Chapter 159 – Ouroboros

Even in his dream, Alter was asleep.

This was a characteristic of the dreams of those near death.

As his lifespan neared its end, he lacked the energy to be active even in his dreams.

“Alter.”

“…….”

Rough called Alter’s name, but he did not wake.

“It seems his Vital Energy has already hit rock bottom. That glass tube is just forcibly holding onto a life that should have snapped. He’s practically at death’s door.”

Just as Mirkala said.

In this state, even if Rian had awakened him at a future point in time, he likely wouldn’t have lasted long before dying.

Of course, infusing him with the Blessing of Transcendence or a Transcendent Star to raise his Grade could somewhat extend his lifespan.

But as with Duren, when one is in a state of insufficient lifespan, even Promotion cannot greatly increase it.

Sluurrk.

Rough’s hand, passing through the surface of the glass coffin as if it were water, touches Alter.

Tap.

And the process by which Lee Hanseong had previously integrated Alter’s Skills into his own body is now applied to Alter’s body.

[<Records Studies (Rare)> + <Truth Compulsion (Rare)> = <Truth View (Unique)>]

[<Deconstruction Theory (Unique)> + <Cycle Theory (Unique)> = <Reincarnation: Ouroboros (Legendary)>]

But right after Ouroboros settled within Alter’s body.

Kiiiiiiing!

The scenery within Alter’s dream began to shift to a moment in the past.

It was the point right after the Dragon Slayer Emperor was subjugated and the Subjugation Force had departed.

Parararara—

Starting from that moment, the periods spanning the empire’s fall, leaving behind a ruin disguised as an Imperial Tomb, and finally falling asleep within the glass coffin flashed by like a fast-forwarded montage.

And upon reaching the end, the scenery reversed again, regressing back to the point after the Dragon Slayer Emperor’s subjugation.

Parararara—

Parararara—

Parararara—

Just as when Lee Hanseong first used it in the Bonghwang Oeumgye, Ouroboros was repeating a specific segment of Alter’s life.

An infinite Loop where the exact same history cycled endlessly without the slightest change.

“Whether you can gain something from this is up to you, Professor Alter.”

From Rough’s Dream Fantasy World, all that could be seen was Alter’s life repeating through Ouroboros.

As it was impossible to glimpse the changes occurring in Alter’s consciousness on the Reverse Side of that repetition, Lee Hanseong could only trust the other and wait for change to arrive.

* * *

At first, Alter thought the reincarnation of Ouroboros was merely a dream.

But as it kept repeating, he realized it was no simple dream.

‘This is truly time repeating.’

Having opened the Clear Eye that could see system code, and with <Truth View> having Bloomed right before Ouroboros settled in, Alter could be certain this was actual time repeating.

For the reality reflected in Alter’s eyes was a world composed of countless strings of blue light.

If it were a dream, the system code would have been tagged with a ‘dream’ code.

However, realizing that fact didn’t change anything immediately.

Even if he tried to act differently from the past, everything, including him, merely flowed according to history.

‘Does this mean history cannot be changed within this Cycle?’

Still, his regret was brief.

He had no regrets about his past life.

Moreover, according to the principles of Deconstruction Theory, even viewing the same scene could yield different interpretations.

Within the reincarnating time, Alter observed things he hadn’t noticed before, gradually broadening his horizons of perception.

‘Ah, so this meant that. Then this is… yes, it should be like this.’

The imperial knowledge that had been limited to brief glances and memorization began to be understood bit by bit within the endless repetition, and based on that understanding, new discoveries followed.

Fragmented knowledge connected organically, new knowledge derived from those connections, branching out into a feast of enlightenment.

<Truth View> was a great help.

Whenever a question arose while examining records, Truth View immediately provided the answer.

However.

Truth View also had its limits.

‘Hmm…’

Around the time the reincarnation had repeated roughly several hundred times.

Puzzles that couldn’t be solved solely with the records Alter could obtain within the repetition began to appear one by one.

As the intervals between new enlightenments gradually lengthened.

Finally, a moment arrived where no new interpretations emerged no matter how many times he repeated.

‘Did I miss something? I’ve seen everything I can see. I’ve examined all the records Truth View can access! So why! Why won’t this repetition end?’

The flow of time, forgotten while immersed in knowledge, began to make itself felt.

