"Exactly," Richard said. "Which is why my answer is absolutely, unequivocally no. I will not send three first-year students into a death zone, no matter how desperate our situation becomes."But Ben, surprisingly, spoke up before Harry could."What's the alternative?" Ben's voice was quiet but steady, his earlier fear transforming into grim determination. "Professor, be honest with us. If we stay at Holy Mountain and follow the 'safe' path—minimal resources, basic training, hoping for the best—what happens at next year's tournament?"Richard's jaw clenched. He didn't answer."We get crushed," Ben continued, answering his own question. "We get eliminated in the first round, just like Holy Mountain has been for the past decade. We prove everyone right about this academy being finished. Harry loses a ten-million-denar bet that ruins him financially. Yona gets forced to transfer to Imperial Academy by her father. I go back to my family as a failure who chose pride over results."He stood

Richard wanted to believe him. God, how he wanted to believe that these three exceptional students wouldn't become three more names on an endless casualty list.But he'd been alive long enough to know that wanting something didn't make it true."Go," he said tiredly. "Prepare yourselves. We leave at dawn tomorrow—I'm coming with you as far as the realm entrance. I won't be able to protect you once you're inside, but I'll be there when you come out. If you come out."As the three students filed out of his office, tokens clutched in their hands, Richard sat alone in the growing darkness.He'd just given three first-year students permission to enter a death zone.Either he'd enabled their greatest achievement, or he'd signed their execution orders.Only time would tell which.That night, Harry sat alone in his room with Rose, the black token resting on the desk before them like a judge's gavel waiting to fall. The little angel—no longer quite so little after her evolution and level gains

Temperature spiked so dramatically that Harry gasped, feeling like he'd walked into an oven.His skin immediately began to sweat, moisture evaporating almost as fast as it formed.The air was thick with sulfur and heat, each breath burning his lungs like he was inhaling steam.The Crimson Cavern lived up to its name in ways that made Harry's stomach clench with primal unease.Everything was red. Not just tinted red or lit with red light—everything was bathed in deep crimson illumination that came from crystals embedded in the walls, ceiling, and floor.The crystals pulsed like heartbeats, their light creating shadows that moved wrong, that seemed to reach toward the living with hungry intent.Jagged rock formations jutted from the ground at odd angles, creating a maze-like environment where every corner could hide an ambush.Lava pools bubbled and hissed, sending up gouts of steam that obscured visibility.Stalactites dripped with something that definitely wasn't water, leaving acidic

Conservatively, Harry estimated they'd gathered materials worth over forty thousand denars in just three hours.Most students earned maybe seven or eight thousand denars worth of materials in six months of safe, official realm access with supervision and support.But the real reward was Rose's growth. Harry watched her experience bar climb with each kill, the system tracking her development:[Rose Level 8 → Level 9][Rose Level 9 → Level 10][Rose Level 10 → Level 11][Rose Level 11 → Level 12][Rose Level 12 → Level 13][Rose Level 13 → Level 14]By the time they stopped to rest in a relatively cool alcove, Rose had reached Level 14—approaching Bronze Rank herself, her attributes climbing to heights that made her stronger than most second-year academy students' contracted beasts.[System Notification: Rose eligible for equipment upgrade - Minor Enhancement available]Yona sat against a cool rock that felt like paradise after hours in the heat, staring at Rose with undisguised awe and

Gareth's grin vanished, replaced by cold fury at being defied by what he considered prey."Cassandra," he said flatly, gesturing to the scarred woman. "Go teach the boy some manners. Kill him slow."Cassandra's beast materialized in a blur of dark smoke and shadow—a Level 24 Shadow Panther built for speed and assassination.Its fur was midnight black, its eyes glowing yellow, its claws rated sharp enough to tear through steel plate armor like tissue paper.The beast was a killer, pure and simple.No utility abilities, no harvesting specializations—just raw predatory lethality honed through years of murdering people in dark places."With pleasure," Cassandra purred, her scarred face twisting into something eager and hungry.The Shadow Panther lunged.It moved with blinding speed—faster than Yona could track, faster than Ben could process, a blur of darkness and death that crossed the distance between Cassandra and Harry in less than a second.Its claws extended, positioned for a disemb