[May the will of the ancient gods be with you.]

"Hah."

The panel floated in front of Karl again, carrying that same eerie line he had seen once before.

This was only the second time it appeared in this life—the first time being the moment he stepped into the [Moon Tower].

And just like back then, its meaning was clear.

If this system felt the need to show him that message again, then what he was walking into wasn't just difficult—it was beyond anything a normal player could hope to deal with.

It meant this zone wasn't just dangerous; it was the kind of place an average player would take one look at before turning around and running the hell away.

A place where the weak wouldn't even last a single minute.

But even with all that, even with the message basically screaming danger at him, Karl didn't feel the slightest hesitation.

His steps didn't slow, his grip on his staff didn't loosen, and his resolve didn't waver by even a fraction.

No matter what this place was or how impossible others would find it, Karl wasn't about to stop.

He couldn't afford to. He had to push through it.

Because if he didn't find a way into the [Gods Continent], then everything would simply repeat.

They would all be annihilated again.

And the truth, the one Karl never wanted to admit even in the back of his mind, was that the being who destroyed his world was most likely one of the [Ancient Gods].

Something far beyond anything he could face right now.

Even if he somehow hit level 100, even if he pushed all the way to 150, he knew the truth: he wouldn't stand a chance.

Not even close.

'The lives loss rate of this place is terrifying,' Karl thought as he exhaled slowly, 'This is bad.'

[Lives: 8,213]

If he died nine times, then that was it.

Though honestly, even dying once would be a huge setback.

If he died even a single time, he'd be forcefully teleported back to [Floral City], and from there he'd have to wait for the [Gardener] to respawn.

Then he'd have to kill it again for another [Danger Zone Key].

And knowing how annoying drop rates could be… he might need to kill it multiple times before getting a key again.

To make things worse, the key disappeared the moment he used it.

So if he failed here, he'd have to start all over. No shortcuts, no exceptions.

Karl took a slow breath to steady his nerves and looked around carefully.

He stood inside a warped version of the [Flower Labyrinth], a twisted alternate dimension known as the [Danger Zone].

Even the atmosphere felt wrong.

The sky overhead was entirely crimson, as if painted in blood, and a dark sun hung in the center like a dying eye staring down at everything.

The walls of the labyrinth were made of darkened vines, pulsing faintly like they were alive.

It didn't look like the starting region of a continent.

It looked like something that belonged at the end of the game—somewhere only top-tier players should ever set foot in.

Karl stepped forward, gripping his staff a little tighter, but the moment he took his first step—

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The ground cracked open around him, several holes bursting upward in a violent eruption.

From each one, monsters began crawling out of the earth.

'Already?'

---

[Danger Sentinel (Level 50)]

[Rank: Legendary]

[HP: 350,000]

---

Five of them emerged—sentinels made of tightly woven dark vines, each one standing tall with glowing crimson eyes locked directly onto him.

All five were legendary-rank.

Legendary.

As basic monsters.

No boss arena, no special event, no warning—just legendary units appearing immediately, armed with massive spears made of the same dark vines as their bodies.

But even then, Karl didn't back down for even a second.

He could already see the path ahead, a corridor where the light shone brighter than anywhere else in this twisted maze.

That was the direction he needed to go.

But before he reached it…

"You're in my way," Karl said, a grin spreading across his face.

He spun his staff once, the motion smooth and practiced, and just as the sentinels took their first synchronized step toward him, he thrust the staff forward.

Blazing Meteor!

A blazing mass of fire formed instantly at the tip of his staff, swelling in size until it looked like a miniature sun.

Even the sentinels froze for a moment, their bodies stiffening in some kind of instinctive fear.

They didn't even have the chance to reposition properly.

Fwish!

BOOM!

-664,200! -664,200! -664,200!

The meteor exploded with such overwhelming force that the entire clearing shook.

The AoE was massive, so massive that every single sentinel was caught in the blast without Karl needing to aim at all.

'I'll have to be careful.'

[Fire Meteor] had an area of effect that was manageable under normal conditions, which was the only reason he hadn't harmed anyone back when he fought the [Special Boss].

But here?

In any other crowded zone, that attack would've absolutely wiped out any nearby players by accident.

His damage output was simply too high, even without the 1.5x elemental weakness multiplier.

Even without the boost, those sentinels would've died anyway.

Ding!

---

[You have killed x5 "Danger Sentinel (Level 50)"]

[You have gained 420,000 experience points.]

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 40!]

[You have gained 5 points in all attributes, and 5 free points to distribute.]

[You have gained 1 Evolution Point!]

[You have gained 382 Lives!]

---

Hand of Oblivion!

[You have gained 276 Lives!]

'Nice.'

Karl immediately went over to the monster corpses, but to his disappointment, nothing good had dropped.

Still, he stored all the [Danger Vine Spears], [Danger Vine Armor], and other materials into his backpack.

But when he tried storing the last few…

Beep!

[Inventory Space: 50/50]

Full.

'Well, I kind of expected that anyway.'

He crouched down and began digging through his backpack, checking every item one by one.

After sifting through everything for a few minutes, he finally settled on what to throw away.

He got rid of the [Moon Goblin General Axe], the [Goblin Warlord Blade], the [Moon Shaman Scepter], and a handful of other lower-level items from the [Moon Tower]—all stuff between level 15 and 25.

Once he tossed them, he checked again:

[Inventory Space: 32/50]

"Perfect."

He now had more than enough space, and everything left inside was worth selling in the region.

Once that was taken care of, Karl looked toward the path ahead, the only route he could take.

But before heading off…

"Gotta equip them."

He had just hit level 40, which meant he could finally wear the [Dweller Boots (Legendary)] he'd earned from the [Maze Dweller Leader].

---

[Dweller Boots (Legendary): +1,500 Constitution, +900 Agility, +1,000 Physical Resistance. Requirement: Level 40.]

[Wall Dweller (Passive): Able to temporarily climb up walls while these boots are equiped.]

---

They were perfect, he stats, the passive, everything.

So he tossed away his old [Blizzard Fox Fur Boots] and equipped the new ones.

A sudden rush of energy surged through his body.

His stamina felt fuller. His movements felt lighter.

[Constitution: 205 (+1,780)]

[Agility: 275 (+1,150)]

With that much constitution, his HP now exceeded 20,000.

Even without the [All-Powerful Magic Barrier], it would take multiple hits to bring him down.

And with that boost in agility, he was faster than before—fast enough to avoid attacks better than most warriors or assassins.

A wide grin appeared on Karl's face.

'Alright, only way ahead is forward,' he thought, 'I have to reach the end of the [Danger Zone].'

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