Chapter 1
Prologue
A desolate plain.
Only ten years ago, this place had been called Gangnam.
The city, once filled with countless skyscrapers forming a forest of steel and glass, had turned into an empty field, not even a skeleton of rebar left behind.
From beyond the horizon of that plain, a colossal being began to emerge.
A monster so enormous it blotted out the entire sun.
Its sheer presence was so vast, so overwhelming, that one might call it a night sky unto itself.
Seyeon’s skin prickled in terror.
Wherever the monster’s steps landed, everything was devoured.
It was truly worthy of the name Event Horizon.
Seyeon turned his gaze.
He saw more than a dozen people who had gathered to stop the Event Horizon.
They were “Players.”
In this apocalyptic world, they were the only beings who possessed the power to slay such monsters.
But the reputation of Players was terrible.
To put it bluntly—they were all trash.
They sought only profit and power, wielding their overwhelming strength selfishly.
The concerns of ordinary people meant nothing to them.
At best, one could hope they wouldn’t exploit or oppress them.
But those who now stood before Seyeon were different.
Led by a broad-shouldered elder, this group of Players were the heroes people had long yearned for—defenders of humanity who fought in the name of justice.
Perhaps that was why—
Seyeon had handed them the artifacts he had made without hesitation.
He firmly believed these men and women could save the world.
“Is that the monster you spoke of?”
Seyeon asked Ha Il-hwan, the elder who led them.
Il-hwan nodded, hand tightening on the hilt at his waist.
From his body, a blue aura burst forth as he gripped his sword.
“Yes. Thanks to you, it seems we can bring this to an end.”
Il-hwan raised a black sword with no scabbard.
It was a rough two-handed blade, its guard marked with an omega (Ω) symbol, its blade dark as shadow.
It was the strongest artifact Seyeon had ever crafted—presented willingly to Il-hwan when the man had taken him in.
Its name was Black Dwarf.
Among artifacts of stellar-class, it ranked in the top three.
Every single strike carried destructive power on par with an asteroid impact.
“Do you know why I brought you here?”
Il-hwan’s eyes never left the Event Horizon as he waited for Seyeon’s reply.
He had always liked these kinds of riddling questions.
‘To face such a monster and yet remain so calm…’
Looking at Il-hwan’s steady back, Seyeon recalled the passage of the unique myth imbued into Black Dwarf:
“From the chaos and void, a man drew his sword, and thus a legend began.”
Surely, that was the answer to his question.
All would soon end, and from Il-hwan would begin a new world.
“You want me to witness the result of the myth I created, don’t you?”
“Ha… That is a very you kind of answer. And yet…”
Il-hwan chuckled, then readjusted his grip on the blade.
“It is unfortunate—I cannot show you what you want.”
“…What?”
In an instant, Il-hwan’s figure vanished from Seyeon’s sight.
The next moment, the dozen or so Players by his side collapsed.
No—they hadn’t even had the chance to fall.
Their bisected bodies were sucked into the afterimages of his sword strikes, vanishing without a trace.
Not even dust remained where they had stood.
Seyeon realized, belatedly, that Il-hwan had used Black Dwarf—on his own comrades.
“Wh… what is this…?”
“That leaves me as the last Player on Earth.”
From behind came Il-hwan’s voice. Seyeon turned with effort.
Il-hwan’s indifferent gaze, staring into the empty air, was so unfamiliar that Seyeon doubted if this was truly the same man.
“Hm… A title as ‘The Last Player,’ and another as ‘One Who Faced the Event Horizon.’ That should be enough to secure my rewards.”
The blue aura cloaking Il-hwan shifted to a blinding white, its crushing weight pressing down on Seyeon.
Il-hwan flexed his fist a few times, smiling in satisfaction.
The Last Player? One Who Faced the Event Horizon? Titles? Rewards?
Seyeon could understand none of it.
But one thing was certain—
Teacher… betrayed me…!
It was betrayal.
There was no other explanation.
And yet, even after seeing it with his own eyes, Seyeon struggled to accept it.
The memory of Il-hwan as a stalwart warrior of justice was too deeply carved into him.
When the truth of his betrayal finally sank in, despair beyond words crashed down on him.
“Why?!”
Seyeon screamed, voice breaking with fury and grief.
But Il-hwan, indifferent, merely muttered:
“It comes.”
The Event Horizon had drawn near.
It was no mere monster. Its colossal bulk blanketed the sky.
Like stars scattered across the night, countless eyes glimmered across its body.
It was disaster incarnate, darkness condensed into a single form.
When all those eyes swiveled to fix upon him, Seyeon felt as though the sheer weight of their gaze would crush him to death.
“The Event Horizon. A being that compresses all chaos of the universe into itself. And where chaos passes, only void remains.”
Il-hwan glanced at the black sword in his hand and let out a faint laugh.
There was something in his expression—regret, emptiness, wistfulness, or perhaps something else entirely—that Seyeon could not name.
“You asked me why?”
Suddenly, Il-hwan tossed the sword to Seyeon.
“It was not enough… That is all. Whether that is an answer for you, I cannot say.”
The words had barely left him when a shaft of light fell upon Il-hwan, lifting him effortlessly into the sky.
“W-wait…!”
He was leaving—abandoning the world to ruin.
Seyeon, regaining his senses, tried to seize him—but it was already too late.
Il-hwan had risen beyond reach.
“This is farewell to this world.”
With those words, his figure vanished along with the beam of light.
“… …”
Only Seyeon remained.
And before him loomed the Event Horizon.
Krrrk—
Its night-like body split apart, revealing a maw of pure malice.
If nothing was done, not only he but every survivor in the city would be annihilated.
Seyeon hurled himself forward, seizing the Black Dwarf Il-hwan had left behind.
“Kh…!”
But it did not move.
It allowed him to hold it, but would not permit him to wield it.
You mock me? I MADE you! Damn it!
From the pommel to the razor edge of the blade, from the myth of the hero amidst chaos and void—it was all his creation.
He didn’t need to master it completely.
If it would grant him just a single strike—just one blow to cut down the Event Horizon—
Even if his soul were consumed, he would accept it.
“Move… just once… damn you!!!”
But Black Dwarf remained still.
That was the end of his struggle.
The Event Horizon’s hideous maw closed around Seyeon.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
There was nothing left. Nothing at all. Just the horizon of events.
So this is… the end…
Within the boundless void, Seyeon’s consciousness slipped away.
And when he opened his eyes—
A familiar landscape stretched before him.
