Chapter 168: Towards the Unknown

The Unknown that created the Tower.

Nepas named him the Architect.

This Architect placed Administrators on each floor to reflect his will.

Naturally, an Administrator existed on this First Floor as well.

A black silhouette with the number 1 carved into its forehead.

He was the absolute being on the First Floor.

That was inevitable because, within the limited space of the First Floor, he could execute absolute commands.

If he ordered death, one died.

If he ordered life, one lived.

Life and death—this authority, granted only to gods, could be used infinitely within the space of the First Floor.

Thus, he was called the Administrator, and within the First Floor, he could only be an absolute being.

But then.

“Why…?”

The command did not work.

No, to be precise.

“…Life…?”

He, the Administrator, could see it.

Countless lives surrounding Nepas.

The absolute command of death had taken effect.

But because Nepas possessed hundreds, thousands of lives, he died yet did not die.

“What a horrifying hybrid!”

The Administrator.

He was undoubtedly one who had reached the realm of the Unknown.

But in his near-eternal existence, he had never seen such a monster, such a terrible hybrid.

Forbidden arts and curses coiled around him.

The resentment and screams were corrupting the domain of the First Floor.

“Protection.”

Thus, he had no choice but to use an absolute command to protect his own domain.

That was how immense the influence of the dreadful Poison Energy emanating from Nepas was.

“I see. So that’s how you managed to invade the First Floor, where death is inevitable…”

“Hoo~!”

At the First Floor Administrator’s words, Nepas laughed.

“Death is very familiar to me.”

The reason he could invade the First Floor.

Nepas had consumed several hundred lives as the price for invading the First Floor.

An unavoidable sacrifice to break through countless security protocols and surveillance.

And after breaking through all those sacrifices, he crawled up from the bottom and finally reached the First Floor.

And.

“Now, you will no longer look down on me.”

Until now, Nepas had been at the bottom.

And they, including the Administrators and the Architect, looked down haughtily from the high place called the Tower.

They observed Nepas and everything around him as if watching insects.

Nepas found that deeply unpleasant.

That was why he devoted himself to reaching that place, the Unknown.

And one of the processes for that was dividing his life.

A common misconception.

People say he divided his life for immortality, to live forever.

No.

That was for this very moment.

An invasion of the Unknown, where death was inevitable.

To survive that, he had to create an enormous amount of life that would not yield even to death.

He accomplished that impossible realm and finally reached this place.

And that meant.

“Foolish lowly creature. Why do you gaze at a tree you cannot see? No matter how hard you try, you are merely an insignificant being.”

The Administrator called Nepas a lowly creature.

How could it not?

These Unknowns were supreme beings that even the gods, whom lowly creatures believed to be omnipotent, dared not even look upon.

And yet, a Demon Clan.

Even more, merely a Slime, the most humble of origins.

Although he had shed that skin to some extent through effort and effort, one cannot escape one’s roots.

In the Administrator’s eyes, Nepas was nothing more than a struggling Slime.

And for that.

“Come forth, Judge of the Floor.”

Finally, he brought out the weapon for judgment.

Ddddddeuk!

The earth shook.

Kukukukung!

The atmosphere screamed.

Hwieooooo!

Along with that, a black air current gathered to form a single shape.

That was.

“Eek!”

A Goblin.

But a Goblin depicted as a black silhouette like the Administrator, different from the usual Goblins.

However, its aura was not that of a lowly Monster like a Goblin.

Pat!

The moment he felt it move, it had already closed the distance.

That could no longer be called speed.

A movement that could create even fate.

It had to be that way.

The black silhouette Goblin was a being called the Judge of the First Floor.

A guard placed by the Architect for the Administrator, in case an invader appeared against whom the absolute command did not work.

Its Martial Power had reached a realm that broke the laws of existence in the world.

Naturally.

Peo-eok!

The club swung by this Goblin had to create death.

But.

Geugeugeugeuk!

The club did not annihilate Nepas.

“Kieek?!”

The Judge of the First Floor, who had not created fate, let out a question.

And before him.

“I told you. It was hard crawling from the bottom to here.”

“How much preparation I made.”

“You cannot even imagine how much effort I put in.”

A hand caught the club.

Surprisingly, Nepas had precisely grasped and blocked the attack of the First Floor Judge.

Just dodging it would have been surprising enough.

But not only the speed.

Geugeu!

The body of the First Floor Judge leaned backward, showing that he was being pushed back in sheer strength.

“How…?”

He hadn’t been this surprised even when the absolute command failed.

That was because he thought that if there were spare lives, he could fully overcome the absolute command.

But blocking the Judge’s attack was different.

The Judge was tasked with guarding the Administrator, but the Architect’s authority was imbued within him.

Their Martial Power, designed purely through Martial Power alone, was to a degree that even the Administrator could not predict.

Yet he blocked that attack.

He even showed superiority in strength.

How could such a thing be possible?

