Ranker Who Lives Twice
chapter-539

'I've been moving for a while now...but there's no sign that I'm getting any closer.' With his Sky Wings fully unfurled, Yeon-woo swam in the void for a long time before he realized how much vaster the void was than he'd expected.

If it were a normal stage, he would have already traversed from one end to the other and then some. However, he felt no sense of the distance diminishing at all. It was like walking to the moon from Earth—it was inevitable to feel like one was only walking in place and not making any noticeable progress. The void seemed to have no end in sight.

However, thanks to his Time Difference skill, Yeon-woo was able to gauge the flow of time, and it was evident that quite a bit of time had passed already. 'Am I wandering around the same place over and over?' Yeon-woo suddenly thought of the possibility that he was going the wrong way or even in circles. However, he did not feel that this was the case.

Zing! Zing! Zing! Since the casts were still vibrating, Yeon-woo had a feeling that he was going in the right direction. 'I've gone so far already. Will I be able to make it out later?'

Magic spells and abilities that were dependent on the Tower's system and the natural laws of the outer world did not work in the void. Even if he could use them, the different laws and concepts that operated the void might bring unintended and unwanted results. Thus, Yeon-woo had no choice but to depend on his physical abilities.

If an unexpected event occurred in the void, he understood that he might face a precarious situation. In the end, the only thing he could rely on was the illusory barrier he had built. Yeon-woo was glad he heeded the Monkey King exuviae's advice, and he put his head down and sped up.

Up until that moment, he had been vigilant about possible dangers in the void, so he hadn't hurried. However, he decided that he probably would not have to worry about those unknown factors anymore.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Yeon-woo's magic power exploded in set intervals, which allowed him to advance farther into the void through each explosion's impact. Each time he did so, the void' gently flowing current would shake violently. As if they found what Yeon-woo was doing immensely interesting, the living souls started to gather around Yeon-woo like fireflies and soon formed a crowd around him.

At first, they were afraid of approaching Yeon-woo, who exuded a foreign aura, but as time passed, they got used to him and did not feel threatened by his presence. They did not seem to have any trouble moving around freely in the void, and no matter how fast Yeon-woo moved, they kept pace easily. Thanks to the light they emitted, Yeon-woo could see his immediate surroundings better.

Furthermore…

『Master! These guys are right beside us! Shoo! Go away! Hey! Hey! Hahaha! That tickles!』 At some point, Nike appeared on Yeon-woo's back and was having fun with the souls. The living souls rode on Nike's beak and poked his feathers. Although Nike didn't express it, he was happy to have some friends to play with outside the Philosopher's Stone, which he hadn't left in a while.

Whenever new living souls joined the group, Yeon-woo used his Consciousness to take note of the differences in their shapes and sizes.

'He's not here.' Since his brother's soul was probably immersed in the Black King's darkness or the void, Yeon-woo was hoping that he might find it. However, his hopes were quickly dashed. No miracle occurred, but that was probably to be expected. This space was where all souls were conceived and living spirits existed. The soul of his younger brother would not be here.

In the end, it seemed that he would only learn something once he arrived at the place where the Casts of the Black King pulled him to, perhaps where the body of the Black King might be located.

***

Day 3

Yeon-woo frowned while swimming in the void. Although he exerted his physical and mental strength tirelessly without rest for the past three days, he became annoyed at the unchanging scenery. No matter how much he pushed himself, there was no sign that he was getting closer to his destination.

Day 5

Yeon-woo was still concentrating on swimming. All he could see was the dark void. The number of living souls following him had increased, and it would have been helpful if he could communicate with the living souls. However, they were just like newborn babies, and they could not do anything other than instinctual behavior or low-level thinking. The most they could do was show curiosity or fear.

He was thankful that he at least had Nike. Without Nike, Yeon-woo would have probably already gone back. Of course, the time outside probably did not pass as quickly as it did in the void, but it was clear that he'd been inside for a while.

Day 21

Yeon-woo could feel the friction and pressure of the void gradually getting stronger. He also realized that the greater the pressure, the higher the chances of him being crushed. If he had not maintained his ego through Illusory Change, he might have already fallen into danger.

