I'm Trapped in the Block

In the beginning, humanity used the power granted by the Core well.

But the Core had overlooked one thing: human lifespans were finite. Unlike immortal beings such as itself, they could not master a language for all eternity.

The power of time could not be ignored. Even between two generations, differences in accent would emerge.

Though these were only subtle variations, they caused a world of difference in the power of the language. As time went on, some words were even lost entirely.

Humanity’s pronunciation grew stranger and stranger, constantly changing in the river of time. Different regions also gave rise to different pronunciations.

Due to the limitations of their vocal organs, their pronunciation gradually drifted.

However, humanity also realized its power was fading. They carved the words granted by the Core onto murals. When their descendants were born, the words from these murals would overlay them, correcting their pronunciation.

This was the origin of the hieroglyphs, relics created by ancient humans.

But the hieroglyphs were finite and could only be bestowed once. Over time, the hieroglyphs on the murals vanished.

With the disappearance of these words, human languages blossomed in a hundred different directions, deviating further and further from the original.

War and migration diversified the languages even more, and the power gradually faded until it was lost entirely. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

By this point, the Core’s influence had slowly faded away.

It asked its friend if it should disseminate the language again so that humanity could reclaim this power.

But its friend shook her head. "There’s no need. This is their own choice. They will find other ways to become strong. You have to believe in them!"

The Core heard the regret in its friend’s voice, but since she said not to, it saw no reason to go to the trouble.

However, after that, its friend sought it out less and less. The Core made many efforts to change this, but nothing worked.

Until she stopped appearing altogether.

...

"So, I must correct humanity. Then she will come find me."

The Core spoke calmly, as if it were discussing something utterly mundane.

After hearing the Core’s story, the Master of Right Words finally understood. This was all just the Core’s wishful thinking. He was furious at its actions. "If she won’t come to you, then you go find her! What’s the point of ’correcting’ humanity?"

The Master of Right Words was speechless. He felt like the Core was missing a few screws.

"I have looked for her, but I cannot find her. This is the only way. She cares deeply for humanity. Once she sees the changes in them, she will come to me."

"I will finish correcting the Black Tower. Then, I will correct all the humans in the Abyss, followed by the humans on Earth."

"This is my Correction Plan."

"I will be able to see her again, and humanity will regain its great power. Is that not a good thing?"

The Core’s retort left the Master of Right Words speechless.

The Master of Right Words knew you couldn’t reason with these abyssal beings. Their logic was completely different from that of humans. In the Core’s eyes, humanity was an insignificant species.

The Core had altered the cognition of the humans inside the Black Tower, partly to prevent information about the Black Tower from leaking out.

As for the modifications it made to human organs, it was no different than what humans do to lab mice. It had no other motive than to "correct" humanity as quickly as possible.

"Once the correction of the Black Tower is complete, it will be opened, correct?" the Master of Right Words asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes."

The Core’s words were absolute. It would carry out its plan to the letter, and no one could change its mind.

The twisted humans in the Black Tower were a lost cause anyway. The Master of Right Words considered himself no savior; he just wanted to escape this place as quickly as possible.

And so, after careful consideration, he made a decision: he would accelerate the "Correction Plan."

To accelerate the correction, he had to get the robed people, with their myriad bizarre pronunciations, to master the correct one.

After wracking his brain for a long time, the Master of Right Words concluded that there was no way to learn a language other than by word of mouth.

However, he also understood that communication between people with incorrect accents would only make learning more difficult.

So the Master of Right Words decided to find a place where he could personally teach the correct pronunciation. After much thought, he decided the area within the Stone Gate was the most suitable.

The place was quiet and secluded. He would first screen a group of people to bring over, teach them the correct pronunciation, and then invite more of the robed people.

And so, the Master of Right Words built a castle within the Stone Gate. He then brought a group of robed people, those willing to leave their homes to study with him, to live inside it.

The castle, which resembled a "language immersion school," was fully equipped and far superior to the primitive society the robed people were used to. Those who came were pleasantly surprised and grew to admire the Master of Right Words even more.

These robed people voluntarily took on various duties within the castle, taking charge of getting the entire "school" up and running.

The Master of Right Words was happy to let them. He even taught different pronunciations based on their duties, allowing them to use the resulting powers in their work while simultaneously practicing.

This made the robed people eternally grateful to him, and it was the origin of the different "classrooms" within the castle.

Soon, many of the robed people met the Core’s requirements. The Master of Right Words sent them back to their hometowns to find "talented seeds" and bring them inside the Stone Gate to continue spreading the knowledge of pronunciation.

After these robed people returned to their villages, they told everyone about the wonderful life inside the castle, and word of Black Tower Castle began to spread.

More and more robed people arrived at Black Tower Castle, which soon became overcrowded. To solve this, the Master of Right Words had the robed people expand outwards from the castle, creating what is now Black Tower City.

"From now on, everyone must use sign language to communicate. Do not speak using that strange, mispronounced language. It will corrupt your pronunciation and could lead to the misuse of your powers."

The Master of Right Words laid down this rule for all the robed people who came to Black Tower City, all to accelerate the progress of their "correction."

The use of sign language also prevented unnecessary destruction in Black Tower City.

By this time, all the robed people had placed their absolute trust in the Master of Right Words. They obeyed his every command without question, and some even began to deify him.

Although the Master of Right Words wanted to accelerate the Correction Plan, the endless stream of robed people left him mentally and physically exhausted.

There were simply too many robed people in the Black Tower, and their skill levels were wildly inconsistent. The castle itself was struggling to support the teaching activities.

"Stop letting more people come up for now. I’ll write a book to help them master the basics first."

So, the Master of Right Words wrote that "textbook." The book detailed a method, using Blood Exchange Therapy, to implant knowledge directly into the minds of robed people with extremely poor pronunciation.

The robed people would also learn the location of the Stone Gate through this process, which would serve to screen for "talent."

Of course, it had some other uses as well...

At this point, Bai Zhou suddenly realized something and asked in disbelief, "Blood Exchange Therapy? Martin?"

Hearing Bai Zhou’s question, the Master of Right Words snapped his head around as if his own name had been called and blurted out:

"Yes. I am Martin."