One fateful night, holy knights from the subjugation church march into the dark woods. Their ultimate target, a painfully pathetic vampire named Eugene, our main character. It barely takes minutes to sniff him out. Showing absolutely zero hesitation, the ruthless captain violently shoves his holy blade straight through Eugene's stomach. Plot twist. The captain stands completely baffled. Eugene is not some grand menace, but a hilariously weak vampire who cowardly hid from humanity. Leaning closer, the smug captain whispers a terrifying secret. The glorious church actually discovered his exact hiding spot six months ago, but they purposely delayed his execution. Why? Simply to farm public panic, build dramatic tension, and milk all that glorious attention. Cue the desperate struggle. Eugene pathetically tries fighting back, but gets brutally sliced in half like a cheap loaf of bread. Fading into darkness, he tragically questions his totally pathetic existence with his final breath. He desperately prays for one miraculous second chance. Bam! His eyes miraculously snap open. Wait, what? He is suddenly sitting inside his dusty old tent from way before the church started hunting him. Glancing around the messy room, the impossible truth hits him like a speeding truck. He has miraculously regressed to the past, right before his tragic doom. As a total pushover vampire, Eugene spent his sad life stealthily camping in the woods. Sure, he never actually craved the taste of human blood naturally, but one chaotic day, his vampiric instincts completely took over. That single massive blunder let the scary church aggressively track his exact location. Ever since that colossal mess up, he survived purely on sheer panic, anxiously sipping terrible tasting animal blood just to stay alive. Blessed with a miraculous retry, Eugene totally refuses to be a loser again. Packing up, he confidently marches deeper into the woods to hunt the forest master. Here is the ultimate vampire cheat code. They absorb raw power directly from blood. The stronger the juicy target, the more absolutely epic the stat boost. Finding the terrifying boss monster instantly backfires, skipping any polite introductions. The angry beast furiously charges straight at his face. With his absolute garbage tier stats, fighting back equals instant suicide. Our completely pathetic vampire can only hopelessly dodge for his absolute life, for his entire sad life. His only pathetic survival strategy relied heavily on cowardly erasing his presence, but hiding will not save him from becoming sliced bread again. Pushed to the absolute edge, he entirely flips his cowardly battle strategy, praying to leave just one tiny scratch. He wildly grips his cheap sword and recklessly launches a desperate head-on charge. Clang cue the utter panic. His cheap sword instantly shatters into tiny useless pieces against the beast's ridiculously hard scales. Reality check, he never stood a singular chance. Wham. The massive beast casually swats him across the entire forest, slamming him brutally against a giant tree, coughing up blood. The painful truth hits him hard. He massively underestimated this boss. These wild creatures, terrifyingly known as lords, are absolutely not regular dungeon trash. They are absolute apex predators roaming the wilderness. Typically, these legendary lords only ever spawn in highly concentrated rich mana zones, but occasionally, a total freak of nature spawns in mana dead zones. How? By casually carrying their very own overpowered mana crystal inside them. Snatching that shiny crystal would instantly skyrocket his stats. But let us be painfully real. The universe is absolutely not handing him that free upgrade. Splash. The monster viciously dunks him into a swamp, clamping its massive jaws over his entire torso. Eugene instantly regrets wasting his precious retry. Just as As internal screen fades to black, a crazy spark of defiance ignites. He absolutely refuses to casually die as a pathetic helpless weakling again, going totally feral. He viciously chomps right down on the monster's tongue. Gulp. He instantly starts aggressively chugging its premium blood in pure desperation. Ding. Level up. The battered loser instantly morphs into a majestic shredded gigachad with blazing magical runes glowing across his insanely ripped body. Riding this crazy adrenaline rush, Eugene literally crawls inside the beast's mouth. He violently absorbs its precious mana crystal, securing a completely unhinged victory. Equipped with this ridiculous stat boost, his new life goal is absolutely crystal clear. It is finally time to violently farm blood and claim total victory. Dripping muddy swamp water, Eugene stands utterly baffled. His original low-budget plan was simply drinking enough blood to barely conquer this random forest. Oops, accidentally swallowing that ultra-rare mana crystal just hilariously gifted him an incredibly massive game-breaking power spike. Ding, new skill unlocked. He can now morph his skin into pitch-black armor scales. Finally, a built-in super sunscreen to completely block those deadly sun rays. Flashback time. He only knew about this secret boss because some sweaty mercenaries aggressively chased him through these very woods during his pathetic past life. Back then, the massive beast savagely ambushed those poor mercenaries, taking minor chip damage during the chaotic crossfire. Sneaky Eugene happily slurped up its leftover blood, gaining just enough temporary stats to comfortably smack some mercenaries before cowardly running away like a track star, flexing his new muscles. Eugene quickly humbles himself. Even with these insane beginner gains, that terrifying holy knight from before would still easily slice him like butter. Survival rule number one, absolutely no reckless aggro. He desperately needs to safely grind far more levels before plotting any crazy revenge. Analyzing how that annoying night young Darth easily bypassed his stealth, Eugene confidently bets his life that the guy possesses some overpowered, totally broken monster tracking cheat skill. Playing hide and seek is officially dead as the terrifying morning sun finally creeps over the horizon. Our sensible vampire decides to urgently tactical retreat back to his cozy tent. Way too early for a combat test. But as he starts quietly leaving, there a sassy little water spirit pops up. Furiously cursing him out for polluting her precious lake, the tiny spirit completely freezes in sheer panic when Eugene suddenly glares down, interrupting its fiery rant to aggressively ask its name. Gulp, realizing the massive level gap. The tiny hypocrite instantly switches gears, hilariously showering Eugene with the most shameless bootlicking praise. Utterly terrified by his ridiculous new aura, the spirit transforms into his biggest fan. It instantly clings to him, acting extremely buddy-buddy just to safely survive. The little guy introduces itself as Miron, the self-proclaimed lake guardian. Apparently, this tiny spirit used to be the big boss of these waters. That is until the ugly monster Eugene just squashed crashed the party 15 years ago. Normally, the beast would have tossed Miron away like trash. Seeing as no snacks would visit a nasty swamp, it forced our poor spirit into an unpaid internship as a living water filter. While Miron cries tears of joy, Eugene gets distracted. Wait a minute, one of those edgy tattoos he has always rocked is completely gone. Thanks to his classic protagonist amnesia, he literally has zero clue how he even got inked in the first place. With one out of 10 mysterious marks vanished, he figures a curse just broke. Shrugging it off, Eugene decides it is time to bounce. He casually tells Miron to keep the forest safe. But the little spirit is absolutely crushed. Since normal humans cannot see spirits, the poor thing has been starving for juicy gossip for years. Now its only chat buddy is already running off. When Miron throws a clingy tantrum, Eugene brutally shoots it down telling it to clean the lake. Whining that cleaning takes forever, Myron desperately tries to bribe him into staying with some highly suspicious filtered swamp water. Hard pass from Eugene. A few days later, panicked villagers run to their chief screaming about a terrifying red-eyed monster prowling around. The fabled beast has returned, but plot twist, this so-called scary monster is literally just our guy Eugene. Instead of terrorizing them, he acts like a weirdly edgy delivery boy dropping off free meat every 2 weeks. Today he brought a massive double serving of hunted game. Meeting the shaking chief, Eugene drops a bombshell update. He proudly announces his mysterious illness is completely cured sharing a cheerful life update for the first time in 10 years. Throwing back his hood, his insane visual glow up leaves the villagers speechless. They start whispering if he is some undercover royalty. Acting all cool, he claims he is just here to repay them for feeding his edgy self back in the day. He smoothly offers free bodyguard services before walking off. Watching this, Myron asks why a literal bloodsucking vampire is playing saint. Pestering him about his kindness, Eugene bluntly ruins the mood. A mercenary hit squad is coming to massacre everyone soon. Thanks to his regression cheats, he knows they want to kidnap one kid and murder the whole town to hide the evidence. If he does not stop this tragedy, a massive army of annoying holy knights will invade his peaceful turf in the future. Myron is totally confused by his fortune-telling skills, but rolls with it since Eugene is practically a walking cheat code anyway. Suddenly, they bump into mercenaries who hilariously mistake our overpowered vampire for a weak peasant. Thinking he will snitch, one clueless grunt rushes in to silence him forever. Big mistake, buddy. Pop goes the weasel. Eugene casually snaps his head off bare-handed desperately needing the village to trust his good guy act. But wait, side quest time. The actual priority is flexing his unsealed stats against these punching bags. Facing down the doom squad in the dark woods, Eugene smirks. It is the perfect free trial for his power up. Witnessing their their get folded like laundry, the slow-witted thugs finally realize they poked a literal vampire. Blinded by greed, they remember the church pays big bucks for fanged bounties. The geniuses decide to capture him alive. Spoiler alert, that goes terribly. The ones who charge forward get instantly deleted, joining their friend on the afterlife express. Finally grasping that he is a raid boss, the panicking survivors switch to plan B. Just take his head and run. They spam their weapon attacks, but Eugene is practically yawning as he wipes the floor with them without breaking a sweat. The remaining thugs completely lose their minds in absolute despair. As darkness falls, Eugene casually notes it is game over for them. Later that night, Eugene casually escorts the terrified villagers to the messy corpses. When they ask if he did this, our supreme actor completely plays dumb. He claims he just innocently tripped over the bodies. He then presents some extremely dead black wolves, framing the poor wild doggos as the savage culprits behind the massacre. Playing the humble hero, he brags about beating a few beasts, but sadly claims the rest managed to run away. Inspecting the bodies, the gullible villagers spot massive claw marks and instantly buy the fake story. Classic NPC logic. Putting on a fake concerned face, Eugene warns that leaving fresh meat exposed like that is super dangerous. So, the terrified crowd decides to bury them immediately. Meanwhile, a very confused Myron questions this whole elaborate public relations stunt. Having watched the comedy show, the spirit wonders why this overpowered vampire cares so much about local reputation points. The sassy spirit points out they could have easily skipped town earlier and avoided this entire messy theater production. Myron remembers the unlucky wolves just happened to stroll by after the bloodbath, instantly becoming Eugene's convenient scapegoats. The spirit realizes that for Eugene to act this calculating, a totally insane master plan must be brewing. Right on cue, Eugene perfectly hands the chief a mysterious letter, suspiciously claiming he just found it on the bodies. Inspecting the fancy parchment, the elder instantly recognized the official crest belonging to Lord Turwin's grand estate. His jaw dropped reading the contents. Their ordinary village boy, Fellad, was actually the Lord's hidden illegitimate heir. Rewind slightly before the shadow wolves attacked. Those doomed mercenaries quickly figured out that escaping was absolutely impossible. Choosing a glorious death, they completely abandoned any honorable dueling rules and desperately rushed at Eugene all at once. Hilariously, they still got completely wiped out. Eugene had purposely kept just a single lucky attacker breathing. After ruthlessly extracting some answers, he discovered the true masterminds were actually Lord Turwin's own terrible scheming sons. Kamar and Verthal orchestrated this kidnapping to spark a massive political disaster using poor Fellad. Eugene knew Verle Turwin's honorable character perfectly, so he could confidently declare that a righteous knight like him would never sanction such cowardly schemes. Therefore, he deduced this ruthless village massacre was merely a rogue operation by the greedy mercenaries. Back in his previous life, this entire settlement vanishing completely was what triggered the massive investigation. That very investigation eventually caused Verle and young Darth to stumble upon him. Satisfied with his interrogation, he permanently silenced the thug, tossed his body away, and turned toward the incoming wolves. Back to the present, total panic erupts when the peasants realize they must safely deliver Fellad themselves. They are absolutely terrified, especially since their supposed mercenary escorts have conveniently met their sudden demise. Stepping up smoothly, Eugene casually volunteers to handle this dangerous escort mission on their behalf like it is nothing. He then completely stuns them by revealing the biggest secret about his true identity. Introducing himself as Jan Eugene, he boldly claims to be a knight, leaving the locals completely flabbergasted. Miren sweats bullets fearing this outrageous bluff will fail, but our main character remains hilariously calm and unbothered. Judging by their sheer awe over Fellad's secret royal blood, Eugene happily bet they could not spot a fake noble anyway. They curiously ask if his rustic forest isolation was actually some ultra secret hardcore knight training montage all along. Playing along flawlessly, Eugene dramatically sighs, blaming unavoidable tragedies for forcing his lonely exile deep into the woods. Hook, line, and sinker. The gullible crowd wholly believes his flawless survival skills prove his elite knighthood status. The elder practically worships him, but awkwardly admits