The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 237
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 237. Success Rate 0% (1)
Valley of Kardun.
An ancient valley where darkness and curses lay thickest, the land where the Death Lord was sealed.
“Why am I here…?”
But Valley of Kardun was not a place one could simply enter.
First, because it existed within a probabilistic domain.
Second, because one had to exist in a quantum entanglement state.
And finally, because entry was only possible through an observation-blocking state like a black hole.
The Man had mentioned something about complex systems of multiple pendulums.
‘I need to understand what that actually means.’
I’d forgotten to ask Iliana about it.
In any case.
This was a place one could not enter by chance.
“Is this not Valley of Kardun?”
I activated my Predator’s Instinct [S].
◆Valley of Kardun
: A rift in the world where death was conceived, a graveyard of probability where all measurements scatter into indeterminate possibilities. Here, observation and perception, life and death, what will happen and what has happened overlap and coexist.
…It was indeed Valley of Kardun.
But the landscape was distinctly different.
The black mist that once bloomed over dead rocks was gone.
The shadows that resembled broken glass remained intact.
And so the massive cliff face was unchanged.
Even when I closed and opened my eyes?
It didn’t disappear—it remained in that exact spot.
“Perhaps it’s because death is now interpreted as a cycle.”
And thus the rules of this place had shifted.
“…Is that right?”
I wasn’t certain.
In any case, this was Valley of Kardun.
So why I was here became the second question.
“How do I get out of here?”
Last time, it was a time paradox.
Valley of Kardun had expelled me due to an impossible causal chain.
But now?
No causal collision had occurred at all.
“There’s no exit.”
I tapped the ground experimentally.
There was no particular response.
It felt remarkably solid and real.
Perhaps that was why.
A massive sanctuary stood in the middle of a towering cliff.
Death’s Sanctuary.
A space where death could be interpreted most intimately.
“I should go there, shouldn’t I?”
Perhaps I could find a way out if I went there.
And perhaps.
The Unknown Philosopher might be there as well.
* * *
The central administrative district of Count Whitewolf’s Castle.
Beyond the window, the vista of Whitewolf Territory was a continuous tapestry of coexistence and harmony.
The Elves and Dwarves who had been too busy snarling and fighting.
But now they spent their days singing together.
Seraphia sat at her desk in the Administrative Office, quietly observing that peaceful landscape.
“Sigh….”
Sighs that kept escaping for some reason.
Everything was unfolding well, yet her heart felt anything but light.
“How many days has it been now….”
“What has?”
“Well, you see. Brother?!”
Seraphia spun around in surprise.
A female Elf was standing there—when had she entered?
Hair the color of green, like nature itself.
Large, gleaming teal eyes that were serene and held no malice.
A flawless figure.
Pointed ears.
This Elf, who had inherited the unfair genetic gifts of her kind in full measure, bore the name.
“Who… who are you…?”
An Elf she had never seen before.
“I’m Silmarien.”
“Silmarien…? Ah!”
An Elf she did know.
In human terms, a High Elf?
That caliber of Elf.
If one were to classify by human standards, that is.
Seraphia straightened her clothes and asked.
“What brings you here?”
“I came to meet the Forest Elder.”
“The Forest Elder?”
Who was that?
…Ah, she thought she had heard that name before.
“Are you perhaps referring to my older brother?”
“Your older brother?”
“Adrian Whitewolf.”
“Whoa! You can’t call him that!”
“…Pardon? Why not?”
“He’ll get scolded something fierce!”
Huh? Scolded?
“By whom?”
“By the Forest Keeper.”
“The Forest Keeper scolds him?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“If you call him Adrian?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Silmarien continued with a dejected expression.
“You’re not supposed to call the Forest Elder by his name carelessly.”
“Who says? The Forest Keeper?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Does the Forest Keeper find my older brother intimidating?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Just… he becomes careful with his words, can barely meet his eyes, and shrinks down considerably.”
“…?”
Isn’t that what being intimidated looks like?
“But he likes him. Really, really likes him.”
“…??”
“Whenever the Forest Elder is mentioned, the Forest Keeper’s ears perk right up.”
“Ah….”
“When the Forest Elder visits, he acts all busy for no reason, but then he keeps stealing glances while his ears turn red. Redder than a Noru-heart berry!”
“A Noru-heart berry?”
“Yes! At first it’s orange with a sunset hue, but when it ripens, it becomes truly crimson!”
Probably something like cherries or raspberries.
That seemed to be the sort of thing.
“So that’s why Silmarien went to meet the Forest Elder instead—oops!”
Silmarien hastily covered her mouth with both hands.
“That’s a secret! You absolutely cannot tell the Forest Elder! Do you understand?!”
“Why?”
“The Forest Keeper might cry!”
Silmarien fidgeted nervously, flailing her arms about.
‘So Rielin is quite easily embarrassed.’
Seraphia subtly added the following entry to Rielin’s behavioral journal.
※Psychological reaction formation observed (tendency to act contrary to true feelings in order to conceal them).
※Her ears reveal her honest emotional state
└She’s actually quite adorable!!
The joy of getting to know Rielin grew with each passing moment.
Then, a sudden curiosity struck me.
Seraphia set down her quill and asked Silmarien, who was still flailing her arms about frantically.
“So, you know what I’m wondering?”
“…uh, yeah.”
“What about me?”
“What do you mean?”
