Chapter 487
Chapter 487
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 487
Chapter Title: Trial of Power
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As his words came to an end.
In front of Park Chan-woo's eyes, the empty space warped and twisted, and a massive structure rose up.
It was a "scale."
A colossal balance with two pans large enough to touch the heavens, like an artifact from ancient times.
One of those pans already held something.
A gigantic crystal orb that shimmered iridescently, as if it cradled the Milky Way within.
The moment Park Chan-woo laid eyes on that orb, he felt a crushing pressure that nearly stopped his breath.
The Master of Power said.
His massive finger pointed to the empty pan on the opposite side.
"......"
Park Chan-woo was at a loss for words for a moment.
Something heavier than the world?
The Master of Power declared cruelly.
At first, Park Chan-woo took the trial at face value.
'Weight.'
A trial set by the Master of Power.
So, it must mean to prove it with pure "power."
He decided to boldly use his first chance.
Park Chan-woo closed his eyes and focused all his muscle and will, envisioning the heaviest thing he could imagine.
'Black hole.'
He compressed planetary density to the extreme.
A small "black hole" where gravity itself collapsed, sucking in everything.
Theoretically, infinite mass.
This should do it.
But the result was disastrous.
The scale didn't budge an inch.
Park Chan-woo gritted his teeth.
It didn't seem to mean mere physical weight.
A black hole's mass was nearly infinite.
It should rival the entire world.
Yet the scale didn't recognize it as weight.
Then.
'Concept.'
Park Chan-woo began to delve deeper.
This trial might be a scale that weighs "concepts" beyond physical laws.
In that case, he needed to summon the most powerful concepts.
'Creation and destruction.'
His will stirred once more.
This time, two opposing images appeared simultaneously on the empty pan.
On one side, the radiant light of "creation" bloomed as a new star was born; on the other, the darkness of "destruction" swirled as a world collapsed.
The beginning and end of life.
The two vast cycles that formed the foundation of the Abyss.
If he could manifest those concepts themselves, it should work.
After all, hadn't the crystal orb opposite been called the abstract weight of the "world's fate"?
'...No, not enough.'
Park Chan-woo shook his head.
Creation and destruction were still phenomena within this world.
They couldn't be heavier than the world itself.
He needed something more fundamental, something transcending the world's laws.
A single name flashed through his mind.
'The Creator.'
The origin of all that shaped the Abyss.
Such a being should hold weight equal to or greater than the entire Abyss, its creation.
Park Chan-woo poured all his imagination into boldly shaping the "concept" of that absolute entity.
Nothing appeared on the pan.
But the air in the space sank with an indescribably heavy pressure, incomparable to before.
An absolute weight, invisible yet undeniably present.
It settled quietly on the pan like a transparent crystal.
Thump.
His heart pounded fiercely.
But the result was the same again.
The scale remained tilted, without the slightest tremor.
The Master of Power mocked him once more.
His critique pierced the core of Park Chan-woo's being with razor sharpness.
Everything he had shown so far ultimately wasn't truly "his."
Knowledge gained through countless failures and experiences, powers borrowed from others, even the faith of those who believed in him.
All of it had combined to form who he was now, yet there was no unique weight that belonged solely to "Park Chan-woo" himself anywhere.
But it was fine.
Three chances remained.
'A black hole, the Creator—they're not truly mine either.'
Park Chan-woo closed his eyes.
The Master of Power's mockery stung, but it was also true.
This was his trial.
Not some shallow test he could pass by borrowing others' strength.
Then.
This scale wasn't merely a place to put the world's heaviest thing.
Park Chan-woo finally grasped the true meaning of the trial.
What the Master of Power sought was far removed from the magnitude of external power.
It was the internal weight possessed by the existence called "me."
A profoundly fundamental, philosophical demand to prove that unique value.
Third chance.
Park Chan-woo no longer imagined something to manifest on the pan.
Instead, he slowly stepped onto the empty pan himself.
'I place myself on it.'
The entirety of his being, encompassing everything he possessed.
Memories of countless regressions.
The will that bloomed amid failure and frustration.
The sense of responsibility for humanity and the dragonkin.
The bonds shared with his comrades.
And even his divinity that made all this possible.
He placed the total weight of the existence called "Park Chan-woo," condensed from all that, upon the scale.
He believed this was the most truthful and heaviest thing he could offer.
But.
"......"
The scale still didn't move.
In that instant.
The Master of Power burst into roaring laughter.
That laughter shook the entire 100th floor space.
It was laced with deep disappointment and even pity.
The Master of Power's will ravaged Park Chan-woo's crumbling heart.
It was a cruel truth.
No matter how great the feats of one individual like Park Chan-woo, they could never outweigh the fate of the entire vast Abyss world.
An utterly obvious principle.
His voice now carried not just mockery, but genuine bewilderment.
As if watching a crawling insect claim it could fly.
His words shook the very foundations of all the pride and justification Park Chan-woo had painstakingly built.
The Master of Power's will conjured visions of the past in the empty space.
Primordial titans forging stars.
Ancient mages first deciphering the world's laws.
And countless nameless heroes who gladly sacrificed their lives for their kin in forgotten myths.
Park Chan-woo was special.
But he wasn't the only special one.
This vast world had never turned on a single hero.
The Master of Power's final words stabbed into Park Chan-woo's heart like a dagger.
Park Chan-woo stepped down from the pan and stared blankly at the tilted scale with empty eyes.
The Master of Power was right.
He had staked everything he had, and failed.
What more could he do now?
His mind went blank.
If even the sum of his past—"himself"—was lighter than the world's weight.
Then.
'...One thing remains.'
The memory of that final moment when everything had ended flashed through Park Chan-woo's mind.
All his "future."
The desperate deal where he offered it as sacrifice to force a single outcome.
'I've already turned back time, haven't I.'
Yes.
If his past self had failed, then he could stake his future self, brimming with infinite unrealized possibilities.
Park Chan-woo decided to use his fourth chance.
He approached the scale again.
And he began gathering everything he had—every unwritten page of his future—without reserve.
The peaceful world he dreamed of, the future with his comrades, all the radiant possibilities of defeating the Destroyer and ascending as a true god.
At his will, a dazzling nebula of light began to form on the empty pan.
Hundreds of millions, billions of stars were born and died, displaying the infinite possibilities of the future.
It was hope itself.
But.
......The scale didn't move again.
The Master of Power clicked his tongue and shook his head.
Before Park Chan-woo's eyes, the brilliant future nebula faded away like a mirage.
The Master of Power smiled.