Chapter 351
Chapter 351
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 351
Chapter Title: Future Diary (1)
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Lee Hyuk-soo had said there wasn't a single useful item worth taking.
Nothing of significance in Park Chan-woo's house either, so there was no point in going.
It couldn't be helped.
Ultra-high-level barriers beyond what humans could ever detect.
Even Adora wouldn't have been able to dispel them without her "Wish."
Or more precisely...
'It was possible because of his Wish.'
Nothing else would have worked.
Adora looked around her surroundings.
And realized something at the same time.
This place looked, at a glance, just like a "house on Earth."
Similar to where any other human lived.
However, this wasn't Earth.
'This is...'
Merely disguised that way.
This wasn't just a simple living space.
A secret domain that Park Chan-woo had cleverly disguised as an ordinary Earth apartment.
Thoroughly concealed so that not even Lee Hyuk-soo or anyone else would notice.
It might have been safer and more comfortable for him than anywhere in the Abyss or on Earth.
Adora slowly surveyed the interior.
Furniture and daily necessities that appeared utterly ordinary at first glance, but upon closer inspection, a subtle sense of incongruity emerged.
The view out the window was clearly Seoul's nightscape, yet the space beyond faintly carried an aura from a dimension defying Earth's physical laws.
The walls, floor, and ceiling seemed etched with invisible, intricate mana circuits.
The space itself might be a massive artifact or an independent pocket dimension.
Her gaze shifted back to the equipment placed in the center of the living room.
The Throne of Flesh Staff, Arahan's Golden Mystery, the Star of Pride, Ragnarok.
She now somewhat understood why these powerful relics were stored here.
'Hidden Treasure Vault.'
A secret and absolute treasure trove once held by Aheta.
When the domain of night fell to the Black Witch, the Hidden Treasure Vault must have become hers as well.
Yet Park Chan-woo possessed it.
This meant...
'He bankrupted the Black Witch!'
In that instant, the scattered pieces in Adora's mind clicked into place.
The events in Valhalla. The Black Witch's desperation, offering even her own body as sacrifice to transform into a black evil god.
All of it now connected into a single picture.
Park Chan-woo had become the Lord of Pride via the "Black Witch's Heart."
Adora didn't know exactly what else had happened inside the rift.
But as a result, the Black Witch went bankrupt, and soon after, she sacrificed her body to become a vengeful "black evil god" who invaded Valhalla.
She now knew for certain that Park Chan-woo had been at the center of all that upheaval.
He was an exceptional being who shook the creators' system.
Ruthless and cold-blooded.
Unhesitating in stripping the creators of everything.
Yet he also extended a hand to beings like her and staked everything for humanity—a paradoxical figure.
That was why.
'This can't be all there is.'
This "Hidden Treasure Vault" likely held meaning beyond a mere safehouse.
Clues to his most secretive achievements, plans, and perhaps even his true goals were probably hidden here.
'He bankrupted the Black Witch inside the rift. If he acquired the Hidden Treasure Vault then, he must have set this place up afterward.'
Considering the timeline.
Park Chan-woo entered the rift, and then the evil god attacked.
The Black Witch, transformed into a black evil god, targeted Valhalla.
They stood against her alongside Destroyer Ialdagols, but they were helpless against the assault of the two evil gods.
In their moment of desperation, the Black Witch went bankrupt and retreated.
And then...
'Sepiro appeared right after the evil god's attack.'
Sepiro emerged, tearing open the rift.
His first clone had triumphed in the battle against Park Chan-woo.
However, Sepiro's first clone was somehow different.
More destructive, more ruinous, brimming with inscrutable desires.
It sought to dominate everything connected to Park Chan-woo.
It seized and wielded the "influences" separated from Park Chan-woo under its own command.
Valhalla was no exception.
They barely escaped thanks to Tsarpham, but Sepiro had taken Valhalla, Destroyer Ialdagols, Azos, and several other elements under Park Chan-woo's influence.
Sepiro was obsessively hunting down everything tied to Park Chan-woo.
Which led to...
'Could it be...'
A chill ran down Adora's spine.
This Hidden Treasure Vault housed Park Chan-woo's powerful relics intact.
Wouldn't this be exactly the place Sepiro would desperately seek?
'These barriers aren't just defenses. Are they to stop Sepiro?'
Perhaps he had foreseen his defeat to Sepiro's first clone—and even Sepiro's relentless pursuit of his traces afterward.
That's why he sealed this place with such powerful, intricate barriers.
Sepiro wouldn't bother with frail Earth or humans, but just in case, to ensure it couldn't be found.
Only those who resonated with his "Wish" like her, or met his specific intended conditions, could enter!
Adora was struck anew by his meticulousness and foresight.
He had prepared even for the worst-case scenario of losing everything.
Yet a lingering question remained.
'Where did you go?'
He could hide here.
She could even sense traces of Park Chan-woo's Wish and absolute magic.
