Across all of Aurelis, players screens flickered almost simultaneously.[WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT][Floor 50 — Malacath, the Keeper of the Final Dawn, has been defeated][Conqueror: AZRAEL][Method: Solo Clear]For a moment, the entire server seemed to stop breathing.Inside the headquarters of Crimson Dawn Legion guild, Valkaros hurled his glass. “Say that again! Read exactly what just appeared,” he snapped at the screen in front of him, as if his tone alone could force the notification to change.“I’ve read it three times, Valkaros.” Grimholt stood in the corner with his arms crossed. “Last night, we failed. The seven strongest guilds with the best formation we’ve ever assembled, and Malacath still stood. Today, that creature is dead, and it was done by one person.”“That’s impossible. We hadn’t even figured out the third phase attack patterns yet.” Valkaros’s voice trembled, a disbelief that gnawed at the foundation of everything he believed about himself as the number one player.In ano

"If I disappeared tonight, who would even notice?"Raka said it to the empty room, an old habit of talking to himself after spending too long as the only voice he heard outside of the game. The virtual capsule hissed behind him, its lid opening and releasing a thin stream of cold vapor that blended into the stillness of a room far quieter than the world he had just left.No one answered his question. He had known the answer for a long time.He sat on the edge of the capsule, letting his body readjust, the ache in his muscles, the racing beat of his heart, the lingering scent of ruined dust that had felt almost real just seconds ago. All of it faded back into memory the moment his feet touched the cold floor of his apartment. One bedroom, a living space that was empty more often than it was used, no family photos on the walls. At twenty-five, Raka had long grown used to this kind of silence. It was no longer painful. It simply existed.His mind was still crowded with the words from the

"If you're deliberately watching me, why not show yourself?"Nox threw the question into the empty space ahead, his eyes still fixed on the spot between the dead trees where the shadowy figure had disappeared. There was no answer, only a faint, cold wind drifting through.The Erebus Guardian let out a low snort, its wings spreading slightly, a clear sign it was on guard.Nox stepped forward slowly, observing every detail of the ground around him. There were no footprints, no traces of skill residue. Even the shadows of the trees in that area felt darker than they should have, as if they were absorbing more light than usual."If you really are watching, then I'll assume you're part of the system that reset me. Sooner or later, we'll meet again."He continued walking through the dead forest, the two Shadow Wisps floating around him while the Erebus Guardian moved cautiously behind, its head turning every few steps to check the tree line.It took some time before the black trees began to

“They say three parties went in this week, but not a single one came back.”Nox stopped mid-step, his ears catching the conversation between two players at the corner of a tavern. They were close enough that he did not need to try to overhear.“That Forbidden Dungeon? I heard the loot inside is insane. One of them is a growth-type piece of equipment,” the other player said quietly, a mix of fear and curiosity in his voice.“That’s why people still go in, even with the risk.”Nox did not join the conversation. Growth-type equipment was not something trivial. If it was real, and if the dungeon was deadly enough to wipe out three parties, I needed to see it.“Erebus,” he murmured softly so no one else could hear. “We have a new destination.”The Forbidden Dungeon lay far beyond the city’s radius, hidden behind steep cliffs rarely crossed by ordinary players. Its entrance just a dark crevice in a stone wall, without any dramatic marker, as if deliberately designed to be overlooked.“No le

"You all heard that, right? Just one guy. And he already made Bloodthorn run off like a scared kid."The voice echoed from behind the cliffside ruins, followed by footsteps, far more of them than before. Nox stopped, quickly counting the silhouettes emerging from every direction.Bloodthorn stood in the middle of the crowd, his face still carrying the grudge from his earlier defeat, now smirking with full confidence."Didn't expect you'd be brave enough to come back," Nox said.Bloodthorn raised a hand, signaling to his entire group. "I came back to make sure you never get the chance to tell anyone what happened earlier."A hulking man stepped forward from the ranks, a double-headed axe gripped in both hands, his face marked with virtual scars he'd deliberately kept as a status symbol."Deathbringer," Nox murmured, reading the name. "You brought an entire PK guild just for me?""Reputation costs money, Bloodthorn already paid a fortune to summon us," Deathbringer replied.Nox recalcul