Madness born from countless repetitions slowly began to encroach.

He felt like he was going insane.

Now, he wanted to escape the reincarnation.

In truth, Alter had been wary of such a moment from the start.

‘Gaaaaah!’

He knew well that the human mind could not endure infinite time.

That’s why he had accumulated as much knowledge and gained as much wisdom as possible to expand his consciousness.

But now, even that had reached its limit.

He forcibly turned his consciousness inward.

Leaving the repeating time behind, he closed his eyes and sank into the inner darkness.

Bogrrrr—

A distant, yet somehow cozy sensation, like sinking into water, arrives.

Beyond that lay the death of consciousness.

Just as he was about to surrender his fading consciousness.

Uung.

Something resonated with Alter’s consciousness.

He felt the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm, which he hadn’t been able to perceive until now but had clearly been with him from the beginning.

‘Thaaat…’

Swoosh.

Alter’s consciousness, half-submerged in instinct, reached out to the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm.

And.

He rolled the wheel decorating the backrest of the divine throne.

Whoooooosh!

Immediately, an azure light erupted from the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm, granting a new vision.

A vision that illuminated codes hidden in places deeper than the mere surface-level system code seen by the Clear Eye.

It was a transcendent vision created by the interlocking of the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm and Truth View.

Beyond the spacetime repeating through Ouroboros, the Void Space… he could see it.

The cluster of system code residing deep within that void, the Void Record… he could see that too.

‘Aah…!’

All the problems that had been blocked until now unraveled the moment he saw the Void Record.

Moreover, upon perceiving the Void Record, Alter’s consciousness partially escaped from Ouroboros’s reincarnation.

The achievements gained from countless reincarnations were settled.

[Conditions met. <Fatalism (Unique)> Blooms.]

Wisdom containing the principle that ‘everything in the world is already recorded in fate.’

[Conditions met. <Truth View (Unique)> evolves into <Void View (Legendary)>.]

The projection of the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm, which took the place of Alter’s Treasure Vessel, granting expanded vision through the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm.

[Great Feat, ‘Time Loop’ achieved.]

[The Dharma Wheel Divine Realm records Alter Goulds’s Great Feat and Altered history….]

[Fifth Awakening Skill 《Eternal Regression》 Blooms.]

…….

And finally, the completion of his 5-Star Promotion, fueled by the Achievement accumulated through repeating time.

‘Ouroboros. Stop.’

The newly gained things became the keys allowing Alter to fully Grasp Ouroboros.

As a result, Alter could completely escape the reincarnation.

“Uuuhm.”

Alter, waking from a dream within a dream, opens his eyes within the dream.

His depleted lifespan was no longer an issue.

The reincarnation repeated to the point of an Eternal Epoch had granted him a lifespan corresponding to it.

Sluurrk.

Alter, emerging from the glass coffin as if his spirit had left his body, sees Rough standing on the same Dream Stratum.

“Rough, no, Lee Hanseong.”

Alter’s eyes, possessing Void View, pierced through even Lee Hanseong, who was Spirit Possessing Rough.

“Yes, Professor Alter. It’s me.”

“Thou art… what exactly?”

But Alter’s reaction was strange.

As if seeing something impossible, his gaze wavered.

“Why is thy record erased from the Void Record?”

“What does that mean? If it’s because of the Protagonist’s fate that Rough possesses….”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Alter explained about the Void Record.

“Normally, there are two types of fate. One is changing fate, the other is unchanging destiny. And the Void Record contains records of both types of fate.”

“Destiny, you say…”

“The stars belonging to the Dharma Wheel or the wind can only Alter the former type of fate. Destiny is the End of all beings, so no one can change it. …I thought so until I saw thee.”

“You mean my destiny doesn’t exist in the Void Record?”

“Correct. I don’t know how that’s even possible, but this is absurd.”

According to the Fatalism Alter realized within Ouroboros’s reincarnation, a being like Lee Hanseong should not exist.

He was confused by his knowledge being negated before his eyes.

“I don’t know the reason, but could it be the work of our Lord of the Throne?”

“No. Even the Constellations in that sky cannot change destiny.”

Alter added that destiny is the very fact that any being will eventually face Annihilation.

One can change fate and postpone the moment destiny arrives, but eventually, one will meet their End.