But while equipment was left behind, Park Chan-woo himself was absent.
His existence base wasn't established; he had lost consciousness.
According to Lee Hyuk-soo's explanation.
Did his defeat to Sepiro decompose his very being?
Or was his soul or core consciousness bound somewhere else?
'Cygnus.'
Suddenly, she thought of "Cygnus."
In the final moments, Cygnus transformed itself into a "sanctuary" and vanished deep into the rift.
After blocking the archangel outer god.
And since then, it never emerged from the rift.
Perhaps... the reason Cygnus never left the rift was connected to why Park Chan-woo wasn't here.
Maybe the core of Park Chan-woo's consciousness—or his essential being—remained inside that rift, alongside Cygnus.
Even if Sepiro took some of his power, his essence waited by the safe sanctuary for the next phase.
If true, it explained much.
Why he didn't return here directly.
Why his existence manifested through Lee Hyuk-soo as a "connector."
And why something transcendent like the "Racial War" was necessary.
The Racial War.
'...Sepiro's influence can't reach the Racial War.'
In that moment, a piercing certainty shot through Adora's mind, as if every puzzle piece locked into place.
Explaining why Chronos had declared his true revival would occur there.
The Racial War wasn't merely a competition or trial ground.
It was like the root cause of the infinitely expanding Abyss.
An ancient covenant even Dragon God Sepiro dared not defy.
A special domain under a more fundamental system.
No matter how mighty Sepiro or how much he sought dominion, he couldn't directly interfere with the Racial War stage itself.
Thus, Park Chan-woo chose it.
The sole opportunity and venue to escape Sepiro's watch and interference, reassemble his scattered existence, and achieve complete revival.
This safehouse was merely a temporary refuge to protect his legacy from Sepiro; his true plan was set to unfold on the absolute stage of the Racial War.
The "dream" Chronos spoke of for Park Chan-woo.
...Perhaps not victory or glory, but the "hope" itself of breaking free from Sepiro and rising again through this Racial War opportunity?
From the shadows.
From the depths of that abyss.
His grand scheme to climb back up.
'You're still fighting.'
The battle wasn't decided.
She thought Sepiro, emerging first from the rift, had won.
But Sepiro's actions afterward lacked a victor's composure.
Instead, they were frantic, obsessive.
Toward everything Park Chan-woo left behind.
Places, beings, even those who briefly crossed paths with him—he desperately sought to claim them under his control.
A true winner wouldn't need to.
They'd simply bask in victory, unconcerned with a defeated foe's remnants.
But Sepiro couldn't.
As if Park Chan-woo still lived and breathed somewhere, threatening him, Sepiro frantically tried to erase his shadow.
This safehouse, the relics within, and even her, Lee Hyuk-soo, and their comrades—their very existence was part of his unfinished fight.
He was preparing his next move from within the rift, or beyond, plotting a counterattack.
'...There must be something I can do.'
So what should she do?
Adora could no longer linger on personal curiosity or pity for Park Chan-woo the man.
She was a comrade in his plan, an ally inheriting his will.
To prepare the stage of his return—the Racial War—and aid his complete revival there.
That was her role now.
Adora looked around once more.
Park Chan-woo had brazenly displayed equipment that would make anyone's eyes pop.
But his personality would never leave treasure so exposed.
Adora was certain.
That was bait.
And in another room, she found an utterly ordinary-looking book.
'A book.'
But it was blank; nothing written inside.
No trace of mana either.
Like the other mundane furniture in this space, just camouflage to divert attention?
But Adora wasn't fooled.
She intuited this book was no mere prop.
'How do I open it?'
It wasn't physically locked.
Yet an invisible, powerful seal bound it.
A special seal that no mere mana could break—accessible only to Park Chan-woo himself or those he permitted.
Adora recalled why she could dispel the space's barriers.
Park Chan-woo's Wish.
The power dwelling within her, or resonating with his.
'Perhaps...'
She cautiously placed her hand on the book's cover.
And focused her will.
Her burning desire to know Park Chan-woo, her resolve as an ally to understand and aid his plans, drawing forth the latent Wish power within her to resonate with the book.
Woooong.
At first, no reaction.
But as she persisted in concentration, faint specks of light began to rise between her hand and the book's surface.
The moment the echoes of Park Chan-woo's Wish recognized and reacted to her power.
Shrrrr.
Like magic, letters began appearing on the blank pages.
D+1: First Abyss (Lake Park). Fallen Ghost appears. Acquire Dragon Slayer Blade. Secure 'Survivor's Reward (Platinum Box)' mandatory.
D+7: First Night. Dragon God General descends. Defeat Dragon God General. Secure 'Sage's Stone'.
D+30: Dungeon Abyss. Conquer Water God Abyss. Monopolize spirit medicines laid by the avatars. Secure Han-shin's spirit medicine if possible.
D+??: Tower of Pride. Kahn/Adora route. Aid Adora, control death authority. Secure Tower of Pride final reward.
……