Strange things were everywhere.

Shadows brushed past one’s shoulder. Eyes stared out from the Fallen Abyss. And there were ruins concealing the earliest forbidden magic.

The Land of Hollow Valleys held far too many mysteries.

The emotion transmitted through that eye was filled with curiosity—yet it always stopped at the mouth of the rift, never stepping beyond it.

Kanzaki Rei thought for a moment.

Bang!

He vanished from where he stood like a streak of light.

In the span of an instant, he arrived in the wilderness outside the City of Silent Dusk, where he lived.

This was also where Luluwi and the others farmed the Abyss.

Besides Luluwi’s party, several nearby open zones were occupied by other adventurer groups grinding Abyss rifts together.

The Land of Hollow Valleys itself was a place built for farming the Abyss.

Most people came here for one purpose—to open Abyssal Rifts.

Or to purchase Abyss gear.

Rei extended his perception toward the rifts other adventurer groups were clearing—

And discovered that inside every single rift, there was an eyeball pressed against the exit, peering outward.

So it wasn’t unique to Luluwi’s group.

For a moment, Rei had thought something had taken an interest in Luluwi again...

If that had really been the case, he might have started wondering whether Luluwi possessed some bizarre constitution that attracted monsters and trouble alike.

Since it wasn’t targeting them specifically, there probably wasn’t any immediate danger.

Still...

Something about it was undeniably strange.

These Fallen Abyss rifts should connect to different locations within the Abyss.

So why did every one of them have an eye staring through?

Rei shifted his gaze to another adventurer party.

They had only just arrived at their designated hunting grounds under the supervision of royal guards.

A key was produced.

A rift appeared.

At first, Abyss creatures continuously spilled down from within, just as before.

Then gradually—

An eyeball came drifting down leisurely, swaying as it descended from the Abyss.

It did not appear together with the rift.

It looked more like some living creature.

Like a moth seeing light and drifting over out of curiosity.

The moment he dispelled the effect of True Eye Tower, everything vanished from sight.

Nothing remained but a black void.

So...

It was even a creature capable of concealing its own existence.

"Ansu, do you know what exists inside the Fallen Abyss?"

"For example... something like an eye?"

Ansu replied,

"Oh? You saw it?"

"That is the Eye of the Fallen Abyss."

"It lives at the highest reaches of the Abyss—what ordinary people first encounter when entering the Abyss entrance..."

"The highest point?"

Ansu laughed lightly.

"Yes. It’s like an upside-down tree, rooted into the ceiling of the Abyss."

"Its branches grow countless eyeballs."

"And those eyes continuously fall downward along with the nature of the Abyss itself."

"It should also be the only Class Ascendant capable of influencing the entire Abyss from its uppermost layer."

Rei narrowed his eyes.

"You said... Class Ascendant?"

"Of course."

"Did you think Abyss creatures had no classes?"

"It’s just that most Abyss creatures are hybrids—half ’human,’ half monster."

"But the few intelligent Abyss beings can undergo class advancement just like us."

"And those that can advance are often far stronger than the class users of our world..."

"Heh. In an environment that harsh, the weak are naturally eliminated."

"This Eye of the Fallen Abyss is one of them."

"The last time I saw it, it was still an Eighth-Tier Observer, on the verge of entering Ninth Tier..."

"So much time has passed..."

"No idea whether it has stepped into the true realm of Tier Nine."

"These half-human, half-monster creatures really are heaven’s favored children."

"Unlike you humans, even after reaching Ninth Tier, they don’t have to worry about lifespan limits."

"But there’s no need for too much concern."

"That thing only watches and never touches."

"And it cannot leave the Abyss."

"It poses no threat to you."

Oh...

No threat to me.

Then there’s nothing to worry about—

Bang!

Just as Rei thought that—

He suddenly saw, from one Abyss rift—

That eyeball break through the Abyss itself.

And fall out.

When it landed on the ground, a long fleshy tether trailed behind it—

Still connected to the Abyss.

And when it emerged, that adventurer party hadn’t noticed it at all.

Only Rei, using True Eye Tower, could see the eye’s existence.

The eye dragged its long tether behind it.

Ignoring the adventurers still hunting Abyss creatures—

It floated away into the distance.

"Ansu."

"Have you ever seen the Eye of the Fallen Abyss come out of the Abyss?"

Ansu paused.

"Out of the Abyss?"

"Never heard of such a thing."

"It has always remained inside."

But a moment later—

Ansu saw what Rei saw through synchronized perception.

A tethered eyeball...

Swimming toward the distance.

Ansu went speechless.

"This..."

Rei asked,

"What happens?"

Ansu answered blankly,

"How should I know?"

"I haven’t seen anything like this in thousands of years."

"How would I know what it wants?"

Rei paused.

Slowly closed his eyes.

Sigh—

What a nuisance...

If I hadn’t taken one extra sweep with True Eye Tower, maybe I wouldn’t have had to meddle.

But leaving it alone...

Was unsettling.

Rei activated Pre-Simulation again.

Perfect timing—

This was today’s first simulation, and forging this piece of clothing had already cost him plenty of time.

Bzzz—

Simulation state entered.

Rei immediately pursued the eye and grabbed it with one hand.

Bang!

And during the chase—

The eye noticed Rei’s existence.

A gaze like direct observation through the soul slammed into him.

Hummm—

For a single instant—

Rei felt as if even his soul had been seen through completely.

This was absolutely not just an Eighth-Tier Observer...

This was unquestionably a Ninth-Tier existence!

Even Unsolvable Mystery seemed to tremble.

Everything he had concealed—

Was being peeled apart, layer by layer.

Bang!

But Rei was even faster.

In a blur, he caught up—

And seized the eyeball in his hand.

Divine Talent — Hidden Origin

It wanted to probe his information—

But wasn’t Rei doing exactly the same?

He intended to find out what this thing truly was.

Shhh—

The moment contact was made—

His vision instantly reached the distant Fallen Abyss!

At the very top of the Abyss—

An inverted colossal black tree formed from countless eyeballs!

Its endless branches dangled trillions upon trillions of eyes,

Falling into the infinite abyss below.

And not merely in the Land of Hollow Valleys.

Throughout the entire Fallen Abyss—

Rifts constantly opened...

And closed.

Its eyes extended toward those rifts.

Then as the rifts shut—

Those eyes were severed from the main body.

This creature—

Was observing the outer world through this method.

[Eye of the Fallen Abyss]Class — Observer (Tier 9)Talent: Divine — Thousandfold Omniscient Vision

...

Because this eyeball was literally part of the Eye of the Fallen Abyss—

An extension of its body—

The moment Rei touched it,

He obtained information about the being itself.

And suddenly—

A bizarre thought arose in Rei’s mind.

Slash—!

His hand became a blade.

With a single strike—

He severed the tether behind the eye instantly.

A Ninth-Tier Observer’s eyeball...

Could this thing be used as alchemical material?