CHAPTER 192: REACHING THE FOURTH ZONE, THE FOURTH MISSION

Fwish!

Less than a minute had passed before Sam finally caught sight of the [Third Barrier] in the distance, and the moment he saw it, a surge of determination shot through him like fire in his veins.

The third barrier towered before him like a wall of emerald flame, stretching endlessly across the land.

That barrier was the test for every awakener who had managed to survive this far, a green inferno that denied passage to anyone who hadn’t completed the third mission.

But Sam wasn’t like the rest.

He had done it.

He was the first to complete it, which meant that this wall of fire no longer blocked his path.

He could go deeper. He could finally step into the [Fourth Zone].

But even as he pushed forward, a thought gnawed at him.

The fourth zone was a mystery. He hadn’t seen the mission yet.

Every time he completed one, the next mission’s name appeared immediately, but it was always only the name—never the details.

No hints, no explanation, just a title carved into the panel like a cruel joke.

It gave nothing away, yet Sam still found it useful.

At least he knew what he was walking into—at least by name.

"Oh well."

He muttered to himself as the toxic aura of the [Nuke] pressed against his barrier even from here.

But even under its relentless pressure, he pressed on, closing the gap between himself and the wall of fire.

The [Hatred Boost] had faded long ago, but his [Hatred Wings] still burned bright.

They cut through the air like blades, carrying him with a speed that made even his Primordial body strain to keep up.

He had to admit—he was satisfied.

If he made it out alive, these wings would serve him well in the battles that lay ahead.

But just as the thought settled in his mind—

Fwiiiish! BOOM!

Sam crashed through the green inferno of the [Third Barrier] at the exact moment his primordial barrier’s durability dropped to zero.

The timing was razor-thin.

A single heartbeat later, and the toxic aura would have eaten him alive.

Ding!

[You have entered the "Fourth Zone"]

Sam froze in place, breath caught in his chest, waiting for the next wave of death.

His barrier was gone.

If even a sliver of the [Nuke]’s poison seeped into this new zone, he was finished.

But as the seconds ticked by—nothing happened.

The air here was clean.

The aura had been cut off completely.

"YES!"

Sam let out a crazed laugh, collapsing onto the ground.

"FUCK YOU!"

The words tore from his throat as his crimson eyes blazed with raw aura.

The [Nuke]’s aura couldn’t follow him past the barrier.

Each zone was its own reality, sealed and separate, and nothing from outside could interfere once you crossed over.

For the first time since the nightmare began, Sam could breathe freely.

He sat there for a moment, chest heaving, lips pulled into a grin that was half relief and half madness.

’I need to keep going.’

The thought clawed its way through the haze.

’These things... they’re too strong. That means I have to get stronger even faster.’

Because he knew the truth.

Those beings watching him could change their minds at any second.

They could decide they were bored.

They could decide he had failed to entertain them.

And if that happened, if he disappointed them even once, he wouldn’t just die—he would be erased like trash.

No. He wouldn’t allow it.

There was only one path forward. Level up to the final rank. Increase his attributes.

Unlock new skills, evolve them, push them all to their maximum tier.

If he didn’t, then all his struggles, all his survival, would collapse into nothing.

He forced himself to his feet, sighing as he looked ahead.

The third zone behind him was clean now.

When he had finished each mission, the corruption infecting that zone had vanished.

In the first zone, the corruption had been the final boss of the [Seventh Layer].

In the second, it was the Tower of Fate, towering and merciless, gone the moment he cleared it.

And in the third, it had been the [Astral Orb].

When Sam killed the astrals, the orb had vanished.

Of course, the astrals would respawn again in twenty-four hours to give others a chance, but until then—he was safe.

Or at least, he thought he was.

Ding!

[Mission #4: Conquer the "Maze of the Damned"]

"...Seriously?"

Sam stared at the glowing panel for several seconds before dragging a hand down his face with a heavy sigh.

He should have expected it.

The name only appeared once he entered the [Fourth Zone], and this time was no different.

But the words etched on the panel sent a chill down his spine.

The "Maze of the Damned."

It sounded worse than anything he had faced so far.

Worse than all seven layers of the [Forsaken Realm] combined.

’And this is only the fourth mission.’

Sam’s eyes narrowed.

That meant the monsters here would be even stronger, the trials even harsher.

The closer he got to the end, the more brutal it would become.

The realm itself would rise against him.

Sam clenched his fists.

Right now, he was alone.

The third mission had been team-oriented, so many awakeners would eventually complete it.

But the fourth...

This was different.

This was where the real separation began.

Sam could feel it in his bones.

The weak would vanish.

The average would fall.

Only the strongest would advance.

A new panel flickered before his eyes.

[From now on, only the strongest will remain and advance =)]

"Hm."

Sam nodded to himself, lips tightening.

"Once I clear this, only three missions will remain. I’ll need to grind hard before then."

But he couldn’t take too long either.

The being who had stopped him before hadn’t spoken for itself.

It had said "we."

Plural.

There were more of them.

And all of them demanded entertainment.

If he failed, even once—

Sam’s jaw clenched as the memory of those mocking words echoed in his mind.

’One more disappointment and I might have to call the whole thing off.’

His Primordial Clone had already died once, and Sam had resummoned it without issue.

It was only a ten-minute cooldown, so it didn’t matter.

But the reminder was clear—

He didn’t have the luxury of failing again.

’I guess... I need to clear the fourth mission too, huh?’

He glanced ahead.

He did want to return to the [Forsaken Kingdom].

He wanted to use the three [Skill Tier Advancement Scrolls] burning a hole in his inventory.

But then another panel appeared.

[You have a bad feeling about this.]

"Right..."

Sam exhaled slowly.

If he turned back now, he’d walk straight into the jaws of thousands of awakeners waiting at the third barrier.

They would ambush him the second he reappeared.

Because who else but the Primordial would survive long enough to emerge from the third zone alive?

’Keep waiting,’ Sam thought with a devilish grin as crimson aura coiled around him.

’I’ll just keep going further and further.’

And the best part was—they couldn’t follow.

Not yet.

He was the only one in the [Fourth Zone].

For now, this territory was his alone.

He ached to have just a little time to evolve his skills, but he couldn’t afford to stop.

Still, he couldn’t help running the numbers in his head.

With three more [Skill Tier Advancement Scrolls], he could push nearly all his skills to Tier 2.

That would open the path to evolving them further.

And [Primordial Evolution] let him evolve four skills at a time.

Considering [Cataclysmic Barrage] was already at Forsaken+, he had a clear roadmap.

’If I got every skill I could to Tier 2 and evolved them back-to-back... I’d need twenty-three days. Just over three weeks.’

Three weeks.

In a realm where a single day could shift everything, that was both an eternity and an instant.

But he knew it was necessary.

If he had to live inside these zones for that time, then he would.

Whatever it took.

His gaze lifted again, and the fourth zone unfolded before his eyes.

It was unlike anything he had seen so far.

Above him, the sky shimmered with streaks of blue-green light, like northern lights frozen in time.

The grass beneath his boots glowed faintly, a soft blue alive with flickering sparks that danced in the breeze.

It was beautiful.

It was alien.

A world apart from the gray desolation of the earlier zones.

But beauty came with a price.

Sam’s body tensed as he felt the weight pressing down from further ahead.

The air itself seemed to shudder with a power dozens of times heavier than anything he had faced.

The pressure was suffocating, like standing before an endless abyss ready to swallow him whole.

Sam’s jaw tightened.

He knew what it meant.

Whatever waited for him in this zone would be far worse than anything before.

But still—

He took a step forward, because stopping wasn’t an option.