Lord Of The Lost

For most extraordinary beings, death is the end.

Their supernatural traits dissolve, like dry ice evaporating into the air.

But not always.

For some, death is merely a concept, a temporary state rather than a permanent conclusion.

Take Helka and his Knight Guards, even in death, their souls remain intact, gathering again beneath the moonlight.

They had prepared for death long before it came.

And yet, they return.

Why?

That remains a mystery.

---

Helka: A Knight Beyond Death

What makes Helka different is that he retains his full consciousness after death.

He remembers who he is.

He knows his mission.

He carries no scars of insanity, rage, or despair.

But most extraordinary beings aren't so lucky.

---

Faced with death, even the most powerful extraordinary beings often react like ordinary people.

Fear.

Desperation.

Hatred.

Rage.

At the moment of death, these negative emotions surge to their peak.

And when they die with that emotional weight, they don't just disappear.

---

Their extraordinary traits don't dissolve.

Instead, their obsession with life twists their very essence.

Rather than fading, their powers condense into new, corrupted forms.

But even with this twisted immortality, most of them never truly return.

Their bodies remain lifeless, their consciousness lost to madness.

What remains is raw, uncontrollable power; settling, festering, waiting.

---

The deformed giants crawling out of the blood rivers are proof of this corruption.

They are not true giants, they are warped echoes, born from the polluted essence of fallen titans.

And they are not alone.

The maze itself is filled with beings tainted by death.

Some were influenced by the presence of high-sequence beings buried here.

Others were monsters created from their deaths.

This is why the extraordinary creatures of the labyrinth are almost all mad, twisted, and beyond reason.

---

William and his team chose not to block the gap.

Instead, they pressed forward.

As they grew more familiar with the maze, it felt like they were drilling a new passage into the heart of darkness.

Along the way, they harvested rare monster materials; a fortune waiting to be claimed.

If sold to Calcifer, they could easily fetch forty or fifty gold coins.

---

By the halfway point, their magic pocket was stuffed full.

The Forum Master had no choice but to log out, transferring the magic materials to the real world to free up inventory space.

But if you walk by the river, your shoes will eventually get wet.

Even Metatron's [God's Perspective] had its limits.

Some dangers were simply invisible.

And while William could avoid many of them, some crises were beyond his control.

---

While the team was focused on hunting monsters, they were suddenly ambushed.

Their enemy?

A Sequence 8 creature; The Harpy.

---

Wild, tangled hair.

A grotesque, monstrous form.

Winds at her command, moving faster than the eye could track.

And worse—

She could kill souls.

She carried the corruption of "filth," an unknown power.

The moment she launched her attack, William's Demon Wolf instincts screamed a warning.

A vicious battle erupted.

But William didn't panic.

He remained calm, calculating.

Fighting while constantly retreating, he lured the harpy away from the group.

The others could only watch as he vanished into the dark corridors of the labyrinth, locked in a deadly duel with the creature.

In the end, the group barely survived.

Using the invisibility cloak, they managed to slip away from the harpy's pursuit, vanishing into the shadows of the labyrinth.

The Forum Master exhaled sharply, his hands still trembling.

"That thing was terrifying."

If the harpy had landed a single hit, even the Gambler, with his talent, would have stood no chance.

There was no escape, no counterplay.

If William hadn't reacted instantly, intercepting the harpy before it could strike, all four of them would have been critically wounded in an instant, helpless to fight back.

---

Sequence 8 transcendents weren't just stronger, they were complete.

At this level, they had fully mastered the core aspects of their path and had evolved them to a new tier of power.

The Harpy was the perfect example:

Deadly in melee combat.

A master of wind magic.

Could attack both body and mind.

Could completely hide her presence, even from Metatron.

She had no weaknesses.

And in pure combat ability?

She was even stronger than the elite werewolves William had fought before.

William glanced down at his weapon.

The Spear of Evil trembled, its once-sharp edge corroded by the harpy's "filth" contamination.

It reeked like it had been buried in a swamp for centuries.

He wasn't even sure how much longer it would last.

---

Despite the dangers, their rewards had been immense.

Their experience points kept piling up.

And then—

The first to hit Level 10 was…

The Gambler.

William raised an eyebrow.

"Wait… are you the first player in the entire game to reach Level 10?"

A moment of silence.

It seemed highly likely.

---

Metatron couldn't help but ask, "How do you feel?"

Reaching Level 10 was a turning point.

This was when a player's mysterious traits fully solidified.

This was when their talent reached full maturity.

This was the foundation needed to carve out their own extraordinary path.

William recalled a player with the [Arson] talent.

At Level 3, his flames were barely stronger than a gas stove.

At Level 8, he could unleash fire like a military-grade flamethrower.

The range, heat, and duration had all skyrocketed.

What would the Gambler's Level 10 upgrade bring?

---

The Gambler closed his eyes, his expression shifting.

"It's hard to explain… but something's different."

He opened his [Gambler's Dice], the very core of his ability.

"You know how my dice can boost my stats? If I roll a 6 or higher, it also enhances my spirit and energy."

Everyone nodded.

"Well… now I can choose which attribute to boost."

The room fell silent.

That was a game-changer.

Before, the dice dictated what he gained. Now, he had control.

---

The Forum Master's eyes widened.

"Wait. So you can decide how many points to roll?"

The Gambler nodded.

"Yeah. But the max roll is still 6… for now. If I push myself, I might go higher."

Metatron folded his arms.

"So your talent hasn't increased in raw power; but it's become more versatile."

The Gambler grinned.

"That's exactly it."

---

Metatron pondered for a moment before speaking.

"I think I get it now. To create your own path, you don't need to add more traits, you need to refine the ones you already have."

He looked at the Gambler.

"Your next step should be to split your talent into three distinct parts."

The Gambler smirked.

"Sounds like a gamble worth taking."

Unlocking True Potential

The Gambler's talent could evolve into three distinct aspects:

[Physical Dice] – Enhancing raw strength and endurance.

[Mental Dice] – Boosting perception, intuition, and resistance to mental attacks.

[Energy Dice] – Amplifying stamina, mana, and supernatural abilities.

Metatron murmured to himself, still piecing together the logic.

"That should be it."

He continued, lost in thought:

"Your talent; no matter what it's called, is fundamentally a method of amplifying attributes using mysterious properties."

"Before Level 10, your spirit and energy were suppressed by your physical stats."

"So your only option was to max out your physical ability first, then let spirit and energy follow."

He kept muttering, not caring if anyone else understood.

The Gambler scratched his head.

"So... how do I split my talent?"

Metatron paused, then rolled his eyes.

"How the hell should I know? Even you don't know!"

The Gambler shrugged.

"Guess I'll have to figure it out myself."

---

"By the way," the Gambler added, "after hitting Level 10, the Sequence Game shut off my experience and attribute point systems."

Level 10 was the threshold of transcendence.

At this point, the player no longer gained EXP; because they had already become something more than human.

This didn't surprise William or the others.

Now that the Gambler had reached Level 10, his combat efficiency would increase dramatically.

And then—

The second person reached Level 10.

Alex.

---

Originally, Alex should've been the first to reach Level 10.

But during the battle against the deformed giants, he had played the role of bait, gaining only a fraction of the experience.

Alex had already switched paths, becoming an Assassin's Apprentice.

However, this meant that his leveling system was different.

Every time he leveled up, he only received experience and attribute points.

The game did not enhance his mysterious properties.

Even at Level 10, Alex's [Miracle] talent hadn't grown any stronger.

This was a problem.

"What's your next move?" the Forum Master asked.