their humble settlement is just completely broke. They simply lack the gold to properly reward such a majestic warrior. Waving off their concerns, Eugene humbly requests nothing more than a simple roof over his head for tonight. Thrilled beyond belief, the elder immediately offers up his own home for the VIP. The next morning, Eugene playfully tests his demonic powers, wrapping his fingers in dark scales under the sunshine. He successfully confirms that this scaly armor provides some decent sunblock, though it has its clear limits. Meanwhile, an exasperated Miran demands to know the end game behind his absolutely ridiculous fake knight persona. With a sly smirk, Eugene explains that foolish humans blindly trust fancy titles way more than honest words. Besides, even if his glorious scam gets exposed, he plans on ghosting this place very soon regardless. Wrapping his body up securely, he boldly steps outside to kick off this grand escort mission. Before their departure, the grateful elder entrusts our fake knight with a crucial letter for Lord Turwin. Hitting the road with the kid, Eugene internally plots to milk this royal connection to score genuine nobility. During their trek, Eugene suffers a hilarious reality check upon discovering little Fellad is completely literate. Fellad earnestly explains that his supposedly lowly mother miraculously possessed the necessary education to teach him the alphabet. Realizing Lord Turwin likely taught her in secret, Eugene shamelessly begs the little boy to be his reading tutor. Fellad is deeply confused as basic literacy is practically mandatory for highborn knights. Cue the tragic backstory. Eugene claims his fallen house left him with only a blade to survive. Miraculously, the kid swallows this melodramatic excuse and starts idolizing our hero even more. Fellad bashfully confesses he once severely doubted Eugene due to the wild spooky rumors constantly floating around their village. Vowing to trust his own intuition now, the starry-eyed boy happily agrees to cure Eugene's rather embarrassing illiteracy problem. Just as the heartwarming bonding starts, a lethal arrow randomly screams through the air straight toward Filad's face. With ridiculous supernatural reflexes, Eugene casually snatches the deadly projectile a mere inch away from the frightened kid's eyeball. Realizing some absolutely foolish bandits dare to interrupt his grand master plan, Eugene completely loses his normally cool collected temper. In a flash of steel, he effortlessly decapitates the bandits, leaving little Filad completely paralyzed with absolute terror. Wiping his blade, our deadpan hero genuinely ponders why humans constantly bully anyone weaker than them. He casually turns to the trembling kid. "Will learning to read finally help me understand this human garbage?" Gently grabbing the pale boy's face, he declares that Filad is completely free to believe his own truth. But he makes an epic vow, "Stick with me and not a single drop of blood will stain you." Later, at a bustling market, the duo watches greedy merchants shamelessly scamming poor customers in broad daylight. Filad sighs, explaining how their village chief would practically pop a vein over these dirty trading arena scams. The kid nervously warns our clueless protagonist to stay on high alert, lest he becomes their next gullible victim. Cue the awkward silence. Eugene is utterly broke. He needs actual cash before worrying about getting scammed. Pulling out premium black wolf leather from his stash, he casually presents the legendary loot to a merchant. The shopkeeper's eyes practically bulge out. Such massive quantities of ultra rare beast pelts are absolutely unheard of. Sizing up Eugene's dusty traveler rags, the sly merchant immediately smirks, thinking he has found a clueless sucker. Feigning disappointment, the scammer claims the goods are heavily damaged, offering a pathetic 18 silver coins for them. But one look into Eugene's chilling predatory crimson gaze sends massive shivers straight down his spine. Panicking, the sweating merchant frantically bumps the offer up to 23 silver. This hilarious silent intimidation continues until the price hits 30 silver. Eugene happily accepts the final fat payout. By nightfall, our newly rich hero rocks fresh fancy threads, glaring intensely at paper letters by the warm campfire. Myrion praises his epic drip. Meanwhile, oblivious Eugene still thinks the terrified shopkeeper was just super generous. He completely missed the fear. Myrion scoffs, insisting her master deserved way more luxurious and dazzling aristocratic garments. But our practical vampire shrugs. He only bought these threads to block out the annoying burning sunlight anyway. Myrion aggressively interrupts. A majestic creature of the night should be rolling in luxury, not wearing cheap peasant outfits. Hearing her massive intellect, Eugene doubts her claims of just being some random swamp dweller. It makes no sense. Defending her pride, Myrion proudly reveals she actually originated from the profound spirit realm, mastering endless mystical knowledge. Suddenly, little Fellad approaches, confused about who Eugene is chatting with. Wanting to keep his spirit companion totally secret, Eugene smoothly lies about talking to himself. Blushing with embarrassment, Fellad quickly apologizes for his earlier weak stomach. Skinning a rabbit had brutally reminded the poor kid of Eugene's spectacular blood-splattering bandit decapitations from that afternoon. The gruesome memory made him vomit his soul out. Recovering, he bravely resumes our deadly hero's literacy lessons. Thanks to his monster brain, Eugene memorizes things fast, but the bizarre human characters still resemble squiggly worms. "Is reading always this pathetically easy?" he asks. Fellad excitedly praises his overpowered main character learning speed. The kid puffs out his chest, hilariously bragging about his own genius reading days with his beloved mother. But Eugene brutally drops reality. Just knowing the alphabet will not magically transform the boy into an instant aristocrat. Sighing sadly, Fellad completely agrees. He holds absolutely zero illusions about Lord Terwin welcoming him with open arms. Suddenly, heavily armed mercenaries crash their quiet moment, boldly asking to share the duo's cozy campsite. Scanning their polished gear and tight formations, Eugene realizes these are elite warriors, vastly superior to those trash bandits. When grilled about their destination, our hero decides honesty is the absolute best policy to avoid unnecessary heat. By pure crazy coincidence, their paths align. The tough warriors offer juicy meat and booze for campsite access. Eugene's danger radar instantly pings. During introductions, our totally unarmored protagonist blatantly lies, claiming to be a noble knight. The mercenaries practically scoff. A veteran named Raybon immediately smells massive nonsense radiating from our suspicious wanderer. Raybon instantly calls his bluff. Real knights ride majestic steeds and wear dazzling shiny armor, not dusty traveler rags. And looking at our broke hero, he clearly lacks both. Plus, his supposed legendary family name draws total blanks. But since Eugene already sold this fake backstory to Fellod, he absolutely refuses to back down now. Although these tough guys just wanted a simple spot to crash, our bloodthirsty vampire decides instantly. If these fools keep pushing his buttons, absolute carnage is incredibly guaranteed. Looking at their pathetic numbers, wiping them out would be totally effortless. Eugene slowly tightens his grip on his blade. Tension explodes in the dark forest. Eugene shoots a deadly blood-curdling glare right at the annoying accusatory mercenary. He seriously considered just wiping these mercs out. But before his sword even cleared its sheath, Captain Park grabbed Robin and cold-cocked him into next week. Eugene and Fell just stood there completely and totally dumbfounded. Then, Park immediately bowed at a perfect 90°, profusely apologizing to Sir Eugene, leaving the rest of his crew absolutely jaw-dropped. Eugene graciously accepted the frantic apology, casually inviting them to set up camp nearby. As Park gratefully agreed, Eugene internally sweated. He really needed to get an official knight title as soon as possible to avoid this exhausting suspicion. A little later, by the mercenaries' crackling fire just a stone's throw away, Robin jolted awake with a massive headache. Staring into the void, he questioned his entire existence. Irritated, Part called him a colossal idiot, asking what kind of [ __ ] blindly charges a knight. He smacked the rookie upside the head, again roaring that they only survived thanks to his quick intervention. Clueless Robin still didn't get why Eugene was so terrifying. Part fiercely lectured him about the lethal mistake of judging books by their covers. First off, the captain pointed out Eugene's gear. Authentic lycanthrope leather, easily worth a staggering 10 silver coins minimum. Hearing that insane amount, Robin completely lost his mind. That was literally triple his measly monthly salary. Then, Part dropped a total bomb. He saw Eugene reading earlier. Literacy alone proved he was high status. Plus, Part shuddered, revealing Eugene was milliseconds away from drawing his blade over Robin's suicidal trash talk. The whole squad could have been totally wiped out. At best, maybe two guys crawling away alive. Eyes wide, Robin desperately asked how he knew that. Part explained the terrifying micro-movements. Eugene's right hand, hidden left foot, pulled back perfectly. That flawless combat stance screamed absolute monster. His gravity was locked flawlessly to his blade. Part had to swoop in with that punch, or Robin's foolish head would be orbiting the moon. Indignant Robin screeched that his captain should have warned him beforehand. Face-palming hard, Part realized this rookie had zero clue about the terrifying reality of knights. So, he sat him down for a brutal reality check. Real knights are born into ancient nobility, practically holding swords before they can walk, and spending their entire lives doing nothing but hardcore training. They are professional killing machines. They dive into nightmare dungeons to butcher monsters, then march right out to slaughter humans on the battlefield for glory. Only then do high nobles officially crown them as true knights. Part sternly warned that faking such a terrifying title is a massive crime. But, the scariest part, if Eugene is faking it, he's basically insane. Meaning he is incredibly confident enough in his sword skills to risk execution. Only absolute monsters earn that title. For a kid like Eugene to casually claim it, praying he's legitimate is far safer than facing a suicidal maniac. Shaking in his boots, Robin nervously asked if Eugene was stronger than the captain. Part grimly nodded his absolute agreement. He noted Eugene's direct path to Terwin's castle, betting heavily that this terrifying youth was aiming to crush the newly discovered local dungeon. Realizing their roots perfectly aligned, Part sighed in sheer relief over their lucky encounter. Meanwhile, Eugene eavesdropped on the whole chaotic gossip session, finally realizing just how massively heavy a knight's title truly was. He closely analyzed Part's crew. They were rock-solid pros. So, why on earth did the Terwin family hire those pathetic amateurs he had slaughtered earlier? Eugene found it super sketchy, but simply shrugged it off. He cheerfully popped over to Part and Robin smoothly suggesting they form a temporary travel party for the journey. Visually blinded by Eugene's sudden sparkly protagonist aura, the duo instantly agreed. By the very next day, the party arrived at Martella, a bustling Terwin territory. Strolling casually through the lively streets, Eugene mentally cheered that his knight disguise was working flawlessly. It was the perfect chance to gather juicy intel. But honestly, a huge pit of anxiety was growing about what awaited them at Terwin's actual gates. Poof, Myrian suddenly materialized, proudly announcing he had successfully squeezed some spicy rumors about Lord Terwin from the loose-lipped mercenaries. Rumor had it the old lord was literally on his deathbed, ready to drop at any second. Plus, a brand new shiny dungeon just spawned in their territory. If the family could completely clear it, they would swim in absolute mounds of gold. Tragic plot twist, the family was completely broke and understaffed, unable to even open the dungeon. Panicking for Feld's safety, Myrian asked what happens when the lord croaks. The poor kid would become a total orphan and a massive walking target for assassins. But surprisingly, Eugene totally couldn't care less. Glancing back at oblivious Feld, Eugene theorized this whole sudden summons was just a dying father's final dramatic wish. The gears of fate were definitely turning now. Sometime later, the grand imposing silhouette of Rose Castle, the legendary seat of House Turwin, finally loomed ahead. Staring slack-jawed at its ridiculous size, Killian nudged Eugene, hyping him up to grind those ranks so they could chill in a fancy fortress, too. But, instantly, upon reaching the towering gates, Kamar Turwin, the intimidating eldest son, completely blocked their path, fiercely demanding their business. Part steps up, presenting his rugged crew to Kamar. "We are the hired muscles sent by the Paling Company." Hearing they finally brought the precious cargo, Kamar waves them through. "Drop the goods right here," he orders. But, strolling up casually is our main character, Eugene. Kamar squints. "And you are?" "Just a humble knight," Eugene drops the bomb. Before Eugene can pitch his business, a super annoying voice echoes out. Someone is furious at Kamar for stealing his thunder. Eugene's eyes widen at that obnoxious tone. It is Vithal, the vampire hunter jerk who wrecked his old hideout. Marching up to the gates, Vithal glares. "Brother, why are you doing my exact job?" Kamar just smirks, playing the ultimate boss card. "I am the heir, little brother. I need no permission to act." While the siblings bicker, Eugene flashes the chief's letter. Vithal reaches for it, but Eugene hilariously hands it straight to Kamar. Skimming the parchment, Kamar's jaw drops. The original mercenaries meant for Fellad became an all-you-can-eat wolf buffet. Plot twist. Fellad is their dad's illegitimate kid. Kamar flashes a fake polite smile. "Welcome home, new brother. Father is eagerly waiting." Vithal, meanwhile, looks ready to murder the poor boy. He barks at his guards, "Drag him inside and scrub him clean." A terrified Fellad gets hauled away. As grumpy Vithal turns to leave, Eugene speaks up. "Hold your horses. Let us discuss my cash." Our bold hero demands a VIP meeting with the castle lord. But, Vithal practically foams at the mouth, screaming no. "Father is sick," Vithal yells. "Take your shiny gold coins and get out of my sight. Talk about terrible customer service. Eugene