The Sunken Palace of Desires groaned, a sound like a thousand violins snapping underwater. The bioluminescent coral spires, which had been glowing with a vibrant, rhythmic pink, suddenly flickered into a harsh, sterile white. The psycho-reactive walls pulsed irregularly, responding to the cold, dead energy approaching from the lightless void.
"It's here," Amphitrite whispered, her liquid form destabilizing into a spray of sea-foam before reforming. "The Leviathan of Judgment. The Great White Eye. It is the vacuum of the ocean, Jin-Woo. It feels no heat, no hunger, and no lust. It only seeks to balance the scales of the deep by erasing everything that burns too bright."
I walked to the edge of the whale-bone pier. Far out in the darkness, the massive white eye remained fixed on the palace. It didn't blink. It didn't shift. It was a cold, cosmic auditor sent to shut down my underwater party.
[Warning: Divine Entity 'The Leviathan of Judgment' detected.]
[Status: Emotionless. Immunity to 'Indecent' Status Effects: 100%.]
[Environmental Alert: The Sunken Palace is losing structural integrity. Desire levels are dropping due to 'Existential Dread'.]
"The men are freezing up," So-Hee said, her boots clicking on the coral as she hurried to my side. Behind her, the three hundred Abyssal Myrmidons—once proud and ready for slaughter—were falling to their knees. Their new armor, forged from shark skin and mana-crystals, was dimming. "The Leviathan's aura is an 'Emptying'. It makes them feel like their lives are meaningless. If they stop desiring, the palace will crush us all."
Yuna was trembling, her shadows flickering weakly like a dying candle. "Jin-Woo... I can't... I can't feel the hunger. It's like the ocean is trying to turn me into salt."
I looked at the system. The "Structural Integrity" bar was at 64% and dropping. I had 600 million EXP left.
"So," I muttered, "the God of Chastity thinks he found the perfect counter. A monster that can't be seduced, can't be teased, and can't be corrupted because it has no 'self' to corrupt."
I turned to the Sea Queen. "Amphitrite, can your ship handle the pressure outside the membrane for ten minutes?"
"The Pearlescent Maw is part of me," she replied, her eyes wide with fear. "But the Leviathan will erase it from existence before we get within harpoon range."
"Then we won't go as enemies," I said. "We'll go as a revelation."
I opened the System Store, scrolling past the weapons and the armor. I needed something that could bypass "Judgment." I needed something that created a "self" where none existed.
[Item Purchased: The Fruit of Original Sin (Ethereal Grade).]
[Cost: 500 Million EXP.]
[Effect: Forces an emotionless entity to experience 'Ego-Birth' and 'Forbidden Knowledge'. Warning: High risk of total mental collapse for the target.]
"Five hundred million... that's almost the whole bank," I hissed. "But if it works, I won't just kill a monster. I'll own a God's auditor."
I gripped the fruit—a pulsing, dark red pomegranate that seemed to bleed black ink. I looked at So-Hee and Yuna.
"I need you two to jump-start this palace. I don't care what you have to do. Fight, argue, or kiss—just get the 'Desire' levels back into the red. I'm going out there."
"Out there?" So-Hee grabbed my arm. "Jin-Woo, the pressure alone will turn your Level 99 body into a pancake without the membrane!"
"I have [Oceanic Dominance] now," I said, winking at her. "And the Leviathan is about to find out that being a judge is a very lonely job."
I dived.
The transition from the filtered air of the palace to the raw, crushing weight of the Abyssal Trench was a hammer-blow to my chest. My bones creaked, and my lungs burned. But then, the [Oceanic Dominance] skill kicked in. My mana fused with the seawater, creating a thin, vibrating film around my skin that equalized the pressure.
I swam toward the Great White Eye. It was massive—the size of a skyscraper. As I approached, the 'Emptying' aura hit me. It felt like a cold wind blowing through my soul, trying to convince me that my level, my harem, and my quest were all illusions.
"You are nothing," a voice boomed in my mind, cold and echoing. "You are a flicker of lust in a cold eternity. Return to the silt."
"I've been called a flicker before," I replied through the mental link, holding up the Fruit of Original Sin. "But I'm a flicker that carries a match."
I smashed the fruit against the Leviathan's translucent, gel-like cornea.
The black ink of the fruit didn't float away. It was absorbed instantly. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. The Leviathan remained a cold, judging god.
Then, the eye blinked.
A shockwave of raw, unadulterated feeling erupted from the beast. The white iris turned a chaotic, swirling red. The Leviathan's massive body, miles long, began to writhe and coil, smashing into the trench walls.
[Target: Leviathan of Judgment.]
[Status: Experiencing 'Ego-Birth'.]
[New Condition: Loneliness. Hunger. Regret. Lust.]
"Welcome to the world of the living, you big bastard," I shouted as I was tossed around by the resulting currents.
The Leviathan's mind was no longer a vacuum. It was a storm. It had just realized it had been alone in the dark for ten thousand years. It realized it was hungry. And most importantly, it realized that the first thing it saw upon 'waking up' was me.
I activated [Touch of the Conqueror].
The golden light of the skill didn't just glow; it blazed, illuminating the entire trench. The Leviathan didn't fight it. It leaned into it. The massive creature began to shrink, its divine mana compressing and folding in on itself, drawing toward the source of the golden light.
Back at the palace, the "Structural Integrity" bar shot up to 200%. The coral spires didn't just glow pink; they exploded into a neon-violet radiance so intense that the Abyssal Myrmidons had to shield their eyes.
I broke the surface of the palace membrane, gasping for air. But I wasn't alone. Floating in the water beside me was a young woman with hair as white as the Leviathan's eye and skin as pale as marble. She looked confused, clutching herself as if she were cold.
[New Thrall Acquired: The Avatar of Judgment (Leticia).]
[Current 'Indecency' Multiplier: 500x.]
"Jin-Woo!" Yuna screamed, rushing over and nearly knocking me back into the water. She stopped, staring at the pale girl. "Is... is that the eye? You turned the eye into a girl?"
"I gave her a personality," I wheezed, climbing onto the pier. "She's a bit overwhelmed right now."
So-Hee walked up, her ice-crown shimmering with more power than I had ever seen. She looked at Leticia, then at me, her expression a mix of awe and genuine concern for my sanity. "You just seduced the God of Chastity's ultimate weapon, didn't you?"
"Seduced is a strong word," I said, looking at the notification screen. "I just reminded her that being a judge is boring compared to being a participant."
Amphitrite knelt before me, her watery form bowing so low she almost dissolved into the pier. "The Leviathan follows you. The Trench belongs to you. Kang Jin-Woo... you are no longer just a Hunter. You are a Sovereign of the Deep."
[System Update]
[Current EXP: 100 Million (Post-Purchase).]
[Notice: The God of Chastity has 'Logged Out' due to a rage-induced migraine.]
I looked at my new Sovereign status. I looked at the three powerful women—and one confused Avatar of Judgment—surrounding me.
"Well," I said, looking at the Sunken Palace. "Now that the house is stable... I think we should celebrate. Leticia needs to learn what 'desire' actually means."
Leticia looked up at me, her white eyes slowly gaining a spark of violet light. "Desire... is it... warm?"
"Very," I grinned.