Ranker Who Lives Twice

Please stop. Aren’t you tired?

Right. We. Just. Await. To. Be. Awakened.

Various scenes unfolded. In the beginning, just before the creation of the universe, Yeon-woo saw the image of the Heavenly Demon fighting against the enormous darkness.

יהי אור (Let there be light). And after imprisoning the Black King in the emptiness, the Heavenly Demon, thoroughly tired from the battle, uttered the aforementioned divine words. The universe began from that single point of light.

You all are ignorant and reckless! All of you are no longer the Day that casts light upon the world! Another image, this time of Vivasvat. With tears in his eyes, Vivasvat cursed the aforementioned words toward Metatron and Baal.

So, let me ask, what number ‘version’ are you of me? The image of Kronos, who had immersed his hand in the swamp of darkness, slowly losing control to the Demonism.

The ‘wheel’ is turning once again. The end of days will be postponed again… An image of a man, his face obscured by darkness but who had a familiar sounding voice, uttering silently to himself. Moreover…

‘How can that exist…? It can’t be.’

Fortunately, I have some strength left, so even if this curse cannot be completely erased, I’ll be able to hold it down to a certain extent and contain it.

Everyone, on your knees.

Who are you?

Then came images of Yeon-woo’s legends. They were experiences from completing simple quests, so they had simply been ‘stories’ for Yeon-woo, but they were all vividly recorded. The events he experienced while possessed by Kronos, and the acts he had committed to gain Pneuma’s Sky, were all unfolding as if they were currently happening.

At that moment, Yeon-woo understood he was observing events and worlds that had once occurred, but these worlds were no longer.

***

Whenever Yeon-woo viewed the revelations or spoke with those of the Day, a common question had always arisen: What was the exact meaning of a ‘dream’? Dream… The Black King had fallen into a long, deep sleep while imprisoned in the emptiness… Yeon-woo understood that a universe filled with various beings was able to exist because of the Black King’s imprisonment.

But then, a problem arose. If the universe that the Heavenly Demon had ushered in place of the Black King was in existence, why was the universe expressed as the Black King’s ‘dream’? And what connection did this universe’s archetype, the basis of the unconsciousness of many creatures, including humans, have with the Black King who resided in the void? Also, did the dead souls, when reincarnated, first go through the Black King’s void before returning to the universe? It was all full of enigmas.

However, after experiencing the power of the Black King, being the Black King’s shadow for a prolonged period of time, and entering the depths of what made up the Black King, Yeon-woo was starting to slowly understand. ‘The Black King is not something that can be simply defined. It’s closer to a concept.’

An existence, or material, that existed before the beginning… The Black King was a thing that could not be defined or observed by those who were born and created after the creation of the universe. Additionally, for this reason, the creation of the universe had an inseparable relationship with the Black King.

This was because the Black King’s traces remained all over the universe. From the unconsciousness of all creatures to the cycle of the soul…death, darkness, dreams, soul, winter, evil, destruction, so on and so forth. The negative concepts that made up the world were all part of the ‘Black King’. The Black King was those negative concepts. ‘If you juxtapose the Black King with the Heavenly Demon, a dualism could be seen…’

The traces of the Black King that remained all over the world could be expressed as ‘dreams’. Furthermore, those ‘dreams’ would all be reconciled to mere illusions and crumble when the Black King awakened.

It was only then that Yeon-woo realized how unfathomably large and great the Black King was, and the great work that the Heavenly Demon and Day had done to suppress the Black King by force. ‘Too many. The universe and dimensions that the gods and demons have been residing in may only have comprised a grain of sand in a vast desert…’

Although the images that Yeon-woo currently observed were only fragmentary events that happened in such a universe, it was vast and expansive enough to far exceed his own worldview. He felt the smallness of his existence. ‘This is all…the ‘dream’ that the Black King is dreaming.’