complains about his brutal trip here. Vithal shoots him a death glare telling him to shut it. Surprisingly, Kumar completely agrees. The smug heir shrugs it off. We are taking Fellad to dad anyway. What is the harm in this guy tagging along? Vithal aggressively objects. Dad sleeps all day. Letting some random dude see him in that state is a terrible idea. Kumar chuckles dripping with heavy sarcasm, subtly reminding his little brother exactly who wears the pants around here. Then he turns to Eugene with a fake apology. Sorry, pal. Little brother's strict schedule means no dad time. He brushes Eugene off and drags Fellad indoors. Eugene narrows his eyes. That sneaky heir never planned to let him in. Out of nowhere, a towering beast stomps over. He violently dumps groaning men onto the floor like literal trash. He glares at the stunned noble. These idiots skipped training to rob the locals, so I brought the trash to you. Then with zero hesitation, he casually asks, mind if I execute one? You know, just to set a nice example. Panicking that Eugene is eavesdropping on family drama, Vithal frantically shoves the giant dude inside. We will talk about murder indoors. Part whispers frantically from the sidelines. See that absolute unit? That is Galfredic, a rising star knight you should avoid. Part spills the tea. That muscle head actually snatched third place in the legendary Evergrow family tournament. On that epic day, he brutally steamrolled over 1,000 competitors using pure unadulterated monster's power. Eugene scratches his head. Why is a super knight stuck in this dump? Part bets it is because of the mysterious new dungeon. Part explains the fantasy rules. Cracking open a fresh dungeon is a massive flex and an insane achievement for any knight. Sure, it is in the middle of nowhere, but busting one open is ridiculously deadly and body bags pile up fast. The master plan. Galfredic is totally using this dangerous dungeon as a shiny resume booster to get recruited by the big leagues. Hearing this juicy intel, Eugene nods. Part totally nailed his quest. "Congratulations, you are officially hired." Eugene declares smoothly. Night falls bringing the drama. From the shadows, Kamar watches Vithal and the giant Galfretic brutally discipline those sticky-fingered mercenaries. Kamar clenches his fist. He vows to conquer that dungeon himself. Ever since their dad fell sick, Vithal has been gunning for the throne. He connects the dots. Vithal wants the dungeon glory, too. That is exactly why he dragged that overpowered beast into town. Stressing over who to hire to match that muscle, Kamar's brooding is violently interrupted by a loud knock on his door. A servant peeks in. Eugene is demanding an audience. Baffled that the persistent guy has not left yet, Kamar waves him inside. Strutting into the room, Eugene takes a seat. Kamar flashes his politician smile, assuring him that little Filad is perfectly safe. "Do not worry, Dad will shower you with rewards when he wakes up." Kamar chuckles, thanking Eugene for pulling that hilarious letter stunt. Eugene just shrugs it off with a deadpan face. "Obviously, my business is strictly with the main boss of this castle. So, that random third-party intervening was just annoying." Highly amused, Kamar leans in. He bets Eugene just wants official knight certification. "That is part of it." Eugene admits smoothly. Then he drops the real bomb. "But actually, I want in your dungeon raid." Kamar stares blankly for a second before bursting into absolute echoing laughter. "What a totally absurd request." Wiping a tear, he calls Eugene a fascinating weirdo. Glancing at his dirty clothes, he remembers this messy guy claims knight status. But he cannot underestimate him. Rumor has it, this scruffy knight slaughtered five whole bandits in a previous dungeon dive. Kamar narrows his eyes questioning if this sudden raid participation is a stunt to build fame. Kicking his legs back with a smirk, the protagonist guarantees this deal is a total steal. His price, just 100 silver coins and half the dungeon drops, leaving pure mana behind. Hearing this absurdly low bargain, the lord squints, finding the ridiculously cheap request incredibly shady. Flipping the script, our confident hero ruthlessly reminds the noble that he is absolutely not the desperate one. Inside the grand study, tense negotiations spark as the lord secretly sizes him up. Scanning those shabby garments, the nobleman figures this guy is a rogue warrior lacking any aristocratic backing. Assuming he is just another honor-bound fool, the boss immediately drops him into that predictable hero category. But when the hero exposes their exact weaknesses, the lord is left completely speechless by his terrifying insight. A wicked grin forms as Kamar realizes this guy is brilliantly cunning, instantly shaking hands on the alliance. The hero flashes back to the merchant, warning him about the painfully expensive nightmare of cleansing raw crystals. That shrewd trader had sworn to hook him up with a top-tier guild to pawn off the magical scraps. It was a genius tactical script claim only the magical leftovers to make the deal absolutely irresistible. Moments later, his arrogant brother catches wind of the news. A random swordsman is joining their elite force. The massive mercenary captain scoffs, refusing to risk a deadly labyrinth run with a totally unproven half-baked scrub. The snobby sibling totally agrees, highly doubting his brother possesses the influence to recruit an actually decent warrior. Riding that wave of disrespect, he aggressively commands the giant mercenary to put this newbie in his place. While the giant grumbles about doing dirty work, heavy footsteps echo, signaling the sudden arrival of the boss. The leader proudly reveals our main character, officially declaring him the newest sword of their monster hunting squad. Shocked by the familiar face, the irritated brother mockingly demands to know what squad this newcomer commands. He throws a total fit, screaming that hiring a nameless wanderer with zero background is absolute madness. The lord admits the mysterious backstory, but confidently stakes his absolute pride on this young man's lethal capabilities. He dramatically reveals how how lone wolf single-handedly slaughtered the region's deadliest bandit crew using a dagger. Suddenly testing those claims, the giant launches a lethal blade at his face, but he deflects it flawlessly. Jaws drop at the lightning-fast clash before the giant laughs out a quick apology. He brutally mocks the pristine skin of our hero, assuming he is just a pampered rich kid playing soldier. Demanding a proper taste of his power, the two fighters soon step onto the dusty sands of the battle ring. Word spreads fast. The entire town rushes to watch their champion absolutely crush this foolish newcomer. This beastly veteran placed third in the national tournament, famously tearing apart savage monsters with his bare hands. The crowd pities the doomed youngster, while the terrifying giant flashes a bloodthirsty grin as the death match starts. Taking an aristocratic stance, the giant is caught off guard when our hero perfectly mirrors the legendary posture. The signal drops instantly. Heavy steel clashes against steel as a shockwave explodes from their perfectly matched power. Taunting with a cocky wave, the veteran invites an attack, and our protagonist explosively dashes forward. A storm of relentless strikes forces the towering giant to retreat, leaving the stunned crowd absolutely breathless. But the sharp-eyed merchant whispers the truth. The veteran is casually analyzing his prey while faking a retreat. Effortlessly swatting away the furious combo, the giant secretly realizes these movements are surprisingly wild and unrefined. With zero formal elegance, it becomes glaringly obvious that this kid never received proper elite academy training. Yet parrying a vicious stab, he feels the suffocating aura of an apex predator raised in the brutal wilderness. Mid-clash, the seasoned veteran arrogantly declares the boy an absolute fraud, loudly roasting his amateur footwork. He pompously attempts to lecture our silent hero on the sacred unbreakable honors of true elite swordsmanship. Deadpan, our hero roasts him for talking too much, prompting the giant to vow silence if defeated. The beast finally attacks. A terrifying blur of steel nearly decapitates our shocked protagonist in a split second. Barely deflecting the fatal blow, he is crushed as a monstrous follow-up strike slams his blade into the dirt. Channeling immense weight into a devastating roundhouse kick, the veteran strikes. But our quick-thinking hero instantly blocks it. Though he avoids getting his face totally caved in, the horrifying impact violently launches him straight into the arena wall. While the crowd gasps, Vthrill just smirks, eagerly waiting for Eugene to drop dead. But surprise, surprise, Eugene casually asks who is passing out before launching himself straight at Gallic. He launches a lightning-fast strike. The massive knight grins, realizing this rookie is a total sponge for combat. Gal violently parries, swinging a deadly counter. But Eugene effortlessly dodges, unleashing a devastating wide slash with every ounce of his aura. Gal meets him head-on, and boom, both blades instantly explode into metallic confetti. The arena holds its breath as they toss the hilts and lock hands. Shockingly, Eugene actually pushes back, leaving the giant knight absolutely speechless. How is this pipsqueak overpowering a titan? Acknowledging the insane raw strength, Gal shifts gears, ready to school the kid using veteran combat experience. He viciously yanks Eugene into his absolute strike zone, completely shattering the boy's footing. The spectators scream as Eugene hits the dirt. Gal wastes zero time bringing down a massive fist to completely crush him. But plot twist, Eugene bounces right back up, pulling a perfect reversal on the exact same grapple to throw the giant completely off balance. Eugene winds up a massive punch. Realizing this monster literally just copied his move, Gal desperately wonders what hellish training birthed this freak. Staring at the incoming meteor of a fist, Gal mentally accepts his absolute defeat. Wham, the devastating blow connects cleanly. The giant is literally launched like a ragdoll through the arena, violently crashing into the far wall, and instantly blacking out. The completely stunned referee declares Eugene the winner. The arena absolutely erupts, screaming for the ultimate underdog who justified all odds. Amidst the wild cheering, Rayan totally fanboys, loudly praising Eugene as the absolute greatest knight of all mercenaries. Observer's sweatdrop watching the former hater Rayon glaze him so hard. Suddenly, Gal resurrects from the rubble looking like a literal zombie. The bruised giant stumbles toward Eugene. Instead of throwing hands, he victoriously raises the kids arm demanding a massive round of applause. The stadium completely loses its mind chanting Jan Eugene's legendary name. Everyone is partying hard except V Thrill who is utterly seething with pure rage. Eugene painfully realizes that after that epic night, everyone's attitude completely flipped a whole 180°. By morning, Kumar casually asks about his sleep completely ignoring the blushing maid staring at Eugene with total heart eyes. Kumar sighs over Eugene rejecting all the luxury perks. Suddenly, Rayon violently bursts into the room aggressively bowing at a perfect 90°. He breathlessly asks if his lord summoned him. Kumar chuckles at the absolute loyalty. Then a wild Galic appears literally clinging to Eugene like a massive puppy. Eugene tries peeling the giant off, but the muscle head excitedly points at his battered face whining that he did not sleep a single wink. He proudly flexes his battle scars like trophies leaving Eugene seriously debating if this meathead is begging for another beatdown. The colossal knight practically begs for Eugene's daily itinerary desperately trying to lock in their next glorious sparring session. From this absurd fanboying, Eugene realizes the battle craze giant literally could not care less about his fake knight status anymore. Later, they serve up a literal royal banquet, but Eugene just glares at it with dead fish eyes. His super eager servants overprepared everything. They smile way too brightly frantically trying to cater to his every single invisible standard at lightning speed. Hue Mirian popping up just to grab popcorn. She absolutely relishes watching his introverted soul slowly die from all this terrifying very important person treatment. While the Menace giggles in the background, Eugene politely accepts their intense dedication then awkwardly insists he can feed his own face thanks. Panicking, the frantic servants desperately try to change his mind, but Eugene coldly shuts it down, ordering them to remind Kamar that his lone wolf status was not a joke. Having solo survived for 12 hardcore years, the hermit life is in his blood. Plus, dropping his guard means inviting way too many annoying fanboys. Fast forward a few days and Eugene is still completely traumatized by his own raging popularity. Meanwhile, Gall is still out here hopelessly begging for a rematch, getting mercilessly rejected. Suddenly, a bruised and bloody Feld dramatically stumbles in. The crowd gasps in pure horror at his battered body. Yet, the guy casually asks Eugene if he has been eating well. Cut to the villain's lair. A psychotic Vthrall hurls throwing knives at a trembling mercenary, brutally punishing him for the botched assassination. He had orchestrated the whole ambush with that useless squad. Boiling with toxic rage, he screams that if they were not completely incompetent garbage, Eugene would never have breached the castle and his master plan would not be a burning dumpster fire right now. The bleeding lackey desperately begs for his life, swearing those goons were supposedly elite-tier before the mission started. Vthrall absolutely refuses to buy that pathetic excuse. The official report literally claimed the legendary assassins got wiped out by some random wolves. Snapping completely, he brutally blinds the man in both eyes. The room fills with bloodcurdling screams as the guards watch in pure shivering terror. Satisfied with his cruel little tantrum, Vthrall furiously brainstorms how to silently erase Feld without castle security noticing. Suddenly, a wicked lightbulb goes off. A venomous grin spreads across his face. This new scheme will definitely take out the trash, leaving absolutely zero traces behind. Under the moonlight, Eugene holds a grim meeting with Feld. The bombshell drops. Vthrall just drafted him into a literal suicide squad for dungeon subjugation. Feld bitterly laughs at his awful luck. He knew stepping into the snake pit was risky, but becoming monster bait at the dungeon's frontline is pure evil. Eugene drops a massive truth bomb on him. Those wolf chow mercenaries, they were actually