Chapter 7
"I can't die yet..."
"I can't die yet..."
Carl kept repeating those words again and again, as though they were the only thing capable of giving him the strength to continue moving forward.
The more he crawled, the more pain he felt.
He was experiencing so much pain that his brain could no longer register all of it.
Yes...
He was becoming numb.
His consciousness was fading.
His body was gradually losing its ability to feel anything.
But Carl continued crawling nonetheless.
He refused to stop.
He refused to give up.
And when he finally felt that he couldn't move forward anymore, just as the mysterious voice had told him, he stretched out his hand and grabbed onto the last thing his fingers could feel.
It was a rectangular-shaped object glowing with a strange black luster.
Carl's vision was already fading.
His consciousness was already on the verge of completely disappearing.
The only thing he could register before darkness swallowed his mind was the golden light shining from the words written on the object.
...
THE FOOL.
A blinding golden light suddenly erupted.
The entire dark chasm was illuminated in an instant.
Then, a mysterious voice echoed through the darkness.
[Welcome, Chosen One.]
[Detected that the Chosen One is in a near-death state suitable for binding with the Battle Card.]
[System Awakening Initializing...]
[10%...]
[20%...]
[30%...]
[40%...]
[50%...]
[60%...]
[70%...]
[80%...]
[90%...]
[100%...]
[System Awakening Complete.]
[Congratulations on Awakening the SOVEREIGN SYSTEM.]
[Commencing Body Refinement by absorbing the Golden Dragon Bone and fusing it with the Host's body.]
Carl was completely unaware of what was happening.
He had already descended into the darkness that looked like an endless Abyss.
His consciousness had already vanished.
But despite that...
Everything was still happening.
The enormous Golden Dragon Bone lying beside Carl suddenly trembled.
Then, under the influence of an unknown force, it began transforming.
The solid golden bone gradually melted.
It turned into a vast amount of golden liquid.
The golden liquid flowed like a river, rushing toward Carl's broken body before completely submerging him.
Then...
Something miraculous happened.
Little by little, the golden liquid began repairing Carl's body.
His shattered bones were reconstructed.
His flesh was restored.
His organs were rebuilt.
His meridians began expanding, becoming larger and far more resilient than before.
His acupoints were forcefully opened one after another.
His marrow was cleansed.
His blood was completely transformed.
Even his blood began developing a faint golden tint.
Every part of his body was being reconstructed.
He was being reborn.
His entire existence was undergoing a complete transformation.
His body was being sculpted toward perfection, both internally and externally.
This was not merely healing.
This was rebirth.
This was the beginning of Carl's new life.
The place where he would take his very first step toward embarking on his own path...
---
After Carl lost consciousness, he felt a strange sense of liberation.
It was like a man who had been thirsty for countless years finally taking his first sip of water.
In the absolute darkness he had descended into, there was no concept of pain.
There was no concept of time.
There was no hint of danger.
There was nothing.
Carl's soul wandered through the darkness like a tiny Void Mayfly drifting aimlessly through an endless void.
He didn't know how long he had been drifting.
He didn't even know whether he was moving at all.
Then...
He saw something.
A golden ray of light suddenly appeared in the distance.
It traveled through the darkness like lightning, carrying an overwhelming presence that seemed capable of tearing the entire darkness apart.
The golden light rapidly approached him.
Faster...
And faster...
As it got closer, Carl finally realized something.
It wasn't a ray of light.
It was a golden miniature dragon.
The tiny dragon was traveling at an unimaginable speed, shooting directly toward him.
Before Carl could react...
Boom!
The golden dragon crashed directly into his soul.
Yet, instead of feeling any pain or suffering any kind of damage, Carl felt an indescribably soothing sensation sweep through his entire being.
A groan of delight escaped from his soul.
It felt wonderful.
It felt as though he was ascending a staircase that led directly toward immortality.
The once pitch-black space around him also began glowing.
The darkness seemed to be overwhelmed by something.
Then suddenly...
Boom!
A terrifying shockwave of excess power erupted from Carl's soul.
His body became the center of the explosion.
The shockwave spread outward in every direction, instantly dispersing the surrounding darkness.
Everything disappeared.
What remained was an indescribable feeling of freshness.
A feeling of emptiness.
A feeling of being completely free from desire.
Free from emotion.
Free from everything.
For that brief moment...
Carl felt as though he had touched the true essence of existence itself.
The feeling of...
Nothingness.
---
An hour passed inside the silent chasm.