No matter how close he was to the emperor level, or even if he had the status as a king of gods, in the grand scheme of things, in front of the Black King, Yeon-woo was just a grain of sand. If it were not for his Cold-Blooded trait, Yeon-woo would not have been able to maintain his ego like this. Yeon-woo seriously questioned whether he would be able to devour all the things residing in this space and become the main character, the ego of the Black King.

『Puhaha! I was still wavering on whether I made the right assessment when I first saw you. But to now see that you’ve come all the way here…!』

At that moment, Yeon-woo turned his head to the side after hearing a voice resonating in his head.

[Some of the legends of the abuser Cha Yeon-woo are being materialized using the darkness as a medium!]

[Materialized legend: Crawling Chaos]

Sss. Suddenly, gray clouds gathered, and a shape resembling Yeon-woo formed. Seeing this, Yeon-woo’s eyes widened. It was an existence that could not be here.

『A ‘dream’ can disappear at any time. When you’re done dreaming, that’s the end of a dream. But it’s also hard to say that it’s ephemeral…as long as someone recognizes it and remembers it.』 Crawling Chaos said. To be precise, it was the Crawling Chaos that Yeon-woo absorbed from Night while experiencing Kronos’ legends.

Although the Black King cared for the Crawling Chaos, the Crawling Chaos never hid its curiosity regarding the Black King, who was the source of everything.

『Anyway, I didn’t expect that you’d come into my dumb father like this. If Yog-Sothoth found out about this, his already large eyes would become even larger with surprise! Hahaha!』 The Crawling Chaos’ laughter gradually included a sense of madness.『This is much greater than I originally thought. The inclusion of all these worlds into this space means that the accompanying infinite number of probabilities and dimensions that are attached to the worlds like a string has also been accepted… Does this mean the inflection point from which interpretation of cognition and observation has been established? No. Determinism would become meaningless, and the multi-world interpretation would become impossible under so many perspectives…!』

The Crawling Chaos endlessly stated words and thoughts that only it could understand before it suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Then, with a cold expression, it smiled.『Hey. Mr. Popular. So many of my father’s gazes are looking at you right now, should you say something in response?』

The Crawling Chaos was able to recognize and read the countless gazes, thoughts, and personalities that poured onto Yeon-woo. Additionally, the Crawling Chaos recognized that Yeon-woo possessed the qualification to receive such gazes and was also a being that could possess a gaze, thought, and personality.

“Why are you here?” Yeon-woo did not answer the Crawling Chaos’ question but rather questioned back while furrowing his brow.

『No special reason. I just wanted to see you.』

“See what?”

『The beginning before the beginning! Darkness before the darkness! Chaos before chaos! The father’s true form! And…』 The Crawling Chaos’ eyes cast a strange beam of light.『The end of this dim-witted father of mine.』

Yeon-woo saw his cold expression reflected in the Crawling Chaos’ eyes.

『I want to see how far this ‘dream’ goes.』

“…” For a moment, Yeon-woo did not say anything. It was because he had no way of understanding what the Crawling Chaos was thinking. He could not help but helplessly sigh.

The Crawling Chaos wanted to see the end of the Black King? Is that what a being who used to be part of the Night’s Eight Gods of Disorder should say at a moment like this? However, considering the Crawling Chaos actions up to now, Yeon-woo felt like the words fit the Crawling Chaos. Furthermore…

“Then, does that mean you won’t interfere?” For Yeon-woo, everything else aside, this was the most important point. If the Crawling Chaos tried to get in his way, Yeon-woo, who already had his hands full with all the Demonisms surrounding him, would be burdened with another annoying opponent.

『Of course.』 Fortunately, the Crawling Chaos nodded.

“Okay then.” At that moment, Yeon-woo raised his head. He detected numerous Demonisms throughout the multiverse.

Demonisms were the naturally occurring remnant unconscious beings that bloomed one by one during the Black King’s long slumber. They were the end products of the ‘dreams’. All of these Demonisms were vying to become the main character of the Black King, but they were essentially just the dregs of past failures.