dispatched by his own twisted brother. Originally marching toward the village just to assassinate him in cold blood. While utter panic scrambles Felid's brain, our main character casually offers him an epic survival cheat code. The ultimate catch, sign a lifetime servant contract. Eugene lays out the flawless logic, noting that Felid already crushed his coming of age ceremony. That makes him a legal adult, completely free from annoying guardian approvals. Eugene bluntly gives his ultimatum, keep holding your breath and wait for the grim reaper to finally collect your soul, or fight back like an absolute beast. Cut to the epic dungeon launch day where the entire raid squad hypes up outside the ominous cavern. Commander Galfredic drops the tutorial briefing, warning them to expect basic trash mobs like goblins and kobolds on the surface. Mid-tiers will definitely spawn nasty trolls and giant spiders. But the real nightmare, predicting the boss level threats, is utterly impossible. So, the grand master plan is hilariously simple, play janitor and sweep the boring dungeon paths until mid bosses spawn. And if a high-level beast crashes the party, sprint away like your life depends on it. To kick off this nightmare, Galfredic dispatches his fastest scouts to check for monster spawn holes. Meanwhile, the back line crew celebrates feeling totally blessed they dodged the deadly scout duty like absolute pros. One lazy dude literally plots to fake a twisted ankle. He knows newbie dungeon runs are absolute meat grinders for the week. Being stuck in the rear guard is a massive scam since nobody ever protects the disposable meat shields. Dying for minimum wage, hard pass. Mid-rant, the incredibly arrogant noble Vithral aggressively shoves past him, hunting for poor Felid like a predator seeking its absolute weakest prey. After nearly getting executed for bumping a VIP, the terrified extra frantically points the enraged noble straight toward Eugene and his new sidekick. Oblivious to the danger, Felid hands Eugene an adorable care package desperately begging his overpowered boss to survive. Spotting his target, Vithral aggressively tosses the poor mercenary aside and stalks directly toward the boy. Glaring literal ice daggers, the noble orders Felid to get back in line mocking his absolute uselessness. Sensing massive red flags, fell it cowers behind Eugene's massive aura, instantly triggering Vethorl's incredibly fragile ego. Vethorl fiercely snatches the boy's arm screaming like a total maniac about him being completely deaf. He violently tries dragging the kid away, but Eugene's iron grip clamps down on the nobles wrist. Eugene promises to break his arm if he touches fell it totally shutting down the rich jerks ridiculous and toxic nonsense. Eugene fiercely roasts the guy's sanity. Throwing a total newbie kid into a monster raid is literally just feeding the dungeon boss free snacks. The boy's combat experience literally peaks at buttering toast. Furious at the blatant disrespect, Vethorl aggressively slaps Eugene's heavy hand right away. Trying to act heroic, he falsely claims it is just tough love, then barks at Eugene to remember his lowly peasant status. He sneers that Eugene cannot just steal his favorite toy like some puppet, but our absolutely fearless protagonist does not even flinch. Massive plot twist, Eugene legally claimed fell it as his personal minion last night and the whole squad can testify. Flaunting it in front of the massive crowd, Eugene declares their master and servant bond is completely unbreakable, which totally means if Vethorl even breathes on the kid, it is an official and deadly declaration of war. Stepping menacingly close, Eugene pops his terrifying blade from the scabbard, casually offering to use the arrogant noble as a living training dummy. Cross this deadly line and it is instantly game over. Vethorl's face turns tomato red as he absolutely loses his tiny mind. He screeches that adopting a rival family's illegitimate heir is basically asking for a massive catastrophic death wish. You are not saving him, you are destroying his grand destiny, the arrogant noble hilariously rants to himself. Meanwhile, oblivious merchants are popping champagne. They are betting big on the raid success thanks to their overpowered knights and highly elite squad. Being completely ignored makes Vethorl boil with pure unfiltered rage. Enter Kaimar casually strolling into the chaotic scene to back up the squad. Siding with the main character, he drops the ultimate legal loophole. Falid's coming-of-age ceremony is officially done. The kid is a grown adult who picks his own destiny. Eugene brilliantly realizes Falid was basically marked as free experience points by these absolute bullies. For a low-level rookie joining an overpowered guild is the ultimate survival tactic. V-Thrill is left completely speechless and totally powerless. Falid's personal protection squad is officially locked in. Right on cue, a breathless scout runs back yelling that the perimeter is completely clear of monsters. Zero escaped mobs detected. With the epic all clear given, the massive raid launch officially kicks into high gear. Those giant stone doors grind open as the front-line knights step into the abyss. Commander Galfredic drops one final absolutely chilling truth bomb. Your fragile lives are strictly your own problem now. That terrifying warning hits the raid party like a truck as they grip their weapons. With a single thunderous roar, Galfredic commands the ultimate advance and the eager squad follows him instantly. As the heavy gate slams shut, his new fan club waves goodbye praying their overpowered boss returns safely in exactly four days. Just steps into the terrifying darkness, a massive goblin ambush triggers. The green menaces flood the tunnel endlessly and an absolute chaotic blood-pumping slaughter officially begins. While the cowards barely cling to their lives, a few brave archers follow Gal's furious commands raining arrows upon the wall-crawling goblin scum. The spineless mercenaries desperately sprint toward the exit only to freeze as a terrifying sea of freaking goblins completely surrounds them. Thankfully, Gal arrives to aggressively smack reality into their panicking skulls barking that survival means sticking together. The fierce commander violently shoves his troops back into formation roaring at them to fight. Watching this embarrassing display, Gal furiously curses his own terrible luck for hastily dragging such a pathetic bunch into this raid. Seriously, how can he ever conquer this dungeon with such trembling amateurs? Suddenly, a terrifying chorus of monstrous footsteps violently echoes from both the front and and the rear. Swearing loudly, he orders a two-pronged defensive formation. But incredibly, Eugene simply ignores him recklessly sprinting off to solo the incoming horde. Gal frantically screams that it is pure suicide, but within mere seconds chaotic clashes of steel echo from the darkness. Everyone gasps as Eugene's mask suddenly flies backward. Stunned, Gal frantically issues orders to Parter, completely bewildered by the madman's impossible speed. But Gal's jaw hits the floor. Eugene strolls back holding a glowing flower, casually reporting that he already slaughtered every single goblin. This absolute weirdo just casually waves the strange plant around, completely clueless about it. The entire squad is absolutely baffled. How can someone so unbelievably overpowered be this utterly clueless about basic dungeon flora? With the immediate threat destroyed, the exhausted party patches their wounds. Meanwhile, the gathering squad approaches Eugene presenting the freshly harvested mana crystals. Eugene stares at the loot with deep disappointment. The sheer mountain of monsters they butchered totally does not match this pathetic pile. Even worse, these stones are pathetically tiny and dull blue, absolutely nothing like the glorious loot he ripped from the wild roar. Myron suddenly approaches, sharing that exact same look of bitter disappointment. He explains the golden rule of dungeons. The sheer quality of a mana crystal always perfectly matches the monster's actual raw power. Curious Eugene immediately asks if wild roars dropped much larger cores. Myron instantly shakes his head. Roars are just basic beasts that escaped, not a guaranteed jackpot for massive high-tier crystals. Finding a massive core in one is incredibly rare. Hearing this, Eugene fondly remembers that mutated alligator, realizing he actually struck absolute gold. Looking at this pitiful harvest, Myron loudly groans. Kissing up to snobby nobles just to enter their private dungeons feels like a scam. But just as they question if this place hides actual threats, a bloodcurdling shriek violently rips through the cavern. Gal curses his terrible luck for getting zero rest. He immediately screams at his squad to brace for another brutal wave. Unbelievably, his pathetic men look ready to faint on the spot. Furious Gal barks that he and the crazy rookie will spearhead the assault. To crush cowardice, he promises severe bone-breaking punishment for any deserters. Eugene blinks in mild surprise. Getting tossed directly onto the vanguard line during his very first dungeon raid is quite the hilarious promotion. Gal grimly admits these useless mercenaries leave them no choice. Eugene must step up because the approaching nightmares are pure nightmare fuel. Pointing a trembling finger at the massive silhouettes, Gal reveals that these are the ruthless commanders controlling the endless goblin swarm. The tutorial is over. Terrifying intermediate-level beasts are approaching. And if they somehow survive this bloodbath, true high-ranking nightmares eagerly await them deep within the dungeon's pitch-black core. Eugene just smiles quietly. His mind races back to the epic hardening skill he absorbed from brutally crushing the wild roar. His gamer instincts tingle. What overpowered god-tier ability will he unlock if he devours another massive crystal? Suddenly, Gal warns him. At least 50 rapid footsteps echo exactly 100 m away, followed by massive earth-shaking thuds right behind them. Testing the waters, Gal tosses Eugene a heavy spear to strike first. With terrifying strength, the main character violently launches the weapon. The weapon violently impales a massive troll, triggering an explosive all-out charge. Eugene recklessly plunges forward. Panicking Gal orders his squad to desperately provide backup. The men rush forward to play the hero, but instantly freeze in sheer horror. Eugene literally leaps onto the gigantic troll, slicing its eyeball. He ruthlessly severs its giant fingers before plunging his blade deep into its skull. Anyone watching had their entire concept of knighthood shattered. Everything humanity proudly associated with the elegant grace of a holy knight was brutally thrown out the window that day. This was no admirable swordsmanship. Eugene fought with the absolute unhinged savagery of a bloodthirsty demon. After completely annihilating the goblin swarm, the surviving party desperately collapses to treat their bloody injuries. But the surviving mercenaries are trembling with severe trauma. Gal realizes his front line has completely lost the will to fight. Hilariously, they are not physically tired at all. Their minds are simply broken from witnessing Eugene's insanely brutal psychopathic combat style. Knowing this pathetic squad is mentally finished, Gal awkwardly taps Eugene's shoulder, officially declaring a tactical retreat since they already met their quota. Eugene casually brushed it off. He wasn't tired at all, and quitting now would be a massive waste. Who knew when the next raid would drop? With a shrug, he told the others they could bail. But Kram fiercely roared that they had to push forward together. The exhausted mercenaries nearly cried in terror. Stepping off a massive, freshly slain goblin corpse, Eugene commanded Kram to escort the trembling raid party outside. Only his personal squad would advance. Kram gasped, realizing Eugene had totally noticed the poor mercenaries absolute exhaustion. Kram's eyes sparkled. Behind that icy exterior, Eugene was actually a sweet, warm-hearted knight protecting the weak. Having zero options, Kram obediently turned around and trailed behind our surprisingly heroic protagonist. In Kram's awestruck mind, this glorious man completely redefined what a true knight really was. Moments later, Eugene and his clueless mercenary crew plunged straight into the dark dungeon depths. Robin grumbled about being dragged into this mess. But hey, at least their boss was insanely overpowered. The guy could solo a troll. He could handle anything. But suddenly, Robin's foot squished something weird. A tiny crushed spider. He nervously glanced up only to freeze. A massive swarm blanketed the ceiling. Cave great spiders. These nasty pack hunting freaks literally melt their screaming victims alive with sizzling acid. Whoosh! The eight-legged nightmares lunged down at terrifying speeds. Partik desperately screamed for a tactical retreat. But Eugene didn't flinch. His blade flashed like lightning, instantly obliterating the creeping bugs into mush. Their pathetic numbers meant nothing. Seeing his master's confidence, Partic wildly yelled at Robin to attack. Robin shrieked that he was already swinging. Together, they frantically diced the endless tide of arachnids, but Robin's stamina tanked. Pinned down by the monsters, a massive jaw lunged straight for his head. Slash, Eugene split the beast, casually saving Robin's life. Looking up, Robin realized every spider was dead. Sweating bullets, he praised his boss's god-tier skills, but desperately begged to pack up and run. Robin turned to his captain for backup. But Partic was completely mute, violently shivering in sheer terror. Even among the exact same monster species, a terrifying hierarchy of power always exists. Higher ranks are insanely rare. Low-level raid parties never even factor them into their wildest survival calculations. But right there, Partic saw the ultimate nightmare variant of a cave great spider. A lord. Partic screamed for Eugene to run. They were completely useless, dead weight against a monstrous spider lord. Instead, Eugene deadly seriously called their names. A suffocating mountain-like aura suddenly exploded from his very being. He ordered them to fall back immediately. This eight-legged boss was his prey. Drenched in sweat, Partic agreed. Their bodies instinctively moved on their own, fleeing in terror. Watching them sprint, Miriam burst into laughter. Miriam chuckled, noting their survival instincts had completely surrendered to the overwhelming gap in sheer power. Eugene calmly asked Miriam if this creepy lord was on par with the legendary swamp master. Nope, Miriam gleefully explained that this giant spider boss was actually leagues stronger than that old master. But Eugene literally could not care less. His eyes practically sparkled. Bigger boss means bigger mana crystal. The lord let out a cave-shaking screech. Eugene just smirked cockily, daring the giant freak to struggle. Because honestly, the harder it is to crack open a treasure chest, the sweeter the epic loot. The very next day, a tiny spider dropped toward a teacup. Swish. It was perfectly sliced midair. Eating that massive lord's mana crystal had granted Eugene a seriously overpowered second ability, flawless act of camouflage. By reinforcing his tissues and projecting a flawless fake human skin, he could finally stroll into sunlight. Boom, the annoying inconvenience of avoiding broad daylight was practically deleted from his daily life. A blushing noble lady gasped, realizing he was maskless. She adorably asked why he hid those features. Why cover such a ridiculously handsome face? The high society girls were absolutely swooning, aggressively shooting their shot. Eugene awkwardly sweated under their thirsty stares. And worse, Miriam was relentlessly trolling him in his mind. One bold girl asked if he had magical Elven blood. Eugene internally panicked. Things were getting complicated. Right on cue, a hyperactive Kram burst into the scene. He loudly gushed about Eugene's insane vision, dog-like hearing, super agile moves, and absolutely monstrous throwing strength. Kram was basically operating a one-man fan club. Pointing dramatically, Kram yelled that Eugene couldn't be human. He definitely had legendary elf blood inside him. Crema squinted suspiciously, wondering how someone with those ridiculously dazzling protagonist visuals had managed to stay completely off the radar in this muddy wasteland. Figuring the guy was sharp, but ultimately clueless, Eugene flashed a devastatingly graceful smile, casually claiming he never actively tried to hide his glorious existence. The ladies and even Crema were absolutely blinded by his majestic holy visuals. Leaning into the trope, he mentally bookmarked a convenient excuse for later. If anyone asked again, he would just totally blame it on some random Elven ancestors. Gulping down that juicy mana crystal did not just grant our guy a basic power up. Poof, another mysterious tattoo vanished from his skin, suddenly downloading completely locked unseen memories straight into his brain. He envisioned himself laying somewhere strange, a gentle hand clasping his. Suddenly, a dramatic bell echoed while a whole crowd intensely stared at his face. Who on Earth was that mysterious lady? Were these cinematic flashbacks actually his own buried back story? Reality smacked him hard. Rabon was screaming for dear life while Crema savagely roasted the poor guy for being completely useless luggage on this trip. Weeping Rabon hilariously defended himself screaming that Eugene was basically an absolute monster. Normal folks would totally bail. Sadly, that was the wrong answer, leaving Eugene snacking on metaphorical popcorn while Crema hilariously beat Rabon to a pulp. Our amnesiac main character only remembered his name. However, these recent chaotic shenanigans had finally triggered a rather interesting galaxy brain theory. Ding. It seemed like scrub-a-dub-dubbing those weird tattoos away one by one might actually unlock his hidden legendary identity. Forget those fake nightly titles or his ridiculous Elven bloodline bluff. He wanted his true overpowered origins. Fast forward to the boss room. The sickly Lord Turwin gathered the squad, officially acknowledging their epic success in cracking the dungeon wide open. Crema did the whole polite noble introduction routine. Copying his homework, Eugene smoothly lied introducing himself as the proud eldest son of House Eugene. The impressed Lord praised their feats handing Eugene a shiny little reward. Boom, an official ID confirming him as Yan of House Eugene. He snatched up the paper flashing the Lord a perfectly polite heartwarming smile. Suddenly, the old man coughed up a lung sending Kaymar into panic mode. The Lord tragically confessed his brother's toxic ambitions were stressing him out. It completely ruined his peaceful retirement plans. Kaymar desperately swore to protect and safely manage the precious domain his father spent a lifetime grinding for. But the wise Lord dropped some final wisdom reminding Kaymar that dirt is just dirt. A true leader must always fiercely protect and guide his people. Dropping that heavy philosophical truth bomb, the grand old Lord tragically breathed his absolute last. Eugene watched the crowd weep oceans of tears, but his sharp protagonist eyes instantly spotted the sketchy folks pretending to care. Cue the intensely selfish Vertol. Before sunset, Crema awkwardly cornered Kaymar apologizing profusely for dodging out early during the grand emotional funeral proceedings. Komar completely understood the noble grind set. Changing the subject, Crema double-checked if Komar was actually crazy enough to stick around. Komar fired back, declaring he would definitely dive back into that dungeon. After doing all that exhausting unlocking work, leaving the remaining loot untouched was absolutely unforgivable. Pouting over the stubborn response, Crema wistfully mentioned that the mighty count of Evergrow would have totally fanboyed over Eugene. Stretching out his hand, Crema dramatically declared what an absolute honor it was to clash blades with such an insanely overpowered knight. Praying they wouldn't violently fight next time, Crema waited. Eugene stared blankly for a second before finally accepting the manly handshake. Once Crema bounced, Eugene commanded Partek to pack everything up. Eavesdropping nearby, Filad completely panicked, demanding to know why they were suddenly bailing. Didn't Eugene just claim they were staying? Partek casually educated him, insisting that real knights absolutely needed majestic horses. Road trip time. They marched straight to the trading guild to buy Eugene a horse and flip those monster parts for cold hard cash. Buying the excuse, Filad passionately swore absolute loyalty as Eugene's ultimate hardworking retainer. Hilariously, Eugene instantly shattered his dreams flatly, stating his services were completely unnecessary right now, leaving poor Filad utterly dumbfounded. Before his brain even processed the rejection boom, Filad was suddenly doing manual labor, hauling massive boxes in Marin, the absolute wealthiest commercial hub in Kaylor. Thud. As heavy boxes hit the floor, curious mercenaries swarmed them while Raban obnoxiously bragged about scoring these insanely rare dungeon drops. The crowd immediately freaked out, recognizing Eugene as the absolute madman who casually decapitated a living troll with his bare hands downstairs. Eyes sparkling with pure greed, they frantically inspected the epic loot. Meanwhile, in the background, poor Filad was sweating buckets doing all the actual heavy lifting. Wiping sweat, he realized Eugene was taking an awkwardly long time chatting someone up. Cut to slick Bill Moore from Palin Trading Company. He was desperately sweet-talking Eugene Swearing, Marin's finest would personally manage his epic loot. Eugene initially thought Partec's so-called business connection was complete garbage, so he was actually pretty shocked. Partec had actually hooked him up with a massively rich mega corporation, a total cheat code. For an amnesiac with literally zero social skills, having this corporate backing was absolutely priceless. Bill Moore desperately continued his aggressive sales pitch. He wildly listed all their VIP perks, practically begging to shower Eugene with mountains of shiny gold coins for his dungeon clearing hustle. Bam! The door slammed open, smashing into Bill Moore. A rude intruder demanded Eugene's identity, leaving both men speechless. Pat whispered that things were about to get super awkward. Seeing Eugene's confusion, he explained this guy was a secretary working right beneath the Palin Trading Company's deputy manager. This corporate lapdog actually outranked poor Bill Moore. He was definitely here to lowball them and snatch the monster loot. Pat desperately warned Eugene to tread carefully. Eugene's interest peaked. He needed a reliable business partner. Sweating bullets, Bill Moore nervously greeted the smug intruder as Grail. He stammered that exclusive contract negotiations with with Eugene were already in full swing, but Grail coldly ordered Bill Moore to step aside. Why pick a fight with a corporate heavyweight you cannot beat? Smirking Grail mentioned the wild rumors swirling around the harbor about this so-called knight. Tales of him ripping off a troll's head bare-handed in Terwin territory, hauling back a literal mountain of loot. Honestly, Grail thought it was total garbage, just a classic newbie bluff to artificially inflate his market value. Grail puffed up his chest. The trading company's deputy manager wanted an exclusive personal contract with Eugene. He demanded they ditch this rundown dump and follow him immediately. Grail figured Eugene was just a muscle-brained brute. He planned to scam him blind. But suddenly, whoosh! A suffocating aura exploded from Eugene's deadpan stare. Paralyzed by sheer terror, Grail instantly dropped the attitude. He bowed respectfully, desperately stammering out his business proposal. Eugene blankly asked what opportunity he meant. Sweating buckets, Grail squeaked that it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. A golden chance to sell his loot for premium coin directly handled by the big boss herself. Eugene wasn't buying it. His death glare intensified, pushing the sweating secretary into absolute panic. Grail frantically apologized, begging for forgiveness for his rude entrance. Yet, Eugene's monstrous pressure did not budge. Breaking under the pressure, Grail bolted out the door. He sprinted away, screaming that he would return later. Billmore was practically bawling his eyes out. Eugene had just rejected a massive corporate deal just to protect him. Missing the point entirely, the dramatic merchant swore absolute undying loyalty and support to his new nightly patron. He begged Eugene to demand absolutely anything. Then, bouncing like a kid, Billmore asked when business would start. Right now, Eugene deadpanned. Meanwhile, back at the fancy trading company, a trembling Grail delivered the bad news. He reported the flat rejection to the deputy manager, crying that the knight was an absolute terrifying monster. The deputy manager sighed, telling him to stand up. These meathead knights were always blinded by stubborn pride, she smirked. If he wanted to play hardball, they would crush him using the absolute power of merchant capital. It would be child's play. How could a totally broke knight, who didn't even own a horse, resist? She ordered Grail to deliver a luxurious bait gift. Something so outrageously shiny a poor knight could never refuse. Elsewhere, Fellad looked utterly betrayed. Was Eugene really abandoning him here to sell monster parts? Eugene nodded shamelessly. Fellad's puppy dog eyes teared up, asking if his sword skills were just too horribly pathetic. Desperate Fellad swore to swing his sword a thousand times daily. Eugene calmly countered, "What is a retainer's duty?" "To serve my liege in both bloody battle and boring daily life," Fellad recited. Eugene gave a thumbs up. "Exactly. Welcome to the daily life phase. Eugene smoothly ordered his new retainer to become a hardcore salesman. "Make me rich," Eugene declared, heroically framing it as a sacred nightly quest before abruptly turning to escape. He casually told Filad to figure out the retail ropes while crashing with Billmore. Billmore would be his capitalist master now. Filad sulked, but knew without Eugene, he would be goblin food. Throwing a tantrum wasn't very knightly. Just as he accepted his retail fate, Eugene tossed him a bone. Eugene promised that once their bank looked decent, he might actually teach the kid how to swing a sword. Someday Filad would fight by his side as a true badass retainer. Filad's fanboy heart absolutely burst with joy. He swore undying loyalty. Cut to the next day. Eugene learned the harsh comedic reality of being completely broke. They only bought basics, but the money vanished. Miran sobbed dramatically, hugging their empty wallet like a lost child. While Miran threw his comedic pity party, Eugene's eyes locked onto a display window. Holy cow, shiny armor. Pat drooled, calling it full plate armor, the ultimate flex for any knight. Eugene innocently asked about the price tag. Pat laughed bitterly. That stuff was so astronomically expensive, even rich nobles treated it like generational family heirlooms. While Eugene window shopped, Raban sprinted over screaming. An absolutely massive bloodthirsty orc horde had just surrounded Miran. Raban warned that Eastern Forest orcs were swarming Miran City. The local guilds were getting totally crushed trying to hold the line. Pat begged to join the raid, but Eugene just deadpanned, "Why should we?" Raban threw his hands up. "Unlike taxed dungeons, wild orc hunting is totally free. Plus, Miran is a loaded merchant hub. We can instantly sell monster loot at premium prices with zero shipping fees. It literally means a massive mountain of cash," Raban screamed excitedly. Eugene instantly agreed. "Time is money. Let us roll." But suddenly, someone blocked their path. A breathless Grail appeared, clinging to a massive warhorse. He proudly announced the deputy manager sent this absolute beast as a gift. This luxury ride boasts silky black hair, jacked muscles, and a super elite pedigree. Grail explained like a salesman. She really gave this epic mount to me, Eugene asked his eyes gleaming. Sweating under Eugene's intense stare, Grail nodded frantically. Yes, completely free. Absolutely zero strings attached. Eugene sprinted to the majestic beast which purred like a giant kitten. Vaulting smoothly into the saddle, Eugene yelled his thanks to the manager then zoomed off to grind for that sweet cash. Raban blankly stared at the dust trail. The boss left us behind. What now, Part? We run, you idiot, Part screamed sprinting after Eugene leaving a totally dumbfounded Grail eating their dust. Meanwhile, in the eastern woods, nasty goblins were munching on a victim until thundering hooves interrupted their gross snack. Slashed goblin heads rolled instantly. Myrian popped out warning that this monster wave was absolutely massive with orcs already swarming. The local guild hunters are probably wiped out by now, he panicked. Eugene just smirked. Awesome news. I absolutely hate sharing my precious loot. Arriving at the chaotic front line, Eugene spotted exhausted soldiers fighting for their lives while a lone knight was totally swarmed. You shall not pass unless you strike me down, the knight roared with dramatic main character energy. But as the raging orcs charged his cowardly horse panicked bucking him off before speeding away into the sunset. I am the great Sir Madrea, he posed from the dirt until a massive orc club smashed the ground nearby. He trembled helplessly as muscular orcs raised