Liam stopped eating and looked at Ethan. "Everything?"
"About this world. About the Realms. About EC. About why we have to live like this," Ethan said. "I don't want to live in the dark anymore. I want to know the truth."
Liam was silent for a long moment. Then he sighed. "Alright. I'll tell you. But first, you need to promise me something."
"What?"
"You can't tell anyone what I'm about to say," Liam said seriously. "Not because I want to hide it from you. But because this knowledge is dangerous. D.I.S. doesn't want civilians to know too much. If they find out you know, you'll be in trouble."
"I promise."
Liam nodded. He took out paper and pen and drew a vertical line:
Realm 6 ───── (we are here)
Realm 5
Realm 4
Realm 3
Realm 2
Realm 1
Realm 0
"Twenty years ago," Liam began, "this world wasn't like it is now."
He pointed at the diagram. "Back then, the seven Realms existed independently. Each layer had its own rules. Its own space. Its own time. They never touched each other. Because there was something separating them."
"The Boundary," Ethan said.
"Right. The Boundary—a barrier of laws that kept each Realm in its proper place. Like layers in a cake. The upper layer doesn't flow down to the lower. The lower doesn't rise up to the upper."
Liam drew a horizontal line cutting through all the layers. "But twenty years ago, the Boundary broke."
Ethan's throat went dry.
"Why?"
Liam shook his head. "No one knows for certain. Some say it was war in the lower Realms. Some say it was an experiment of the gods. Some say it was natural—as if the Boundary had grown too old, and it was time for it to break."
"And when it broke, the seven Realms began touching each other. Overlapping. Tearing. Space warped. Time fell out of sync. The laws of physics shattered."
"So the other Realms—"
"Are dying." Liam's voice was flat. "Slowly. Bit by bit, they're dying."
Outside, the wind picked up. A distant howl echoed from the direction of the mine.
"Realm 5 is the closest to Realm 6. They call it The Wild Verge."
Liam's gaze grew distant. "It used to be a beautiful world. Vast forests. Towering mountains. Clear blue seas. But when the Boundary broke, it began to tear. Weather became erratic. The ground trembled constantly. Space became distorted—you walk straight but end up back where you started, like being trapped in a maze."
"Creatures there began to mutate. Wolves became monsters. Bears became Fracture Hounds. Spiders became Echo Leeches. They're no longer normal animals. They've become anomalies—ranging from Tier E up to Tier C."
"And the people there?"
"They fled. Those who couldn't escape in time died. Or mutated. Realm 5 is now almost devoid of people. Only monsters remain. And those who hunt for resources."
"Have you been there?"
Liam's jaw tightened. "Twice. First time to collect minerals. Second time to rescue a lost team. We lost three people. They were attacked by a Strider Brute—a monster that knows how to set traps."
He paused, staring at his bandaged arm. "I watched a teammate get dragged into the undergrowth. When we found him, there wasn't much left."
Ethan swallowed hard. His hands felt cold.
The room seemed to shrink around them.
"Realm 4 once had a great civilization." Liam's voice grew quieter. "The reports I've seen call it The Ruined Expanse."
"Towering cities. Spires reaching the sky. Colossal monuments. They had technology we don't understand. They carved runes on walls, on weapons, on their own bodies. They lived in peace for thousands of years."
He paused, choosing his words carefully. "But when the Boundary broke, they had no escape. Realm 4 lies too deep. The creatures there are stronger. And rifts appear less frequently—there was no path up to Realm 6. They were trapped."
Maria set down her teacup with a soft clink.
"What happened to them?"
"Then they died. Or became monsters. Golems—stone knights still patrol the ancient streets but have no souls. Rune Beasts—creatures covered in inscriptions, as strong as Tier B. Ancient Wyverns—nothing but skeletons now."
"Is no one left alive?"
"Unknown. D.I.S. has found traces—their writing, campfires still smoldering. But they haven't met anyone. Maybe they're hiding deep underground. Maybe they're no longer human. Or maybe they've become monsters."
Ethan stared at the diagram on the table, the lines blurring slightly.
"Realm 3 is dangerous in a different way." Liam tapped the diagram with his pen. "Some call it The Mirror Frontier."
"There, the boundary between real and illusion no longer exists. The landscape changes based on the mind of whoever enters. If you fear darkness, Realm 3 becomes a desert of night. If you miss home, it creates a false village—exactly like Grayridge but wrong. Doors in the wrong places. Familiar faces that are slightly off. Everything was similar but not quite right."