“I told you. I contrived to reach you. And this is my answer.”

At that moment.

Kwaaaaaaah!

An aura burst out like an explosion, dominating the entire First Floor.

Rog!

“Kick!”

It was something immense enough to affect even the First Floor Administrator and the Judge.

Nepas knew.

That no matter how hard he tried, he could not reach the Unknown.

Because they had a limit, a kind of cap.

No matter how hard one tried, one could not surpass a certain threshold set by someone.

But without surpassing that limit, one could not approach the Unknown.

In short, they were designed not to approach the Unknown.

Realizing this through nearly eternal time, Nepas was once frustrated.

Because breaking that limit was something even he at the time dared not challenge.

So he wandered and despaired for a long time.

But at some point, he realized.

What if there were many who grew to their limits?

What if he could absorb those many with the power of a Slime?

No, what if he split himself, made them grow to their limits, and then merged them into one?

An epiphany that came in an instant.

After that, Nepas divided his life to carry out his plan.

Across dimensions, across time.

He spread his will across thousands, tens of thousands of places.

As time passed like that, his parts, his remnants, could grow to their respective limits.

And according to the long plan and long-cherished wish, he absorbed them all.

Absorption of lives that had completed growth to their limits.

Through that expedient, Nepas broke through the limit set by someone and was reborn as a being beyond.

Now, he was a single being with no spare lives in any dimension or any time.

A terrible hybrid and the ultimate life form, formed by the union of countless parts of Nepas.

That was the current Nepas.

“You… you are very appetizing.”

Nepas, who had overpowered the First Floor Judge with sheer strength.

Chu’reup.

He licked his lips with his tongue.

He had already absorbed countless remnants, but he was still hungry.

That was not greed for food.

It was the desire to grow, the crystallization of that greed and gluttony.

And.

Chuwahhhhahk!

His body, becoming soft like melted jelly, covered the First Floor Judge.

“Kiiiiiek!”

He tried to resist somehow, but Nepas’s power was stronger than expected.

Along with a final scream.

Gulkeok!

With the sound of swallowing something, he returned to his usual Nepas.

No.

“You, you…!”

He was different from the Nepas just moments ago.

That was inevitable, since he had absorbed the First Floor Judge.

But how?

No matter how much of a mutant Slime he was, he couldn’t fully absorb the opponent’s ability.

Even Nepas, a mutant Slime, could only absorb 1% of an ability.

But what was inside him now were countless Nepases.

Because he had fully absorbed that power, that Trait, the absorption ability of the Slime approached 100%.

That also meant he had fully absorbed the ability of the First Floor Judge.

The Judge was a being blessed by the Architect, already possessing abilities beyond the limit.

By absorbing that special being, Nepas had broken another limit.

To prove it.

Kukukukukung!

The entire area was completely dominated by the aura he emitted.

…r

….J

The First Floor Administrator was startled by that dizzying aura.

This was.

“…He has reached our realm!”

He had no choice but to acknowledge it.

Nepas had already reached what they called the realm of the Unknown.

No, to be precise.

‘A presence seen only in Administrators above the 10th floor.’

Naturally, as floors go higher, the abilities and power of Administrators grow stronger.

As the First Floor Administrator, he was practically the lowest seat.

And the aura Nepas was now emitting contained an intensity that only Administrators above the 10th floor could emit.

The moment he sensed that, the match was already over.

The First Floor Administrator gave up any further resistance.

Because of that.

Kukukukung!

The entire domain of the First Floor shook.

This space was alive.

That was why it revealed its emotions the moment its master changed.

“I wish to ask one thing.”

The First Floor Administrator, sensing the end, spoke.

“Allow it.”

The victory and the hierarchy of power had already been decided.

Nepas showed the magnanimity of a victor, allowing him to have his last words and resolve his question.

“I also know that your aura is unusual. Then I ask: after eliminating this Tower and the Administrators, where do you intend to reach?”

The Administrator was curious.

What was the ultimate goal of this lowly creature, who started from the bottom and sought to ascend to the heavens?

In a way, it was also a form of envy.

A longing and jealousy from one who was created by the Architect, only to guard the mere First Floor, like a dog.

“Of course, the pinnacle of the Tower. Furthermore, to make the Architect kneel and stand at the pinnacle of this world.”

Nepas was a Slime.

The lowest of Monsters, the very bottom that was treated like insects even by the same Demon Clan and Monsters, not to mention humans.

And now, that being from the bottom seeks to surpass the Unknown and reach its peak.

And for that.

“It will not be easy. Unlike me, the Administrators of the floors all have the Architect’s special blessing…”

But he no longer intended to allow that speech.

“Now, become one with me.”

Chuwahhhhahk!

Cutting off the First Floor Administrator’s words, Nepas spread his body wide.

With that sight, spread out like a net, as his last.

Seureuk, seureureuk—

The First Floor Administrator.

This being in the realm of the Unknown was absorbed by Nepas.