The only sound was the occasional breeze that swept through the enormous bone-filled space.
Then...
[Body Refinement Complete.]
[Congratulations, Host, on obtaining the Dragon Origin Source Constitution.]
[Host's body has been refined and completely remade by the Golden Dragon Bone.]
[Host now possesses a Perfect Body.]
[Congratulations, Host, on surviving a near-death experience.]
[Host has been rewarded with an SSS-Rank Talent.]
Carl slowly opened his eyes.
His vision was blurry at first.
Everything around him appeared hazy.
But after a few seconds, his vision gradually adjusted.
The familiar world of bones entered his eyes.
Carl stared blankly at his surroundings.
"Is this chasm... a place connected to hell?"
He slowly looked around.
"Am I in Hell?"
Carl reached out and touched his body.
His expression suddenly changed.
He wasn't feeling any pain.
Not even the slightest bit.
He moved his arms.
Then his legs.
Everything worked perfectly.
His body was in perfect condition.
Carl's eyes widened.
"I thought they said Hell was a place with extremely high temperatures and rivers of lava and magma."
He looked around at the countless bones surrounding him.
"Why is this Hell full of bones?"
After pondering for a moment, Carl shrugged.
Whatever the case...
He was alive.
That was what mattered.
Carl stood up and began walking.
After looking around, he noticed a faint light leaking from somewhere in the distance.
His eyes immediately lit up.
"A light source?"
He quickly walked toward it.
He continued walking for nearly an hour before finally reaching the wall where the light was leaking through.
Carl stared through the opening.
And his eyes widened.
On the other side of the hole was a completely different world.
Lush vegetation.
Bright light.
A beautiful environment.
It looked like paradise.
Carl's mouth slowly opened.
"Is this the escape point to Heaven?"
His eyes immediately shone.
"I hit the jackpot!"
Without wasting another second, Carl looked around and picked up the strongest-looking bone he could find.
He walked toward the wall.
Then...
He raised the bone.
Bang!
He smashed it against the wall.
Bang!
Again.
Bang!
Again.
He began hammering the wall with wild abandon.
The sound of bone striking stone echoed throughout the silent chasm.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Carl didn't even realize something was wrong.
The strength behind every single strike was far beyond what he should have been capable of.
But Carl was too excited to notice.
His mind was completely occupied by one thought.
He was going to Heaven.
He was going to escape this hellish place.
He was going to appear in Heaven like a thief in the night.
The excitement and adrenaline completely overwhelmed him.
Ten minutes later...
Boom!
The wall finally collapsed under his relentless hammering.
Carl stared at the opening.
His eyes shone with excitement.
Then, without hesitation, he stepped into the lush vegetation on the other side.
He laughed loudly.
"Even the King of Hell will be shocked when he finds out!"
A wide grin spread across his face.
But suddenly...
A golden light flashed.
A golden panel appeared beside the right side of his vision.
Then a sarcastic voice sounded.
[This Exalted System is shocked by the Host's shamelessness and stupidity.]
[I'm absolutely speechless.]
Carl froze.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Then...
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
He screamed like a pig being slaughtered.
He completely lost his composure.
"Is that the King of Hell speaking to me?"
Carl looked around in panic.
"But it said Host..."
He swallowed.
Then, with a probing tone, he asked,
"Who are you?"
The voice immediately responded.
[F**k, are you retarded? Don't you see the golden panel at the side of your vision? Are you partially blind?]
Carl's face twitched.
The voice continued.
[I am the Ultimate Sovereign System.]
[A being above all immortals.]
[By a stroke of luck, you happened to awaken me.]
[And I decided to bind with you and save your life.]
Carl remained stunned.
Then the Sovereign System displayed the scenes of his awakening.
Although the images were somewhat blurry because of the occasional blinding waves of golden light, they were still clear enough to serve as evidence.
Carl stared at the scenes in silence.
"So... I'm not dead?"
The voice immediately answered.
[Literally, YES.]
Carl's expression became complicated.
He touched his chest.
He was alive.
He was truly alive.
The Sovereign System continued.
[Now that I've explained everything to you, I will tell you about the Sovereign System.]
[This System was created to preserve the legacy of a certain civilization.]
[You were able to awaken me because of the card you picked up before losing consciousness.]
[THE FOOL.]
Carl's eyes widened.
"Ohhhh!"
He suddenly remembered.
"That obsidian thing glowing with a black luster..."
He rubbed his chin.
"What was that?"