[6th-step Dragon Body awakening]

[All powers released unlocked]

[Sky Wings]

Whoosh! Yeon-woo revealed his dragon wings to the fullest. Perhaps because his current exuviation was developing his Dragon Body to the seventh step, some of the scales on his wings were peeling off.

[The interrupted exuviation will resume!]

[Currently, due to unknown influences, the progress of exuviation is very slow. 47.2, 47.3… 47.6%...]

[The current status is ‘Seventh Stage’.]

[The 7th-step Dragon Body awakening is in progress along with your exuviation. To complete the awakening safely, you must complete your exuviation.]

[Currently, the attribute of the abuser Cha Yeon-woo is Night.]

『Hahaha! You’re thinking of continuing your exuviation to overpower the Demonisms gathered in this place and take the position as the main character of the Black King, right? You can supplement your slow exuviation progression by defeating the gathered competition…?』 The Crawling Chaos burst out into hysterical laughter and shouted once it noticed Yeon-woo’s intentions.

Even if Yeon-woo’s other data was corrupted or lost, there was one power he retained along with his Cold-Blooded trait, <Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword>. With that one power, even if all his other data was lost or damaged, Yeon-woo possessed a foothold for a reversal. If Yeon-woo fought a war against the countless egos and vestiges that represented the Black King, and devoured the ones he defeated one by one… Yeon-woo would be able to hasten his slow exuviation process by devouring the darkness’ Demonisms, one after another, like nutrients. At a certain point, Yeon-woo would have the upper hand versus the rest of the Demonisms!

Boom! Yeon-woo did not answer the Crawling Chaos. Yeon-woo flung himself to the nearest world. Once he did so, the letters that had been floating between the worlds gathered together.

The being who dreamt the 15th googolth ‘dream’ had been preparing for a while. But you’ve chosen me first, huh? Cheeky bastard. Well, perhaps this’ll be more entertaining. The gathered letters took the form of a human being. The Demonism form threw out its fist towards Yeon-woo.

Bang! Rumble! A violent clashing sound resounded from the place where Scythe and the form’s fist collided. Additionally, the explosion did not create sparks but dense darkness. The world in which the Demonism was located shook violently and became distorted.

At that moment… Ding!

[A new chain quest has been created following the scenario quest ‘Black King’s Ambition II’!]

[Scenario Quest: Black King’s Ambition III]

[Description: The Black King is preparing to wake up by defeating the Heavenly Demon and the Day, who had betrayed him in the past. The Black King is planning to place Night in the Day’s place. However, to wake up from his long ‘dream’, the Black King needs to escape the current dream that has been repeated an unknown number of times. However, the Black King has been asleep for so long that it will take him a lot of time and preparation to wake up. Thus, first, the Black King needs to awaken his ego. You must compete with the many vestiges that reside within the Black King and win.

If you accomplish this, you will be able to be reborn as the main character of the Black King.]

[Conditions for success:

1. Completely envelope the Heavenly Demon’s Tower with darkness and make it into a holy territory.

2. Each piece (world) of ‘dream’ scattered in the darkness is assigned a Demonism. Compete and win against these Demonisms and acquire ‘dream’ pieces.

3. The larger the piece of ‘dream’, the closer you are to becoming the owner and leader of Night.]

[Qualifications: Black King’s shadow]

Time limit: -]

[In case of success: The main character of the Black King.]

[In case of failure: A fragment of a past ‘dream’.]

The system that had penetrated the darkness with Yeon-woo quickly grasped Yeon-woo’s intentions and created a new scenario quest. Battle Royale, a war waged until only one remained. Moreover…

Sounds fun.

Me too.

I want to join too.

Shouldn’t we be tested to see if we can make ‘we’ into ‘me’?

Are you just another nutrient… we’ll see…

Letters had gathered and formed into humanoid forms. The Demonisms that these forms represented started rushing towards Yeon-woo all at once.