Chapter 85 - 85- Greatness (Part 2)

"The first one?" Talon raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, the first one. As I told you before, entering the Core Dimension at the time was akin to suicide. Nobody knew how to safely access that dimension so it was natural that no one wanted to actually go first. They saw too many fools die to risk their lives for it."

With the lack of knowledge at the time, Talon could easily see why no one wanted to go after the first few failed attempts. It was basically a suicide mission with no guarantee of survival at all. What made it even worse was how purely based on luck it was. Even those who get strong enough to access the gate, there was still a chance they would get turned into Dimension Walkers.

"In fact, they were so scared of the gate that it quickly became a way for some worlds to punish criminals. If you break the rules, you're thrown in that gate to die. It fed into the legend that was created around the gate and its notorious ways of brutally killing anyone that dared to enter it."

'Damn, it must've been a rough time.' Talon frowned as he realized how brutal and savage that punishment was. They didn't even bother to kill the criminal normally and instead threw them in there, making the gate seem like a terrifying nightmare.

"That was the case for a while. Until a certain man appeared out of nowhere, his origin was unknown and so was his real name. But, he liked to be called 'Zero' for unknown reasons."

"Zero... The dude definitely had an edgy phase in his life." Talon shook his head with a sigh.

"From the records, Zero was born in a Low-D world. He was a very ambitious man with a great talent that allowed him to rise quickly to great power. No one in his world could beat him or dare to offend him which led him to live his life in solitude for years. When he emerged again after a long period of time, he declared that he was ready to leave his world through the gate."

"Just like that? Didn't he fear the consequences?" Talon was completely taken aback by this man's decision. Even Talon wasn't that reckless when it came to throwing his life in danger... Or was he?

'Shit, why do I feel like I would've done the same thing?' He frowned to himself.

"Yeah, he was a very battle-hungry man with an endless desire for power. Even after turning his world into his playground, he still sought after great battles and thrilling adventures. Naturally, his eyes would be directed to the gate when he knew the sheer mysteries he could unravel if he successfully entered the Core Dimension."

"He seems like an interesting individual."

"He definitely is. Anyway, many people obviously thought he was a fool for trying to do such an absurd thing. But, he didn't listen to their warnings and ridicule and did enter the gate on his own. What happened after that was a historic moment. For the first time ever, a creature was able to successfully pass the gate and enter the Core Dimension."

"Damn, that's really cool. He didn't even care that everyone mocked his ambition." Talon murmured in an impressed tone.

"You still don't know how great of a historic figure that man is. He not only didn't care, but after that, he went on to conquer the Core Dimension on his own, gaining power faster than anyone else. He didn't try to build an empire like many others did. Instead, he lived his life free, doing whatever he wanted and going wherever he wanted while documenting his adventures in his books.

It was said that on his own, Zero was able to discover 5% of the Core Dimension."

"Wow... Wait, 5%? That sounds... underwhelming." Talon rubbed the back of his head.

"No, it's far from underwhelming. Just to put it into perspective, in the entire history of the Core Dimension and after thousands of years, do you know how much of that dimension was discovered? Only 20%. 5% of those 20% were done by a single man."

"..."

Later that day, Hyun-Jae knocked on the door to Talon's room carrying two huge bags in her hands. Walking inside, she found Talon busy wiping his spear with a cloth.

"Sorry for being late, I had to deal with some problems." She said as she threw the bags down and exhaled a long breath as she rubbed her neck. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better than earlier today. I can move around with ease too." He replied.

Sitting down, the girl nodded her head with a sigh. "I'm glad to hear that."

"On the other hand, you don't look fine at all," Talon said with a serious tone as he inspected Hyun-Jae's face closely. It didn't take him long to notice the dark spots under her eyes and her pale face.

Hyun-Jae was clearly overworked to the bone and didn't sleep at all the past few days due to stress.

"I'm fine." She shook her head.

"No, you're exhausted. You should sleep early tonight. I'm going to take care of the rest." Talon said in a firm tone.

"You really don't have to..."

"I want to. I've already rested more than enough. Time to get back to work. Let's put an end to this mess and get out of here, ok? We don't know what could happen in the next few days so I want you to be ready."

Hyun-Jae stared directly at Talon as she felt the seriousness in his voice. She could also see the worry in his eyes. In the end, she gave up and nodded her head. For some reason, seeing him this worried about her made her a little happy.

"Ok, I will rest tonight."

"Good. By the way, what's up with those two bags?"

"Hm? Ah, right. These are the monster cores I collected a few days ago. I already gave everyone their part based on their contribution. The rest is yours." She said.

"All of that?" Talon looked at the two bags again.

They were easily over 1 meter tall each and at least twice the size of a normal human. Yet, they were filled to the brim with cores.

"How many did I kill?"

"Hmm, it's a rough number, but I think 200 monsters more or less."

(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )