CHAPTER 158: CHAPTER158-EX-RANK TALENT

Daniel weaved silently through the labyrinthine streets of the Artist’s city, steadily drawing closer to the massive water tank at its center.

Even just reading the description in the system prompts left him with an overwhelming sense of helplessness and suffocation.

No wonder his mission had only required him to inflict 10% damage on a Gold-Rank World Boss.

Even that had already seemed impossibly difficult—now the context made perfect sense.

Just then, he noticed something strange—his body was beginning to undergo a subtle change.

More peculiarly, dark clouds had begun to gather in the skies above.

Daniel paused, startled. This sensation—it was oddly familiar.

It felt exactly like the moment he had first arrived at the Star Upgrade Hall to accept the Star Upgrade Quest.

Could it be... that the Artist’s city also housed a Star Upgrade Hall?

Without hesitation, Daniel immediately sent his clone stationed near Castle Mington to head straight for the Star Upgrade Hall.

At the same time, he amplified the effects of the God Rank Skill [Mist] to its maximum.

Moments later, Daniel’s figure materialized once again inside the familiar Star Upgrade Hall near Castle Mington.

And the moment he stepped onto that sacred platform, a special prompt window popped up before his eyes:

[Hidden condition detected. You are eligible to accept a special mission.]

[Star Upgrade Quest (Special)]

[Mission: Land a direct attack on a Diamond-Rank monster and deal at least 1% of its maximum HP as damage.]

[Reward: Talent upgraded to EX-Rank – "Infinity."]

EX-Rank???

Daniel’s breath caught in his throat—he even began to suspect he was hallucinating.

What kind of joke was this?

He had never even heard of a so-called EX-Rank for talent. It sounded like some sort of parody.

And to top it off, the name of this supposedly supreme talent wasn’t even that impressive. It was simply... "Infinity."

However...

Daniel’s mind suddenly recalled a detail—something he’d overlooked before.

The [Divine Temple Keystone] he had obtained had produced a temple named "Infinity Divine Temple."

Could it be that...!?

[Do you wish to accept this special mission?]

Staring at the prompt, Daniel hesitated.

By now, he had gained a much deeper understanding of the rules that governed this world.

Under the orchestration of the Supreme Will, this world always followed certain foundational principles.

For instance: the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

And now, this special mission promised to upgrade his talent to an unprecedented EX-Rank.

Which could only mean that behind this task lay unimaginable danger.

Even the slightest misstep could result in his death.

But then again...

With [Flashback] and [Time Stream] at his disposal, Daniel held a considerable advantage.

If things truly went south, he still had a chance to go back and try again.

So, after only a brief moment of hesitation, Daniel accepted the mission.

Even though the reward didn’t seem as flashy as some of the loot-heavy quests he’d taken before—just a simple talent upgrade—

Daniel had a strong feeling that this upgrade would prove critical in the days to come.

...

In the blink of an eye, Daniel returned to the Artist’s city.

But this time, he hadn’t come alone.

Not only had he arrived in person, but he had also brought all of his clones with him.

His Spirit of Skills avatars had all manifested as well—and every single one of them had entered a pre-charging state.

Daniel had even summoned a contingent of abyssal creatures—specifically, all melee units.

With ranged and melee attackers coordinated, he also allocated half of his clones to equip longswords.

Because this time, he planned to test the true power of his newly acquired ability: [Phantom Slash].

He was facing a Diamond-Rank monster—

Even if it was incomplete, it was still enough to warrant Daniel going all out.

Moreover, he had outfitted his clones with a huge array of consumable items he’d gathered:

[Clusterbomb Fruit], [Irresolvable Venom], [Fang of the Serpent God]...

Anything Daniel considered useful, he equipped.

After all, during his fight with Ally, she had said she hadn’t gone all-out.

But then again, Daniel hadn’t either.

During that match, he’d only used about 30% of his power.

But this situation was entirely different.

Daniel knew—he had only one chance to launch his attack.

If he failed, he’d have to rely on [Time Stream] to rewind and try a different strategy.

Holding his breath, Daniel locked eyes on the severed god head floating in the center of the massive water tank.

This is it. Now!

[Meteor Arrow Rain]—Activate!

At that moment, half of Daniel’s clones, together with all the Spirit of Skills, unleashed their fully charged [Meteor Arrow Rain].

Simultaneously, the remaining clones charged directly toward the massive water tank.

The skies above the Artist city were instantly filled with radiant starlight.

A dazzling meteor shower blazed across the heavens, each arrowhead carrying the scent of death.

Ting—Ting—Ting—

A flurry of arrows slammed into the water tank, and strings of system notifications popped up:

—0

—0

—0

...

Daniel’s screen was instantly flooded with billions of "0s."

This barrage of attacks hadn’t inflicted even a scratch!

And then, at that exact moment, the severed head of the god within the tank abruptly opened its eyes.

Its pupils were pitch-black and terrifying.

And those eyes... were staring directly at Daniel’s true body.

"Well then, looks like I underestimated the situation."

Daniel shrugged helplessly.

[Time Stream]—Activate!

When he opened his eyes again, he had rewound time to the moment just before his attack.

This time, Daniel didn’t immediately go on the offensive.

Instead, he cast one long glance toward the distant water tank.

At this point, the god’s head inside was still unaware of his presence.

Daniel reached into his backpack and retrieved the white card given to him by Charles.

This white card granted access to the city’s underground sector—a research area restricted to official researchers.

Before Daniel even entered the city, he had already used [Eye of Insight] to analyze its full structure.

The surface city was where the common Artists lived and operated.

But the real heart of the operation—the true core—was buried underground in a hidden research facility.

Daniel had even managed to locate the Primordial Core Weapon’s exact storage site.

But even a fool could guess—it must be heavily protected with countless restrictions.

Storming in head-on would be pure suicide.

Unless...

Unless Daniel could synthesize the 80th-ranked skill in the God Rank Skill Compendium:

[Wormhole Traverse].

This skill didn’t allow for long-distance teleportation.

But it had one unique effect—it could bypass any and all restrictions.

Even though [Flashback] was powerful, it required prior visitation.

That’s why [Wormhole Traverse] was crucial in a place like this.

With that thought in mind, Daniel quietly slipped into the underground sector of the Artist’s city.