A long time ago, a [Nightmare] came to the Lords of the <Great Lands>.
-I will be leaving on an expedition. Please help me climb the Tree of Imagery.
However, he was largely ignored. The fact that he was only an [Apprentice] was the reason, but that wasn’t the only one. The Lords were too busy fighting in a never-ending war. Yet the [Nightmare] did not give up.
-We should not fight among ourselves. This world is wrong. Don’t forget when you first came into the <Great Lands>! Think of when you were weak! This is our last chance! We have to destroy the [First Nightmare]!
It was laughable. A [Nightmare] who hadn’t even lived 5000 years spoke of a ‘last chance’? A [Nightmare] who hadn’t experienced the <Interface System> more than 5000 years?
The Lords weren’t fools. However, they were too busy preparing for tomorrow’s war. Tree of Imagery? [First Nightmare]? A God who made this world? They were all but rumors. The Lords were too old and too cautious to jump on it.
But the [Nightmare] did not give up.
He even visited the 9th region, the Lord of Darkness Gerome. Instead, Gerome sent Sameng Garam to greet him. However, it was a mistake on his part. Sameng Garam was a follower of the System, but he was pure. He listened carefully to the [Nightmare]’s warning and said,
-The <Great Lands> is a place for the strong. You who dreams, show me your worth.
They fought for three full days. Sameng Garam lost, and lost again. On the 3rd day, the [Nightmare] spoke.
-It is a shame that you are an ‘Adapter’.
Sameng Garam accepted the [Nightmare]’s strength. He didn’t even use magic to fight. He thought this [Nightmare] had the right to mention the <Tree of Imagery>. He then returned to the Lord of Darkness to report what he had learned. The [Nightmare] had a point. [Cultivation] was at its limit and the <Great Lands> was falling apart.
However, after hearing the report from Sameng Garam, the Lord of Darkness concluded.
-Sameng Garam will be punished with 100 years of slumber.
He was sent to decline the offer, yet came back persuaded. And when Sameng Garam returned from his sleep, he heard a rumor.
[Nightmare] Mulack.
The one who was shunned by those in the <Great Lands> and went into <Chaos> to form a [Depth Expedition Team]. The one who traveled to the <Depths> to change the world and failed.
After the [Fruits] were taken by the Lords, he never heard anything about the [Nightmare] again. Even so, he thought about the [Nightmare] from time to time. What would have happened if he had followed the [Nightmare]? Or what if any of the Lords had helped him?
Would the world have changed?
Sameng Garam even secretly traveled to the <Depths> in search for the missing [Nightmare]. But he returned with nothing. The <Depths> was vast and there were beings more powerful than him. That place was, in fact, one where even the Lords had to give up on.
He decided to forget about the [Nightmare]. In turn, he followed the System more closely. If changing the world outside of the System wasn’t possible, what if he tried from within? That’s why he tried.
And without realizing, he had already become a Guardian of the System.
And now, after 900 years, a man with the same dream as that [Nightmare] stood in front of him. As he stared at the man, Sameng Garam forgot all his orders.
He was told to capture this man alive and kill all the others.
But he couldn’t think of that anymore.
“Jaehwan.”
Sameng Garam, however, couldn’t accept the man. He was now the Guardian of the system. He was the System itself, so he couldn’t let Jaehwan destroy the system.
“You will never save anyone with that world!”
And their true fight began to unfold.
A sword against a fist. It was a fight for each to save their own world. Two powers clashed against each other, enough to destroy the whole place. They were on par with each other.
Sameng Garam shouted, “GOOD!”
He felt like he had been sent 1000 years back into the past, back to the time when he fought against the [Nightmare].
Jaehwan also dove deep into the fight. Both of them forgot the world. All they were focusing on was the opponent in front.
Then, Sameng Garam’s fists burst into his dark flame, readying his final blow. As his two fists struck against the world, the World of the System vomited something from within.
Dark Guardian.
A being was summoned. It had the shape of an Angel but wielded a dark spear. The Dark Angel then slashed at Jaehwan. It was an attack that was the embodiment of Sameng Garam’s thousands of years.
Jaehwan readied his swords. The power from his swords emerged from both his hands. Then, dark energy burst from it, like a flame tearing into the sky.
An attack that destroyed everything that existed.
The sky turned dark, and something fell from it.
It was a dark sky. The World was filled with maggots and no other living beings. At the top of the [Tree of Imagery] was an eye, and Jaehwan called it the ‘Eye of Asura’. It was the one that controlled and ruled over this world. Sameng Garam watched from where he had landed after falling and spoke.
“So, that is where you are heading.”
“It’s my enemy.”
“I see.”
Sameng Garam’s shoulders began to shake. It was at the top of the [Tree of Imagery], and at the end of the <Depths>, the place where the [First Nightmare] was known to be located.
“It’s terrible… This is the truth?”
Sameng Garam seemed to be in disbelief that the world he believed was in this state in reality.
“Your world will not be popular in the <Depths>. This is too brutal of a truth to know in replacement for losing hope.”
“…”
“No one will want to see this and live. Corpses and the Eye.”
As if he knew what the <Depths> was like, Sameng Garam continued, “But… even so, if there are people who trust your world… they might find ‘real’ salvation from within.”
Jaehwan laughed. “You sound like a poet. Are all Commanders like you?”
“…Finish it.”
Jaehwan raised his sword. And as he was about to swing, Sameng Garam spoke again.
“Cut my connection.”
Jaehwan stopped. Sameng Garam knew that Jaehwan had no intention of severing his connection. Jaehwan was trying to let him live without him realizing. It wasn’t like him.
“You made a new world. You should be ready for anything.”
Sameng Garam smiled. Jaehwan asked, “Any last words?”
“If you arrive at the <Depths>, find Myad. Tell him I sent you and he will help you.”
“Who is he?”
“Myad Van Decklan. You will find him easily.”
Jaehwan nodded. Then, he quickly cut the connection and in the next moment, penetrated Sameng Garam’s heart.
He turned back. Chunghuh, Cayman, and Sirwen ran up to him. The world returned to normal, and through the ruins of the Palace, they could see the sky of <Chaos>.
They had won. After the failure of the previous Depth Expedition Team, 917 years and 244 days ago-
<Chaos> was now free from the Palace of Reincarnation.