1 Chapter 1 - Abyss (1) {Rewriting}
In his childhood, he thought the world was a bright place. His father was always there for him in every situation and supported him. Anything he wanted, he just had to ask his father. Whenever he wanted to play, his father would play with him. He never felt bored or sad, not for a single moment.
However, there was a day when this bright world lost all its colors in an unexpected moment.
It was a day that marked his life, so he couldn't forget.
It was a starry night. He was seven years old. The glow of the moonlight was pouring down on the world.
He remembered being in his home, with his father. It was then that suddenly words he refused to believe came out of his father's mouth.
"Little Uriel... Daddy has to go somewhere and will have to leave you alone..."
"Uh...? Are you going to leave? When are you coming back?"
".....This time...I won't be coming back..."
"Da, Daddy...?"
Uriel felt perplexed. What was his beloved father trying to say? He didn't understand.
His father's expression was bitter and full of sadness. It was hard to believe that he was the same lively and cheerful father who always amused him.
"Daddy will go somewhere far away. Very, very, very far away. And I probably won't make it back..."
"Daddy...!"
Uriel pulled at his father's shirt and squeezed hard. Tiny droplets of water were forming in his eyes.
With watery eyes, he tilted his head and looked directly at his father.
"You tell me it's a lie, right...?"
"Little Uriel..."
The man's expression wavered looking at his son. He felt as if a large stone had pressed right into his heart. He opened his arms wide and hugged Uriel's small body.
'Son...'
He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and tears began to well up from them.
"Daddy has to go, I have to go back to that place."
His voice carried a great sadness and bitterness. His hands kept shaking as he hugged Uriel, his body seemed to refuse to let go of the boy — this was a situation he never wished to be in, yet it was not something he could prevent from happening...
"Under, under... Why?!?"
"..."
"You said you would always be with me... Sniff, sniff..."
"..."
"You said you'd do whatever I wanted..."
"..."
"Liar! Daddy's a liar!"
The man's mouth opened, but no words came out of it. He could not deny Uriel's words — he was nothing but a liar.
"Sniff, sniff ... Sniff..."
...A liar who cannot keep promises made to his son.
'Uriel...'
He bit his lips hard and clenched his teeth. His eyes glowed with hatred. Hatred of himself. Hatred of his worthlessness.
"Liar!"
Uriel was shaking his head from side to side with tears streaming down his face. His hands were gripping his father's back tightly; he didn't want to let him go.
To him his father was everything.
His father was the person who made the world joyful and fun for him. So he didn't want to lose him.
Unfortunately... the world doesn't always flow according to his will.
"I'm sorry, little Uriel..."
"Dad...!"
His father's grip on his body loosened. Immediately, Uriel reached out and gripped his father's shirt tightly.
'....'
The man bowed his head slightly and looked at Uriel. His face twisted in bitterness and sadness and was covered in tears.
"Little Uriel... Everything may be confusing to you now, but one day you will understand everything. Do you remember the story of the Tower of Wishes that Papa told you?"
Uriel's head was moving up and down strongly. He had one arm in front of his eyes, trying to hold back the endless stream of tears that threatened to come up again.
A sad smile broke out on the man's face. The next moment, he crouched down in front of Uriel and hugged him once more; even more tightly than before. Bringing his mouth close to Uriel's ear, his lips slowly opened.
"One day the door of this tower will open for you and...when you go there, maybe you will be able to understand Papa."
Uriel's eyes opened wide and he quickly reached forward again. But this time, his small hand failed to grasp his father's shirt.
"Daddy-! No..! Please...!"
His father turned his face away, hiding the bitter and sad expression on his face. He did not want to show such a depressing expression to his son. He took a step forward.
"Goodbye, little Uriel."
And then, his figure began to move further and further away from that place.
"Daddy...! Daddy...!!!!"
Uriel's shrill cries of lament did not reach him. He did not turn around and slowly disappeared into the darkness of the night.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Uriel's feet quickly began to pound against the ground — he tried to run. Yet for some reason his body wouldn't move. Almost as if a chain was holding his body in that place.
"Daddy!!! Dad!!!!"
Amidst the moonlight, only Uriel's cries could be heard.
His world fell apart and his father abandoned him.