their weapons to crush him into pancake batter. Somebody save me, Madrea shrieked pathetically. Woosh, a flying spear suddenly exploded an orc's head. Eugene had arrived. Eugene dashed in like a blur. His blade danced effortlessly shredding the surrounding orcs in seconds flat. Who are you, my savior? Madrea gasped. Eugene casually chucked his sword over his shoulder nailing a sneaky orc behind them. Madrea was completely starstruck. Does my name really matter right now? Eugene scoffed. If you had died just then, introductions would be useless. With more orcs rushing in, Madrea scrambled up, drawing his blade. "Fine, I will ask you again after we survive this." Raid cleared. Later, Madrea was dramatically bragging to the townsfolk, claiming millions of goblins swarmed them like a giant tsunami. "We fought valiantly, but in our darkest hour, a mysterious badass knight descended from the heavens, slaughtering monsters without mercy. He brought victory to Marin." The annoyed crowd rolled their eyes at his overacting, screaming at him to just drop the name. It was John Eugene Madrea revealed. Instantly, the crowd gasped, their curiosity absolutely exploding. The legendary knight who solo cleared the Terwin territory dungeon, the crowd suddenly remembered. The mob started chanting Eugene's name like crazed fanboys. They enthusiastically hailed him as the ultimate hometown hero. Mayor Louis Paline, the cunning former boss of the Paline Trading Company, watched the chaos from above. Observing the crazy fan club below, he turned to his sly granddaughter, Deputy Manager Pachella. "As his fame skyrockets, taming him becomes impossible," Louis muttered. "Are you absolutely sure letting this wildcard roam free is smart?" Pachella confidently smirked, assuring him everything was perfectly managed. "Let his hype hit the stratosphere, because the higher the hero flies, the more devastating his eventual crash will be. By the way, notice that little squire following Eugene around?" Louis raised a brow. "You mean the kid named Fellod?" "Bingo." Pachella grinned wickedly. "My secret background check confirms that Fellod is actually the hidden illegitimate son of the mighty Terwin family. Eugene is playing chess. He is hoarding business funds while secretly acting as the sponsor for a future noble. If we can snatch both pieces, we could literally control the future head of the Terwin family." Mayor Louis smirked at Pella's cunning scheme. Her goal was obvious, purchase the absolute loyalty of a knight backing a noble bloodline. He would shower Eugene with lavish gifts, hiding his true schemes behind the perfect excuse, a mayor rewarding the city's heroic savior. Louis promised to personally recommend Pachella, handing her the golden ticket. He ordered her not to blow this perfect chance. Bowing with a confident grin, she accepted. Later sipping fine tea in her lavish mansion, she chuckled. The thirsty always crawl to the oasis. For a master merchant like her, the next move was obvious. She would dig the well before the drought even hit. She envisioned Eugene gulping from her trap, completely oblivious and begging for more. Sadly for her genius plan, Eugene didn't thirst for water. He drank blood. The heavy guest room doors creaked open. Flashing a wicked predatory grin, she welcomed her ultimate prize. She buttered him up, calling him Maron's greatest hero. But Eugene just stared back flatly, stating he only came to say thanks. He casually checked if she ran the Palan Trading Company branch. Smug as ever, she confirmed it and offered him a lavish seat. Studying him closely, she shuddered. He was breathtakingly handsome, yet absolutely terrifying. A monster who could rip off a troll's head bare-handed. He completely defied knightly common sense. Flattering him, she bragged about Louis' gift, custom armor forged by Maron's absolute best legendary workshop. She hyped it up fusion of rare iron and ogre bone. Even a terrifying dragon's fangs would shatter against it. She eagerly asked how it felt. He casually praised its sturdiness for his next deadly dungeon raid, then bluntly thanked her for the five-star food and free bed. Because of that, his mercenary crew was fully recovered. But then he completely killed the mood bluntly, claiming he never fought for rewards. Chuckling at his fake humility, she prepared to spring her ultimate trap. But suddenly Eugene stood up, completely ignoring her pitch. He coldly announced his departure, stating he was far too busy for this nonsense. Completely panicked, she stammered, "Leaving already?" Turning his back, he casually threw out that he might return after clearing the Turwin dungeon. That tiny crumb was his only offer. Crushing her merchant dreams, he coldly declared their contract only covered monster loot. This was officially their absolute last time ever meeting. His only focus now was farming mana crystals. Utterly devastated, she shrieked out, freezing the monstrous knight in his very tracks. She desperately asked if they really had nothing left to negotiate. Glancing back, he coldly questioned what on earth she was implying. She angrily accused him of playing stupid, snapping that there was a limit to this ridiculous charade. She shrieked about her investments, Maron's absolute priciest armor, a purebred warhorse, luxury hotel suites, and endless five-star gourmet banquets. She viciously pointed out that his measly monster loot barely covered half of the insane tab he had racked up. Glaring daggers, she demanded to know if he was seriously ignoring the massive price tag dangling from all those freebies. Barking like a cornered dog, she reminded the former squire that nothing comes free. Then she dropped her ultimate pathetic blackmail threat. Pay up, or she would ruin him. Maron's adoring citizens would find out their savior was just a shameless, honorless scammer. The temperature instantly plummeted. Eugene stayed dead silent, then let out a spine-chilling smirk. "How utterly pathetically ridiculous." He brutally reminded her she was the bossy one. She shoved all those completely unwanted luxury gifts onto him without ever asking. Yet now she had the sheer audacity to demand payment. His killing intent spiked. Glaring down, he dangerously questioned if a lowly merchant was actually trying to threaten a monster. Her guards shook with absolute terror while his crew grinned. Stepping menacingly closer, he whispered, she had made a fatal miscalculation. He coldly reminded her that his official contract with Palan was already locked in through Billmore. She was totally irrelevant. As long as she shut up and bought his loot, Maron's useless gossip meant absolutely nothing to him. Leaning in with suffocating pressure, he threw her own words back. "Yes, absolutely everything carries a bloody price. If she kept barking, he would personally show her exactly how horrific paying that ultimate price could actually be." Turning his back, he dropped a logic bomb publicly. It just looked like greedy merchants bullying the exact heroic knight who saved their city. If they kept playing dirty next time monsters attacked, not a single sane warrior would step up to save Maron from total destruction. Robin and Partec smugly trailed behind him. Before exiting, Partec glanced back at the trembling merchant, shaking his head at the pathetic comedy. He mockingly sighed, noting that if she wasn't so aggressively greedy, they might have actually built a highly profitable partnership. Paralyzed by sheer terror and burning shame, Priscilla desperately swallowed her massive pride and begged the walking disaster to stop. Her arrogant mask shattered, she bowed deeply, frantically apologizing for her utterly suicidal disrespect. Admitting her greedy obsession with dominance had completely blinded her. She pathetically pleaded for one single chance to restart their entire relationship. She scrambled to keep the Billmore deal alive, sweat dropping while begging to toss in just a few tiny extra clauses. She swore on her life he had zero reasons to stress Priscilla had played countless pompous knights like fiddles. To her, those armored meatheads were just glory hounds happily wagging their tails for a fat stack of cash. But Eugene, a totally different beast. Poking this walking disaster area was a massive mistake. Kicking herself for the total misread, her merchant spider sense screamed that letting this golden goose fly away was business suicide. Lucky for her, Eugene parked himself down to listen. But his terrifying glare warned her to make this pitch juicy. Sweating bullets, she praised his absolute mercy. Soon enough, our main character and his chaotic crew hit the dusty trail again. Myron flexed in his shiny new gear, hyping himself up as the ultimate badass. While Eugene effortlessly ignored the cringe, Part proudly reported their shiny new contract details, hyping up the Palan Trading Company as an absolute corporate titan with hundreds of branches scattered across the massive Roman Empire. This giant guild ran their entire operation straight from Morin. They basically cornered the market on noble families holding local magic territories exactly like the snobby House Turwin. Part swore that Palan threw them the ultimate VIP pass, unlimited dungeon and labyrinth access across all their massive branches. Honestly, that kind of golden blank check was way sweeter than bowing down to some stuck-up aristocratic noble family. Part shamelessly fanboyed over Eugene's genius negotiation tactics. Hilariously, Eugene confessed he only trash talked because he was cranky and annoyed. Out of nowhere, a sarcastic heckler sneered asking if wearing shiny armor magically made you a real knight. A cueball thug relentlessly mocked our main character's pretty face betting he could never swing a real sword properly. Myron fumed but Eugene ghosted the insult. Right on cue, Kamar stepped up to say hello. Eugene dismounted cheekily asking if he should start using the fancy title of Lord Turwin. Kamar laughed it off telling him to drop the formalities while noting our boss had received a serious glow up. When Eugene checked the vibes, Kamar sighed that instead of backing down, petty Veril had just bought more sketchy muscle. But the vibes were completely cursed. Kamar mentioned those brutal mercenaries previously eaten by black wolves noting they were absolute scumbags. Creepily enough, Veril's brand new batch of hired goons radiated that exact same toxic backstabbing energy. Kamar then casually dropped the bomb that he was officially playing commander for this chaotic dungeon raiding party. Cueball spat pure venom sarcastically demanding to know if he inherited the commander title when Eugene inevitably bit the dust. His goons cackled like hyenas absolutely ticking Kamar off but Cueball sneered lecturing that dungeons were not casual sunny picnics. He dramatically declared that underground human lives were as utterly worthless as squashed bugs so they better brace for absolute hell. Smirking like a total villain, he eyed Eugene and mockingly declared he would be heavily counting on him. Unbothered, Eugene coolly agreed with the trash talk. If he somehow died, the bald freak could totally take his glorious job. Brushing off the drama he announced their countermeasures were set and ordered the chaotic party to march forward immediately. Myron relentlessly whined about the bald bastard but Eugene calmly confirmed the jerk was just another petty trap from Veril. That snake totally planned an underground assassination using these trash mobs. Unfazed, Eugene and his loyal crew boldly breached first. Trailed by those obviously suspicious goons, Eugene smirked betting this supposedly deadly raid was going to be incredibly entertaining. Fast forward and Eugene was casually slaughtering beasts like a lawnmower, stacking their bodies into neat little morbid towers. He glided through combat effortlessly, making the bald thug sweat as he realized Eugene's overpowered hype was terrifyingly real. Playing the absolute carry, Eugene soloed the workload of 100 armored knights, while the peanut gallery literally just stood gap-jawed. To the shocked cueball, Eugene felt like an absolutely indestructible massive titanium wall shielding their entire useless party. Gripping his weapon like a coward, he desperately hunted for one tiny blind spot to sneak his poison-coated blade into Eugene. Breaking the silence, Eugene casually announced they had officially entered the spicy zone, where heavily leveled mid-rank monsters spawned. He dropped the friendly act warning he was done babysitting. Only crazy people willing to gamble their actual lives should follow. Staring dead at cueball's shady squad, he laid down the harsh truth. Only absolute tryhards with zero fear were allowed inside. Swallowing his fear, cueball loudly bragged they were tagging along, secretly convinced this bloody chaos was their golden chance to backstab. Robin stepped up like a loyal puppy, but Part yanked him back, telling Eugene they would happily sit this round out. While Robin looked confused, Part smoothly explained their overpowered boss had a sneaky master plan waiting deeper in the dungeon. Marching forward, Eugene recalled his old raid with KMA. Honestly, dungeoneering without that chaotic guy was a total snooze fest. It hit him hard. KMA was an absolute legendary boss hyping up the squad while totally tanking the deadliest hits right on the bloody front lines. Honestly, if Crema were here, this chaotic raid party would have safely cleared the dungeon flawlessly. It genuinely made him wonder how she would handle this absolute circus. Glancing back, the shady mercenaries were already drawing their blades. Finally, they dropped their ridiculously pathetically little act. If they were completely begging for a death wish, he was absolutely thrilled to deliver. Myra then summoned a watery aura baffling the thugs. With a cheeky laugh, a massive splash instantly snuffed out their torches. Pitch blackness swallowed them, sparking total panic. Magic from him, their tiny minds were completely blown. The bald boss frantically yelled to strike a light, completely blind to the glowing crimson eyes actively hunting them all. Slash, thud. One by one, they dropped. The absolute darkness echoed with nothing but the glorious screams of their buddies. Blindly swinging their heavy weapons like total amateurs, they were ruthlessly sliced and diced in the glorious bloody mayhem. After 60 seconds of pure pathetic whimpering, Baldi finally managed to spark two tiny flint stones together for light. Cursing up an absolute storm, he begged for a spark. Then the screaming completely stopped. That suffocating silence was genuinely terrifying. Creepy footsteps echoed closer. Eugene whispered, "Do you honestly need a light, buddy?" Eugene grabbed his trembling hands to strike the flint, mockingly cooing that he really should have just asked for some help. "Human vision is just so tragically useless in the dark," he sighed. As the little flame finally