CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: THE TOMB OF RESENTMENT, GHOST OF RESENTMENT SPECIAL BOSS

[Countdown: 4 hours 27 minutes 39 seconds]

The moment the countdown hit zero, the special zone would vanish completely.

Anyone could see that the timer matched the event timer exactly.

The two were tied together, when the [Ghost Hunt] ended, this place would close forever.

"Here."

Stark’s voice broke the silence.

Grace and Ghost both turned their heads just in time to see two items flying toward them.

Stark tossed the [Blue Flames Staff (Epic)] straight at Grace, and the [Vigilante Daggers (Elite)] toward Ghost.

He didn’t ask for any lives from them for this.

Grace caught hers gracefully, eyes widening.

She bowed slightly, gratitude showing without words.

Ghost, however, didn’t say anything.

She carefully studied the daggers, testing their weight and balance.

After a moment—

Ding!

[You have received 80 Lives from "Ghost"]

"Huh."

Stark blinked and turned.

Ghost met his eyes, face expressionless.

"I don’t like owing favors," she said flatly. "This felt like a fair price."

Her voice was calm, without pride or hesitation.

Stark narrowed his eyes, then gave a single nod.

If she wanted to hand over lives, he wasn’t about to refuse.

He stepped forward, hand reaching toward the glowing white door.

But before he touched it—

"Other parties went in before us," Ghost said suddenly. "None came back."

"Hm."

That was expected.

Stark had already assumed multiple groups would’ve rushed in.

A special zone was too valuable to ignore.

Whoever killed the boss inside would earn a mountain of event points, and possibly items unique to the zone.

So why tell him? Why hadn’t Ghost kept the zone hidden for herself and Grace?

He glanced at her again. Their eyes locked.

"...Thanks," Stark said quietly.

"No problem," Ghost shrugged. "It is simply but... never mind, let’s go."

They would not enter as one group.

Stark was alone, while Ghost and Grace were a team.

The zone would treat them separately.

Fwish!

Stark stepped forward.

His hand passed through the door like smoke, and then his whole body followed.

The moment he crossed—

Ding!

---

[You have entered the "Tomb of Resentment"]

[Lives loss rate: 250]

[Description: a small zone that holds nothing but the "Ghost of Resentment" boss in it.]

---

Stark read the panel, frowning.

’Nothing but the boss? Then why hasn’t anyone come back...?’

The system never lied.

That meant the "tomb" had only one fight, one enemy.

He appeared in a cramped chamber.

A single narrow passage stretched ahead, lit faintly by blue fire flickering in wall lanterns.

The flames burned without heat, casting long shadows that moved strangely across the stone walls.

Behind him, Grace and Ghost materialized, their footsteps echoing as they looked around.

"Hah," Ghost muttered, as if confirming something.

Ghost’s class gave her [Assassin’s Intuition], a powerful passive.

It let her sense danger, judge trust, and more.

If her intuition had told her this zone was lethal, that maybe explained why she had agreed to share its location with him.

She wasn’t being generous. She was being practical.

Stark understood immediately. He felt it too.

The air itself pressed down on him, a suffocating heaviness that promised only death.

He didn’t stop.

His steps carried him through the passage, and soon the hallway widened into a massive chamber.

The sight waiting inside made him pause.

A corpse-like figure stood alone in the center.

Its body towering and half-rotten, dual sabers clenched tightly in both hands.

Its eyes glowed faintly, staring without moving.

Behind it stood a heavy door, clearly the path to the reward chest.

And there was no sign of the other players.

In fact, Stark could see small orbs that represented lives.

"It killed them all," Stark said. "That’s why no one came back."

The thing radiated more power than even the [Ruined Knight].

He didn’t need numbers to know it.

---

[Ghost of Resentment (Level 25 Special Boss)]

[Rank: Epic (Evolving...)]

[HP: 300,000]

[Countdown: 4 hours 25 minutes 47 seconds]

---

"Evolving..."

Stark’s eyes narrowed. The rank wasn’t fixed.

It was shifting upward, slowly climbing toward the next tier.

It was feeding. Absorbing the lives of the players it had killed.