A few minutes, hours passed.
"Ah..."
A dry 'ah' came out of his mouth.
Uriel had his head buried between his knees with a blank expression on his face. He had stopped crying, but the remnants of snot and tears could still be seen on his face.
His empty expression looked like the expression of someone who had lost everything.
The expression a gambling addict would make when losing all his money in a single game.
".....Dad..."
Uriel's shoulders went up and down. He wanted to cry, but the tears were no longer flowing. He lifted his chin and looked up at the ceiling of the house.
Is it over?
A lonely gleam emitted from his empty eyes.
-Hahaha. Don't worry, little Uriel. Daddy will always be with you.
He remembered the words his father had said to him with a bright smile on his face.
"Liar..."
Thud.
Uriel's fist came down on the ground.
"Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar!"
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud...
The thudding sounds began to stop. Uriel stopped pounding the ground. A grunt of pain came from his lips. His fist was stained with blood.
"Gasp... Gasp... Gasp..."
His black hair was a mess and he looked pitiful. His trembling eyelids finally closed and his body fell to the ground.
Zzzz...
And then, he began to sleep. It was a long and lonely night.
***
The icy winter wind was blowing. People walking on the streets and sidewalks wore coats because of the cold. A teenager was among these people. He walked with one hand inside his blouse pocket with an stoic expression on his face. His other hand held a shopping bag.
Tsk. He clicked his tongue as he narrowed his eyes.
'Having to go out shopping in this cold sucks.'
Who would have thought that the rice in the house would run out so suddenly? Because of this, Uriel had to go to the market to buy rice and other things that were missing.
It had been eight years since his father had abandoned him.
To say that he lived his life normally would be a lie. Uriel has become an orphan, after all his mother died many years ago, and he had no maternal or paternal relatives who could take care of him. So he was left to fend for himself for these eight years. To sum up these eight years, it was a complete drug.
It was really hard.
After losing the person he loved the most, he could barely recover in a few years.
Regarding his father, Uriel cut off any feelings he felt toward him. He no longer felt love for his father, but he didn't hate him either. There was no way he could hate him. Although he didn't understand it then and still doesn't understand it now, his father must have had a reason.
'Tower of Wishes, huh...?'
...He at least hoped his father had at least a reason.
-There once was a gigantic tower that reached into the clouds...
-Tower of Wishes!
-Money; Glory; Absolute Power; All Wisdom; and Happiness. If you are looking for that or anything else, you are at the top of the Tower of Wishes! All this and more have been placed on top of the tower!
-Dreadful monsters and people with mystical and mysterious powers seeking to climb to the top of the tower can all be found in the Tower of Wishes!
His father's words resounded in his head.
For a moment, fanciful thoughts appeared in Uriel's mind, before vanishing like smoke.
"Ridiculous..."
A place where there are monsters and beasts capable of destroying a city, people with incredible magical abilities, how could such a place be real? It was simply too fantastical. Uriel shook his head and continued walking towards his house.
Knock, knock.
Arriving in front of a house, Uriel knocked twice on the wooden door.
Kieeeek...
A creak resounded as he pushed the door back. Probably an old door.
"I'm home."
Uriel muttered stoically, even though he knew there would be no one to compress him.
'That's really kind of lonely...'
One corner of his lips lifted and he stepped inside the house. Closing the door with a thud, he placed the bag on a table and sat down on a relatively new couch.
Haaa. He sighed and looked up at the old ceiling. Just as he was about to get up and start preparing his dinner...
Buzz.
"...Uhm?"
Something in his blouse pocket vibrated.
Uriel rummaged through his blouse pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Turning on the cell phone screen, he checked the notifications. A rare smile broke out on his face.
"New chapter."
A new chapter of the webtoon he regularly read once a week — Tower of God.
When he first started reading this story it was mainly because of the uncanny similarities between it and his father's story Tower of Wishes. As time went by reading Tower of God, he fell more and more in love with this wonderful work.
With each chapter of that webtoon, he became more and more fascinated by this fantastical story. Amazing monsters and magical abilities! He had even read all the available chapters more than 5 times.
Pushing himself up against the couch, Uriel accessed this webtoon. The new chapter was chapter 330.