Just as the Monkey King's exuviae had warned, there was a limit to how long he could maintain his consciousness with only the Casts of the Black King.

Day 45

At some point, Yeon-woo was beginning to consider abandoning further exploration. However, he could not bring himself to stop, even though he felt that it had been a waste of time to come down here. So, Yeon-woo began to find other things to do apart from swimming.

He started practicing the Eight Extremes of Sword Thunder that the Monkey King's exuviae had taught him. He had only developed up to the Third Extreme, so he felt the need to master the higher-level Extremes quickly. Furthermore, the more he advanced, the stronger his Consciousness would become, which would allow him to better deal with the mounting pressure of the void. He had unexpectedly found the perfect training space.

Yeon-woo managed to establish a new goal while continuing his tedious journey. His greatest strength and weapon was to focus on training, which was also part of the "fight" that represented him.

Day 162

Whoosh. Whoosh. A strange noise began to come out from somewhere. The living souls made no sound, so it couldn't be them. It was a gloomy, dark sound that came from an unknown source.

Yeon-woo stopped swimming for a while and looked around, but he could not find anything.

Day ???

Yeon-woo had already grown too lazy to even count the days. At least two years had already passed. Yeon-woo was unaffected by the pressure that surrounded him, which had increased several times. He also grew accustomed to the strange sounds that occasionally emerged around him.

He still couldn't figure out what it was, but he could tell that it was coming from the place the Casts of the Black King were pulling him to. 'Is this sound coming from the Black King's body? Or is something else also in that location?' Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes and resumed his movement forward.

The living souls he had encountered while swimming through the void were now almost completely gone.

Day ???

If he had to take a guess, Yeon-woo would probably say that around five years had passed. Even the living souls he would occasionally encounter were now nowhere to be found. Nike had long since returned to the Philosopher's Stone after growing bored. Yeon-woo was alone.

The pressure had grown to the point of almost collapsing his Illusory Change barrier, but Yeon-woo continued training in the Eight Extremes of Sword Thunder. Also, since he had so much time on his hands, he perused the revelations that he had stolen from the Crawling Chaos.

Flash! All of a sudden, Yeon-woo could see a light leaking out from the dark bottom of the void. 'There's something there.' Yeon-woo flew towards the light at full speed while spreading his Sky Wings. Thanks to his constant training, he had achieved tremendous growth from the time he'd first entered the void.

Once he finally arrived at the source of the light, Yeon-woo instinctively used his Sky Wings to change direction and stop swimming forward. There was an unbelievable and majestic sight below him.

It was a huge door that made him look as tiny as an insect. The murals on the door were very familiar. 'A holy mural…just like one I saw in Olympus' Treasury.'

However, the murals on the door were much more extensive and elaborate than those he'd seen at Olympus' Treasury and the Temple of the King of the Underworld. They depicted an epic battle: Zeus dropping thunderbolts on a large shadow, Poseidon hurling tidal waves to keep the shadow in place, and Hades leading a corps of gods to confront the shadow.

The murals took on different meanings depending on the point of view. From the point of view of Asgard, Zeus' place would be taken by Odin, the supreme god of Asgard. Vili would take Poseidon's part and Ve would take Hades'. From the Chan Sect's perspective, the gods Suiren, Fuxi, and Shennong would be the gods involved.

Yeon-woo understood why the murals seemed to change according to point of view. 'A shared creation myth.' Just as divine beings shared similar legends about hunting down Mother Earth in order to create new worlds, these murals shared similar themes. 'Even though it's more like the divine beings simply took the leftovers of the Heavenly Demon's battle with the Black King.'

Perhaps the people who drew the murals wanted to express that they had defeated the great existence beyond this door. Furthermore, the more believers shared these murals, the greater the number of people who believed in the myths would grow. In the end, the results would be tremendous.

Of course, the various gods and demons probably did contribute something towards driving the shadow being into the void. It was only ridiculous that they would fight among themselves to gobble up all the glory. The holy murals lived on even after the being had been thrown deep into the void, telling a version of events that Yeon-woo hadn't heard before. The depictions were lifelike and vivid despite being abhorrent.

