Chapter 40 - Epilogue! [For now]
Sam walked for 30 minutes before finally reaching the safe zone. What he saw made his face pale—the once-sturdy tavern inside the safe zone had collapsed into rubble. Worse still, there were no people in sight. Anxiety gripped him until he noticed a group gathered on the far side of the barrier. Without hesitation, he made his way toward them.
Soon, Michael came to greet him. "Sam, are the monsters dead?"
Sam nodded. "Yes, it's gone."
Michael's brows furrowed in concern. "How did that happen? Do you know why?"
Sam sighed, his frustration evident. "It was the chaos beings. They performed some kind of ritual. I tried to stop it, but..." He trailed off.
Michael studied his face and seemed to understand the unspoken truth. "Because of us?"
Sam hesitated for a moment, then admitted, "Yes. If I had gone all out at that position, everyone would've been caught in the damage. But it won't happen again. I'll improve myself."
Michael nodded, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Understood. Let's focus on treating the others first. Most of them are injured, and you look exhausted too. It's been a while since I've seen you like this." With that, Michael turned and returned to tending to the wounded.
Sam walked into the group, his steps deliberate. People from his tutorial town gave him glances—some filled with respect, but mostly with fear. They knew what he had done during the battle. To them, he was no longer just a man; he was a walking nuclear bomb. As he approached, people instinctively moved aside, giving him a wide berth.
When Sam reached his friends, he immediately noticed their injuries. He nodded in acknowledgment, and they returned the gesture, their faces weary. Finally, he approached his sister, Eve. She sat silently, her mood clearly sour.
"Eve, how are you doing?" Sam asked gently.
Eve looked up at him, her voice heavy with frustration. "Sorry... I was useless."
Sam smirked, trying to lighten her mood. "I'll forgive you if you give me a massage."
Her expression softened, and a small smile tugged at her lips. "Don't push your luck!" she shot back, gripping his shoulder and squeezing hard. Though her grip was strong, Sam simply relaxed under her touch.
As they talked, he asked her quietly, "How many did we lose?"
Eve's smile faded, her sadness returning. "Five. They were swarmed by chaos beings. We couldn't save them."
Sam's heart sank. Five lives lost—more than he'd hoped, but given the brutal reality of this war, it was a number he had to accept. It was cruel, but survival often came at a heavy cost.
Eve continued, "I also got a reward—50,000 soul points and a rare skill upgrade card. Everyone seems to have received something similar, and Michael looks like he's close to evolving to Tier 3. He earned a lot of experience healing people."
Sam's expression brightened at the news. "That's great. I hope we all keep progressing. This time really hit me... I alone can't protect everyone."
Eve frowned, crossing her arms. "Who's asking you to? We can protect ourselves!"
Sam let out a small chuckle. "That would be the best outcome." He hesitated before asking, "Do you know how many people from our town we lost?"
Eve sighed, her face clouding with sadness. "We haven't counted yet, but it's obviously more than a thousand people." She paused, her voice heavy. "It doesn't feel right, but... this is the new normal. We just have to accept it."
Sam nodded solemnly. "That's enough for now. I'm fine."
Eve stopped massaging his shoulder and stood up, giving him a bit of space. "You should rest too. I heard the explosions for hours. Even someone like you has limits."
Sam nodded again. As Eve stepped back, he used his skill to create a soft platform of compacted earth and lay down on it. Closing his eyes, he focused inward, organizing his thoughts and concentrating on recovery.
With both of his sub-dimensions destroyed to reconstruct his body, only his main Grandmist dimension remained, and it was critically low. Sam entered a calm and relaxed state, letting the natural regeneration of Grandmist accelerate.
For now, rest was the best preparation for whatever would come next.
Sam woke up from a deep, dreamless sleep, feeling more refreshed than he had in a long time. He didn't even remember when he had drifted off. The lack of a day-night cycle in the Endless Abyss left him disoriented; he had no idea how long he'd been out. However, observing the people around him, who seemed in better spirits and recovering well, he figured it must have been a decent amount of time.
Stretching, Sam decided to check the leaderboard to gauge the progress of others and get a sense of how much time had passed. With a mental command, the translucent system interface appeared before him.
[The Endless Abyss Leaderboard]
Samuel Barlow - 1,523,944 pts.
Kim Jin-Ho - 144,584 pts.
Asteroid Destroyer - 24,943 pts.
Michael Barlow - 24,790 pts.
Anne Lee - 15,504 pts.
The massive gap between his score and the second place made Sam pause. "Guess I've been busy," he muttered to himself. More importantly, the timestamp displayed on the corner of the leaderboard revealed that it had been nearly 16 hours since the battle concluded.
"That long?" Sam thought. He had underestimated how drained he'd been, both physically and mentally. With a slight smirk, he scanned the list, noting the significant progress his teammates had made. Michael and Anne were climbing steadily, while Kim Jin-Ho and the mysterious Asteroid Destroyer maintained their spots below him.