Uriel quickly began reading this chapter in total concentration.
'So this is what Yuri looked like when she was still a Regular...'
'Hmm. A High Ranker against Baam?'
'...Kallavan...what a lunatic punk. To lump all families, tribes, and beliefs into one? What a ridiculous thought. However...this guy is really very strong. Can the master of Baam win?'
His thoughts were traveling as he read the chapter when suddenly his expression froze.
".....Is the chapter over?"
Uriel scrolled down the page and realized that he had finished the chapter. Tsk. He clicked his tongue and turned off his cell phone screen.
"That was too fast."
'Well, I guess it's time to make dinner.'
It was at that moment. Just as he was about to get up...
Koong.
The earth shook.
The sudden tremor knocked Uriel off the couch.
"Keuk!"
He rolled across the floor and pressed his hands against the ground in an attempt to get up. He quickly regained his balance and looked around.
Some of the portraits that were hanging on the wall of the house had been knocked to the floor. Cracks could also be seen on the floor and ceiling.
'An earthquake...?'
He frowned. His hand reached into his shirt pocket and withdrew his cell phone from inside.
If it was an earthquake they would surely have news about it. He turned on the cell phone screen. It was then.
Paaaat!
A blinding purple glow appeared in front of him.
By reflex, Uriel closed his eyes. He felt the purple light pressing hard against his eyelids and the wind whipping against his body.
He didn't know why, but his body moved by itself — his feet on the ground turned in a half-moon motion and his body bent backward.
Boom!
The next moment a deafening sound reached his ears.
He felt a scalding temperature rubbing against his face. For a few seconds, he felt that his entire face would be melted.
After a moment, the scalding temperature dispersed.
"Haa... Haaa..."
He opened his eyes, panting. His shirt was clinging tightly over his body and his back was drenched with sweat. He adjusted his posture again, still stunned by the whole situation, and quickly observed his surroundings.
"Th, that..."
His eyes were wide in disbelief. Just inches from his body, a gigantic crack was running through his house and the neighboring houses.
Bzzz, bzzz.
Moreover, he could see purple sparks glowing within the gigantic fissure.
Uriel suddenly felt chills running down his spine. It was close. If his body hadn't reacted instinctively, he would have been completely pulverized right now — just like those houses.
Hold on. At that moment the stoic expression that was almost always on his face was once again broken and replaced by a completely shocked expression.
He realized this only now because he was completely shocked by the beam of light that almost pulverized him. The sky, his house, the cars on the streets, the people walking on the sidewalks...
'Everything is in black and white...!?'
...As if they had lost their colors, everything around him was completely in black and white.
And, if that wasn't shocking enough. Stopped. Everything was still. As if an omnipotent god had pressed the pause button, nothing around him moved — even the tiniest particle of dust was completely still.
'Wh, what the hell...?'
The moment that question popped into his head, he heard a voice.
[Oh? Interfering with the laws of time and space?]
Uriel's body went rigid at this sudden voice.
It was strange, instead of resonating in his ear, the voice seemed to penetrate directly into his mind.
'Who?!'
He quickly turned his head back — there was no one. He then turned his head to the left, and then to the right. No one. He couldn't find anyone.
[....Why did you attack me?]
Uriel's eyes stopped moving when he heard a second voice. This second voice carried a certain irritated tone.
[Haha. Why wouldn't I attack you?]
[Humph. Don't test your limits, brat.]
[Ha!]
Suddenly, Uriel cringed and looked up. His jaw dropped and his eyes showed how disbelieving he was.
"Im, impossible..."
He saw. Two beings were floating under the sky.
Two beings that could only be described as mythical.
One of them looked like a skeleton. He was made entirely of black bones that seemed to absorb any light. In his two eye sockets, a scarlet red flame glowed. A crimson crown was resting firmly on his skull, and he adorned a royal cloak over his shoulders.
As for the second being, macabre — that would be the most appropriate word to define it. On his back, a pair of black wings resembling the branches of dry trees protruded. He had long white hair that touched his ankles and a pair of purple eyes glowing with undisguised murderous intent. He wore a long black and white robe and his entire face looked like a cracked stone. Just by standing there, a gigantic bloodthirsty aura was emitted from his body.