Yeon-woo couldn't help feeling sympathy for the being who'd fallen into the deep void and raged with anger as his limbs were bound in chains. Yet, at the same time, the vivid depiction gave him chills. After the door was closed and the being was locked inside, many years passed. The murals showed the being suffering internal torment with bouts of anger and frustration before he finally fell asleep and assimilated into the darkness. Still, the being occasionally opened his eyes within the dark void. The last mural made Yeon-woo feel like he was being observed.

The holy murals seemed to continue down the door, but Yeon-woo did not feel the need to look any further. 'Then…' Yeon-woo's eyes narrowed. 'I need to figure out how to open this door.'

Of course, Yeon-woo was not unaware of the danger. He did not know much about the Black King except that he was the origin of death, darkness, and dreams, and that he was a holy being that existed long before the progenitor gods and conceptual gods were even born. He existed even before the creation of the world.

If he woke up, the world might be thrown into chaos. The Heavenly Demon thought so, so he had worked to leave the Black King in the void. However, for Yeon-woo, it didn't matter whether the Black King caused chaos or sought revenge. If anyone got hurt, it would most likely be the gods and demons who had backstabbed and shackled the Black King within the void. The Black King's presence could also summon the Heavenly Demon to appear and act. 'If the Heavenly Demon knew what I was planning to do, he wouldn't have let me go in the first place.'

Moreover, if Yeon-woo's theories were correct, it would be impossible for him to open this door by himself. If not, then there were plenty of people stronger than him who would have opened it already. The Heavenly Demon that Yeon-woo knew would have already opened the door by now.

However, Yeon-woo still hoped to open the door, even just a tiny bit. Even a very small, minuscule gap would be enough. If he could not open the door, Yeon-woo wanted to at least communicate his intentions to the being who resided beyond it. There were a few things Yeon-woo wanted to ask. Where was Jeong-woo? Why did he take Jeong-woo's soul with him? And why did he give Yeon-woo this level of strength and take Yeon-woo as his successor?

Actually, Yeon-woo did not need answers to all of these questions. If he could only hear the answer to the first question, he would have no regrets. 'How should I open it?'

However, Yeon-woo couldn't think of a good method of opening the door, so he stood still and pondered for a while. Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Yeon-woo looked down at the vibrating Casts of the Black King. After five years, he had grown used to its constant vibrating, but at the moment, he decided to channel his magic power to its maximum into the Casts, just to see what would happen.

Zing! The three Casts rang out clearly at the same time. Crack! Crack! The chains shot out and extended farther than ever before. They stretched into the pockets of the void nearby until Yeon-woo felt them lock onto something.

Yeon-woo intuitively knew that the chains had connected to the Black King, who was presumably sleeping beyond the door—or at least, something related to him. Yeon-woo started pulling the chains as hard as he could.

The chains grew taut. Whatever the hell was beyond the door was immensely heavy. No matter how much divine power and magic powers he mobilized, Yeon-woo could not make it budge. It was the same even when he fully deployed the Illusory Change that he had worked on while making his way into the void. 'What should…?'

For a moment, something flashed through Yeon-woo's mind. The power of the Monkey King's exuviae, which he had utilized to seal the Crawling Chaos! 'Ruyi Bang!' As soon as Yeon-woo had this thought, the Ruyi Bang pieces appeared around him, rotating and assembling into a black chain.

Creak! 'It's opening…!'The door began to open slowly after he filled the pieces of Ruyi Bang with his will and Consciousness, amplifying the Ruyi Bang's power.Beyond the door lurked darkness deeper than the void.Yeon-woo's Fiery Golden Eyes shone brightly.

『No. You shouldn't awaken him.』 Suddenly, an unfamiliar-looking hand popped out of the void where the chains had pierced through. Slowly, someone appeared in front of him.

It was a girl holding a chain in one hand and a teddy bear in the other. Her appearance was incongruent with the atmosphere of this place. Although she had a cute appearance, Yeon-woo instinctively felt danger and he guessed who the girl was. 'Another successor of the Black King!'

The head of the Sea of Time. As soon as he had this thought…Bam! Yeon-woo drew out his Magic Bayonet with his left hand and swung it at the girl.