Lord Of The Lost

The forum posts echoed with despair. Players compared their situation to being trapped in a novice village, with the Demon King standing at the gate, blocking any chance of progress.

The time was too short. Their resources were too meager. Ordinary transcendent abilities weren't enough to make a dent in the Black Forest. Even if every player became an extraordinary-level character, they'd barely last a single round against the overwhelming power of the forest.

They'd be crushed in moments, drowned under the weight of the disaster.

The hopelessness was palpable. Post after post voiced the same frustration, the same unanswered question:

"What are we supposed to do?"

"Why would the game throw us into something like this?"

"Is there any hope at all?"

Desperate for answers, one player tagged over ten others, including a name that stood out: Wallace.

William, who was quietly reading through the forum, saw the post.

His fingers moved across the keyboard, typing with purpose.

"Face death, transcend death. Live toward death, fight to the end!"

He didn't hesitate.

Was he scared? Yes. Was he terrified of the inevitable? Of course.

But fear wouldn't stop him.

William wasn't a superman, he was human, flawed and vulnerable. Yet, he refused to back down. Even if defeat was certain, even if death was inevitable, he would face it head-on.

If he had to fall, he would fall in a blaze of glory.

The post left the forums buzzing, his words sparking a flicker of defiance amidst the despair. For now, that spark was enough.

Helka's orders were clear; not to suppress the disaster, but to die in the Black Forest.

Facing inevitable death, what could he be thinking?

For ten long years, he and his knights had been bound to the darkness of the forest, rarely stepping foot outside its cursed expanse. Now, for the first time in a decade, Helka emerged, not to celebrate, not to flee, but to gaze at the moon.

It was a quiet, poignant moment that revealed something profound: Helka and his fellow knights weren't just tools of war, cold and unfeeling. They were human, flesh and blood, their emotions burning hotter than anyone could imagine.

The frozen moonlight reflected their thoughts, their loyalty, and their unwavering faith.

When disaster struck back, Helka didn't hesitate. He laughed; a wild, fearless sound and charged back into the Black Forest, knowing full well that he was running toward his doom.

Like a man who steps into a fire to buy a fleeting moment for others, Helka chose to sacrifice body and soul to delay the inevitable explosion.

William wasn't a knight. He couldn't fully grasp the depth of their emotions or the weight of their choices.

But he had his own path.

He didn't curse the game for its relentless difficulty. He didn't rage at fate for being unfair.

In his previous life, William had worked tirelessly, only for it all to end in an instant.

How could he accept such an abrupt conclusion? How could he reconcile with the pain and struggles of his past?

He couldn't change what had happened, but he could make a promise to himself now:

This time, he would live with purpose. This time, he would not waste his chance.

---

"Wallace, why did it take so long for you to come online? Is the death penalty for a Transcendent really that severe?" the Forum Master asked in their discussion group.

William's reply was short. "The Wolf Lord left a curse in me."

The death penalty had hit him harder than expected. His Spirit stat, once at 16 points, had been slashed in half. Other attributes were weakened as well, though to lesser degrees.

What concerned him most wasn't the reduced stats, it was the strange inertia he felt when trying to use his Demon Wolf Path abilities.

The traits that had once flowed through him naturally now felt blocked, as though something was interfering with their function. Was this a side effect of the curse? Or had his first death permanently disrupted the Demon Wolf Path's unique resistance to death?

The blockage eventually disappeared, but it left an uneasy thorn in William's mind.

Fortunately, the immediate weakening of his stats wasn't as dire as it seemed. After consuming an [Energy Potion] and a portion of [Mysterious Awakening Potion], much of the negative effects faded.

Thanks to his Demon Wolf Path traits, even his Spirit value would regenerate over time; albeit at a painfully slow rate. Without a priest to accelerate the process, he'd have to rely on potions to speed up recovery.

---

The Forum Master chimed in again: "Alex found the butcher."

"Got it," William replied simply.

There was no need for further words. A quiet understanding passed between them, one born of countless battles fought side by side.

Even for extraordinary players, death penalties didn't render them completely useless in combat, though the toll was significant.

Alex, for his part, had prepared extensively to take down the butcher. Yet, when the moment came, he found a broken, disabled shell of an enemy, far weaker than expected.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

The Forum Master, ever observant, had noted a similar pattern after the thieves' rebellion. Players who had defected to the thieves took suspiciously long to reappear, and when they did, they weren't the same.

Using his unique [Identifying All Things] talent, the Forum Master could analyze the life level and attributes of non-Transcendent beings. What he saw often spoke louder than words.

The butcher's degradation, the thieves' silence after their rebellion, and now the curse within William, all of it pointed to something deeper, something ominous lurking in the system itself.