Ethan felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"And if you're angry, afraid, or sad, Realm 3 creates enemies from those very emotions. Nightmares made flesh. Fear given shape. Even yourself from the future or past, coming to kill you."
"Sounds like hell," Ethan whispered.
"It is. A D.I.S. team of ten entered—all seasoned operatives—but only two came out. Both went insane. One kept saying: 'I saw myself die. Hundreds of times. Each time different.' The other said nothing. Just sat staring at walls and laughing. They still haven't recovered."
"Monsters there?"
"Ranging from Tier C to Tier A. But not ordinary monsters. They're Nightmares—nightmares you can touch."
Liam rubbed his temples, as if the memory itself was exhausting.
"Realm 2 is where only the very strong dare to enter. I've heard it called The Spiritforge Domain."
"There, matter and spirit aren't separate. The ground is black stone, but you can walk through it if you believe you can. Forests made of light, but you can touch them if you focus. Rivers flow as streams of energy instead of water."
"Thought has power there. If you think you're weak, you become truly weak. If you think you're strong, you can lift mountains. But if you die there, you dissolve into energy."
The wall clock ticked steadily in the silence that followed.
"And the creatures there?"
"Not monsters. Races. Dragons with human-level intelligence. Divine beasts with their own language. Colossal spirits living in palaces of energy. They're very strong. They can speak. They can negotiate. But that doesn't mean they're friendly."
Liam leaned back. "An EC4 once told me he met a dragon in Realm 2. It asked: 'What do you seek?' He answered: 'I seek power.' The dragon laughed. Then said: 'Then take it.' And tore a fragment of its own soul, forcing it into him."
"What happened?"
"He reached EC3. But from that day on, every night he hears the dragon's voice whispering in his head. Each time he uses his ability, he feels himself a little less human. Now he's retired. Lives alone. Talks to no one."
Ethan's fingers trembled slightly against the table edge.
"Realm 1..." Liam paused for a long time. "I don't know how to describe it."
"They call it The Abyssal Throne. But the name isn't enough to convey it."
"It's a world of absolute darkness. Light doesn't last long—it's swallowed by shadow. The air is heavy as lead—one breath feels like carrying a boulder on your chest. The ground constantly fractures—standing still, you might fall into an abyss. Space can 'devour'—like an invisible mouth. You stand there, a second later you vanish."
Ethan's voice came out barely above a whisper. "Monsters there?"
"Demons. Titans. Entities beyond human comprehension. Tier A to SS. A single breath from them could level a city. One roar kills entire armies."
"Can anyone kill them?"
"Yes. Humanity's strongest have gone there and taken down some of them. But even they paid a terrible price. I heard of an EC1 who killed an Entropic Reaver—a Tier S+ monster. But after that battle, he lost half his soul. From then on, he only lives half a day. The other half, he doesn't exist. As if erased from reality."
Maria stood abruptly, chair scraping. "I need water," she said, voice tight. She walked to the kitchen, hands shaking slightly.
Liam was silent for a very long time. Then spoke, voice low:
"Realm 0 is the one no one understands."
"D.I.S. has no official name for it. Some call it Origin Crown. Some call it The Beginning, and many other names."
"What is it?"
"Where the Boundary was born. Where the Realms began to exist. Where the rules of this universe were written. And where a single entity exists."
"What entity?"
"No one knows. Some call it God. Some call it the Supreme Demon. Some call it the Architect. But everyone agrees on one thing."
"What?"
"It's the reason the Boundary broke. And it's the only thing that can repair it."
Ethan's mouth fell open. "So why doesn't anyone go meet it? To ask it to repair the Boundary?"
"Because no one knows how to reach Realm 0. And currently, no power or individual can push past the barrier of monsters in Realm 1 to find a path there."
"Now do you understand?" Liam leaned forward. "Why they come here?"
Ethan nodded slowly. "Because Realm 6 is the only layer still livable."
"Right. Realm 5 is torn. Realm 4 is dead. Realm 3 is chaos. Realm 2 is collapsing. Realm 1 is hell. Realm 0 is a mystery. Only Realm 6—our world—remains stable."
"So all creatures from the other Realms are fleeing here. Monsters. Intelligent races. Even things without form. All want into Realm 6. Because this is the last refuge."
