Chapter 20: Echoes of the Impossible
Echoes of the Impossible
The world was still bleeding.
It was the first day of the Era of Chaos. The air remained dense, as if the entire planet was holding its breath. Millions were on their knees, collapsed under the new gravity. The pain of loss clung to the ground like boiling oil.
And then… came the voice.
🔊 [Universal Notification]
❖ A human has conquered the First Floor of the Tower of Chaos.
❖ Mode: ABYSS.
❖ Record Created: The Impossible Was Achieved.
❖ Name: Danilo Chicana – Earth.
❖ This feat shall forever echo in the Record of Chaos.
🌍
The sound thundered across every sky, mountain, desert, and ocean. No place was spared. Neither the weak nor the strong. Neither the living... nor the nearly dead.
🏠 Chicana Household – Luanda, Angola
The small house trembled with the shouts of the neighborhood. Inside, Cássia Chicana, eyes fixed on the distant tower with concern as she waited for her brother, held her daughter Sury close. The girl still didn't understand that the whole world had changed.
— What was that, mommy...? I heard uncle's name. — the girl asked, frightened.
Cássia didn't respond. She stared at the wall as if her mind had collapsed. The name she had just heard wasn't a hallucination.
— D-Danilo…?
In the living room, the old solar-powered radio repeated the name "Danilo Chicana", like a mantra crossing continents.
Cássia brought her hand to her mouth. Sury's eyes widened.
— Uncle... Danilo?
At that moment, a thread of hope sprouted. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. And yet—it was.
👑 The Chosen
Scattered across the globe, the Ten Chosen Ones reacted in different ways.
🔹 Noah Vasiliev – Russia
Standing atop the rubble of a collapsed laboratory, he held the frozen body of his younger brother. His normally cold eyes now trembled.
— …Abyss? — he whispered.
The words struck his mind like a hammer.
— Who the hell is Danilo Chicana?
He clenched his jaw. The blessing of his god pulsed within him, but for the first time… it didn't feel like enough.
🔹 JAPÃO – KAZUKI TORASHIMA
Seated in a lotus position atop a half-destroyed skyscraper, Kazuki looked up at the sky in silence. Then, she smiled.
— Hmm… A new King awakened? Or a fool blessed by luck?
She closed her eyes and spoke to her god:
— Is he a threat?
The answer never came. And that worried her more than anything else.
🔹 ARÁBIA SAUDITA – SAMIR AL-MASRI
On his knees before three makeshift graves, Samir screamed:
— I PROMISED TO PROTECT YOU!
But his cry was interrupted by the universal notification. He froze.
— Danilo…?
His tears turned to fury.
— I won't lose to a name I don't even know!
🧠 Aiyden Karun – The Reincarnated One
Sitting atop a shipping container, eyes fixed on the tower in the distance, Aiyden was drenched in cold sweat. The notification hit him like an arrow to the chest.
— Abyss...? On the first day?
His mind drifted to the past. On Erythra, not even the Archmages of the Aether Legion dared enter Abyss Mode before level 100. And none of them—none—survived the first floor.
— Who… or what… is this man?
He clenched his fists.
— A chosen of the gods? No… no. I know the Chosen. I've seen their eyes. I've seen their pride. This Danilo… he's not like them.
He shut his eyes.
— Then… is he a god? Or something worse?
The fear wasn't of the name—but of the silence that followed it.
Because not even the System responded to the notification.
🏰 Tower of Chaos – Interior
Danilo sat on a piece of fallen stone, breathing slowly.
The monsters' corpses were still evaporating into dark mist, and the chests continued to pulse with magical energy. But he was… at peace.
— I really fucked up… — he muttered with a half-smile.
His name was now everywhere. He knew what that meant: envy. Greed. Fear. Targets.
But also...
— I am a name now.
He glanced at the black sword still dripping with blood, feeling the presence of the Monarch behind him like a loyal shadow.
— If I'm a monster now… then so be it.
🌍 Across the Planet
Survivors began speculating: Who was Danilo?
The old world's remaining leaders took interest in him—planning how to approach, use him, or, if not possible, eliminate him.
On this day, everyone heard his name.
And amidst the pain and confusion of the world's first collapse… all eyes turned to the towering spire.
The world now knew the name Danilo Chicana.
And he was still only Level 1.