that world within, birthing another 'Absolute Magic'.
"Give it your all. We're rivals now."
"Yes, Father."
"Regard me as foe. I'll view you likewise."
"...I'll engrave it."
Cygnus nodded solemnly.
At once, Park Chan-woo set forth.