The Black Forest's corruption was spreading, and its impact wasn't limited to NPCs. It was slowly, steadily, infecting the players as well.

William leaned back, the weight of realization settling over him. This wasn't just about fighting bosses or completing quests anymore. The game itself was changing, and it demanded sacrifices far greater than anyone had anticipated.

The greatest advantage of serial games lies in their upgrade and resurrection systems. These mechanics ensure that players can develop steadily in the early stages, offering room for growth and recovery from failure.

But these systems are far from flawless.

Take the Wolf Lord Mott, for example. His ability to inflict harm wasn't limited to physical damage, it extended to crippling a player's 'extraordinary traits'. This wasn't an isolated occurrence. If the Butcher, a once-powerful character, revealed everything to an NPC without hesitation, it only proved one thing: high-level NPCs could strip players of their abilities and reduce them to mere shadows of their former selves.

This realization filled the Forum Master with dread. His fear wasn't limited to these extraordinary NPCs; it extended to William as well.

For players, death is rarely the end. Resurrection and retries allow them to bounce back. But if their source of power is taken away, if their extraordinary abilities are stripped, they're left vulnerable. This isn't just a setback; it's a demotion.

Take the Butcher, for instance. After being reduced to Level 1, his raw attributes; strength, constitution, and agility, were still impressive. He could still unleash incredible physical force. But without his extraordinary traits, he was just a strong human. No amount of raw stats could replace the supernatural qualities that defined his power.

This truth was clear to everyone now: extraordinary traits are the core of strength in this world.

And the fact that some beings had the power to sever these traits terrified the players more than anything else. Losing their characters, their progress, even their ancestral perks wasn't nearly as frightening as losing the ability to 'fight back'.

Understanding the potential chaos this revelation could cause, the Forum Master and Metatron agreed to suppress the news. Few players would learn the truth about what had happened to the Butcher or the terrifying capabilities of high-level NPCs.

Luckily, Metatron and the others trusted William. They were allies, bound together by circumstance and mutual survival. There was no need to turn against him, not yet.

But everyone carried secrets.

For example, the Forum Master never revealed the full extent of his talent, [Identify All Things]. While it allowed him to analyze objective data; attributes, strengths, weaknesses, it also gave him insight into people's emotions and intentions. At full power, his ability was comparable to the [Inspection] skill from the "Guard" path.

He could discern not just what others felt about him, but why, whether their feelings were sincere or manipulative. He could see who hated him, who loved him, who conspired against him, and who truly trusted him.

This insight gave him a unique edge. For instance, while William's transcendent state rendered him immune to this ability now, the Forum Master had encountered William before his transformation. He already had enough data to know where William stood.

Yet William, for his part, seemed indifferent to these games. Even if he became a threat to every other player, it wouldn't shake him. If anything, he welcomed it.

In his mind, the path forward was clear: if others saw him as a danger, they had the right to choose death. If necessary, he'd take on all 900 players in Border Town and still face the main boss alone. William had nothing left to lose.

---

"Wallace, you need to take a look at this."

The Forum Master handed him a detailed list of items recovered from the battlefield.

- [Sequence 6 Fragments]: Powerful remnants from Hope's notebook, imbued with immense energy. One fragment in particular was so potent that even the Forum Master couldn't decipher its contents.

- [Flesh and Blood Potion]: A rare concoction with untapped potential.

- [Soul Anchor]: A mysterious artifact likely tied to resurrection or preservation.

- [Mutu's Wolf Claw]: The legendary claw of a Sequence 7 Wolf Lord, an artifact deeply tied to the werewolf clan's inheritance. It was all that remained after they spent their resources creating the foundation of their legacy.

- [Glorious Lantern]: Once an ordinary Developing Lantern, it had undergone a miraculous transformation on the battlefield, becoming a rare and powerful artifact.

- [Werewolf Corpses]: Dozens of ordinary werewolf bodies and five elite werewolf corpses. These were valuable materials for crafting extraordinary items and potentially brewing werewolf potions.

The Forum Master pointed to the Sequence 6 fragment. "This piece contains knowledge beyond what we can handle. It's far too powerful, and I can't decipher it. But it may hold answers about the Black Forest or the werewolf curse itself."

He continued, "Mutu's Wolf Claw represents a cornerstone of the werewolf clan's inheritance. It's tied to their history, and there's a good chance it could be used in rituals or as a catalyst for extraordinary creations."

The discoveries left William quiet for a moment. These weren't just scraps of loot; they were tools, each holding the potential to turn the tide against the Black Forest.

But as he stared at the list, one thought lingered in his mind: tools alone wouldn't be enough.

The fight ahead required more than artifacts, more than potions and materials. It would take resolve, sacrifice, and a willingness to face the impossible.

And William had already decided, he would see this through to the end, no matter the cost.