Closing the interface, Sam took a deep breath. "Looks like it's time to get back to work."
Sam stood and stretched before heading over to greet John, who was busy cleaning his gear. "Where's Michael?" Sam asked.
John looked up and replied, "He's out hunting with a small group. They should be back soon."
Nodding, Sam decided to wait. The remaining Chaos Beings on this floor were scattered and unlikely to pose a threat for now. While waiting, he retrieved an item he had been saving.
[1 Legendary Skill Upgrade Card]
With a flick of his wrist, Sam activated the item.
Ding!
[Upgrade Available]
[Mental Ruler
[Flash Step
[Apex Concentration
Sam stared at the list. Compared to Michael, Eve, and Ann, who each had a plethora of skills, his own repertoire was small but extremely powerful. The three upgradeable skills he had were all foundational, each pivotal to his style of combat.
After a moment of thought, he made his decision. "Mental Ruler," he murmured. It wasn't just a battle skill—it was a core ability that supported everything else he did. The potential to elevate it to a mythical grade was too good to pass up.
Light particles flowed out from the card, coalescing around Sam's forehead.
Ding!
[Skill Upgrade Successful]
[Mental Ruler
[Mind Lord
Control: Allows total command of mental constructs, extending to telepathic manipulation, telekinesis manipulation, and dominance over weaker minds.
Defense: Complete immunity to mental attacks from beings below the user's tier, with amplified resistance to assaults from equal or higher-tier beings.
Utility: Enables the creation of mental domains, enhancing the user's ability to strategize and disrupt enemies. The user can impose their will on the battlefield, weakening the resolve and concentration of foes while bolstering allies' clarity of mind.
Sam exhaled as the sensation of power surged through him. He clenched his fists, feeling the profound difference in his mental capacity. "This... is going to change everything," he muttered. The newfound clarity and control over his mind felt like unlocking an entirely new dimension of his abilities.
Sam felt a surge of excitement as he decided to test his new skill. He turned toward John and focused, sending a single word telepathically: "Hello."
John jumped back, startled. "Who's there?!" he shouted, spinning in all directions, trying to locate the mysterious voice.
Sam couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's confusion. John, a tier 2 participant with a detection-focused class, was completely baffled. Not wanting to prolong his friend's bewilderment, Sam raised his hand. "Relax, John. It's me. I was just testing something new."
John frowned, his confusion shifting to annoyance. "Damn it, Sam. At least warn me next time."
Sam smirked. "Where's the fun in that?"
A short while later, Michael returned with his hunting group. Seeing Sam, he approached with a nod. "You're finally awake. You seemed exhausted, so we didn't disturb you. We've decided to head down to the next floor soon."
"Perfect," Sam replied with enthusiasm. "I could use some action to warm up."
But Michael's serious expression didn't waver. Sensing something was off, Sam asked, "What's wrong?"
Michael's jaw tightened as he replied, "Sam, you're not coming with us."
The words hit like a hammer. Sam's expression darkened. "Why?"
Michael sighed, frustration evident. "You know why. If we keep relying on you like this, we'll never grow. And you... you can't go all out with us around. For everyone's sake—yours and ours—we need to separate."
Sam knew Michael was right, but the thought of leaving his brother, sister, and friends to face danger without him tore at him. After a long pause, he finally said, "Alright, I understand. Let's separate. But you'd better keep everyone alive and get stronger."
"That's the plan," Michael replied firmly.
They discussed their plans, ensuring everyone knew their next steps. Sam could only hope his brother and the group would thrive on their own.
Soon after, Michael and the group packed up. As they prepared to leave, they turned to Sam. "We'll meet again," Michael said with a confident nod.
Sam nodded back. "Good luck, all of you."
With that, they descended into the dark pit, which had somehow restored itself as though it had never been broken. Sam watched as they disappeared into its depths, feeling the weight of solitude settle over him.
But he wasn't planning to go down just yet. Looking upward at the endless sea of meteorites and stars, he remembered the animal participants he'd seen before. Curiosity tugged at him, and he decided to investigate.
Channeling his new mental skill, enhanced with Grandmist, Sam used telekinesis to lift himself into the air. Slowly, he rose higher and higher, approaching the barrier that surrounded the safe zone.
When he reached it, he extended a hand. Resistance pushed back against him, but it wasn't strong enough to stop him. His hand breached the barrier, and he immediately felt the cold vacuum of space and the faint scent of charred matter.
Luckily, Sam didn't need to breathe, and the environment didn't harm him.
He pushed his entire body through the barrier, emerging into the void. A strange sensation stirred within him, not from the environment but from deep inside himself.
This... this feels like a beginning.
Sam floated amidst the infinite expanse, gazing at the vast sea of meteorites around him. Somewhere out there were the animal participants, and perhaps countless other mysteries.
A new adventure awaited.