Frequently Asked Questions

"This article features very frequently asked questions to provide a structured overview to answer them"

Do Chapters come out on a set monthly date?
Chapters may be released on the 10th, 20th, or 30th day of a month, however, there is no fixed schedule. This means they come out once the author, Akihito Tsukushi, is done with a chapter.

How does the Curse work? Can it be avoided by just ascending slowly?
The strain will affect one regardless of time taken for the ascend. The strain is triggered by interaction with the force field. Essentially how it works, by Nanachi's explanation, is that, while one passes right through during descend, the force field warps around one more and more during ascend with the resulting piercing of it, like a thin cloth, at 10 meters manifesting the respective strain(s).

This can't be stopped by ascending in shorter intervals over time, or taking longer time, as the resulted "wrap" will be present regardless once one continues again.

Are all Narehate (Hollows) the same species?
In general, the term "Hollow" is, by Nanachi's initial mention of it, a term used by Delvers which Nanachi has adapted to refer to themselves in order to describe their and Mitty's current state.

Later on, this term was also used by Majikaja to describe to Nanachi that the villagers fall under the same category of people one would refer to as "Hollow", but of different origin than Nanachi as their current form was not created by receiving the blessing of the Abyss, but due to willingly giving their human from up to the village in order to receive the body of their desires. Ever since, it has been a generally accepted term to make it easier to classify them in a "species" though their origins differ.

Are Narehate (Hollows) affected by the curse?
For beings originating from a human origin, it seems that a more complex consciousness needs to be present, and possibly of organic nature, for the curse to have an affect on said beings; as evident by beings outside of that spectrum not being affected by the curse. This also applies to Narehate since they were originally human and only the Narehate without functioning mind, like Mitty and the one at the Altar of the Absolute Boundary, have been shown to be unaffected by the curse. The curse of the abyss also affects the creatures that live in the Abyss, but the symptoms that appear are different from the ones in humans. For instance, if an insect uses some other ability beyond the five senses to grasp its surroundings, then that ability would not be affected by the curse in the 5th Layer. There are also creatures like the Ottobas, which came to the Abyss from the outside and adapted to life in the 2nd Layer. If they cannot adapt, they are eaten, so the Abyss has its own sort of uniquely developed ecosystem like the Galapagos Islands.

Do other White Whistles apart from Ozen and Lyza share a similar bond?
There are some other White Whistles who are at least acquainted with each other and have a shallow relationship.

Is Reg the same individual as in Lyza's Notes?
No, the sketch in Lyza's notes is of a different individual, with noticeable differences in the notes; for example a section describing the claw-like hands of them.

Do the different pattern changes in the glass structure on Reg's helmet display how many times he still can use the incinerator?
Regardless of grade, all Artifacts have a pattern that is theorized by Nanachi to imply how many times they can be used before they become dysfunctional. As such, Nanachi assumes that the pattern changes in the display after Reg used the incinerator is the same. Reg took in the reserve electricity of the power plant at the Ido Front which Bondrewd stated rather than the electricity, it's power itself that Reg had taken in. In the resulting battle, Reg used his incinerator six times. The pattern displayed afterwards was still more vibrant than it had been before the power plant incident and Nanachi made an estimate of Reg having about ten shots of the incinerator left according to it.

Is Reg an Interference Unit?
It is not known what kind of being Reg truly is, or what his origin is. Due to design similarities, Gaburoon wondered if Reg and they might share the same creator; noting that Interference Units don't cross layers and them having no data regarding Interference Units of Reg's kind.

If Reg is affected by the use of Riko's white whistle, why wasn't he affected by Ozen's use of her white whistle?
For a relic to be affected by the effects of blowing a white whistle, there must be some sort of relationship between the white whistle itself, the user, and the relic.

In the case of Riko's white whistle, it is very obvious that Reg (the relic) had a close relationship with Riko (the user), but also was friends with Prushka (the whistle). However, there was no relationship at all between him and Ozen, and whoever was Ozen's whistle.

Does Riko still carry the Blue Pendant with her she picked up close to the location she first found Reg in?
Riko tied the Blue Pendant to her undergarments at one point and its assumed to be still located there.

Is Nanachi immune to the Curse of the Abyss?
While Nanachi can see the forcefield, they are not immune to it and they are not able to completely avoid it during ascend, as proven when they excreted blood while leaving Ido Front with Mitty, as well as when they were affected by the strains of the 5th layer.

Could Torka possibly be the person that became the Life Reverberating Stone used for Lyza's White Whistle?
No, Lyza already was a White Whistle Delver while she was married to Torka. The Life Reverberating Stone used for Lyza's Whistle is of a person named Doni.

