[Gate - Entering Celestial Mountain Martial Hall]
[Celestial Mountain Martial Hall]
[Once the highest and steepest mountain range of a now-destroyed world, this martial hall stood atop the towering peaks.]
[The mountain was so high that it was often obscured by clouds. Because of this, Celestial Mountain was regarded as a sacred site for rituals connecting with the heavens.]
[Unfortunately, now that even the heavens have crumbled, such beliefs belong to the past!]
[You have entered a ruined world.]
[The lingering presence of ancient Immortal Qi remains here.]
[The following effects will be applied:]
[Unified Language]
[A language created by celestial beings to observe the various peoples of the earth.]
[Allows seamless communication between individuals of different native tongues.]
A world shattered, reduced to nothing but ruins.
This place...
“So this is your homeland?”
“That’s right.”
The masked man nodded.
“You mentioned something called a... dungeon, correct? You must be referring to the Erosion Zones.”
“Erosion Zones?”
“Lands undergoing assimilation by otherworldly forces.”
According to the system, dungeons were places where environments were forcibly altered to accommodate creatures that couldn’t naturally survive on Earth.
It made sense now.
‘No wonder the system was always furious whenever I found a dungeon.’
Talk of intolerable invasion, demands to eradicate the enemy, commands to show no mercy—
Every time a dungeon was discovered, those messages accompanied it.
In contrast—
“This place is different. It’s not an Erosion Zone. In my world, we called them Dimensional Gates.”
“Dimensional Gates...”
Here, the system showed no hostility whatsoever.
“Unlike Erosion Zones, which forcibly terraform the environment, this place is simply... my home.”
If dungeons were areas where Earth was being altered by an invading force,
Then Gates were direct passages to entirely different worlds.
“...Even if it is now nothing but a single, floating mountain.”
***
“...Damn.”
If what he said was true—
Then the ground I was standing on...
‘This isn’t Earth?’
Monsters had invaded our world.
And in an instant, civilization had collapsed.
While humanity still had survivors,
Many believed that the world, as it had once been, was effectively destroyed.
But compared to this?
‘If this is true destruction, then what we went through was nothing.’
Even now, Earth still had its landscapes.
This place...
Was one mountain drifting in an infinite void.
There had once been an entire world here.
And now, this was all that remained.
‘Was this world simply less fortunate than ours? Or is this...’
A glimpse of our own future?
‘No. No need for useless thoughts.’
More monsters would come. The world would decay further. That much was obvious.
But there was only one thing for us to do—
Survive.
Defeat the stronger monsters that would inevitably appear.
Rebuild what was lost.
A future like this could happen to us.
But if it was coming, then we would simply have to stop it.
‘That’s why I’m here in the first place.’
The sight of this world left me with complicated emotions.
But once I organized my thoughts, I felt myself regain focus.
“That should be enough explanation. Follow me.”
With that, the masked man turned.
And so, my squad, Monk Seungju, and I followed him up the mountain.
“...Damn.”
“If we fall from here, we’re dead, right?”
The soldiers glanced around nervously as we climbed.
Beyond the mountain’s edge, there was nothing.
No ground, no land—just open void.
We’d seen plenty of strange things before.
But even for us, this was unsettling.
Of course, it made sense—this was literally another world.
‘Still...’
I glanced at the masked man leading us.
He had a well-built physique, wore ragged clothing, and his face was hidden behind a mask.
And then—
‘...Ears? A tail?’
Despite the grim setting, a tail swayed behind him as he walked.
‘...A rat?’
At that moment, something became clear—
He was not human.
[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)]
For a race called "Beastkin" to exist, the very concept of humanity had to exist first.
But considering his home was this ruined world, I doubted there were many "humans" here.
‘The system really doesn’t care about being precise in its translations.’
Just like how it labeled Ariella as "Vampire" despite her true race being Night Nobility—
It was probably just using the closest available term.
As we climbed the mountain, the rat-man’s tail swayed with every step.
“Excuse me.”
“Hmm? What is it, traitor?”
“...Ahem. May I ask you something?”
Monk Seungju hesitated.
“When you said earlier that you considered me your disciple... were you serious?”
“Hmph.”
Even though his face was hidden by the mask,
I could feel the masked man glancing at Seungju.
“In my homeland, it is tradition.”
“Tradition?”
“The one who teaches martial arts is a parent. The one who learns is a child. No matter how weak you were, you still received my teachings. That means you are—at the very least—like a disciple.”
At those words,
Monk Seungju looked stunned.
“But didn’t you say that if I passed on your techniques or told others about you, you’d kill me?”
“That is also tradition.”
“...”
“The transmission of martial ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) arts must be strictly controlled. I only taught you because I had no other choice. If you spread it recklessly, I would have considered that a betrayal.”
He looked around, as if choosing his words carefully.
“...I also simply didn’t want this place to be discovered.”
“You called me a disciple... yet you would have killed me for breaking your rule?”
“Of course, I wasn’t actually going to kill you.”
“...What?”
“I simply worded it strongly to ensure you took my warning seriously. I wouldn’t so easily take the life of someone I personally trained. I would have... enforced discipline in some way, but not death.”
Seungju let out a breath.
“So... you really meant it when you said I was your disciple.”
In the end,
This masked man never intended to kill him.
From his perspective, he had simply been betrayed by someone he had chosen to teach.
Monk Seungju lowered his head, looking guilty.
“I... I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“...No need to apologize. As I said, this was simply my world’s tradition. It was my mistake to expect an outsider to follow it.”
As he climbed, the masked man’s gaze drifted outward.
Floating in the void beyond were the shattered remains of his world.
“A ruined world’s traditions mean nothing now.”
His voice...
It wasn’t directed at Seungju.
It was directed at himself.
“...I was just too stubborn to let go.”
