Galaxy's First Ruler

That I am Recordless or not, I have nothing to say about it.

But I wonder why people feel disgusted at the mention of this term. Why does all the Recordless need to hide behind a mask? Why are they treated as lower than Crawlers? And why are they being considered nothing but slaves?

I am an avid reader of history. Hence, I have learned that when the Ancient Dreamers found out a way to free themselves from the 'RECORD', they considered it as salvation and not damnation. Yet, the historical scrolls don't talk about at what point of time this point of view changed. Why did going back to being a normal person get tainted as a Sin?

I first saw Recordless when I had yet to become a Dreamer. And I thank the spirits of my Ancestors that I asked about them to my father. For I don't know what could have happened to me if it were to be someone else. Here I would like to mention the conversation that had taken place between an innocent child and a father. A conversation that had the power to influence my personality.

*

"Father, why are they wearing masks?"

"They are Recordless."

Readers must understand that I was a mere child, known for having the gift of being overly curious. And thus, though sufficient, this answer wasn't enough for me.

"What is Recordless?"

"Hmm, have you learned about Dreamers?"

Asking this question to me was like bringing a pet Crawler in the case of other children. For him to ask that question, father must have known about my infatuation.

"Yes! Dreamers are the cornerstone of our Galaxy's strength. Among millions, the 'RECORD' chooses only a few to become a Dreamer. Becoming a Dreamer is bringing honor and glory to one's family. I will become a Dreamer like father and mother."

It wasn't until many days later that I got to know that my mother had never returned from her Random-Allocation. In a place where not being able to survive a raid was considered a sign of weakness, shedding tears while hiding in a corner was the only thing I could do.

"Haha! You will, you will. So you know how Dreamers go on hunting once in a while in Dungeon, right? Well, some people don't want to do that. So they instead give up on their 'Record' and become Recordless."

"But father, how would they become strong if they don't have a 'Record'?"

"Every choice has its consequences. Recordless can never level up or gain Points. They can't equip Items either. They can't gain more life force and the only thing left to them would be the power they had before giving up 'RECORD'. It's the sacrifice for being freed from Raids."

Things and terms that could baffle others were quite clear to me. For I was named a genius by scholars and I don't deny that. Given that, the idea of not being able to become stronger was equal to giving up on the honor. And I couldn't comprehend why someone would willingly do that.

But the thing to notice, which I hadn't concentrated on, was the points that my father had described. Now that I think of those words, they fulfill all the conditions of an ideal slave in the minds of many nobles.

"But why do they wear masks?"

I take pride in memory as I can remember the struggle of emotions on my father's face. He took several seconds to answer me.

"The craving for freedom has often been mistaken with cowardliness. And society is full of people who know how to leverage this misunderstanding. Remember, the collar around a dog's neck is not for control, but a symbol of status. The mask serves the same purpose."

For quite some time, I had dreams related to what my father had said. But there were many things to being fascinated in childhood, making me forget those words.

Those dreams only returned as nightmares when I became a Dreamer myself.

*

A few hours ago, I had sensed that we were being followed. So I separated myself from others and hid under the earth. None of them were strong enough to notice me. But this mission is crucial to the House Venomous Rose, so I needed to make sure to not have any unknown factors involved.

As I came out of the teleportation, the gray mist surrounded me. I looked up and the things I saw, makes me feel irrelevant on the scale of Cosmos even while writing this.

The sky that should have been clouded or shimmering with stars was littered with thousands of planets instead. On the ground, there were graves everywhere. Left and right, and from the furthest point to my eyes could see, I saw graves. But the terrifying things weren't the graves but the statues over the tombstones.

Some statues were covered with a yellow-muddy pillar of light while others were green. If there were billions of graves, then there were that many statues. I couldn't help but recall the name of the first level of Death Separation.

The Thousand Planets Graveyard.

I saw many Dreamers appearing and vanishing in front of the graves. And couldn't help but wonder how many of these Common level Dungeons would be on these planets combined. But I had to hold myself back from those thoughts.

In the distance, I saw a tombstone even bigger and mightier than the one I had seen at the entrance of the first level. The three carriages entered the chasm under that to reach the second level, not knowing that they were being followed. But I couldn't let those Bounty Hunters continue any longer.

Before they could jump down into the chasm, I appeared in front of them. The mask on my face must have taken them by surprise, for it took them some time to bombard me with many skills.

For the first time in this graveyard, red roses bloomed.

In the end, the number of graves was still the same as only bodies need graves, not ashes.