flickered alive, Eugene smirked. "Can you see much better now? Can you finally tell exactly who is the actual apex predator here?" Baldi froze. A gigantic slain beast laid ahead, and his entire mercenary squad was completely wiped out right behind him. "You freaking monster!" he sobbed pathetically. Eugene just flashed a wicked smile, opened wide, and sank his fangs into his neck. Later back at Turwin Castle, an incredibly stressed Kamar burst into the council room to find our main character waiting. Kamar, with a highly suspicious Verthol tailing him, demanded the truth. Verthol smugly asked what all the annoying fuss was about. "Let us hear it straight from the star of the show." Eugene laughed casually, tossing the bald traitor right at their feet. Verthol panicked. The bald lackey immediately spilled the beans, confessing that Verthol directly ordered the messy top secret assassination attempt. Sweating bullets, Verthol furiously screamed that the guy was a total lunatic who had completely lost his fragile mind. Boiling with intense rage, Kamar yelled, "Just how deep does your absolute villainy go?" Verthol aggressively snapped right back. "Are you seriously taking the unhinged word of a certified crazy person over your very own blood? Desperate for damage control, Vertal violently grabbed the bald dude, ordering him to fix this massive screw up immediately. But entirely mind-controlled by Eugene, the shiny-headed fool sprinted for the window, dramatically screaming that human trash like him must perish. He yeeted himself out, Kamar shrieked in horror, but the dude was already flawlessly skewered on a sharp stone statue below. See, Vertal shamelessly bragged. The absolute idiot obviously snapped after watching a wild beast tear his crew into tiny pieces. Is it not much crazier to believe this punk? He scoffed. Kamar glared back. No, your weird sense of relief is crazier. Kamar was absolutely disgusted by the gruesome death, ticking Vertal off even further. He aggressively pointed his shaking finger at Eugene. You have zero nightly honor. Vertal shrieked dramatically, accusing our hero of spreading totally delusional, completely unhinged slander against his good name. With zero chill, Eugene asked if he swore pure innocence on his precious knighthood. Like a complete fool, Vertal smugly barked yes. Schwing, Eugene whipped out his blade, aiming it right at his face. Trial by combat, he epically declared. He fearlessly bet his nightly honor and absolute reputation on revealing the undeniable ugly truth. Seeing Eugene's arrogant smirk, Vertal foolishly accepted the deadly challenge without a second thought. Soon, the castle arena was totally buzzing. Spicy gossip about Vertal's shady assassination plot was spreading like absolute unstoppable wildfire. The massive crowd was completely fed up with his drama. The two warriors squared off with an incredibly anxious Kamar presiding. Kamar shouted that since their claims completely clashed, a fierce duel would officially determine the real truth. Only the absolutely righteous divine will of the almighty gods would crown the ultimate victor and reveal the undeniable facts. May the heavens guide your sharp blades, he prayed. Before he even finished, Vertal violently lunged, swinging his heavy steel. Klang, Eugene blocked it like it was nothing. A second strike effortlessly swatted away like a totally pesky fly. Disappointed by his pathetic skill, Eugene wondered if this clown truly hunted him in a past life. Over 10 years running from this absolute joke of a swordsman. How embarrassing. With a sharp smirk, Eugene finally struck back. Verthal desperately blocked, but his weak arms turned to jelly. Clatter, Eugene beautifully disarmed him, kicking him firmly into the dirt. "Pick it up." Eugene teased mercilessly, completely refusing to end it quickly. Kamar just watched in absolute awe at the power gap. Eugene casually swung his blade cleanly, chopping off Verthal's hand. But before he could finish the job, Kamar screamed for a timeout. Eugene coldly shot back that the death match wasn't finished. He ordered the older brother to scram. Kamar firmly refused, desperate to save his foolish sibling from getting utterly slaughtered. Since the handless loser couldn't swing a sword, his bogus claims were busted. The epic victory automatically belonged to Eugene. But Verthal's toxic pride kicked in. Bleeding out, he insanely screeched that he would personally send Eugene to the afterlife. Kamar desperately begged him to chill out. The match was over. He told Verthal to accept his crimes and do time like a real knight. Classic villain move, Verthal totally lost it. He shoved his own brother aside and blindly charged at our main character, screaming in pure jealousy. He cried that Eugene ruined his perfect life. In response to this tragic temper tantrum, Eugene simply raised his merciless blade. In a flash, Verthal felt strangely paralyzed. Suddenly, the entire world flipped. Why was his brother standing upside down? Eugene coldly noted he should have taken his brother's pity pass. Yep, Verthal's severed head was now chilling on the cold dirt. Rest in pieces. Total silence filled the arena. Eugene coolly walked off like a boss, leaving Kamar weeping over his headless idiotic sibling. Fast forward to Meron City. While strolling down a hallway, Myrian casually popped the question. Didn't he feel bad about wasting a perfectly good minion? Eugene gave him a blank stare. Myrian laughed, pointing out that the bald loser was literally his very first vampire familiar. Yet our brutal hero extracted a confession and immediately tossed him in the trash without hesitation. Eugene scoffed, "Zero regrets here." That bald dude had the mental fortitude of wet paper. He absolutely sucked at being an undead servant. If he kept him around, that bumbling fool would have totally leaked their secret vampire status to the whole world. Plus, Eugene flashed a dark smirk. Did Myrion honestly expect him to spare a pathetic thug who actually tried to bite him first? Myrion chuckled at his absolute ruthlessness. He playfully reminded Eugene that true vampires collect endless thralls as the ultimate flex of power. Eugene totally rejected that outdated trope. Grabbing the cold door knob, our fiercely independent main character grumbled in his mind, "Babysitting trash-tier minions just sounded like a massive headache. Cleaning up their dumb mistakes, yeah, absolutely not worth the effort." Opening the heavy door, he suddenly overheard someone gossiping about his buddy Crema. Billmore was stress sweating while reporting to Pacella. Total disaster had struck. Crema had been completely missing inside a deadly dungeon for 14 days. They jumped in pure shock. Sensing his scary aura, Billmore tried to kiss up, but Eugene totally ignored him, demanding the truth about Crema. Cue the travel montage. Eugene furiously galloped on horseback, replaying Pacella's terrifying news in his mind. 14 days ago, Crema joined a massive dungeon raid in Count Evergrow's territory. Sadly, the idiot got himself hopelessly lost inside. The search party violently combed through the entire mid-tier monster zone, but couldn't find a single scrap of his gear. Total mystery. He obviously blundered into the hardcore boss zone. Burning with anxiety, our overpowered hero blitzed straight toward the count's lands to rescue him. A few days later, he reached Count Evergrow's flashy mansion, where the lord warmly welcomed him. The lord totally fanboyed, claiming Eugene's epic rumors didn't do justice to his shockingly young age and ridiculously good looks. Playing the polite game, Eugene gave a crisp bow and thanked him. Then, the heir, Javen Evergrow, killed the mood. Claiming an absolute emergency, he dragged everyone into his stuffy office to talk business. Once firmly seated, Jevan dramatically sighed, claiming poor Crema let foolish greed completely hijack his brain. They totally promised him a sweet promotion for clearing the raid, but never expected the crazy guy to solo the nightmare levels. Eugene narrowed his eyes. Was he seriously blaming Crema for going rogue? Jevan shamelessly nodded and spilled the tragic tea. Turns out that terrifying upper zone house Evergrow hadn't successfully conquered that hellish place in over 100 miserable years. That cursed spot housed the legendary dungeon boss. Intrigued by the challenge, Eugene demanded to know exactly what this boss was. Lugat, some arrogant Evergrow knight, smugly chimed in. He claimed it was an absolute monster ruling the entire underground maze. Flashing a punchable smirk, Lugat snarked that Crema got incredibly greedy for achievements and charged forward like an absolute madman. Basically, he annoyed everyone. Jevan awkwardly introduced this snarky Lugat as the guy who co-captained the doomed raid alongside poor Crema. Lugat sarcastically greeted Eugene, proudly announcing they shared a totally hilarious fun fact together. This jerk was the local tournament champ, meaning he actually completely crushed Crema in a past duel. Eugene shot back a frosty glare. Did that stupid flex truly matter right now? Sweating bullets. Jevan quickly smoothed things over. He apologized, swearing Crema was way too valuable of an asset to lose. He poetically praised Eugene's deep beautiful friendship with Crema, making Myrion physically wheeze with silent laughter in the background. Trying to look heroic, Jevan promised maximum VIP support for Crema's bestie. He then dropped a massive century-old lore bomb. Every single Evergrow raid on the upper levels was a disaster. Entire parties vanished into thin air. Thanks to that cursed track record, a 1-month disappearance meant an automatic official death sentence. Jevan locked eyes with Eugene. Do you grasp the gravity Crema had been missing for 3 weeks? 1 week left before all hope evaporated. Hearing this, Eugene immediately shot up, ready to tear apart the labyrinth, but Jeban forcefully blocked his path. "Fool, a death labyrinth isn't some casual stroll through the local market. He promised a heavily armed subjugation squad in 3 days with Lugate spearheading the dangerous rescue mission. Conserve your strength until then." he advised. Eugene narrowed his eyes in deep suspicion, but offered polite thanks. Jeban dropped one final crucial detail, a newly hired mage would be directly assigned to Eugene as dedicated combat backup. Out on the streets, Miriam fumed absolutely seething over Lugate's arrogant attitude. Sure, Crema looked like a total goofball, but he was insanely strong. He wouldn't just vanish effortlessly. Miriam viciously cursed both Lugate and Jeban, while Eugene connected several glaring inconsistencies. He distinctly recalled Crema's bold promise before they parted. He was going to officially secure Eugene's dungeon raid credit, a fully guaranteed official appointment from Count Evergrow himself. Crema even begged him to tag along and flaunt his skills. Crema's grand promotion should be stone cold fact by now, yet suddenly they were tossing him into another deadly test. Why the sudden betrayal? Plus, Eugene knew perfectly well that Crema was not stupid enough to charge in completely blindly. If Crema genuinely entered that hellish labyrinth, he absolutely would have built an elite squad and moved with extreme caution. Suddenly, chaotic shouting erupted. Crowds surged forward screaming hysterically that the legendary Messiah was finally descending. An eccentric elder stood before a creepy eye emblem loudly declaring that when a crimson shadow finally consumed the bleeding moon, the goddess of victory would erupt in furious wrath, completely annihilating the entire land. The frenzied crowd violently pushed closer. "The apocalypse is upon us." he roared. Repeated labyrinth tremors were already violently slaughtering wild beasts by the massive hordes. He frantically raved about a highly formidable knight vanishing into the abyss. Miriam's eyes went wide. He definitely meant Crema. The madman commanded the entire crowd to drench the labyrinth gates in fresh calf blood and feast on the remaining flesh. Only this grotesque blood ritual would officially summon the Messiah to save their doomed crimson-soaked land. Panic violently infected the townsfolk like a plague. Boss Myrion muttered, "This entire town has completely lost its collective mind." A frantic child shoved a flyer into Eugene's hands. "Divine fury is coming. Repent before it is too late." Eugene scanned the unhinged flyer. It documented mass beast casualties near the labyrinth, all caused by strange and violent earthquakes. Had the labyrinth's main structure completely collapsed? Either way, waiting three agonizing days was no longer a viable option. He confidently told Myrion they were scouting ahead right now. Myrion's face instantly lit up with absolute unhinged delight, but lurking quietly in the shadows, a strange girl eavesdropped. "Well, well," she whispered, "a real vampire in the flesh." Eugene's killer instincts flared. Caught off guard, he instantly dragged her into a dark alley, pinning her violently against the wall. "How did you sniff me out so fast?" he growled. "Speak up, or I will snap your fragile neck like a twig." She desperately gasped for air, begging him to loosen his iron grip. Choking, she finally revealed she was a blood shadow. That ominous name rang a massive bell. Myrion panicked, desperately diving to stop Eugene before he accidentally murdered her. "Boss, wait!" Myrion shrieked. "She is a blood shadow mage. Their entire magical school has worshipped vampires for many generations." Too late. Eugene's monstrous grip had already choked her out completely. A few extremely awkward moments later, she finally awoke. "Are you completely insane?" she coughed furiously, demanding answers. "How am I supposed to talk while you were actively crushing my windpipe?" Eugene offered a surprisingly sheepish apology. While Myrion scolded her for whispering from the shadows like a creepy comic villain. Smoothing out her collar, she proudly announced, "I am Ser Noir Rory, blood shadow mage, and eternal retainer to vampires." Thanks to her school's unique magical affinity, smelling a hidden vampire's aura was absolutely effortless child's play. Jeban had explicitly hired her to track Eugene down heavily, banking on his ridiculously deep friendship with the missing Crema. Hearing this frustrating news, Eugene angrily vowed to physically sew Crema's blabbering mouth totally shut the second he found him. But then she dropped a massive surprise. She was actually in the exact same subjugation party when Crema shockingly vanished. When Eugene fiercely demanded details, she explained she only joined the dangerous raid to harvest a super rare monster byproduct. That is why she personally applied for the official labyrinth subjugation directly announced by Count Evergrow. The infamous Evergrow labyrinth was legendary for its absolute difficulty. Discovered a century ago, this place was practically completely looted with only