“If my brother is the Forest Elder, I’m curious what you call me.”
The Dwarves called her the Forest Sister.
So what would the Elves call her?
Silmarien answered without hesitation.
“Forest Child.”
“…Pardon?”
Forest Child?
Not Forest Lady or Forest Maiden.
“Forest Child?”
“Yes! You’re small and cute, and you listen so well that the Forest Elder treasures you dearly!”
Seraphia found herself momentarily speechless.
Then, with a wry smile, she spoke.
“…You’re basically treating me like a child.”
“Exactly! Forest Child is a child! Our forest’s precious little one!”
Silmarien laughed brightly.
Pure innocence at one hundred percent.
Because her smile carried not a shred of malice, Seraphia found herself unable to say anything in response.
“I see.”
“Yep.”
“What about Iliana?”
“Iliana is Forest Star.”
“Excuse me? Why is Iliana just Forest Star and not Forest Star Child?”
She’s the same age as me, after all.
“Because she’s as brilliant and radiant as a star!”
“….”
“She’s incredibly skilled with magic! She seems so intelligent!”
“Then what about me?”
“Forest Child!”
I should set a time to properly demonstrate the power of extreme cold.
“…You said you were looking for my brother.”
“Yes. I haven’t seen the Forest Elder lately. Do you know where he is?”
“Well, that’s…”
Seraphia bit her lower lip firmly.
“My brother…”
“Yes.”
“Actually, I haven’t seen him at all for the past few days…”
“The Forest Elder?”
Silmarien’s green hair swayed gently from side to side.
* * *
The path to Death’s Sanctuary was quite monotonous.
Since observation was fixed, the path neither curved nor disappeared.
Similarly, neither Revenants nor Draugr were visible.
“That’s somewhat disappointing.”
In any case.
I approached the Sanctuary along the straightened path.
Upon arriving at the Sanctuary’s entrance.
“…He’s not here.”
The Man was nowhere to be seen.
“He must be inside.”
I walked toward the Sanctuary’s door.
The Sanctuary’s door was closed.
As if it had no further purpose, the Sanctuary’s door was firmly shut.
I reached out and carefully opened the door.
Creeeeak.
It opened surprisingly easily.
“Am I allowed to enter?”
I hesitated for a moment.
But there was nothing else I could do besides entering.
I slowly stepped into the Sanctuary.
Upon entering, the Sanctuary was filled not with darkness, but with light.
Fragments of radiance scattered like breaking glass.
Shapeless, warmthless light drifted through the void.
“It still feels like the laws of physics are on strike.”
I continued deeper inside.
And along the path toward the Sanctuary’s center.
“Observed death is nowhere to be found either.”
The death clusters were also absent.
As death was reinterpreted as circulation, the deaths bound to the Sanctuary seemed to have been liberated.
To be precise, it did not exist.
That was the correct way to express it.
There was not even a trace of me having unleashed Dragon Burst: Rapid [E].
Because I myself did not exist here either.
In any case.
I headed toward the center.
The center of the Sanctuary I had reached in this manner.
“It’s still the same here.”
There was no ceiling, no ground, no walls.
There was light, but no shadow.
There was color, but I could not discern what color it was.
The sensation that the space did not trust its own body remained unchanged.
“…He’s not here.”
The Man was nowhere to be seen.
Yet The Man certainly existed in this place.
But his absence here meant The Man had left the Valley of Kardun.
“So there is a way to leave after all.”
I examined the surroundings carefully.
Then I discovered an altar I had never seen before in the center of the Sanctuary.
A hexahedron frame open on all sides.
At its center, something was written.
[A number between 0 and 1]
“…?”
I tilted my head and peered inside the hexahedron.
The interior was completely empty.
Yet simultaneously, it was completely full.
How should I describe this.
A space suspended in the gap between reality and unreality.
“An inventory?”
It resembled my inventory.
Or rather, was this hexahedron the original?
The source? The essence?
It felt closer to that.
It felt as though the inventory had been created by observing this hexahedron.
“Hmm.”
I carefully extended my hand into the hexahedron.
Something solid touched my palm, much like an inventory.
A sphere smaller than my fist.
Numbers were inscribed upon the sphere.
【0.78212445215889】
“So that’s what a number between 0 and 1 means.”
It literally meant that numbers between 0 and 1 existed within this hexahedron.
And the numbers between 0 and 1 were infinite.
Therefore, the space within this hexahedron was also infinite.
“It’s exactly like an infinite inventory.”
That was when it happened.
◆Hidden Quest, [Success Probability 0%] has begun.
A quest message suddenly appeared before my eyes.
Its contents were as follows.
==[Success Probability 0%]==
[Objective] – Draw the number 【0.5】
[Reward] – Inventory Function Enhancement and Escape from Valley of Kardun
[Failure] – ※Error※
“…?”
My eyes widened in confusion.
To be precise, I was bewildered.
Draw the number 【0.5】 from between 0 and 1?
At first glance, it seemed simple.
The midpoint between 0 and 1.
I just had to draw that.
But it was absolutely not that simple.
Because the numbers between 0 and 1 were infinite.
No matter how much I narrowed the gap between 0 and 1, infinitely smaller numbers existed within it endlessly.
Therefore, the probability of me drawing 0.5 was 1 / ∞
A success rate of 0%.
An outcome that could absolutely never occur—an impossibility.
In other words.
…I was trapped in Valley of Kardun.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————