Who are the Umbra Hands?
The Umbra Hands is the name of Bondrewd's group of Delvers. All Umbra Hands chose to become one on their own will. Some are not even Delvers, but bounty hunters who originally came after Bondrewd and joined him due to his skills of persuasion.

Does Bondrewd control the Umbra Hands?
The Umbra Hands have free will and their own consciousness. However, Bondrewd can implant his consciousness on them at will. Bondrewd can either assume full control over one of them, or put them into "Auto Bondrewd Mode" at any time to assume control over them and manipulate them like drones. However, this causes their movements to become more sluggish, as Bondrewd has to access all the information in parallel.

How does Bondrewd control the Umbra Hands?
Bondrewd owns a Special Grade Artifact named Zoaholic. This relic allows him to multiply his consciousness and control other bodies. As long as Bondrewd has available Umbra Hands, and the Zoaholic relic, he is virtually immortal.

How did Bondrewd revive after Riko's team defeated him the first time?
Because of Zoaholic, Bondrewd's consciousness is able to "jump" from one body to another of the Umbra Hands' bodies.

After his "welcoming" body was destroyed by Reg in their first fight, he jumped bodies to that of the Umbra Hand that was guarding Prushka. The new body recovered Bondrewd's mask and whistle from the old body and put it on, essentially becoming the new Bondrewd.

How did the new body change shape and clothing to match the old body?
Bondrewd has certain heavily armed Umbra Hands. These Umbra Hands wear white outfits. Under this clothing, some cotton padding hides the real shape and weaponry these bodies equip. The Umbra Hand that was guarding Prushka, and to which Bondrewd "jumped" into after his previous body was killed, was fully equipped with Sparagmos, Far Caress, Gangway, Shaker, the tail, and possibly other weapons, but they were all hidden under the white cotton clothing. Once Bondrewd was in control of this body, he ripped the padding away and his true looks became visible.

Why does the body Bondrewd use in his battle against Reg have a multi-layered eye with tentacles able to come forth of it?
The multi-layered eye, as well as the tentacles, are two separate Artifacts of the body Bondrewd took over.

Did Bondrewd die at the end of their second fight? Why does he appear again just before the end?
The combat body that Riko's team defeated in Ido Front was indeed killed. However, Bondrewd used Zoaholic to make his conscience jump into another of the Umbra Hands. At the end, when Riko's Team is departing, it's Bondrewd in a new body giving them blessings and prayers for their journey.

Did Riko's Team destroy Zoaholic, as they said they would?
They didn't. At the end of the fight, Prushka expressed her will for them not to fight each other anymore. Since Riko is able to sense Prushka's emotions even in her life-reverberating stone shape, Riko told Nanachi that they should leave Bondrewd alone, and Nanachi respected Riko's will. They had an off-screen negotiation with Bondrewd after defeating the second body.

Why didn't they shatter Bondrewd's mask at the end of the fight?
Same reason as above.

Why did Bondrewd become blessed at the end of the fight in Ido Front?
Bondrewd became blessed by the love of Prushka while ascending from the Miniature Garden Of Dawn, that is at the 6th layer.

Why didn't Bondrewd become blessed before that when he returned from his expeditions from the Sixth Layer while using cartridges?
Love is required for achieving the Blessing. The person in the cartridge needs to have a love bond with the subject, while the subject is protected from the Curse. It can be concluded that none of the other children in the cartridges had such a feeling for Bondrewd.

Why did Prushka turn into a Life-reverberating Stone?
The requirements for creating life-reverberating stones aren't clear, but it involves a human to sacrifice themselves for the sake of another person to push forward in the Abyss. Ido Front was used since ancient times to perform such ritual, so it is perhaps required that the sacrifice suffers the strains of ascending of the 6th layer. Prushka was in one of Bondrewd's cartridges when he and Reg fell to the Miniature Garden that is in the 6th layer, and then, during the fight, both combatants climbed back to Ido Front in the 5th layer. During the ascension, Prushka was hit by the the Curse of the 6th layer, while she was wishing for Riko to push forward in her adventure in the Abyss. Probably, these circumstances were very similar to those that happen during the ritual to create life-reverberating stones, causing Prushka to become Riko's white whistle.[citation needed]

How does Mitty exist in Ilblu?
The Mitty in Ilblu is an exact copy of the Mitty at the time Bondrewd visited the village; according to Belaf, even down to the soul itself being an exact replica.

