NovelPantheon

Record of the Abyss

Memory record disguised as a bookRestored and integrated into Jaehwan's memory

History

Jaehwan finds the Record of the Abyss at the eighth and final gate of Eight Gates of Hell. The book identifies itself as the record of Mulack Armelt's failure and offers that story to anyone who clears the trials. Opening it transfers Mulack's memories into Jaehwan rather than giving him an ordinary text to carry. (Chapters 69, 82)

The record guides Jaehwan through Awakening, the Bizarre Factory, Catastrophe, the Metaverse, and the societies of the Abyss. He uses it to identify unfamiliar beings, reconstruct Mulack's route, and prepare arguments or plans from encounters that happened centuries earlier. Its information is valuable but initially fragmented, incomplete, and limited to what Mulack knew during the recorded period. (Chapters 78–148)

At the Grand Auction, Master's Treatise intertwines with the record and supplies new memory connections. After completing Ouroboros, Jaehwan uses Gestalt's Eye to restore the record into an unbroken history. The process takes nearly a month and gives him a fuller account of the Ancient Three Gods, the Three God War, and Mulack's choices—knowledge that later frames his confrontation with both Maiad and Mulack. (Chapters 188–208, 234–242)

Properties and use

The Record of the Abyss is a collection of another person's memories presented in the form of a book. Once opened, passages surface directly in Jaehwan's mind when a place, person, or idea triggers them. This makes the record a practical source of recognition and historical context without making it omniscient. (Chapters 82, 87–109)

Its initial contents are disordered and contain conspicuous gaps: basic current information may be absent, later institutions may not yet exist, and even central concepts such as Big Brother receive little direct explanation. Gestalt's Eye can repair broken relationships among the memories, but doing so requires long concentration and still leaves the record bounded by Mulack's perspective rather than converting it into objective universal knowledge. (Chapters 88–104, 148, 178–208)

Associated characters

  • Mulack Armelt: Mulack authors the record from his memories and presents it as an account of failure.
  • Jaehwan: Jaehwan inherits, consults, and eventually restores the memories.
  • Catastrophe: The record's account of Catastrophe lets Jaehwan approach the Sole King with a deliberate plan.
  • Runald: Runald fills gaps where the old record lacks ordinary or current information.