“But Constellations are immortal, aren’t they?”

“If even the world has its limits, how could a Constellation belonging to the world be eternal?”

Lee Hanseong’s heart sank at the truth of the world Alter spoke of.

If that were true, then even Mirinae would eventually face an end.

But soon, he recalled that he himself was an exception and regained his composure.

“Then, how do you explain my destiny being erased from the Void Record? The fact it was erased means I originally had a destiny too, right?”

“Certainly. There is a clear gap in thy record. It wasn’t that thou had no destiny from the start; it was erased.”

“So, I’m saying maybe Mirinae did that.”

“I now know that She is no ordinary Constellation. But even for Her, erasing a record from the Void Record… is it possible?”

“……?”

Alter, about to deny it, gradually slowed his speech and finally ended with a question.

Even he couldn’t understand this situation, so he ultimately had to leave all possibilities open.

Even though his vision had broadened by glimpsing the Divine Domain through the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm, he was still only 6-Star.

He shouldn’t blindly believe his wisdom alone held the answer.

“…Hmm.”

Instead, he began constructing a new theory based on the exception that was Lee Hanseong.

A theory that could supplement the errors in Fatalism.

Seeing him lost in thought, Lee Hanseong quietly waited for him to organize his thoughts.

“If there exists a Creator God beyond the Main God? If the Void Record’s records were originally the tools of a Creator God, then perhaps even the records of destiny could be modified.”

Nod.

As Alter muttered, Lee Hanseong nodded as if in agreement.

[Conditions met. <Creation Theory (Unique)> Blooms.]

Wisdom containing the principle that ‘all things in the universe were created as recorded by the Creator God’ is completed.

And the system code, the tool of the Creator God, has now become the tool of the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm.

According to the principle of Cycle Theory contained within Ouroboros, what appears twice is destined to appear again.

Uuuung!

Centered on Alter, an order similar to the existing one, but belonging solely to him, spread out.

The dreams of the Dream Fantasy World surrounding him were pushed back, becoming difficult to interfere with, almost like reality.

It wasn’t that he had deployed the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm again.

[Conditions met. <Kirin Constitution (Unique)> Blooms.]

His body was reconstructed based on new wisdom, and a constitution similar to the Divine Beast Kirin Bloomed.

Pachuchuchuchuchu!

As if the existing order was rejecting the new order Alter was creating, blue sparks flew around him.

If this were reality, Alter’s order would have been instantly overwhelmed and corrected by the world’s order.

But within Rough’s Dream Fantasy World, which Alter had entered through dreams, the order of the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm couldn’t exert much power.

Of course, Alter’s order also couldn’t wield its full power within the dream.

But he had Ouroboros.

Kiiiiiiing!

The Illusory Form of a serpent biting its own tail, faintly appearing around the perimeter of the Domain where Alter’s order was deployed, swallowed and deconstructed the order of the Dream Fantasy World and the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm, reinforcing Alter’s order.

Alter’s surroundings became clear, as if not in a dream but in reality.

Inversely proportional to this, the blue sparks appearing from the clash of orders gradually grew smaller.

And finally.

The moment the sparks completely disappeared.

[Great Feat, ‘Unique Law Creation’ achieved.]

[The Dharma Wheel Divine Realm recognizes Alter Goulds as a subordinate administrator and records his Feats and Altered history.]

[Sixth Awakening Skill 《Establish Law Create Life》 Blooms.]

……,

The Dharma Wheel Divine Realm chose acceptance over rejection, completing Alter’s 6-Star Promotion.

Having been recognized as a subordinate administrator by the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm, Alter’s order would no longer clash with the existing order.

Even in reality, not just in dreams.

Swoosh.

Afterwards, the Dharma Wheel Divine Realm, having finished its task, returned to reality, but Lee Hanseong left the Divine Artifact in place instead of retrieving it as before.

He had a premonition that adding another Divine Domain not belonging to Dream Chaos would cause conflict with the Divine Domains he had secured.

‘Next is… Hans.’

Leaving only the fact that his destiny was erased from the Void Record in a corner of his mind, Lee Hanseong pushed aside Alter’s dream and summoned a new one.

The present of Hans, who had returned to the future Black Forest where he had faced Qliphoth before fighting the Asura, unfolded before his eyes.