Five minutes before.

    Suho entered the square, moving confidently through its well-organized interior until he reached the Gate’s portal. Without hesitation, he stepped into the portal.

    ---

    [Entering Gate.]

    [Loading Gate information.]

    **[Swamp of Despair]**

    – *Entry Condition*: Open to all.

    – *Maximum Participants*: Unlimited.

    The Gate’s entry requirements were simple, but despite the lack of restrictions, it was infamous for having claimed more lives than even the Nameless Sword Gate. This was due to a mystery surrounding the place: up until now, no one had ever returned alive.

    *“The Swamp of Despair—a place no one has returned from. But I know what’s here.”*

    That knowledge gave Suho the confidence to enter without a second thought.

    Upon entering, he found himself in a massive, dimly lit cavern. Before him lay a towering staircase leading upward, and at the top was a door that radiated a brilliant, almost ethereal light. That door was the exit, the portal to the outside. Clearing the Gate required only reaching that door.

    *“Yet no one has succeeded.”*

    Suho’s gaze dropped from the glowing portal to the staircase leading toward it. Statues, oddly shaped and scattered across the steps, appeared frozen in eternal lamentation. But Suho knew better.

    *“These aren’t statues... These are the people who tried to clear the Swamp of Despair.”*

    There were no monsters here. Instead, the staircase itself was the Gate’s trial.

    This trial was known as *The Stairway of Despair*.

    It was a terrifying staircase where each step filled those who climbed it with overwhelming despair. Only those with extraordinary mental fortitude or specialized protection skills could hope to reach the top.

    *“To withstand this place, you need a mental protection skill of at least S-rank.”*

    This was how the Gate earned the name “Swamp of Despair”—each step dragging challengers deeper into hopelessness until they became immobilized by their own despair, turned to stone as they faltered. These statues were the result of challengers succumbing to that despair.

    But Suho felt nothing as he took his first step onto the stairway.

    ---

    *Swoosh!*

    In an instant, it felt as though he were falling, plummeting into a vast abyss.

    [You have stepped on the Stairway of Despair.]

    [A deep despair casts over you.]

    As expected, the despair began to seep into Suho. But then—

    ---

    [Dragon’s Blood is activated.]

    [Due to the Dragon Armor’s Draconic Endurance effect, mental contamination does not occur.]

    Suho smirked as he read the notification. Thanks to *Dragon’s Blood*, he was protected from any mental debuffs, an immunity provided by his *Dragon Armor*’s Draconic Endurance effect.

    He took another step forward.

    [You have stepped on the Stairway of Despair.]

    [A deep despair casts over you.]

    [Dragon’s Blood is activated.]

    [Due to the Dragon Armor’s Draconic Endurance effect, mental contamination does not occur.]

    Suho slipped the ring onto his finger. It immediately resized to fit him perfectly, then turned transparent and vanished from sight, even to the touch.

    With the ring securely on his finger, he looked down at the final step of the stairway.

    [You have stepped on the Stairway of Despair.]

    [A deep despair casts over you.]

    [Dragon’s Blood is activated.]

    [Due to the Dragon Armor’s Draconic Endurance effect, mental contamination does not occur.]

    First, the stairs tried to instill despair, which Dragon’s Blood shielded him from. Then—

    ---

    [The Ring of Emotions responds to the target’s most intense emotion.]

    [Would you like to absorb the emotion from the target?]

    [The absorbable emotion is ‘Black.’]

    ---

    Suho confirmed, allowing the ring to absorb the dark energy surrounding the staircase.

    *Swoosh!*

    A dark, murky energy filled the ring’s maximum Black energy capacity. The staircase remained the same, but Suho’s ring was now fully charged.

    *“With this, it’s time to head back.”*

    With the Ring of Emotions fully charged, Suho turned and walked through the portal.

    ---

    Outside, Suho checked his watch. Less than five minutes had passed.

    *“With this time record, I’m likely the fastest in the world to clear an S-rank Gate.”*

    Suho waved at the camera, and the square’s entrance opened to reveal a crowd buzzing with excitement.

    “Suho!”

    “Mr. Ahn!”

    Jung Chul-min and Jo Jin-hwi were first to greet him, grinning as if they’d just won a jackpot, while the PR team and square manager looked on in stunned silence, their faces reflecting admiration.

    Jung Chul-min was almost overwhelmed. “Suho, is it even possible for a human to do this? Four minutes and seventeen seconds! You cleared a Sealed Gate in just four minutes and seventeen seconds!”

    “This is a world record!” Jo Jin-hwi chimed in excitedly. “We have to report this as an exclusive story!”

    As they bombarded him with questions, Suho raised his hand, signaling for them to calm down. He then turned to the PR manager and square manager.

    “As you saw, the Gate has been fully conquered.”

    “Yes! We watched it live through the camera feed,” the square manager replied, still in awe.

    “In that case, would you mind taking a photo with me?”

    “A photo?” the PR manager asked, momentarily taken aback.

    “Yes, for proof of completion.”

    The square manager quickly nodded. “Of course! Certainly!”

    At Suho’s request, the PR head, finally snapping out of his daze, lifted his camera. With this photo, Suho once again documented his achievement—proof of a feat that would undoubtedly shake the world.

    TL NOTE: Please don''t skimp on the stars for the translation - it inspires me and gives me the strength to write more. Thank you~!

    If you want to buy me a /kimsu