"But Realm 6 can't hold everyone. The more that come, the weaker the Boundary becomes. More rifts appear. More rifts open. And one day—"
"Realm 6 will break too."
"Right. And when that happens, there'll be nowhere left to run. That will be the true end of days."
Liam shifted topics. "And that's why supernatural humans appeared. When the Boundary broke, humanity began to change."
"The genes in our bodies seemed to detect the world was dying. And they activated themselves. So we could survive longer. So we could fight."
"EC—Evolution Class—is the level of evolution. From ordinary human to supernatural human."
Liam added to the diagram:
Ordinary Human → EC9: Awakened
EC8: Warrior
EC7: Elite
EC6: Transcendent
EC5: Metamorph
EC4: Supernatural
EC3: Demigod Initiate
EC2: Demigod
EC1: Ascendant
EC0: Unknown—no one in the world has reached this level
"To advance each level, you need to absorb energy from the world."
Ethan leaned forward, elbows on the table. His soup had gone cold, forgotten.
"Everyone is born the same. Ordinary. Can't sense anomalous frequencies. Can't see the world's frequencies."
"To reach EC9—Awakened—you need to experience a Realm collision event. Like this morning's explosion when a rift opened."
"When two Realms touch, space tears and creates rifts. People standing nearby absorb the energy released. Genes automatically restructure to survive. And if you're lucky—"
"Then they awaken."
"Right. Some successfully become supernatural with abilities, but others will mutate."
"Mutate?"
"Mutation. No longer ordinary humans, but not supernatural either. They can use certain abilities but lose the capacity to think and act like normal people. They become more like monsters."
"After reaching EC9, you can sense anomalous frequencies. But you're not strong enough yet. To reach EC8, you need to absorb World Echoes."
"Echoes?"
"When monsters die, they leave behind energy crystals—the stronger the monster, the larger the energy. Or when Realms collide, space shatters, creating rifts. If these rifts appear long enough, with strong enough interference energy, crystal veins will form over time, like the mine in our village. These are called Echoes—echoes of a breaking world."
"To absorb a crystal, you place it on your chest to match your body's frequency with it. If successful, your genes evolve. You reach EC8. Body strength doubles that of ordinary people. Recovery speed doubles. Lifespan increases slightly."
"If you fail?"
"Explosion. Or your nerves burn and you lose your mind. Or frequency mismatch—become a small monster. That's why D.I.S. strictly controls crystal sources."
"To go from EC8 to EC7, you need something stronger. The life core of a mid-level monster—Tier C."
"Every monster has a core inside. It's their energy source. Condensed frequency. When you kill a monster and extract its core and absorb it, your genes upgrade for the third time."
"Then you reach EC7. Speed, reflexes, vision all exceed human limits. You can heal wounds within hours. Lifespan can exceed a hundred years."
"But is it dangerous?"
"Extremely. A core that's too strong can burn your blood vessels. Or tear your body from the inside out. Or turn you into half-human, half-monster—something no longer human."
"Have you absorbed a core?"
"Yes. A Fracture Hound core—Tier D. I had D.I.S. equipment to assist. But it was still dangerous. I was paralyzed for three days. I've heard the main D.I.S. training centers have safer ways to advance."
"But you're still EC8?"
"Right. Tier D wasn't strong enough to push me to EC7—it only strengthened my body and prepared me for the next step. I'd need Tier C or higher to actually advance."
"Going from EC7 to EC6 requires Inverse-Frequency Items. Objects with energy that reverses the rules. Very rare. Very dangerous."
"For example?"
"Cores from rule-breaking creatures. Inverse-frequency orbs. Items carrying reversed energy. When absorbed, genes upgrade for the fourth time. Body becomes nearly immune to poison and disease. Extremely fast recovery. Lifespan 200-300 years."
"But if you fail, the reversed energy explodes your heart. Or your soul 'reverses'—losing consciousness permanently. Or you become an inverse-frequency monster."
"You haven't reached EC6 yet?"
"Not yet. I'm only EC8. Reaching EC7 takes a lot of time. Reaching EC6 might take a lifetime. Or never."
A spoon clinked softly against a bowl in the kitchen. Maria was washing up, trying to keep her hands busy.
Liam's expression turned grave. "From EC6 onward, each step is a gamble with your life. With my clearance, I only know rough, secondhand information. I don't know the specifics."
