Ethan looked genuinely grateful as he said thank you, and that sincerity caught Mr. Walters completely off guard.
He was stunned. What just happened?
It was because he had just seen what Ethan had chosen:
"Use the scroll to upgrade the Level 20 dungeon 'Misty Cave of the Myriad Lands' to Nightmare Difficulty, and clear it within three days."
Nightmare difficulty? Misty Cave of the Myriad Lands?
That was one of the toughest dungeons available below First Ascension!
Ethan had passed up two much easier tasks… only to pick the most dangerous one. What kind of logic was that? Was he insane?
Truth be told, the reason Mr. Walters wanted Ethan to complete a First Ascension task quickly and was acting so eager to help was tied to something that happened the previous night.
The night before, Mr. Walters had been sitting alone in his dimly lit office inside the Temple of Job Transition. The lights were off, the only illumination coming from the street lamps outside. He sat at his desk, staring silently at a faded photograph. In the picture were two teenagers — one of them clearly a younger version of Mr. Walters himself.
Suddenly, a low voice echoed from the dark corner of the office.
"You seem troubled, Mr. Walters. I can help. I can even get you transferred to the Temple in Modu City."
Mr. Walters stood up in alarm, gripping his staff tightly.
"Who are you?" he demanded. "How did you get in here?"
"I'm not your enemy. Think of me as… someone offering you a shortcut. Haven't you always wanted to transfer to the Modu branch?"
Mr. Walters' hand trembled slightly as he clutched the photograph. "What do you want in exchange?"
The man, cloaked entirely in black, said calmly, "I want this year's academy entrance exam to be conducted in a specific place — the 'Grey Mist Secret Realm' just outside Ravenshade City."
Mr. Walters frowned. That was suspicious.
He had never heard of this person, not even from whispers around the city, and he grew up here.
But deep down, Mr. Walters had already been considering that very location. The number of available secret realms near Ravenshade was shrinking. Only two were viable, and Grey Mist had already been on his list.
The stranger chuckled softly. "Think of me as a concerned father. I just want my child to get a better score."
Despite the unsettling nature of the encounter, Mr. Walters thought back to the five times he'd applied for transfer—only to be rejected every time. Age was catching up. He couldn't keep waiting forever.
"Can you guarantee my transfer to Modu?" he asked.
"I can. Whether you believe me or not is up to you."
Mr. Walters nodded. "Deal."
The cloaked man extended his hand, and Mr. Walters shook it with only a slight hesitation. After all, someone with such mysterious power could have easily killed him.
Then, in an instant, a black mist engulfed the man's body, and he vanished without a trace.
Left alone in the silence, Mr. Walters felt a cold throb in his chest — like something terrible had just begun. The Grey Mist Secret Realm had been explored many times in the past. Why did it feel so… different this time?
He couldn't sleep that night. No matter how long he searched through records and memories, he couldn't find any clue about what made that dungeon special — or dangerous.
Finally, a plan took shape in his mind.
If something really did go wrong during the entrance exams, there needed to be someone strong enough to protect the others. Ethan was the perfect candidate.
With his skills, he could easily qualify for any top academy. If he took action during an emergency, his scores wouldn't be affected. In the worst-case scenario, he could help keep the other students alive.
So the next day, Mr. Walters approached Ethan with a hopeful tone, encouraging him to choose one of the easy tasks and complete his first class transition quickly.
But Ethan… chose the hardest one.
It left Mr. Walters speechless.
He had initially thought Ethan rejected the first two tasks because he was annoyed. But then Ethan added a sincere "thank you" when he selected the final one.
Was Ethan really doing this to challenge himself?
Mr. Walters started to panic a little. He decided to follow along and observe the attempt personally. If Ethan failed, he could at least provide emotional support. Young people's confidence was fragile — it shouldn't be broken so easily.
But why had Ethan chosen that mission, really?
He had a different motive.
His goal was to obtain another gold-level necklace from the dungeon.
As soon as he saw the task, Ethan had a strong suspicion: the Myriad Lands Misty Cave might appear again as part of the assignment. And he was right.
This was his chance to earn another high-tier necklace.
And since the dungeon's difficulty was now upgraded to Nightmare, the chance of duplicating the loot increased significantly.
Two birds with one stone.
Elsewhere, the perspective shifted to the mysterious man in black, who had left the temple after his meeting with Mr. Walters.
He traveled far beyond the borders of Ravenshade, through winding paths and darkened forests, until he arrived at a temporary encampment built by alien invaders.
Removing his hood, he revealed himself to be a well-dressed, stern-looking older man — a butler by appearance, but clearly something more.
The aliens immediately gathered around him.
One of them, a grotesque creature with a boar's head, was gripping a bloody human arm in his hand. "Sir, when can we enter the city?" he asked eagerly. "We've nearly wiped out all the professionals nearby."
The butler looked at him coldly, clear disgust in his eyes. "Be patient."
"But there's nothing left to eat around here," the boar-headed creature whined.
Before he could finish, a flash of light shot across the camp.
Thud!
The boar-headed creature's severed head hit the dirt with a wet sound.
The butler's voice turned icy: "Obey orders. Or soon none of you will eat again."
The remaining aliens nodded frantically, backing away.
Then the butler pulled out a strange vial filled with a swirling dark liquid. "Tomorrow, find two clever ones among you. Pour this 'Liquid of Chaos' into a dungeon inside the city."
One of the other aliens stepped forward. "Which one, sir?"
"Choose a dungeon that's rarely visited. I want the wild monsters inside to escape and cause chaos in Ravenshade."
"Understood!"
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