Is Faputa a Narehate who is not affected by the curse though having a complex mind?
Strictly speaking, Faputa is a being created by the village without prior existence. As such, unlike Narehate who were priorly human, Faputa is not affected by the curse, but has been generally accepted to fall into the summary of Narehate as "species" due to the villagers referring to her as "The Princess of the Narehate".

Is the pattern that Faputa has in her new form in her eye the same pattern as the one Reg has in the lens on his helmet?
The pattern in Faputa's eye is different from all patterns displayed in the lens of Reg's helmet so far.

What language is spoken in Orth?
The language spoken in Orth is a small fraction of the less complex Nether Glyphs. From the said to be tens of thousands of pictographs found among the ruins inside the Abyss only the simple ones were selected and matched up with sounds of the official language, and thus became the Nether Glyphs used in Orth. Furthermore, each one of the characters had a sound and meaning, referred to as Ideographs, and have been used in Orth since approximately 300 years ago as "simplified characters"; initially they were used by Delvers as codes.

How big is the 5th layer?
It is the thinnest vertical layer of the Abyss, being only 1,000 meters deep, but it is also the widest one horizontally and, according to Riko, said to be ten of times the size of Orth.

With the Water Supports collapsing, is the 5th Layer in danger of collapsing?
No. Within the 5th layer exist the Water supports which can collapse, and "Water Bastions" which are permanent.

How do balloons fly up from the 6th layer to the 5th layer with the Sea of Corpses in the middle?
The Abyss's shaft doesn't stop at the Sea of Corpses. It goes on downwards as a hole in the middle of the sea, with a circular waterfall pouring down to the 6th layer. This hole, at the center of the 5th, isn't the route that White Whistles use for their Last Dives. Instead, they use the Altar of the Absolute Boundary at Ido Front, which is situated closer to the outer edge of this layer. Mail Balloons, and nametags, can move freely between layers through the central shaft. See the sketch below by Tsukushi featuring the central shaft and circular waterfall in the Sea of Corpses, as well as a Mail Balloon ascending from the 6th layer, and Ido Front towards the left side, for reference.

Did Bondrewd build Ido Front completely from scratch in the 5th layer?
Ido Front was build on ruins of what was a ritual site thousands of years ago.

Why couldn't Ganja find a viable water source on the 6th layer, yet Riko's group found one?
Due to the the long time that has passed since Ganja's time on the 6th layer, it is possible that shifts in geography allowed for small water reserves to be unearthed or dip from above into it. Thus Riko's group was able to find water.

When was the village created?
According to Wazukyan, it has been 150 years on the 6th layer since the village was created.

What language is spoken in the village and is it the same language as delvers use?
The language of the village is based of pictographs with more than one meaning. According to the interaction between Menae and Sherumi, the characters are seemingly unlimited in number and new kinds are still being found. They are considered separated from the Nether Glyphs used in Orth and are called Beyond Glyphs.

Why can the villagers not leave the village?
All villagers have given up their original human bodies willingly to the village and took on a form of their respective desires. As such, they have become a part of the village, are bound to it, and a force field prevents them from leaving. Furthermore, nothing created in the village can exist outside of its protective boundary. This also applies to the bodies of the villagers, causing them to fade away if outside of said boundary.

Are cartridges only made from humans that had a bond with Bondrewd and how do they work?
Cartridges are made from the flesh and essence of humans who are the easiest to transport and won't be missed. The Curse is deflected away from Bondrewd and onto the person in the cartridge instead.

What is inside the cartridges?
Only the brain, part of the spine and enough guts to live for a few days until the expiration date of the respective Cartridge; as well as a liquid drug cocktail to manipulate the ecstasy and terror. After all has been thoroughly scraped off, it's wrapped in skin and flesh.

How many Cradles are known to have been used in the timeline?
All in all, three Cradles of Desire are confirmed. According to Vueko, all three were inherited by Faputa.
 * 1) The first one found by Ganja and given to Irumyuui during the Pseudowater Crisis.
 * 2) The second one given to Irumyuui by Wazukyan to strengthen her power.
 * 3) The third one that Wazukyan failed to use and was absorbed by Irumyuui when he was transformed into a Narehate.

Does each pin give the user exactly the strength of a thousand individual humans?
No, there is no direct relation for the terminology "strength of a thousand men" to specific individuals as it functions similar to a phrase like "strong like a bear"; it is basically used to describe someone or something as "very strong" and not akin to a specific number of actual individuals being added to the strength.

Can Ozen's height be explained by her use of the pins?
No, the author has explained that Ozen is in possession of relics that have not been shown in the story, including the relic responsible for her extraordinary height.