And with the lives loss rate here set at 250, it meant every death had given it a massive boost.

"It’s evolving," Stark said firmly. "If we don’t kill it now, it’ll reach Legendary rank."

He had never fought a Legendary in this life yet, but even now, looking at the ghost, he knew it would be a brutal fight.

But fear? He felt none.

He pointed his staff forward.

The boss was still in the middle of consuming its victims’ lives.

That meant it was vulnerable.

Fire Meteor! Storm of Lightning! Vines of Fate! Plague Crystal!

His spells tore into the boss like a storm.

-93,375!-49,800!-87,300!-15,000!-6,000!-6,000!

The chamber lit up in fire and lightning.

Thick vines crushed the ghost’s body, while a poison crystal shattered against its rotting skin.

By the time the smoke cleared, over 275,000 health had been erased in seconds.

"Incredible!" Grace gasped.

’Wow.’

Even Ghost, usually unshaken, looked surprised.

It was the first time her mask cracked.

Dozens of players had entered this zone before, and every single one had been wiped out.

Yet here Oblivion was, reducing the boss to near-death in one strike.

But then—

The boss twitched. Its body shook violently, black aura swirling around it.

The evolution was almost complete.

’Oh well,’ Stark thought. ’Looks like I’ll finally fight a legendary-rank monster.’

He readied himself—

Fwish!

But before the boss could finish, a blur shot past him. It was Ghost.

With her new [Vigilante Daggers] glowing in her hands, she dashed straight at the boss.

Grace lifted her staff behind her, chanting.

Strength Buff!

A golden light enveloped Ghost, doubling her strength for a short period.

She didn’t hesitate.

Flurry Strikes!

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Her daggers cut into the boss again and again.

Ten strikes in the blink of an eye, each one carving deep lines into its decaying body.

-13,483! -13,483! -13,483!

Her damage wasn’t on Stark’s level, but it was still impressive.

And with Grace amplifying her, it landed harder than most players could dream of.

Seeing that damage, Stark wasn’t surprised at Ghost, but mostly at Grace.

She had actually become a rather decent support-mage.

’Maybe that’s why Ghost keeps her around,’ Stark thought. ’With a support like that, I can see the potential.’

The ghost boss let out a distorted cry, its aura collapsing.

The evolution stopped midway.

Its glowing eyes dimmed, and its body crumbled into fading fragments of white light.

And then, it was gone.

Ding!

[You have gained 7 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 50 Lives!]

Then...

Ding!

[Player "Oblivion" has completed the "Tomb of Resentment" special zone!]

"Oh?"

Stark tilted his head. That was new.

In his past life, he’d never seen such an announcement.

’Right... back then I was in the Fourteenth Ruined City. Probably nobody there managed to clear it.’

It made sense.

For average players, even some elites, this fight was impossible.

Only someone like Ghost, with a partner like Grace, could have maybe pulled it off.

But this time, it was him.

He had carried the zone, and the system rewarded him for it.

Ding!

[You have gained 500 Event Points.]

’Oh shit.’

That was enough to shake the entire leaderboard. Five hundred points from one kill.

But Stark was already first, this only made it impossible for anyone else to reach him.

He walked toward the spot where the ghost’s body had vanished.

An item lay glimmering faintly on the ground.

[Skill Book: Night Blade (Epic): Assassin-type skill book. Requirement: Level 25]

"Oh."

Without hesitation, Stark tossed it toward Ghost.

"Two hundred lives," he said.

She caught it midair.

Ghost leaned forward, actually surprised, "That’s... a good one."

---

[Night Blade (Epic): Infuse your weapon with dark power, dealing 10,000 dark elemental damage to all enemies hit, and weakening them. 20-seconds cooldown.]

---

Ghost’s eyes flickered, and she transferred the lives instantly.

Ding!

[You have received 200 Lives from "Ghost"]

She then learned the skill without a word.

With that settled, Stark turned to the heavy door the [Ghost of Resentment] had been guarding.

Fwish! Click!

The lock fell away. The door opened, revealing a chest glowing in deep purple light.

[Epic Chest]

Stark’s lips curved into a grin.

’Perfect.’

Then without waiting he stepped forward to open it.