"EC6 → EC5: requires Pure-Energy Cores—born after Realm collapse. If you fail—incineration."
"EC5 → EC4: requires Paradox Items—crystals from collision of contradicting rules. If you fail—body twists, mind splits."
"EC4 → EC3: requires Otherworld Matter—from other Realms. If you fail—disintegrate to dust."
"EC3 → EC2: requires Super-Class Energy Cores—from catastrophic monsters. If you fail—total explosion."
"EC2 → EC1: requires World-Core Nexus—what controls Realm rules. If you fail—dissolution, soul devoured."
"EC0: This level is still hypothetical. No one in the world has achieved it."
He paused, sighing. "And even when you succeed, with each advancement, you lose part of your humanity."
The fire in the stove crackled softly. Outside, the night deepened.
"High EC individuals no longer think like ordinary people. They see the world differently. Feel differently. React differently. They're still human but also not."
Liam stared at the lamp flame. "I once met an EC5. He sat staring at a tree for three hours. Didn't blink. Didn't move. When I asked, he replied: 'I'm listening to the tree breathe. Hearing the wind tell stories. Don't you hear it?' I heard nothing."
"Another EC3 told me: 'Humans are like mosquitoes. Live fast, die fast, meaningless.' She no longer saw herself as human."
"And the only EC1 I know, he's never laughed. Never cried. Only watches. As if observing the world from outside. As if he's no longer part of it."
Ethan felt a chill down his spine. "So to become stronger, I have to lose myself?"
"Not lose. Change. You'll still be you. But not entirely you anymore. That's the price."
"There's one more thing you need to know. About skills."
"When you reach EC9, you don't just become stronger. You can also receive Reality Imprints."
"Imprints?"
Liam took out the detector, pointing at the screen displaying waveforms. "See these waveforms? That's the world's frequency. Everything—air, earth, trees, water, even thoughts—vibrates at its own frequency."
"When the Boundary broke, those frequencies were exposed. They became Imprints—fragments of reality's foundational information. Ordinary people can't see them. But EC9 and above can sense them."
"And when you sense an Imprint, your brain records it, encodes it, and converts it into a skill. Not learned. Not cultivated. But accessed."
"Accessed?"
"Yeah. Like opening a file on a computer. The Imprint is the file. Your brain is the computer. When frequencies match, the file opens. The skill appears."
"Can you show me?"
Liam raised his hand. "My skill is Resonance Control."
He closed his eyes. Immediately, Ethan felt the air around Liam vibrate. Like invisible waves spreading out. Every object in the room—table, chairs, walls, windows—emitted faint sounds.
"I'm reading the vibrations of objects and living things. And once I understand their frequency, I can manipulate them—move objects, track movement, even disrupt hostile vibrations."
The demonstration lasted only a few seconds before Liam lowered his hand, breathing slightly heavier.
"Every skill has limits and consumes the user's energy. D.I.S. has a technical term for it, but everyone just calls it mana. Use skills too much, and when your mana runs out, they'll burn your life force. You might lose consciousness. Or worse—die."
"Die?"
"That's why high EC individuals never use skills recklessly. They have to calculate. Conserve. Because each use is a gamble with your life."
"And one last thing." Liam's voice was firm. "The stronger the skill, the greater the mana cost."
The room sank into silence.
Maria sat down in a chair, hands trembling slightly. "So we're living in a dying world?"
"Yes," Liam answered honestly. "But we're not dead yet. And while we're alive, there's still hope."
Ethan looked out the window. The Grayridge sky had darkened. Stars twinkled. But between the stars were dark streaks—places where space had torn, where no light existed.
The world is breaking, he thought. And I'm living right in the crack.
"Brother," he said quietly. "If one day I'm strong enough to reach Realm 0, would you want me to go?"
Liam looked at him for a long time. Then said:
"If you're strong enough to reach that level, you won't need to ask my opinion. You'll decide for yourself."
"But I hope—" he paused, "I hope you'll remember: strength isn't for domination. It's for protection. To protect those we love, to protect those who can't protect themselves."
Ethan nodded. "I'll remember."
Maria stood up, wiping tears. "Enough. You two have talked about heavy things all evening. Now go to sleep. Tomorrow's another day."
They cleared the table. Washed the dishes. Turned off the lights.
But before entering his room, Ethan turned back, looking out the window one last time.
A blue streak flashed, then faded. The rift was growing.