the deepest levels remaining. The raiding party casually strolled forward, but deep within the ruins a catastrophic roar shattered the silence. Instantly the very earth vanished beneath her boots. Death was inches away until a powerful hand yanked her back. Crema, their loyal rearguard hurled her to safety at his own expense. Swallowed by the ill-lit abyssal darkness, he plummeted in her place. Thanks to his ultimate sacrifice, she miraculously survived the ordeal. Yet the rest of the party they completely scapegoated him. Convince Crema had recklessly triggered a forbidden upper-tier gate. Gripped by absolute guilt, she confessed everything to Eugene. She couldn't stomach the lies anymore and had to reveal the truth. Tracking him down was her only option. Though she totally didn't expect her savior's friend to be an actual literal vampire. The pieces didn't fit. Jebin's intel was complete garbage. Was that rat lying to his face or was a hidden mastermind pulling the strings? Then she dropped the real bombshell. Peering into the terrifying void that swallowed Crema, she had spotted a massive sinister eye etched into the abyss. Eugene narrowed his eyes, demanding absolute confirmation. She fiercely nodded without a second hesitation. A memory struck him like lightning. Those annoying cultist pamphlets from earlier the twisted insignia on that trash perfectly matched her description. Meanwhile, miles below the surface, a legion of cloaked fanatics were already deep in their insane rituals. Their unhinged grandmaster raised his hands. "Rejoice, brethren." he roared. "Prepare your souls, for our glorious savior is finally about to awaken." Flash forward 3 days. Eugene and his mercs face the dungeon gates, flanked by the infuriatingly smug Lugates and his troops. Lugates smirked with fake sympathy. "Thrilled to reunite with your dear pal." he sneered. "Let's just pray we aren't scraping up his rotten corpse." "Kremas way too stubborn to die." Eugene shot back with zero hesitation. Lugates blinked in surprise, before exploding into a fit of arrogant laughter. Murderous intent flashed in Eugene's eyes. He would have stormed this hell hole days ago, but he knew damn well Kremas vanishing act was orchestrated. So, he played the waiting game, analyzing the nobles every shady move. If his crazy friend survived 3 weeks down there, he could handle more. A measly 3 days wouldn't finish him. Suddenly, a squad of heavily robed figures strode right into their tense standoff, flaunting House Evergrow crests. These holy templars bowed respectfully, offering Eugene surprisingly warm, completely oblivious greetings. Their eyes practically sparkled with admiration. "Such noble sacrifice for a comrade." they gushed, eagerly pledging their righteous swords to his dangerous rescue mission. "We shall fight in God's glorious name." Eugene deadpanned at the sheer irony, while Marion choked back hysterical laughter. Divine blessings for a literal vampire. Lugates clicked his tongue. "Fascinating. The church's dogs usually only chase divine commands. For them to fanboy over a mere knight, how incredibly rare. Maybe you should class change into a holy paladin later." the noble mocked. This absolutely sent Marion and Sirinar, who were now violently suppressing their giggles. Eugene ignored the comedy routine, locking his crimson gaze onto Lugates with razor-sharp suspicion. With a subtle nod, he commanded Partish to step aside. His loyal subordinate moved instantly. Time jump. The raid party successfully breached the labyrinth's shadows, calling for a quick tactical breather. "Whoa, the water aura here is insane." Marion marveled. But Eugene's vampire senses caught something else. This wasn't a natural dungeon. It was perfectly engineered. Every corridor felt mathe- matically designed. A twisted playground built to allow a tiny sliver of survival, even while swarming with bloodthirsty beasts. He chuckled internally. If the whole world ever went to hell, setting up a vampire base in a creepy maze like this honestly wasn't the worst retirement plan. Right on cue, the noble slithered over. "A spectacular breeding ground." He mused, "for vile creatures to scurry and hide in the dark." He gave a fake slow clap. "Impressive vanguard skills, Eugene. We've descended this far, and miraculously, not a single piece of cannon fodder has died yet." Eugene ignored the fake praise. "Cut the chatter. How much further until we hit Crema's last known coordinates?" "Patience, my anxious knight." Lugates purred sarcastically. "Tell me, do you actually have that much blind faith in your little buddy? The only man you should trust is me." He boasted. "House Evergrow already owns the blueprint to every lethal trap in this miserable dump. Sure, peasants get slaughtered every run." He chuckled like a psychopath. "Think of their spilled blood as necessary sacrifices for our glorious future." Eugene's fangs nearly extended in pure rage at his audacity. But before he could strike, a massive tremor suddenly erupted. "Brace yourselves, maggots." Lugates bellowed over the deafening noise. "The labyrinth's core architecture, it's shifting into its next phase." He shot Eugene a wicked grin. "Welcome to the real maze. The walls constantly rearrange here, hiding secret shortcuts for the lucky. "It's another cave-in." Sirenar shrieked in terror. But Eugene's icy stare stayed perfectly locked onto the noble. "Where exactly is this magic shortcut? Right beneath my feet." Lugates declared with a sinister smile. Suddenly, grinding stone echoed as colossal walls aggressively slammed together. The crushing stone barriers instantly severed Eugene from the noble. The map scrambled wildly. "Where the hell are we now?" Sirenar screamed in panic. Eugene's mind instantly connected the dots. That wasn't a natural tremor. It was a controlled mechanism. Crema had been brutally framed. His supposed mistake was a perfect execution. Lugates had orchestrated the entire lethal trap from the very start. But what was that arrogant snake's true end game? Before his mind could crack the code, Sirenar's trembling voice echoed from the pitch-black shadows. He whipped around, blood freezing at the sight. Crema hung from a cross, completely drenched in crimson. He frantically checked his pulse. A faint heartbeat. Thank the heavens. If they could just free him and cast heals quickly, he'd survive this total nightmare. But Sirenar suddenly shrieked. Something felt incredibly wrong. She'd sensed a terrifying presence creeping right below their feet. Bam! A massive gale erupted around them as a blinding crimson light pierced through the ceiling above. Two demonic red eyes emerged, revealing razor-sharp fangs and a whip-like tail. A literal minotaur blazing in wicked pink hellfire. "A boss monster here." Sirenar gasped. But Eugene didn't hesitate, fiercely barking at her to guard Crema with her life. He propelled himself off the crumbling debris, launching skyward. Sword raised high, he went for a deadly execution. But suddenly, boom! The beast unleashed a blinding shockwave and hurricane-force winds. It violently swatted Eugene and Sirenar away like mere bugs. The beast summoned a pitch-black scythe, raising it straight over the helpless Crema. Eugene's eyes widened in absolute heart-stopping terror. Crash! Before anyone could blink, the monster smashed its weapon down. A catastrophic shockwave literally pulverized the solid ground beneath them. Crema plummeted into the fractured abyss. Utterly frantic Eugene desperately dove toward the crumbling edge trying to catch his falling friend. Zap A binding magic circle locked Eugene in place. Absolutely furious, he roared at Siren Noir demanding to know her game. She yelled back that this wasn't a basic mob. That Minotaur was a legendary apex predator even among high-ranking beasts. "It will instantly slaughter a vampire." She cried. This only fueled Eugene's blazing rage. He aimed his blade warning her to back off. Unfazed, she simply apologized. There was absolutely no way she'd let a hot-headed vampire commit suicide on her watch. She dropped the harsh truth. Charging in blindly against that monster meant a 0% survival rate. If he actually wanted to save his buddy, he needed to cool his head and logically analyze the chaotic battlefield. As Eugene choked down his rage, Siren Noir grumbled. "A Minotaur chilling in this dungeon? Total developer oversight. She only expected a basic Cyclops." While Eugene racked his brain for a plan, the stone wall behind them violently slid open. A smug voice echoed roasting Siren Noir's terrible radar. It was Lugates acting shocked that she actually knew earth magic. He mocked that she barely survived thanks to Crema tanking hits calling her just a weirdo who stitched up Cameras. Swoosh, Eugene instantly warped hoisting Lugates by the throat. Blazing wrath filled him. This scum had tortured Crema. Lugates mockingly raised his hands. He played victim claiming he only arranged this bloody reunion because Eugene desperately missed his bestie. "Wow, far ruder than the rumors." He sneered. With terrifying ease, Lugates snapped Eugene's iron grip casually crushing his wrist. Furious Eugene ripped off Lugates' fancy glove. Hidden right on his hand was a glowing unmistakable pink crest. Siren Noir gasped at the symbol. Eugene smirked bitterly asking if Mr. Tough Guy's insane strength was completely borrowed. Siren Noir instantly dropped the lore. That sketchy mark was an ancient formula designed to steal another being's raw power. Historically, humans shared strength, but once greedy fools started absorbing monstrous energy, the entire practice was strictly outlawed, a literal forbidden spell. But Lugates just scoffed at the idea, treating the sacred taboo like an absolute joke. He laughed that forbidden was just a pathetic excuse made by weaklings wanting to hoard all the sweet buffs for themselves. Suddenly, creepy robed figures emerged. Lugates spread his arms like a villain, loudly declaring them the ultimate chosen ones. "When apocalypse hits, we're gods' VIP survivors." he bragged. Eugene just glared calmly, replying that the puzzle was finally complete. Lugates had literally beaten Crema using pay-to-win borrowed stats, then flexed his muscles like he actually earned them. Snap, Eugene's patience hit zero. His aura exploded as he furiously swore to show this complete fraud the massive level gap. He dashed like lightning. Lugates scrambled to block, but the massive shockwave of their clash violently tore the room apart. "Is he really just a normal vampire?" Siren Noir panicked. Lugates shoved Eugene back sweating. The hero was smurfing, too. Lugates fiercely drove a vicious strike right into Eugene's gut, shouting that playtime was officially over. Rumble. Out of nowhere, the floor completely collapsed beneath them, swallowing them into a bottomless pit. While they plummeted, Lugates cackled from above. He'd mapped every single death trap, wishing Eugene a very happy trip to hell. "Siren Noir!" now Eugene roared. She instantly manifested a glowing rune. Using it as a springboard, Eugene rocketed back up. Swoosh. Right before the massive trapdoor sealed shut, he hurled his sword straight upward. Clang. The razor-sharp blade barely cleared the gap, leaving a bleeding gash across the villain's cheek. Lugates completely froze. He knew the guy was overpowered, but dodging a death trap counterattack that completely shattered all of his expectations. Cold sweat dripped. A fair one-on-one duel would have been a coin toss. Thank god he shamelessly used Crema as bait. A sinister grin returned. Keeping Eugene alive worked perfectly. Soon the ultimate world-ending sacrifice would finally be complete. Sireneer frantically spammed magic circles praying to cushion their terrifying drop into the abyss. Her spell totally fizzled out. She crash-landed way harder than she planned. Total faceplant. Meanwhile, Eugene stuck a perfect superhero landing. Before she could even blink, he completely bolted. She yelled out asking where he went, but he totally ghosted her. Grumbling, she scrambled to follow. She muttered curses under her breath, then froze. Eugene cradled Crema in a dramatic bro hug. He begged her to save him, but she awkwardly confessed that healing wasn't her main skill. Eugene hit her with an intense glare. Sweating nervously, she sighed and gave healing her best shot. Then, Mirian dropped the ultimate bad news. Zero exits. Eugene desperately asked if they could tunnel out. Nope, absolutely none. Welcome to the deepest end of the dungeon. They were stuck in a boss room. Mirian awkwardly admitted he should have warned them. With all that water energy, he thought he had it. But nope, even as a water spirit, he was totally useless against that creepy puddle of blood. Eugene glanced up, greeted by a disgusting wall of eyeballs. He snapped demanding why his powers failed. Mirian sweated explaining he only controlled dead blood. Meaning the owner of that puddle was definitely alive. Boom. The blood geysered up dragging out a massive shadow. Cue the return of the nightmare minotaur. Sireneer practically lost her mind in panic. Eugene barked at Mirian to find an exit, and he bolted. Eugene whipped out his shattered sword. Squaring up against the beefy boss, he sweated bullets. Crema was still completely out. Eugene hyped himself up. He had to keep this big cow distracted. He rushed in like a madman. The beast sneered firing off an absolute bullet hell of flying blades. Eugene pulled off sick dodges sliding behind the beast to hack its legs. His rusty sword did zero. Clink, it totally shattered. The minotaur belched fire and Eugene barely dodged the spicy roast. Mid-dodge, sneaky blades flew at his back. His spider senses tingled, so he ducked hard and launched skyward. Touching down on a pillar, he realized normal weapons sucked. Time for a crazy move. He drew his blood. Wrapping blood around his broken hilt, he forged an epic crimson scythe. Tossing his cape, he dive-bombed. He sliced its back, but oh man, the cut was embarrassingly shallow. Before blinking, a massive hand grabbed him. Yeet. The beast chucked him like a ragdoll. He crashed through a pillar and completely smashed the wall. Watching this beatdown, Sirenia screamed for Crema to wake up. His best bro was literally dying out there. Miraculously, Eugene twitched with a pitiful groan. Yep, he realized Sirenia was absolutely right all along. High-ranking monsters were completely broken. As the Minotaur whipped up a raging tornado, Eugene muttered a frustrated curse. The beast spammed another brutal blade wave. With his stamina at zero, Eugene got absolutely wrecked. Sirenia shrieked his name in sheer terror. But Eugene lay totally silent, his health completely drained. That familiar, awful feeling of powerlessness washed over him again. He had tasted this garbage for 10 years. You'd think he'd be numb to the losing streak now. But nope, being weak still stung like crazy. A brutal blade pierced straight through his stomach.